Marcus: ...
Marcus holds Hofmann's hand all the while.
Tears wet the note, drop by drop.
Causing the ink on it to bleed.
The chaotic thoughts in her mind all recede away. The roaring of her heart begins to slow.
At this moment, only grief and bewilderment remain.
Marcus: Madam Hofmann was calm till the end. Why? Was she not afraid?
Marcus: No. I just read her fear through her trembling fingers ...
Marcus: But she would not show it. She knew it would've frightened me ...
Marcus: ...
Communicator: Repeat.
The communicator rings again.
Communicator: This is the 24 hour countdown to the "Storm." All personnel must return to the headquarters.
Communicator: Repeat. This is the 24 hour countdown to the "Storm" ...
Communicator: Beep.
Communicator: Hofmann, this is Semmelweis. You must leave now. Last call.
Communicator: ... You know we won't wait if you miss it.
Marcus turns off the communicator with one hand.
Marcus: ... The "Storm" is coming, doctor.
Marcus: Come with me to the headquarters. You can take Madam Hofmann's place in the shelter.
Kakania: ...
The doctor says nothing.
She just lifts her head, gazing up at a non-existent canopy.
Then, she speaks—as if making a plea to the gods above.
Kakania: King Midas hunted in the woods, in search of Silenus, the wisest Satyr, the companion of the wine god.
Kakania: "What is the best and most enticing thing for a man?" The king asked.
Kakania: The Satyr laughed in response. "Children of mischance and misery! You are asking for an answer you wish not to hear."
Kakania: "And what is best is beyond your reach: to never be born, to never exist, to be nothing!"
Kakania: "But you still have the next best thing: die, and do it soon."
Kakania covers her face, a piercing laugh escaping through her fingertips.
Accompanied shortly after by tears.
Kakania: I don't care if I could make it through the "Storm."
Kakania: My end ... is already upon me.
Marcus: Doctor ...
Kakania: I'd rather die here than to spend the rest of my life running from the "Storm."
Kakania: Get to safety, Ms. Marcus. I still have things to do.
Kakania: It's a shame that we won't get to be colleagues.
She turns resolutely, not once looking back.
But the young apprentice does not stop her.
She is thinking of something more important.
Marcus: "Seeking Silenus in the woods ..."
Marcus: Did Theophil write the poem in the same misery and despair?
Marcus: Then why did he call the painting The Salvation?
Marcus: He set fire to every piece of his work, but why leave this one out? And this strange way of drawing ...
Her thoughts are clearer than ever before.
Guilt, madness, blame, a hatred that burns through everything, raging through her thoughts.
The past that once filled that page, it was gone now.
Now no one would make her decisions for her.
Marcus: Heinrich said he showed the path to salvation and brought "you all" to the Guiding One ...
Marcus: Salvation ... salvation ... Could it be ...
"What really scared me was not the threat to my life, but the possibility of dying ignorant."
She closes her eyes.
All the information she has read in the past, along with the surging blood from the potion, converges before her eyes.
Marcus: "If I succeed, I can prevent the death of someone who holds the clues."
Marcus: "Even if I die, I'll still turn Kakania completely against Isolde."
Marcus: This was your plan, madam ...?
Vertin: "What really scared me was not the threat to my life, but the possibility of dying ignorant."
Marcus: I know what to do now.
She opens her eyes wide, calling out to the figure as she is about to leave.
Marcus: Doctor, wait! There might be another way!
But Kakania does not listen. She has made up her mind.
Marcus: ... Don't fall into darkness!
Kakania: —!
The departing figure is held back. Marcus fights with an unprecedented determination.
Marcus: Don't let madness or despair take over, doctor.
Marcus: This is not the end. My mission is not over ...!
She reaches into her pocket, silencing the small machine that has been frantically signaling the final evacuation warning.
Marcus: There's still another way to end this ...
Marcus: But it can only be done by you and me!
A blaze lights up the street, replacing the glow of dead electric lights.
People fight, throwing themselves into a frenzied hysteria.
The street looks like an exploded powder keg.
Forget Me Not: The Guiding One is merciful in bringing this era to an end before the summer of 1914.
Forget Me Not: Here, the nationalists, the internationalists, the arcanists, the rationalists, the progressives, the conservatives, the fanatics, the bystanders ...
Forget Me Not: They indulge in passion, insisting that it is their ideals that make up the world.
Forget Me Not: Who would have thought that such a progressive and sensible era would end in a barbaric war?
Forget Me Not: Yet in the end, like dust, they will be swept away and forgotten by time.
Forget Me Not: Only the true believers will survive the end.
Isolde: ...
Forget Me Not: But I must regretfully remind you ...
Forget Me Not: Killing one of our own, despite your merits, is a violation of the rules.
Forget Me Not: I will report this to the Guiding One.
Isolde: ...
Her smile remains picture-perfect yet hollow.
Isolde: May I have a moment alone, Mr. Forget Me Not?
Isolde: I want to look at this city one last time.
Forget Me Not: ... Whatever you want.
Forget Me Not walks away in boredom.
He has long tired of this maddening conversation.
Isolde stands alone on the street.
People around her celebrate, dance, releasing their inner repression, and their primal passions.
But none of that matters to her.
She is merely waiting.
Waiting for the sky to fall.
Isolde: Doctor!
Kakania: ... I've thought about this and made up my mind, Isolde.
Kakania: You were right. I will join you.
Isolde: ...!
Isolde: I have been waiting to hear this for so, so long ...
Isolde: I know this is what you want. Now, I can finally make your dream come true ...
Isolde: I ...
Kakania extends a handkerchief.
Wiping away her wild-eyed tears of joy.
Kakania: Before we leave, I would like to take one last walk in this world.
Kakania: Would you like to join me and walk to my clinic?
