The Evil Defining

Year: 984 - 07

Episode 1 - Episode 2 - Episode 3 - Episode 4 - Episode 5 - Episode 6 - Episode 7 - Episode 8 - Episode 9 - Episode 10 - Episode 11 - Episode 12 - Episode 13 - Episode 14 - Episode 15 - Episode 16 - Episode 17 - Episode 18 - Episode 19 - Episode 20 - Episode 21 - Episode 22 - Episode 23 - Episode 24 - Episode 25 - Episode 26 - Episode 27 - Episode 28 - Episode 29 - Episode 30 - Episode 31 - Episode 32 - Episode 33 - Episode 34 - Episode 35 - Episode 36 - Episode 37 - Episode 38 - Episode 39 - Episode 40 - Episode 41 - Episode 42 - Episode 43 - Episode 44 - Episode 45 - Episode 46 - Episode 47 - Episode 48 - Episode 49 - Episode 50 - Episode 51 - Episode 52 - Episode 53 - Episode 54 - Episode 55 - Episode 56 - Episode 57 - Episode 58 - Episode 59 - Episode 60 - Episode 60.5 - Episode 61

Episode: 1
Location: Aboard Mephistopheles's Deck
It hasn't been so long since this bus... I mean, busboat was hounded by the sirens and the flashing green lights.
The Sinners were sitting uncomfortably, trying to get some shut-eye in the ship cabins(formerly known as the bus cabins). The thought of returning to their rooms didn't even seem to occur to them.
Faust	......
After gazing out the window for a while, Faust came to her feet and approached the helm(formerly known as the wheel).
Vergilius	Ms. Faust.
Faust	Yes. We have received a signal.
Dante	<Faust?>
Yi Sang	Hurk... Haah... The long-awaited signal has arrived, then...?
Don Quixote	Oooh! Then shall our adventure in the Great Lake finally commence?!
Sinclair	What signal? I don't hear or see anything... Not even an alarm.
Faust	A smoke signal outside our visual range has been picked up by Mephistopheles.
Gregor	A smoke signal... the beacons are lit, then. I guess that's what we've been sitting on our butts for.
Charon	Sailing is a go. Splish splash.
Faust	Soon... we will be moving away from the coastal area and draw closer to what one could call the Great Lake approach.
Faust	Activating automatic navigation system now.
Don Quixote	How, how! Thou meanest to say that what we have experienced so far... was not the Great Lake?
Faust	By strict definition... Yes, it was. We have been inside the Great Lake's borders for a while. Yet I make the distinction based on the information available to you, as our path has so far lacked any real threats.
Don Quixote	No real... threats, thou sayeth. After all that...
Don Quixote	Lo! Yi Sang there has hitherto been burying his face in that very bucket, I shall have thee know...!
Yi Sang	I... mind me not, plea— hurk...
Don Quixote	I had thought the bucket's purpose was to remove water from the ship in case of a flooding... yet all it hath heretofore removed were contents of Yi Sang's stomach...
Don Quixote	And! That uh, Wal-puree-gisoonaught? That incident is still quite fresh in my mind!
Faust	Walpurgis Night.
Faust	And... not many of those 'threats' could be attributed to the dangers of the Great Lake.
Meursault	False Cause Fallacy.
Don Quixote	... Quite the rush of daunting ideas thou hast thrown in mine direction. I shall henceforth continue to slumber, then...
Outis	NO! We have just entered a hostile environment. We must rouse ourselves from sleep and ready ourselves for what dangers there may be.
Dante	<Outis?>
Outis	All hands, to defensive stations!
Outis suddenly leaped to her feet and began barking orders at the Sinners.
Gregor	Guh?!
Heathcliff	... What in the bloody...
Gregor	... Augh, my heart dropped for a sec there.
Faust	Outis, this ship is currently steered by an automated navigation system. As its name suggests, it will automatically avoid any threats the Great Lake may pose. Should a threat prove to be unavoidable, it will sound an alarm.
Outis	Bah... Do you really expect me to trust that incomprehensible contraption?
Outis	Besides, this 'automated navigation system' is nothing but some slapdash, last-minute installation by the Boatworks Fixers!
Faust	... Indeed, Faust was not the one who installed this system. So, no. Its reliability is not absolute.
Outis	Well said. It is well-known wisdom that the path of a sailor is fraught with dangers unknown, which is to say that a human must handle it!
Don Quixote	Then shalt thou be the one to lead this vessel to victory?!
Outis	I must rise to the occasion, as Executive Manager unfortunately lacks any memories pertinent to sailing. Luckily, I am quite experienced with a leadership position.
Don Quixote	Ooho... Commander!
Outis	I am no commander! I am... your Captain!
Outis	Executive Manager! Allow me to briefly assume your authority so that I may lead this vessel as its temporary Captain.
She continued before I even had the chance to reply.
Outis	Atten-tion! Sailing, that is to say, the act of traveling across bodies of water...
After an indeterminate amount of time...
Outis	... And that concludes the fundamentals of sailing! Have you been taking your notes, men?
Charon	Snore, snore.
Don Quixote	Oho, marvelous! Quite a considerable amount of new knowledge I have acquired! 'Tis akin to an adventure, is it not?!
Don Quixote	'Twas one of mine humble eight-hundred-and-sixty-three old dreams to sail the Great Lake as an adventurer, like a challenger of storms, a queller of rogue waves!
Yi Sang	Such an exact number of aspirations you have.
Sinclair	Outis, Ma'am? I have a q-question!
Outis	Yes, you are recognized.
Sinclair	Uh... What's that complicated looking lever over there?
Outis	... Um.
Don Quixote	Ah, It has been a riddle in mine head as well! What may be the function of that peculiar device?
Don Quixote	Ooh, perchance it shall load and fire a volley of cannonballs at the press of a button? Kacha-chaw! Puh-puh-puh-pow!
Yi Sang	A lever of transformative variety. It shall be an auspicious day in which we are availed sight of this contraption in action.
Outis	......
Outis	... Hm...
Sinclair	Uh, Outis...?
Outis	Hmph. I've been seeing more and more of these as of late. These so-called 'bleeding-edge' technologies are hollow inventions that have nothing to show for it aside from their pretty exteriors.
Outis	A blind pursuit of convenience breeds increased risk. There's nothing but ruin at the end of the road paved with overreliance on these bleeding-edge technologies!
Outis	Fervor fueled in the furnace of bolts and engine oil, the ship's blood and sweat...
Outis	A combined force of the commanding officer's decisive leadership and their subordinates' firm loyalty.
Dante	<Blood? What?>
Outis	That is how proper workshops of tradition and history are supposed to be run! Now THAT is how true comrades are born!
Sinclair	I don't know what she's talking about... but that was kind of cool...! I can feel something rising from deep within my chest...!
Don Quixote	Commander! Ah, I mean, Captain! This 'bleeding edge' technology is bleating like a mule! Whatever shall we do?
Outis	......
Outis	I, Outis... Shall prove it to the world.
Outis	That I don't need this high-tech junk to sail!
Outis	Now, seawoman Don Quixote, set the power lever to the maximum output!
Don Quixote	Power lever to the maximum output! Aye aye, Captain!
Outis	Seaman Sinclair! Set the helm to the neutral position and hit the switch!
Sinclair	Set the helm to the neutral position, s-set the helm to the neutral position, and... h-hit the switch!
Outis	LET'S GOOOOO!!!!!
Yi Sang	The engine... has fallen silent.
Faust	The automatic navigation system has failed. It is an old model; rebooting will be complete in approximately five hours.
Charon	That's what you get for abandoning your bus driver.
Dante	<Wait, wait. So we're just stuck here?>
Faust	Of course not. While Mephistopheles' engine may be inoperable as it has melded with the automatic navigation system, the ship itself can still move.
Faust	We still have a manually activated backup power system on standby.

Episode: 2
Location: Aboard Mephistopheles's Deck
Outis	Now, men! Clear orders and solidarity are of paramount importance in times like these!
Outis	Right leg on 'HEAVE', left leg on 'HO'! Let's go!
Outis	HEAVE!
Don Quixote	HO!
Outis	HEAVE!
Heathcliff	... HEAVE HO HOW is it fair that you get to stand there barkin' orders at us while we're pedaling our bums off?
Outis	A most dimwitted question. A Captain must preserve her strength, or risk putting her subordinates in danger.
Outis	That is precisely why I am refraining from partaking in this collaborative effort myself!
Dante	<…….>
Heathcliff	... Since when were you our Commander?
Dante	<Well, she did say she's the Captain, not the Commander...>
Ryoshu	…….
Ryoshu	Those damn seagulls can flock off already.
Heathcliff	How 'bout we kidnap them seagulls and train them to pedal the generator?
Heathcliff	Oi, Faust! Smartarse! I thought you were a genius; make it so! That should be easy-peasy for your brilliant intellect, no?
Faust	I can make it happen, indeed. Yet I do not, as it is inefficient. Rudimentary toilet training will be the first step in making them viable as a consistent source of labor.
Charon	Charon's bored. Charon wants to vroom-vroom.
Ryoshu	I'm tagging out. You're the driver, so do your job. That should keep you occupied for a while.
Rodion	Oho, ya sure about that? Vergie's not gonna let that slide~ That's how ya get yourself a 'consultation', y'know?
Gregor	Haah... Wait...! Let's think about this for a hot minute.
Gregor	Let's think about the actual reason we're sweating, pedaling the crap out of the generator, huh?
Outis	... To nitpick and seek someone to take the fall for every little thing is... a stinking thought. All that happens on the road to success is merely a part of the process.
Gregor	Look, I'm not saying that we should play the blame game. I'm just wondering why we're pedaling so darn hard to begin with. It's not like there's something coming after us.
Gregor	We're headed toward one of the largest ports of U Corp., and we know exactly where that is and how to get there.
Gregor	It's not like the port's gonna sail away, right? Why all this urgency?
Faust	…….
Gregor	I mean, am I wrong? The Great Lake has been very tranquil so far. It's not like some monster's going to suddenly appear out of nowhere and attack us, right?
Faust	It appears that your consolidated field experience has evolved into a form of intuition. Fascinating, Gregor.
Gregor	What...?
Faust	Faust finds this development optimistic.
Faust	We must exit this area within the next 10 minutes. We are... falling somewhat behind the forecast of my predictions.
Gregor	Okay... that was ominous. Why precisely 10 minutes?
Faust	The 'laws of the Great Lake'.
Rodion	Ohh... I knew it! It's that darn law of the Great Lake again, huh?!
Faust	...?
Faust	Your foreknowledge of the laws of the Great Lake is an unexpected development, Rodion. Quite difficult to believe that, even with the consolidated experience, your intuition would—
Rodion	Sorry, sorry~ I just wanted to look like I was in on it for once. Girl gets tired of asking every time, ya know.
Faust	The Great Lake of U Corp. has laws that... must never be broken.
Faust	And yes. The port can and will sail away, Gregor.
Heathcliff	It's a bloody lake... What laws could it possibly have?
Heathcliff	What, are the Lake coppers going to come spank the bad boys with a stick for breaking class rules?
Ryoshu	There better be a law that lets me SYNC, whiny brat. My ears are starting to bleed.
'Haah... Guys, knock it off.'
I could almost hear a well-timed sigh followed by honest but brutal, piercing words. It was like someone recorded her sigh and played it in my head.
But Ishmael was nowhere to be seen on the deck.
Ishmael	So, if there's anything you want from me from now on, state it. Clearly.
She wasn't kidding. Ishmael remained in her room, not a peep to be seen nor heard despite the commotion.
Not appearing once through all that's happened since... the incident.
Faust	As much as I would like to provide you with an explanation, leaving this zone takes precedence.
Faust	According to my calculations, our last conversation left us with 7 minutes.
Meursault	We are approximately 15km away from the edge of this zone as the crow flies.
Meursault	Each person must pedal to generate enough energy to travel at least 10km per hour if we are to escape in time.
Vergilius	Wonderful. I love to see some proper teamwork for once.
Don Quixote	Hyaah! Rocinante! Our destination is nigh! Gallop on!
Rodion	Where does... that girl... get her energy from... Ugh, augh...
Gregor	Cough, cough... I think I'm done for... Just go on ahead without me...
Sinclair	And leave you where... We're on... a ship... agh.
Meursault	Hup. Hup. Hup. Hup.
Meursault	Diaphragmatic breathing is conducive to maintaining consistent speed in an exercise of this intensity.
Faust	Especially more so when each Sinner is responsible for about 10km per hour of energy output. Any higher and it would have required hyperpnea to maintain that speed.
Rodion	Do you ever get tired, girl?!
Faust	No. 3 minutes remaining, now.
Rodion	Aough... We don't even know what happens in 3 minutes! Why are we doing this?!
Dante	<She said there's no time! Just step on it with your life!>
Charon	Charon wanted to vroom-vroom. This is squeak-squeak.
Charon	Squeak-squeak. That's no fun.
Hong Lu	Hm hm hm~ I didn't know how energizing work songs could be.
Rodion	Huuh?! How do you guys have so much energy left?
Hong Lu	This is not even a warm-up compared to the training my family forced me to do~
Heathcliff	Ach, you lot! Shut your gobs and pedal!
Faust	30 seconds remaining.
Sinclair	30... 30 seconds...!
Don Quixote	Khaaaa! Quite the thrill this is!!! Now this! Is true adventure!!!
Don Quixote	'Tis like charging an overwhelmingly colossal enemy, is it no— Ach?! Cough! Ack!
Meursault	Save your words. Your breathing. Remain. In the flow. Breathe in. Out. Breathe in. Out. Breathe in. Out. Breathe in. Out. Breathe in. Out.
Gregor	Huff... Huff... How... much... time...
Faust	10 seconds remaining.
Faust	4 seconds.
Sinclair	4? Why are you not... doing this by multiples of 5...?!
Outis	Look alive, deckhands! Put your back into it! Toil, men! Toil!
Somehow, we managed to escape the zone before Faust counted down to zero.
Some Sinners immediately threw themselves to the deck of the ship like limp puppets, while some looked like they'd just taken a quick rest at a park bench.
Dante	<So... we made it somehow, but...>
Gregor	I don't see any signs of those 'laws'... Am I missing something... Frau Faust?
Heathcliff	Agh... I swear, if all this 'law of the Great Lake' drivel was some hogwash you made up...
Heathcliff	... just to make this journey go just a tad faster, I'm going to seriously...
The tranquil Lake surface we just pedaled through... was gone, as though it was never even there.
In its place was an immense... something. Its innumerable legs—or tentacles—writhed, rising above the Lake's surface. I couldn't even tell where the thing ended and where the Lake began.
Did it burst from the Lake? Or...
Were we traveling unawares on its body this whole time?
Don Quixote	PHWAAAH?!
I couldn't even find the right word to describe the magnitude of that thing. Its appearance sent waves across the waters all the way to the zone we were in...
Mephistopheles shook violently as though it was about to capsize. It need not be said that the Sinners on the deck were given an untimely shower.
Rodion	Woah... That was too close! We were almost pancaked...
Don Quixote	W-well! No a-adventure is complete with uh, cough, cough... nar-nary a peril, of course...
Ryoshu	N.B. Now this is more like it.
Meursault	We have no chance of weathering a single strike from one of its limbs.
Vergilius	No. But 'it' will leave us alone as long as we are 'here'.
Vergilius	That is the law of the Great Lake.
Faust	Now we have time for my explanations.
Faust	Though the laws of the Great Lake are numerous, I will relay only the pertinent information for now.
Faust	Lingering longer than a predetermined amount of time in a single Lake will cause one to be struck by the 'Waves' of each Lake.
Gregor	'Waves'...? That didn't look like any waves I've seen before.
Faust	There are also laws governing the time and direction in which ships are permitted to cross the borders between the Lakes.
Gregor	Wait up. So... if we ever just come to a stop for a bit, that... octopus tentacle-like thing'll whack us?
Faust	Precisely. Thus, it naturally follows that everything on the Great Lake is in a constant state of motion to position itself according to the laws.
Faust	And the route toward our destination will also change accordingly.
Hong Lu	Hmm... Can I get, like, a written list of these laws? My nanny used to stick a piece of paper with our family rules in my room. Not that I could follow them all, but…
That's when...
... I heard a door open. Whoever opened it did so with obvious irritation.
Ishmael	... The Waves finally hit, huh?
Dante	<Ish... mael?>
After such a long period of isolation, Ishmael staggered out of her room at last.
Ishmael	You can't just scribble the laws of the Great Lake down on a notepad and call it a day. Each Lake has wildly different sets of laws, even though the overarching laws governing the Great Lake are pretty straightforward.
Ishmael	More importantly, you should know that unauthorized recording of their laws is one of U Corp's better-known taboos.
Ryoshu	Then my body will remember it.
Faust	... Tattooing them on your body, if that is what you are referring to, is also prohibited.
Faust	Taboo Hunters of U Corp. have been sent in pursuit of individuals who have attempted precisely that. It is best that we do not produce any written records of their laws.
Dante	<… What have you been doing all this time, Ishmael?>
Ishmael	Whetting my harpoon.
Dante	<Your harpoon? Why?>
Ishmael	Because I need it to be sharper.
Ishmael	Because I'll give her the kind of pain that makes her wish she was dead. She'll feel it, even from the smallest cuts.
Heathcliff	… Then why don't you spare us from your misery and crawl back into your hole.
Ishmael	I'm afraid that if I did, I'd later emerge to a deck littered with your melted, unrecognizable flesh.
Ishmael	And I'm not rearing to see a sight like that again.
Ishmael	Besides...
Ishmael	Watching you landsmen waste time tinkering with a ship you don't even understand, wasting precious time... has been unbearable.
Even though it's been a long time since the incident at the Boatworks, her biting yet anxious lectures have not dulled at all.
I was afraid that she might stir up trouble among the Sinners again...
Dante	<... Okay, fine.>
But she was out here with the rest of us, and I wanted to believe that that was more than enough. I decided not to question her further.
Ishmael	... Hm. I had a feeling this would happen.
Ishmael walked up to the helm.
Outis	What are you doing? We are smooth sailing at the moment. A northbound breeze is pushing us along.
Ishmael	I guess it could look that way for some people. Simple, one-dimensional, predictable ground pounders like you.
Outis	You little... How dare you insult my—
Dante	<Outis, let's hear her out.>
Outis	... You got lucky, swabbie.
Dante	<Okay, Ishmael. Tell us... How are we not smooth-sailing? We've got the wind at our backs.>
Ishmael	That's no wind.
Ishmael	We're getting dragged.
Dante	<Dragged? By what?>
Ishmael	Those ships.

Episode: 3
Location: Cabins of Mephistopheles
Just like Ishmael said, two massive vessels were approaching us not far from where we were.
Dante	<We're not exactly on a collision course with them, though...?>
Ishmael didn't entertain me with an answer. Instead, she took the helm and threw it wildly in one direction.
Dante	<Woaah!>
Charon	This skill... Splashy drift...?
Gregor	Huh, didn't know ships could drift like a bus...
Charon	Charon, impressed. Redhead... not bad.
Vergilius	You have competition, Charon.
Gregor	...! Hold up.
Gregor	That's weird. She turned the helm all the way... Why are we still headed between those two ships?
Sinclair	I-it's like we're stuck on rails...
Though Ishmael turned the Mephistopheles' helm around to the opposite direction of the two ships...
... We were getting dragged even faster by them.
And there was nothing we could do about it.
Rodion	Ishy?! Don't tell me you hit the reverse gear?!
Ishmael	I turned the engine off.
Rodion	What...
Hong Lu	Woah... are those ships melding into one another?
Heathcliff	You bloody loon!! That's what you've got to say?! We're about to get squashed like bugs!
Outis	You, swabbie! What happened to all of that bravado from earl—
Ishmael	Shut up.
Outis	...!
Ishmael	I'm going to use the momentum of the pull when it's the strongest to get us out of here. And...
Sinclair	W-we're going to crash!!!
Ishmael	Now.
Immediately before the crash, Ishmael deftly revved the engine and adjusted several levers in a series of decisive motions before speeding us between and past the two vessels.
Sinclair	The back of our ship...
The ship's stern was crushed... but it was better than getting completely sandwiched between those two ships.
Faust	Mephistopheles' engine can reconstruct damage of this severity within the next few days.
Gregor	Wait, this is more than just some damage... It's like they deleted a part of our ship.
Yi Sang	Gone, as though it had never even been a part of the ship's blueprint.
I took another look at where the stern used to be. It was as the Sinners said; the stern wasn't crushed. It was effectively deleted as though it had never been there.
It left a bizarre looking cross-section behind.
Location: Aboard Mephistopheles's Deck
Ishmael	It's U Corp.'s Singularity, the resonance tuning fork.
Ishmael	Ships operating in the Great Lake can merge and separate when needed. As though they’ve always been a single vessel or as though they’ve never been parts of the same ship.
Ishmael	Resonance tuning forks used by vessels of that size are strong enough to pull in smaller boats without tuning forks like ours, or even ones with tuning forks with mismatching wavelengths.
Ishmael	... Oh, right. Apologies for taking the helm without your orders, Manager.
Dante	<No, don't. You just saved all of our lives...>
Ishmael	I wasn't trying to. But thank you for understanding anyway.
Ishmael	Oh, and please accept my apology for giving unsolicited advice. A certain somebody won't stop flapping her gums at me, so I had to. It's not like I can plug my ears in the middle of a voyage, right?
Outis	......
Outis	Tsk. I've heard my share of blunt, foul-mouthed talk during the war. She's not the first to do so.
Outis	Doesn't matter. As long as she can live up to her words... No need to get in the way, I suppose.
Outis	I'm sorry, Executive Manager. I must... take a short break.
Don Quixote	Be not so crestfallen, Commander... I mean... Captain...!
Outis	Silence. Executive Manager is our commanding officer. Always been.
Downcast and shoulders slumped, Outis made her way into the ship cabins(formerly the bus cabins).
Faust	Our destination is near. Welcome to one of the Five Great Ports of U Corp., the Marlin Port.
Faust's voice was dry and emotionless, as though what had just happened didn't affect her one bit.
Hong Lu	Wow... That's so big.
Hong Lu	That has to be one of the biggest ships I'd ever seen.
Hong Lu was right. We were approaching a massive ship, so large that it could almost be mistaken for an island.
Whichever was the case, it was clear that the port was a mega-structure built from countless metal shipping containers.
Yi Sang	Mist fades, and what was unseen before unveils itself. I scarcely did expect the pall to shroud a structure such as this.
Gregor	Ship...? I don't know, can we really call that a ship at this point?
Dante	<Can't help but agree there. Ishmael, does that count as a ship in the Great Lake?>
Ishmael	Your landsman common sense is useless at the Great Lake.
Ishmael	Ships that use resonance tuning forks like those are as common as crimes are in the backstreets. Or, I guess, as common as the Whales are in the Great Lake.

