Part 83: Kid/Sara Route - Part 6

I found myself on a narrow bed in the infirmary. Looking up at the white ceiling, I gently nodded off. My memories slowly came back to me. Flooding in the Cosmic Whale and saving Sara. Sara coming back to life...My fever worsening and then my collapsing.

I looked over to the bed next to mine.


"Sara..."

Sara was asleep on the bed next to me. Her breathing was regular and her cheeks flushed a healthy pink. Feeling a bit relieved, I let myself half-doze. From far away I could hear faint voices. They seemed to come from an incredible distance, and were all jumbled together, but they sounded like Tsugumi and Takeshi. Their voices echoed slightly. The words were too faint for me to make out what they were saying. They were talking about Hammel or Harmeln something. Words that I thought I had heard before, but the sounds quickly changed in my mind to meaningless garble. After a while the voices stopped.

Out of habit, I touched my pinky to the thumb of my left hand. It felt a bit strange. I lifted my left hand and stared at the thumb. Something was strange, out of place.

Track—Gedaechtnisschwund



The scar was gone! Why? How could it be gone? I hurriedly sat up. I stared over my left hand again. The scar was nowhere to be found. I was sure there had been a scar there. I remembered noticing it when I had opened the elevator to rescue Sara.

Had it just been a figment of my imagination? No...I was sure it hadn't been. I was positive there had been a scar. But...why had the scar suddenly vanished? A sense of loss flooded through me making me feel like I had a gaping hole in my heart. I sensed that I had lost something critically important, but I was unsure of what. That was how I felt.


"Sora! Sora!"

Forgetting that Sara was sleeping, I shouted out for Sora.


"Yes, Kid. What is it?"

Sora's voice answered me.


"Sora...did you do something to me?"


"Something...what do you mean?"


"Don't pretend you don't know! There was a...scar on my left hand! But...it's gone now!"


"Oh, so that is what you mean."

Sora appeared in the entrance to the room.


"What are you talking about?"


"While you were sleeping I extracted it."


"Extracted what?"


"Perhaps you should come over here."

I approached the examination table as Sora suggested.


"This."

Sora pointed to a small shard suspended by a manipulator arm above the examination table.


"This was embedded in your thumb, so I extracted it."


"What...gave you the right to do that? It could have been a clue leading to my past!"

I let loose on Sora without thinking.


"Yes, you are exactly right."


"However, no good can come of leaving a foreign object in your body to fester."


"More importantly...Kid, do you recall seeing this fragment before?"


"No! How could I?"

It didn't make sense to me why Sora would ask such a thing.


"This fragment has an image recorded on it."

Sora continued speaking calmly.


"An image?"


"Would you like to see it?"

I pinched the shard that had been buried in my thumb between my fingers.


"T-this...?"



There was a picture of a man, floating there.


"Can you see it?"


"Yeah, I can see it..."


"This hologram was designed so that it only can be seen when viewed with light of a certain wavelength. Right now I am using LeMMIH to shine the proper light on it. I could not confirm the date of manufacture of this hologram, but it is undoubtedly very old. Its makeup is fundamentally different from the ones being sold at the LeMU's kiosks. In the past, holograms were recorded using an interference pattern made from an object beam and a reference beam. Put simply, the object beam is the light reflected off of the object. The reference beam is the light that interferes with the object beam. Do you understand?"

Sora continued on without giving me time to think.


"And now comes the important part..."


"In order to make this hologram appear...Light, which is the same wavelength as the reference beam used to record the image, must be shined upon it. So, to sum up, it is like this."


"The image on this fragmented hologram was recorded using light that was a certain wavelength. And in order to see the image you must shine light of the same wavelength on it. It also cannot be seen under fluorescent light. You must use light generated by a heat-emitting light source, such as sunlight or the flame of a lighter. And..."



She said the special wavelength of light was infrared and around 850 nm. And that ordinary people couldn't see infrared light. She went on to say that if a person were able to see infrared they would even be able to see in the dark. But that they could only see objects that emitted heat.

