Algernon interrupts to make a comparison
between constantly running for revenge and endless karma. By continuing
to run you realize you return to the place you were at, which is nothing
more than running along the inside of some walls. It’s just like being
on a hamster wheel, which Algernon thinks is a funny choice of words
they used.
Charlie tells Algernon to shut
it, and Nomad is initially surprised before pressing the duo for an
explanation. Algernon apologizes for saying too much, but says they are
similar. They keep running repeatedly within inescapable walls, so the
both of them got a bit sentimental.
Algernon
decides to talk about themselves a bit. Neither of them were very
smart, so they both participated in in an experiment that would heighten
their intellects. It was meant to accelerate the progression of their
intelligence so that it would be compatible with time traveling. In the
end the two of them became geniuses, which they were proud of at first.
However,
they noticed something. What speeds up must slow down. They compare
themselves to a guinea pig in a cage, forever spinning the wheel in the
same place. Maybe their remodeling was a failure. The backlash of their
acceleration was a deceleration of their intellect day by day, which
Nomad seems to sympathize with.
Algernon
talks about the fear of losing yourself, which they say only those who
have been experimented on can understand. So now the two of them work as
cleaners in Tokyo while they struggle to find some way to stop the
backlash of their intellect boost. As the endless loops go they keep
looking for a hint to escape their situation, always running in place.
What do you call it, if not pointless?
Algernon
and Charlie stare into the distance at the Tokyo walls, then speak
again. Algernon says it isn’t just them. Everything that lives in Utopia
probably also spin in place inside the walls. And eventually they start
fearing actually leaving the confines of the walls.
Algernon
then suggests Nomad place himself in their shoes. Tokyo will always
loop back right? That would mean that one day their downturning
intellect will go back up. In that case, the idea that it’ll be fine to
living in repeating loops spreads through their body like a poison. In
which case if the walls are torn down, they start fearing the peace of
the present will also have to be destroyed.
In
that way, they begin to wish for the world to not change and not end
themselves. They give lip service to ideals despite possibly wishing for
the opposite with all their hearts. People would start acting to keep
the karmic hamster wheel running forever. There may be some that act as
such despite not wishing for it, and some that wish it themselves and
act that way...
Scene then shifts back to
Kamata as Tezcatlipoca says he won’t let you guys stop the loops, then
jumps onto a corner post to make a pose. He declares that so long as he
exists their lucha libre will go on for eternity, which his mobs cheer.
He then changes part of his uniform to make walls of rubber strands to
trap you guys.
Smoke starts releasing from
the rubber, clouding your visions with darkness. Amatsumara scoffs at it
and tries to blow it away with his NP. The dragon opens its mouth and
fires a wind blast, but the smoke dodges this like it has its own will,
leaving the wind to bounce back against the rubber to Amatsumara.
You
either call out to Amatsumara or say the rubber is starting to wrap him
up, given that he gets blown into the rubber webbing. He struggles to
get out of it, and Xolotl says he shouldn’t move carelessly or else the
web will snag him harder. Before he gets all of it out, Tezcatlipoca
body slams him away with an adios amigo, having charged through the
smoke.
Xolotl is caught up in the rubber
too, and you call out to either of the guys. Copies of Tezcatlipoca
start coming from the smoke, and Arc tries to catch them with her
chains. The copies don’t bother to make any move against the chain as
they just disappear and reform elsewhere. Azathoth says he gets it and
says it’s Tezcatlipoca’s usual move of making divided fragments with his
smoke.
Azathoth then brings up the Dark
Matter that was scraped off Tezcatlipoca’s mirror artifact and says they
called it a/the sun stone. He calls it an idol that Tezcatlipoca uses
to move, which gives off smoke. By hiding it he can hide his own
position, and Azathoth admits if he doesn’t know where it is he can’t do
anything either.
Arc realizes it’s the
core consciousness of Tezcatlipoca that he uses to control Tiger Man’s
body, so they need to deal with it. You either have trouble keeping up
with the conversation, say you can’t see anything in all the smoke, or
say you guys will lose at this rate. But at that point, a couple of
shadows appear at the other side of the smoke as Hephaestus says he’s
come to help you guys.
You are surprised to
see them, and Hephaestus orders Talos to move. He does so and charges,
but the smoke bodies dodge him as he gets entangled in the rubber
strands too. You try to call out to him and say he shouldn’t touch the
things. Hephaestus however laughs to himself and orders Talos to
superheat himself next.
