Giant Robots And The Women Who Pilot Them: Let's Play Baldr Sky

Now for a quick language lesson...

Most Japanese iconographs have two pronunciations or readings.

One reading is used when the character is a word by itself, or when it's part of someone's name. For example, 山　is the character for 'mountain' and is pronounced "Yama". It's also part of some common names. 山田 is pronounced "Yamada" and is about as common as "Smith" is for English last names.

Another reading is used when the character is part of a compound word. For example, 山 for "mountain" plus 火 for "fire" creates 火山, a volcano, which is pronounced "Kazan" - the "Yama" character is read "Zan" when it's placed together with other characters.

空, by itself, is pronounced "Sora". In a compound word, it's pronounced "Kuu". Its English meaning is "Sky" - as in "Baldr Sky".

The LP will be off schedule this week due to Thanksgiving (EDIT - Won't be back until Tuesday next week.) For today, however -

TO BE CONTINUED

Aaand we're back. Did you think I would forget you? Insert amnesia joke.

It feels like a recap is in order, because the previous installment was way the hell back on the previous page. I already don't remember it. Insert amnesia joke.

In the present, Kou stays the night at a virtual replica of Kisaragi Dorm, built by Aki from leftover data. Before they sleep, Rain asks him if he wouldn't rather abandon fighting and live a normal life, but Kou refuses. Tragic as the truth was, he doesn't want to live in ignorance any longer.

When he falls alseep, Kou's dreams turn into a flashback of when he met the elder Minazuki sister: Sora, who is inexplicably a perfect mirror image of Kuu. Only her appearance matches, however, as she turns out to be argumentative ditz. Kou is still impressed that Sora has the courage to never back down from a challenge.

Back to the show...

All the bags carried in, Nanoha and Sora cook dinner in the kitchen. More accurately, Nanoha cooks, and Sora is a useless airhead.


Nanoha: "Wait! That's not sugar, it's salt!"
Sora: "I-I totally knew that! It's a secret ingredient that brings out the hidden flav- THBPLPT!!! THE FLAVOR, IT'S NOT HIDING!"


Masa: "She's high on life, yeah?"
Aki: "Or something."
Chinatsu: "*sigh*... I'll go buy us some drinks while we have time, 'kay? Masa, give me a hand."
Masa: "At once, milady Chinatsu!"

Tired of waiting for something resembling food to emerge from the kitchen, Chinatsu takes Masa with her on an errand.

Aki: "They're having fun... but I'm hungry."

And Aki is showing even less patience, if also less willingness to get up off her cushion.

Kou: "They're doing their best, Aki, so just wait a bit."
Aki: "*whine*... okay."
Makoto: "... I'll... help."

Unable to just sit and watch any more, Makoto gets up and scampers into the kitchen, leaving Kou and Aki alone.


Aki: "Ooooh... too hungry to sleep, but so tired because I'm hungry..."
Kou: "Look, Aki. I need to ask you -"
Aki: "Questions after food."
Kou: "What's going on? Kuu and that Sora girl have exactly the same face."
Aki: "Trade secret."
Kou: "Throw me a bone, here! I won't tell anyone!"
Aki: "Sorry, wake me when dinner's here... sleepy."
Kou: "Wait, Aki!"
Aki: "*snrrrrrk*"

Ignoring his pleas, Aki escapes into sleep.

... Although she's not wrong about how long it's taking for dinner. It's been quite some time, but with not so much as a sliver of food to show for it.

Kou decides to go visit Kuu and ask her directly. Not that he really holds out any hope she'll actually answer. Kou closes his eyes and dives into the ocean of the Net...


Kou: "Helloooo? You here?"
Kuu: "Here! Here! Heeeeeeere!"

As if she'd been waiting with bated breath for Kou to arrive, Kuu waves her hand in the air and scrambles towards him at a dash. Almost like a puppy, Kou thinks, and just as he does, Kuu crosses the last distance...


Kuu: "Kou!"

And jumps into Kou's arms, embracing him.

Kou: "W-whoa...!?"
Kuu: "Hug... hug!"
Kou: "'Hug'? Who taught you to do that?"
Kuu: "Hug!"

She rubs her face against Kou like a cat. Cyberspace NPC or not, she's still a warm, soft presence in Kou's arms. He's not exactly unhappy, be damn is this embarassing.

Kuu: "Mmmm?"
Even from up close, she resembles Minazuki Sora. No, not "resembles" - they're identical in every detail.
Of course, Sora wouldn't rush him for a hug like this.
Kou: "She'd probably punch my face off first."
As nonchalantly as he can manage, Kou peels himself out of Kuu's arms.

Kuu: "Eheheh."
Just as always, Kuu beams a smile without a trace of a shadow on her face. It's a bizarre experience for Kou. When he met Sora, it was almost as if a girl from his dreams had jumped out into the real world... until she opened her mouth.
Kou: "Hey, do you know a girl named Minazuki Sora?"
Kuu: "Sola! Miranuki Sola!"
No way to tell if that counts as "yes" or "no". Although Kou can't imagine they're totally unrelated to one another... Aki refused to give Kou any details, but simple common sense would suggest that Sora is the original and Kuu an NPC created using Sora's appearance as a model.
It's rather unusual to pick a random, ordinary school girl as the model of an NPC rather than some celebrity or performer... but if that's all there was to it, why would Aki consider it a secret worth hiding?
Kuu: "Nnh?"
She smiles innocently. Well, obviously Kou isn't going to learn anything from her. After talking to Kuu for a bit, Kou says his goodbyes and leaves the virtual plain.
...
Leaving virtual reality is much like waking up from a dream. At the moment you return to reality, you recall the sensations of your physical body.
Sora: "Whoops!?"
Kou: "HURK!?!?"
Such as, for example, the sensation of a crushing weight on your midsection, accompanied by a sharp pain.

Sora: "Um, teehee. ... Hi."
Kou's vision is filled with a rather attractive face. Kuu is kneeling on his stomach.
Kou: "Yeah, hi... Waitaminute."
This is reality. Not cyberspace. Which means that he's currently nose to nose with Minazuki Sora, not Kuu.
Kou and Sora: "YEEEEEEAAAAARRRRRGHHH!"
Kou reflexively shoves Sora off of him and stands up.

Sora: "Ohmigod that startled me. H-hey, what was that shove for!?"
Kou: "What were you doing just sitting... huuurgh!?"
Kou's interrupted when he finally realizes that he's in a lot of pain. Looking down, a blanket is scattered on the floor, and next to him Aki, asleep, has been covered with a blanket.
Kou: "... You tried to put a blanket on me and tripped?"
Sora: "Uh, hahahahaha. Yes."
Which explains the shout he heard right after logging out. Kou doubles up in pain and kneels on the floor.
Sora: "I'm really sorry, are you okay? When I tripped, I kinda landed on you, um, knee-first."
Kou: "It's nothing compared to when you kicked me in the crotch earlier."
Sora: "Rrrrgh."
Kou: "It's the thought that counts, right? I guess you're nicer than you look."
Sora: "And what does that mean!? Anyway, I only brought a blanket to cover up your snoring!"
Kou: "I was logged in, not sleeping. I wasn't snoring."
Sora: "What!? How rude! You went and logged in to the Net while someone was cooking you dinner?"
Kou: "I got tired of waiting. And what happened with the cooking, anyway?"
As if in reply, Nanoha and Makoto's voices drift in from the kitchen.

Nanoha: "Wow, Makoto-chan... have you been practicing cooking?"
Makoto: "Es..."
Kou: "........ They kicked your ass out of the kitchen, didn't they?"
Sora: "D-did not! I just decided to leave all the glory to my adorable little sister and her new friend!"
Kou: "Should've done that from the start."
Sora: "Say that again louder, jerk."
Kou: "Oh, I wouldn't dream of saying anything about you, nope!"
Sora: "Ooooh! Man up and say it to my face!"
Glaring, Sora advances threateningly.
Sora: ".........."
From up close, her face really is a mirror of Kuu's. The same soft, pink lips. Kou involuntarily wonders if a kiss from her would feel the same as it did from Kuu.
Sora: "You just thought something dirty, didn't you?"
Kou: "Wh--! Why would I think something like that at a time like this!?"
Dammit, she's not as airheaded as she looks!
Sora: "Fine then. I just can't help being suspicious after you made such a bad first impression."
Kou: "Why you little--!"
Aki: "*snrrk*.... mmbrgSHUSH! ...."
They pause for a moment until Aki settles back down to sleep.

Kou: "Finish this outside?"
Sora: "I'll take you on, jerk."

Sora: "And? What were you gonna say to me?"
Kou: "Didn't you have something to say to me?"
Sora: "Mmmm...."
Sora: "I dunno. I forgot what I was going to say."

Sora's expression turns slightly puzzled. Nope, Kou decides, she's really an airhead through and through.

Sora: "........."
Kou: "W-what."
Sora: "You after Mako-chan?"
Kou: "Huh!? What brought THAT out?"
Sora: "Oh, shut it and just fess up. I might even give permission if..."
Sora: "Nope, not happening. Mako-chan's not ready to date some boy who pilots mecha."
Kou: "How did you know that about me?"
Sora: "My agent program just told me. A little whisper in my head from the AI, right?"
Kou: "... A Seconder's special privilege, huh?"


Sora: "Yep. Just like you, I'm connected to the AI 24/7."

She says it with the confident expression of a girl who feels the AI is her friend and ally.

???: "Kou-san..."

Kou opens his eyes lying on top of a bed of grass. A trickle of blood wends slowly out of his nose. He straightens up to see...


Rain: "Are you all right, Kou-san?"
Kou: "Rhain?"

... Arval City. Right, he and Rain had woken early to start Kou's remedial training in close-quarters combat.

Rain: "Pardon me, sir. My hand slipped."

Rain hands him a tissue with a look of apology. Rain's strike had landed right in Kou's center of mass. ... His nose hurts.

Kou: "It'sh noffing. If thish were a real fhight, I'dh already be dead."

Hard to pull off the "stoic commanding officer" thing while nursing a nosebleed.

Rain: "Let's call it a day for close-quarters combat, then."
Rain: "Don't move your head, sir."
Kou: "Right... but you're a tough customer, Rain. I don't feel like I have a snowball's chance in hell of beating you."
Rain: "You're by no means weak, sir. You've simply forgotten how to fight."
Rain: "However, there is one matter of which you must be careful."
Kou: "What would that be?"

No doubt he'll remember it eventually, but if there's something that important, Kou hopes she'll teach it to him straight out.

Rain: "Yes, quite... I'll give you a lesson, so please prepare yourself for simulacrum combat."
Kou: "Thanks, that'll be just the thing... Wait, are you saying simulacra have an effect on physical combat?"
Rain: "In this day and age, the Net even extends to your mind itself."

By which she means what, exactly? That skill at mecha translates into skill at manipulating your real body? Kou's certainly heard the reverse theory. Well, one way or another, working with mecha is far more up Kou's alley.


Rain: "For now, we should change locations. Shifting to simulacrum inside Arval City is strictly forbidden."
Kou: "Then shall we head to the Arena?"
Rain: "No, let's leave Ark Industries entirely for a time. Today will be a special lesson."

CHAPTER 6 --- MIND HACK

The smoggy air of Suzushiro City greets them after disconnecting from the Net and leaving Ark's corporate office.

Kou: "They took proper care of our bodies while we were logged in."

A fair chunk of time has passed since the two of them were automatically logged in by passing through Seira's door.

Rain: "It's certainly an odd feeling. It's almost as if we had gone to a parallel dimension from here."

Rain stretches briefly, and Kou copies her, with a deep breath for good measure. The real world's air does not compare well with Ark's.

Kou: "So, what exactly is this 'special lesson' you have planned?"

Rain: "That would be telling, sir."

They arrive at the same sketchy hotel they've used before.

Kou: "You're teaching me something here?"

Rain: "Yes... It's best if we ensure we won't be interrupted."

Kou: "No interruptions... a special lesson..."

In a seedy pay-by-the-hour hotel. It can only mean one thing...

[1. SCORE!!!!!!]

[2. Training for an unusual situation, of course.]

TO BE CONTINUED

Voting is open until Thursday. Although, as you can probably guess, this decision is mostly for the lulz.

Well, I guess we'll go straight arrow this time. Clearly Rain is training us for unusual situations.
That unusual situation might be sexy though.

Training for an unusual situation, obviously.

Aw. But it would be funnier if we went with option 1, right? Riiiight?