Episode: 4
Location: U Corp.'s Marlin Portship
Vergilius	Well, then. This is where we will go our separate ways... for a short while.
Vergilius	Charon and I have business to attend to here.
Rodion	Business? Why? What is it this time~?
Vergilius	......
Vergilius	... I'm looking to buy some Mermaid perfume. Let's leave it at that.
Vergilius said, looking straight at an advertisement before us.
'Bottles of Mermaid Perfume, extracted straight from their left fins! Special discount!'
Don Quixote	Oho! Art thou planning to procure some for us as well? Quite curious I am, of that 'Mermaid Perfume'. What other curiosities of the Great Lake await us, I wonder?
Faust	A significant source of income for the people of U Corp. comes from selling Whale and Mermaid products. Whale oil, Mermaid tears, Mermaid perfumes, Whale cuisine, and more, to list a few examples.
Don Quixote	Ooo! Lo! I spy a purveyor of iced creams over yonder!
Gregor	… Sardine Whale flavored ice cream…? How is that appetizing to you?
Heathcliff	… Sardines are quite the savoury nosh, even if they do have a funny look to them.
Don Quixote	Alas, I am more keen to learn the flavors of the Marlin Whale ice cream...
Yi Sang	Will you not accompany us to our destination, dear guide?
Vergilius	... I've done my job as your guide.
Vergilius	I point you in the right direction, and that's where my responsibilities end. It's not my job to accompany you all the way there.
Yi Sang	While you may be correct... your words also come across as rather impersonal.
Vergilius	Then you heard me right, Yi Sang. I don't intend to make friends with any of you. Nor do I want to.
Vergilius	Hah. Don't let these small talks give you the wrong impression.
Vergilius	Now, Ms. Faust.
Faust	Our allies are expecting us.
Faust	The Before Team on the ground will relay us the location of the Lobotomy Corp. Branch housing the Golden Bough.
Faust	According to our last communication, they should be waiting for us... there.
Location: Dark Corners of U Corp.
Sinclair	This place is a bit spooky...
Rodion	I don't see anyone here. What's up with that, Fau?
Faust	... I can tell from your tone that you doubt me. This is the location I was relayed.
Heathcliff	Huh, so we got here first? Bloody Brilliant. Before team? More like Belated team, innit?
Faust	Allow me to make a minor correction. We arrived about 1 hour and 30 minutes behind schedule.
Outis	Hm, odd. LCCB Agents we met back at J Corp were already on the scene and...
Sinners	......
I'm sure that comment reminded everyone of the same duo.
It did for me, too.
Thinking about them even for a brief moment is...
???	Snrk! Snore...
Meursault	It appears that they have elected to sleep in lieu of our appearance.
…….
Effie, Saude... We didn't deserve you two.
???	Ungh... Ain't none of ye got a watch, eh?! What the hell's wrong with ye lot?!
Yi Sang	Ah... Apologies... In our hurry, we happened upon an unforeseen mishap on our journey here...
???	Gah, then why didn'tcha take that into account before ye left? Yawn~
Someone, from the corner of the shipping container, rises from their nap and stretches.
Dante	<They sound... oddly aggressive...>
Hong Lu	...!
Hong Lu	My, my!
Dante	<Hong Lu, wait—>
Hong Lu	Your badge is upside-down. Remember to always keep your appearance tidy!
???	…….
Hong Lu	Huh? What's this sticky red thing on your...
On his chest hung an upside-down LCCB Agent badge.
It was soaked in blood.
???	... Yawn. I hoped that this badge would have a more dramatic effect.
???	Let's see 'ere~ Limbus Company... Before Team... Team Leader.
???	The fool was loitering around in our territory. I've gots to say, that was bravely stupid.
Ryoshu	Hmph. That sorry production was an insult to art. Get to the point before I SYNC.
???	Phew, lads! So tardy, yet so impatient. Why don't ye first give us a listen?
???	Yer lookin' fer... the Golden... whatchamacallit, aren't ye?
Outis	...!
Outis	What have you done to the Team Leader?
???	Hold your horses now. Lad's alive and well.
Outis	This is a hostage negotiation, then.
Kidnapper	This ain't me first ransom rodeo, if ye know what I mean.
Kidnapper	'Tis simple. Give us the cash, and we return yer friend.
Kidnapper	We don't get the cash, and we give yer friend an impromptu burial in a shipping container, right 'ere.
Heathcliff	Kidnappers, eh... Pieces of shite...
Kidnapper	Woah, woah! I wouldn't do that if I were ye, laddie. Think before ye act, eh?
Kidnapper	Anything goes wrong, and yer friend bites it.
Kidnapper	It's very straightforward if I do say so meself. Just do as we say, and ye and that friend of yours continue on yer merry adventure. Get back to findin' yer Golden... whatchamacallit.
Kidnapper	Hells, we'll even throw in a full-on gourmet tour guide for ye. Just to sweeten the deal.
Heathcliff	... You bloody maggot...
Gregor	Okay, okay... Gotcha. I see what's going on here. Give us some time to discuss this, why don't you?
Gregor	Look, there's no point in escalating this. It'll do nothing but draw unnecessary attention to us.
Gregor	And if our impulsive actions get that LCCB Agent killed...
Outis	True. They hold the upper hand in this negotiation.
Outis	But I don't believe these fools know much about the Golden Bough. They likely kidnapped him by chance, thinking they could get a hefty ransom out of him.
Don Quixote	Though we have come across many men and women of evil nature in our adventure, Such brazen villainy has heretofore not been encountered...
Ryoshu	How classless. It is grotesquery without a cause.
Outis	Charging them head-on will only sic their friends after us. Friends who may be involved with a powerful local Syndicate.
Meursault	Our chance of victory is slim, should such an event come to pass. We do not possess enough intel on U Corp. to effectively maneuver that situation.
Rodion	Yeah... We don't even know how big the Syndicate behind this guy is. But from the way he said his lines... this probably isn't his first time doing this, right?
Hong Lu	Um... then there's also a chance that they're just small fries, isn't there?
Heathcliff	If they're small fries, let's crush 'em all. We'll hit them before they even have the chance to lay a finger on the hostage!
Outis	... No. It could mean that their Syndicate may be so small and scattered that it is impossible to be traced.
Heathcliff	Ugh...
Dante	<So we don't know anything... Great.>
Sinclair	Are they really going to... If we don't pay up...
Heathcliff	Blast it. I know their kind. Scum like them are around every corner of the City. If this goes cock-up, they'll kill the hostage and won't even leave a body for us to find.
All kinds of awful images and ominous speculation begin to overwhelm us.
The so-called kidnappers were crowding amongst themselves, giggling and chattering. They knew that our options were limited.
Dante	<Okay... Then I'm going to start off by asking how much they want.>
We're out of our element here... The best I can do is to try to gather some information, at least.
Ishmael	Huh.
A short, exasperated sigh escaped Ishmael's lips. She had been standing here this whole time, arms crossed over the harpoon that rested upon her chest.
Ishmael	You're going to pay them? Those bastards? Are you crazy?
Dante	<What else can we do? Even now, the hostage...>
Ishmael	I don't care about your excuses.
Ishmael	I only care to know if this really is the best course of action you could come up with.
Meursault	Any doubts about the manager's decisions—
Ishmael	'—are unnecessary'. Yeah. You're as predictable as always.
Outis	Executive Manager's decisions are orders. To doubt them is insubordination. Ishmael, it doesn't matter how competent of a seadog you are—
Ishmael	Hah, okay. If you say so. But who cares? They've not given me an order. They didn't forbid me from doing anything. So what's your problem here?
Ishmael	... I just can't sit here and watch this play out.
Ishmael strode toward the Kidnappers. It was plain from her tone and expression that she did not care one bit about what the other Sinners said.
Ishmael	I'll gladly accept the consequences...
She shot me a fleeting glance before raising her harpoon.
Ishmael	... for insubordination, manager.
Then thrust her well-sharpened harpoon right into one of the kidnappers' forehead.
Dante	<...?!>
The entire course of her action, from start to finish, was so full of absolute confidence, that...
... no one even thought to stop her.
I couldn't, either.
Ryoshu	O.O.F.
Ryōshū was right. The kidnapper... suffered a total obliteration of forehead.
Sinclair	Ishmael...? What did you just...
Sinclair	W-what did you just do?!
Sinclair was the first to snap out of this stupefied silence.
Sinclair	The LCCB Agent they took hostage... We just put him at risk...! Because of us, h-he could...!
Sinclair was trembling hard. I couldn't tell if it was the welling tears he was holding back... or an uncontrollable fury.
Sinclair	Just like then...! Just like back then with... Effie, with Saude...!
Sinclair	It was only few months ago when...! Don't tell me you've moved on already!
Dante	<...!>
Sinclair's... memories?
I saw an image of Saude and Effie—both smiling. Both were excellent field Agents.
And because they were both excellent Agents, they suffered to their last moments before our eyes.
Helplessly watching as they slowly expired in front of him, at his old home at that...
That day must have been scorched into his memories.
I recalled Ishmael's vision that I witnessed back at the Boatworks.
... Was that also a moment that was burned into her memories, I wonder...
Ishmael	......
Ishmael didn't seem to find Sinclair's questions worth answering. She strode toward one of the closed shipping containers and kicked it open.
A body, that had been dead for so long that its complexion and consistency barely resembled that of a living human, slumped to the floor.
Dante	<...!>
Ishmael	This one's been dead for at least a week. And of course, isn't our LCCB Agent.
Ishmael kicks the body, tossing it on its back.
Ishmael	From the looks of it, this one was a tourist visiting Marlin Port. Probably loaded too, if they could afford to travel to the Great Lake just for its sights. They would've been able to afford whatever ransom the pirates demanded.
Ishmael	Kidnap. Extort. Execute. These Syndicates have been repeating these three steps for a good while at U Corp., even as their names and organizations changed with time. They're everywhere, like vermin.
Ishmael	It would be more accurate to call them 'pirates' here.
Ishmael	They never return the hostages. They'll keep asking for more and more ransom until the money well dries up...
Ishmael poked the body with her foot.
Ishmael	Then they kill the hostages. Like they did this one in.
Don Quixote	... Quite numerous, the prevalence of such tragedies must be... How can this be? Wherefore doth no hero rise to the occasion and put a stop to these villains?
Don Quixote	I-I believed this to be a place of tourism, is it not?
Rodion	Well... That usually means that there's a bigger fish looking out for these small fries.
Don Quixote	Nay! That matters not! To let such villains run rampant in the City is...!
Don Quixote	Ah, it must be the case that the Fixers of the City are yet unaware of this travesty. Mayhaps they were preoccupied tending to others in need, indeed! Naught else but that explains this!
Don Quixote	Were we to send a missive to one of the just and honorable Associations of the—
Ishmael	Don Quixote... Please.
Ishmael	Isn't it about time you woke up from your delusions? I've had enough of your ramblings about 'justice'. Your 'villains'.
Don Quixote	I...!
Ishmael	Y-you know what? Nevermind. It's like I'm talking to a brick wall. You're not going to listen to me anyway. It's so frustrating to have to sit here and just...
Ishmael	This shabbiness is... why we can't get anything done in time...
Ishmael	By now, we should've been talking to the LCCB Agent, getting the intel we need...!
Ishmael's eyes darted around with wrath, impatience, and anxiety.
A metaphorical storm, an amalgamation of senses.
Ishmael	......
She was billowing wildly and helplessly in the tempest. I could not even hope to hold her steady.
Kidnapper 2	Y-ye have brought this on yerself...!
Kidnapper 2	This is our waters! Do ye even know what Syndicate ye dogs just...!
Ishmael	Yeah. If we're doing this... Then let's get it over with.

Episode: 5
Location: Dark Corners of U Corp.
Kidnapper 2	Ye bastards... When our boss hears of this, yer all finished...!
Kidnapper 2	So if ye... uh, bow down and... beg fer...
Kidnapper 2	W-wait! I'm not finished! Get away! Git!
Ishmael	Oh, that's convenient.
Dante	<......>
Ishmael	Nice. Now we know we can go up the chain and talk to their 'boss' in charge. Let's stop wasting our time here.
Ishmael	I don't want to have to crack open these shipping containers one by one and go through mountains of rotting corpses.
Ishmael	You can still point, right?
Kidnapper 2	......
Kidnapper 2	P... please...
Ishmael	The location of your boss. Mark it on this map with your finger.
I wasn't sure when she picked it up, but Ishmael was carrying a travel brochure of Marlin Port. She shoved it in the pirate's face, who struggled for a moment before pointing to a location on the map.
As soon as her trembling finger reached the paper...
Dante	<Ishmael, Wait—>
Ishmael	Well, we have our next stop. What are we waiting for?
Ishmael walked out, leaving nothing but shipping containers full of both old and fresh bodies behind.
Gregor	What are the odds that the LCCB Agent we were supposed to meet is still alive...?
Ishmael	Depends on how rich they think we are.
Gregor	... He could already be dead, then.
Ishmael	Even if the worst comes to pass, we should still find his body. That'll at least give us something.
Sinclair	... If that's all we find at the end of this, his corpse... Ishmael...
Sinclair	I... don't think I could forgive...
Ishmael	Ha... who, me?
Sinclair	No. Us. We who... didn't even try to save them.
Dante	<Faust.>
Faust	I am listening.
Dante	<Should we do something? Is she going to be okay? I mean, Ishmael...>
Faust	I can give you answers regarding her insubordination and her emotional state.
Faust	But this is not a matter in which Faust's answers can be of much assistance.
Outis	Executive Manager, such insubordination and nigh rogue behavior would have resulted in an on-the-spot execution in any other organization.
Outis	I am aware that punishing the Sinners is not a part of the authority given to you, but there must be penalties befitting her actions for proper management.
Dante	<Outis, you're always on my side.>
Dante	<Pretty much always, now that I think about it...>
Outis	I have been... a leader of men once, as you are now. I can sympathize with your troubles.
Dante	<I don't know if I can manage Ishmael anymore... I just don't.>
Dante	<Though it looked like she was acting rash, maybe it was... maybe she knew the right thing to do in this scenario.>
Dante	<If Ishmael suddenly decides to quit, or something...>
Faust will doubtless proceed to educate me on the various clauses that prevent Ishmael from quitting...
But it's not like I could force her to come along should this hostility escalate. Besides, she'd already acted without my orders earlier.
She did say that she'd follow my orders. But I wasn't sure how long that would last.
Outis	Executive Manager. That doesn't matter.
Outis	We don't need there to be 12 Sinners.
Dante	<... Are you saying that we leave Ishmael?>
Outis	Executive Manager. I have wandered for many years in far, far lands before making my journey here. And I have done so with steadfast determination—for a single clause on my contract with the company.
Outis	I came ready to face all the hardships that the journey entails. Adversity, conflict, and loss of comrades are simply facts of this quest that I must weather. Truth be told, I expect all of them to happen at some point in our journey.
Outis	Oh, I will always remain by your side, of course.
She smoothly added the last part, but...
But there was a growing suspicion at the back of my mind that, maybe, not everyone felt a sense of belonging from this group.
Maybe I was the only one who sought a sense of belonging from them. That we'd fight as one no matter what ordeal this journey threw in our way.

Episode: 6
The location, as marked by the pirate's blood, led us to...
Location: Marlin Port Club Entrance
... The entrance of a club. Faint music could be heard echoing out from behind the doors.
Dante	<So... this is the place?>
Rodion	... Any of us been to a loud, flamboyant, deluxe dance club like this before?
Gregor	Well, if I had to guess... My bet would be on you.
Rodion	Oh, come on~ A flashy bar like this? At my Backstreets?
Rodion	I doubt it would've had much business back there, hmm?
Rodion	People would sometimes host secret Backstreets parties, but Sonya somehow always caught on~
Dante	<So, why are we talking about this?>
Rodion	Don't you see, Dante? Bouncers, at the gate.
Bouncer	Welcome; how many do you have with you today?
Guest	Two. Come on, man. Don'tcha remember me? I'm on the list.
Bouncer	Ah... my apologies. Please, enter.
Rodion	Look, look! They're checking something with the guests before letting them in. We gotta squeeze in there all smooth somehow...
Gregor	Welp, since Rodya's out... Next in the line is...
Heathcliff	Huh? What, me?
Heathcliff	The hell are you blathering about? I'll smash your skull in!
Rodion	Mm~ I'd take that as a compliment if I were you, Heath~
Heathcliff	Ahem... S-should I?
Heathcliff	Khm. Sorry to disappoint, but my Syndicate was less about music and dance and more about... blood, loyalty, things like that.
Heathcliff	I'm more of a small watering hole or an old pub bloke than a fancy clubber. Gettin' sloshed, drinkin' from old rickety tables... Yeah, that's more like it.
Ryoshu	Me.
Ryoshu	Music: Screams of fear and pain. Deluxe: Walls painted red with blood. Dance: People with crushed joints, forced to dance...
Gregor	Yeah, that's... not a club.
Gregor	Well, I can't think of anyone else, then...
Meursault	I have been to such a club.
Meursault	Quite often.
Dante	<......>
Gregor	... Y-you're joking.
Meursault	I am not. I fail to see why that is difficult for you to accept.
Meursault	It was merely one of the places I visited when I used to wander in search of life's joys.
Meursault	A cursory observation of their procedures reveals that it is, in fact, a private club. As a general rule, visitors must receive the bouncers' permission prior to entry.
Meursault	Most bouncers are of above-average mass and are likely to be armed.
Meursault	Key elements to getting past the bouncers are...
Ishmael	You'd be right... if this was just any other club.
Rodion	Ishy...?
Ishmael walked past us and up to the club entrance.
Ishmael	This is a home to a leader of a Syndicate. The question you should be asking is... what are the *other* ways of entering this establishment?
Ishmael	And I'm sure the answer lies with a Syndicate member.
Ishmael	Easy enough, right?
Bouncer	What brings you here, if I may ask?
Ishmael	I...
Bouncer	...?
Ishmael	I'm... Queequeg's... friend.
Bouncer	You're... whose friend?
Ishmael	Queequeg.
Ishmael	You recognized that name, didn't you?
At the mere mention of that name, the bouncer's expression changed from that of indifference to disbelief.
Bouncer	Wait...
Bouncer	$@$#@$@#….
The bouncer whispers something into the radio.
Dante	<Is he really going to let us in?>
Bouncer	Are you truly a friend of this Queequeg?
Ishmael	... What if I am?
Bouncer	Where is Queequeg?
Ishmael	…….
Bouncer	It's the Boss askin'.
Ishmael	Right... so your Boss is in the club, huh.
Bouncer	I ask again. Where is Queeq...
The Twinhooks?	The Twinhooks are on our way. I repeat. We are...
Dante	<I thought we were trying to sneak in?!>
Ishmael	No.
Ishmael	I just wanted to know if their Boss was home. We should be able to get all the intel we want from them.

Episode: 7
Location: Marlin Port Club Entrance
Hong Lu	Woah, I can't believe they're letting us in like this!
Dante	<... Let's go.>
I wanted to correct him that the bouncers weren't letting us in, that they were either face-down in some ditch or fleeing, and we were just letting ourselves in...
But I guess I wasn't in the mood.
Location: Marlin Port Club Entrance
Guest	Heyy... you here with anyone?
Faust	Yes. I have twelve companions with me.
Guest	T-twelve...?
Twinhook Pirates?	There! Get 'em!
Guest	Aaah! S-sorry for disturbing you!
Club DJ	Okay everyone~ Let's do the famous 'Marlin Dance' of our beloved Marlin port!
Club DJ	Arms out~ Like this! Swing~ and lock! Swing~ and lock!
Heathcliff	Ngh... what's with all the booming bass?
Yi Sang	It feels as though the sound waves are vibrating my entire brain matter...
Ishmael	Get out of my way or you'll all be sorry.
Ishmael swung her mace, shattering a nearby table to pieces...
And that was more than enough for the clubbers to realize the seriousness of the situation. They quickly ran to the exit and vacated the club.

Episode: 8
Location: Marlin Port Club
Sinclair	Y-you better tell us where your boss is before t-things turn ugly...
Twinhook Pirates?	Hmph... Go drink some more milk before ye start tossin' around threats like that, laddie.
Sinclair	I-I'm serious! Talk, or the next thing getting s-smashed is your h-h-...
Sinclair	... Your skull.
Twinhook Pirates?	Ha... ha ha... O-okay. Let's calm down.
Twinhook Pirates?	Captain ain't 'ere. If it's hostages yer lookin' for... the first mate should know.
Sinclair	Directions.
Twinhook Pirates?	The last room... at the end of that... uh, corridor...
Sinclair	... Go.
Twinhook Pirates?	Aaah...
Sinclair	Not that way...! Get out of this club.
Twinhook Pirates?	Huhh?! A-aye! I'm sorry!!
Heathcliff	... Oi, kid... You're getting better at this, aren't you?
Sinclair	I don't want to get complimented for doing something like this...
Sinclair	I just... I just think we have to get to the hostage as soon as possible.

Episode: 9
Location: Marlin Port Club VIP Room
???	Whew~ You’ve certainly made a mess out there. Tell me. Who sent ya? A rival Captain? Or are you looking to collect my head for the bounty?
Gregor	Haah… So you’re the boss here?
Smee	Yeah. I’m Smee, first mate of the Twinhook Pirates.
Smee	Heard ya wanted to see me. What, want an autograph?
Meursault	We were last informed that you were the second-in-command.
Meursault	We seek your superior. Tell us of their whereabouts.
Smee	Hook? ... That asshat has to be drowning in bottles of Fairy Wine somewhere, three sheets to the wind.
Smee	So I pretty much run this joint. De facto and all, you know?
Smee	And ya gotta understand our predicament. The perfume business has never been the most lucrative venture at this port, so we're just looking to branch out... A purely business decision, devised by none other than yours truly.
Meursault	Understood. So you must have the information we seek.
Meursault	We are in search of a certain individual held hostage by this establishment. Hand over the information regarding his whereabouts.
Smee	Hostage? Oh, what a crude choice of words. We prefer to call him our guest.
Sinclair	... Guest?
Smee	Yep. Well, then... how about a deal?
Smee	Tell me everything you know about Queequeg. And I'll see to it that the guest you're looking for is safely returned.
Smee	Besides, that guest of ours... He's a big shot, ain't he? LC... something's Team Leader?
Smee	Oh, and one of you's a... friend of Queequeg, right?
Ishmael	......
Smee	Tell me everything you know about Queequeg.
Smee	What she's up to, who she's with, the last thing she said to you... I want to hear all of it.
Smee	I'm sure there's no need to remind you who's got the upper hand here.
Ishmael	Ha... I wish I could tell you. I really do.

Episode: 10
Location: Marlin Port Club VIP Room
Smee	W-wait! You better stay away! Lay a finger on me, and you'll regret it!
Smee	You have no idea who's looking out for me.
Gregor	What?
Smee	It's... don't freak out now... a Big Brother. From 'the Middle'.
Ryoshu	... Oho. a B.B?
Smee	And this Queequeg? The Middle put a pretty hefty bounty on her pretty head, in case you didn't know.
Smee	She not only dared to quit the Middle, but also decided to fall off the face off the earth. Now that's what you call prime stupidity.
Smee	Given that the Middle... never forgets.
Ishmael	... Okay. Are you finished?
Smee	Wait, really...? You're still going to kill me?
Ishmael	It's our mess. I'm not about to leave any loose threads behind.
Smee	It's the Middle we're talking about! The Middle! Don't you know who they are?!
Ishmael	......
Smee	Wait! Fine, fine! I'll tell you where your friend is!
Smee	The shipping container you're looking for... We keep our living hostages in shipping containers marked with a green triangle. And since he's a recent catch, you can go find him on the East side, probably...
Ishmael	Green triangle, huh? What if there's more than one of those? What if it's in a different shade of green? What if you’re just lying to get out of a pinch?
Smee	You should be able to tell! You should be able to tell right away! I'm serious... Please!
Ishmael	... There you have it. I'd say that's more than enough confirmation. Happy now, Sinclair?
Sinclair	......
Sinclair was frowning, but Ishmael didn't seem to care.
She stood there, rubbing the wrist of her weapon arm. It almost appeared as though she was measuring the amount of strength needed to turn Smee's head into pulp in one fell swoop.
Dante	<... Wait. Killing her could cause us a lot of trouble.>
Dante	<We know where the hostage is, and I think that's good enough. Let's head back.>
Ishmael	... I don't feel the need to convince you, manager. Kindly get out of my way.
Ishmael	I don't want to waste any more time on this.
Smee	Y-you know what else is a waste of time? Killing me. How 'bout we just go on our merry ways, huh?
Ishmael	I disagree.
Dante	<Ishmael!>
Ishmael	I can be pretty fast.
Ishmael's eyes were still lost and wandering. She swung back her harpoon arm, ready to strike, and...
Before I even realized what I was doing... I was leaping in the way.
Ishmael	...!
Outis	Executive Manager!
Ishmael	Dante... are you insane?
Outis	You, you're the one who's insane!!! You dare lay your hands on our Executive Manager? Was insubordination not enough?!
Smee	S... Smart choice.
Smee	If you killed me... a Big Brother or even a Big Sister would've gone after you.
I recalled the time when... the exact opposite happened.
When Ishmael leaped in front of me, taking the malfunctioning machine's bullets in my place...
And called my name as her body liquefied.
As though she had faith that my name alone could make everything right again.
Ishmael	Did you just... Did you just take a harpoon for that bitch?
Ishmael	If I aimed a bit to the side, I would've hit you in the face! Your stupid clock face!! Do you understand?!
Dante	<Yeah, I do... Boy, you really did whet the heck outta that harpoon... This really hurts.>
Ishmael	Wha... Can you please stop it! With your stupid goddamn quips!
Outis	Executive Manager.
Outis	Her words and actions just now are more than enough to constitute a full-on mutiny. She made an attempt on the life of her direct superior!
Outis	I can no longer sit idly by and watch. Though you may not have the punitive authority...
Outis	We must make a detailed report of these incidents and relay it to the higher-ups of the company to discuss our future actions.
Dante	<It's okay, Outis. I chose to get in her way.>
Outis	This is NOT okay!!
Outis	That individual has consistently and repeatedly caused serious setbacks to our mission!
Outis	And that, Executive Manager, is crossing the line!
Dante	<Outis. I said it's okay.>
Dante	<I didn't take the harpoon for that woman. I took it for Ishmael.>
Ishmael	Haah?
Ishmael	What, did you flip a switch and decide to become a humanitarian all of a sudden?
Ishmael	You never had to dirty your hands with a drop of blood. Not even once...
Ishmael	You just sat back and ordered us to bloody ours in your stead.
Ishmael	And now you're telling us to, what, 'ease up on the murders'? What are you even trying to say? That you don't want us to get traumatized anymore? Some touchy-feely shit like that?
Dante	<No, it's just my intuition.>
Dante	<... That probably wasn't very convincing, was it?>
Ishmael	No. Of course not... Intuition comes from experience. From memories.
Ishmael	You remember jack all before the clock, Dante. How can I trust your intuition?
Dante	<That woman... I think she's in a pretty important position of power, at least in this District. Killing her before thinking things through could complicate things.>
Ishmael	Did it not occur to you that NOT killing her could also complicate things?
Dante	<... I just think killing everyone in our way left and right like this...>
Dante	<... Won't help us in the future.>
Ishmael	... In the future, huh.
Dante	<Sorry... I can't... I don't have any better explanation for what I just did.>
Ishmael	I don't know how far in the future you're talking about, but...
Ishmael	... I'm sure we have different things in store for us there, Dante.
Dante	<Ah...>
Yi Sang	Dante...
Yi Sang	Do not ever put yourself at risk in such a manner again.
Dante	<Come on... That advice coming from one of you guys? Not very convincing.>
Yi Sang	Responsibility of twelve lives weigh upon your shoulders, Dante. Thus you must watch yourself twelvefold.
Yi Sang	Doubly so, in that... should you perish... we do not possess the means to bring you back.
Yi Sang	And...
Yi Sang	Ones that cannot be brought back... leave behind an unbearably painful void.
Yi Sang was right. My shoulder was in an unbearable amount of pain.
Heathcliff	Oi... You uh, all right, clockhead?
Dante	<Yeah, I'm good. The clock still works.>
Heathcliff	What? That's not what I... Hah, Looney bugger. You're not all there either. Or maybe it just took you a while to lose it, eh?
Heathcliff	And here I thought we at least had one sane person on the bus. But you're no different.
Heathcliff shook his head and walked away.

