N Corp. E.G.O::Contempt, Awe Ryōshū/Identity Story

Overview

Voicelines

Identity Story

Speaker	Dialogue
N Corp. Announcement	Simulation #66 Complete. All participating subjects, please stand by.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Puff…
	The child draws a swift trace with her keen sword, flings the blood splatter from its blade, and pulls out a cigarette in a single, connecting motion that was just as honed and polished.
	Before her eyes lies a hill of torn flesh, an amalgamation of things once separate that has become completely unrecognizable as a whole.
	The gruesome sight is enough to make those with weak stomachs gag, but it does not seem to bother the child one bit.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	A bit hackneyed, isn't it. The way it's stacked.
	…Perhaps she is critiquing it.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	Hmmh. What a grisly vision this is.
	Footsteps approach from behind her.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	What? Are you here for the T.S.?
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	If, by T.S, you are referring to 'Training Simulation', then yes—I have indeed received an order. Yet, I must ask…
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	If the task is complete, why linger instead of activating the cleaning machine?
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Need to let it rest and enjoy the luxury of taking in the results after the work is done.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Though, one could argue that the process of creation isn't done until the machine has scrubbed it clean.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	Harangue I will not on your perspective on art, yet I would prefer if you did not force viewership upon the unwilling.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Hmph.
	The child… instead of dropping the cigarette and snuffing it off, she sizzled its tip on the red button on a wall, pushing it inward.
	Then, a large machine that resembled a vacuum came down and siphoned up the haphazardly stack hill of flesh.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	I had high hopes you'd be someone who's artistically inclined when I saw you put lead behind your comrades, but…you've been S.A.D.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	…Side effects of E.G.O Gear Corrosion, nothing more.
	The child shook her head with a disappointed sigh, but the other child only gave an unfazed response as he put down the old firearm that hung from his shoulders. Clearly, this wasn't the first time in an interaction of this nature had occurred.
	The pair had been in more than a dozen battles together ever since they joined N Corp., but their relationship was mostly one-sided and aloof.
	The only times when they'd ever exchange words with one another was when the sword-carrying child would chat up the other.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Don't let it eat you up and spoil the fun. I'd like to taste it for as long as I can, heh.
	… Of course, it hardly seems that she's chatting him up as a friendly gesture.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	The minced flesh tells a tale of an experiment beginning to take shape.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Ahh, that. The director's… flour dough experiment.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	An experiment on Identities… to force upon the subjected person their counterpart from a different, parallel world.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Person? Hah, so those things were once human?
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	They must be.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	The director would rather see me excluded from the experiment exploring the field of my own expertise… Learning is prohibited from me, even if I were to seek it. Of course, such things have long fallen out of my interest.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Whatever it ends up becoming… I hope they won't proudly present some unimaginative metamorphosis as their idea of a final product.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	I'd like to see them try and make things like rats and mutts, non-human subjects, wear them. Yes, that'd make for a passable sight.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	Hm… indeed, if Identities could be projected upon organisms with a high population and very little individual value... they could be utilized as weapons. Perhaps that is the director's vision.
	…….
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	So much for your "I.D.C" attitude. Your mind's racing.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	… A drivel, no more.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	Were military enhancement the purpose of this endeavor, would not one find the use of mass-produced N Corp. armors and augmentations... or prosthetics significantly more practical?
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Do you really think the director would employ imitative machine bodies like those? Just look at the kind of people we are assisting in battle.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	… I suppose they were quite happily hammering nails into all those who wore prosthetics. With greater intensity as of late…
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Of course, the only reason I'm still here is that I can't get enough of carving beauty out of the vulgar, this awesome weapon and garb as my vestments.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	I would've sliced this contemptuous building in half and left long ago had they tried to indoctrinate me into those clichéd fanatics' uninspired massacres.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	… An overbearing color has seeped into your verbiage.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Nonsense. I was always like this.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	Hm. Remain wary of Corrosion, still.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Says you.
	A sharp alarm cuts through their dry exchange.
N Corp. Announcement	Commencing Training Simulation #67. Subjects of this training are Ryōshū, Yi Sang. This training will test the simultaneous participation of…
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	… The coinciding of our attendance is thus explained.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Time to get moving. Walk & cut.
	After the brief announcement, several lumps of flesh thudded to the ground from all directions.
	In some ways, they resembled unfinished, wet clay… and in others, melted half-puddles of humans. They quickly began to pursue the two children the moment their flesh hit the training room floor.
	They are results of utter, utter brutality… it wouldn't do any good to look too closely at them.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	Remain wary of my… Corrosion. Nngh.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	As you are my only ally in this chamber, it may be but an inevitable eventuality that my bullets shall fire at you.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Hah, you'd dare?
	The child leaped between each blast of gunfire, between shambling mounds of flesh as her golden sword sliced through them one by one.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Then… you're welcome to try. Pierce me if you can.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	Ngh… I… I gave you fair warning of the… Corrosion.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	I am unrivaled, unparalleled; every gaze that falls upon me trembles with awe.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Should you pierce me anyway… that would also constitute a certain aesthetic.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	…!
	The firearm-wielding child suddenly whips around and fires.
	The bullet flies true, aiming straight at the golden-garbed child's back.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	… Huh.
	But it fails to punch through.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	This is…?
	The bullet was deflected by a translucent sphere that surrounded the sword-wielding child.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	A defensive field of sorts… little did I know that this E.G.O gear carried such functions.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	No idea. Never seen it before.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	… This may explain why we were to train together.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Knowing that this function exists is enough. Boring.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Shoot me again. I'm going to deflect your bullet right into that shithead over there.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	The director must be once again deploying new technology to these gear… or, perhaps this is simply the consequence of our increased synchronization with them.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	… He's lost himself in his own world again. Hah.
	But she cared very little for such things. She continued to flurry and cut through the particularly aggressive flesh mounds, as the other child had put his gun down in favor of daydreaming.
	Maybe this wasn't the first time something like this has happened. Or, maybe she was simply glad to cut more; the child's sword did not come to a stop, and she did not complain.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	The director's thoughts are difficult to parse… hm. Do you recall our visit to a village they called Calw?
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	… Oh, the computer-obsessed little shit?
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Sitting in her room in front of a computer for days on end… until the director showed her something to spark that fervor, I believe.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	Indeed. She behaved as one Corroded, despite not having been assigned an E.G.O gear at all.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	If this be not the consequences of Corrosion, then…
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Yi Sang	… we would do well to be cautious. It is entirely possible that the director harbors a certain ulterior motive as we are cultivated like livestock.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Hah!
	The child cuts down another massive lump of flesh, the size of three people put together, and scoffs.
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	Hmph, and I'll welcome the attempt.
	Then, she continued…
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	It better be one creative betrayal. I deserve something more…
N Corp. New League of Nine Littérateurs Ryōshū	… than a tired, clichéd backstabbing. Should I not be presented with one such demonstration, the director'll have to pay for such pathetic lack of originality.
	… her eyes glistening with both excitement and contempt.

Footnotes

World of N Corp. Identity Stories