...Fine, fine, it's 'training for an unusual situation' then.
OPTION 1 ALL THE WAY

"Training" for an ususual situation, if you know what I mean.

Eh, eh?

I am so disappointed in you all. This is the sole protest vote for the sexytimes option.

I change my vote then! SCORE

I also vote for option 1, mainly because I want to see precisely how Kou hilariously misinterprets this situation. It might be a little late at this point, though.

my hats off to you for doing this LP and typing everything off. but as someone who have served in the military for 5 years and having played this game before i must tell you that the rank translation for rain is wrong because Rain is a 少尉 which means she is actually an 2nd Lt if their rank is structured like the US army. a 尉 in the rank indicates a junior commissioned officer. a sergeant is an NCO rank and "technically" many ranks below an junior commissioned officer. the Japanese kanji for sergeant is actually 军曹.
thank you once again for doing this LP.

I've actually looked it up three times and gotten three different answers - my original result of "Ensign", another that says it's equivalent to "Sergeant", and a third that puts her as "Second Lieutenant", like you just wrote. It depends on whether you think the cyber-mecha forces have the same structure as the Army, the Navy, or the Air Force (and which nation's Army, Navy, or Air Force you pick). I'm going to stick with "Sergeant" just to avoid confusion and/or the need to edit my posts and make everything match, but no, these military ranks are not canon.

The important part is that they're both low-ranking officers, but Kou outranks Rain by one step on the hierarchy.

... Of course, the real question with these ranks is who hands them out. Kou and Rain are freelance mercenaries, so who has the power to promote or demote them anyway? Can't they just put anything they want on their business cards like one of those garage startups in Silicon Valley?



Meanwhilst, there has been some highly unorthodox retroactive voting going on here! I'm not quite sure what to do. I'll be starting today's LP a little later, and until then, I've sent a message out for some advice on the matter of counting and recounting votes.

Don't worry, you're in good hands I asked an expert:

i m okay with keeping the rank as sergeant even though the rank of sergeant is not an officer rank. oddly enough though i blame this more on the writer of the game having a shitty understanding of how rank works or maybe is just because i m so very used to how a military should work the north American way. Basically the professional side of the relationship between Kou and Rain is similar to how a platoon leader (the Lt) and his senior sergeants would look like. as to how rank work in the world of baldr sky , i believe it was mentioned here and there briefly in Aki and/or Makoto's route and was focused on in Rain's side story in baldr sky dive x. Its weird but it was something like an officer candidate school for net hackers who wants to be PMC instead of joining any state run militarily branches. Their rank is recorded on the net once they graduate and people could apparently access it to see how impressive of a contractor you are. Still i don't believe they fully explained how rank promotions would work for freelance PMCs in the game at all.

Experts in Florida have convened and determined the results are...

[0. Mitt Romney] - 42,831,290 votes
[1. SCORE!!!!!!] - 3 votes
[2. Training for an unusual situation, of course.] - 3 votes

Hmm.

As Acting President of Cyberspace until Romney can be sworn in, I hereby use my authority as original poster to determine that the result is...

Kou: "You're teaching me something here?"
Rain: "Yes... It's best if we ensure we won't be interrupted."
Kou: "No interruptions... a special lesson..."

In a seedy pay-by-the-hour hotel. It can only mean one thing...


[1. SCORE!!!!!!]

A lurid scene unfolds in Kou's imagination. An experienced older woman, teaching him all the tricks for his first experience... What she's going to teach him?

Rain: "...Lieutenant..."

Apparently Kou's expression betrayed his inner thoughts. Rain's eyes on him turn a little cold.

Rain: "Excuse me. How many times have I told you to focus when we're training!"
Kou: "Of course. I'm not distracted in the slightest."


Rain: "Run laps outside until your head clears."
Kou: "H-hold on, we already did marathon training this morning...!?"

*SMACK*

Rain: "Run! NOW!"

Startled into motion by Rain's swat on his rear, Kou leaves the hotel at a dead run.

...

Several city blocks of running later, Kou and Rain return to the hotel.

Kou: "*pant*... *wheeze*..."
Rain: "*huff*... *huiff*... Settled down now, sir?"


Covered in sweat, Rain favors him with a smile. Even sweaty, she's a stunning woman, her unmistakable scent filling the room...

... but Kou decides he'd better cut it out.

Kou: "OK, I'm set. Start your lesson."
Rain: "Roger."
Rain: "Kou-san, do you recall the phrase 'Access Point'?"
Kou: "Yes, to a point."

Second Generationers are always connected to the Net. From the network's perspective, their neurochips are terminals on the network. That point where the neurochip connects to the larger Net is called its access point. They're guarded by heavy security, and normally, even their existence is camouflaged to other users.

Rain: "That access point can be a great weak point at times."
Kou: "Weak point? By which you mean there's an attack to which they are vulnerable?"
Rain: "Yes... directly attacking a person's neurochip via its access point. It's called a Mind Hack."
Kou: "Hacking a neurochip... That's what you warned me about earlier?"

It is, and Rain continues to explain - although a Mind Hack was only a matter of fiction in Kou's student days, they are now carried out in real life from time to time. Normally a neurochip cannot even be detected, and moves to a safe mode when any interference occurs, shutting off its connection to the Net and protecting the user from a hack, but some rare hackers can pierce that security.

It's still a difficult feat, and even though Seconders are connected to the Net at all times, Rain tells him not to live his life in fear. A hacker must have great skill, specialized knowledge, a suite of certain classified software tools, and a neurochip that meets a number of hardware requirements on the attacker's side in order to commit the hack.

There is, in addition, one powerful defense against a Mind Hack.

Kou: "A powerful defense?"
Rain: "Yes... that will be today's lesson."

Rain's eyes lose focus as she seems to gaze into the distance - accessing the Net, Kou assumes. Then...

Machine Voice: "WARNING! UNAUTHORIZED NEUROCHIP ACCESS DETECTED. ACTIVATE INTERCEPT MODE?"

A klaxon sounds inside Kou's head.

Kou: "Wh-!? The hell!?"

A reflex snaps down in the face of danger --

Kou: "Intercept mode, execute!"

The shining grid of the Ether. Unlike the normal Ether, however, the grid contracts to a circle far overhead, then extends away in an infinite tunnel...

Rain: (You already knew how to activate intercept mode, Kou-san?)
Kou: (No... I just thought, "Oh, shit!" and my mouth was moving before I noticed. I'd prefer if you explained it for me.)
Rain: (Activating intercept mode causes you to immediately dive to this location.)
Rain: (See the circle far above your head? That is your access point, the gateway between you and the Net.)
Kou: (In other words, I meet the intruders here and defend my neurochip to the death... right?)
Rain: (That's my Kou-san. A fast learner as always.)

A mech materializes next to Kou's.


Kou: "That's not your usual mech, Rain."
Rain: "No, I'll be serving as your practice opponent... training or not, my usual support unit would be inappropriate."
Kou: "So you'll play the part of the virtual attacker."
Rain: "Yes, that's right."
Rain: "Now then... since I'm already here, after all, why don't I actually try and access your neurochip?"
Kou: "W-whoa, whoa... you're just kidding me, right?"

Suddenly Kou is a bit nervous.

Rain: "You do realize that I'm quite capable of working through your chip's ICE while still carrying on combat, yes?"
Kou: "Then I'll just have to give you a good thrashing first!"

Open combat!


See, I told you that Kou and Rain fighting was one of the possible events. Heh heh heh.

For this match, Rain pilots a Messer instead of her usual blue support mech. There's basically four levels of enemies in Baldr Sky...

1. Punching bags
2. Enemies that can hurt you, but lack strong moves
3. Enemies with strong moves who follow a predictable pattern
4. Minibosses

All named characters fall in the "Miniboss" class, while the Messer is the first second-tier enemy you encounter.. It's not particularly tough, but can inflict chip damage if you're not careful - in the above screenshot, I'm about to get pegged by a rocket.

Unfortunately for Rain, this isn't my first time at the rodeo. I've actually been playing ahead of the events of the LP in order to remind myself of the plot points and take notes, so it's easier for me to write the "next chapter" previews and take screenshots. I've finished Rain's route once and come back in new game plus mode, which means I have quite a few more moves available then the measly 5-hit melee I had the last time we punched robots.


A personal favorite of the new equipment is an anti-air energy gun that fires straight up. It's a "heat charge" weapon, which means that you hold down the button and get a number of shots proportionate to the amount of heat stored up. Using weapons adds heat until your bar is full, so basically the idea is to make your heat charge weapon the combo finisher so you get the best damage.

The tricky part is making sure the last hit of the combo launches an enemy directly overhead. I use the battleaxe move, which is basically an axe-uppercut that sweeps enemies straight above Kou's mech. In a melee with a bunch of enemies around, air-juggling a target while standing stock still underneath it would invite a damaging counterattack, especially since you take more damage when your mech has a high heat bar. However, this is a one on one fight and I'm not in any danger.


Among the other prizes I've won by clearing the route, by the way, is a plugin that lets me set Rain as a mascot on the game's menu. You can click on the mascot to get a random quote that's usually a joke or some kind of Japanese Internet meme. I have a play time of 32 hours mainly because of time spent with the game paused while taking notes or writing up this LP.

Rain: "I surrender, Lieutenant."

There are a number of battles in Baldr Sky that don't end the game even if you lose, and this is actually one of them - if Rain kicks your ass even while piloting a Messer, you simply see a different conversation here. (Rain is not at all happy to have won and asks if Kou is still not in top form after losing his memory.)

Kou: "You all right, Rain?"
Rain: "Hee hee... I suppose I didn't need to go easy on you after all."

In spite of losing the match, Rain seems quite happy with the result.

Kou: "I do wonder. I don't think I'd have done as well if you were using your custom model."

With her normal support mech spec'd for decoys and jamming, Rain probably could have toyed with him for quite a while.

Rain: "You're too kind... It seems I'm no match for you in a face-to-face battle."

Rain grins, pleased. She appears to put quite a bit of faith into Kou's skills.

Rain: "Let's return, Kou-san."
Kou: "Right."
Kou: "... I mean, wait! Just a minute!"
Rain: "What is it, sir?"
Kou: "Rain... you did stop trying to access my neurochip just now, right?"
Rain: "Yes, of course."
Kou: "Right. Good."
Rain: "Because I was lying. I never started a hack to begin with."
Kou: "Hey!"

Practice over, they return to reality.


Kou: "Owowow!"

The moment he returns to reality, stabbing pains assault Kou, and he collapses onto the hotel bed. It's an odd scene. His real body hasn't suffered so much as a scratch, yet his mind remembers the phantom pain of stabs and slices.

Rain: "....Rgh.... pardon me, Kou-san..."

Apparently suffering the same way, Rain settles onto the bed next to him with a soft moan.

Kou: "... Is that the lesson for today?"
Rain: "Yes, good work, sir."
Kou: "Before we started training, you said this could be a secret weapon... do you mean I have the ability to execute a mind hack as well?"
Rain: "Yes. Once you've grasped the trick, you can use it as a trump card when all else fails."
Kou: "Trump card, eh... not much of a hand to play when it wouldn't work on someone standing right next to you."
Rain: "Attacking from ambush is a fundamental rule of warfare, sir."
Kou: "But with a weapon like this, traditional Net warfare seems like it'll become obsolete."
Rain: "The Mind Hack is an extremely dangerous tactic. It takes some time to lock on to the target, and can't be deployed en masse."
Rain: "When you execute a Mind Hack, you simultaneously reveal your own access point to the enemy."
Kou: "Meaning that if you pick a fight you can't win, you'll bring the enemy right back to your own neurochip."
Rain: "Yes... so there's no need to live your life constantly in fear of a Mind Hack."
Kou: "Well, that's a relief."
Rain: "Please don't worry, Kou-san."

Rain sits up and looks down at him. Her clear eyes meet his without blinking, and her golden hair brushes softly across his face.

Kou: "Rain...?"
Rain: "... I am an experienced Support specialist, sir. As long as I'm by your side, I will not permit anyone a chance to Mind Hack you."

Her eyes are serious. Kou can't think of anything to say. Unexpectedly, Rain reaches her hand out to stroke Kou's cheek, her finger soft on his skin. Kou feels his gaze sucked towards Rain's lips, and...

Rain: "Excellent work with the training, sir. Please continue at this pace."
Kou: "S, sure."

... snaps back to his senses. Rain springs off the bed, energized.

Rain: "Shall we eat? Although there's nothing but the usual rations."
Kou: "Yes, let's."