Episode: 11
Location: Twinhook Pirates' Hideout
Dante	<You think all of these shipping containers are full of...>
Gregor	Right... Let's try to not linger on that thought.
I tried my best to not speculate about what terrible things the pirates might be hiding in that mountain of shipping containers.
Shouting Thug	Hey! Who's there? How'd ya find this place?!
Rodion	Ah, hey, we're just here to check out that shipping container with a green triangle over here~ And we'll be right outta your hair, 'kay?
Dante	<Let's take them out before anything worse happens to our Agent...>

Episode: 12
Ishmael	This one... It's gotta be this shipping container. And in here should be the LCCB Team Captain...
Location: Twinhook Pirates' Hideout
???	Pshaw...! I... I really thought I was done for. Sniff, sniff...
Ishmael	……
Pilot	Name's Pilot. LCCB Preliminary Observation Unit 3 Assistant Manager.
Ishmael	Wait, you're not the Team Leader? But the pirates said they captured the LCCB Team Leader...?
Pilot	Hey... I'm standing right here... What's up with the obvious disappointment...?
Pilot	Anyways— thank you for savin' my life! I heard so many stories about y'all. The LCB, huh?
Dante	<What kind of stories, I wonder...>
Pilot	Happy to make your acquaintance, sirs and ladies! I've been a huge fan ever since I joined the company!
Pilot	... Uhh, why are y'all looking at me like that...?
Gregor	Long story short, there was a whole mess with this other guy who claimed to be a fan. So... yeah. You gotta understand.
Yi Sang	Khm, ahm...
Pilot	Ohh, and I've a message to deliver to you guys.
Pilot	Ahem, ahem...
Pilot	"Hey. I bet you guys are chaotically running around somewhere in U Corp. like headless chickens and messing everything up."
Ryoshu	... Time for O.O.F.
Pilot	W-wait! I'm just delivering the message exactly as she said it, intonations and all!
Rodion	Watch out~ Don't cha think it might've been better to start with "and I quote"~? And tell us who this 'she' is, too.
Ryoshu	Abbreviations and omissions are two completely different things. I'll let this slide, fledgling. Just this once.
Pilot	Who 'she' is? Well, of course! It's none other than...
Pilot	Manager Miss Saude herself!
Dante	<...!>
Ishmael	Saude... is alive?
Gregor	M-manager...? Did she get promoted?
Pilot	She's still in recovery, but After Team arrived just in the nick of time and treated her wounds, saving her life.
Outis	... I'm glad it wasn't a posthumous promotion.
Pilot	Manager Saude wanted to meet all of y'all too, but couldn't make it on account of her bein' on a different mission.
Dante	<I'm glad she's okay...>
Ishmael	Is Saude... okay?
Pilot	'Course! It wasn't the smoothest recovery, but she's now healthy enough to eat some grub and hold a lengthy conversation.
Ishmael	That's great, but I was asking, because...
Ishmael	She lost her partner. Right before her eyes.
Sinclair	......
Pilot	Oh...
Pilot produced a piece of old, folded paper and began reading from it.
Pilot	'This is a reminder to all LCCB employees. We, the Before Team, are assigned the paramount task of clearing the path before anyone else does. Every bloodied step, every flesh given becomes another stepping stone for your fellow Limbus Company employees to follow into the future.'
Pilot	That’s the very first line from the new hire training guide we were issued.
Pilot	And I'm proud of it! I'm proud of the sacrifices we make. Most of my coworkers at LCCB just want to make a quick buck before quitting and say I'm the odd one, though.
Ishmael	You're... proud of sacrifice?
Ishmael	Seriously?
Rodion	Now now, Ishy~ Whaaat? You want Sardine Whale flavored ice cream? No way, me too! Why don't we head out and get some together~?
Ishmael	Hey, let me go. Let me g— Gah, how are you so strong—
Rodya grabbed Ishmael's arm and began practically dragging her outside.
Dante	<Well... just in case she gets into another fight...>
Faust	......
I decided to sneakily follow them from a distance.
Rodion	Ishy, ya gotta stop bringing down the mood like that~ We saved his life, didn't we?
Rodion	I understand that things are a bit rough right now, but let's be a bit more patient, 'kay~?
Ishmael	Rodion, that back there... that's just indoctrination. They're brainwashing them.
Ishmael	No one wants to admit that they're just throwing themselves into a meat grinder. So they wrap that neatly in the name of self-sacrifice...
Rodion	I know.
Ishmael	Then why...
Rodion	People need a way to endure that reality and go on living somehow. Some people live from paycheck to paycheck. Sometimes... they just don't have a choice.
Ishmael	......
Rodion	Let's hear out our overzealous friend, how 'bout that?
Ishmael	... Don't talk down to me like you're coddling some baby.
Ishmael	We're not that close, Rodion.
Ishmael	But I'll listen, just this once.
Rodion	... Fine, fine~
Rodya seemed to have noticed that I was following them all along. She signaled me with a quick wink...
... And I was able to return to where the other Sinners were before they did.

Episode: 13
Location: Twinhook Pirates' Hideout
Don Quixote	'Tis injustice that thou hast left me out of thine iced-crrream jaunt...
Rodion	It tasted like fish! Not worth the walk~ Maybe they put ground Mermaid in there.
Don Quixote	Ground Mermaid... in ice cream...?
Pilot	Boy, I'm nervous. What an audience, huh...?
Ryoshu	T.O.S.T.O.O.F.
Pilot	...? I'm sorry?
Sinclair	... Talk...
Ryoshu	S... F.S.
Sinclair	Haah... Or Suffer The Obliteration Of Forehead...
Pilot	...!
Pilot	I appreciate you translatin' it... I... I feel a bit better...
Pilot	She reminded me a lot of our LCC Before Team Director just now.
Gregor	Must be a helluva boss, huh...
Ryoshu	Heh...
Pilot	Where do I begin...
Pilot	It took us a hot minute to pinpoint the location of the Lobotomy Corp. Branch housing the Golden Bough, actually...
Pilot	Me and my teammates, we ran a pretty tight ship...
Pilot	But the Twinhook Pirates of U Corp. Backstreets caught wind of us sniffin' around!
Kidnapper	Listen 'ere lad! This be the cheapest bottle of oil in all the Great Lake, I tell ye!
Pilot	What? How? That's ridiculous! Y'all are tellin' me that this Whale oil of dubious origin is worth HOW much?!
Rodion	Wait...! Yeah, no wonder! You pretty much antagonized them to their faces!
Pilot	Okay, in my defense, those fellers was about to rob us blind!
Gregor	I mean... Couldn't you have just paid a bit of money for some intel, though...?
Pilot	W-well, anyway...
Pilot	After a thorough search, we identified the exact location of the Lobotomy Corp. Branch with the Golden Bough.
Faust	Did you find the Golden Bough?
Pilot	Yup. Saw that fabled golden light, too. "Too bright yet not too bright", was it?
Pilot	I had to see it with my own two eyes to understand what that meant.
Pilot	Boy, what an incredibly incandescent glow that was, even from deep within the Lobotomy Corp. Branch Ship.
Pilot	Observation: check! Confirmation: check! All we had left to do on the docket was the report.
Pilot	Oh! Our job, by the way, was advance reconnaissance to confirm the presence of a Golden Bough.
Pilot	They say that plenty of advance reconnaissance teams encounter Abnormalities or get wiped out in the process.
Pilot	We were about to make our return journey, considering the mission a resounding success, when...
Gregor	So those pirates followed you guys there, huh...
Pilot	Team Leader Haru assured us that nothing was out of the ordinary and that these uh, interruptions by opposin' parties happened all the time.
Pilot	But...
Smee	So... I don't really care what you're doing all the way out here on this creepy ship, but...
Smee	This gentleman here was rather curious about what business you guys were up to. So I tagged along. No objections, hmm?
Pilot's face turned pale with fear for the first time since he started recounting this story.
Pilot	... That's when I heard the weapon slip outta our Team Leader's hand and onto the ground.
Pilot	Our Team Leader's an experienced field agent with a decorated track record...
Pilot	She... I've never seen her just give up like that. She ain't the kind to be so easily rattled...
Pilot	So I turned to look at her, and the look on her face was...
Pilot	I say, that was a look of resignation.
Faust	Would I be correct in assuming that she had something to say at that moment?
Pilot	... "Mission failed". Verbatim.
Rodion	... Who'd she see? To immediately give up like that...
Pilot	... "An officer from the Middle shouldn't be here..." Again, verbatim.
Faust	... Hm.
Ryoshu	...!
Rodion	I'm guessing the guy had like... a huge fancy tattoo? That glowed purple?
Pilot	H-huh, how'd you know? That was the very first thing I noticed about him, actually. That... weird-lookin', purple-glowin' tattoo.
Pilot	Still, I thought that maybe, just maybe, we had a shot...
Pilot	We're Unit 3, after all... We weren't no slouches, and we had some impressive names with us...
Ryoshu	You didn't.
Pilot	... And I do not recall much more after that...
Pilot	When I came to, I was on the floor, face down...
Pilot	At first, I thought I'd gone deaf and couldn't hear a thing. Y'know, when a bomb goes off right next to you, your ear starts ringin' and all. Thought I'd burst my eardrums.
Pilot	... But that wasn't it, no. It was my team... shoutin' and screamin', shoutin' and screamin'... And all of it combined into some kind of a incomprehensible cacophony. I just couldn't register that at first.
Sinclair	Ah...
Pilot	Once I recognized that, I also noticed... a deep rumbling, echoing underneath all that.
Pilot	A bizarre, terrible rumbling... that sounded like it was echoing from a place far away from the Branch.
Ishmael	... Bizarre rumbling?
Pilot	Yes ma'am. It was almost like a distant explosion. And it seemed like others were picking up on that odd noise too.
Pilot	The pirates... suddenly started actin' all nervous.
Pilot	And even the 'Big Brother' from 'the Middle' was rattled.
Rodion	... They all called him 'the Big Brother'? Did you hear that right? I guess there really was a big fish looking out for the pirates...
Pilot	Yes ma'am. Loud and clear. They called him 'Big Brother'.
Ryoshu	Keh... Kehehe... Hah! I wonder how those fools are doing nowadays.
Big Brother	Take only the high-value hostages. We're leaving. Now.
Big Brother	That right there is one of the Five Calamities. We have to book it before that thing gets here. We're all dead meat if we don't.
Pilot	One last thing I remember... is our Team Leader.
Pilot	Right before I lost consciousness... The Team Leader, she...
Pilot	Stuck her employee card badge to my chest when the pirates weren't looking...
Pilot	Back then, I didn't understand what she was doin'. But now that I had some time to think about it...
Pilot	She did that so I'll look more valuable... so they'll take me hostage instead of leavin' me to die... Me, who's just a rookie...
Gregor	To summarize... Every LCCB Agent was either injured or unconscious...
Heathcliff	The Middle got involved out of nowhere... And there was this 'Calamity' that even the Middle bloke was scared of...
Faust	Can you give us the coordinates to the Lobotomy Corp. Branch, Mr. Pilot?
Pilot	O-of course.
Pilot produced a piece of paper that had been folded over many times and handed it over to Faust.
Pilot	It's all right there, ma'am. Down to every last bit of detail you'll need. I hid it from them to the best of my abilities. I'm glad that I was able to complete my mission, at least.
Faust	......
Ishmael	Wait.
Ishmael	That 'Calamity'. Was there anything else about it that stood out?
Ishmael	There's got to be more.
Pilot	... Pale...
Pilot	It was... white. An off-white color unlike anythin' I'd ever laid my eyes on before. It was, ah... towerin' and pallid. And that... rumbling... I'm sure I've heard of it before...
Pilot	Ah! Right, It reminded me of U Corp's Singularity! That rumbling... sounded a lot like them tuning forks when they combined stuff together.
Ishmael	... Yeah... Almost there...
Pilot	Let me tag along with y'all!
Pilot	I could be your guide in the Lobotomy Corp. Branch!
Faust	Indeed, this was to be a joint operation with the LCCB where they were supposed to accompany us to the Lobotomy Corp. Branch.
Faust	What is your decision, Dante?
Dante	<......>
Dante	<Tell him that while I appreciate his offer, I decline.>
Dante	<People that get involved with us... often don't make it out in one piece.>
Ryoshu	... I.A.
Heathcliff	We just saved your life! Mate, show some gratitude!
Pilot	Uh... Thank you...?
Faust	Mr. Pilot, remain on standby until the After Team arrives. Then, return to base and report your findings.
Pilot	Ah... so they declined, huh?
Pilot	The stories were true, I don't hear nothin' but the ticking of their clock...
Outis	Executive Manager, in their endless generosity, has also deigned to thank you for your offer. Remember that as you return.
Pilot	Alright...
Pilot	W-well then, best of luck to y'all.
Ishmael	That's all I needed. Bye.
Rodion	... Sigh.
Ishmael was the first to leave the room.
Gregor	Uh... Umm... Well, this meeting was pretty short-lived.
Gregor	But say hello to Saude for us, will ya?
Sinclair	And... please tell her that I'm thankful for what she did for us.
Sinclair	Back then... I couldn't bring myself to tell her even that.
Pilot	I'll be... sure to tell her that.
Yi Sang	You have endured well despite the tribulations, Pilot.
Rodion	Aww, Yi Sang! How kind of ya~
Yi Sang	It appeared to me that he deserved such words.
Pilot	.......
Pilot	Kh... Agh...
Pilot	I wanna see my team again...
Pilot	They were all so kind to me, me bein' the rookie of the team and all...
Sinclair	......
Pilot	Maybe... maybe there are survivors at the Lobotomy Corp. Branch...
Pilot's eyes, which had been welling up for a while, eventually broke like a dam. Tears flowed down his cheeks to the ground.
Yi Sang	... We shall bring them home. You have my word.
Sinclair	And mine, too.
Sinclair	... We won't fail again.
Ishmael	…….
Faust	I have examined the variable coordinates Mr. Pilot provided us.
Dante	<What exactly are variable coordinates?>
Faust	Ships beyond a certain magnitude, like our Lobotomy Corp. Branch or the Marlin Port, receive partial laws of the Great Lake in an encrypted form from U Corp.
Faust	U Corp. holds a strict monopoly on the intel regarding the laws of the Great Lake within the Nest. Of course, the vessels that receive that intel pay various prices for that privilege.
Faust	They use that partial information to calculate at which location their vessels must be during which specific period to ensure a safe voyage, and finalize it into a standardized form known as 'variable coordinates'.
Faust	Portships often send out their coordinates to other vessels, as they want to host as many guests as possible. But vessels that prioritize privacy and secrecy, like the former L Corp. Branch in question, will never do so.
Rodion	So... the Lobotomy Corp. Branch we're looking for... is kinda like a treasure ship, huh? Then there's gotta be a black market out there for people willing to pay big money for its coordinates...
Faust	Impressive deduction.
Faust	Also, unlike normal coordinates, variable coordinates are composed of lengthy and encrypted codes.
Faust	Therefore, vessels sailing across the Great Lake start by entering the variable coordinates of their destination. Based on that information, said vessels will follow a certain route charted via the automated navigation system that periodically confirms the current location of their destination.
Hong Lu	Wow~ That's a lot of big words! So basically, if we enter the information we got from Mr. Pilot here, we can somehow find our way to the Lobotomy Corp. Branch?
Ishmael	... It's useless in the waters of the Outskirts, beyond the borders of U Corp.
Faust	Indeed. But the Lobotomy Corp. Branch is within U Corp.'s borders. We will have no trouble analyzing the vessel's travel patterns as long as we have its variable coordinates.
Dante	<Gotcha. Then let's get a move on.>
Yi Sang and Sinclair nodded with determination, while the other Sinners followed suit and hurried on.
Ishmael	…….
Though I didn't catch a clear view...
I think Ishmael nodded, too.

Episode: 14
We made our way past the mountains of shipping containers and back to where we first docked...
Location: U Corp.'s Marlin Portship
I saw Vergilius and Charon on a bench, watching us approach. The latter of the two was clearly suffering from crushing boredom.
Charon	Charon ate ice cream. It was cold but disappeared fast.
Don Quixote	D-did it not have the putrid scent of the sea?
Charon	Putrid? Charon doesn't know what that means.
Don Quixote	'Tis... a flavor not unlike licking a fish...
Charon	Blonde girl licks fish? Funny tastes. Charon, shudder shudder.
Vergilius	Something's happened, by the looks on your faces.
Vergilius	Explain.
Don Quixote	Allow me to explain...! Upon our arrival at the promised location—
Vergilius	... That is none of my concern. I only want to know what intel you have learned. And make it short.
Ishmael	We know where the Golden Bough is. It's in a Lobotomy Corp. Branch in the middle of the Great Lake.
Vergilius	... Of course it's in a Lobotomy Corp. Branch. Did you learn anything else?
Faust	We obtained its variable coordinates.
Rodion	I know what you're about to say... "That's it? That's all you got?" or something... But just listen to the trouble we went through to...
Vergilius	No, that's good enough. Almost makes me want to applaud you all.
Rodion	Oh my?
Outis	Vergilius, there was...
Vergilius	Ah, I know exactly what you're about to tell me.
Vergilius	I will deal with it. Stay out of this.
Ishmael	…….
Vergilius	You look impatient, Ishmael.
Vergilius	I see that our earlier... 'consultation' did not ease your anxiety.
Ishmael	Of course not. I don't even know what's happening with my mission. We're wading blindly through a misty sea...
Ishmael	Yet here we are, shoving our noses in everything, everywhere. It's driving me up the wall.
Vergilius	Hah, relax. You must know that no path is ever direct in the Great Lake. I did not expect this much lack of patience from someone who spent most of her life here.
Vergilius	Can I assume the mess you've left the manager's shoulder in... is also a consequence of your impatience?
Ishmael	That’s…
Vergilius	Well... Clearly, an unintentional mistake. If it wasn't, you wouldn't be sitting before me with your throat intact.
Faust	…….
Vergilius	Why do you fail to look further, Ishmael? By now, you must have realized what awaits you at the end of this journey.
Vergilius	That 'contract clause' you're so impatient about... is bound to make an appearance as long as you follow the manager's peculiar misadventures.
Vergilius	Your combative attitude against the manager will only delay that inevitability.
Ishmael	It happened four times. That's not a very big sample.
Vergilius	Well... I'm good at reading how these things usually flow.
Ishmael	...!
Ishmael	... If you're so sure about it... then fine. I won't let frustration get the better of me. I won't step out of line... not any more than necessary.
Faust	Ishmael, what happened... happened. You will still have to write up a form explaining your actions and the circumstances surrounding them.
Ishmael	Gladly.
Ishmael	As long as the guide is right.
Yi Sang	H-have you brought us any ice cream, by any...
Vergilius	…….
Yi Sang	Bother not... I was merely curious of the famed ice cream of Marlin port... I shall board the busboat posthaste...
Rodion	I appreciate the effort, Yi Sang~
Yi Sang	Your appreciation is more than enough...
Dante	<He's not going to answer me anyway, but... What were you two up to?>
Faust	Dante is asking a meaningless question.
Vergilius	Don't let them rub off on you, Dante. What, was I actually supposed to bring a tub of Whale ice cream for everyone?

Episode: 15
Location: Aboard Mephistopheles's Deck
Gregor	So uh, Ishmael... This Lobotomy Corp. Branch is still a ways away. Why don't you rest up for a bit while you can? That's what we always do, anyway.
Gregor	Or at least let me take the next shift. I've done my fair share of night... yawn... watches.
Gregor's yawn betrayed his confidence. Ishmael didn't care—she wasn't going to move from her station anyway.
Ishmael	......
Ishmael looked like she was waiting for something to happen. Or maybe she was deathly afraid of something...
She did not, not even for a second, leave the telescope(courtesy of Rain, most likely) installed on the modified Mephistopheles.
Outis	That's a good attitude, swabbie. It has been my long-held belief that letting your guard down is to let your comrades down.
I asked Outis her thoughts out of curiosity, but she simply replied that Vergilius had already acted upon the matter. If the Executive Manager would not take action, then that was that.
She also explained that while she would not hesitate to clash with Ishmael again should the need arise, she would not continue this pointless tussle that only lowered the team's morale.
Dante	<I guess that's good enough...>
Gregor	Hmm... But we're in the middle of a Lake...
Gregor	And as long as we stick to the, uh, the laws of the Great Lake, I don't see us getting—
Ishmael	...!
Ishmael	There, ahead...
Location: Cabins of Mephistopheles
Ishmael suddenly got up and hurried into the cabins as though she noticed something through the telescope.
Gregor	—attacked by anything. My bad.
Charon	Time to drift again, redhead?
Ishmael	It's too late to change course. That trick won't help us here.
Ishmael	They went through the trouble of hiding themselves in an artificial fog of war... We're obviously their target.
Vergilius	It's a matter of time before they catch up with this ship, now that they know our location.
Vergilius	Deal with them as you will.
Ishmael	Manager, permit us to board their ship.
Dante	<Are you sure that boarding their ship is the best course of action if we want to save our ship?>
Ishmael	According to my experience, yes.
Dante	<... Okay. I'll leave it to you, then.>
Ishmael	... I hope you'll continue to make wise choices like that.
I sighed with relief, as she seemed to be going along with me for now...
With that, I took a few steps behind the other Sinners and watched her.
Ishmael	We'll hook their ship with harpoons, force them into a melee range! Somebody grab the helm and turn it on my signal!
Outis	Hm. Then someone should be on standby, ready to shut the engine off at the right moment.
Outis	Hey, you! Bring some extra rope. You! Wait for her signal inside the wheelhouse!
Ishmael's explanations were rapid and confident. Outis nodded along affirmatively. The other Sinners were quick to follow their instructions.
Watching Ishmael throw her razor-sharp harpoon toward the pirate ship... I started to feel... that something was off.
There they were, the Sinners... working so well together like clockwork. But underneath all that, maybe all that mattered to them was... their own goals.
I was wondering if all the times I've spent thinking, hoping, and contemplating about our futures together were... pointless. ... This thought lingered for a while in my head.

Episode: 16
Location: The Twinhook Pirate Ship
Panicked Pirate	Ye crafty bastards, we were going to board yer ship first...!
Rodion	We've got places to be, things to do~ Okay~?
Heathcliff	Now, answer my question. Lie or flap your gums meaninglessly, and I'll tear the lips off your mugs.
Heathcliff	Speak. Who sent you plonkers after us?
Panicked Pirate	We can't let someone who dared to lay a finger on our first mate leave in one piece.
Panicked Pirate	Yer very breath brings shame to our Syndicate! By Captain Hook's orders, ye won't leave here alive!
Heathcliff	Heh, ain't that bloody marvelous. I like seeing a good camaraderie.
Heathcliff	... So what'd I say about flapping your gums meaninglessly?
Panicked Pirate	Khaha! Think yer threats'll rattle us? We're no tenderfoots, ye stupid sons of bachelors!
Rodion	What a clingy bunch... We spared their first mate's life, and this is the thanks we get?
Sinclair	You think this is what Smee meant? That we'll regret it if we...
Ishmael	No.
Ishmael	Your juvenile whining... That's not from shame.
Panicked Pirate	Huh?
Ishmael	When all of your mates lay dead, consumed, manipulated and led into a meat grinder by a collective insanity of a madwoman... when you are left in that endless void where the only sound is the beating of your heart...
Panicked Pirate	W-wait...
Ishmael	And when you realize that... your heart continues to beat because it's still desperately, pathetically clinging onto life, despite all that...
Ishmael	That's... When you'll feel true shame.
Panicked Pirate	Wait, wait. Looking at the sorry state of yer boat, I can hazard ye have no clue what yer doin' out here...
Panicked Pirate	Spare me and I'll tell ye what ye need to know. I'll even put in a good word to the bossman for ye.
Panicked Pirate	Nothing to lose here eh, lass? You won't have anyone to put in a good... word!... If you kill me.
Ishmael	......
Panicked Pirate	Haha...! Am I getting through to ye? Spare me, and ye just might sail out of this Lake with yer—
Ishmael	... Haah. I'm tired of listening to these inane, meaningless pleas.
Ishmael	That was the last one, right? Let's go back to our ship.
The ship was still as death. Its sails fluttered a forlorn dance in the winds.

