The party is moving onto the next train car.
Esperdica: Next up, the train car with the casino, gym, a pool, and other entertainment facilities.
Yoshiori: how goddamn big is this space train ship
Esperdica: Big enough to accompany diverse cultural amusements. Maybe you can check it out after we're all done.
Yoshiori: Eh, maybe. You interested in anything? (crosses arms as though he's not doing that already)
MC: I like to move it! / I wanna sit down and relax / Any multiplayer games?
(A) Esperdica: I'm sure you'll find something.
(B) Yoshiori: Doing nothing when there's a ton you can do is a flex. But then again we've also been hella busy lately.
(C) Esperdica: You can look for something you'll like then.
Yoshiori: Esperdica, you sure your friend won't have left the casino by the time we get there?
Esperdica: Yes, it's all a gambler like him cares about. It's what got him interested in boarding. He'll be there all day, so we'll see him there eventually.
MC: ...wait.
Plot twist!
???: AAAAAA
Yoshiori: Oh god what now!?
Esperdica: It came from the casino! Let's go!
Tabit comes running from the other direction holding a droid in his arms!
Yoshiori: Hey wait wasn't that another of the guard droids?
Esperdica: Are others going haywire too if he was carried like that? Maybe he's trying to stop them too.
Yoshiori: So that guy's a hero?
Esperdica: I don't know. Let's hurry! Through that door!
Yoshiori kicks open the door!
Esperdica: Is everyone okay!?
Raizi: OH GOD HELP (flings everything in reach)
MC: It's that guy from Procy's bar, Raizi!
Esperdica: Raizi, calm down!
Yoshiori: It's that one gambler! (bonk) Ow, stop knocking shit over!
Raizi causes a standing floor light to fall towards MC!
MC: OH NO
Yoshiori: Ugh FINE! Bodyguard Bl--OOF THAT'S HEAVY
MC: T-thanks Yoshiori / Y-you okay!?
Yoshiori: UGH (throws light aside) You okay? Stay behind me. Esperdica, your friend better not be this asshole!
Esperdica: O-oh, he is. Panicking as he is, but yes...
Raizi is rolling around with his eyes shut. Someone hears and runs in.
Digram: Query: strange noise detected, information on nature of source requested.
MC: Digram! / U-uh, is this our fault?
Digram: Verifying... insufficient data. MC, situation report requested.
Esperdica: Raizi, stop that this instant!
Raizi: (looks up) P-Perdy? W-what--no wait, there was a GHOST!
Yoshiori and Esperdica: !?
Title Card: It was Something like a Ghost
Train car #2. Guests are moved elsewhere, employees are cleaning up, and Esperdica is making coffee.
Esperdica: Your favorite blend. You calmed down now?
Raizi is wrapped up in a blanket.
Raizi: ...thanks. Sorry about earlier, guys.
Yoshiori: Ugh, getting hit by a lamp hurts like hell.
Raizi: Yeah, my bad. And sorry, conductor guy.
Digram: No worries. Stella Campanella is proceeding as scheduled. Please call me Digram.
Raizi: Oh, thanks Digram. I'm Raizi.
Yoshiori: ...you're that dude from Procy's bar. I'm Yoshiori.
Raizi: Oh yeah, you were with Exio. We didn't really talk to each other then, huh?
MC: I'm MC, nice to meet you.
Raizi: Cool. So why you guys with Perdy?
Esperdica: We came to ask you for Observer help. But drink coffee first, then tell us what happened next. Coffee for everyone! Digram, coffee?
Digram: Politely decline. I abstain from food and drink while on the job, but thank you. It smells good.
Esperdica: Yes, coffee aromas are relaxing. Well, on your break time then.
Raizi: Thanks...yep, that's the good taste only you can bring out. I feel better now.
MC: Coffee! / Ooh, warm and relaxing / Oof I don't like bitter
(C) Esperdica: No worries, I made you a cafe latte with milk and sugar.
Yoshiori: Now we can actually sit and taste the coffee for real. Ooh, nice.
