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xenodile · 29 days ago

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Goddess of Victory: Nikke - Story Recap

Chapter 12: Hometown - Part 2

Stop.

A woman's voice reverberates through the chamber, uttering a single word. And the world obeys.

Laplace freezes in place. So does Eunwha. Rapi, Neon, Anis, Emma, Vesti, all of them are perfectly still. It as though time itself has simply stopped.

Two women in black descend into the cavern where time has frozen.

The taller woman with black hair surveys the scene, confirming that all movement has stopped. She tells her partner, the shorter woman with an eyepatch whom she addresses as Guillotine, that Laplace's weapon still carries an energy signature and may explode.

Guillotine laughs, and remarks that it would seem she has no other choice. With a flourish she lifts her eyepatch and chants an incantation to unleash the one winged demon king, the dark and terrible power sealed within her. Her eye gleams a violet light, and Laplace's barrier, her pistol, the crumpled remains of the Laplace Buster, and even her armor grow dim, as if a candle had been snuffed out.

Guillotine cackles that the true heroes are victorious once more, but remarks on how truly frightful her power is. Her partner gives the order to move out. Seeming to ignore her, Guillotine launches into a prosaic description of her cursed power and how she is compelled to use it, even as it threatens to destroy h-

Her partner, Maiden, once again very sternly tells her it's time to move out.

Guillotine grumbles and agrees, but turns to the Commander, the only person in the group to not have stopped alongside the flow of time. She warns them that they, of Extrinsic squad, are beings of darkness who should never be brought to light. Should they let slip the secret of their existence, these very same dark angels shall come for thee and rend they soul asun-

Maiden tells Guillotine to shut the hell up.

Thoroughly chastised, Guillotine silently follows behind Maiden and the two depart. Once they are out of sight, Maiden's voice once again reverberates through the chamber.

Begin.

As time resumes and all the Nikkes present double take, Shifty orders everyone to fire, and Laplace falls to the ground, unconscious but alive. Shifty gives the all clear, and confirms that reinforcements are en route.

Rapi turns to the Commander and asks what just happened. Commander quickly responds that they didn't see anything, and Rapi immediately catches on and agrees that is was nothing.

Reinforcements touch down and extraction proceeds without incident. Dozens of mass-produced Nikkes move to secure the area and contain the Heretic Fragment, while Commander, Counters, Absolute, and the unconscious Matis are loaded into a transport and flown back to the Ark without delay.

Upon returning, Commander and Counters immediately report to Andersen and Ingrid to debrief. Andersen congratulates them all on a job well done, while Ingrid informs them that the Heretic Fragment has been contained in an Atlas Case, a highly advanced multilayered strongbox that is virtually indestructible. Analysis is already underway.

Commander is more concerned with what became of Matis. Andersen says that they've been placed in cold sleep to prevent their Corruption from progressing until such time as a decision can be made. Rapi asks why they haven't had their memories wiped, and Andersen that Syuen has objected and won't allow it, so Matis will be kept on ice until another solution is found.

Ingrid addresses Rapi, confirming that she was struck by the same tentacle that Corrupted Matis, yet was unaffected. She then turns to the Commander and asks if they know exactly how memory wipes work, and Commander responds that they're familiar with the function of NIMPH. Ingrid goes on to explain that "Corruption" is Rapture code infecting the NIMPH, which then forcibly issues commands to the brain and rewrites neural pathways to turn the affected Nikke into an extension of the Rapture collective. That Rapi was not Corrupted is proof that she has no NIMPH, and thus could not be affected by a Memory Wipe, proving that her and Commander's prior assertions were indisputable fact.

Anis asks if Ingrid is still going to pull out Rapi's brain to study it, but she says that a simple scan will be more than enough to double check if any NIMPH remain. The question now is how and when was Rapi to exposed to UNCHAIN. Rapi herself still has no idea.

