Enigma: ...
A deathly silence.
Until Enigma stumbles back, nearly falling over another person in the room.
Enigma: She's dead?
The piston lies motionless on the ground, as lifeless as any other object.
Enigma: This is what you wanted to show me?
His heart pounds in his ears as he pants, fists clenched and slick with sweat.
Enigma: To watch her utter a curse that's always brought death, only to die in vain?
Enigma: And you just let it happen?!
Ulrich looks at him, his voice poised and steady.
Cryptography Lead: Calm down.
Enigma: Calm down? She's dead, right there! You murderer!
Cryptography Lead: We have already repeated this experiment many times.
Enigma is in disbelief.
Enigma: "Many times"? What?! You've sent people to their deaths over and over again?
The ferrofluid flows again, forming a shape that Enigma can only interpret as disdain.
Cryptography Lead: Look at you, Adler, peeing your pants over a "curse." The human boy is so scared that he forgot to ask the crucial question—
Cryptography Lead: Did the ritual work?
Enigma: What, what do you mean? The curse, the side effect killed her. The experiment failed. Is that not what happened?
Cryptography Lead: No, triggering the curse and failure are two separate things. I was the first one to recite the incantation. Way before Dora.
Cryptography Lead: When I read it aloud, it worked. I felt the warmth of a miraculous blessing on my head, soft, light as a feather.
Cryptography Lead: I told Madam Lucy right away, but as soon as she left the room, the "curse" hit me, and I began to liquefy.
Cryptography Lead: There was no one else in the room. My liquid form had become too insubstantial to push the help button.
Cryptography Lead: A long darkness followed. After that, I woke up again in my original primitive form, the way I first came into this world.
Enigma: Original primitive form?
The ferrofluid pulsates, which in Ulrich's body language is a nod.
Cryptography Lead: Unlike humans, the Awakened have neither flesh nor nerves. We are pieces of consciousness, echoes of a primordial melody, that just happen to reside in material objects by chance.
Cryptography Lead: With a mind and a body combined, we could talk, learn, think like you do, and perform the experiment and endure the side effects.
Cryptography Lead: And this curse, for some reason, cannot affect the "primal consciousness" that caused our awakening in the first place.
Cryptography Lead: While human minds dissipate when their tangible bodies are destroyed, our minds reawaken regardless of the changes and destruction of our external bodies.
Cryptography Lead: Of course, this was an assumption based on idealized circumstances, and I needed another Awakened being who could awaken in different bodies to confirm my theory. That is why I sought out Madam Lucy for cross-verification. The results ...
Enigma: Yes, it was an assumption! You said it yourself! You came back to life this time, but what about the next? Nothing is for sure in arcanum!
Enigma: What if she never wakes up again? What if she dies for good?
He swats Enigma's hand away.
Cryptography Lead: We know what we are doing, human.
Cryptography Lead: Stay out of this. Only the Awakened can carry out the experiment, so we must proceed.
Cryptography Lead: This has nothing to do with race. It is a sense of duty that every researcher should have possessed when they chose this path.
Cryptography Lead: We have to go beyond the limit. Not out of madness, but out of rationality.
Enigma: ...
Silence fills the room, like the beginning of time when there was no sound to be heard.
Then slowly, the piston starts to spin.
Lucy: Hm. We seem to have replicated Effect No. 2, and 117 of the Coleman lab's protective rituals were proven ineffective.
Lucy: Write it down, Simone. This is the fourth time we have seen it. Also, No. 45 and 69 are related to it.
Lucy: We need to speed up. This is too slow.
The lights are back on again, and the piston is placed into a new body.
Being prepared for all possible outcomes requires a significant amount of metal material, but it is essential for data collection and analysis.
With a soft hum, the robot turns her head and looks at Enigma, surprised.
Lucy: Adler, what are you doing here?
Lucy: I am glad to see you out of your room and working with us again.
Assistant Simone: No. He is not on the team, ma'am. He forced his way in here.
Lucy: Oh? My apologies. I seem to lose a small amount of data when I reawaken.
She smiles at him, as she always does.
Lucy: Still, I am glad that you are showing initiative, Adler. Were we supposed to talk?
Enigma: No. We have nothing more to discuss, ma'am. Ulrich has filled me in on everything.
Enigma: But I still worry whether the experiment's risks were properly assessed.
Lucy: Assessments will only be assessments. Much is beyond measure when it comes to arcanum.
Lucy: Perhaps "faith" plays a more important role here.
Enigma is caught off guard by her words.
Enigma: I'm surprised it is you talking about "faith," ma'am.
Lucy: Hm. It seems we both have the ability to surprise each other.
As they speak, the robot strolls over to her chair and sits back down.
Lucy: You are right. "Assessments" could indeed be useful to us.
Lucy: It allows us to know the probabilities of success and failure based on established facts and past experience.
Lucy: But when we find ourselves in uncharted darkness, with no information or past experience to guide us, how are assessments going to help us?
Enigma: ...
She ponders and stares into the void.
Perhaps the experiment did fry some circuits, she's more sentimental than usual.
