Let's Play Ever17
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Route 1, Chapter 16: Consequences
So!
It's proper morning now!
Nobody seems to have noticed my late night disappearance.
Apparently over time, due to people playing pranks on her to screw with the AI and whatnot, Sora's mental processes start to accumulate noise.
That's what the maintenance is for.
Sora actually managed to improve the response efficiency on the terminals!
I ask what she means by traffic, but get no answer.
Food antics!
Tsusugmi is nowhere to be found.
There's nothing important to do, so we end up gravitating towards the rest area.
Kid and Coco are playing.
Reflecting on the previous night, it was a colossally fucked up experience.
Talking to her will be awkward when she shows up again.
Coco, meanwhile, is saying that the back of one of these statues looks lonely.
VANDALISM POWERS GO
Coco says she's carving because she feels a little lonely, and a little sad.
We've been abandoned to die here, so why not wreck the place a little?
KIND OF DANGEROUS UP THERE
Fortunately, Kid stops her from falling to her demise.
Coco conscripts Kid into her project as well!
Between the two of them, it's soon completed.
The six of us, Pipi the dog, and Chami the Hamster.
Proof that we existed here.
Status update for the afternoon!
You: Security office, doing some research.
Sora: Control room, very busy.
Tsugumi: Unknown.
Let's start with Sora!
>The Control Room?
Sora's not around!
She said she'd report when she was done checking the sensor data gathered over maintenance in case there were more leaks.
How about we check on You?
>The Security Office.
The trip to visit You almost immediately dissolves into antics.
You's father, as you may recall, worked on LeMU.
So if she could figure out his password, she'd have admin level access to the system.
This triggers a thought!
If You could access all the data in LeMMIH, could Sora be saved?
Apparently this would be totally unnecessary, because Sora's mind actually resides in a supercomputer on Insel Null.
...wait a minute.
Isn't all communication to the surface cut off?
The maintenance Sora's been performing should be impossible if we're totally isolated.
You thinks this means that there may be a data link still intact, and that the fact that Sora hasn't mentioned it means that someone might be intentionally hiding facts from us.
Either way, we can't know the situation until she manages to crack the system.
Keep at it, You!
If what You says is right, Sora's never been in any danger here.
Were her comforting words just programmed phrases to ease the minds of the doomed humans?
Dinnertime!
Sora shows up, after having been gone for a while.
HOLY CRAP it's Tsugumi.
Coco's smiling.
You's smiling.
Sora's smiling.
Even TSUGUMI is smiling.
Everyone's in a good mood!
Except for the Kid.
He crushes his sanwich and throws the remains across the room, shouting about how he's sick and tired of fucking chicken sandwiches.
Nobody's coming to save us.
We're all going to die here.
SHUT THE HELL UP
WE'LL SURVIVE UNTIL THE VERY
LeMU starts shaking again.
But the Kid doesn't care. At the climax of his breakdown, he knocks You's uneaten sandwich out of her hand, and into the water.
Whoa
Whoa whoa WHOA
>Don't hit him!
He's just under the same pressure as the rest of us.
I'm not strong like you, he says. He can't see the possibility of us getting out of this alive.
Sora jumps in to mediate!
There are plenty of sandwiches left, so no need to worry about lost provisions.
Why do you care, Sora?
You're an invincible goddamn AI. You don't need to eat to live. Your survival is guaranteed.
Why haven't you told us what that shaking was upstairs? You're all-seeing and all-knowing, so hurry up and tell us what the fuck is going on!
Sora absconds.
Tsugumi makes correct observations.
I said too much.
Need to get out. Need to cool my head a bit.
What IS this door, anyway? I keep running into it, and it never opens.
Suddenly, Sora's voice.
The emergency door at the other end of the corridor is closed, for some reason.
I can't see her anywhere.
When she calls to me from directly above, I look up...
The sprinklers turn on.
With the doors sealed, the water level starts rising.
The door won't open.
Sora just keeps quietly asking what I'm doing, what's wrong.
Why do I expect her to have any answers? Sora asks.
She's just a virtual image.
Not a person at all.
As Sora suddenly shouts something strange, the RSD system goes wild, encompassing my entire field of vision!
The RSD has created an entire virtual environment. I can't see the corridor, just the endless sea, and Sora in it.
What the hell are you talking about? People make mistakes!
If I just wanted data, I'd use the terminal, but I ask you because I want to!
Suddenly, I have a feeling like I know where this is going.
Uh.
Everyone has, right?
>Yes.
The next question is if SHE has lied.
I'd... like to believe that she hasn't.
>You haven't.
Sora brought me here because she had to talk to me alone.
Even if it meant sealing the bulkhead, she had to get us alone.
Sora believes that she may have lost her ability to make rational decisions...
...Oh, shit.
To be continued
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