On the subject, Commander asks if Ingrid was able to turn up anything else on what UNCHAIN actually is. Alas she's had no such luck. Even in the deepest and most secure of Central Government archives, the only pertinent information is that "it is a substance that destroys nanomachines", which no record of where it came from or what it's made from. Ingrid is not discouraged however, and intends to keep looking until she finds something. The bullet they received from Snow White and Rapi's lack of NIMPH are proof that UNCHAIN exists, so it is only a matter of time and effort until its secrets are uncovered.

Continuing the debrief, Commander asks Andersen if they found anything else in the underground labyrinth. He answers that a full mapping of the facility is underway, and once a report is compiled, he should be able to get a timeline of when and how it was built. The analysis of Fragment will also illuminate the purpose and nature of the structure.

Neon hesitantly raises the subject of the storage containers in the Fragment chamber...and what was in them. Andersen confirms that the containers were in fact stuffed full of dead Nikkes, and that an investigation is underway to understand why.

For now though, Counters will have to wait for everyone else to do their jobs and get some rest. Andersen dismisses them to head back to the Outpost, and Ingrid offers to join them. Commander asks why, and she just says that they can think of her as their escort.

It's made clear why Ingrid went with them when they arrive. No sooner does the team enter the Commander's office do they see Syuen sitting on the sofa, Yuni and Mihara at her side. The two CEOs trade barbs as Syuen questions Ingrid's presence while Ingrid calls Syuen a trespasser. Mihara asks if she should use her sensory sync, but Yuni glumly tells her not yet, as Syuen isn't nearly angry enough for that yet. Mihara apologizes for reading the room correctly, but Yuni tries to comfort her, telling her that she's still working on becoming the old Mihara.

Anis tries to lighten the mood and greets Yuni, while Yuni forces a smile and greets her back, both of them clearly wishing they'd had this reunion under happier circumstances. Neon greets Mihara, but Mihara doesn't remember them, and the smile quickly fades from Yuni's face as she reminds Mihara that she's told them about Counters already. Mihara struggles to recall everyone, but nonetheless greets everyone and makes small talk with Neon as Yuni gives a tired sigh.

With pleasantries dealt with, Syuen addresses the Commander and tells them very bluntly to name their price. They don't follow and ask her to specify, and she does. Money. How much will she have to pay for them to give her the UNCHAIN bullet she knows they have. She tells them again to name their price. Ingrid asks how Syuen knows about UNCHAIN, and Syuen dodges the question by saying that she has her methods as a CEO, and Ingrid and Andersen can't expect to hide things from her forever. She turns back to the Commander and reiterates. Name their price, what do they want in exchange for the UNCHAIN. Whatever the cost, she'll pay it.

Commander asks if this is because of Matis. Syuen readily admits that it is, and asks if that changes anything. With UNCHAIN she can remove their NIMPH, and in so doing, save them from Corruption without having to Memory Wipe them. Again she asks them to a name a price, but Anis interjects, telling Syuen it's unbecoming to play favorites. She's always calling Nikkes slurs and let Mihara go through a Memory Wipe, yet she's willing to pull out all the stops for her precious Matis. Why pretend to care now? Syuen snaps that Matis are different. They're special. Unlike every other worthless Nikke in the Ark. Anis asks what makes them special, but Syuen refuses to answer, instead directing her attention back to the Commander and again insisting that they name a price.

Commander refuses. They won't sell Snow White's bullet. Syuen plays coy and asks if they'll just give it to her as a gift instead. Ingrid speaks up, telling Syuen that she has an awful lot of nerve to barge in and start demanding things when Matis nearly sabotaged the mission with their bumbling, ending up Corrupted and forcing Ingrid to play her trump card just to pull them out of the fire. Everything that went wrong in this mission is Syuen's fault, yet she has the audacity to ask for special treatment from the Commander.

Syuen tries to ignore Ingrid's reprimand by offering a compromise. Give her Rapi. Since Rapi's Memory Wipe didn't take and she didn't get Corrupted, it means she's already been exposed to UNCHAIN. Surely Syuen can pick apart her brain and reverse engineer it. Commander flatly refuses, appalled.