Put another way, objects that gave off heat also emitted infrared rays. And if you could see infrared rays, then you could tell the temperature of something without having to touch it...


"You would not be able to see this image unless you can see infrared light. The fact that you can see this image means that you can see infrared light, Kid."


"But...what about Sara? Does that mean that Sara can, too?"


"Yes. Both of you have a very unique ability to see infrared light."

Thinking back on it, that probably explained why Takeshi and You couldn't see the image in the pendant.


"But...why was this hologram in my finger...?"

I trembled as I said this.


"It's the same image as in Sara's pendant...Are you saying that the missing piece of that pendant has been in my thumb?"


"That is the only conceivable explanation. The surface and shape of the fragment match the pendant perfectly."


"But...why...?"


"That...Kid...Is because you and Sara are siblings."


"It can't be..."


"It is the same reason that you both have the ability to see infrared light. It is probably because you both carry the same genes."


"No... No...no...no..."


"Kid. Why wouldn't that make you happy?"


"You have found a blood relative. Is there any better way possible to recover your memory?"


"No...no..."

I held my head and crouched down.


"In either case, it is a fact and you should accept it. While you two were asleep I performed a DNA analysis on both of you. The results are indicated on the display. The probability that you are brother and sister is...nearly 100 percent."


"No...no...no...no...no...no...no...no...no...no...no...no...!"

Suddenly, the wall to my memory that I had tried so hard to destroy, but I had been unable to breach, crumbled. Like a dam that was holding back the overflow of my memory, it burst, unleashing a torrent of images that flooded into my mind.


"Uggghhh..."

Memories of my life, in no apparent order, flashed across my mind like random slides appearing on a screen. From one to the next they floated up and vanished. My mind couldn't handle the flood of memories.

[Music—Stop]



I heard a lullaby coming from somewhere...



I was lying on a hard bed. I heard a voice crying from outside.

Track—Der Mond Das Meer



It was Sara. The kids were being cruel, jeering her and making fun of her in only the way that kids can. I ran up to Sara. The bullies scattered like baby spiders in the wind. Sara said that her precious pendant had been broken. Sara clutched the pendant firmly in her hand. I bent over to pick up the fragment from it. I felt a sudden shock from behind. I was plunged forward. With a sharp pain the shard was buried in my thumb.



The laughter and howls of our tormentors echoed around us.


"You bullies! How could you do this to Sara?"

Forgetting myself, I lunged at the mob of kids.



Satisfied with what they had done to me, the bullies had left. Sara came and held out her hands to me.

[Sara]
"You are so brave, brother."

She smiled as she said it.





Not wanting to worry Sara I pretended that everything was fine, and dismissed it as nothing. I didn't say anything to our teacher. I didn't go to the doctor. I just silently endured the pain. It seemed to me that to tell someone of it would that mean I had lost. In time, the wound closed up...

Then one day, a nice lady in a suit came. She told us there was a place we could go where things would be better. Saying this the lady held out her hand. We could see things that other peoplecouldn't. At first we thought our abilities were normal, but everyone had shunned us. The lady said she wanted to study us. I decided to go along with the idea. Our caretakers at the orphanage where lived happy see us leave, because they thought we were troublemakers.

We fell right into their trap.



Day in and day out we were marched from that room to the research institute. At night moonlight would stream in from the lone window. The only things I remember are the Leiblich logos on the doors we passed every day. And the white frocks of the research employees. And every night, the voice of Sara crying in the room next to me...



We were taken from our rooms and led to a research office in a different area. People who I'd never seen before took me away.



[Sara]
"Brother!"

I could hear Sara's screams. I shook off the adult hands and ran to where Sara was. The researchers tried to block my path.


"Sara!"

[Sara]
"Brother!"




"I'll come back for you. I promise, I will come find you! Be a good girl and wait for me!"



[Sara]
"But come for sure. You come to get me for sure. Okay? I'll wait...I'll wait forever!"





My foster parents were good people. They were good to me if I didn't get out of line. But...they had sold their souls to and were controlled by Leiblich. I passed my time under their forgiving but ever present eyes not being able to search for Sara. Still, there were times when I did my best to find leads to her.