TO BE CONTINUED

Life will briefly imitate art this weekend, as I take a trip to spend time with a friend from my college days that I haven't seen in 5 years. However, no major cities have been destroyed by orbital killsats during that time. We simply parted by taking jobs in opposite directions of the country. (Ironically, given what I'm doing when I post this, she was the one who decided to spend a year in Japan teaching English.)

The Let's Play will continue next Tuesday.

The meal over, Rain addresses Kou.


Rain: "Lieutenant, I have a report."
Kou: "What is it?"
Rain: "I've finished analyzing the data extracted from Eddy."
Kou: "Let's hear it."

Rain had said this hotel was safe against eavesdropping. No doubt this is another reason they departed Ark for the lesson - it would not be surprising if all conversations in Arval City were recorded by its administrators. Here, Kou and Rain can discuss the data safely, no matter its content.

Rain: "It's data about persons of interest who may have been involved with the Drexler Group's hideout."
Kou: "This is... a list of city representatives? You don't mean someone from the city's Parliament has ties to Drexler?"
Rain: "It's been the same story up until now. The powerful and influential are always drawn to forbidden technology..."
Rain: "... I apologize, sir. You still don't remember much of that."
Kou: "No, thanks for the reminder. So - who do you suspect?"
Rain: "I've drawn up a list of Suzushiro Parliament's representatives. I'll send you the data, sir."


Rain: "Among the 63 representatives, 12 of them appear to be fairly influential... I'm beginning the investigation with them."

Kou looks down the list of 12 highlighted names. His eye stops on a particular two.

Rain: "Those are the two most powerful of the representatives. Rivals with opposing ideologies and bases of support."

She indicates one name, "Anan Yoshio" on the list.

Rain: "The current mayor. He's the leader of pro-AI sentiment, and has deep connections to nanotech and biotech industries."

Then Rain moves to the succeeding name, "Yomeuchi Takeshi".

Rain: "An anti-AI hawk. He's popular with the conservatives in Midspire, and has links with the Global Union Army forces stationed in Suzushiro."
Kou: "Even the city parliament is split into pro- and anti-AI."
Rain: "It's not just a matter of ideology, either. Anan is the former Minister of Defense, with a great deal of influence in the City Defense Force."
Rain: "Yomeuchi, on the other hand, came from the Foreign Service. He's often accused of being a puppet of the Global Union Army."
Kou: "So they get along like cats and dogs."
Rain: "Yes, since in practice, the CDF and the GUA are politically opposed to each other."
Kou: "And out of the two, the one you think is involved with the hideout would be...?"
Rain: "Determining that is my next job."

Rain says that with a sigh.

Kou: "Sorry... I'm counting on you, Rain."
Rain: "No need for concern. Data processing is my specialty, sir."
Kou: "Then let's return to Ark. It should be a safe base for now."
Rain: "Yes, Lieutenant."

Machine Voice: "Confirmed. Authorizing login to Arval City."


Kou: "Sorry to drag you along, Rain."
Rain: "No, there's nothing to apologize for, sir. If not for you, I would never have even received an account here."

Rain casts an approving look at their peaceful surroundings.

???: "Come on, give me some real advice."

Kou hears a familiar voice from nearby.

Rain: "What is it, Kou-san?"
Kou: "Uh, well... just a minute."

Kou heads towards the voice.


NPC: "Understood. Booting personal counselor interface."

Next to the NPC, a woman stands with her back turned to Kou. Her tied hair waves in the wind.

???: "OK, so... should I go to Kisaragi Dorm?"

Kou didn't hear wrong. It's her.

Kou: "Na-"

But he stops in mid-call. What should he say? "It's been a while?" "How're you doing?" Neither seems quite right.

???: "No, I know I should go. I want to see him. But..."
NPC: "A question first. Madam, what kind of entertainment are you hoping to find here at Arval City?"
???: "Entertainment? *sigh*... I should've known better than to ask."
NPC: "I can recommend pursuits that are comforting, relaxing, or distracting in various ways. Would you like a menu?"
???: "Oh, never mind..."

She turns, and...


Nanoha: "*gasp*"

There she stands, exactly as Kou remembered her.

Kou: "...Nanoha... right?"
Nanoha: "...Kou... right?"

Kou doesn't know what to say. Nanoha is equally speechless. Still, seeing her in person makes Kou realize she's really alive. Nanoha's face crumples...

Nanoha: "*hic*... *sob*... Kou... Kou...!"

She starts to run towards him, but slips and falls flat on the ground."

Nanoha: "Gyah! Ow!"
Kou: "Hey, whoa, you all right!?"

Kou steps over to Nanoha, and gives her his hand.


Nanoha: "*sob*... Koooouuuu.....!"
Kou: "... Nanoha."

Crying, sobbing, wailing, Nanoha clings to him. She hasn't changed. She's the same crybaby as always.

Nanoha: "*sob*... *cough*... waaaaahhh! I mithed you! I mithed you tho much!"
Kou: "Yeah, I missed you too. ... How've you been, Nanoha?"
Nanoha: "*hic*... waaahhhh.... *sob*"
Kou: "You haven't changed a bit, have you?"
Nanoha: "B-b-but! B-b-but! *sob*...I'm so happy!"

Kou feels tears spill from his own eyes, and presses his face against Nanoha's forehead. His childhood friend's hair has the same familiar scent he remembers.

...


Nanoha: "... *sniff*... It's really been a long time, Kou."
Kou: "Yeah."

But... to Kou, it feels as if the time they spent together at Seishu was just a few weeks ago.

Kou: "Look, since leaving the academy, I haven't met you once, have I?"
Nanoha: "N-no, you haven't...?"

Kou gets ready to explain, but -

Nanoha: "... You really did lose your memories, didn't you?"
Kou: "You already know?"
Nanoha: "Aki told me."
Kou: "Oh. So Aki already talked to you."
Nanoha: "Yeah..."
Kou: "Don't look so worried! It's fine, it'll all come back to me soon."
Nanoha: "Of course it will. You'll get everything back."

Even as she speaks encouragement, a shadow falls over Nanoha's expression.

Rain: "Um..."
Kou: "Oh, sorry, Rain. Didn't mean to exclude you like that."
Nanoha: "Kou, who's she?"
Kou: "Yeah, this is..."


Rain: "A pleasure to meet you. Kirishima Rain, serving under Lieutenant Kadokura Kou's command."

Rain interrupts to introduce herself before Kou can finish his sentence.

Nanoha: "Nice to meet you... Wakakusa Nanoha."

Nanoha hesitantly takes Rain's hand. A slightly... odd... silence passes between them for a moment.

Kou: "... Is something the matter, you two?"
Rain: "No, nothing."
Nanoha: "Kou, shall we go on to the dorm?"
Kou: "Yes, let's."

*THWACK!*


Rain: "Ack!"

Rain walks straight into the door, face-first.

Kou: "... You okay? That made a hell of a sound."


Rain: "... Oooohhhhh.... I'm fine, thank you...! More importantly, is this door broken?"
Kou: "The door's manual. Wait - didn't you come here yesterday?"
Rain: "The door was already open then... Ow."

Apparently that hurt rather a lot. Rain totters slightly, tears welling in her eyes.

Kou: "*snrk*... Hahahahaha!"

Unable to resist the contrast with her normal cool, controlled demeanor, Kou breaks out laughing.

Rain: "Just what is so funny?"
Kou: "No, nothing... I didn't mean to - hee, ha ha ha ha!"
Rain: "It's not like you to laugh at someone else's misfortune, Lieutenant."

Miffed, Rain turns primly to lecture Kou, but her nose is bright red from the impact.

Kou: "BWA HA HA HA HA HA!"

Starting to feel sorry for Rain, Kou struggles to stifle his laughter, and turns to face Nanoha.


Eyes wide, she's simply watching Rain.

Kou: "What is it, Nanoha?"
Nanoha: "Uh...? Um, sorry... Just a little surprised."

She turns away from Kou.

Nanoha: "Ahaha... that scared me... jeez."

What is it, Kou wonders...? It doesn't look like Nanoha's trying not to laugh. Then the door opens from the inside.


Aki: "Who's there?"
Kou: "Oh, Aki. I'm home."

Kou realizes that, without thinking it, he's called this virtual dorm "home".

Aki: "Ah... Welcome home, Kou."

And Aki, in turn, does the same.

Aki: "What was that noise?"
Kou: "Rain smashed her face straight into the door."
Rain: "Terribly sorry... Quite my fault."
Aki: "Oh. As long as you're not hurt."

Aki then turns to see Nanoha.

Nanoha: "Hello, Aki-senpai."
Aki: "Welcome home, Nanoha. Come in, everyone."


Aki: "You came at just the right time, Kou."
Kou: "How so?"
Aki: "I have something to show you... follow me."

Aki guides them down the hall, stopping at one of the doors.

Aki: "Open it, Kou."
Kou: "Okay..."


The desk passed down through generations of students, graffiti and all. Stacks of old paper books inherited the same way.

Kou: "Amazing... Everything's just like I remember it."

Kou takes one of the books from the shelf, flipping through it... but every page is blank.

Aki: "Sorry... Mother's data isn't complete enough to determine the contents of that book."
Kou: "You did say you were recreating everything from what students saw, yeah."

Kou had never really gone through the books while he used the room, either. Kou returns the book and looks around the room, noticing a small portrait frame on the desk.

Kou: "Hm? Since when was this in my room?"


Kou picks up the frame, and the holograph activates, displaying a girl's picture.

Kou: "A holograph of Sora?"

Kou feels nostalgic, but also troubled. When was this picture taken? In the photo, Sora beams brilliantly at the camera ---

*Ka-thump*.

Kou: "... Rrrrgh..."
Rain: "Kou-san!?"
Kou: "I'm okay. Just another headache."

He forces a grin, and turns to see -



Aki, eyes wide, watching closely to see how Kou will react next.

Nanoha: "*hic*... *moan*..."

Nanoha, tears welling in her eyes, biting her lips. The moment Kou meets her eyes, the tears overflow and pour down her face.

Nanoha: "*sob*... aaaaahhhh... *hic*..."

Kou: "What is it, Nanoha? Why on Earth are you crying?"
Nanoha: "*sob*... S-sorry... I'm sorry..."

Her tears just won't stop. One by one, they patter from her face to the floor.

Aki: "Kou... talk to Nanoha a bit, would you?"
Kou: "Right, of course. Nanoha, want to talk outside?"
Nanoha: "*sniffle*... Yeah..."

Kou offers his hand, and Nanoha clutches it like a drowning woman.

Kou: "Okay, Aki, Rain - we'll be back in a bit."
Aki: "Take your time. Talk with me, Rain?"
Rain: "Yes, of course."


Nanoha: "I'm sorry. I just can't stop crying today."
Kou: "Don't worry. It's only natural."

Kou doesn't remember all the time he spent at the real Kisaragi Dorm, but it's still a bittersweet homecoming to visit this replica. How much worse must it be for Nanoha, who remembers every day?

Kou: "Anyway... I'm just glad I could see you again."
Nanoha: "Yeah... me too. I thought I'd never see you again."
Kou: "Look, I have to ask... did I really never contact you at all?"
Nanoha: "I don't know... even if you'd tried, I might not have received it."
Kou: "Why?"
Nanoha: "... I've had to move around a lot. Change my mail address, too. So even if you'd called..."

She stops a moment, apparently unwilling to continue.

Nanoha: "Um... Kou, you don't remember what you've been doing up until now, right?"
Kou: "No, not really."
Nanoha: "That looks like a uniform... Have you been a soldier all this time?"

Kou starts to tell her, but - he can't quite bear to tell Nanoha why he'd choose to become the very thing he once hated. Especially not that he is, at this very moment, a mercenary wrapped up in a bloody intrigue.

Nanoha: "I'm sorry... you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
Kou: "No... I'm the one who should apologize."
Nanoha: "No. It's the same for both of us."

... Nanoha doesn't want to tell Kou about her own life - what she's done... or what has been done to her.

They might not look much different, but it seems that Kou and Nanoha really have changed, after all.

Nanoha: "It's weird, right? That there's anything the two of us can't tell each other."
Kou: "It really is, isn't it..."
Nanoha: "It's kinda... sad, right?"
Kou: "Yeah."
Nanoha: "I'm sorry, Kou. We finally see each other again and I just keep making things bleak."
Kou: "That's my fault, too. ... Hey, come on, let's talk about something fun."
Nanoha: "Yeah, you're right. Then... um..."

She puts a finger to her chin, thinking of a topic.

Nanoha: "So that Rain-san. She's your new girlfriend, right?"