Finally Syuen snaps, asking what the Commander's problem is, why are they making things so difficult for her? Her children, her family are at stake and she will do anything and everything to save them, so why won't they help her? Do they want her to beg? Should she get on her knees and grovel? Will that satisfy them? She'll give them whatever they want and more, so please, please just name a price so she can save Matis!

The Commander stands firm. They will not hand over UNCHAIN or Rapi, no matter what Syuen offers them.

Syuen growls at Mihara to sync her senses with the Commander, and then kill herself by caving her head in against the wall. Ingrid steps in and countermands Syuen, unwilling to let her go through with something so vile. Syuen snaps at her to stop interfering, but Ingrid coldly replies that she's saving Syuen from doing something she'll regret.

Ingrid's words finally strike home and Syuen relents, anger falling from her face to be replaced with pitiful despondence. At last, the Commander makes their offer.

They'll find a way. A way to save Matis. They swear it.

Syuen stares at them. Why should she believe them? They hate each other. They've been nothing but awful to each other from they day they met. Why would they ever help her? Why would anyone ever help her?

The Commander asks Syuen to trust them. Just this once. Please.

Syuen takes a shaky breath. She speaks as flatly as she can, without pretense or emotion, and asks Commander to please, please save Matis. If they do, she'll be forever in their debt. And if they don't, if they're lying to her and abandon Matis...she'll kill them herself.

Without another word, Syuen storms out of the room, as Ingrid remarks that tagging along was worth it. Anis asks what's going on between Syuen and Matis that's got her so worked up, but before Ingrid can say anything, Yuni catches Rapi by the arm.

She asks Rapi why her Memory Wipe failed. The same one Mihara went through.

Yuni's grip on Rapi's arm tightens.

She asks why Rapi gets to remember everything, while Mihara remembers nothing.

A painful creaking sound comes from Rapi's arm as Yuni's grip squeezes tighter.

She asks if Rapi is happy she gets to remember all her friends. Mihara doesn't. She must've been so relieved to be able to recognize Neon and Anis. Mihara doesn't recognize Yuni anymore.

She must be so happy to be alive. Mihara is dead. The Mihara that Yuni loved, and loved Yuni back, is gone.

There's a sharp crack as the bone in Rapi's arm snaps, and she quietly calls to Yuni. She seems shocked by what she's done, and quickly leaves. Alone. Mihara glumly bids farewell to everyone, and makes her way out as well.

Commander asks Rapi if she's alright. She cradles her fractured arm. ...No, she's not alright. It hurts. So, so much.

After tending to Rapi's arm, there is one last matter to attend. Counters, Commander, and Ingrid travel to MMR, the foremost research lab in the Ark, where the Heretic Fragment has been stored and studied. When they arrive, the lab looks more like a warzone, and Mana, one of the Nikke researchers, welcomes them.

Ingrid asks what put the lab in such a state, and Mana explains that there was an...incident. The Heretic Fragment, henceforth designated as Material H, was determined to be composed almost entirely of densely packed nanomachines. As part of the test process, it was exposed to electrical stimuli. In response, Material H produced tentacle shaped appendages that immediately attacked all 18 Nikke personnel in the immediate vicinity, killing and absorbing them.

Ingrid is hung up on "absorbed". Mana explains that Material H had no reaction to humans or machines, and only targeted Nikkes. The dispatched Nikkes were impaled by the tentacles and then seemed to disintegrate. After the situation was contained, Material H's weight had increased by 378 grams, and has since been placed back in the Atlas Case. Mana informs Ingrid that Material H currently weighs 12 kilograms, which she estimates to equal the consumption of approximately 450 Nikkes. Neon suddenly understands what the boxes of corpses were for.