Episode: 17
Location: Aboard Mephistopheles's Deck
Dante	<So something's been bothering me...>
Dante	<Wasn't it weird how they all seemed so... certain?>
Dante	<That if we kept going this way, we'd run into some other huge disaster?>
Meursault	It is nothing of note, manager. It is but a byproduct of their firm belief in their advantage over us.
Meursault	I have observed an oddity, however. They had installed numerous spikes on the lower side of their ship's hull.
Outis	Are they not for ramming into other vessels? I have heard that such tactics were occasionally used in naval combat.
Meursault	They were installed far too low in the water to be useful as a means of ramming another ship. It can be extrapolated from the metal's level of corrosion that the spikes, concentrated on the keel of the boat, have been installed recently.
Outis	How did you see the keel of the boat...?
Meursault	The water was clearer up close than it appeared from a distance.
Hong Lu	Mm~ Maybe they were trying to stop something from climbing up to the ship?
Gregor	Can't imagine that any fish would swim blindly into the keel of a boat. They're not birds crashing into windows.
Rodion	Maybe it was nothing~ Y'know how superstitious pirates can be. What if it's like a good luck charm?
Gregor	Mmh... Maybe we should've let Assistant Manager Pilot tag along.
Gregor	Know anything about this, Frau Faust?
Faust	No pertinent information has been updated.
Faust	The most we could do is to ensure that we do not violate any laws of the Great Lake.
Thus continued our journey to the Lobotomy Corp. Branch with the variable coordinates Pilot gave us...
... Paranoia of the unknown weighing heavily on our shoulders.
After an indeterminate amount of time...
Location: Cabins of Mephistopheles
Faust	... Outis, we will have to steer the ship portside.
Outis	... What?
Outis, who was looking out ahead from the bow of the ship, whipped around. Whatever Faust said seemed to have hit her unexpectedly.
Outis	Hey. It hasn't been an hour since you told us that we'll have to cross this zone in a straight line.
Faust	We are falling short of our target speed. At our current rate, we will be struck by the next zone's Waves as soon as we exit here.
Outis	Is that the damned law of this zone?
Faust	Indeed.
Faust	Though our encounter with the pirates was rapidly resolved, we still fell behind schedule. The variable coordinates now points to a different route.
Outis	... How much time are we going to have to waste here?
Faust	According to the variable coordinates... the necessary roundabout path will cost us three more days.
Outis	... Huh.
Outis bit her lip with discontent before suddenly turning in my direction.
Outis	Executive Manager, I have a genius plan. A plan that will not only accelerate this operation but also increase the chances of securing and rescuing the lives of the LCCB Agents.
Outis	If we were to waste three more days at sea, there is very little guarantee for their well-being.
Dante	<Well... What's the plan?>
Outis	... We keep going forward.
With that, Outis slowly raised the acceleration lever.
Faust	…!
Ishmael	What?
Vergilius	... Hm.
Ishmael	Are you nuts? We'd be sailing right into the Waves, you know that?
Outis	I know what the Waves are, swabbie. I'm not as ignorant of the Great Lake as you might think. You've had plenty of experience weathering and conquering Waves as well, haven't you?
Ishmael	Yeah! But that's because they were unavoidable! Because we lacked enough information to take the roundabout path! I've never sailed knowingly into the Waves before.
Outis	But you still prevailed, didn't you?
Ishmael	.......
Outis	And that was when you didn't have someone to bring you back. I say that this is well within our capabilities.
Outis	Besides, there is the added benefit of accelerating our mission, and the higher possibility of rescue that the Executive Manager and a few underlings wanted.
Outis	It was clear to me that you, Ishmael, weren't so happy with how slow our progress has been. What is it? Did you suddenly gain a yearning for a three-day sunbathing break?
Instead of responding to Outis's sarcastic remark, Ishmael squinted in the direction the boat was speeding in.
Ishmael	The tides… the odor… the speed… the color… that Lake over there is… the Blue Whirling Lake of Murk and Fish-Reek. I haven't suffered its Waves before, but I know many ships that have. Many of which are now lying at the bottom of that Lake.
Outis	Fine. As long as we don't join them.
Sinclair	W-what if we just went to take a quick look… And if we feel like it's too much for us, we can just go back the way we came from… Right?
Ishmael	Go back the— There is no such thing… as going back in this Lake!
Faust	Your decision, Dante?
Dante	<... Let's try following Outis' plan.>
Faust	Understood. Crossing the zone's borders to the target Lake.
Ishmael	You've got to be kidding me... Haah. Outis, you better be right...
As soon as those words left Ishmael's mouth, there was a flash in the sky.
Location: Aboard Mephistopheles's Deck
Dante	<Thunder...?>
Hong Lu	... It's really starting to pour.
Ryoshu	We're in the eye of the storm.
Dante	<Wait... But the sky was clear just moments ago! How could this...?>
Ishmael	The Waves are already here, manager.
Location: Cabins of Mephistopheles
Vergilius	... Hm. That was an entertaining display.
Vergilius	Charon, this seems like a good opportunity to test that function.
Charon	Ok. Switching to Endure mode.
That's when reality began to sink in.
What had happened to, what happens to, and what will happen to everyone and everything that entered this Lake without preparation for what's to come.
Location: Aboard Mephistopheles's Deck
Dante	<What should… What do we do now, Ishmael?>
Ishmael	… There's this adage that every greenhorn sailor of the Great Lake hears before they set their first sail.
Ishmael	'There is but one thing you can count on if you find yourself in an unfamiliar Lake whose Waves are alien to you.'
A colossal wave rises to its crest before us.
Ryoshu	... S.I.C. Ready your weapons if you want to delay the inevitable.
Ishmael	'It's not your sailing prowess, your far-seeing eyes of a pathfinder, or the unbreakable bond between you and your mates.'
Ishmael	'Many sailors fail to endure this trial and instead choose to become sacrifices to the depths of the Lake.'
Sinclair	Huh? S-something's climbing onto our ship?!
Ishmael & Outis	'Trust nothing but your own resolve to hold steadfast in the face of terror, in the face of calamity.'
Ishmael	'Though the raging Lake may remain indifferent to the will of your meager existence.'

Episode: 18
Location: Aboard Mephistopheles's Deck
Yi Sang	No words come to mind to rightly describe that... creature.
Ishmael	The unfathomable entities inhabiting the depths of the Lakes are called 'Whales'. And those that emerge from them are called 'Mermaids'.
Ishmael	That's the 'Whale of the Porous Hand'... I was... really hoping to avoid that one...
Dante	<Is that... one of the Whales they were talking about at U Corp.?>
Sinclair	Do Mermaids raid ships, too...? I read about them once as a child, but these don't look anything like how they did in the books...
Hong Lu	Mermaids... I still remember the horrible bedtime stories my brother used to tell me about them…
Gregor	So... they make perfumes outta these... things...?
Rodion	Vergie... isn't this a good time for you to lend us a hand for once?
Gregor	Really? That's the guy who practically spectated like a bystander when we got slaughtered back at K Corp. He didn't even blink.
Hong Lu	Ah, he did wave at us, though! But I couldn't wave back because my wrists were getting snapped in half!
Vergilius	Of course, I won't sit idly by as Mephistopheles sinks, if it ever comes to that. But...
Vergilius	Know that I will take action only under a very particular set of circumstances.
Vergilius	In which all of you are decimated, the enemies have crushed the manager's head and are about to tear the hands off that clock.
Dante	<Are... Are you serious right now...?>
Vergilius	Dante, I can't allow them to take the company's precious assets right before my eyes now, can I?
Vergilius	So I'm afraid that you won't see me step in before every single one of you are dead.
Rodion	Mr. Guide... Are you really as good as they say? Maybe the stories about you were just tall tales, y'know...
Don Quixote	That's... no. Do not.
Heathcliff	Uh, yeah. That's just— Not...
Two previous victims of Vergilius interjected, albeit in hollow voices, to rebut Rodya's rather dangerous remark.
Vergilius	So either take them out, welcome them aboard with open arms, or whatever. I'm leaving it up to all of you.

Episode: 19
Mermaid	… Screech!
Ishmael	Huff... Huff...
Ishmael	How... many... left...?
Outis	None.
Ishmael	Then this is the last one.
Ishmael	…….
There was something off about those... 'Mermaids' that crawled out of that Whale.
A feeling not so different from looking at an Abnormality or a Distortion.
Dante	<Mermaids... were they human, once?>
Ishmael	I guess I should've explained better...
Ishmael	Not every creature that lives in the depths of the Great Lake are called 'Whales'. Whales specifically refer to...
Ishmael	... everything in the Great Lake that can parasitize humans.
Ishmael	And Whales give birth to 'Mermaids'.
Dante	<… And where do the Mermaids come from?>
Ishmael	They're people devoured by Whales that came with the Waves. There's no guarantee that we won't meet the same fate.
Ishmael	See? Now you know why you could turn the clock all day and fail to bring us back.
I see now.
The Waves will be unrelenting, unabating...
And Ishmael, who'd already weathered and braved these endless, crashing Waves…
... Was starting to snap, strand by strand.
Ishmael	I have... a mission that I can't fail...
Ishmael	And I'll kill everything that stands in my way...
Ishmael	Even if I were to stumble, even if every part of me were to fall apart... I'll see it through to the end.
Outis	Determined and ferocious. Both good attitudes to have when setting sail on an adventure.
Outis	Because our voyage is just getting started.

Episode: 20
Location: Aboard Mephistopheles's Deck
Ishmael	The Lake...
Ishmael	When I look into its waters... I see my shimmering reflection.
Ishmael	Maybe I'm just as refracted and twisted like my reflection in the water. It doesn't matter which Lake we're on... I always look so warped, so unstable...
Dante	<…….>
I happened upon Ishmael's musings around the time we were on our way to the elusive Lobotomy Corp. Branch of the Great Lake. It had been a while since our last disastrous incident.
Ishmael	Maybe my distorted reflections were just... me.
Even from a distance, it was evident that Ishmael was gazing down at her own reflection in the water.
I rested my wandering feet and decided to watch her for a moment.
I... wanted to see what Ishmael was looking at. Together.
Ishmael	My hands were... peeling... bleeding...
Ishmael	Saltwater seeped into my gaping wounds. It hurt so much. So, so much that I thought I might faint if I didn't let go...
Ishmael	But I couldn't.
Ishmael	I...
Ishmael	What was I holding on to?
Dante	<…!>
Outis	Executive Manager, there is a matter that requires your attention! We are approaching our next coordinates.
Dante	<O-okay!>
Ishmael	I'll go see, too.
Ishmael woke from her introspection and straightened herself. She strode toward us.
Location: Cabins of Mephistopheles
Ishmael	What's up ahead?
Outis	The radar's caught something. We have visual on...
Outis	... A solitary ship.
Outis	And it looks like we have 3 hours to kill before we're allowed to move on to the next Lake. Unless...
Outis	... the Executive Manager would authorize us to weather the Waves once more...
Dante	<No, Outis.>
Dante	<The losses were worse than I anticipated... And remember what Ishmael said. We were extremely lucky the Waves that came for us was a relatively manageable one.>
Outis	Yes, Executive Manager.
Thanks to Outis, who quickly abandoned the idea, the Sinners and I could observe this new vessel with somewhat lighter hearts.
Location: Aboard Mephistopheles's Deck
Sinclair	Ah, what a relief. That doesn't look like a pirate ship. That's...
Don Quixote	OOOOOOOOOOOHHH!
Don Quixote	LO! That is a Mini-Cruuuiise ship over yonder!
Don Quixote	A veritable par-tay ship! A vessel of par-taying!
Even from this distance, I could see the colorful balloons and banners decorating the ship.
Don Quixote	I! LOVE! TO! PARRR-TAY!
Don Quixote	None shall be vexed, no matter how I frolic at a party! Naught will pay mind to how I leap and run and shout in there! What joy, is it not?!
Rodion	Vergie... Go easy on the girl, why don'tcha...?
Vergilius	…….
Rodion	But... mmm. I'm sure they sell local delicacies there, too... Liquor... Treats not found anywhere else in the City...
Rodya and Don Quixote both shot twinkling glances in my direction, then at Vergilius. Then back at me.
Vergilius shrugged. Whatever we decided to do here was none of his business.
Dante	<... Well... Maybe they can tell us something about the nearby Lobotomy Corp. Branch. Or maybe they know something about the LCCB Agents...?>
Don Quixote	Hmm, hmhm~ Hm hm~
Don Quixote was rhythmically swaying her shoulders... Maybe she's trying to imitate the Marlin Dance she glimpsed back at the Club.
Don Quixote	Heigh-ho!!! Allow me to ask thee and thy fine company a few questions!!
The faintly blaring music was the only response from the ship.
Gregor	Maybe they can't hear us over the music. Boy, music these days... they're just too loud for me...
Gregor	It'll be faster if we just head over there and ask them in person.
Dante	<......>
Dante	<I guess we can quickly stop by and ask them a few questions.>
We had three hours to kill anyway. Might as well make ourselves useful and collect some intel.
Ishmael shot a glance at Vergilius before staring at the floor wordlessly.
Ishmael	... I'd say it's a reckless idea to just row up to a random vessel we don't know anything about, like its owner or its history, but if the Executive Manager insists...
Ishmael	Sure. Let's 'stop by'.
Heathcliff	Now that was a very Outis thing to say, innit?
Ishmael	... It's just the attitude I decided to adopt.
Location: Mephistopheles' Skiff
Faust	Now, this boat will come in useful.
Yi Sang	Will this boat... not capsize?
Sinclair	Should I pack some life vests or a buoy?
By the time all 13 of us squeezed our way in, the skiff was absolutely packed and precariously swaying. Some Sinners' faces darkened with concern.
Dante	<Don't worry, guys. Even if you all drown, I'll bring you guys right back. All right as rain.>
Sinclair	…….
Dante	<J-just kidding...>
Location: Aboard Mephistopheles's Deck
Vergilius	Right, then. Drink responsibly, everyone.
In a manner that was extremely out of character, Vergilius waved at us. ... Does he know something that we don't?

Episode: 21
Location: Mephistopheles' Skiff
Dante	<I still don't see anyone on the deck...>
Don Quixote	Wait but a moment. I shall make use of mine lungs to howl a bellow so powerful that they have no recourse but to heed us!
Don Quixote	HAAARK!!!!!
Heathcliff	Shut it! You'll burst my eardrums.
Gregor	By the way... is it okay for us to just barge into a... yacht party like this?
Gregor	We don't have the, uh... an invitation or anything like it, either.
Rodion	Puff out your chest, Greg~ The more the merrier, right? They'll understand~
Ishmael	I couldn't care less about a party. We're here to gather intel. Waste any more time, and I'm leaving you behind.
Sinclair	Wow... This... this place really is fancy...!
Location: Cruise Ship
Numerous liquor bottles and half-eaten food were strewn about haphazardly all over the deck.
Meursault	It appears that this party must have ended very recently and abruptly.
Don Quixote	Ah! I spy light shining from the ship's interiors! I shall go swiftly like the wind and verify its sources!!!
Don Quixote, running on sheer excitement for a party, scuttled to the cabins.
Heathcliff	Well, that's one loudmouth gone... Then...!
Heathcliff slammed his fist into the loudspeaker that's been blaring music this entire time.
Heathcliff	Blimey... Now that's a relief. Thought my eardrums were about to burst.
Dante	<…….>
I decided to remain silent. The music *was* pretty loud.
Gregor	Well, it's awful quiet up here now that the music's gone.
Hong Lu	Oh, this reminds me of a similar story my nanny used to tell me. It's an old story, but...
Don Quixote returns with a dumbfounded expression on her face.
Don Quixote	There was... naught...
Rodion	What? What was naught? Food? Drinks? Both?
Don Quixote	There was... no one.
Don Quixote	Yet... the lights were left on... With nary a soul to be seen inside...
Outis	Ridiculous. It is clear that, mere moments ago, a large group of people were having a party on the deck. How could there be no one aboard?
Don Quixote	F-for truth! Mayhaps... they are busying themselves with a game of hide-and-seek...?
Gregor	Can't imagine that the crowd that left all these liquor bottles behind would be the kind that enjoys playing hide-and-seek like kids at a party...
Ishmael	So what, they just vanished into thin air? Like they were— Wait, did the Waves already...?
Meursault	There is one remaining possibility: the ship's storage space.
Rodion	Are ya saying that these party people... left all this uneaten food and liquor behind just to huddle in a cramped storage room...?
Hong Lu	Ohh~ I remember now! Yes! The story went just like this!
Hong Lu	Once, a huge manor sent out invitations for a grand party. But when the guests arrived, they found the manor vacant and engulfed in deathly silence...
Sinclair	H-how about we get the music going again?
Heathcliff	I smashed the radio, lad.
Ishmael	If this ship was struck by the Waves, we have to get out of here, now...
Hong Lu	Then... Boom! Boom! Banging noises, coming from behind a door slightly ajar...! So, of course, they went in there to investigate, and...
Don Quixote	And...?! And?!
Sinclair	…….
Hong Lu	... And there they were! Bodies as stiff as corpses in rigor mortis, arms stretched forward, hopping, up and down...!
Sinclair	OH! That's... I-I...!!! I think I'll go check out the storage space!!
Don Quixote	Sinclair, wherefore art thy palms so sodden?
Sinclair	It's genetics...!
Sinclair hurriedly left the room in search of the ship's storage.
Hong Lu	... Which was the dance that was all the rage back then, apparently~
Don Quixote	... The art of dancing... must truly be an art of great profundity...
Heathcliff	Well, that was some damp squib. I thought it was actually going somewhere.
Yi Sang	I had thought with quite the confidence that this would be a tale of the living dead.
Rodion	Now what'd ya do that for? You scared the kid off... Where'd he go?
Dante	<... I'll go find Sinclair.>

Episode: 22
Location: Cruise Ship
Dante	<It's pretty dark in here...>
The hallway to the storage was significantly narrower than the party deck.
I had nothing but faint, occasionally flashing lights to guide me through this dark hallway. I decided to proceed carefully.
Dante	<Seriously, this place is way creepier than wherever Hong Lu was going with his story...>
Dante	<Sinclair...?>
Dante	<You there?>
I wasn't sure where these water droplets were falling from, but they were really getting on my nerves.
I don't see anything here. Not that I could in this dark, even if there were...
All I see is a very faint ray of light, and...
Sinclair	…….
Dante	<Sinclair?>
... and Sinclair. It seemed to me that he's been standing here for a good while. Exactly how long... I wasn't sure.
Sinclair	... Uh.
Sinclair stood there, still like death. He looked up.
Dante	<... What are you looking at?>
Now that I'm in here... I noticed that there was something funny about the ray of light.
I assumed that the light I saw was from a lamp or something, but... no. It was just there, surrounding the general area where Sinclair stood.
There was no light source.
So the light's shining in from the outside, maybe...?
No, that doesn't make sense either. We're deep in the ship's storage, a big metal box with no opening for even a single strand of natural light.
Besides, it's nighttime. This is getting more and more bizarre by the second. Where is this light coming from...?
Dante	<…!>
Dante	<Sinclair, we gotta get out of here!>
Sinclair	…….
Dante	<Run, NOW!>
Dante	<Come on!>
Fear of the unknown intensifies. What I saw defied every bit of common sense I had accumulated over the journey, and I had to get Sinclair out of there—I snatched and tugged his limp wrist.
Dante	<Come on, wake up!!!>
That seemed to have done the trick. Sinclair suddenly snapped back to reality and began screaming. He bolted out of the room.
Sinclair	AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
Heathcliff	Huh?! The lad's lost the plot! What in the bloody—
Sinclair	THEREWASAPERSONFLOATINGINTHEAIRAPERSONINTHEAIRFLOATINGSOMEONEWASUPTHEREJUSTSUSPENDEDINTHEAIR!!!
Rodion	... Okay, now I'm actually creeped out.
Ishmael	That can't be... a person.
Rodion	Then that was...
Ishmael	What, you think we have enough time for a lecture? Prepare for battle.

Episode: 23
Location: Cruise Ship
Dante	<So they were... Mermaids...>
Ishmael	Yeah. Whoever sailed on this ship... they were probably too distracted by the party to realize that they broke a law of the Lake. So...
Dante	<So they ended up getting devoured by a Whale.>
Dante	<And this deserted ship... is the aftermath.>
Ishmael	Even if we stick to every single law of the Lake, depending on the type of its Waves, getting too close to a ship that broke the law could get us swept up in the aftermath.
Their single lapse of judgment led to this chilling catastrophe.
I remembered Ishmael looking into the Lake, muttering to herself. I also remembered the rough, biting words she threw at us.
This was the reality of the Great Lake that Ishmael survived before joining us.
A place where even the smallest mistake could mean total annihilation.
A place where one must struggle endlessly to survive the terrible unknown.
Dante	<So this was the kind of path Ishmael sailed before joining us...>
If only... If only I'd known... Then maybe I could've been more understanding of her.
I keep going back to my quarrel with Ishmael back at the Boatworks. I can't stop thinking about it.
Outis	We have dispatched the Mermaids that descended onto the deck, but lingering any longer may draw the rest of them to us.
Outis	This party is over. Let's return to our ship.
We left the cruise ship as fast as we could.
After an indeterminate amount of time...
Location: Cabins of Mephistopheles
Dante	<So we didn't find anything...>
Dante	<I made the wrong call. I shouldn't have made such a rash decision.>
Ishmael	…….
Ishmael	It's okay. At least we're still alive.
And that was that. Ishmael didn't say more.
Yi Sang	It is fortunate, however, that we procured ourselves some ration for the journey ahead.
Outis	Hey, the radar's caught something. It's... large.
Faust	... That is very close to the center of the coordinates.
Outis	Then that dot on the radar has to be...
Gregor	... The Lobotomy Corp. Branch of District 21.
Ishmael	... I'm going out for some air.
Ishmael slowly returned to the spot by the ship's railings where she stood muttering to herself.
For a moment, I wondered if I should follow her like I did earlier, but...
Dante	<…….>
... But maybe she wanted some time alone to think about things. I decided to leave her be.
Location: Aboard Mephistopheles's Deck
Ishmael	... Get your shit together.
Ishmael	Bury your feelings from them.
Ishmael	I have a mission I must see through to the end—my one and only mission. I've sharpened my harpoon for that singular moment.
Ishmael	I... have to be colder. Harsher.
Ishmael	I have... a mission that I can't fail...
Ishmael	And if anything even dares to stand in my way, I'll...

Episode: 24
Location: Aboard Mephistopheles's Deck
Vergilius	Ah... There it is.
Vergilius	Our destination, the Lobotomy Corp. Branch of U Corp.
Sinclair	You think they're still there...? The survivors Pilot mentioned?
Yi Sang	... Unless aught has transpired since then, we still have time aplenty.
As Sinclair and Yi Sang shared their thoughts, the large structure loomed ever closer, out of the mist and into our line of sight.
Ryoshu	Ho. Creepy.
Every Sinner, save for Ryōshū, froze.
Gregor	That's... the Lobotomy Corp. Branch...?
Faust	We are as close as it is physically possible to be to the center of the area delineated by the coordinates. The structure's size and appearance match the intel we received as well.
Ishmael	Ah... Ahh...
The sight was enough to shut everyone up.
To hope that there may be any survivors in this structure was far too optimistic a notion for what appeared before us.
Meursault	I observe the Lobotomy Corp. logo between the white materials.
Rodion	So that's... really...
Only the smeared logo of the Lobotomy Corp. Branch glistened amidst mounds of pallid, blasphemous white. This was the undeniable reality we found ourselves in.
Gregor	What the hell happened here...?
Hong Lu	Pilot said that the last thing that the Twinhook Pirates said before leaving this place was...
Hong Lu	'The Calamity is coming', wasn't it?
Yi Sang	This sight summons to my mind memories from the earlier days of this company. The manner in which the organic tissues are... plastered over the walls is quite reminiscent of that experience.
Rodion	Eugh... Back at the D Corp. Branch, right? I hope there's no poison gas trap or anything like that in here...
Meursault	At D Corp., there was a traitor in our midst. Thus, it would be false equivalency to use that experience to gauge the intensity of this mission.
Gregor	Yeah, I... don't think it'll be much better here... if not worse.
Sinclair	Then... Pilot's team is already...
Outis	We should consider them lucky if they haven't been turned into Mermaids...
Dante	<So the Calamity was...>
The Calamity that Pilot mentioned didn't destroy the Lobotomy Corp. Branch.
It transformed this place into something uncanny. Something so grotesque that total obliteration would've been preferable to whatever happened here.
Vergilius	Well, destruction isn't the only kind of calamity in this world.
Vergilius	The Great Lake is home to five Calamities. Well... four now, I suppose.
Yi Sang	Whatever do you mean?
Vergilius	I meant that... Hm. You'll find out soon enough.
Ishmael	It won't matter how careful you are. At the Great Lake, the Calamities will always find you. The laws of the Great Lake don't apply to them... making it impossible to predict their patterns.
Vergilius	And now's the time to row your way into the ruins the Calamity left behind.
Vergilius	Take the skiff to the Lobotomy Corp. Branch. It's on the Lake adjacent to this one.
Vergilius	I'll be keeping my distance and watching from this Lake, just in case of an emergency.
Dante	<Isn't that exactly why you should be coming with us?>
Gregor	Who knows what the guide bud's thinking, eh?
After a quick tinkering from Faust, the skiff tied to the side of Mephistopheles began its slow descent.
It's the same skiff we used to get to the cruise ship.
Location: Mephistopheles' Skiff
Hong Lu	We're getting a lot of use out of this boat.
Rodion	Mm, I still don't trust this dinghy... It's too small.
The small engine on the skiff revved gently, and our short, sputtering journey to the Lobotomy Corp. Branch began.
Sinclair	Are Lakes usually this foggy? The Lake earlier was pretty misty, too...
Don Quixote	Mm, we must remain vigilant! Fogged up horizons are climate quite ripe for an ambush! Forsooth, 'tis the number one rule of adventuring tales!
Location: Abandoned Lobotomy Corp. Drilling Ship
There was a growing sense of trepidation among the Sinners...
... as we climbed the pale membrane-enveloped stairs leading up to the Lobotomy Corp. Branch.
Rodion	Hey, Dante? Can you... sense it? The Golden Bough?
Dante	<Not yet...>
Rodion	Hmm... You sure about that?
Rodya was visibly disappointed. Maybe she was half-hoping that I'd tell her that the Golden Bough wasn't here, so we should turn around and head right back to Mephistopheles.
Rodion	Ugh, I know I'm the worry wart of the team whenever we gotta check out places like this, but... I have a real bad feeling about this, guys...
The closer we got to the entrance, the more reluctant the Sinners's gaits became.
As though they were growing increasingly wary that some unseen enemy could ambush them at any second.
Ishmael	What's the holdup? Aren't you coming?
Gregor	Don't you feel it? This dread... I thought it would affect you most. You're the one who spent years on the Lake, after all.
Ishmael	So? That's what's stopping you?
Gregor	It's... Haah...
Ishmael	Wait by the entrance if you're not going.
Heathcliff	What did you expect, mate? I've given up talking sense into her a while ago.
Gregor	I thought she'd gotten a bit more cooperative as of late. ... Guess I was wrong.
Rodion	Well... We do have to go.
Ishmael appeared to be the only Sinner uninterested in the Golden Bough.
The Golden Bough, the unfathomable, bone-chilling horrors of the Lake...
I was starting to believe that she considered all of that nothing but obstacles between her and her mission.
Yi Sang	What may be this pale, mucous membrane covering the entirety of this structure?
Sinclair	Some kind of mold... Maybe?
Ryoshu	I.F.
Yi Sang	To identify it as fungi would require it to exhibit characteristics unlike the ones we can observe here...
Outis	Hm. I agree. They don't appear to be fungi. In fact...
Outis	They appear to be made of organic, living flesh tissue. See the blood vessels here. They've grown into random shapes without purpose or intent.
Ryoshu	Ridiculous. I am surrounded by I.F.
Outis	What do you mean?
Ryoshu	Art reliant on the chaos of existence cannot create patterns such as these.
Ryoshu	Look at the big picture, fool.
Yi Sang	Gazing upon the big picture, I only see a pointless disputation that does naught but wastes our vigor.
Outis	... Tsk.
Yi Sang	You do not intend to stall, no? See thither. Ishmael already walks at a fair distance away from us.
Ishmael	…….