Kou: "... Here it comes. I already told Aki, but Rain's just my subordinate, not my lover."
Nanoha: "Really? It kinda doesn't look like she's your 'just' anything, you know?"
Kou: "It's your imagination. Besides which, you've barely talked to her, right?"
Nanoha: "No, but I heard from Aki that Rain was so happy to sleep together with you, she looked like a blushing newlywed."
Kou: "Oh for crying out - Aki, too?"

Still, Kou feels himself grinning. Nanoha smiles, too, and they finally relax into something like old times.

Nanoha: "Oh, but this brings me back. This is what you call deja vu, right?"
Kou: "Oh?"
Nanoha: "You forgot? My first day of school, we talked about the same thing."
Kou: "Yeah... that's right. That did happen, didn't it?"
Nanoha: "Hee hee... It really takes me back."


Nanoha: "Thinking back, I was really just jealous of Chinatsu-senpai."
Nanoha: "I really had a lot of things I dreamed would happen once I was living in the same dorm as you."
Kou: "........."
Nanoha: "But now I can really say this... I hope you can find someone and be happy, Kou."
Kou: "Thanks, Nanoha."

Even as he thanks her, Kou feels a tinge of grief. Somehow, it feels that he and Nanoha have stopped being childhood friends. Stopped being together.

Nanoha: "Oh, man... I've gotta go find someone to make me happy, too... right?"
Kou: "Buck up, Nanoha, I'm sure you'll hook someone."
Nanoha: "Hee hee hee... Thanks, Kou."

Rain: "Kou-san!"

Rain emerges from the dorm's entrance.

Kou: "What the matter, Rain? Done talking with Aki?"
Rain: "Yes, well..."


Noi: "I had her take a raincheck, Lieutenant Kadokura."
Kou: "Urk... Doctor Noi?"
Rain: "I'm bridging you in to Noi's phone call to me, sir."
Noi: "Don't you realize that you're still under treatment? Why aren't you coming to your appointments?"

Noi orders Kou to show up for his treatment, immediately, and the call ends. Kou says his goodbyes to Nanoha, promising to come back tomorrow, and Kou and Rain leave Arval City.

Rain: "We should hurry, sir. The doctor is waiting."

They walk back through the streets of Suzushiro, talking for a bit, until they're interrupted by the sound of music from loudspeakers. It's an old GU marching song, now used by one of Suzushiro's political factions to announce their events. The faction led by Yomeuchi Takeshi, one of the top two politicians on Rain's list.

Rain: "Shall we take a look?"
Kou: "Yes, of course."


On one crowded city corner, a man makes a speech from a platform, fist raised in the air.

Yomeuchi: "A society too dependent on virtual reality is clearly harmful."

The man speaks fervently to the crowd. Behind him, a few of his political allies stand at attention, while on the perimeter several armed bodyguards cast a wary eye on the gathering.

Kou: "I understand the security, but why hold an assembly here?"
Rain: "To gain support among refugees, I imagine. Increase anti-AI support outside of Midspire."
Kou: "You did mention that anti-AI sentiment has its base in Midspire's conservatives."

Yomeuchi: "Food, clothing, housing... even human relations are sought in cyberspace, while the real world is left to languish!"
Yomeuchi: "We can never restore the Earth while merely running away from its problems!"

Booing and applause occur in approximately equal measure.

Kou: "Well, he's not entirely wrong."
Kou: "But telling people in the slums to throw away cheap virtual luxuries for a reality like this?"
Rain: "Many refugees were created by the destruction of Grey Christmas, and many have flowed into Suzushiro."
Rain: "No doubt he hopes to gain support from the refugees' hostility to nanotech."
Kou: "Just a modern Luddism."

Yomeuchi: "... and tragically, even our own city parliament is now in the grip of those who choose to ignore the real world - Alienists."
Yomeuchi: "They consider the real world a nuisance, and so are irresponsible to reality!"
Yomeuchi: "Allowing nanomachines merely because they are convenient, ignoring nanotech's true danger!"
Yomeuchi: "They have learned nothing from the lesson of the Drexler Group - learned nothing from the hideous tragedy that uncontrollable technology has inflicted on us!"
Yomeuchi: "As long as such irresponsible 'leaders' remain in our parliament, there can be no hope for the refugees suffering in poverty!"

Far more applause for this line, and some cheering as well.

Yomeuchi: "This is what they'll say: 'If there is no bread, let them eat cake in cyberspace!'"
Yomeuchi: "And keep your real body alive with mere recycled products!"
Yomeuchi: "But there is only one world we should live in - the real world!"
Yomeuchi: "We must not fear temporary pains in taking back control of our world! An independent world, for and by humans, free of dependency on artificial intelligence!"

Cheers and applause ring out, and the man waves to the crowd. But Seconders like Kou and Rain can tell. He may be an anti-AI politician, making a speech denouncing artificial intelligence, but...

Kou: "After all that talk, he's equipped with a fair bit of cybernetics himself."

Eyes flickering to check data, displayed in midair to only his view. Probably reading data sent to him from his staff, analyzing the crowd's reaction to his speech.

Kou: "A Seconder like you or I could just give a mental command, instead of using that toy."

Hidden in Yomeuchi's fist is a mobile controller for his implants.

Rain: "Yes... in our modern era, when handling information is fundamental to one's influence and power, he's no doubt struggling. Old-time humans have it hard."


Yomeuchi: "I have discovered a scandal committed by the Alienists on the council."

The crowd grows quiet at this unexpected bombshell. A scandal announced, here? The representative smirks self-assuredly.

Yomeuchi: "They will not be able to cover this up! It's only a matter of time until the long arm of the law reaches them - reaches Mayor Yoshio..."

Then he stops speaking.

Conversation stops in the crowd, waiting for his next word. Yet the unnatural silence continues.

Five... ten seconds... he simply looks upwards with a vacant expression.


Rain: "... It can't be!?"

Rain closes her eyes, checking something, and a scream of pain rings out from the platform.


Yomeuchi: "Stop! Stop! Get out of my head! GWAAAH...!?"

He claws at his face as if driven mad, shaking and writhing as he walks a few steps.

Yomeuchi: "Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh...! Someone! Someone help me!"
Yomeuchi: "... *cough*..."

Yomeuchi collapses bonelessly to the floor of the platform, and screams and shouts break out from the crowd.

Kou: "The hell...?"
Rain: "A Mind Hack, sir! Someone has destroyed Yomeuchi's neurochip!"
Kou: "Mind Hack - an assassination!?"


As if to prove Rain's accusation, the other politicians on the platform start to collapse in heaps, just as Yomeuchi did. The bodyguards, powerless, can only watch as the representatives die.

Man in Crowd A: "The Alienists murdered him!"
Man in Crowd B: "Those fuckers are probably hiding around here somewhere!"
Woman in Crowd: "Watch out! They'll fry your brain!"

Rumors and accusations fly, getting wilder with every exchange. The crowd turns ugly, brawls breaking out in places. The politicians' bodyguards grimly ready their guns...

Rain: (We should leave immediately! This is about to turn dangerous!)
Kou: (Right!)

Wasn't sure if I could get a few more scenes in tonight, but apparently not, so -

TO BE CONTINUED

The voice work continues to do a lot of the heavy lifting you can't see in the LP, by the way. In the past, Nanoha sounds like a cheerful teenager with lots of friends. In the present, Nanoha sounds like the same teenager after her parents go through an acrimonious divorce, she moves to a new city where she doesn't know anyone, and her dog dies. There's also a fair chunk of heartfelt crying and wailing that I can't really transcribe into English. Actually, there's a lot of screaming and weeping in this game.

Oh, and speaking of tears... yep, we got to see the scene in this route where Kou and Rain fight. It's only a training match, and nobody dies.

If you're wondering whether that scene "counts" for the purposes of my explanation that "Kou eventually fights every named mecha pilot but one", then the answer is no - Rain wasn't using her real mech.

The scene where Rain uses her normal mech and she and Kou fight to the death is on a different route.

That political action is like if The Manchurian Candidate and Interface were stories about things that happen on regular basis instead of with a shadow government pulling strings that the public can't see. Some really interesting things to think about in a world like this.

Rain: (Lieutenant, we should hide here!)

(Reminder: Text in parentheses means that the character is speaking via a private, encrypted Net channel, instead of speaking out loud.)


Rain suddenly grabs Kou's arm and pulls him into a bit of cover. In the distance, shouts and gunshots ring through the air.

Rain: (... The riot has started.)

Nose-to-nose with Rain, her face is tense, cold sweat visible. But Kou has no intention of simply waiting out the danger here. It's time to take the next step.

Kou: (Rain, what do you think of the incident?)
Rain: (That question is best posed to the perpetrator.)
Kou: (He's still in the Net?)
Rain: (He's escaped... but I've set up a trace based on the signs of his entry. I still have a signal.) (DRINK!)
Kou: (If the CDF are doing their job, there should still be an anchor on the area. We can still catch him.)

Of course, there's no guarantee the assassination is directly related to Kou and Rain's investigation, but... what if the same culprit that executed Eddy also assassinated Yomeuchi? Kou considers it worth checking.

Rain: (Can you fight, Kou-san?)
Kou: (I'll do it.)
Rain: (Very well. Good luck, Lieutenant.)

Rain places both her hands on Kou's cheeks, gazing into his eyes.

Rain: (I will protect your physical body. Don't take risks, and come back to me.)
Kou: (Trust me. Don't get caught by the riot yourself, Rain.)
Rain: (... Roger.)



Kou: "Rain, give me a direction."
Rain: "Straight ahead, and coming your way. It seems our trace has been detected."
Kou: "I like it. Saves time."
Rain: "In sight...!"


Kou: "Confirmed! Eliminating targets!"

Most of the game up until now has been individual fights pretty widely separated, but we're at the midpoint now and things finally heat up. That means each fight often has multiple waves of enemies, and there are several stages in a row. Each one is still pretty short individually.

Rain: "All targets down!"
Kou: "Just small fry... the bastard's buying time! Do you still have a trace on the real target?"
Rain: "Of course, sir. Sending you the address. No anchor on your local zone, the hostiles are on another level."

Kou receives an address, and immediately moves to another zone.


Kou: "Good, there they are!"
Rain: "Warning, sir! The target is moving!"
Kou: "Tsk... right while you said it!"

Two of the mechs zone out, while another mech and several viruses turn to face Kou...


Kou: "I don't have time for these bastards! Send me the next address - I'll keep up the chase!"
Rain: "No good! One of the hostiles you're engaging has activated a local anchor!"
Kou: "Then I just gotta blow 'em all to bits!"

There's often also little "radio conversations" that happen in the middle of combat. They can be hard to catch sometimes.

Rain: "Anchor released, sir!"
Kou: "Good, no time to waste! Give me the address!"
Rain: "Roger!"

Kou arrives in a block of the Anonymous City.

Kou: "Did the bastard run all the way here?"
Rain: "Kou-san, be careful! A single custom mech of indeterminate model is present."



Kou: "And he's run off while you spoke."
Rain: "That mech's pilot must be the assassin."
Kou: "Then I'll wipe the floor with these assholes and capture him!"

During combat ---

Rain: "Rrgh!"
Kou: "Rain!? Is something wrong there!?"
Rain: "... Don't worry, sir. Concentrate on your fight. ...Aaahh..!"
Kou: "Got it! I'll finish here and be right back for you!"


Kou: "Rain... you all right?"
Rain: "Kou-san, I apologize, but I cannot provide further support. Log out as soon as possible."
Kou: "Right, just wait! I'm returning now!"

What's happening to Rain back in the real world...? But the moment Kou starts to log out, the custom mech returns.


Kou: "Fuck, of all the timing - the hell do you want!?"

Kou draws his gun and centers his sights on the hostile --


???: "That mech... so it really is you."

A familiar voice reaches Kou, matched to a face in a comm window. An unnaturally perfect profile, and one that he remembers. The Houshou student who ruined Chinatsu and Kou's date long ago - and that's not all. Back when their team participated in the preliminaries for Newbies Impact...


Houshou Student: "Hmph... we meet again. I heard some trash from Seishu had shown up, but to think it was you."
Chinatsu: "You - you're that thug student!?"
Kou: "The hell? Aren't you supposed to be Anti-AI? Why are you showing up at a tournament like this!?"
Houshou Student: "We, the genetic elite, must display our superiority over lesser humans in all situations."
Kou: "... So?"
Houshou Student: "So we will win in this crude, low-life game that is your only talent..."
Houshou Student: "... and prove that even your proudest moments are worthless. You understand?"

