Part 215: [continued]
Listen in: [English/Japanese]
I think so.
What should we do?
Are we going to dig her out?
No no, I don't think we'll have to do anything like that.
If I just...
I pulled the key off my ankle and fitted it into the hole.
I twisted it to the right until I heard something unlock.
With a quiet grinding, the grave began to shift...
VLR OST: [Portentousness]
It doesn't look like a coffin...
Yeah. It's a treatment pod.
Oh my God...
It is, isn't it...
The glass on the cover had frosted over, making it opaque.
We couldn't see who, or what, was in it.
She grabbed ahold of the lever on the side of the pod...
No good. I think it's locked.
What?
Stage two will be complete in ten minutes.
Once stage two is complete, the lock will automatically disengage.
What?
These pods can put people into cold sleep.
It uses something called CAS to freeze human bodies without destroying their cells.
So Ms. Akane's like an ice cube?
I think so.
Then we've gotta wait till she melts?
Yeah.
[Music fades out]
Specifically... Why do you know Akane?
...
...
What do you remember?
Everything.
999 OST: [Eternitybox]
A rhizome is an underground plant stem that spreads by sending out roots.
Kind of makes sense, doesn't it? This facility is a little like a rhizome.
Supposedly that's why they call these installations that.
The number comes from the facility's number.
There are fifty-four Rhizomes on the Moon, and this is the ninth one.
In any event, I grew up here with Akane and Zero Sr.
I watched them create the AB Project...
The AB Project...?
Yes. Its purpose is to send Phi and Sigma—or their consciousnesses, at least—to the past.
Back forty-five years, right?
Yes.
So you want us to change history, huh?
Go back and keep Radical-6 from getting out and stop the reactors from exploding.
That's our mission?
What do you mean?
It's true that the ultimate goal of the project is to keep Radical-6 from spreading to the general population.
But even if you do make it back, you won't be able to do much.
By now, it's already too late.
Too late?
What do you mean?
Let me begin at the beginning.
But that's not entirely correct.
They only followed the histories they'd already seen.
It was the only choice they had.
Nothing less than the future of mankind is at stake.
We need the two of you to jump through timelines while maintaining your memories.
By forcing multiple options, you could make numerous jumps.
We speculated that jumping more would strengthen your memories.
Some theories hold that the moment of insight when you solve a puzzle strengthens your connection to the fourth dimension.
That was the reason for the puzzles.
By slowing down your brains' processing speed, we can store your "potential."
With that "energy" stored up, we just had to provide a life-or-death situation to launch your consciousness into the fourth dimension...
[Music fades out]
...
...
You keep talking about Sigma and Phi...
But what about the rest of us?
Why did you bring us here?
In earlier histories, you were all here in Rhizome 9.
We needed you here to accurately replicate those histories.
...
...
In a sense, though, it is the truth. Our primary goal was to replicate history, the rest is...
...
...
...Yes, I suppose I should explain. Very well.
I will try and do so in a way you can understand.
VLR OST: [Clarification]
They were abducted forty-five years and one month ago, on December 22nd, 2028.
The location is Earth, of course. More specifically, Los Angeles, California. Correct?
Y-Yes...
Yeah...
After being kidnapped, your bodies were sent to a facility under Akane's direction.
You were placed in treatment pods and immediately put into cold sleep.
Four months later you arrived at this facility.
The date you finally arrived was April 14th, 2029.
Your trip from Earth to this facility was aboard a spaceship powered by an annihilation engine.
Following your arrival, your pods were placed in long-term storage.
Does that make sense?
Yes. In preparation for this day.
But...why? What do you need us for?
You are an esper, aren't you Clover?
I mean that you are able to access the fourth dimension. Am I wrong?
Did Akane tell you?
In a manner of speaking...
As I've already explained, the purpose of this project is to send Sigma and Phi's consciousnesses to the past.
Espers are able to sort of...resonate with one another, which can amplify their power.
You understand? This is why we brought you here, Clover.
...
...
We needed your help, Alice, to deactivate Dio's bombs.