Episode: 25
Location: Abandoned Lobotomy Corp. Drilling Ship
Don Quixote	......
Don Quixote had stopped dead in her tracks. She was looking blankly at a section of the wall.
Rodion	See anything interesting, kiddo?
Don Quixote	Here. In the wall.
Rodion	Huh...?
Don Quixote	There is... a person in this wall.
Rodion	... M-maybe it's a sculpture?
Ryoshu	... If there is anyone capable of sculpting something so true to life as this, I'll drop everything and plead the artist to take me in as their student.
Rodion	Ahh...
Sinclair	Hurk... No... Are they the people Pilot was looking for...?
Don Quixote	Hark! Heed mine words!
Rodion	Why the heck would ya talk to it?!
Embedded... Agent	… … ….
Don Quixote	Behold! This man is alive!
Rodion	Oh, this is the worst. This is the absolute worst. It's making me real queasy...
Faust	... Hm.
Yi Sang	…….
Don Quixote	Hark, mine friends! This man is alive! We must free him from this bond posthaste!
Hong Lu	Mm... Even if we wanted to, looks like it's a bit late for him.
Ryoshu	Total disassembly is the only way I see it ever getting out of there. Heh.
Don Quixote	Wha...
Gregor	Well, by now we should be getting used to these failures...
Meursault	The body is firmly lodged in the walls. No ordinary human strength could separate his body from it.
Meursault	With superhuman strength, you risk tearing the body to several parts.
Don Quixote	Fie, this is an evil that... cannot go unanswered...
Ryoshu	Impressive... There's no sign of anyone forcing it into the walls.
Ryoshu	This is quite a natural exhibition. As though this was how it was conceived from the very beginning.
Sinclair	We thought... I thought it would be different this time. We made a promise, gave our word...
Yi Sang	…….
Unlike the other Sinners, Ishmael didn't even spare a glance to those that were trapped within the walls.
Ishmael	Manager, staring at them won't magically summon the Golden Bough to your palms. Say something so we can get a move on.
Dante	<I guess there's nothing we can do for them. Still...>
Ishmael	And I've said repeatedly that I don't want to waste time.
Hong Lu	We don't have to worry about the laws of the Lake here, so why don't we make this a more leisurely—
Ishmael	Sure, look around all you want. But you won't find any survivors here.
Don Quixote	A testament against thy claim is right here!
Ishmael	Those things aren't really alive. They're only pretending to be.
Don Quixote	Yet...
Ishmael	I recognize these. They're ruin left behind by... the thing. The thing that leaves nothing unchanged in its wake.
Ishmael	It could swallow the world in the blink of an eye. But it also spews it back out just as quickly.
Ishmael	And what it spews out... never comes back right...
Ishmael	Isn't it funny? If it's going to spew it out anyway, what's the point of devouring it in the first place?
Ishmael	I don't understand... Why does it try to devour everything it comes across?
Dante	<Are you... talking about that same Whale you mentioned before...?>
Ishmael	…….
Don Quixote	In no tales of adventure have I heard one mention of such a terrifying Whale! Is it truly a Whale?!
Ishmael	Then why didn't you listen when I told all of you that we weren't ready? If you did, at least we could've been in the right headspace for the Lake. But no.
Dante	<So you're saying that... that Whale you met devoured this building?>
Ishmael	Yes.
Dante	<How can you be sure of that?>
Ishmael	Because... this pale ruin is what that Whale leaves behind. Everything turns pallid... like this building.
Ishmael	…!
LCCB Agent?	W... It... me... div...
Outis	I have visual on a suspicious individual.
Sinclair	Maybe it's an Abnormality? We're in a Lobotomy Corp. Branch, after all...
Rodion	Y-yeah. Let's just say that that's what it is and chop it down.
Ishmael	... Wait, wait a minute! That might be a survivor!
Outis	Well, didn't you say there won't be any survivors left here? Which is it?
Ishmael	I did. And that's why it's... so... incredible...
Outis	Hey!
Dante	<I-Ishmael! You shouldn't get so close to...!>
Ishmael strides toward the figure.
Sinclair	Maybe she's being mind-controlled by an Abnormality?!
Meursault	No such signs have been detected. There is nothing out of the ordinary in her eyes.
LCCB Agent?	He... Iah.
The closer Ishmael gets, the more of the figure's body is taken over by the pallid, off-white membrane. The voice grows increasingly incoherent.
LCCB Agent?	…. … …… … ……. …
Ishmael	That's impossible.
Ishmael	Just now... It was... talking. Like a human.
Dante	<... Ishmael...>
Ishmael	You saw it too! Just now, it...!
Dante	<Ishmael! You have to get away from—>
Ishmael	No, no. This can't be real. I-if what I've known my whole life about this place is... About the Great Lake...
Meursault	She is experiencing heightened emotions.
Dante	<Damnit, Ishmael!!>
I could've asked one of the Sinners to stop her, but... Before I even realized what I was doing... I was running toward Ishmael.
I think it was guilt that pushed me to act. Guilt that I may have played a part in driving Ishmael to this point.
Yi Sang	Dante! You mustn't—
Ishmael	Oh.
But guilt can sometimes help.
The figure's face shifted again when I approached Ishmael.
The white membrane covering their face begins to withdraw, as though an unseen force is peeling it off the skin.
The mouth didn't come back... but the eyes that looked at us were unmistakably human-shaped.
They were blinking. With effort.
LCCB Agent?	… … ……. … ……
Ishmael	The membrane... is gone...?
Ishmael	This... When you approached it, this damn white membrane... it... faded.
Faust	It appears that the Golden Bough is counteracting its effects.
Faust approached us.
Faust	Dante, it appears that the shard of the Golden Bough lodged into your clock is counteracting the infection of this... Pallidification effect to a degree.
The figure, whose mouth was still wrapped under a pallid membrane, blinks wearily. As though they could understand what we were saying.
Ishmael	... Counter... acting?
Ishmael	Wait, so with a Golden Bough...
Ishmael	A Mermaid can... Ha ha. A Mermaid can turn back into a human? Is that what you're saying? Did I get that right? Faust?
Faust	... While that theory has not been properly cross-examined...
Ishmael	Just! ... Just tell me if it's possible.
Though it was curt... I've never heard such intense desperation in her voice before.
Faust	... Yes. Although it may be limited to... Mermaids of the Whale that presumably devoured this structure.
Ishmael	Ha... Ha ha...
Ishmael	Manager... Dante... Just what are you...?
Ishmael	Realizing that there was something that I could've done... The memories of that day... the nightmare that I tried so hard to lock away...
Ishmael	They're coming back right before my eyes.
Ishmael	I can see them, vomited from that Whale, sinking, floating in the briny sea... All of them...
Ishmael looked at me with a vacant expression.
Ishmael	You hear it too, don't you...?
Ishmael	You hear how the waves roared that day...
Ishmael was right... Emotions of the past begin flooding, roaring before me.
Ishmael...
She stands alone in a sea of tall, rolling waves.
Dante	<…….>
I nodded, carefully.
Ishmael	... Once, I was a seafarer.
Ishmael	A Fixer. A sailor.
Ishmael	I was something in that awkward middle ground... which we called Whalers.
Ishmael	Do you understand? No... Do you see them?
Ishmael	Do you see the looks on the faces of those who dared to wager everything... and those who had nothing left to wager?
Ishmael	Whaling ships carry people like them across the waves.
Dante	<So... You've seen it yourself? The Whale that devoured this place?>
Ishmael	The Whales we've met so far... transform those they devour into something completely different. Into something utterly unrecognizable from who they were before by rearranging and replacing their whole body.
Ishmael	But that Whale... is different.
Ishmael	Those devoured by the Pallid Whale aren't transformed. They're still themselves... just wrapped in a pale membrane.
Ishmael	Hah. I guess it's a stretch to say that they're still themselves.
Ishmael	Sometimes, we'd sail our ship toward the Outskirts.
Ishmael	There, we'd see those ships. Those... false ships.
Ishmael	The ships that have turned completely pallid.
Ishmael	It's an old wisdom among Whalers that those ships must be avoided at all costs, even if it meant going all the way around the Lake they're in.
Ishmael	Because the sailors consumed by that Whale retain everything, their habits, their skills...
Ishmael	Except they wander the Lake only to attack everything they come across.
Ishmael	The Captain of 'the Pequod', our ship...
Ishmael	She had a mission. To hunt that Pallid Whale with her own two hands.
Ishmael	The entire time we sailed on the Pequod... she sermonized our ears off about what a worthy, honorable mission it was to hunt that Whale.
Ishmael	It was annoying, and we knew that she wasn't exactly all there, but...
Ishmael	... No. Maybe she just knew how to sink the rest of us to the depths of her insanity.
Ishmael	Her mission soon became our very own. To hunt that Pallid Whale became our salvation. Our destiny.
Ishmael	That Captain drove everyone on that ship mad.
Ishmael	When the time finally came to face that Whale, the Whale from which all hatred, all evils of the world spout...
Ishmael	We were promptly crushed. Devoured. Reduced to a scattered pile of driftwood.
Ishmael	When I came to, floating in the vast coldness of the sea, holding onto my dear life to a piece of driftwood... there was nothing left. Nothing.
Ishmael	And when I realized what I was holding onto wasn't a piece of driftwood, but the...
Ishmael	That's why I can never forgive her...
At a certain point, this stopped being a conversation.
Ishmael's words grew increasingly aimless like a vortex of the sea, endlessly whirling in place...
Now, it was clear what Ishmael's mission was. Where the tip of her razor-sharp harpoon aimed.
It was aimed at the Captain that drove them all to damnation—an overwhelming tide of hatred and obsession burned fiercely in her direction.
Ishmael	I'm going to kill her... with my own two hands...
There was no room for reason or rationality to convince her otherwise.
Dante	<…….>
I suppose bringing up that I saw from Ishmael's obsession...
... a glimpse of her old Captain... won't do anything to help right now.
Dante	<Ishmael... We don't even know if that Captain is still alive.>
Ishmael	I was... desperately hanging onto my best mate's coffin. The coffin of someone with whom I'd shared everything. That's when I, through the tempest, saw the Captain.
Ishmael	I saw that fucker standing alone, facing down that Whale as it devoured her ship. Laughing mad.
Ishmael	Her fiercely loyal crew were floating on the surface of the Outskirts sea, powerless to do anything but wait until they too were devoured. But none of that mattered to her.
Ishmael	That bastard is alive.
Ishmael	She has to be alive still. She has to be.
Ishmael	So... I have to find her...
Ishmael	We have to... not before... we kill the Captain...
Dante	<Ishmael...>
I wanted to ask her which "we" she was referring to,
But...
I was starting to think that nothing I say would improve anything, if it didn't outright bring everything crashing down.
... That was when an imperceptibly light breeze broke through the silence.
A solitary butterfly.
It moved with grace tinged with fragility, as though it did not fear the weight of this heavy silence.
It took a moment to gently flutter onto a puddle.
Ishmael	…….
Faust	... That is a butterfly.
Ryoshu	Hmph, you think any ordinary butterfly would wander into a place like this?
After a quick respite, the butterfly fluttered its wings and took off once again.
Sinclair	It's like... the butterfly is asking us to follow.
Heathcliff	Is it an Abnormality? Finally. I was wondering when they'd show their ugly mugs.
Yi Sang	…….
Dante	<It might be a trap... But we're lost. It's the only thing with any sense of direction we have at the moment.>
Yi Sang	I am in agreement.
Yi Sang	I am... also quite intrigued by the butterfly.
LCCB Agent?	… … …. …
Sinclair	What do you think they are... saying?
Yi Sang	I have been lending them my ear, yet none has yet to reach me.
Faust	They are speaking in a certain pattern, though I am unable to decipher it.
Faust	It is a code, of sorts. A mix of sound frequencies and encryption patterns.
Don Quixote	Ah...
Don Quixote was at the far back end of the line, looking back at the figure.
Don Quixote	I suppose... it is true that without Manager Esquire, there could be no resolution to thy predicament...
When I walked away, the pallid membrane grew over the face again, burying it.
And... it began to shamble.
Is it as Ishmael said...? Will they now roam the Great Lake, attacking everyone and everything they come across?
Not only their physical senses but also their sense of self... forgotten deep under the pallid membrane.

Episode: 26
Location: Abandoned Lobotomy Corp. Drilling Ship
LCCB Agent?	… … …. …
Sinclair	The Mermaids... I think there's less of them now...
Someone stood there, waiting for us. He must have arrived here much earlier than we have.
???	Quite the arduous journey you've endured.
The butterfly we were following folded its wings and settled gently...
... into his sloshing head.
The figure's voice was clear and precise unlike that of the Mermaids.
And not like an Abnormality.
Outis	…!
Sinclair	I didn't expect to find any unharmed survivors...
Dante	<No, wait. Is he... a Distortion...?>
Heathcliff	Oi, clockhead. You friends with that bowlhead?
Gregor	A Distortion? Like... that Bingbong's Bar & Fryers owner from earlier?
???	I see that many of you are rather flummoxed by my appearance.
???	This is but one of the many ways one may choose to understand the journey that is the world.
???	So, please do not be so wary.
Don Quixote	Oooh... Thy head... splishes and sploshes so.
???	Under the night sky where the stars have gone out, I await the coming dawn.
Rim	Call me Rim.
Yi Sang	…….
Outis	We're not here to introduce ourselves. So why don't we cut to the chase.
Outis	Explain yourself. You must have some reason for coming to this mad Mermaid-infested place.
Outis	And we didn't see any other boat than our own by the docks of this structure. So explain how you—
Rim	I have no need of ships should I wish to cross the ocean.
Rim	I am simply here to have a look at all of you.
Hong Lu	Wow~ We're really starting to put our name out there!
Rim	You are those who follow the bough's golden ray.
Rodion	Okay, if you're here to see us, knowing what we're looking for...
Rodion	... No way, are you about to tell us where the Golden Bough is?
Gregor	Huh, isn't it obvious that he's here to stop us from—
Rim	Yes, indeed I am.
Gregor	... Man, I'm really off my game.
Rim	To seek the bough within this structure is to understand the futility of time.
I still can't sense the Golden Bough this deep into the Branch; there was truth to what he said. The Bough was no longer here.
Don Quixote	Then to where must we journey?!
Rim	I am certain that you are already aware that there are parties other than your own that are interested in the Boughs.
Rim	You have surrendered one to them after toiling for it, in fact.
Gregor	Tsk...
Sinclair	H-how do you know that?
Rim	The Whale, once fated to roam the Outskirts for all eternity... is now drawn by that same incandescent, gilded calling.
Outis	You're saying that the Whale came from the Outskirts all the way to the Great Lake of U Corp. for the Golden Bough?
Rim	Quite. And swallowed this structure whole with that delicate Bough.
Rim	The Abnormalities here have also left with that magnificent yet fragile Whale, drawn by that selfsame calling.
Rim	What you seek is no longer to be found here.
Hong Lu	Excuse me, why are you sharing this information with us?
Rim	It matters not who lays claim upon the Golden Bough, or to what end they use it. It is no more than a mere fluttering of wings.
Rim	We simply seek to steer the echoes of that fluttering toward a better direction.
Ryoshu	We? Who are you talking about?
Rim	We are those who watch all, those who bide the time. Those who will be sovereigns of a Star.
Rim	Yet, we are those who cannot all embody the same Star.
A red mark briefly flashed on his head.
I've seen that mark before.
Sinclair	…!
Yi Sang	Those who watch, you say...
Yi Sang shot a silent gaze in Rim's direction.
Yi Sang	Rim.
Yi Sang	Have you also watched the breaking of the League, then? Have you any idea of what fate has befallen our old fellows?
Rim	I do.
Yi Sang	Yet you have done... naught but observe?
Rim	…….
Hong Lu	Is he one of your old... friends, Yi Sang?
Yi Sang	A part of my life that you have witnessed afore.
Yi Sang	One of those who left when the League of Nine scattered into the winds.
Yi Sang	You have last uttered to me that you would journey to the ocean, yet...
Rim	Indeed, I was one of them. Once.
Rim	I shall answer your question, Yi Sang. You ask whether I have done naught but watch?
Rim	That is a question born of vacuity.
Rim	For you, the League is dead. Yet, for some, its death was but a beginning.
Rim	I am certain that you are... well aware of that yourself.
Rim	When does something end? When does something begin? The distinction is arbitrary and signifies naught.
Rim	The shattering of the League was a beginning for Brother Young-ji as well.
Yi Sang	…….
Yi Sang	I see... You have cast it aside long, long time ago.
Rim	My eyes were simply opened to the stem of this world.
Rim	The singular, yet all-important stem.
Rim	Once your eyes are opened to it... everything else becomes...
Rim	... As hollow as the fall of wilted petals.
Ishmael	I just need to know one thing.
Ishmael	If... the Golden Bough is inside the Whale that devoured this place... And if the Golden Boughs can really...
Ishmael	Somehow... counteract the Pallidification effects...
Ishmael's breathing was quick and light. She couldn't finish her sentence.
Rim	It can be said that, indeed, what you believe, what you wish to be true, is correct.
Ishmael	…….
Ishmael	I see.
Rim	I hope I have been a useful signpost to you all.
Yi Sang	To where do you seek to depart again?
Rim	I was once a mere pond who only knew where the sea, the rivers, and the City were.
Rim	Now I seek to reach there with my wings.
Rim	That is all.
Outis	Stop right there... You know too much! Think we're about to let you leave, just like that?
Rim	Pity. Try as you might to hold me now, I flow betwixt your fingers.
Rim	Well, then.
With that, he stepped into the puddle... and disappeared into its depths.

Episode: 27
Location: Abandoned Lobotomy Corp. Drilling Ship
LCCB Agent?	…. … …. …
Pallid bipedals began to fill the void Rim left behind.
Meursault	It can be deduced that it was his influence that kept the Mermaids at bay.
Rodion	But why...?
Faust	I can only theorize that their primal sense of certain ebbs and flows of energy remained even as their reason eroded.
Gregor	You're saying that he scared 'em off or something...?
Dante	<Sinclair, on his forehead, there was...>
Sinclair	... Yeah.
The one who bisected Kromer with a flick of his wrist. The one who silently approached me to talk.
I remember the one marked with the bright red sign.

Episode: 28
Location: Abandoned Lobotomy Corp. Drilling Ship
Ishmael	Looks like Rim wasn't lying. I don't think there's a Golden Bough here.
Ishmael	I don't feel the bough, either.
Ishmael	Now... what will you do?
Meursault	All organic matter other than us in this Lobotomy Corp. Branch have doubtless been infected.
Rodion	That Rim guy... If he's got that mark...
Rodion	You think he's in cahoots with the flying blue kid from before? ... Are we gonna be okay?
Hong Lu	Well, he did help us at the end of the day. Even if he approached us very quietly.
Ryoshu	N.W.C.D. What were we supposed to do?
Sinclair	I guess so. There was nothing we could've done.
Sinclair	Still... I don't think Demian held any animosity against us.
Ryoshu	Not against you, maybe.
Outis	Executive Manager. I still remain doubtful of that man's intentions.
Outis	He didn't even share with us what their goals were before fleeing the scene.
Heathcliff	Oi, you must know something about the bowlhead. You knew that bloke, didn't you?
Yi Sang	Rim has changed too much... I cannot even begin to fathom his intentions.
Dante	<Let's... get out of here first.>
Dante	<It's pretty clear that the Golden Bough isn't here anymore...>
Don Quixote	... What fate befalls those who remain?
Meursault	A fate we can do nothing about.
Don Quixote	I am well aware, yet...
Heathcliff	I think I understand how you're feeling. But sometimes, you just gotta learn to let go.
Heathcliff	If there's anything I've learned from my life... it's that some things are too far gone to be helped.
Don Quixote	... Very well, Sir Heathcliff.
Rodion	What's gotten into you, Heath? Didn't know you knew how to comfort someone like that~
Heathcliff	... Ugh. I wasn't going to suffer that lass's gloom.
With the Pallid Mermaids' unintelligible signals echoing behind us futilely... we decided to leave the Lobotomy Corp. Branch.
We will likely never understand them.

Episode: 29
Location: Abandoned Lobotomy Corp. Drilling Ship
Dante	<No Golden Bough, no survivors...>
Ryoshu	A.T.F.N.
Ryoshu	No. It was a good chance to observe art crafted from a different perspective. I suppose all that wasn't for nothing. Heh.
Rodion	Well~ We're going to be a-okay. A big win always follows a big loss like this~
Gregor	We're going to have to scour the middle of the Great Lake to find that Bough... Mm. Maybe I should've learned how to swim...
Ishmael	If we are to believe Rim, that Golden Bough... is inside the Pallid Whale.
Don Quixote	Are we truly journeying in search of the Pallid Whale...
Don Quixote	A Whale as big as a windmi— I mean, as large as a mansion? Nay, as grand as a castillo?
Rodion	Can... we even catch something like that?
Rodion	Even if we catch up to it, what then? Ask it nicely to please puke the Bough back into our palms?
Rodion	Guys, maybe we should just go back...
Ishmael	Go back?
Rodion	Oh, I-I mean~
Ishmael	And then what? What are you going to do after we 'go back'? What, give up the Golden Bough, just like that?
Ishmael	Pretend like nothing happened and just move on to our next mission?
Faust	…….
Ishmael	I don't know how or when it's become acceptable in this group to throw away a Golden Bough just like that, but...
Ishmael	... not me. I'm not going back. I've endured too much to go back now...
Ishmael	There was just ONE thing that kept me going in this shitty company. One thing.
Ishmael	And you know what that is, Faust.
Faust	…….
Faust	It is as Ishmael said. Abandoning the Golden Bough retrieval in the present situation is not permitted. Success is still within reach.
Faust	But... we cannot move at this moment.
Faust	It would be best that we rendezvous with Vergilius before discussing our next course of action.
Heathcliff	Hah, I see. It's that stupid law of the Great Lake again, huh?
Faust	Yes, it is. We have 2 hours remaining.
Hong Lu	Wow! Good work, Heathcliff! You're so smart.
Heathcliff	You little...
Sinners	Woah!
A sudden shock shook everyone.
Dante	<Let’s get outta here first!>
Location: Lobotomy Corp. Drilling Ship Entrance
Don Quixote	W-what madness is this?!
Meursault	I observe multiple ships on the horizon, beyond the wall of mist. None of their silhouettes resemble Mephistopheles.
Gregor	W-what the... Misfire, maybe?
Heathcliff	W-wait! Look around!
Heathcliff	The water level... it'll be up to our britches any minute!
It was as Heathcliff said. When we first got to this branch, the water level was down there... But now, it had risen high enough that the waves were lapping at the platform we were standing on.
Faust	It's high tide. It appears that this Lake's water levels rise and fall depending on the time of day.
Meursault	They have launched something in our direction.
Outis	Brace for impact! Here comes another!
Gregor	So... not a misfire, then...
Numerous harpoons suddenly riddled the ground we were on.
We were being bombarded with harpoon shots—flung with nary a care whether it hit someone or not.
Ryoshu	Agh...
Ryoshu parried a few harpoons away with the back of her sword, but there were simply too many.
Gregor	It's those Twithook Pirates again, huh... Gotta say, I can respect their tenacity.
Ishmael	Those trash are here only thanks to your very stubborn mercy, Dante.
Dante	<…….>
Don Quixote	Say not such things... What Manager Esquire did that day was a judgment most noble. 'Twas not an easy decision, forsooth...
Heathcliff	Wait! Just use your noggins for once.
Heathcliff	They're bound to that Lake, just as we are to this one.
Heathcliff	Harpoon us all they want, it's not like them sods can drag their ships toward us. So, in the meanwhile... whassit...
Ishmael	No.
Ishmael	That's... not what the Pirates use harpoons for.
Dante	<…….>
Dante	<So that's how...>
Jolly Pirate	Ha ha, now ye know why they call us the Twinhooks!
Jolly Pirate	Are ye ready, kids? Who wants to ride the harpoon?!