Esperdica: I cooled yours down for you. If you like it, I'm happy.
Coffee break!
Digram: ...Raizi, situation report please.
Raizi: Oh right. Uh, I think I saw a ghost or something. I'd be screwed anyways if I was alone against a Monster or villain, but this just hits my weakness.
Esperdica gasps softly. Yoshiori sighs loudly.
Yoshiori: Aww man, really? That can't be.
Raizi: ...I'll tell you what I saw. So I was playing roulette and betting big when that lady and her kid came in. Apparently I was sitting next to the dad of that family. Then the kid started yelling about zombie ghosts. I whipped my head back so fast but nothing was there! I went to close the door, but then I saw someone past some frosted glass disappear. I don't remember what happened after that.
Raizi sighs and looks outside. Nothing seems wrong.
Raizi: Come to think of it, he didn't SEEM like a ghost somehow. He sorta fell apart and disappeared or something.
Yoshiori: Dude, creepy.
Raizi: Yeah. No bad vibes though, but zombie ghost talk made me panic around the time you guys came in.
Digram: (nods) Understood. Thank you, information is now being shared with other employees.
Yoshiori: Hold on, aren't we still missing something? No one got a good look at whatever.
Digram: Affirmative, but it is possible this incident may impact train service. Please relax, I will solve all service disruptions.
Esperdica: ...Digram, Yoshiori, Raizi being an Observer and gambler means he has high Observation and Insight skills, so he might not be wrong about what he saw. Whether what he saw was actually a ghost or not notwithstanding.
Raizi: ...thanks Perdy. I described things as best I could even I can't word it good.
MC: I get that. Kinda hard to describe all the sensations.
Raizi: (looks at MC) Oh, you an Observer too? ...you get pulled into stuff too if you got high Observation skills?
MC: Always...you too?
Raizi: I guess... everything's always kicking you down when you're an Observer. Just having some special power has people pushing the crap jobs onto you.
Digram: ...what? But we need Observers to even function as heroes. It's give and take for us.
Raizi: Maybe, but it's been a lot of crap for me. It's like getting stuck in a rigged game and it sucks!
Yoshiori: By the way, how do you know Procy and Exio?
MC: Hmm, Exio eh? / Oh yeah you asked Exio that too. / Aww, he didn't tell you?
(AB) Yoshiori: W-what? It just bothers me to not know.
(C) Yoshiori: SHUT UP I will throw hands, don't test me!
Esperdica: Oh I can answer that. Back then, I went to ask Procy-senpai in Independent Heroes about going about getting my own cafe. He has a bar, but he taught me a lot about owning a place.
Yoshiori: Oh, small galaxy.
Esperdica: Indeed. I was surprised to hear you talk about Procy. Anyways, I met Raizi about then. I saw his Observer nature and had him hired on. (winks)
Raizi: (sighs) Yeah that sounds nice, but it was a lot of questioning about my living conditions. And somehow Procy leveraged that to get me recommended as a hero agency Operator. After that, Exio and Melide contacted me asking me for help, though I didn't get details. I said no and never saw them again until the other day.
Yoshiori: Oh. When did this ever happen that I wasn't there?
MC: Raizi, do you mind if I ask why you don't like ghosts?
Esperdica: Oh. MC, could you save it for another time?
Raizi: No, it's cool. I did flip my lid and hurt Yoshiori because of it. And of course they'd want to know. Anyways...bad memories. I had to look at lots of creepy things that I physically react to it now.
His voice is shaking.
Yoshiori: ...I'm sorta like a ghost. Aren't you afraid of me?
Raizi: Wait what? You look totally fine.
Yoshiori holds his arm out.
Raizi: ...oh. You got eaten once?
Yoshiori: ...yeah. Normal people can't see or touch me. So aren't I like a ghost?
Raizi: ...I've seen people like you in the past. You aren't a ghost. Or at least, you're not like what I had to see, so I'm not afraid. You're totally part of this world, just Monster scarred.
Yoshiori: ...totally, huh? (stares at arm)
Raizi: Anyways, my memories involving ghosts are no bueno and my body reacts accordingly.