Huh? But...I didn't do anything...
But you did. In another history.
You were able to perform a prime decomposition on the 25-digit integer that Dio left behind.
Only you could do that sort of thing.
Then we were able to question him and get the password for the number three one.
Finally, we used that information to stop the detonation in this timeline.
This history exists because of your presence.
...
...
Tenmyouji is simple: We needed you for the same reason we needed Clover.
You are able to access the fourth dimension.
Almost half a century ago, you used that ability to save a young girl, didn't you?
Yeah, I did...
We needed you to resonate with Sigma and Phi, so we brought you here.
All it took was a messenger...
"Do you want to see Akane? If you do, come with me."
I was a fool and fell for it...
...And you brought Quark with you.
In fact, you insisted that he come.
Yeah, I know.
I guess you were worried about leaving me alone, huh?
He kept saying he couldn't run off to the moon and leave me behind...
I'm sorry, Quark...
If I hadn't been so stupid and selfish, none of this would have happened to you...
I never thought this would happen... Can you ever forgive me?
Oh, don't worry about it. I mean, I agreed to come with you.
I thought the Moon would be way more interesting than boring old Earth.
What kid would turn that down?
It was on autopilot. As soon as we got in, it headed straight for the moon.
During the trip, Zero told me to keep quiet once we got there.
I don't remember anything after we landed.
Then there was a bunch of that white smoke, and we passed out.
And when I woke up, I was in the AB Room.
...
...
His real name is "Left," and he's the leader of a terrorist organization called the Myrmidons.
He was ordered to come here.
The Myrmidons are under the control of an organization called "Free the Soul," which is in turn controlled by a man known as "Brother."
It was Brother who orchestrated the release of Radical-6 into the general population forty-five years ago.
The ultimate purpose of the AB Project is to change history and keep Radical-6 from being released.
If we succeed, that would be bad for Brother and his organization.
Our success would prevent them from creating the ideal world they're working toward.
That is why Brother sent Left, his trusted lieutenant, to this facility.
They needed to stop the AB Project...
So, Dio was given two tasks.
The first was to eliminate Akane, the architect of the AB Project.
The second was to join the AB Game, and win it.
If Dio won the game, the AB Project would not be completed, at least not in that timeline.
In other words, in that world the project would have been stopped.
If things didn't go as planned, Dio was given a contingency plan.
Destroy Rhizome 9."
Hence, the bombs.
...
...
Perhaps.
How did Brother know about the AB Project?
He was also an esper.
...
...
We can set Brother aside for now, though.
May I proceed?
No one objected.
We were all curious.
Excellent.
That explains everyone, save two...
I don't believe I should reveal any more, however.
I think it would be more appropriate if you could ask Luna yourselves, at a later time.
Would that be all right with you? Luna?
Y-Yes. That's okay.
As I said before, I was born and raised here.
The rest of you were brought to this facility, but I've never left.
That makes me someone close to Zero Sr. and Akane.
[Music fades out]
Hey, I've been wondering...
Who is Zero Sr.?
You've already met him, Sigma. In another timeline...
Yeah. Well, I saw a hologram.
TP-00 unlocking...
Shall we open the pod?
Yeah, let's do it.
All of us gathered around the pod.
The glass was still covered with frost, hiding the contents.
Let's get started then.
Ready?
Phi laid her hand on the lever and looked around at us.
I swallowed.
Yeah. Any time.
All right. Here we go.
Three... Two... One...
999 OST: [Trepidation]
Wh-What...?
The warehouse of floor B... In front of the white door...
K was lying in front of me. I grabbed his mask and saw—
Why was there a man with my face underneath K's armor?
It didn't make sense...
After I'd seen him, I was injected with tubocurarine, and that was the end of that.
But...wait.
If the person in the pod was the same person I'd seen on the floor of the warehouse...
[Music fades out]
Listen in: [English/Japanese]
Didn't I tell you?
"You won't be alone."
"I will be at your side, watching over you."
No... Oh my God... You're...
Yes...
I am...