Episode: 30
Location: Lobotomy Corp. Drilling Ship Entrance
Dante	<We're fending them off somehow, but...>
Hong Lu	That ship in the middle sure is eye-catching.
Hong Lu	Things are usually that gaudy for a reason, you know?
Rodion	...! Uh... oh...
Rodion	T-that guy, standing there at the center...
Rodya rarely ever showed this much fear and anxiety.
Dante	<That weird guy up there? He's been posing like that over there ever since this whole mess started.>
Rodion	Posing? That's not what I'm talking about, Dante...
Rodion	Don't you recognize his tattoos? He's...
Ryoshu	Hmph. A B.B. of the Middle.
Sinclair	What's... a B**ch Brother...?
Rodion	... I think she meant 'Big Brother'...?
Heathcliff	…!
Ishmael	…….
Dante	<…….>
Dante	<Sorry about bringing this up now, but...>
Dante	<What's... the Middle?>
Dante	<Just a mere mention, or a mere sight of them alone seems to... shock and intimidate a lot of people. Remember how they pretty much traumatized Pilot?...>
Sinclair	I heard that, the Fingers, which the Middle is a part of...
Sinclair	... are... on a completely different level from your average Syndicates. I've never met any of them face-to-face before, but...
Rodion	No. People like us... We're never supposed to meet them like this.
Ryoshu	We're all going to be F.U.B.A.R.
Ryoshu	Time for my one last cig. This is a good day to die, isn't it?
Dante	<... Ryōshū, even you...?>
Yi Sang	... If a trial must be weathered, we will weather it with dignity and tenacity, Dante.
Big Brother	All right. How was the warmup?
Little Brother	Big Bro's givin' y'all time for a warmup! Appreciate it!
Dante	<He's wearing Sunglasses? In this gloomy weather...?>
Outis	All hands. Prepare for battle.
Outis	Executive Manager, this battle... this foe... will not be like any other we have encountered before. Under such dire circumstances, ensuring the safety of the commanding officer has to be our primary objective.
Outis	Please, find a safe place to hide. Make sure to stay out of his sight...
Big Brother	Boring. Didn't think you would take this long for a warm-up.
Outis	Let us negotiate! If you're seeking to negotiate... we're more than ready to listen.
Don Quixote	Negotiate with a villain such as he...? How...
Gregor	Well, looks like we're the ones begging for our lives now...
Rodion	I-I didn't think that a Big Brother of the Middle would be here, in person...
Big Brother	Yeah. But I am.
Big Brother	So... In all those years I've spent as a part of the Middle...
Big Brother	I had this ONE iron rule that I never broke.
Big Brother	... Until today, that is.
Big Brother	Your raid of my personal safe has forced my hand!
Little Brother	Hot damn... Unbelievable! What awful mind thinks of doin' something so heinous...?
Heathcliff	... What? Ain't this about what happened back at the Twinhooks' club?
A bulky, ancient book hung from his waist, secured in place by thick chains. He lifted it with his hand.
Big Brother	So here on this day, I declare your sins, o guilty ones.
Big Brother	Your unforgivable sins...!
Rodion	Look, we had a little kerfuffle with Ms. Smee, but...
Yi Sang	... Your subordinate, she... remains safe and unharmed.
Gregor	W-wait, no! Stop—
Big Brother	......
Big Brother	Smee? Who's that?
Little Brother	Oh, uh... whisper, whisper...
Dante	<... No way. He didn't know...?>
Yi Sang	... My interjection may have been unnecessary.
Big Brother	Well then... uh, okay. Let's see... With that sin piled on top...
The Big Brother began flipping through the pages, taking time to wet his fingers...
Ryoshu	That's 'The Book of Vengeance'. Once your name's written on that book... F.U.B.A.R is also written into your fate. Hilarious. So hilarious that I might go mad... Ha ha.
Big Brother	Listen. We live in a binary world. The world that is luscious... and the world that is bristly. Are you aware of their differences?
Silence.
The urge to blurt out "what the hell are you talking about?" was palpable, yet it was suppressed by an unknown, incredibly patient, force.
Big Brother	The luscious...
Big Brother	Is what flows and wraps gently around your hand when your fingers comb through it...
Big Brother	And the bristly... is what roughly stabs and pokes out between your fingers.
Big Brother	Patience, perseverance, and a delicate pair of talented hands are crucial to becoming the most luscious that one can be.
Dante	<…….>
Big Brother	Do you understand?
Big Brother	Do you understand now, the incredible amount of effort that goes into maintaining this hair in the right shape and the perfect lusciousness?
Big Brother	There once was a coupon. A coupon to get the coveted personal hands-on hair care...
Big Brother	... from the director of a top-level luxury hair salon on one of the richest ports of U Corp., the Stingray Portship! Continuously, for FIVE HOURS!
Big Brother	It is said that, with that coupon, anyone could enter the world of the luscious! And anyone with a coupon had the privilege of an appointment-free visit!
Dante	<…….>
Heathcliff	Oh.
Dante	<So... we're being accused of taking his... coupons for a hair salon?>
Sinclair	So when you called him a B**ch Brother...
Ryoshu	I meant that he can be a real Bitch to get rid of once you piss him off.
Ryoshu	Damnit... We should've steered clear of these bastards...
Big Brother	They were to be my first steps into the world of the luscious.
Big Brother	Yet, the coupon thief...
Big Brother	... has left me stranded indefinitely in the world of the bristly...
Big Brother	Behold. Behold the testament to your heinous sins.
The Big Brother tossed a piece of paper before us.
On it was... a picture.
Dante	<... Heathcliff?>
Heathcliff	I-I didn't know the safe was his! Look! It's got colorful kitty stickers on it! You've got to be absolutely barmy to assume that it's the safe of the Middle's Big Brother, right?!
Big Brother	Everyone has... different tastes, just like the numerous, colorful Lakes of the Great Lake.
Big Brother	Your blatant lack of respect for diverse, differing tastes will have to be added to the Book of Vengeance as well.
Rodion	Someone, please shut Heath up before he adds anything more to that book...
Heathcliff	Hup...
Dante	<Heathcliff... Did you even know who, what, or where these coupons were for?>
Heathcliff	Of course not... Bloody hell...
Don Quixote	Sob... We are the villains in this tale, then? Have we become naught but little thieving rascals? Wherefore hast thou committed such villainy, Heathcliff...
Don Quixote	Thou hast not once given a second look at a hair salon, yet why...
Heathcliff	I-I've got my reasons...
Meursault	There is one good news, however...
Meursault	The chance of your absolution, even if you were to return the coupons, is infinitesimal. Infinitely close to nil, in fact.
Meursault	Thus, keeping the coupons will make no difference to the outcome of this encounter, Heathcliff. They are now yours.
Meursault	The bad news...
Sinclair	... is that we'll all be O.O.F.-ed before Heathcliff even gets the chance to use them...
With his extended, passionate speech coming to an end, the Big Brother of the Middle and Don Quixote both wiped the tears from their eyes.
Big Brother	And the price of your sins...
Big Brother	Uh... Let's see. Title 8, Section 20 says...
Big Brother	On row A... Line 6... Hair Salon Coupons...
Dante	<That book has instructions in case someone steals their hair salon coupons?!>
Big Brother	Aha! I've found it.
Big Brother	Complete and total extermination of all involved parties; execute the coupon thief and any and all of their affiliates. Effective immediately.
Ryoshu	Hmph. Truly, a B.B.
Ricardo	My name's Ricardo, a Big Brother of the Middle. Let my name be the last thing you remember before you perish. Memories are important, after all.
Ryōshū threw her one last cig to the ground, smoked down to the butt...
Ryoshu	Unsatisfying... I'll get a proper luxury cig next time. ... If there is a next time.
And the Big Brother quite literally soared into the air.

Episode: 31
Location: Lobotomy Corp. Drilling Ship Entrance
Ricardo	You regenerate... Like nothing happened.
Ricardo	Unlike my hairdo... Which should have received its rightful care that day... and will never recover...
Can my clock even make a difference against someone so overwhelmingly powerful?
My legs began to shake. Strategy, resurrections... it all seemed completely meaningless against this onslaught.
Faust	Dan... te.
Faust's voice calling my name has never sounded more hollow.
Dante	<... Speak, Faust.>
Faust	You must come up with a new plan...
Faust	My bodily functions will cease again in a matter of moments. This may be my last meaningful advice to you.
Faust	And sooner or later, that man from the Middle will come for you.
Dante	<What...>
Faust	The involvement of an individual affiliated with the Middle... should not have happened.
Faust	It will not matter how many times you turn the clock... That man will crush your clock as soon as he tires of inventing different ways of killing Heathcliff.
Faust	There is a button on the back of your head. Tap it ... times... Hold it ... times...
I'd grown accustomed to total annihilation.
We've had plenty on our journey here.
The Sinners always gave their lives to learn our enemies' weaknesses or patterns, while I worked out a strategy from the rear.
And the answer would always be somewhere within our reach.
Slowly but surely, we'd figure out the answer. And for that promise of an answer, the Sinners rose again.
But...
This time was...
Faust	Once you have completed the sequence, you have 30 seconds before the charge in your head explodes.
Faust	In other words, you can self-detonate.
Dante	<…….>
Faust	That is our last resort—an emergency preventative measure to stop our enemies from getting their hands on the Golden Boughs.
Faust	While the explosion radius may be small, the heat and the force it generates are powerful enough to melt even the Stars of the City. It should be effective enough to cremate the Golden Boughs as well...
Dante	<What about Vergilius? He said he'd come help before... my... head...>
Faust	... I see that you now have the full understanding of our predicament. We have no way of relaying our present situation to him. Even if he did learn of our troubles, he has no means to reach us within the next two hours.
Dante	<What about the Sinners? When I'm gone, you guys are...>
Faust	I am well aware of the consequences. My world will meet its end here. That is why this is your last resort.
Dante	<I-I could keep running away. I'll take the boat and try to stay alive until the laws of the Lake lets Vergilius cross the borders, and...>
Faust	... There is a chance, yes. But it is incredibly slim.
Dante	<……>
This was the second time after Siegfried.
The overwhelming sense of dread. So overwhelming that it breaks even our fighting spirits.
The incident with Siegfried was humiliating, but he wasn't there to obliterate us. He was just there to teach us a lesson...
But this man... He's not going to stop until he's completely broken every Sinner's will. Until he's satisfied. Until the 'humiliation' the Middle faced is recuperated... He will kill.
Faust	... Even though this may be the end of LCB, the world... no. Limbus Company must continue to exist... Dante, you must make a judgment call.
Ricardo	Look what we have here.
Ricardo	I've torn you to pieces, yet with burning eyes, you still attempt to rise.
Ishmael	Agh... We can't... not here... Not like this...
Ricardo	Haha! Tick-tock and bring back the dead, huh?!
Ricardo	What a world we live in. Is that kinda tech even allowed in the City, though? Guess I'll go ask the Great Sister once I get back.
Dante	<Ishmael, we...>
... Can't win.
I'm sure Ishmael knew that better than anyone. I couldn't bring myself to tell her the same thing.
Ishmael	Shut up.
Ishmael	Stop fucking around and do your job.
Ricardo	Give it another try, why don'tcha?
Ishmael	Kach...
Ishmael	Bring me... back... Again...
Ishmael and I were nothing more than entertainment to him.
With every turn of the clock, with every revival, he howled with laughter and clapped with joy.

Episode: 32
Location: Lobotomy Corp. Drilling Ship Entrance
Ricardo	Good, good! You nicked my sunglasses!
Ricardo	Too bad~ You'll have to try again!
Ishmael	... Damn it...!
Ishmael	I... didn't face... all those Waves just to...!
Ishmael	As long as I can keep trying, I can...!
The mist thickens.
It expands, devouring everything—our futures, our hopes, and any slim chance of victory we had.
And so does the fog of my sight, of my mind.
Will this continue until... either Ishmael gives up...
Or until he gets tired of this little game?
Until he simply walks over and crushes my clock?
Could Vergilius piece my shattered clock back?
Is that even possible?
If... I did as Faust told me to and blew up my head...
Not even a shred of me would be...
Ricardo	... Your repertoire's starting to get old.
Ricardo	How about we just zoom right past that and to the main event? I call this clock bashing~!
Dante	<…!>
Ishmael	No...! Dante! Run! Get out of here!
Ricardo	That clock fella's gotta be someone so very precious to you, hmm? Just look at her, hanging onto my leg... after all that beating.
Ishmael	Not the manager... No...! Not Dante...! Not Dante...!
Should I... press the button?
Is that really going to be my last ever thought?
There was a distant sound. Like an answer to my question.
That solemn sound tolled clearly through the blinding fog.
Ricardo	…….
It was a skiff. One much smaller, much more modest than ours.
From beyond the misty veil, the skiff slowly glided across the water in our direction. On it was a solitary figure holding an oar. A giant harpoon was attached to the bow of the ship.
Ricardo	But why...?
The Big Brother of the Middle...
Who could probably break that puny skiff in half with his bare hands...
... stares at it in stunned silence.
???	…….
It became clear that the skiff didn't float here by accident...
... when the figure on the boat began gently rowing in our direction.
Through the mist, we saw something flash atop the skiff.
The figure hurled something in our general direction. It flew so fast that no human eye could catch it.
I didn't even have the time to register that something was thrown... before I noticed that something was piercing the Big Brother's left shoulder.
Then, a powerful shockwave, far mightier than anything the pirates had fired earlier struck us. The air itself quaked.
It was not a distance that most people would even think about jumping across, but...
... the figure leaped over from the skiff to the Lobotomy Corp. Branch gracefully and with agility.
The man from the Middle, who so far had appeared unassailable... stumbled, and fell to his knees. His shoulder was skewered.
Ricardo	Haah... You...!
That's when I finally noticed that what the figure had thrown... was a harpoon.
A harpoon too immense to be thrown by a mere person, let alone at such a blinding speed.
The hooded figure's arm was wreathed in a familiar light.
Ricardo	You old geezer...
Ricardo	Thought you were out there, fishing... What, you think you're some hot shit now that they made you a Color? Just because you hunted the Marlin Whale? Are you challenging the Middle to a hunt like we're some Whale? That it?
Ricardo	You're not the kind of idiot that would attack me without knowing the consequences.
???	The Middle is no different from a Whale, hm. But that's not why I am here.
???	I'm just after a fish that got away.
Ricardo	Ha... ha ha... 'Course you are... I'm sure there's no need for me to remind you that the Middle never forgets.
???	Feel free to write me down in the remaining margins of that nasty little book, if you wish.
The old man tugs the harpoon lodged in the Big Brother's shoulder.
Ricardo	Hngh...
The 'Big Brother' tried to hold his ground against the harpoon's pull... Until there was a crunch.
???	Those that do not bend... break.
The harpoon tore off his entire shoulder with it.
... It was a force that would have turned most people into tattered meat.
???	Not bad.
???	Would you like to give it another try?
Ricardo	... Fine, fine! I'll leave for now. But... don't you forget.
Ricardo	The Middle remembers. It doesn't matter what I did here; the Middle will remember everyone and everything that dared to turn their back on it.
Ricardo	And the Middle always pays its debts. In whichever form…
Ishmael	…….
Ishmael and I had no choice but to watch in silent awe as the old man approached us.
The harpoon was still in his hand, and if he wished to strike us with it... we could never hope to get out of its way.
???	I'm looking for the fish that consumed this structure.
???	Are you two also here to fish?

Episode: 33
Location: Cabins of Mephistopheles
Vergilius	This was unexpected of you, Faust.
Vergilius	For you of all Sinners to be the one to bring aboard a 'big shot' to our humble abode.
Heathcliff	Tsk, do you have any idea how many times that prick killed us? The least you could do is—
Vergilius	Yes... that reminds me. I'll have to re-open my personal consultation hours for a certain kleptomaniac among us.
Heathcliff	……..
Vergilius' obvious discontent at the involvement of an outsider didn't seem to bother Faust.
Faust	I considered him indispensable to the completion of this mission.
Vergilius	And why is that?
???	Because I am the only one who can hunt that Pallid Whale.
Vergilius	... Of course you are.
Vergilius	The Indigo Elder.
Don Quixote	Indigo? He is a Color?! Thou meanest to say that I at this very moment am sharing a space with not one but TWO COLOR FIXERS...?
Vergilius	I heard that you were wandering the Great Lake to hunt its Whales.
Vergilius	And last I heard, you hunted one of the five Calamities, the All-impaling Marlin Whale.
The Indigo Elder	... Hrm.
The old man grunted. It was neither a confirmation nor a denial, but that was the way the old man was. Everyone understood that.
Faust	All circumstantial evidence suggests that the Golden Bough was devoured by the Whale stranded at the Great Lake.
Faust	Yes, that very same Pallid Whale of the Five Calamities, normally observed in the Outskirts.
Vergilius	... Hm. Of course. That's how these things always tend to flow.
The Indigo Elder	We've wasted much time, so I'll be blunt. I wish to hunt the Pallid Whale.
Vergilius	Yes. And time's all we have.
Faust	Moreover, we know where the Whale is headed.
Faust	And I am certain that you have spent a significant amount of time observing and learning that Whale to hunt it.
The Indigo Elder	…….
Ishmael	I've got a plan.
Ishmael	And I'll do anything to make it work. Even if you want me there only as bait.
Ishmael	And this is how we'll do it.
Ishmael	… …… … …….
The crowd fell silent when Ishmael finished explaining her plan.
Heathcliff	... You're mad. All that thrashing's finally sent you off the deep end.
Ishmael	I'm just going there for my mission. And the Golden Bough just happens to be in the same direction.
Ishmael	I'll leave it up to you. Well, to the manager, since their decision matters the most.
Ishmael	This Company, me... We're both just trying to find a way to reach our goals. That's all this is.
The Indigo Elder	…….
Ishmael	Besides, does anyone have a better idea?
Heathcliff	No. Can't agree to that. We're making a mistake by even entertaining that barmy idea.
The Indigo Elder	……
The Indigo Elder	I must ask you one last thing.
The Indigo Elder	Will you join us to fish, Red?
The Indigo Elder suddenly broke his silence with a question.
Vergilius	…….
Vergilius	I'm not experienced or particularly skilled at hunting marine life, but...
Vergilius	... I have other, more important concerns that prevent me from joining.
Vergilius	So, no. Unless the worst comes to pass, I will not take part.
The Indigo Elder	…….
The old man rose from his seat and walked off as though he was about to leave.
Outis	Wait... Wait a moment.
Outis	We don't need the guide. With a proper plan, we are more than capable of completing this mission.
Outis	To give up so quickly is—
The Indigo Elder	I never said I am.
The Indigo Elder	This loud, screaming ship won't do in our hunt for the Pallid Whale.
Dante	<Screaming? I didn't think Mephistopheles was that loud.>
The Indigo Elder	To hunt it, the boat must remain near and covert. A narrow and sturdy boat is what we need.
Gregor	... Huh? So all you needed to hear was that Vergilius wasn't going to help out? Why?
Rodion	Right? This could go much smoother if Vergie was with us.
Faust	We can prepare a boat that fits your specifications, should you request it.
The Indigo Elder	That's all right. I'll sail on my own skiff.
Heathcliff	That old dinghy? That Whale could split it in two with a light wag of its tail.
Outis	... No. That skiff... It may not look like much, but it is extremely durable.
Yi Sang	I see that X Corp.'s alloys have been used in its construction. That could not have been an easy ingredient to come by.
Don Quixote	Ooh... another benefit of having a Color bestowed upon thee, then?! I have heard tale of—
The Indigo Elder	Hrm...
Instead of entertaining that bombardment of questions...
... he approached me.
Dante	<…?>
The Indigo Elder	I noticed it in the earlier scuffle. That clock seems to have been you and your crew's lifeline.
The Indigo Elder	I know not how it works, but I presume it is a Singularity of sorts.
The Indigo Elder	It will not work against the Whale.
The Indigo Elder	So start now. Get used to the idea that not everything can be brought back.
Dante	<Why...>
Dante	<Why did you accept? Even after Vergilius opted out?>
It was a question I've been unable to let go.
Faust	Dante asks why you accepted our request, even after Vergilius opted out of it.
The Indigo Elder	You ask me the wrong question. I would have denied your request, had Red agreed to take part.
The Indigo Elder	Let's say that Red joined us. We would together battle the Whale in a long and arduous struggle. In the end, the Whale would surely go down—taking one of us with it.
The Indigo Elder	That is why I would have opted out if Red chose to join us.
Dante	<…?>
The Indigo Elder	Because the hunt would no longer be mine.
Don Quixote	Whatever doth thou mean? Thy intentions elude me...
The Indigo Elder	I mean that I would not be able to test the limits.
Ishmael	…….
Ishmael	The limits? What are you even talking about?
Ishmael	Look, to hunt that Whale, we have to prepare with everything we have. And...
The Indigo Elder	Out of fear, humans drew borders even to the Outskirts that lie beyond the City limits.
The Indigo Elder	Beyond it are stars that lie beyond the edge of understanding, beyond even the concept of fear itself.
The Indigo Elder	I am but a fisherman seeking to cross the borders and challenge that very understanding.
Outis	... Are you talking about what lies beyond the Outskirts? Its outreaches?
Ishmael	That Whale... devours everything. It brings nothing but calamity... How could you..
The Indigo Elder	Ah, so you have been a prey once, sailor.
The Indigo Elder	Countless Lakes here also devour. Summon calamities.
The Indigo Elder	If you find yourself at a crossroads, if you find that your life is worth nothing in the face of what lies before you...
The Indigo Elder	Recall this conversation.
Ishmael	…….
The Indigo Elder	I'm no good with advice. Never was.
The Indigo Elder	Still, I thought I'd part a few words...
The Indigo Elder	... as a fellow seafarer. Suppose I felt a bit of kinship.
As per the old man's directions, we rode on the skiff prepared on Mephistopheles.
Location: Aboard Mephistopheles's Deck
I saw Ishmael, moments before boarding the skiff on Mephistopheles.
This was Ishmael's plan, but... I had no way of knowing what she was really thinking.
I had an inkling, yes. And so far, I've been going along with those vague guesses. Vague guesses that led to disasters.
So I had to ask her myself.
Dante	<Ishmael. What do you really want?>
Ishmael	What I really want...
Dante	<…!>
I see another vision of Ishmael.
She was hiding it well from the other Sinners and Vergilius. But I could clearly see what she really wanted. Her true desire.
Dante	<Ishmael, you...!>
She was lifting a body from the waters.
A body that was torn asunder. Shattered bones, strips of muscle tissue, flesh... Ishmael trembled with elation before what looked like the Captain's mutilated corpse.
Ishmael	What?
Ishmael	Come on, let's get going.

Episode: 34
Location: Mephistopheles' Skiff
As we discussed earlier, we took a different route from the Indigo Elder. We were to first arrive at separate destinations for our plan.
Dante	<... Something's floating over there.>
Not long after we crossed the line where the lake water turned dark grey, we noticed something pale peeking out from the lake.
Sinclair	Are those... Islands? There's a lot of them...
Outis	They may be reefs. Perhaps that is this Lake's challenge... To navigate it while avoiding them to the best of our abilities.
Sinclair	Well, they sure do look rocky. But... They're too big to be called reefs.
Yi Sang	Do you sense aught, Dante?
Yi Sang	We may attempt to discover a path that does not lead into an area cluttered with such obstacles, yet that would require us to hazard a path unknown. It may lead to this plan's ruin.
Dante	<Hm...>
Faust	If you can sense even the most general direction of the Golden Bough, please relay it to me. I can use that to approximate its location.
Faust	I can assure you a degree of accuracy, now that we have with us additional data provided by the Indigo Elder.
Heathcliff	Huh? Why couldn't you have just been our magic compass to begin with, clockhead?
Faust	They are able to do this only under the peculiar conditions of the Great Lake, which has very few in the way of obstacles.
Faust	The urban areas of the City are dense with structures, both high and low, and into the underground. The higher population density also complicates matters. Considering that Dante can detect the Golden Bough only in close proximities, considering that there may be insurmountable obstacles in our way, their sense will not be of much help there.
Heathcliff	Tsk. So they're back to being just your usual clockhead anywhere else.
Dante	<Huh, so that's why... that's why I could feel the Golden Bough here, even when it was so far away...>
I raised my finger and pointed toward the general direction of this vague feeling.
Faust	Confirmed. We will turn the ship around in that direction.
Ishmael wordlessly steered the ship according to Faust's words.
We grew ever nearer to the island... or a reef. A heavy silence descended upon the Sinners.
Ishmael	... Oh.
Until Ishmael gasped with a sudden realization.
Ishmael	It's this Lake.
There was an incomprehensible look on Ishmael's face.
Maybe I saw unrestrained joy. The joy of finding something she's been searching for so long. Such an overwhelming, all-consuming happiness that her facial muscles began to twitch on their own.
Maybe I saw extreme fear. The fear in the face of destined, unavoidable horror. The Lake's splashing waves hit her trembling face and rolled down her cheeks. Or, maybe, she was sweating from dread.
Faust	Ishmael, do you have any new information to share with us?
Ishmael	... Yeah. Here... I know what to do from here. I know exactly what to do.
Ishmael	Outis, I can't clearly see what's in front of us from back here. Tell me precisely what you see. Their numbers, their sizes, all of it.
Outis	... Trying to avoid the wild currents and find a safe path around these rocks? Understood.
Outis nodded emphatically before rising from her seat to gaze at the path ahead. She balanced herself as the ship rocked.
Outis	About 350 meters ahead. Miniscule, plain patterned, glistening rock. About 500 meters ahead of that is a medium-sized rock. It has a bump on top of it that stands out.
Ishmael	Continue.
Outis	Hm. And not so far ahead from there is a large island with a rough, porous surface... Oh, upon closer inspection, it's like an archipelago of three... four similar islands.
Ishmael	Good.
Ishmael began fiddling with the steering gear and the engine's output levers as though something had clicked in her mind.
Outis	... Good. We've made it past the first rock.
Hong Lu	Its texture was a bit... different from that of a normal rock, wasn't it?
Ryoshu	G.E. That's not the texture of a rock. Or even soil.
Outis	We just passed the second one.
Heathcliff	Oi, what's so weird about the texture? I can't see over the big boy and the long one.
Ryoshu	Hmph. That there... is a living, breathing thing.
Heathcliff	What?
Outis	... Wait... Swabbie! Watch where you're steering this ship! We're going to crash into that third rock at this rate!
Ishmael	And that's what I'm going to do, Outis. That's where we get off.
Heathcliff	That rock? That creepy, porous rock over there?
Heathcliff	Oi, feel free to crash into a rock on your free time, but don't take all of us with you! There's not even a single tree up there, let alone a person. What the bloody hell are we anchoring there for?
Ishmael	You gotta screw your head on in a different direction in the Great Lake, Heathcliff.
Heathcliff	What are you talking abou—
A loud shock and an ear-splitting sound of the skiff scratching and sliding against something cut Heathcliff off.
Heathcliff	Do you even know where you're going, woman?!
Ryoshu	... Oh yes, she knows. Huhu.
Sinclair	Wait, that white color... Ishmael?
Ishmael	Yeah. Those aren't islands or rocks.
What we thought were islands suddenly rumbled, vibrating, as ground tremors from an earthquake.
Ishmael	They're... all part of a Whale.
A colossal creature shudders as it wakes from a long slumber.