Digram: Raizi, I have looked up how ghosts might occur, but nothing fitting such criteria is on this train spaceship.
Raizi: Oh my god don't tell me that so bluntly! I don't WANT to think that this is ghost nonsense happening.
Esperdica: Aww Digram, are you worried for him? If we figured out what's really happening, we could declare it's not really a ghost that's around.
Raizi: (awkwardly puts down empty mug) ...r-right. I'll go with you guys since I can't really play with all this noise happening anyway. Why not use my gambler skills to figure things out?
Yoshiori: Whoa whoa whoa, we're investigating the android soldiers. The ghost thing is a side thing that we don't even know is relevent yet.
Raizi: ...something else is going on?
Esperdica: Yes, a soldier suddenly went on a rampage for some reason... (looks around at train workers)
Esperdica: We wanted to ask you for help in figuring out that problem. Or even get a hint towards doing so.
MC: what
Raizi: Oh, okay. MC, I dunno how good your eye is, but Observers are all different in how strong they are, what they can do, and what worlds they can see. Some have their own powers and do things besides transforming heroes. Haven't you seen something like that before, MC?
MC thinks of Melide and Exio.
MC: ...yeah.
Raizi: ...oh right you know Exio. So yeah, let's just say I know a secret move myself.
Yoshiori: (stares)
Raizi: So Perdy, you wanted me to look at the guard?
Esperdica: (nods) Yes, this doesn't seem like terrorism or violent crime. Something must have happened.
Digram: Concurred. But the unit in question is currently out of power. I have offered to investigate as another machine life form, but doing so requires repowering him.
Esperdica: ...oh, then we need to wait for him to come back online first.
Digram: Affirmative. You are all investigating that case.
Yoshiori: Not that we found out anything yet.
Digram: Hmm. Could this be Tronesion's...?
MC: Digram? Something wrong?
Digram: ...no. Requesting permission to join your party. On-train investigation should make joint activity possible. Additionally, I cannot allow you all as guests to be exposed to danger.
Raizi: Oh yeah that reminds me. That kid earlier seemed really afraid of the train guards. I just thought it was because they're big, tall scary security guards, but maybe there's something there?
Yoshiori: Yeah, they're droid soldiers too. They've been in war, and civvies tend to stay away from war veterans...oh wait right, what about that other guy we saw earlier? Did he flip out and rampage too?
Digram: No such report was found. You saw a soldier?
Esperdica: Yes, we passed a soldier carrying a man by the casino entrance. I assumed something had happened around here.
Raizi: Just yelling about zombies and ghosts. I didn't know anything about rampaging droids...so who was the mystery man then?
...
Yoshiori: How's all this connected?
Digram: Proposal: what if we investigate nearby? We can gather information and handle any irregularities we discover.
MC: Okay. Hopefully it's nothing! / Thanks for the idea, Digram.
(C) Digram: Oh I am just suggesting things based on priorities. But thank you.
Digram: I will go on ahead. Please watch your feet, everyone.
Digram bows to the party and walks to the entrance. Raizi and Esperdica follow. Then MC and Yoshiori.
MC: Hey Yoshiori! Thanks for earlier.
Yoshiori: W-what are you smiling for? Are you up to something? Well that lamp was probably too heavy for you, no need to thank me again. And I'm supposed to be guarding you.
MC: I guess, but still you helped me!
MC smiles.
Yoshiori: O-okay, cool. I just acted without thinking in the moment.
MC: Just like a bodyguard! You were so cool!
Yoshiori flashes back!
Why Is Yoshiori's Name Hidden Here: Bodyguards are so cool!
Present
Yoshiori: ...I wasn't doing it for you. It ain't no big thing, doing my job. You getting hurt is a problem for me too, so look out. Geez.
Digivice sounds
MC: wait what
Yoshiori: Whatever, let's go. You're on your own next time! And move your ass!
MC: W-wait! / Are you being shy?
Yoshiori stomps forward. MC runs after him.
End of Episode
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