He used underhanded tactics to divide Kou's team, then when he lost anyway... broke the tournament's rules by releasing viruses into the arena. He was disqualified, and the crowd booed, but nobody stopped him. After all, the Arena was governed by a Limiter. Nobody would experience death - only pain. It was just another show for the audience.

When they had nearly given up, suddenly the viruses surrounding Kou's team exploded in fragments. Kou looked up to see -


Kou: "Sensei!"
Naoki: "Take this, Kou-kun!"



Kou took the katana, waiting for exactly the right moment...

This is the point in the story where you get your first Force Crash - a super move that deals huge damage and is usually a pumped-up version of a regular weapon. (In a slightly weird bit of time-bending, Kou picks up the sword in his flashback and then equips it in the present. Presumably he only just remembered which folder in C:/ he stored it in all those years ago.) You fill up a meter by inflicting or taking damage, then unleash a Force Crash for fat stacks of damage. This Force Crash is a powered-up beam sword. The normal sword slash covers from 60 to 270 degrees (depending on how leveled-up it is) and inflicts 120 damage at max. The Force Crash version covers a whole 360 degree circle and hits enemies for 400 points, which will one-hit kill cannon fodder targets.

Normally when you're hitting enemies, each successive hit in the combo deals less damage - there's a stacking penalty where the second hit deals 10% less, the third deals 10% less than that, and so on. This is called the "combo correction" and it basically ensures that although long combos are powerful, they're not outrageously powerful. Some weapons have a larger or smaller penalty that's applied, and a very small number actually have a bonus rather than a malus and boost the damage of your entire combo if you fit them in.

Force Crash weapons don't take a combo penalty, so you typically use them as finishers at the end of a combo. Much later in the game, you can pick up an ability that lets you equip two different Force Crash moves and chain them together for super damage.

There's two drawbacks to FCs. The first is that they add a full bar of heat to your gauge. Unlike regular weapons, you can execute a FC after overheating, but you still get the added heat - and you took higher damage when your mech is overheated. In other words, if you miss with an FC, not only did you blow your meter, you're gonna get POUNDED when an enemy hits you back.

The second drawback - other mechs have them too! Named mecha pilots have their own Force Crash moves and they invariably deal huge damage. The high-risk, high-reward strategy to wipe out minibosses in Baldr Sky is to bait them into using a Force Crash and then counter with your own, unloading your strongest move when the enemy mech has the highest heat gauge - because the "more heat, more damage" rule applies to enemies as well.

Rain's Force Crash is Stun Flare, the special weapon she used back in Chapter 1 to bail out Kou by paralyzing a flock of viruses. She uses that in real game combat too, and it stuns a whole screen of enemies for a good half-minute, letting you rip them up with combos totally unopposed.

In the flashback, Kou trounces Gilbert...



(Still not sure what he's doing with his arms there.)

Houshou Student: "Impossible... I could never lose to an obsolete human like you!"
Kou: "Turns out you could. Too bad."
Houshou Student: "It's a mistake... I never lose. It must be a trick!"
Houshou Student: "You cowardly inferior human! Have you no shame!"
Kou: "What!?"
Houshou Student: "Hahahaha! Yes! That's right! It was a scam, a trick, a rigged game! I nearly fell for the AI's trap!"
Kou: "Just admit it. You don't have what it takes."
Houshou Student: "Your limiter must be set to favor only the people who are 'supposed' to win, and trip us up! You cowards!"
Kou: "Like fuck it is! Cut the bullshit!"

Arrogant, twisted, and cruel... his name on the Arena's participant list was Gilbert.


Kou: "... Gilbert, from Houshou Academy...! You're still alive!?"
Gilbert: "That's my line. How are you alive, worm?"
Kou: "Looks like each of us thought the other died on Grey Christmas."
Gilbert: "... Shut your babbling, worm. I'm asking how you escaped the facility's self-destruct!"

The self-destruct? Meaning -- the one that destroyed Kou's memory?

Gilbert: "Oh, what's that? Did you hit your head and break your cheap neurochip?"
Kou: "........."
Gilbert: "... I guess so. The explosion's shock loosened a few screws in your skull, did it?"
Gilbert: "Hmph... fine. In a way, it's better that you're alive."
Gilbert: "I'd hate to have you die on me so quickly. I want to make my revenge slow."
Gilbert: "Once that bitch sees you kneeling at my feet, she'll realize who her real man is."
Kou: "Years later, and it looks like you're just as twisted as ever."

Trash talk aside, Kou plans to take him alive. Once reduced from his mech to his digital body, there'll be plenty of ways to get information out of him.

Kou: "Throw down your weapons. Surrender, and I won't kill you."
Gilbert: "Who do you think you're talking to? Why would a human like me surrender to filth like you?"

Viruses zone in around Gilbert.

Kou: "Tch... And you mouth off the same way you used to, too."
Gilbert: "Talk all you want. I don't have time to listen to you yap."
Gilbert: "Next time we meet, I'll bury you along with that memory. Be grateful."
Kou: "Stop! You're not getting away!"


Kou: "Out of my way...!"

By the time Kou destroys the viruses, Gilbert is already gone.

Rain: "... Are you well, Lieutenant...?"
Kou: "Yes, I'm fine. Rain, what's happening there?"
Rain: "Please log out immediately... Hurry..."

The first thing Kou feels on returning to reality is the cold alleyway under his body. When he opens his eyes, a booted foot is right in front of him.

And a drop of something red falling to the ground.


Rain: "Welcome back, Lieutenant."

Looking up at the sound of her pained voice, Kou sees Rain - blood running down her head. She's holding a pistol, muzzle aimed at the entrance of the alleyway -

Rioter: "Hey - the other one woke up!"

- where an angry group crowds the path, hatred in their eyes.

Kou: "Rain, what's -"
Rain: "Just as you see - we're surrounded."

She answers, voice drawn taut. Apparently fearing her pistol, the rioters stay back, but braver souls throw stones at them.

Rioter: "You Alienist bitch...!"
Rain: "Rrrk!"

Rain gasps in pain as the rock hits her. Kou realizes - while he was diving, Rain has been fending off the rioters, shielding his body with her own.

Kou: "Bastards...!"

Fury and fear well up in Kou, and before he realizes it, he's drawn his own gun on the rioters.

Rain: (You mustn't shoot, sir! If we open fire, they may all attack at once!)
Kou: (But at this rate...!)
Rain: (Don't panic, sir. We can wait them out. Look for a chance to get away.)

Kou lines up shoulder-to-shoulder with Rain, gun leveled at the rioters, waiting. His throat dries from tension, and sweat beads his hands on the gun.


Suddenly, the roaring blast of a VTOL shakes through the city's air.

Loudspeaker: "This is a warning from the CDF. Immediately disperse from this area. We will respond with force."

The rioters all look up as a group. Several CDF close air support planes hover threateningly in the sky.

Rain: "That's our air support! Leave immediately, or I will have every one of you arrested!"

Rain immediately barks a threat at the rioters, her voice clear and commanding.

Rioter: "... Damn...!"

One by one, the rioters fade away, leaving the alley clear.


In the VTOL's wake, the far side of the alley is utterly silent.

Kou: "Phew... Good thing they believed that."
Rain: "We should hurry and leave the area at once...!"

Kou and Rain quickly jog away through the deserted streets.

END OF CHAPTER 6 --- MIND HACK

NEXT TIME, ON BALDR SKY

Kou collides with someone. Reflexively, he tenses to fight -

- but in the next moment, a completely different feeling of shock overtakes him.

Kou: "Chinatsu...?"

--------------------

Man: "So, come on... didn't we meet once back when we were younger?"

Rain: "Tee hee! Oh, you!"

Man: "No, I swear! I'd never forget a women as beautiful as you!"

Kou: "Hey, you! No hitting on my subordinates while I'm gone!"

Man: "Eh...?"

--------------------

Noi: "GOAT has begun its mission in the city."

Kou: "... Goat?"

Rain: "The Global-union Observation Artificial-intelligence Team... A GU force specialized in counter-AI operations."

--------------------

Kou: "Your best friend went to Seishu?"

Rain: "She was a wonderful Seconder girl. Cheerful, fearless, kind..."

Rain: "I always wished that I could be more like her."

Kou: "Is she...?"

Rain: "No. She didn't make it. Grey Christmas."

Kou: "... I see."

Rain: "I wish I had died instead."

--------------------

Nanoha: "Kou, listen. You're going to need someone to support you from here on out."

Nanoha: "... So you need to take good care of Rain. I think she'll stick with you."

Nanoha: "She asked me, you know? Rain said, 'If anything happens to me, please take care of Kou.'"

CHAPTER 7 --- CLASSMATES

It would seem that this is the chapter they plan to turn on the waterworks. Looking forward to the next update as always Thasero.

Suddenly, I am very glad we're on this route. :(

There's still time! If we pull it together and make terrible decisions, we can get the bad ending and make Rain live unhappily ever after! YES WE CAN!




Loudspeaker: "A state of emergency has been declared in Suzushiro City. Citizens are to take shelter in the nearest building and remain indoors..."

Broadcasting a warning, a VTOL roars overhead. In the streets, uncanny silence alternates with sudden bursts of gunfire and screams.


Rain presses a handkerchief to the wound on her face.

Kou: "You all right, Rain?"
Rain: "Yes, only a graze... no call for concern. I can have it looked at once we've reached the clinic."

Then a rumble of footsteps and voices echo from down the street. A panicked crowd rushes in their direction -

Rain: "Rendezvous at Doctor Noi's clinic...!"

She has time for one shout, then they're swamped by the rioters. Rushing, screaming, pushing people, like a relentless tidal wave.

Kou: "Rgh... Rain! Damn!"

Kou loses sight of Rain instantly. All he can see is terrified faces. He steps on something yielding and feels every hair on his body stand up straight. If Kou stumbles and falls, he'll be trampled to death in an instant. Kou desperately pushes through the crowd, trying to keep his balance.

Suddenly the crush of people passes, and Kou gasps fresh air into his lungs.

Kou: "*pant*... *wheeze*...!"

In the wake of the tsunami, only a few stragglers still dash in one direction or another. A few bodies lie scattered on the road.

Kou: "Rain..."

Kou continues down the road on unsteady legs, checking each corpse as he passes it.

*thud*

Then he collides with someone. Reflexively, he tenses to fight -

- but in the next moment, a completely different feeling of shock overtakes him.

Kou is wordless to see a familiar woman in front of him.

???: "*gasp*"

She, in turn, looks at Kou, her eyes wide. A long coat enfolds her body, her ponytail hanging down its back.

Kou: "Chinatsu...?"

His mouth moves of its own volition, saying her name.

Chinatsu: "........."

Her lips move soundlessly in a shocked face.

Kou: "Chinatsu, it's really you, right!? It's me! Kadokura Kou!"

A sudden joy fills Kou's heart. He's met her again - he's reunited with Nagisa Chinatsu! He reaches out to her -

Chinatsu: "... Yes... I remember, Kou."

- and Chinatsu moves out of his grasp. As if avoiding him. As if sending an unspoken message - "Don't touch me."


Kou: "Sorry... I just..."
Chinatsu: "No, it's been a while. I'm happy, too."

She stares at her feet, replying with a flat, emotionless voice.

Chinatsu: "I'm happy, but... this is no time to chat, Kou."

She nods at a VTOL hovering overhead.

Loudspeaker: "Warning, warning... throw down your weapons. Armed citizens will be shot on sight."

Then the sound of weapons fire. Several blocks down the street, explosions and screams ring out.


Chinatsu: "See you."

She turns her back and, without a second glance towards Kou, runs away. Unable to find anything to say, Kou can only watch her leave.

Kou: "... Dammit."

CHAPTER 7 --- CLASSMATES

(I didn't stop there, I just went for coffee and got off track for a while. Unfortunately Starbucks isn't cool with you using their WiFi to do a Let's Play of adult-rated Japanese games while you finish your latte. Go figure.)



Noi: "What are you getting embarrassed for? I need to treat your wounds. Strip."
Rain: "No, I'm trying to tell you, I'm not injured there."
Noi: "Leave the medical diagnoses to the professionals! I'm the doctor here, dammit!"


Kou enters the back-room clinic to see Doctor Noi, grinning ear to ear, try to undo the buttons on Rain's shirt. With a sigh, he knocks twice on the open door.