Mana continues with her report, going into the investigation of the underground facility Material H was housed in. Preliminary efforts to map the caverns lead the researchers to compare the structure to an ant colony, and indicate that the "labyrinth" that Counters, Matis, and Absolute traveled through was but one small section of a much larger cave network spanning nearly 1300 square kilometers, all centered around the main chamber where Material H made its lair. Mana explains that the shifting tunnels were used to disorient and isolate prey, giving opportunities for Material H to Corrupt them. Those that perished close by would be consumed immediately, while those that died in the further reaches would be taken to "larders" throughout the colony to be delivered to Material H by smaller Raptures. Mana concludes that the purpose of the structure is to lure in and trap Nikkes with the express purpose of feeding them to Material H, and in so doing, resurrect the Heretic it once was.

Ingrid darkly remarks that it sounds more like some kind of breeding ground than an ant farm. Mana adds that approximately 200 Nikkes have been found in various storage locations throughout the colony, roughly aligning with patrols and squads reported MIA in the area. Rapi thinks back to what Ludmilla had said about fewer and fewer lost Nikkes finding their way north to be rescued by Unlimited.

With the purpose of the colony fully understood, Ingrid is ready to dispose of it, and asks how many Raptures remain. Mana replies that there's actually not many, definitely not enough to put up any meaningful resistance, but that was before the Heretic known as Modernia showed up. Commander and Rapi immediately take notice at the mention of Marian.

As one last passing thought, Mana mentions that based on her observations of the mapped structure of the ant colony...it has an uncanny resemblance to the Ark, on a much smaller scale. Ingrid thanks Mana for her hard work, and the group departs from MMR.

With their new intelligence, Commander and Ingrid join Andersen in a conference room within the Central Government. Syuen and Mustang have also been invited to attend.

Andersen presents the situation thus. With the Ant Colony exposed and the Heretic Modernia drawn into the open, they have a unique opportunity to strike a terrible blow against the Raptures. Their objectives are twofold, to destroy the Ant Colony and subdue the Heretic. If the Heretic cannot be captured, then she must be killed.

The strategy is to deploy teams to plant explosive charges throughout the Colony to collapse it. The Heretic's presence has drawn a great number of Raptures, so the sapper teams will be escorted by the most highly rated, battle hardened squads, preferably with good mobility. Ingrid nominates Absolute for this role, and Mustang offers Cafe Sweety. Syuen...has no suitable squads to offer to the offensive. Andersen thanks all three CEOs for their efforts.

The next phase will be combating the Heretic once she is forced to the surface by the collapse of the Colony. It is certain she will protected by a large number of Raptures, and it's likely the special entity known as Chatterbox will also make an appearance. It will be the military's responsibility to clear a path through the Raptures for the main offensive against Modernia.

The final phase will be capturing the Heretic, and this will fall to the Commander and Counters. Commander asks what they should do, and Ingrid says whatever they can. This will be their only chance to save Marian, so they must do everything they can to appeal to her humanity. They have this chance only because Commander lead the mission into the Ant Colony, so they will be allowed to try. Andersen reminds Commander that the instant they realize that Marian cannot be saved, they must be prepared to kill her with UNCHAIN. Nanomachines comprise most of a Heretic's body, so the substance that destroys nanomachines will be their best, possibly only option, though there's no way to be sure what will happen.

Perhaps she'll be saved, perhaps she'll die, perhaps there will be a miracle. Personally, Andersen hopes that this story will have a happy ending. On that, he and Commander agree.

With that, Andersen dismisses those present to discuss details individually. He recommends the Commander get some rest, and prepare.

The Commander returns to the Outpost and goes to their room. They're exhausted. Between being out in the field all day, the confrontation with Syuen, and all that that happened, they're running on fumes. They collapse into bed without even changing out of their uniform, and are about to fall asleep when they're startled by a familiar voice.

Snow White is perched in their window, just as she was when she first gave them the UNCHAIN bullet. She lets them know that they'll be seeing her tomorrow. They ask why, and she says that she's going to be taking care of Chatterbox, and recommends they get some rest. With that, drops out of sight and leaves the Commander to their thoughts.

They stare into space for a moment for exhaustion overtakes them and they fall asleep, too tired to even think.

#Abby plays Nikke #Goddess of Victory: Nikke #Nikke Story Recap

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