Part 225: Post-Intermission

Yeah. He said the Earth Cradle had been transformed by the Magus System and Machine Cells going out of control. That's likely what changed the Earth Cradle from an artificial hibernation facility meant to preserve seeds... To the main headquarters of the Ancestors, headed up by Magus.

: On the Moon Cradle, D.O.M.E. controlled a defense system which used G-Bits... In which case, the Ancestors' mobile weapons were probably intended to defend the Earth Cradle, originally.

: Then... What exactly is the Magus System...?

: It's most likely something similar to D.O.M.E.

: So, does that mean... The woman called Magus is...

The Earth Cradle's supervisor... Or she could be its core functionality itself.

: But that woman looked human enough.

There are precedents for people who look like humans on the outside...



: (.........)

It's possible that Magus was once Dr. Anzai's friend Sophia Nate, who was a key member of Project Ark... But now she's been changed into the Ancestors' central system, which plans to wipe out all of mankind.



: (.........) Now that you mention it, her follower, that Egret boy, did give off a strongly mechanical impression.

: Yeah. And there are more of him with the same face. What the heck's their deal?

: They don't seem to be cyborgs or cloned humans, but...



: Machine Cells... They appeared to resemble the nanomachines spread by the Moonlight Butterfly, but...

: I think it's highly likely that in the great disaster of old, the Ancestors used Machine Cells to destroy the underground forces.

: ...The Moonlight Butterfly had enough power to reduce the Earth's civilization to sand. It would be a safe assumption to make that the Ancestors' Machine Cells have a similar level of power.

: (.........) Banjou, see if you can speed up the analysis of the data related to the Ancestors.

Got it.

[SCENE CHANGE]



: What'cha up to, Poncho?

: J-Jiron!?



: Hey! You're not trying to pocket all the Blue Stones and run, are you!?

: H-how disrespectful! I'll have you know...!

: You'll have us know what?

: Er...

: S-since a major battle was coming up, I thought I'd go pick up some provisions and supplies at a Bazaar...

: You're tellin' the truth...?

: Er... Well...





: Yes, that's it! Exactly! So perceptive, Miss Elche!

: Fine... Sorry for doubting you.

: All right, Poncho, I'll let you take care of shopping, so use your haggling skills to bring back some good stuff.

: We're counting on you, Poncho.

: Hoo boy... I'm driven like a slave up to the very end...

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Well, this is it, the home stretch. We're just five missions away from the end of the game. If you thought any of the previous missions were brutal, you haven't seen anything yet.