Rain: "Ah, Kou-san."
Noi: "See what you've done! He came before we got started."
Kou: "And exactly what were you planning to start before I showed up, hmm?"
Noi: "Something that innocent young children like you aren't allowed to see, boy."
Rain: "You made it through safely, Kou-san."
Kou: "Yeah, and thank goodness you're fine too, Rain."

It seems Rain was getting first aid applied (with some bonus sexual harassment thrown in). A skin-toned bandage can barely be distinguished on Rain's cheek. At the sight of her face, relief washes over Kou. The exhaustion of the day catches up with him, and he collapses into a chair.


Noi: "Rough day... I hope you learn your lesson and stay out of politics from now on, Lieutenant."
Kou: "I'd heard that riots broke out frequently, but now I believe it."
Noi: "Suzushiro is always on a knife's edge these days. One little push is all it takes."
Kou: "This city's on its last legs."

Settled down at last, Kou asks Noi for information - figuring that, as an underground doctor, she might have sources.

Officially, Yomeuchi's assassination has been blamed on the Dominion. There's no telling what kind of scandal he might have been about to announce before dying, especially since his natural political opponent, Mayor Anan Yoshio, is known widely for corruption. There have always been rumors about him, and more than a few are true. Still, his underhanded tactics have kept Suzushiro's economy alive by supporting a black market in high technology, and he's always managed to parlay that into continued survival - and continued re-election.


Noi: "Still, it's certain that Anan will be feeling some pressure right now."
Kou: "By which you mean..?"

Noi: "GOAT has begun its mission in the city."
Kou: "... Goat?"
Rain: "The Global-union Observation Artificial-intelligence Team... A GU force specialized in counter-AI operations."
Noi: "A special Net squadron formed by the GU to combat out-of-control AIs."

Officially, GOAT has been stationed in Suzushiro to crack down on black market activity. Whether that is their real goal - or their only one - is anyone's guess. Certainly the GU has issued warnings to the city about illegal biotech and nanotech activities in the past. Importantly, however, GOAT is politically opposed to the Anan administration - and therefore a public ally of Yomeuchi's opposition.

It's possible that Yomeuchi intended to ride the momentum of the GU's military and political interference, announce a scandal, and ruin Anan's political fortunes. Anan, in turn, would fear Yomeuchi's growing influence as a favored son of the GU at a time when Suzushiro was on the Union's mind.

But that still leaves room for doubt.

Rain: "Even if Anan did suffer a scandal... he certainly could have pinned the blame on someone and survived the damage."
Kou: "No need to turn to assassination, in other words... Certainly a leak of the assassination would be far more lethal to his fortunes than a simple bribery accusation."

Unless whatever Yomeuchi had planned to announce was dangerous enough to justify shutting him up...?


Noi: "... Now then, let's leave the political talk aside and get the examination started, shall we?"
Kou: "Ah, right. By all means, Doctor."
Noi: "Good, good. Start by stripping naked and bending over, right there."
Kou: "Huh?"
Noi: "What are you getting embarrassed for? I'm the doctor here, dammit!"
Kou: "Wait...!? I thought you were checking my neurochip, right!?"
Noi: "I'm conducting a thorough physical examination today. We have to check that the nanomachines aren't causing unexpected side effects elsewhere."
Kou: "... Why do I have to be naked for that?"

Kou cautiously gets up out of his chair...

Noi: "Don't get the wrong idea! This is an absolutely medically necessary examination!"
Noi: "Now strip! Immediately! Lie on the table! Head DOWN, ass UP!"
Kou: "No, I'm good! Feel great! Never better!"

Kou tries to make a break for it, but...

...

By the time the examination finished, the sun had started to set.

Noi: "Excellent, there's nothing out of the ordinary. You're in perfect health."


Kou: "Thanks. Great. Glad to hear it."

Kou tries to gather up his clothing, dignity, and innocence. He finds his clothing.

Having escaped earlier, Rain cautiously peeks her head in the door of the clinic.


Rain: "Um..."
Noi: "Ah, yes, the examination just finished. We're done for the day here."
Rain: "Well then, Kou-san... What shall we do? Return to the Ark building?"
Kou: "It's already this late... security has probably locked up the place."
And tonight, Kou would like to pack some real food into his body and lay down in a real bed.
Rain: "... Then it's settled."

They land in the same cheap hotel as always.


Rain: "Kou-san, dinner is ready."

Kou sits down to a table of opened tins of food, some packaged bread, and a steaming bowl of instant soup.

Rain: "I'm sorry, sir... this is all we have."
Kou: "No, it's better than an auto-meal."

In fact, the mystery meat and instant soup feel delicious to Kou's ravenous stomach. No virtual gourmet meal can give the same feeling of food that keeps you alive. Opposite him, Rain eats silently.

Kou: "Hmmm."
Rain: "Something the matter?"
Kou: "No, just thought that today's MRE is pretty good."
Rain: "It's supposedly real bird meat. I bought it from the black market, so naturally the authenticity is suspect..."
Kou: "Well, I'm sure this is a case where ignorance is bliss."
Rain: "Probably, yes."

Rain delicately eats from the tins and cans with knife and fork, clearly with the habit of long practice. Even in this hotel in a slum, her refined upbringing shows.


Kou: "Say, Rain. Could you tell me about yourself some?"
Rain: "Certainly, I don't mind."

She wipes her mouth with a napkin, then with the usual, slightly cool expression -

Rain: "Kirishima Rain, female, blood type AB. The same age as you, Kou-san. My birthday is July 24th..."
Kou: "That's not what I meant."

... Wait, the same age? Kou could've sworn she was an older woman. Then he realizes - it's not that she's older, it's that he, with his memories gone, doesn't really feel his own age.

Rain: "Then... would you like to know something else?"
Kou: "No, that's not what I mean... I'm not trying to ask about your, uh..."

You wear a D-cup, right? Kou quickly squashes that stray thought out of his mind and tries to find the right question to ask.

Kou: "You attended Houshou, didn't you?"
Rain: "Yes."
Kou: "Then does that mean you're...?"



Rain: "I am not a Designer's Child, no."

Guessing his meaning, Rain answers with a light smile.

Kou: "Oh... sorry, that was rude of me. But, you know, when Houshou comes up, it's always about the Designer's Children."
Rain: "And naturally so. They held most of the important positions in the school."

A shadow passes over Rain's expression.

Rain: "Though they only made up perhaps one-third of the school, somehow it was the rest of us who were made to feel a minority."
Kou: "I see."

Kou feels some curiosity about Rain's time at Houshou, but he's not willing to bring it up when her expression suggests she doesn't enjoy the topic. He tries to change the subject a little.

Kou: "But I've always thought it odd. Why would a traditional, conservative school like Houshou have so many Designer's Children?"
Rain: "Precisely because they were traditional and conservative, their parents seized on genetically engineered children as a solution."
Kou: "So-called 'improved' people."
Rain: "Their ideal is European society from the 19th to the 21st century. When humans were still in control of the world."
Rain: "Designer's Children were perhaps their last ditch attempt to retake control from Artificial Intelligence."
Kou: "I've never thought that AI control the world."


Rain: "The Anti-AI do. The more reactionary they are, the more they believe in AI's power over our lives."

A slightly wry smile crosses Rain's face.

Kou: "And so the Houshou students always saw us as the enemy."
Rain: "To them, Seishu was a pit of vipers."
Rain: "Not least because, except for certain athletic events, Seishu ranked above Houshou in everything."
Rain: "Particularly galling for elitist Designer's Children and naive, spoiled rich children."

This time, a hint of bitterness. It seems Rain never liked her old academy.

Kou: "But I'm impressed, Rain. You're not prejudiced against AI, and you've never acted arrogant or spoiled."

Kou tries to cheer her up, but has to admit that he's not an expert at complimenting people.

Rain: "I used to be quite the bird in a gilded cage, you know?"
Rain: "Besides.. although we were certainly fortunate, our household was by no means luxuriously wealthy."
Kou: "Ah, right... do you mind if I ask what your parents did?"
Rain: "... My father was an officer in the Global Union army."
Kou: "Wow. That's the elite of the elite, Rain."

Mercenary pilots like Kou and Rain might be "officers" in theory, but they don't hold a match to officers in the GU's official forces. Kou is somewhat shocked to realize that Rain, the daughter of an elite official and scion of a fairly wealthy family, is living her life as a mercenary with him.

Rain: "Actually... I had wanted to attend Seishu."
Kou: "You mentioned that before. Your father was opposed, right?"
Rain: "Yes..."
Kou: "That's a shame. If I'd met you back when we were students, I'm sure we would've been great friends."


Rain: "........."

Rain falls silent, her downcast face tinged with sadness.

Kou: "... Sorry. Did I say something to hurt you?"
Rain: "No... you've done nothing wrong. Just..."
Kou: "Just?"
Rain: "... I started recalling the past..."

Rain's lips tighten slightly, and she wipes her eyes with a finger. Her attempts to avoid showing emotion only make it all the more painful to watch. Kou's seen her keep a lid on her feelings so many times... and he doesn't want to see it any more.

Kou: "Can you tell me about it, Rain?"
Rain: "Kou-san?"
Kou: "You'll feel a little better. I felt better when you listened to me, Rain."
Rain: "........."
Kou: "Only if you're willing to talk, of course..."

Is his offer unwanted?

Rain: "My only... real friend attended Seishu Academy."
Kou: "Your best friend went to Seishu?"
Rain: "She was a wonderful Seconder girl. Cheerful, fearless, kind..."
Rain: "I always wished that I could be more like her."
Kou: "Is she...?"
Rain: "No. She didn't make it. Grey Christmas."
Kou: "... I see."

Rain's words falter, and Kou as well can find nothing to say. Rain lost her friend on Grey Christmas. Perhaps that very tragedy set her on the road to become a mercenary...


Rain: "I wish I had died instead."
Kou: "Rain..."
Rain: "I don't even deserve to live!"
Rain: "But she had friends, and hopes, and dreams, and...!"
Rain: "Why did... she have to... *sob*..."


Kou: "Rain..."

He puts a hand on her shoulders.

Rain: "Ah..."

Rain's tear-filled eyes open wide for a moment, surprised at Kou's gesture. Then grief returns to her face...

Rain: "Lieutenant...!"

She clings to Kou, and her momentum pushes him slowly backwards onto the bed. Collapsed, they lie there, body to body. Rain's weight resting on him feels like a precious treasure to Kou.

Kou: "Rain..."

Kou gently draws her closer.

Rain: "*sob*... Lieutenant... *choke*..."

She relaxes into his arms, her tear-stained cheeks pressed against his. Her golden hair rustles softly against his face, and Kou finds himself stroking her head.

Kou: "It's fine... just let it out, Rain."

Rain shakes her head, choking back her sobs. Her tears have stopped flowing, as if they'd run dry.

She can't cry, Kou thinks - or maybe she doesn't know how to just let herself mourn. Still, she clings to Kou's body, not trying to move.

Kou: "Right... I'll go for a dive, okay?"
Rain: "*hic*..."
Kou: "I'll dive in the Net, and then sleep. Until then, you can just use me as a pillow, if you like."

After a long pause, Rain nods her head slightly. Rain still in his arms, Kou activates the dive process. Her warmth a presence, his consciousness departs for the unreal world...


And Kou's soul wanders the empty Net.

TO BE CONTINUED

Aw, that was kinda cute.

Also, you haven't mentioned the soundtracking for this at all - It has some pretty awesome tracks.

Run through the sky

The soundtrack's great, especially since the developers have a really good touch for matching the music to the moment! Back in Chapter 1, when Kou has no idea what's going on, the music switches to match his mood. When Rain calms him down from being afraid to die and then psychs him back up to fight, the BG goes from the "tension/ticking doom" track to the "adrenaline" track. Run Through The Sky starts playing when the stun flare explodes and they make a mad dash for freedom.

Almost every time Kou wakes up from a flashback, there's a moment of silence and a few sentences of simple prose, then someone speaks up or makes a move, and the music starts at the same time - setting the mood for the present to which Kou has just returned. Simple, but effective.

After playing visual novels, I have a much better grasp on which developers do a good or bad job of telling a story in a game, and why. There's a lot of "real" games that would blow millions of dollars on a monstrous game engine, thousands of art assets, and a bunch of scripting in order to have a scene where orbital killsats destroy a city while its population panics and runs for cover. Baldr Sky accomplished the same thing with 3 frames of animation, a looped background sound of people screaming, the right music, and some carefully-chosen text - and it has more punch than many triple-A games have in their entire story.