Talos releases
flames from within his body and starting glowing incandescent red. The
walls of rubber start melting as a result, and Hephaestus looks to you
and asks if you saw what Talos, the robot he made, did. You either
compliment him and say you’ll pat him on the head later or you
compliment Talos. If you go with the first two he cheers to himself that
you praised him. If you go with the latter he glares at Talos, who in
turn thanks you and asks you to direct it to Hephaestus.
Either
way, Xolotl and Amatsumara start yelling about the heat from the
melting rubber, and Amatsumara yells asking if Hephaestus has any
consideration for them at all. Hephaestus says he’s glad they’re okay
and that he was worried about them. Amatsumara calls him a liar, and
Hephaestus in turn calls him a pain in the butt of an old man even after
treating him like an elder.
Arc points out
that the smoke is still around, as the rubber walls go back up. You say
you guys need to do something about it but you can’t catch what isn’t
solid, so you turn to Hephaestus for ideas. Hephaestus says it’ll be
fine because “he” is here. Amatsumara understands what he means by that
and asks if that’s the plan. You try to ask for explanation, but
Amatsumara starts laughing.
Amatsumara then
says it’s their baby and reliable guildmaster. Kurogane starts this
speech about how things that have lost their lives cannot return, and
what has been lost naturally cannot be obtained. They however will
always say such words are lies. There are things you can’t see with eyes
that can see, and places you cannot reach with legs that can run.
Kurogane
continues by saying a lost arm has things it can grasp. It is because
it is lost that it can grasp those things. Things lost can be taken
back, and things that never were can just be made. They are the ones
whose livelihood is in the technology of craftsmanship, and by using
those skills they can take hold of the future. They are the Crafters!
Kurogane
then activates his power to grasp what can’t be grabbed and calls out
his CS. His arm turns into a giant light that grabs onto the smoke to
your amazement. The smoke clears and reveals the sun stone, and Azathoth
says it’s about time for a break as he snags the stone with his
tentacles. He laughs at Tezcatlipoca saying his real appearance is
supposed come much later. He also says he’ll send the stone back to his
place and activates his teleportation, filling the workshop with light.
Azathoth
says it’s time for him to go and waves you guys later, but Arc stops
him and asks him to tell her something. She says he’s left Tokyo and
asks if everyone went back to their home worlds. Azathoth says it’s true
they left Tokyo, but he doesn’t know if they actually are back in their
worlds. He’s just a cast off husk from the original, so he doesn’t know
where his real self went to.
Arc
understands and says it’s fine. This time, she’ll be the one to go see
him. She starts talking about how the Genociders came over the walls to
become her family. It’s her turn now to go see all of them. She’ll do
what she needs to do and overcome the walls.
Azathoth
starts laughing, saying she’s talking big for someone who doesn’t know
how to do that yet. It’s *so* dumb, yet he *loves* it. He then remembers
something and starts addressing you as his should-be disappointing or
incompetent bastard offspring.
You’re
confused by the way he refers to you and wonder if this is a memory
thing again. Azathoth says you’ve always been sleeping for the longest
time. You’re prone to dreaming and doing nothing but play games, so how
the hell did you turn out like this? How is it that you keep running to
bad endings but the world doesn’t blow up or something?
He
wonders for a sec if this is something that came out of character
creation before deciding against that, then jokes about how daddy is
worried about you. But anyways, he says you’ll probably keep sleeping
the way you are until it ends for real. Really though, at least move
your ass when the end of the end comes.
Azathoth
decides he’ll do you one more favor. If you remember all the conditions
for the bad endings, start thinking about what the win conditions are.
You can’t possibly be the kind of idiot who plays games yet doesn’t do
that. Is your enemy Tezcatlipoca? The walls? Or is it something else?
You
start talking to Azathoth and comment on his usage of game terms or
whatever it is he talks about. You might only understand a bit of it or
never really understood him, but you ask if he’s expecting something of
you or cheering you on. You say you’ll show him you can make it to the
best ending, and that you won’t let a bad ending happen again.
Azathoth
laughs and calls you an idiot, saying he isn’t interested in that. He
boasts about being Nuclear Chaos and the Blind Idiot God, the evilest
and strongest. And he disappears with the sun stone as he laughs, and
the episode ends.
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