Episode: 35
Location: Mephistopheles' Skiff
Heathcliff	Right... I get it. I get it now. All of these 'rocks' were actually Whales. And I get that Mermaids pop out of those pores.
Heathcliff	But I think it's a loony thing that... Why are we even drawing their ire, huh? We could've just gone around them!
Heathcliff	Looking to let off some steam? Hankerin' for a game of whack-a-mole all of a sudden? Is that it?
Ishmael	Of course not.
Ishmael	This is just the only method I know.
Heathcliff	... You better be ready to explain what you're talking about.
Heathcliff, furious... wasn't the only Sinner looking at Ishmael with expectant eyes.
There were Outis and the other Sinners who all looked to her for some answers.
Dante	<Ishmael.>
And I was too, of course.
Ishmael	Haah... I also didn't think I'd actually be doing this...
Ishmael	Well... so there's this legend-like tale.
Sinclair	Legend...?
Ishmael	Each Lake of the Great Lake has its own culture, with many wandering and choosing to call those places their homes. So, naturally, there are as many tales as there are Lakes.
Ishmael	But there's that one tale of a certain Lake that is passed down orally from sailor to sailor. Just like the legends of old.
Ishmael	The legend of the 'Gloomy Grey Lake of Wafting and Rumbling'. Sailors sang the legend of that Lake, passing it down for years upon years.
Ishmael	Doom, and hew thy veiled path to misty seas.
Ishmael	Begloom, and let Whales draw their pearls in search of pallid hue.
Ishmael	Toom, shall be thy mist-path, heeding the weeping Whales.
Don Quixote	... Whatever does that mean?
Ishmael	It's simple. Hit the Porous Whales to wake them, draw out and hunt their Mermaids, and the path to the Pallid Whale should clear of the mist.
Heathcliff	Do you really believe that? You expect us to just... believe that hogwash?
Heathcliff	Blimey, didn't think I'd ever get to say these words before my deathbed, but...
Heathcliff	Are you stupid?
Rodion	... Pfft.
Heathcliff	Haah... Listen. What does waking these Whales up have anything to do with getting rid of that thick fog? It's got to make even a little bit of sense, no?
Faust	Heathcliff discusses the correlation between actions and consequences. This truly is a rare experience indeed.
Heathcliff	Shut up, smartarse... I'm serious.
Ishmael	... And you think the law that sends Waves after us if we don't cross the borders at the exact right moment makes sense?
Heathcliff	Huh?
Ishmael	You think the law that makes us go in circles before reaching our destination, the law that doesn't let us go back the way we came from, makes any sense?
Ishmael	I've been telling you this whole time. Common sense has no place in the Great Lake.
Ishmael	That's just the way this place works, okay? Just... You just have to accept that.
Heathcliff	... Fine. I'll give you that. But they're like the laws of the City. As outlandish as they are, they're still strict laws that can be calculated into those variable coordinates or whatnot. What you're blathering here is some vague old song. Am I supposed to believe something so absurd?
Ishmael	Yes. Because I've seen it myself.
Heathcliff	......
Ishmael	Years ago, when a young, stupid, but motivated sailor boarded the ship, she had the most unfortunate opportunity of witnessing this very legend with her own eyes.
Ishmael	Because that's how she saw the Pallid Whale.
Heathcliff fell silent, scratching his head. The rest of the Sinners also nodded and began whispering.
Heathcliff	... I really don't like you.
Ishmael	Took the words right out of my mouth.
Heathcliff	I don't like... any of this. But I know that you're not the kind of lass to lie or tell tall tales just to get the upper hand in a petty squabble.
Ishmael	…….
Heathcliff	Fine, let's go all the way to the end. I'll keep whacking those mole-like things with this club.
Outis	I can also accept your explanation. But... from now on, I would appreciate it if you could share your knowledge with us first before doing anything.
Ishmael	... I'll try.
Faust	In a way, I am relieved that we now have a definite path forward.
Dante	<... Yeah. Well, let's go find our next Whale.>
Outis	Yes, Executive Manager.
Outis	All aboard, men!
Yi Sang	... Truly, the ocean mist is splitting as though a blade has hewn it in half.
Once we eliminated the Mermaids of the last Whale singled out by Ishmael, the fog slowly began to fade. Behind it was a different Lake, beyond the grey sea.
Ishmael	Haah... Finally.

Episode: 36
Meursault	The weather there is quite hostile.
Meursault was right. The Lake beyond the borders was nigh pitch-black. The waves crested tall, rising and crashing violently under the thundering rainstorm.
Yi Sang	Mm... The wild winds have begun to sway the boat...
Yi Sang's face was starting to grow pale.
Sinclair	I'm starting to wonder if we can... really do this.
Heathcliff	Did we ever let that stop us from trying?
Rodion	Ha, I guess that's true~
Ishmael	... All right. Heading into the zone.
Outis	Are there any laws of that Lake that we must be mindful of?
Ishmael	I don't know the laws of that Lake, nor its Waves.
Ishmael	I remember the way the fog split open. I remember the obsidian sea and the endless tempest.
Ishmael	But the rest of it... All I remember is that the Captain was excitedly delivering a speech at witnessing the legends come to life, and that we were all busy preparing for the Whale hunt.
Ishmael	... So, what awaits us ahead is a real adventure. We'll be sailing blindly into the night.
Don Quixote	... Gulp.
Outis	Then... we'll have to face everything head-on.
Ishmael	Yes. If the Waves come to claim us, we will face them. Head-on.
Ishmael	... Even the Whale.
Ishmael	... No signs of that Whale yet, though.
Ishmael	Back then, it attacked us mere minutes after we entered the Lake.
Everyone was as tense as they could ever be, looking around nervously...
Sinclair	Wait, what's... that? There's something there, something tall.
Meursault	A close approach is recommended. I have a source of light to improve our visibility.
Meursault got up with a lantern and pointed the light toward where Sinclair indicated.
Sinclair	There's... several of them...?
Gregor	What's that...? Hell, who put 'em there? What are they even for?
Rodion	Maybe they're like lighthouses...?
Sinclair	Lighthouses? Yeah, I can kinda see that...
Ishmael	......
Dante	<Do you remember seeing anything like that, Ishmael?>
Ishmael	No... I don't even have a hazy recollection of it. I've never seen it before in my...
Ishmael	...!
Yi Sang	I-Ishmael. Has the nausea of the swaying sea gotten to you as well?
Yi Sang	Your face has grown rather pale...
I knew that that can't be true.
A seasick sailor only exists in jokes. Besides, Ishmael was doing just fine mere moments ago.
Then... she must've had a sudden realization.
Ishmael	I see... So that's what it looked like. Even a small part of it is...
A terrifying realization.
Sinclair	W-what is it?
Ishmael	You'll find out soon enough. Even if you don't want to.
Outis	There, a rogue wave ahead...!
Outis	All hands, brace! Grab onto what you can!
Sinclair	A-ah! Agh...!
Before we even had the chance to say anything, a leviathan of a wave rose to its crest, then crashed onto us from above...
And sucked us deep into the Lake before throwing us back to the surface.
Faust	Pah...!
Faust	... We were lucky. There was a high chance that the following vortex would have dragged the vessel deep underwater.
Heathcliff	L-lucky? You saw what was down there, that was...
Dante	<... Everyone okay?>
Everyone was soaking wet, nearly hyperventilating, but... mostly awestruck by what we've just witnessed.
Outis	We have everyone, but...
Sinclair	Huh? Huh...? What we just saw down there... were...
Hong Lu	They weren't lighthouses... They were...
Hong Lu	Tails of colossal Whales...!
Rodion	Wow... Okay... I really wanna give up now, ha ha.
Rodion	I wanna go back to the time when I didn't know what the Whales really looked like...
Ishmael	So this is the Lake where the Whales come to sleep...
Ishmael	Yeah. If they're deep in the water with their necks bent like that... I could see their tails rising tall over the surface.
Ishmael	But... There's no way they missed this commotion.
Sinclair	T-t-t-the ship is... We're... we're keeling over!
Ishmael	... The Whales are waking up.
'We're finally here.'
... I think that's what Ishmael whispered. But the storm, the waves buried her voice deep into the Lake.
Faust	If the Indigo Elder made it here as we planned...
Don Quixote	WOAAAAAAHHHHH!
Don Quixote	OVER YONDER, I-IS THAT THE WHALE?!
We didn't have to wonder even for a second about what Don Quixote was screaming at.
An entire herd of entities, each dwarfing every single Whale we've weathered throughout this journey, emerged from the waters all at once. In unison, they began migrating in a singular direction. To witness something like that was...
Meursault	…….
... enough to make even Meursault gape with plain bewilderment.
Faust	Looks like things are going according to plan.
Outis	Then we'll have to do our part.
Ishmael	Ah!
Ishmael	There, there!
There was a Whale that stood out even among the herd of ineffably immense Whales.
Pallid as the pale death... Its hide, thick with scar tissue.
Outis	That one's particularly scarred.
Ishmael	Ha, ha ha ha... I've found it!
Ishmael	Yes... He was right. The wounds, the scars that we... the Pequod made... they're all still there.
Vergilius	I assume that you have finally located the Whale?
Faust	I believe so, yes.
Vergilius	As always... the chance of success must be miniscule.
Faust	Indeed it is.
Ishmael	OARSMEN!!!!!!!
Ishmael thundered.
Dante	<Ishmael...?>
No, louder than the thunder itself. As though her personality itself had suddenly shifted. Her voice seemed to overwhelm the very storm itself.
Ishmael	ANSWERS, YOU DOGS!!!!! OARSMEN!!!!
Heathcliff	Huh?! A-aye!
Ishmael	Set route to that pallid thing! FULL SPEED AHEAD!!!! ROW!
Outis	... Full speed ahead! Row!
Even Outis was swept up in this sudden turn of events, repeating after Ishmael's bellowing commands.
Is this what Ishmael was like when she sailed the Lakes? Or...
Ishmael	Ha... HA HA...!
... Or is this the Captain?
Faust	I see light. ... It's the Indigo Elder.
The old man and his skiff was sliding across the waters toward the Whale.
The Indigo Elder	Listen well!
The Indigo Elder	The rest of the awakened Whales have gone after the bait I've laid for them!
Outis	Then the plan worked! Now... Ah...!
It wasn't clear whether it was the thunder or the old man's bellow that awakened the Pallid Whale. Its eyelids began to lift.
Outis	... It's been so long since I've witnessed anything like this up close.
It was an eye of astronomical proportions, so immense that it no longer resembled an eye—but a reflective mirror of the world.
The Indigo Elder	Oh, how I wished to see you eye-to-eye.
The old man, harpoon in hand, draws closer to the whale with a grim, stony expression. Ishmael also aims her harpoon at the great Whale, her face nearly tearing with uncontainable joy. Some sinners tremble with fear, while others prepare themselves.
All of it, the world... contained in a single reflective eye that stretched even beyond our peripheral visions.
The Indigo Elder	... Now here's your bait, fish. Bite on it.
The Indigo Elder	I know you have no other choice. Biting, devouring's all you've ever known.
Ishmael	OARSMEN!!!!! SPLIT THE SEA WITH YOUR OARS!!!!!
The Indigo Elder	I respect you, Pallid Whale. I respect that you have lived years in numbers that I cannot even begin to imagine. I respect that you hail from a place beyond my ken.
The Indigo Elder	But...
The Indigo Elder	I will take this chance to stand before you, to challenge you. And with this challenge, to the edge of understanding I will row.
The giant harpoon soars across the black sky like a bolt of levin and strikes the Pallid Whale.
Outis	Now is our chance! Row on, row on!
Ishmael rose tall and alone, looking straight out beyond the speeding boat's swaying bow, harpoon in her hand.
Ishmael	I've been thinking... ever since then... about what feelings you might dig up from my heart if I saw you again.
Ishmael	Ha... But this feeling is much more straightforward than I expected.
Ishmael	... Nice meeting you again, you FUCKING WHALE!
The Pallid Whale	…! ……!
Compared to the old man's harpoon, the harpoon Ishmael hurled was like a needle.
But once struck, as though its body was wracked by an immense, unbearable pain, the Pallid Whale's maw opened—and the air itself began to vibrate.
Outis	Its maw opens!
The Indigo Elder	......
The Indigo Elder	Go. I will now fish this beast.
Every Sinner heard the old man's voice.
Every Sinner begins rowing with all their might.
In desperation. As though death itself was in our pursuit.
As though it was our fate, our destiny to row.
We were sucked into an endless abyss...
... and a rapid vortex pulled us into the maws of the beast, tenebrous as a well under a moonless sky.
Dante	<…!>
There was a deep noise.
And like a droplet in sea, we melted into the fathomless dark.
Vergilius	Acknowledge. Acknowledge. How goes the plan?
Vergilius	Acknowledge. Hey!
Vergilius	... Looks like the radio's broken for good.
Charon	Mhm. Worrying.

Episode: 37
Ishmael	It is said that Queequeg's ropes, twisted by her powerful grip and her esoteric techniques…
Ishmael	... are tougher than any other rope in the world.
Ishmael	Queequeg told me to not leave her alone in the cold, dark Lake.
Ishmael	That she didn't want the Whales and Mermaids to tear her apart and devour her when her corpse sinks deep into its waters.
Ishmael	I agreed.
Ishmael	The wounds on her skin that only I knew of... the memories of her pain...I didn't want those monsters to heartlessly rip into them, to gorge themselves with her scarred flesh.
Ishmael	So, Queequeg built herself a coffin.
Ishmael	Built hardily and fastened with ropes twisted and knotted with all her strength.So that her coffin would not sink no matter how precariously the ship swayed.
Ishmael	Huff... Huff...
Ishmael	My hands gripping onto that very same rope tied to the coffin... were starting to peel and bleed.
Ishmael	And my dearest friend's hollow coffin was the only thing keeping me afloat on that whirling Lake.
Ishmael	Any... Is there anyone out there?
Ishmael	ANYONE?!!!!!!!!
Ishmael	In that empty lake, stranded amidst the Pequod's desolation, I called out from the top of my lungs.
Ishmael	Please, anyone... say something. Anything.
Ishmael	When I realized that everyone I ever had any ties to had, in the blink of an eye, been taken from this world,
Ishmael	my gasping, wheezing self, barely holding onto life seemed...
Come aboard my ship. And sail with me to the cold abyss of the Lake.
Ishmael	…!
Ishmael	Not even I, drowning yet breathing, could escape Captain Ahab...
Ishmael	Even in this deafening silence, Ahab's echoing bellows strangle me...
Ishmael	Even in death my mates remain trapped with the Captain.
Ishmael	Agh... Argh...
Ishmael	In joy, and in sorrow... I'll never forget...
Ishmael	... the strands that were ripped away from me.
Ishmael	I'll be buried in this Lake forever to my last gasping breath.
Ishmael	Try as I might to escape the rising waters, only loneliness fills my lungs.
Ishmael	Haah... Haaah... Gah...
???	Always told you. I did.
???	Rope. Grab tight. Or sink.
Ishmael	You...
Ishmael	How long have you been... here?
???	Always. Always been here.
Ishmael	…….

Episode:38
Location: ???
The immediate sensation upon waking up was that it was moist and cold, yet oddly warm in some places.
Dante	<Where... are we?>
Hong Lu	Mm... There's this long river-like thing. If we follow it, maybe...
Hong Lu	... there'll be something at the end of it?
Sinclair	Hong Lu... How can you always be so calm about everything?
Gregor	Is he...? I think that's just how that fella is with pretty much everything.
Sinclair	No... That's not what I'm...
Sinclair	I mean, where do you guys think this is...?
Sinclair	We just...
Outis	I am well aware.
Outis	We rowed into the maws of the beast. Of our own volition.
Not long ago...
Location: Cabins of Mephistopheles
Ishmael	I'm proposing that we... enter the stomach of the Whale that devoured the Golden Bough.
Heathcliff	... You're mad. All that thrashing's finally sent you off the deep end.
Ishmael	I'm just going there for my mission. And the Golden Bough just happens to be in the way.
Ishmael	I'll leave it up to you. Well, to the manager, since their decision matters the most.
Ishmael	This Company, me... We're both just trying to find a way to reach our goals. That's all this is.
The Indigo Elder	…….
Ishmael	Besides, does anyone have a better idea?
Ishmael	If that thing swallowed the Golden Bough... and if that Golden Bough really counteracts that damned Pallid Whale's Pallidification effects, then...
Ishmael	... We just might be able to survive without getting affected by it.
Rodion	That's a gamble, Ishy. There's just...
Ishmael	Yeah. You should know. It's one of your favorite things.
Ishmael	What do you think, manager?
Ishmael looked at me with expectant eyes as though she knew I had no choice but to agree to this plan.
Her eyes were telling me: 'You came this far for the Golden Bough. You're not going to go back empty-handed now, are you?'
Vergilius	…….
Vergilius	Six hours.
Vergilius	If I don't hear anything from you in six hours, LCA will be taking over the rest of this mission.
Gregor	Okay, LCA takes over the mission, then... what?
Vergilius	Well. If they hear the very unfortunate news that all of you decided to row into the Whale's belly and got yourselves trapped...
Vergilius	They'll be having a long internal discussion about how they could blow that Pallid Whale apart.
Vergilius	Then a very lengthy battle will ensue.
Dante	<Okay, so let me get this straight... If we fail to find the Golden Bough stuck somewhere inside the Whale's stomach in six hours, you won't hesitate blowing us to smithereens along with the Whale? Did I get that right?>
Faust	I will not relay that comment.
Vergilius	…….
Dante	<Faust, what do you think of our odds?>
Faust	Our odds are non-zero. But it may as well be nil.
Faust	At least with the currently known variables.
Ishmael	So we *have* a chance.
Dante	<... Do you have any other ideas that might get us the Golden Bough?>
Faust	No, not at this moment.
Faust	What I can tell you, however, is that we have a history of dramatically completing missions with a veritably low chance of success.
Dante	<Okay, then. Let's get this done.>
Location: Inside the Pallid Whale
Faust	... Indeed. The lack of plan becomes the plan itself.
Faust	This solidifies the veracity of my new theory even further.
Luckily, we didn't lose any Sinners on the way down. All 12 of them made it down here, just as we planned.
But...
Dante	<Guys, where's—where's the boat?>
The boat was nowhere to be seen.

Episode: 39
Location: Inside the Pallid Whale
Outis	Men! We will commence a search. This boat must be found as soon as possible.
Meursault	No, there is no need for a search.
Meursault	400 meters to your right. There is the boat—
Outis	Quite observant you are. Let's not waste any time and return to the boat.
Meursault	Allow me to finish. There is the boat in a ditch. 75% of its hull integrity has been breached and its remains are scattered on the ground.
Dante	<…….>
Hong Lu	Wow, so this was a piece of our boat, huh?
Faust	... That vessel was designed to be used more than three times.
Hong Lu was pointing at the pitiful sight of an absolutely busted looking pieces of the propeller...
... Well, to be exact, busted pieces of the propeller and what appeared to once have been our boat's engines. Something comes to a sputtering halt amidst the wreckage.
Yi Sang	Thus it rests here forevermore...
Yi Sang	This would have been quite the painful sight for Mika and Rain.
Faust	…….
Dante	<... This is a pretty painful sight for us, too.>
Sinclair	Uh, so... What do we...
Ishmael	Manager. You can still sense the Golden Bough, right?
Dante	<Yeah. Unlike at the Lobotomy Corp. Branch, I can definitely feel that it's somewhere 'in here'. But it's also pretty far away, so I can't tell where it exactly—>
Ishmael	... Great. Are you ready to turn the clock?
Dante	<What's that about turning the clock?>
Dante	<Ohh...>
The Whale's pallor had taken over their bodies and minds.
Of course. It only makes sense that this place is crawling with Mermaids.

Episode: 40
Location: Inside the Pallid Whale
Gregor	Haah... Yeah, let's bounce before more of those Mermaids show up.
Sinclair	Bounce where...? We're trapped inside a Whale.
Rodion	Are we... are we gonna end up looking like them, too? You know, we've been... 'devoured'.
Faust	The Golden Bough inside Dante's head is likely counteracting the Pallidification effects on the Sinners' bodies.
Faust	But there is no guarantee that this defensive effect would last forever.
Faust	We must take into account that we are in an unknown environment.
In other words, spending too long here could turn us into Mermaids, just like them...
I wasn't sure if I could bring back a Sinner that's turned into a Mermaid.
Dante	<But... Where do we even go?>
Dante	<I don't have even the slightest idea as to where we might be...>
Hong Lu	Weird... I didn't know it could rain inside a Whale's belly.
I was still unsure where to go, so much so that I was starting to feel completely lost... when Hong Lu suddenly blurted something about rain.
Dante	<... What are you talking about?>
Hong Lu	Oh, it's just that I felt a few droplets of water on my shoulder.
Heathcliff	... Wait.
Heathcliff	So this is the first place we landed on after the Whale swallowed us whole, innit?
Dante	<Right...>
Heathcliff	Sorry, I just sometimes need someone to confirm my common senses.
Heathcliff	When you eat something... where does it usually land first?
Rodion	My stomach, of course. My poor, starving stomach...
Faust	... I see your point, Heathcliff.
Faust	The stomach constantly secretes acid in order to digest the food effectively.
Sinclair	Yeah, I think I learned about it in school. It's usually some kind of powerful acid...
Sinclair	That... dissolves everything it touches...
Hong Lu	Ohh~
Hong Lu	So that's why my clothes melted where the water touched. Feels a bit prickly, too.
I stared at Hong Lu's shoulder. Something had burrowed a hole there, and the surrounding skin was sizzling and melting away.
Don Quixote	Are we fated to become porridge... so soon after our arrival...?
Faust	There is one positive discovery, however. This creature appears to share similar biological mechanisms and shapes as an ordinary organic lifeform.
Dante	<Everyone... We gotta run...!>
Dante	<I don't care how many pieces of you there are left, just make sure that there's something left for me to bring back...>

Episode: 41
Location: The Pallid Whale's Stomach
And so we ran, trying to weave our way between the pouring stomach acid...
... without even knowing where we were supposed to go.
???	Wow, man. What a... what a funny sight, eh?
???	Funny? That's more suspicious than funny.
???	You're too loud...! Great, now we caught their attention.
Dante	<...? Who's there?>
???	Hey. I heard you guys... talking down there.
Yi Sang	Those Mermaids... speak...?
???	We're not... Mermaids. Ever seen a Mer...maid this chatty?
Meursault	Their Pallidification effects have only partially progressed.
Rodion	So what does that make them? Half-human, half-fish?
???	Well, we don't got... much time. So I'll make it... short.
???	This zone... floods with acid every 10 minutes... or so.
???	Unless you guys are all... made of steel...
???	... you better decide fast! Either ta...ke the rope we're about to lower down, or...
???	... become sludgy nutrient... for the Whale and be one with it... forever and ever.
???	Well, even if you were to all turn into sludge, we can still salvage your weapons. We don't got nothing to lose.
???	Some of 'em are already starting to melt.
Dante	<Do we even have a choice?>
Heathcliff	ROPE! NOW!
They muttered something amongst themselves, as though they found something funny about this situation... and tossed an odd-looking rope in our direction.
Gregor	This rope feels funny.
???	That rope right... there's made of capillary we pulled straight... from its lungs. It'll last more than... an hour, even in its stomach acid.
Rodion	Greg... Why'd you even ask that...? Eugh, I hate it...
With Rodya and her grumblings in tow, we struggled up the bundle of capillary rope.
Dante	<... Phew. I don't know who you guys are... But thanks.>
???	Hell yeah, what a catch! We'll net us upwards of 3 gold coins for this.
???	I think this tick-tocking friend might be worth more than that.
Ryoshu	A catch? You think you fished us up?
???	We come here every... once in a while to check if... anyone's washed up, yeah.
???	But most of 'em poor castaways... are already almost full Mermaids by the time we find 'em. In a matter of... minutes, they're all rearing to kill us. And the rest are... just your every-day Mermaids.
Hong Lu	Haha, so this is a special occasion, then?
???	This is probably the first time ever... that we found sailors that could not only... talk, but also weren't halfway turned... into Mermaids.
Dante	<So why do you guys come here every once in a while, then?>
???	The clock friend... here keeps tick-tockin'. Are they saying some...thing? Doubt they're a full-on robot.
???	Don't most... people prefer to keep the ability to speak even when re...placing their bodies with prosthetics? Guess the trends have re...ally changed since we got here.
Gregor	Uh, so that buddy there... Well, it's a long story. But yeah, they can't communicate normally.
???	Hm, all... good. Everyone's got a sto...ry they don't want to tell.
???	We can sympathize a little. Talking ain't... the easiest thi...ng to do.
???	Consider yourselves lucked out, fellas! You guys ran into us, of all things!
???	Cuz we'll be getting out of here real soon!
We followed their confident, guiding steps, but there was no way to look at this situation without a bit of suspicion.
Dante	<Where do you think they're taking us?>
Dante	<What if they're leading us into a trap...?>
Ishmael	If they were trying to attack us, they would've done so when we were almost at the top of the cliff. We were completely vulnerable to attacks there.
Ishmael	And...
Ishmael opened her mouth as though she was about to say something, then stopped herself before turning around. It looked like she hadn't finished processing her thoughts yet.
Ishmael	... I'm sure I've seen that harpoon before somewhere...
???	So what ship a...re you guys from again?
Gregor	Um... It's called the... The Limbus. You probably haven't heard of it, yeah...
???	Well, talk straight, man! It's not like you're a Mermaid. Who's your Captain? If they're from U Corp, their name just might ring a bell.
Gregor	Um... who's... our Captain again?
Dante	<I dunno, guys. I've never taken the helm. Not sure if I can call myself a Captain here.>
Don Quixote	The helm... Forsooth... If this be all about who handles the wheel...
Don Quixote	I am quite well aware of our Captain!!! Charon is our Captain, indeed!
???	Aha... nope. Never hea...rd of 'em. I guess it's really been... a while, then...
He scratched his head. 'Captain' Charon clearly didn't ring a bell.
Ishmael	You... How long has it been since you were trapped in here?
???	Eight months.
???	No, dumbass! This is our third year! Our last count was at 644 days, so...
???	I dunno, la...dy. I quit coun...ting the days a while ago. I've completely lost tra...ck of time since we got stuck deep in...side where the sun don't shine.
Ishmael	... I see.
Ishmael	I know only one person who ties a knot to their harpoon like that...
???	Oh, this? It's called the Desper...ate's Knot. Even in our town, only the... experienced few knows how to tie it.
Ishmael	So... they're here...?
Ishmael	I... I think I know you.
Ishmael comes to a sudden stop. So do our guides.
... Not because of what she said.