The other nice thing about the soundtrack is that I own it. =) The cyber-techno music that's the BGM for when you tune up your mech and choose equipment is perfect for listening to while programming. I actually buy all of the visual novels I play - shipped from a specialty shop in Japan that gets them directly. I don't torrent anything. As a result, I have a surprising collection of soundtrack CDs and art books from random Japanese visual novels, since those are the pack-ins you get. (No cloth maps yet, unfortunately.)

The art books can be pretty cool. For example, the ones for Baldr Sky:



The game is split up into two volumes, each containing half the routes, so there's one art book for each of them, plus another book (not pictured) for the expandalone - about 100 pages each. The contents are a really eclectic mix of concept art, rough sketches, character profiles, prints of bonus images that were made for magazine covers or advertisements, and some commentary or interviews as well. The Dive 2 book has a collection of the developers' favorite weapon combos, like the best way to bazooka a robot so hard it suffers knockback for 7 screen-lengths.

As a sample, here's a page-length print of a graphic from Sora's route:


Sora: "So you did come for me after all... Kou."

There's a few pages with rejected designs for mechs, characters, or settings - at one point, Kou piloted an all-black mech. Here's a rejected design for Makoto's room at Kisaragi.



There's also pages of concept art, where they sketched out ideas for different characters and gradually homed in on the final design. Here's concept work for Sora - her hairstyle changed, and you can track the progress towards a feistier character concept. The lower-right image is pretty close to the "NEENER NEENER THBPPPT" expression she has when arguing with Kou.



There's similar concept work for other characters - for example, it looks like Gilbert might have been more of an officious, buttoned-up jerk at one point, and Rain had several different styles of military uniform before settling on the long trench coat over collared shirt that she wears in the final game.

The thing about getting these art books, of course, is that they're art books for explicit games, so there's a lot of pages of art that, er, well. I can't really put these out on my bookshelf in the front room, if you know what I mean. The artist's commentary is sometimes funny for all the wrong reasons, too - "You can really see her nipples from this angle!". Stay classy, guys. Then again, they've managed to take the whole "draw naked ladies in your high-school textbook" thing that aspiring male artists do and turn it into a career, so I guess they don't have to take crap from me.

Without any goal or destination, Kou ends up at Arval City. Kisaragi Dormitory sits in silence, completely deserted.

Kou: "I guess Aki'd have to be sleeping, this time of night."

Unwilling to just enter the dorm without telling anyone, Kou sits with his back leaned against the dorm's wall. The same way Makoto did when he first found her, he recalls. There's no rain now, though, and the warm air is pleasant.

Kou: "*yawn*..."


Kou gazes up at the stars of the virtual night, feeling a strange mix of fondness and regret. The friends he met... the friends he reunited with her... the friends he's never seen again... and her, left behind somewhere in the past... where are they, and what are they doing now?

-- What do you think, Rain?

A rustle of grass interrupts his thoughts.

Kou: "Aki?"

Kou looks, but nobody's there. Just an NPC standing at a distance.

Kou: "Still doing their customer-service patrols, even at this hour, huh?"

Kou closes his eyes briefly, and when he opens them again, the NPC is gone.

Kou: "... Might as well get some sleep."

As his consciousness fades, fragments of light dance inside Kou's head, gradually melting into a memory ---


Chinatsu: "Um, Sensei... thank you very much for saving us back there."

The arena battle finally over, Kou and friends are thanking Naoki for his help.

Naoki: "It's nothing. You're my students, after all."

Kou finds himself pleased to hear even Chinatsu calling Naoki her "Sensei" now.

Naoki: "... Whoops! I just got a call. I need to excuse myself."

With a wave, Naoki disappears from cyberspace.

Masa: "Well, we should log out, too."
Kou: "Yeah."
Chinatsu: "Um, just a minute, Kou..."

Chinatsu grabs his arm.

Masa: "*sigh*... Well, I'll see you later."

Masa logs out, leaving Kou and Chinatsu by themselves.


Chinatsu: "Well..."
Chinatsu: "Ah ha ha... he was some jerk, right? That Gilbert or whatever guy."
Kou: "You got that right. Wish he'd find someone else to bug."

Looking at Chinatsu, Kou is forced to remember the battle - and the portion of it when Gilbert and his cronies thrashed Chinatsu for fun. If not for the limiter, he would've done worse. Even with the limiter, a pilot still feels pain.

And it's Kou's fault that Chinatsu was dragged into the whole mess in the first place.

Kou: "Look, Chinatsu... you don't have to go through that again."

If she's unhappy... then Kou would rather give up on the tournament.

Chinatsu: "... I don't know. That was enough pain to last me a lifetime, but..."


Chinatsu: "But I'm a sore loser. And I'll never give in to some jerk who thinks I can't cut it because I'm a woman."
Kou: "I'll just bet you wouldn't."
Chinatsu: "So I'm scared, but I don't wanna stop. If I gave up now, I'd never get to beat them."
Kou: "Chinatsu..."
Chinatsu: "Hahaha... or maybe I'm just a masochist after all, right?"

Chinatsu's wry smile brings an unexpected warmth to Kou's chest. Even after suffering like that, she's still willing to fight together with him.

Chinatsu: "Besides..."
Chinatsu: "Kou, you fought for me, didn't you?"
Kou: "........."
Chinatsu: "'I don't want anyone to protect me!'... is what I always thought, so..."
Chinatsu: "So I never thought I'd feel like a girl in a movie when someone came and rescued me. But this is the second time..."
Kou: "But I couldn't..."

Couldn't really protect you, Kou says to himself. But...

Chinatsu: "Thanks, Kou."

Chinatsu puts her hands on Kou's shoulders, then steps closer, her face close enough that he can feel her breath, and -

Chinatsu: "Mmm...."
Kou: "!?"

Kisses him on the cheek. She then quickly steps away.

Chinatsu: "First date, and now a first kiss. We're totally on track, right?"
Kou: "You..."
Chinatsu: "Bwa ha ha! Gotcha! I gotcha! Oh, I can't believe you fell for that. Better not get any funny ideas!"


The first thing Kou feels on returning to his real body is an enfolding warmth and a familiar scent.


Rain's sleeping face fills his sight. She must have fallen asleep still clinging to him. Kou tries to move quietly away, but even sleeping, her hands hold him tight. Unwilling to wake her up, he stops.

Rain: "*sigh*......"

Kou's eyes start to adjust to the dark. Long tracks down Rain's cheeks mark her tears, and the corners of her eyes are still red.

Kou: "... Did she cry the entire time?"

Cried herself to exhaustion and then finally slept...

Kou: "... Then she can stay like that."

Wrapped in Rain's presence, Kou closes his eyes.

Rain: "...ease... don't die."

And opens them again at Rain's unexpected words.

Rain: "No... we finally... don't die."


New teardrops flow from her closed eyes.

Rain: "Love... I love you."

Who is she saying that to in her mind? Kou doesn't know, but it must be a painful dream. A dream of someone she loved - and lost. Kou gently brushes her cheek with his hand, her hair rustling through his fingers. Rain sighs, as if comforted.

Kou hopes that at least in her sleep, Rain can relax - that the tragedy from her past won't follow her to her dreams...

Kou's consciousness slowly rises from sleep to the feeling of someone drawing away from him and the sound of sheets moving. Bright light shines against his closed eyelids.

Rain: "...*yawn*... Oh, dear, look at the time."

Hearing Rain's voice, Kou tries to return to sleep. Just a little longer. He senses Rain leaning over him...

Rain: "... Thank you, Lieutenant."

*smack*

A soft whisper in his ear, and a gentle touch of lips on his cheek. Still not quite awake and not quite asleep, Kou drifts...


Rain: "... Now then, Lieutenant. It's time to wake up, sir."

A while later, Rain gently wakes him up.


As if nothing had happened at all, she greets him with the same smile as always.

Rain: "Good morning, Kou-san."
Kou: "Yeah, morning."
Machine Voice: "Information about Yomeuchi's assassination has been broadcast on Suzushiro's public channels."

An information-gathering agent Kou had set breaks in to tell him of new data.

Rain: "There's news on the Net, sir. Please read it yourself as well before breakfast."
Kou: "Roger... Play."


Newscaster: "The CDF has determined that yesterday's assassination of Representative Yomeuchi..."

Kou and Rain start a new day together.

...

Kou and Rain log in to Arval City once more. Kou hopes that by meeting his friends, his memory will recover more, perhaps revealing further details of the mysteries he's pursuing.


NPC: "Welcome to Arval City."

As always, regardless of whether Kou and Rain already know the way, an NPC arrives to offer them guidance.

Kou: "You were built by Nishino Aki, right?"
NPC: "Yes, sir. My original design was developed by Ark Industries NPC designer Nishino Aki."
Kou: "Was there a model used for your appearance?"
NPC: "Unfortunately, I cannot answer that question. Please direct questions about Ark NPCs to the Marketing Department."
Kou: "Thanks, you can go now."

The NPC bows, then walks away.

Rain: "Something the matter, Kou-san? Having to do with that NPC?"
Kou: "It's nothing big, but... there's a girl I went to school with that looks exactly like that NPC."


Rain: "I... see."
Kou: "That's pretty odd, right?"
Rain: "No... it's not that unusual, if you think about it."
Rain: "Using a real person as the model for an NPC is hardly out of the ordinary."

Saying that, Rain gestures towards the streets of the virtual city. Napoleon Bonaparte shares the sidewalk with 20th-century cartoon characters, famous rock stars, and more besides.

Rain: "Famous men and women, media celebrities, fictional characters..."
Rain: "Any number of people have served as models for NPC designs."
Kou: "Well, I know that, but... would someone create an NPC based on just some normal person who isn't famous at all?"
Rain: "I'm told that it happens, by special order."
Rain: "Although typically the customer becomes disappointed quite quickly."
Kou: "Special order, hmm? Ordered for what, exactly?"
Rain: "... To take the place of someone dead. Or to use the NPC to act out the unrequited love... or hate... felt for the original human."
Kou: "Neither of those would explain this."

Aki wouildn't create an NPC for those reasons.

Kou: "Well, I guess I'll know if I ask Aki myself."



They enter the dorm to find Aki and Nanoha gathered in one of the rooms...


Kou: "A weird Buddha, a mandala poster, and potted mushrooms...? I don't remember your room being this... uh..."
Nanoha: "Of course it wasn't! But apparently this is what Aki thought she saw."
Aki: "Nanoha mostly didn't invite anyone into her room. Not much data."

She asks Kou to help out, and links him to Ark Industries' image generator. Kou picks up one of the potted plants, and concentrates...

Nanoha and Aki: "Ahhhh..."


When Kou opens his eyes, he's holding a potted white carnation. They admire the room for a bit, Nanoha exclaiming that she'd like to plant one of the carnations in the garden. With a little help from Aki, it can be set to grow and flower - artificial life, not merely a decoration.

Nanoha; "Wait... where did Rain-san go?"
Kou: "Eh...? Isn't she right..."
Rain: "Right here, sir."

Rain answers from the room's entrance, watching from the doorway.

Kou: "Come on in, Rain. Don't just stand there."
Nanoha: "Really, Kou! You finally found a girlfriend, so you need to pay attention to her, not just leave her there."
Kou: "Hey, how many times do I have to tell you? We're not..."
Rain: "Kou-san and I are comrades, not lovers. We're not in a relationship."

... Exactly what Kou had been about to say, and yet he realizes he's a little disappointed to hear it put so flatly.

Nanoha: "... Well, I guess. Come on, wanna go plant this in the garden right now?"
Aki: "+1. Let's go."


Aki: "Oops."
Kou: "What's up?"
Aki: "Sorry, call from the office."
Kou: "Okay. Go take care of it."
Aki: "Yeah, I will."

As Aki jogs away to the zone-out point, Kou remembers he had something to ask her - about the provenance of Ark's NPCs. It seems like it would take time to talk through...

Kou: "Hey, I need to talk to you later! Call me once you're done with work?"

In the distance, Aki waves her hand back in reply.


Nanoha: "Let's get started, then."

They chat a bit about the oddities of cyberspace as they plant the flower. Once, flowers couldn't be picked on the Net - the instant they were taken from the bush, their simulation would stop, and the flower would neither wilt nor fade, but only lock into place as a decoration. Now flowers can be picked, watered, and even planted to make new gardens.

Nobody is sure when - or why - the AI made that change to the logic of the Net. In the past - during the Great War that their parents fought - dead bodies didn't remain on the Net. They simply vanished, like defeated monsters in an archaic game, the instant their life signals stopped. But now the dead remain for as long as someone is there to observe them.