But I didn't even know where the research facility was and something would always get in my way and after a while I couldn't search anymore. I just hadn't been able to help Sara with my limited powers. But...no matter what excuses I came up with the result was the same. I had abandoned Sara. In the isolated clinic room into which the cold moonlight shined.





I knew that she was still waiting for me in that miserable little room. Still believing in me...Just as I had promised.

The sense of guilt I felt overpowered me. It left me with an agonizing sense of hopelessness. And utter despair.



Video: Kid/Sara - Promises

Track—Traum In Der Dunkelheit



I didn't know if someone had brought me there or I had dragged myself unconsciously. I looked at my watch without thinking. Not much time had passed since I had passed out.

Laying on the bed, I looked up at the ceiling and thought about the events leading up to this point. The reason I had known that it was too hot inside the Generator Room was my infrared vision. And the 'moonlight' coming from the inverter unit had the been the same thing. In the darkness I had mistaken the heat from the inverter as moonlight. And the shock that I felt when I met Sara made sense, too. We were siblings after all.

Probably, even without my memory, in the back of my mind I had known. That's why...the first time I had seen Sara...And why had she grasped my thumb in the darkness? Why had she sung that lullaby that time?




"Oh I see...that's right..."



That we were brother and sister...So...

I raised myself up. Sara was still asleep in the bed next to me. I stood next to Sara's pillow and stared down at her face. My memory was still a little jumbled, but there was no mistaking that face. It was Sara. Little Sara had grown to be 16. It had to be her. I was sure it was Sara. The sister that I had made a promise to find, but then broke...

I felt so guilty and ashamed. I couldn't look at Sara's face. It was hard just being there. I didn't know what to say to Sara. What excuses could I make to her? No matter what I said to her, it would all ring hollow. I wanted to get out of there before Sara woke up. I walked toward the door.


"Bro...ther...?"

With her voice, my legs stopped. I didn't have the courage to turn around.


"You...you are my brother, right?"

Sara continued talking. Each of her words was like a stab in the heart.


"Brother?"

Track—Das Absuchen


"No!"

I spit out the words without thinking.


"Huh...?"


"You're wrong...about me."


"That...can't be. You are my brother, right?"


"No!"

I sensed that Sara was about to get up from the bed so I tried to leave.


"Wait! Brother, wait!"

Her voice sounded just like when she had cried out to me when she was a child, and I froze, unable to move.


"You are my brother.... You are, aren't you?"


"........."

Sara grabbed my shoulders.


"Hey, why don't you say something? Look at me!"

Sara circled around in front of me, all the time holding my shoulders. But I couldn't bear to look Sara in the face and turned away.


"Hey. Why won't you look at me? Hey, look at me. I said, look at me!"


"No, no, no!"

I shook off Sara's hands.


"Aaah!"


"Sara!"

Sara threw her arms around me hugging me tightly. Sara's eyes stared directly at me.


"Why? Why are you denying me? You are my brother, right? You are, aren't you?"


"No, no. I'm..."


"Why not? I know you are! You're my brother...my brother! I waited for you. I waited and waited! I waited forever for you to come! Brother..."

Sara fell to the ground, and I said nothing to her. I just ran out of the room.

That's right, I ran away. I ran from Sara and from my past...

Track—Gedaechtnisschwund



All I could do was just keep running away from Sara and my past. I was such a coward. Overcome by the memories that had come rushing back to me, I had run away from my sister...I couldn't even accept my own weakness. I denied myself. It was less scary than acknowledging what I had done.

I...I...I was such a coward. Had I known this would happen...I would have never wanted my memory back...Things were better when I didn't remember anything...

Crouched there in the corner, I was paralyzed. I couldn't face Sara...my own sister...all I could do was watch the time pass by.

....







As long as I couldn't remember that, I felt incomplete. As if the essence of my existence were concentrated into my name. As long as I couldn't remember my name, I couldn't feel complete. That was how I felt. No matter how much else I remembered, that one point escaped me. Then I thought back...about what it was that had made me lose my memory. The massive guilt I felt toward Sara...I wondered if that was why I had repressed my memory.

