Part 75: Episode LXXII: Fei Fong Wong is Back in the Saddle

Episode LXXII: Fei Fong Wong is Back in the Saddle

Music: Leftover Dreams of the Strong


“That mob just goes from bad to worse!"
”To dead.”
"Do you not think it is about time you told your son the truth, old friend? You were not just wandering around drinking and picking fights, were you? I am sure he wants to know what you have been up to... Is that right, Billy?"
"Yes, it would certainly make me feel a lot better. I now know my dad was worried about me the whole time, but I haven't worked out my feelings yet..."
"What do you mean?"
”Cuz you should know I wasn’t JUST going around drinking and picking fights, but I’m still damn good at that if you’re gonna give me more sass...”
"Well, I'm glad Prim can speak now, but she only calls out for her father... But I am the one who has been taking care of her all this time... What's wrong with her...?"
”I nearly took it up the a—“
“...?”
“...I’ve done a lot for her.”
"Calm down, Billy.... I am sure she is just being shy. She will start calling out for you soon. Why, my own daughter does not even call out her father's name!"
”Daughter...? Who’d you knock up?”
“My wife, Yui... Several years ago.”
“Oh... What happened to them?”
“They are...umm...around...”
“Tch. And you’re givin’ me shit for being a deadbeat dad.”
"So, old friend... Why were you working alone all that time?"
"It couldn't be helped... Anyway, I'll probably need your help from here on... I'll tell you more. Let's go to the gun room... to get something to drink."

A change of scenery and several shots later...


“That was the 'Malakh' (M) Plan. And it was done under the command of Krelian... In order to proceed with the plan, many Lambs were gathered by the 'Ethos', to become guinea pigs. Or, should I say, to become Reapers or -Wels-...“
”I can never remember what you’re supposed to call them ugly sons of bitches... Are they the same thing?”
“Pretty much.”
“Solaris never could be happy without giving everything three different names with some random ass punctuation in at least one of ‘em.”
“Since I was disgusted with Solaris' methods, I decided to investigate it further. I found out that the main scientist central to the M Plan moved the true facts about it into a test-Gear. Then he let that test-Gear escape with his daughter, so that the truth would not be discovered... And that, I'm afraid, was the last information that I was able to obtain... Because of what I found out, I came down to the surface world... And this is where I hid, along with my wife, Racquel, and son Billy. I've been looking for that Gear and the girl ever since. Finally, I found out that the scientist's daughter and Gear may be in Shevat. All very well, except now I don't know how in blazes to get there, or even how to contact the place. Well, Shevat is protected by a strong barrier that even Solaris can't do anything about... So I guess you can say it can't be helped... It's just my luck!"
”Plus, unless someone wants to shoot me out of another soddin’ cannon, I can’t exactly get up there in the first place...”
“That girl's name wouldn't happen to be Maria...?”


Fei and the Shevat Agent we rescued from the Ethos HQ waltz in. Remember? The one that talked...............like...................this.................?


"Yes, I can stand and can even walk now... Thank you."
"I'm alright, too."
”Besides, I’ve been asleep for like a month already!”
“It was three days, Fei.”
“Whatever! I’ve missed like a month worth of crap. My notes are SO far behind... Ugh.”
"Maria, eh...? Hmm... If I remember right, her father's name was Nikolai?"
"I don't know that much... But I have heard rumors about a girl and a Gear."
"Hmm, it's got to be them. So that huge Gear is in Shevat then!"
”Shevat!”
“Yes...”
“Oh uh...sorry... I just...ya know...heard about that before... _{I am SO confused...}”
"So then... how can we get to this Shevat? Is there a way to contact the place?"
"Unfortunately since I was taken captive I have no way of contacting them either."
“I see...”
“!!”


“They say there is a communication facility to contact Shevat's native country on top of the tower. If only it still exists..."
"Hmm... There is a good possibility the facility may have been destroyed... Especially when you consider the fact that the tower was sealed by the 'Ethos'."
"You're being pessimistic again..."
"I am just being realistic."
”You’re being a jackass. Again.”
“...”


" As long as the gate exists, we can't escape from Solaris' influence anyway. In other words, even if we recover Aveh from Shakhan, it wouldn't immediately be a happy ending."
”It’d be like one of those meh endings where it sort of works as a series finale but you still know the following season just got cancelled and it’s not really that satisfying.”
"Their 'secret plan' bothers me, too... The real secret is that they are using humans gathered from earth..."
"But I don't quite get this secret plan and the 'Ethos' involvement and so on... What in the hell does Solaris think us surface dwelling humans are!?"
*looks at Elly* "...Sorry. I totally forgot that it was your country..."
“It’s okay. I’ve kind of come to terms my country is full of dicks...”
*shakes head* "What my country's doing... has nothing to do with me. I myself thought something was wrong there, and that's why I came here... So, don't worry about me."
"We've got nothing to lose, so let's try to go there. We need to find the truth about those documents found in the 'Ethos' H.Q. and what Billy's father said. And I must go to Shevat too for my own personal reasons anyway."
”I’m totally just winging it and assuming a bunch of that on half understood info. But...everyone agrees, right...?”
*shrug* “Close enough...”


I think this sentence triggers an automatic pain response in half of the people who’ve played this game...

Meanwhile, in the void...


"Yes. I have obtained a colony of nanomachines."
“How unsound.”
“In any case, is the M Project proceeding as planned? We need superior bodies and servants.”
“We've spent far too much time here. We can't afford to mistake the ultimate destination of this new civilization.”
“They exist because of their 'mother'.”
"Hmm. You've betrayed your 'mother', your 'creator', just to sustain your own egos. You have no right to speak so..."
“That was... foolish, that was the past. When we were trapped in that cursed flesh... But now, it is different.
"I'll take no orders from you. You have lost that flesh long ago, and now reside in the SOL-9000 as data. Did you forget who revived you in there? What may be an eternity to man is but a moment to a god. I have no need for hesitation."


Well, we finally get to learn something about the Gazel Ministry. Apparently they’re all dead and were revived as AI in the Satellite of Love-9000 by Krelian. If they get uppity then he’ll send them cheesy movies. The worst he can find. La-la-la. Interesting...


Oh well...the dreaded Babel Tower lies ahead. Pack a cooler, it’s gonna be a long one...










Krelian Portrait – Nice tiara, ace.