Lucy: The only thing we have in such darkness is the unwavering faith to move forward.
Lucy: ...
Lucy: When the first steam engine whistled, I awoke into this world.
Lucy: At the beginning of this new life, my circuits were charged with a singular, primal desire: to progress.
Lucy: In the midst of that never-ending whistle, I have watched man build the towers of science and knowledge, and I have watched them unleash chaos and destruction.
Lucy: You, too, have been lost and deterred, but your engines of progress have never stopped churning. Always move forward, no matter the destination, you told yourselves.
Lucy: Until the "Storm" brought everything to a standstill.
Lucy: But this is just a small setback. We are only back to the beginning, where we stumble blindly.
Lucy: And this time, I happen to have a cane.
She gives him a tender smile.
Lucy: No need to worry about me. I will not shut down as long as there is still hope for progress.
Lucy: Hm. We have wasted a bit of time on data recovery.
Lucy: Come, Simone. Let us begin the next experiment.
Lucy: I hope to dissolve into paste this time, so we can easily handle it with a Coleman's ritual of transformation.
The human researcher knows that it'd be inappropriate for him to stay here any longer.
Gritting his teeth, he moves toward the door, trying his best to leave the horrific scene behind him.
Someone is waiting for him by the door.
Cryptography Lead: Seen enough? We know what we are doing, and you are of no help here.
Cryptography Lead: It's been the same old story in this place for the past eight years.
Cryptography Lead: When your faith crumbled during the "Storm," it was us who took over the place and cleaned up after you.
Cryptography Lead: It was us who got things back up and running, put coals in the hearth, and blazed a trail when everyone was lost in the dark.
Cryptography Lead: I know you may not understand the intricacies of the arcanum, but please show some basic respect for our efforts.
Enigma: Will you do the experiments yourself, Ulrich?
Cryptography Lead: Of course. I am not some emotional, unhelpful little punk.
Enigma: ...
Instead of his usual witty comeback, Enigma simply shakes his head in a slow motion.
Enigma: Do you still remember Adams?
A sudden question that seems out of place.
The ferrofluid quivers. The name seems to unearth memories that have been buried for eight long years in the confines of this institution.
Enigma: Adams, Roman, Adolph, Sylvia, Albert, Louise ... Those who were taken from us by the rain.
Enigma: Melvin, Frances, Caroline, Leopold ... They volunteered for the field, but we never heard from them again.
Enigma: Now we have Dora, Richard, Dawkins, and Victor on the list.
Enigma: Life has a wicked sense of humor. My mentor, my classmates, my colleagues, each of them deserved to live more than me. But they're all gone now. There's only me talking to you, alive, useless.
Enigma: Am I going to see your names on that list too, Ulrich?
Cryptography Lead: ...
In this rare moment, he lowers his head.
But soon, he raises his arms and slaps the man hard on the back.
Cryptography Lead: Spare me the feelings, human.
Cryptography Lead: Though I will take back my sarcastic jabs at you, it is not something a leader should do. Madam Lucy talked to me about the importance of teamwork.
He awkwardly pats the human on the shoulder, a clumsy attempt at friendliness.
Cryptography Lead: Go back to your room, Adler. The arcanists will take over from here. Until we get the results, you won't be needed here.
Enigma heaves a breath.
Enigma: I will say this, Ulrich. If you survive the experiments,
Alarmed by the opening words, Ulrich instinctively turns down his receiver to avoid hearing anything too warm.
That would be more painful than suffering through a hundred experimental side effects.
Enigma: I'll submit the sincerest application to never be on the same team as you again.
Enigma: So neither of us will have to worry about teamwork. How's that sound?
Cryptography Lead: Haha.
A curve that almost resembles a smile appears on his face.
Cryptography Lead: I will wait for that application, Adler.
Now. Roll up your sleeves and clear your mind.
This is not the time to grieve.
If human reasoning and arcane knowledge are not enough on their own ...
... perhaps a combination of the two can solve this problem?
Enigma: ...
The lab door is in shambles, its metal plate barely hanging on. A wooden sign reading "Keep Out" sways precariously, covered in bite marks and scratches.
Enigma takes a moment before finally knocking on the door.
A voice answers from within.
???: Who's there?
Enigma: Adler Hofmann from the cryptography team. Is Medicine Pocket in?
Enigma: I heard that they wrote a paper on the linear correlation between the purity of an arcanist's bloodline and their power. Can I get some more details on the research?
The door creaks open to reveal a youthful face. But she is not the genius he is looking for.
The lab technician looks at him through her glasses and hesitates a little.
Laboratory Technician: The paper is here. Help yourself. Sorry about the stains on it. I just took it out of the trash.
Laboratory Technician: If you're looking for Medicine Pocket, I'm afraid they just left.
Enigma: Left? To where?
There is a subtle conflict on her face. She is torn between covering for her colleague and following the rules.
It is more than enough for him to catch on.
Enigma: They left the building? Hasn't the countdown already begun?
Laboratory Technician: Erm, yes, and by regulations we are not to leave. But, uhm ...
Laboratory Technician: They said their new theory had to be verified in the "Storm."