But there was too much about that theory that didn't make sense. I had lost my memory before meeting Sara...and before the accident at LeMU. And I couldn't remember what I was doing just before then, or why I had come to LeMU. It might have been that I had seen Sara at LeMU... and then it had happened...But something didn't seem right about that either.

I couldn't imagine why only my name and recent events would not come back to me. I had already remembered Sara...It would make sense for me to remember everything. I wondered what kind of amnesia...it might be...

[Music—Stop]



The next instant, warning alarms started shrieking. All around me the squeal of straining metal echoed from the structure. The shaking continued on and off.

W-what...

I ran out of the room.



I noticed something strange as I emerged in the corridor. Water was flowing in. I couldn't believe that water could have reached here.


"Kid!"


"You, what is this? Did something happen?"


"I'll explain later. For now just hurry over here."


"W-what?"


"I found a way out!"


"Where?"


"I'll explain it later. Just hurry up!"

With those words of encouragement, You started running.

Track—IBF Notfall

She turned the corner heading for stairs leading to an emergency corridor.


"What about everybody else?"


"Takeshi is going to get Mayo. Tsugumi is already at the emergency corridor."

We dashed toward the stairs to the emergency corridor.



Takeshi, Tsugumi and Sara were already gathered there.


"Hurry, we don't have much time."


"What happened?"


"Just hurry."

Saying that, he started running ahead of everyone else. Tsugumi followed suit.


"Listen. LeMU is already starting to collapse."

You pushed my back, encouraging me. I started running.


"We were finally able to make contact with the surface and now the emergency stairs are accessible. But if we don't hurry, they're going to flood. So just hurry."

You explained the situation from behind me. I followed Takeshi and Tsugumi as we sprinted the distance of the emergency stairs.



Takeshi and Tsugumi were already climbing.


"Hurry! This way!"

Takeshi's voice rang down from above. I ran following the sound of their footsteps. As we were trying to escape, LeMU began to shake and screech as metal clashed with metal. But we just kept climbing, moving toward the top. Only the sound of everyone's labored breathing and running footsteps on stairs echoed throughout the emergency stairs.

....


"Just a little more! We're almost there!"

Takeshi shouted up ahead. Takeshi's voice was full of hope. It was then that we realized it.


"Mayo...Mayo...Mayo isn't here!"

You shouted it.


"Huh?"


"What'd you say?"

I stopped and looked back. You stood on the stairs, stunned and looking downward.


"What happened? She was right behind me!"


"What happened?"

Takeshi and the others came down the stairs.


"Takeshi, Mayo...Mayo isn't here!"


"Geez...Didn't you check to see that she was behind you?"


"She was right behind me from the start! Part way up I got so into climbing..."

[Music—Stop]



At the same time, the lights that dimly lit the stairs went out.


"Damn! A blackout. We can't go back now. If we double back, everyone's a goner!"


"But!"


"I'll go."


"Huh?"


"I'll go back. Everybody keep going."

Without waiting for a reply, I started rushing down the stairs I had just climbed.


"Hey, Kid!"


"It's impossible! It's already starting to flood. What do you think you're going to do?"

Their voices rang out behind me.


"Swim!"


"It's pitch black below!"


"No problem! I can see!"

I could actually see the different parts of the stairs by their different temperatures. It was the first time that I had ever been thankful for my unusual vision.

Track—Kopfsprung



It looked like the emergency power had already died. I wondered where Sara might be. I thought frantically. If she had turned back partway then she probably wouldn't have made it to Dritte stock.

But I couldn't be sure. If she had gone all the way down to Dritte stock...then I would never make it in time if I looked around Zweite stock first. I didn't know what to do...I had to decided whether I would start looking on Dritte stock or from Zweite stock...



To veterans of the game:  Feel free to vote towards the Bad End here. The thread's been voting spot on towards the Good Ends, so it might be interesting to hit the Bad End first since it's the last time we'll find one in the game.