Nanoha: "Well, that's enough of that. Would you two like to eat before you go?"
Kou: "Yeah, thanks... Wait, are you going to cook for us, Nanoha?"
Nanoha: "Yup. I can cut the vegetables and cook the meat, just like a real meal."

Kou's rather impressed. Of course, virtual meals - recreating the taste and feel of gourmet food - is common in the virtual world, but...

Kou: "Simulating every step of growing, preparing, and cooking the ingredients... That's a hell of a lot of computation power burned just to make more work."
Nanoha: "Simulating even the unnecessary parts is the true cyberspace connoisseur's hobby... according to Aki-senpai, anyway."
Kou: "Haha, that sounds like her, yeah."

(I think Aki would be a Dwarf Fortress fan, am I right?)


Nanoha: "Right! Time to roll up my sleeves."
Kou: "You can help out if you'd like, Rain."
Rain: "Um... me? Really?"
Rain: "Y-yes... I would be delighted to help. Of course."
Nanoha: "Thanks, Rain-san. Right this way."
Rain: "Y-yes..."

Nanoha and Rain enter the dorm. For some reason, Rain looks a little unsteady on her feet...?

Kou: "Whatever."

Aki does strike me as a dorf fortress fan, yes

You'll eventually discover that one of the security layers on Aki's personal cyberspace zone is a trap that turns the surroundings into the background of an old-school sidescrolling shooter, while a 16-bit remix of the normal battle song plays. Aki is the best.


...

*rustle*


Suddenly, Kou feels he's being watched.

Kou: "Who's there?"


NPC: ".........."

An NPC. The NPC girl stands, watching Kou silently.

What does it mean? Kou sees something in the NPC's sorrowful face that sends chills down his spine...

Rain: "Kou-san..."


... until Rain speaks up from behind him.

Kou: "Oh, Rain... Done with cooking?"
Rain: "Yes... I've been kicked out of the kitchen."

Kou turns back briefly, but the NPC girl is gone. What just happened there...?

Rain: "Is something the matter, Kou-san?"
Kou: "No, nothing... Rain, you're no good at cooking?"
Rain: "No, unfortunately. I've come to regret that I refused to learn how to be a good wife."
Kou: "Refused to learn how to...?"
Rain: "... Marriage is nothing more than a lifetime of slavery to a man you don't love. I believed that, when I was a little girl."

Although he doesn't know the details, Kou guesses that her upbringing gave Rain that belief.

Kou: "Marriage isn't all there is to life, you know. You can be a good person without learning how to cook."
Rain: "I'm sure that's true, but... When I watch Nanoha-san, I feel like I've missed something in life."

Kou realizes that, in a rather rare moment for her, Rain is sulking.

Rain: "What? Lieutenant, sir."
Kou: "No, it's nothing."

Kou replies with a small grin for her. Then -

Nanoha: "You two! Food's ready!"

...


Kou: "Phew... I'm done."
Nanoha: "Sorry that I couldn't cook much of anything."
Kou: "No, it was wonderful. I can't remember the last time I ate something this good."

It's no flattery, either. It had been ages since Kou ate a meal as comfortingly homey as this.

Rain: "... It really was excellent. Nanoha-san, you have a true talent."
Nanoha: "Eheheh... Oh, it's nothing. I just wish we could take the same full stomach back with us to reality."

Slightly flushed from the compliment, Nanoha moves to clear away the plates. But Rain takes the dish she's reaching for first.

Rain: "Allow me to clean up. I wasn't any help in the kitchen, after all."
Nanoha: "Er, but, um..."
Rain: "It's fine. Even I can manage washing dishes."
Nanoha: "S, sure... okay then. Thanks, Rain-san."
Nanoha: "In that case, Kou - want to go for a bit of a walk?"
Kou: "Sure."


Nanoha: "It's strange. It feels like we could just keep walking and be at the school, but..."
Kou: "Yeah... but it isn't there."

Kou and Nanoha talk as they walk the familiar path they once took to reach Seishu.

Nanoha: "It's sad seeing the whole field with nobody there, isn't it?"
Kou: "Yeah..."

They stand and look out at the deserted grounds. In the back of Kou's mind, he sees Chinatsu running across the field.


It feels like something he saw only yesterday, and yet, at the same time, an event from the long-gone past.

Kou: "That reminds me, I met Chinatsu the other day."
Nanoha: "Really? Chinatsu-senpai?"
Kou: "Yeah, just ran into her on the street in Suzushiro."

"...in the middle of a riot, running for our lives." Kou doesn't have the heart to tell Nanoha the rest.

Nanoha: "Oh, that brings me back. So she lives in Suzushiro now. How's Chinatsu doing?"
Kou: "She seemed fine. We didn't really have time to chat, so I don't know much."


Kou remembers the meeting. It might have been his imagination, but it seemed like she was avoiding him... and she had changed, in some fundamental way he can't explain.

What happened to her? Kou doesn't have any answers.

Nanoha: "I hope she can come to Arval City, too. I want to meet her again."

Seeing Nanoha's gentle smile, Kou can only stay silent.

Then a call comes in from Aki.


Aki: "Sorry, Kou."
Kou: "Something up, Aki?"
Aki: "Buried in work. Won't get back until night."
Kou: "Ooh, that's too bad. No help for it, I guess."
Aki: "We can talk now if you want."
Kou: "No, I'll ask again later. Good luck with work."
Aki: "Thanks."

She hangs up.


Nanoha: "From Aki-senpai?"
Kou: "Yeah... said she's at work and won't get back until late."
Nanoha: "Oh, I see. Didn't you have something to ask her?"
Kou: "Yeah, for later."

It occurs to Kou - would Nanoha know something about Sora or Makoto's whereabouts?

Kou: "Say, Nanoha... do you know what happened to Sora or Makoto-chan?"
Nanoha: "... Sorry."

She replies with a stricken expression. She doesn't know either, then. Kou decides he'd better not ask for details before he makes Nanoha cry again.

Kou: "No, if you don't know anything, that's fine."
Nanoha: "Right..."

Nanoha wipes her eyes with a finger, then raises her face, and pins Kou with an unblinking gaze.

Nanoha: "I'm sorry I can't tell you anything... but, Kou... please just understand something."
Kou: "........."
Nanoha: "I'm sure you know this, but... Grey Christmas was terrible for all of us."
Nanoha: "Maybe you'll remember it eventually... but maybe you don't have to remember it?"

You don't have to remember. Just leave it be. It's not the first time someone's told him that.

Is there something Kou still hasn't remembered? Something important?

Nanoha: "... You gotta focus on the future, okay? Not the past. So... I mean..."

Kou knows what she's trying to say, but...

Kou: "Even if I ran, I think I'd remember eventually."

... but that's why he has to tell Nanoha the same thing he told Rain.

Kou: "And I still want to know, no matter what. No matter how bad it is, I have to know."
Nanoha: "I guess you're right... it would just be too hard never knowing, wouldn't it? Nobody could live with that."

Nanoha whispers that sadly, then squeezes Kou's hand tight.


Nanoha: "Kou, listen. You're going to need someone to support you from here on out."
Kou: ".........."
Nanoha: "... So you need to take good care of Rain. I think she'll stick with you."
Nanoha: "She asked me, you know? Rain said, 'If anything happens to me, please take care of Kou.'"
Kou: "Rain said that...?"
Nanoha: "Yeah... but, I... don't think I can... be with you, Kou... so..."
Kou: "Nanoha..."
Nanoha: "So... um, don't worry! No matter what happens, I'm sure Rain will be there for you. Even if she's not your girlfriend right now."
Kou: "........."
Nanoha: "Come on, let's go back. I'll feel sorry for her if we keep Rain waiting any more."

They come in the dorm's entrance to the sound of Rain giggling.

Nanoha: "Hm? Do we have a guest?"
Kou: "Looks like it."

A pair of men's boots is left at the entrance. Something about the way they're scattered on the floor feels familiar to Kou.


Man: "So, come on... didn't we meet once back when we were younger?"
Rain: "Tee hee! Oh, you!"
Man: "No, I swear! I'd never forget a women as beautiful as you!"
Kou: "Hey, you! No hitting on my subordinates while I'm gone!"
Man: "Eh...?"


The man turns to reveal a familiar face.

Masa: "Whoa... Hey, Kou! It's been ages! How've you been, man?"
Kou: "Masa!"

The two of them run to each other ---

Masa: "I was going to say we can skip the heartfelt manly hug, dammit."
Kou: "Hahaha! Ack, OW! Stop squeezing, you asshole!"
Masa: "Ow! You're one to talk! When'd you get so tough, huh? Ha!"

--- and the reunion quickly becomes a wrestling match.

Nanoha: "Masa-senpai! It's been so long!"
Masa: "Hey, Nanoha-chan! I heard that Kou was here, so---!"

While answering Nanoha, Masa executes a leg sweep.

*swish - THUD*

Kou: "Whooof!"

Kou tumbles to the floor.

Kou: "Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
Masa: "Ahahahaha! You look great, dude!"

Kou and Masa slap each other on the shoulders, laughing.


Masa: "... But man, I take my eyes off you for a while, and you come back with a looker like her?"
Rain: "Ahem... I can hear you perfectly well?"
Kou: "The same damn thing every time! I'm telling you, Rain's just my partner - "
Masa: "Oh, that's how it always is with you, isn't it? Say she's 'just a friend' or 'just someone I knew from childhood', and then you ended up making Chinatsu and Nanoha-chan cry anyway."
Nanoha: "M-m-m-m-m-m-MASA-SENPAI!"
Kou: "I made Nanoha and Chinatsu cry? What do you mean by that?"
Masa: "Oh, come on! In the end you - "


He's interrupted by Rain and Nanoha each seizing one of his arms.

Rain: "A-ahem, Sudou-san, we need to speak...!"
Masa: "Um? Er? What!?"
Nanoha: "Senpai, just come with us NOW!"

They drag him off protesting... and close the door behind them.

Kou: "... What now?"
...

Masa: "Whew, sorry for the wait, Kou. They kept me talking a bit."
Kou: "........."
Masa: "Hey, don't give me that. I said I'm sorry for just leaving you hanging, okay?"
Kou: "Masa, we need to talk."
Masa: "Kou...?"

Masa's expression changes from confusion... to wariness.

Masa: "... Talk outside?"
Kou: "Done."


Masa: "But really, Kou, what's up? We meet after all this time and you look like someone killed your dog."
Kou: "Oh, I'm happy to see you, Masa. I'm just not happy that you're a detective with the CDF."
Masa: "Wh-!?"

Masa sputters for a moment, then asks quietly -

Masa: "How did you know?"
Kou: "Back when we were hugging, you were trying to search me, weren't you? And your eyes moved while we talked... you were reading my dossier."
Masa: "........."
Kou: "Even Nanoha didn't know you had come to the dorm. You'd normally tell Aki and Nanoha you were visiting."
Masa: "That's not -"
Kou: "You wanted to drop in on me without any warning. And that leg sweep is a move they teach in the police academy."
Masa: "... You've gotten pretty sharp, Kou."

Yes, without any conscious effort, Kou struck on Masa's true nature. Even with Kou's Swiss-cheese memories, his skills still serve him all the same.

His skills as a mercenary.


Kou: "And? What does a cop want with me?"
Masa: "Your best friend can't come say 'hi'?"

With a shrug, Masa slaps Kou on the shoulder. Then his expression changes, and Masa gives him a searching look...

Masa: "You're caught in something big."
Kou: "You know something, don't you?"
Masa: "A little. Did some personal investigation."

Kou wonders - how much does Masa know? Kou is certain, however, that there are any number of excuses that could be used to arrest him - from being present at the scene of an assassination to executing unauthorized military maneuvers.

Kou: "So you're here to arrest me?"
Masa: "Dumbass, like I'd come all the way here for that. Besides which, this is Arval City. Suzushiro's CDF doesn't have jurisdiction."
Masa: "There's not even a warrant out for you. Officially, you're still KIA."
Kou: "Then why are you here, Masa?"
Masa: "... Let's finish this conversation somewhere else."

Masa takes his hand off of Kou's shoulder and sends him a short mail. Kou opens it to find directions to a bar in Suzushiro.

Masa: "Nine o'clock, at the booth in the back."
Kou: "I'll be there."

Nodding, Masa turns to walk back to the dorm.

Rain: (That's a relief. You won't be forced to fight your friend.)
Kou: (Not yet, at least.)
Kou: (... We've stayed here long enough. Time to leave.)
Rain: (Roger.)

TO BE CONTINUED