Episode: 42
Location: Pequod Town
???	Here we are! Welcome to Pequod Town.
???	We're back, Cap'n! Look what we fished up!
Dante	<Captain?>
Captain?	Quite the catch indeed! You certainly are an excellent scout, Starbuck!
A wiry old woman approached us, her harsh voice tickling our ears.
Captain?	Two gold coins for you, lad. And here's one for the twins.
???	Thank you, Cap'n.
Captain?	It has been a long, long while since our Pequod Town gained new villagers.
Gregor	... Villagers? Not guests?
Outis	That woman seems to think us already bound to this village.
Ishmael	I knew it...
Captain?	Welcome. I have built this village and watched over these poor, wretched souls. Soon, I shall set sail on the final voyage with my crew.
Ahab	I am Captain Ahab.
Dante	<... Ah, Ishmael...!>
Ishmael	You have... no idea how I've waited... how I've longed for this moment. You won't ever know.
Ishmael	Because I'll gut you like a fish before you even have the chance to find out.
Muttering, Ishmael charged at Ahab.
Ahab	What a way to greet your Captain, Ishmael.
The Captain remained serene, even as Ishmael suddenly charged at her.
???	I-Ishmael...?! Wa...it, now that you mention it—
Blinded Pequod Town Villager	You thankless bastards. You dare attack our Cap'n?!
Gagged Pequod Town Villager	We'll show you what we're made of!
Blinded Pequod Town Villager	We'll toss you back into that river of acid!

Episode: 43
Location: Pequod Town
Ishmael	Not a lot of good men left, Ahab.
Ishmael	…!
Ishmael quickly leaped to the side, evading a harpoon that struck the spot she was just standing on.
Ishmael	Who's this now...?
Ahab	My crew is nothing if not loyal. More so than anyone in the world.
Ahab	And this one here is second to none when it comes to harpooneering.
Ahab	So... do you still fail to see that to attack me here is to court death?
Queequeg	…….
A sailor wearing an odd-looking mask joined the fray.
Heathcliff	Blimey... Look at the size of that harpoon.
Ryoshu	A direct hit from that will turn your bones to dust. That one... That one's a real warrior. Huhu...
Heathcliff	Gah! Could you stop being so bloody creepy for one second? Givin' me the shivers outta nowhere...

Episode: 44
Location: Pequod Town
???	All of you. Strong.
???	But no sailors.
Ryoshu	Why, talk, so, slow? Irritating.
Ryoshu	If you're not abbreviating with acronyms... then all you're doing is wasting time.
Ishmael's mace nicked the harpooneer's mask. She came dangerously close to smashing their skull.
Ishmael	Should've gotten out of my way when I gave you the chance... Now I'm going to have to bash your face in.
???	But you. You are sailor.
Ishmael	... Right.
Ishmael	... We both are.
Ishmael	Queequeg!!!
In a sudden, explosive burst of energy, Ishmael bolted forth like a cannonball toward Queequeg before holding her in a tight embrace.
Rodion	Whew... wasn't she saying something about bashing her face in just moments ago?
Yi Sang	This embrace is what one does when meeting an old fellow.
Yi Sang	You fear they may flutter away unless you hold them tightly so.
Queequeg	Your hair color. Can't forget.
Queequeg	Your name. I know.
Queequeg	But no attacking Captain.
Ishmael	Why...? I'm just...
Queequeg	You attack Captain again, I attack you.
Queequeg	Then kill or be killed. One of us.
Ishmael	…….
Ahab	Well now, whatever shall you do? Starbuck here has, out of the kindness of his heart, rescued you from jaws of death. Invited you to my village!
Ahab	Yet you've elected to attack me, as if to spit on that very kindness.
Ahab	Were we sailing the Great Lake, I would have had all of you tied and thrown overboard to be crushed underneath the keel of our ship, your lungs bloating with the Lake's waters.
There were at least 40 people living in Pequod Town. And that was a conservative estimate.
From their vicious glares, I could tell that every single one of them was a fiercely loyal follower of Ahab.
Here we were in this unfamiliar environment, trapped and lost...
Dante	<Things aren't looking so good...>
A single word from Ahab, and they'll all be upon us...
If we were to retreat... behind us is the river of stomach acid. Ahead of us is an unknown territory.
Ahab	Haha!! Lads, lasses! Cast fear from your hearts.
Ahab	It is lucky for you, that...
Ahab	... I am nothing if not merciful. I shall forgive your transgressions thus far.
Ahab	I have questions I would like to ask you, and I am certain that you have a few for me as well.
Ahab	If you are willing to talk, then enter the Captain's quarters.
Ahab	In peace, mind.
Ahab casually turned around and marched into one of the buildings. She carried herself with utmost confidence.
It was almost like she knew that we would follow. That we had no choice but to follow.
Heathcliff	... Oi, them blokes that were glarin' at us... They're gone, like nothing happened.
Queequeg	Captain forgave. Then everyone also forgives. I forgive, too.
Heathcliff	Huh... To turn her back on someone who was charging at her with murderous intent just moments ago... It's...
Outis	Yes. She is confident.
Outis	Confident that she's got the numerical advantage, even if we were to press the offensive. Confident that we know there's more for us to lose by attacking her than by going along with her.
Outis	With what just happened... she's made it clear as day that, at least while we're in here, she has absolute control of the situation.
Dante	<…….>
Ishmael	Talk with her? In peace...? Nonsense...
Dante	<It's not like we have a way out of here...>
Ishmael's gaze followed Queequeg, who walked wordlessly behind the Captain.
Ishmael	Haah.
Ishmael	... Let's go.
Ishmael	Let's listen to what that bastard's got to say.
Ishmael	There's nowhere to run, after all.
Ishmael	For her, or for us.
Queequeg	…….

Episode: 45
Location: Ahab's Office
Rodion	Um... So what's that on the board over there?
Starbuck	The number of gold coins assigned to... each crewman and woman.
Starbuck	We can collect 'em by fish...ing up useful stuff or by hunting Mermaids.
Gregor	Hm... And who's the one paying you?
Starbuck	The Captain, ob...viously?
Outis	Are you saying that there is economic activity within the Whale's stomach?
Outis	What need of gold coins could you have in here? Let alone the means of procuring them?
Starbuck	Told ya. We'll be outta here in just... a little bit.
Starbuck	And once we're off this Whale, I'll get pa...id 63 gold coins.
Starbuck	With that much dough... I just might be able to snag myself a half...way decent ship. Unless the inflation's gone... nuts, that is.
Starbuck	Oh, by the way, ever be...en to the Marlin portship lately? Any chance you saw the sting...ray flattop grill place? I wonder if it's still... open.
Rodion	Ohh... That sounds delish! Where is it?
Looks like Ahab's giving out gold coins to her crew for their labor.
The promise of a reward for services rendered... I'm sure that's a strong motivator.
Starbuck	Hey, Ishmael. You really caught me off... guard earlier.
Starbuck	Seriously, I didn't... think I'd find... you here, of all places.
Starbuck	When we're outta here, we should go cr...ash at a bar and drink rum straight from a bar...rel! We'll make it a competition, just like the good ol...d days!
Starbuck	Right, so did you get a chance to say hello to every...one? A little chat?
Starbuck	And oh m...an, you sure did grow your ha...ir out! Whatever happened to 'long hair is annoying'?
Ishmael	... That's a lot of questions at once.
Ishmael	I don't think any of them want to chat with me. I can tell from the looks they're giving me...
Starbuck	Sometimes, peo...ple from other... ships would join us in the village...
Starbuck	... But none of 'em lasted more than a d...ay. We're the only ones who's made it this long.
Starbuck	And it's all thanks to a solu...tion our Captain ca...me up with.
Outis	... A solution?
Starbuck	A way to stop our bodies and minds from turning pal...lid.
Dante	<What is it?>
Starbuck	As you can see... with...out our Captain, we would've long been turn...ed into Mermaids. Without the Captain, this village wouldn't exist.
Starbuck	So anyone that dares to anta...gonize the Captain... is our... enemy.
Starbuck	Because to stand against the Cap...tain is to stand against our very survival.
Ishmael	You've changed, Starbuck.
Ishmael	I remember you butting heads with the Captain all the time.
Starbuck	... Did I?
Ishmael	... Don't forget who trapped all of you here in the first place. Led us to our deaths.
Ishmael coldly walks past Starbuck before entering the office.
Dante	<I thought he was an old mate of yours?>
Ishmael	Starbuck... first mate of the Pequod.
Ishmael	He wanted to be a good person to everyone. And he was the closest of the crew to the Captain's ear.
Ishmael	Which meant that they also squabbled pretty often, but... it didn't matter in the end.
Ishmael	Ahab was equally indifferent to everyone anyway.
Ahab	Please, excuse the state of my office.
Ahab	A bottle of rum and this would have gone down much smoother. Yet, after all the time we've spent stuck in here... I've not seen a single bottle of it float its way in.
Outis	Executive Manager, allow me to take charge of this negotiation.
Outis	Ishmael... cannot be trusted to make a rational decision. And you, Executive Manager, cannot properly communicate with this woman. She will only hear your ticking sounds.
Dante	<Sure...>
Outis	Captain Ahab, is it? We...
Ahab	Allow me to hazard a guess. You rowed in here, voluntarily, in search of something that the Pallid Whale devoured.
Ahab	This means that you and your present company have also found a way to keep yourselves from turning into Mermaids.
Outis	... Well, I don't suppose there's any point hiding it when we've already come this far.
Don Quixote	We are in search... of a certain object. Its appearance is as thus...
Don Quixote started explaining, looking around excitedly as though she expected the Captain to suddenly produce the Golden Bough from her pockets.
Gregor	Wait, are we really going to just tell her everything? Why don't we talk about this between us first, and—
Ahab	I know what you seek. A golden stick of sorts, I presume.
Ahab	Am I wrong?
Gregor	Wh-what?
We couldn't even deny her accusations thanks to Gregor's extremely telling reaction.
Ahab	I know where to find it.
Ahab	I can even bring you to it.
Outis	Hmph, how do we know that you aren't bluffing?
Sinclair	Yeah. W-what if you just overheard while we were talking...?
Ahab	I shall prove it to you, then. From that branch emanates a very far-reaching golden light. Its glow is warm and bright, yet not bright enough to be blinding.
Faust	... It appears that she at least knows of a Golden Bough.
Faust	What she has just told us is more than what an unrelated individual should be able to know.
Outis	Hm... Still, I don't believe she's really about to tell us where the Bough is.
Ahab	You presume that I would not part with this information? I have nothing to hide!
Ahab slammed the desk and leaned aggressively toward us.
She wore a knowing grin, as though she knew exactly what we wanted and what we were about to say to get it.
Ahab	Let us speak plainly here. I have naught to hide from you. In fact, I daresay that it is you who are withholding things from me.
Ahab	You called that stick the 'Golden Bough' did you? Well, then. That 'Golden Bough' is at the dead center of this accursed whale.
Hong Lu	At the dead center...
Ahab	The epicenter of this deep, resonant thumping. The spring of life that fuels this beast.
Ahab	The heart. The heart that seeps with all that is evil in the world.
Dante	<…!>
Ahab	But... You are in luck.
Ahab	It just so happens to be that the Pequod has set course for that very same destination. And we plan to set sail in the very near future.
Ahab	Because the only way out of the Whale is by destroying its heart.
Hong Lu	That's interesting. I wonder if this is just a coincidence?
Sinclair	What's so interesting about it?
Hong Lu	Isn't it interesting that, after all those years they spent preparing for their journey to the heart, we just happened to arrive as they were about to set sail~?
Ahab	I have naught else to say but merely refer to the nature of fate. The threads of fate itself is weaved so that I, Ahab, shall be the one to pierce the heart of the Pallid Whale.
Ahab	I have set more sails in the belly of this beast than the number of your gritted teeth combined. I have been to every nook and cranny of this place, all of which I clearly recall.
Ahab	There is no method upon this earth that I have not attempted to pierce this beast's hide.
Ahab	So allow me to preclude a few options for you. This beast's hide is as thick and impenetrable as R Corp.'s fortress. All the weapons in the world will not be able to pierce it.
Queequeg	Tried to stab it. With my Harpoon.
Queequeg	Wound it, yes. Puncture a hole, no.
Ahab	Well, If you find my words so difficult to believe, then feel free to give it a try with your own weapons.
Don Quixote	Mine attempts hardly left a mark...
Rodion	If she's right, then... It won't matter what the Indigo Elder does, and it won't matter what LCA does...
Rodion	It won't matter how hard they'll try, they can't get us out of here...
Ahab	I... we know better than anyone.
Ahab	The crushing pain of surviving at a place such as this with no hope of rescue. No sane mind survives such torment for long.
Ahab	Behold my pitiful crew! They hold on, tooth and nail, to their sense of self as the pallid membrane tries to devour them whole!
Queequeg	Nothing here. Nothing. None.
Ahab	We can do naught here but scavenge the flotsam that washes up to its stomach. Mermaid corpses Queequeg brings back from her hunts are our only source of subsistence.
Queequeg	Fins. Soft.
Rodion	... How the heck did you guys even survive here...?
Starbuck	Faith. The faith that, as long as we foll...ow our Captain, she'll eventually lead us... out of here.
Starbuck	That's the hope we hold onto.
Ishmael	…….
Ahab	Now, give my offer a listen.
Ahab	I, Captain Ahab of the Pequod, the leader of the Pequod Town, have a responsibility to bring every single one of my crew home. Thus I make this offer to you.
Ahab	I will destroy this bastard's heart. For long have I prepared; now, all that remains to be done is to set the plan in motion.
Ahab	Our goals are the same, yet we each seek different treasures.
Ahab	Assist me in my plan. We will hunt this Whale and escape, and the Golden Bough shall be yours.
Outis	... We must discuss this amongst ourselves first.
Ahab	Take as much time as you want.
Ahab nodded with a generous smile. We huddled in one corner of her office to discuss this.
Meursault	The boat that carried us here is beyond salvaging.
Meursault	Thus, it follows that we require a new boat for us to escape the Whale.
Meursault	Moreover, moving across the bodily fluids of this Whale is necessary if we are to conduct an investigation of its interiors. For that, we require a new boat.
Outis	Hmph, then commandeering their vessel is also one of our options—
Sinclair	Guys, they can hear us! Pipe down!
Queequeg	Our ship. Hard to sail. Complex.
Queequeg	Only Pequod crew can handle Pequod boats.
Sinclair	What'd I say...?
Outis	... How much time would it take if we were to build a boat from scratch?
Faust	Considering that we possess no necessary materials, considering that we must reinforce it to be resistant to the Whale's acid... The estimated time of completion is...
Dante	<No, no. Let's... not even think about that.>
Faust	Let's not.
Ishmael	Ha, so that's your offer? I could smell your bullshit coming from a mile away.
Ishmael	She's not changed one bit. Driving people to their deaths with bullshit that, at a glance, seems plausible.
Ishmael	... Nothing's changed.
Sinclair	Yeah... there's something off about her. Maybe we should just do this ourselves...
Heathcliff	Right. Never trust something that requires too much explainin'.
Hong Lu	I think they've spent a long time building a plan to destroy the heart and escape this place... Can we really do it on our own, from scratch?
Hong Lu	I... also don't know how long we could hold out in here.
Rodion	Yeah... That Captain probably knows this place better than anyone...
Gregor	So our other options are... either turn into Mermaids and kill each other, or remain trapped in here forever. Are they really the only alternatives we've got?
Don Quixote	The Red Gaze shall not abandon us...! Bwaah hah haaah...
Ryoshu	We're having trouble coming to an agreement. I will mediate. Let's battle to the last person standing, and have them decide.
The Sinners were all expressing their opinions... which were all very diametrically opposed to one another with little hope of meeting somewhere in the middle.
And I...
... was unnerved by how easily Ahab managed to see right through us.

Episode: 46
Location: Ahab's Office
Ahab	I see that you are having some trouble coming to an agreement amongst yourselves.
Ahab	That is quite understandable. It should be clear as day that the answer is right before your eyes. My offer is perfect for your present, rather desperate, situation.
Ahab	But that is the whims of fate! These seemingly implausible, coincidental opportunities are the threads of fate weaving the path ahead for us!
Ahab	You must first learn to be someone who grips their destiny when it presents itself. It is common wisdom among every seafarer.
Sinclair	Ugh...
Sinclair shuddered a little.
A lot has happened. Various moments of past 'coincidences' must have passed before every Sinner's eyes.
When we were almost sandwiched between two ships, when we encountered those floating Mermaids on a deserted ship,
When we fought a Whale and its byproducts that came with the Waves...
Ishmael	You and your arrogant, all-knowing speeches haven't changed one bit.
Ishmael	Don't delude yourself. I'm not joining hands with you ever again. Even now I can't wait to chew you up and tear you apart.
Ahab	Hahaha! What face! What words! The girl has finally learned how to speak like a proper seadog worth her salt! Haven't you, Ishmael?
Ishmael	Didn't think you'd remember my name.
Ahab	How could I not?
Ahab	I heard your voice moments before the Whale swallowed me whole. The echoes of your voice calling my name, scattering to the winds amidst the desolation. Hah. I can hear it clearly, as though it happened but a day ago.
Ishmael	…….
Ahab	Even for a brief moment, through the tempest, our eyes met. And I peered into the depths of your heart.
Ahab	Into the depths of your true desire.
Ahab strode toward Ishmael.
Ishmael stood her ground. She glared at the old woman with bloodshot eyes.
Ahab	So I'll give you what you want.
Her voice was low... yet personal. Honest.
Ishmael	Huh. Let's see what kind of crap you come up with this time.
Ishmael	Because what I want...
Ahab	... Is my heart.
Ishmael	…!
Ahab	Ishmael. Listen well. I am... the first and the only person who watched the birth of your life's greatest wish.
Ahab	There was an awakening deep within you. A hateful obsession, screaming and thrashing with frenzy so that you may one day gut me yourself.
Ahab	That very desire is what has brought you before me, past the trials and tribulations the world has thrown in your way. Am I wrong?
Ahab	The Golden Bough they seek? You don't give a shit about that. Of course you don't.
Ahab	My very heart is your Golden Bough, your plunder, the treasure you so desperately seek at the end of your journey.
Ahab	I knew that, deep inside, you were still a sailor and a harpooneer. An excellent one at that.
Ahab	From the moment of our reunion to now, you've been stabbing me over and over again in your head. And not once have you averted your eyes.
Ahab	And what a harpooneer that makes you! Were I a Whale, I would have willingly given you my heart to kill.
Ishmael	You'll give me your heart...
Ahab	You know better than anyone that I do not lie, Ishmael! You know where the bow of my accumulated passion has set course to!
Ahab	Help me destroy this Whale's heart...!
Ahab	And I, Captain Ahab, shall willingly give you my life.
Ahab	It matters not the manner in which you end me. I will accept it all gladly.
Ishmael	Haah...
Ahab snatches Ishmael's harpoon, and brings it close to her throat.
Ishmael	...!
Ahab	Now! Do you not wish to tear open my arteries?
Ahab	Allow me to make this task even easier for you. Shall I turn my neck so that my veins are plain to see?! All of this is yours... as long as I can achieve my goal.
Ahab	Oh, what a keen harpoon you have whetted! I can imagine the nights you've spent sharpening it, drawing a picture of my painful demise. You must have felt it—the call of destiny, your fate! Just as I have!!!
Ahab	No one on this earth understands you better than I do, Ishmael! I know that very longing, that very burning hatred that consumes your days!
Ishmael	Yeah... You're right. I'm barely holding myself back from tearing into your arteries.
Ahab	Yet you do not act.
Ishmael	…….
Ahab	Because even now, even as the tip of your razor-sharp harpoon tickles the fuzz on my neck, you know the truth so well.
Ahab	That you are still too weak to kill me.
Ahab	How pitiful, yet how clever... The girl knows her place.
Ahab	And that cleverness serves you well. A foolish sailor would not have accepted this very generous offer of mine.
Ahab	As long as I can kill the Pallid Whale with my two hands... I care not about what happens next.
Ahab	My heart is yours to harpoon, Ishmael.
Ahab	I will be made complete at that very moment. What happens afterward... I could not care less.
Ishmael	Ha... Haha... Ha...
Ishmael laughed and laughed.
She did not fight back with her biting tongue, nor did she sharply and rationally criticize the Captain's words as she did ours.
She laughed and laughed and laughed, glaring straight into Ahab's eyes.
Ahab	Yes... I like the look in your eyes.
Ahab	I can already see it. In fact, I may as well have already heard your decision from that look.
Ishmael	Yeah... Enjoy your last voyage, Ahab.
Ishmael	And whatever it takes, survive to the end of this voyage, until you destroy the Whale's heart.
Ishmael	And I'll happily destroy you the moment you are made complete.
Ahab	Ha! Ahahahaha!!
Ahab	YES! Now I see the eyes of a proper seadog! Finally, conviction burns within your eyes!
Ahab	I shall not disappoint, Ishmael. Allow my heart to beat like the very tempest, allow my heart to bleed hotter than the boiling blood of the Lava Whale. So that it may be a target worthy of your harpoon.
Ishmael	HA! HAHAHAHA!!
A sense of overwhelming dread emanated from the pair's mad laughter. Neither I nor the other Sinners dared to intrude.
Their laughters were very much alike.
To the point where I wasn't sure which belonged to Ishmael and which belonged to Ahab.
What I was thinking then... I'm not really sure.
It wasn't like we had any other choice, but...
Dante	<…….>
... maybe I was hoping that Ishmael would refuse the offer.
Location: Pequod Town
Starbuck	So you're joining us for the jour...ney to the heart?
Starbuck	Ain't that... nice. It's encouraging to have you lively-look...ing fellas along for the ride! Not a hint of that pale mem...brane to be seen on yous.
Starbuck	Oh, speaking of which... How are you all so... okay?
Starbuck	How come the Pallid Wha...le's got no effect on an...y of you?
Curious, Starbuck asked.
Don Quixote	Forsooth, that is— Mmmph?!
Gregor	... It's a long story. We just happened to get lucky... and I'll leave it at that.
Gregor cut in and blocked Don Quixote's mouth.

Episode: 47
Location: Pequod Town
Ahab	There are tasks that must be completed if we are to reach the heart.
Ahab	Two ships, two routes. They must go their separate ways to reach the heart.
Ahab	The Pequod will make its way through the pancreas.
Ryoshu	Question.
Ahab	Shoot.
Ryoshu	Why are you the ones going through the pancreas?
Ahab	The Whale's pancreas is vast and filled with treacherous acid. To go in there without knowing when and where the acid will spew from is to dance with death.
Ahab	So I'm electing to bring those that have toiled here for years, not inexperienced landsmen such as you.
Starbuck shrugged next to the Captain.
Ahab	I must also mention that the pancreas is heavily populated by the Mermaids. It is better that we sailors, who have spent our entire lives hunting Mermaids and Whales, take that route instead.
Ahab	While there aren't any particularly powerful or troublesome Mermaids there, our numerical advantage will still be useful in that path.
Ahab	At the end of its pancreas, we will hew open its largest vein.
Ahab	Then its left heart atrium will open to supply blood to the area.
Gregor	Okay, so what about us...?
Ahab	You will take this path. The right heart atrium connected to the lungs. This is a narrow path, so a smaller vessel will serve you well.
Ahab	Some... other things have made their way into the path I send you on. They are neither Whale nor Mermaid. Their numbers are small, but each of them may pose a difficult fight.
Faust	…….
Ahab	What you lack in numbers, I assumed, will be made up by your individual prowess. You and your men will shine in targeted strikes, not all-out battles that the Pequod will face through the pancreas.
Ahab	Were you not here, I would have had to send Starbuck, Queequeg, and at least eight other good men that way. A boat divided will have a higher chance of failing. In fact, it had been a rather significant concern of mine.
Ahab	But you have arrived, fitting perfectly into this conundrum of a puzzle as though fate itself has ordained it. Destiny is one fickle thing, is it not?
Faust	Ms. Ahab... must be referring to the Abnormalities that were swallowed alongside the Lobotomy Corp. Branch.
Ahab	So you know something about those odd creatures. Indeed, our encounter was ordained by fate! The very destiny that leads me to the heart of the Whale!
Ahab	Kill the monsters there, hew open the arteries, and the right atrium shall open.
Ahab	And we will meet again at the heart where the atriums meet.
Ahab	Then I shall enter and destroy its core... The heart of the heart, if you will.
Don Quixote	Verily, you proclaim that there is a heart within a heart?!
Ahab	I see that you have little experience contending a foe so great as the Whale.
Ahab	It is obvious that such a colossal creature would have a heart that fuels its heart.
Dante	<Is that supposed to be obvious...?>
Ahab	The sun shall shine on us again only when we destroy the heart beating with the very essence of evil! Through the Whale's sundered flesh shall the gentle light rain over us!
Ahab	And you will impale me with the final harpoon, to end my breath once and for all!
Ishmael	... Heh.
Outis	While I am yet to analyze the geography of this entity... The general structure of the plan appears sound to me, Executive Manager.
Dante	<Yeah... I agree.>
Looks like Ahab wasn't kidding about checking every nook and cranny of the belly of the Whale.
She did all that with a singular desire to hunt, to kill this great Whale once and for all. And for such a long time...
Heathcliff	I still don't like this. Are we supposed to just, what, listen to some dodgy Captain orderin' us around? I thought the clockhead here was our boss.
Heathcliff	Why don't we just finish this with our own hands instead of relying on her? Let's just do this ourselves. Let one or two of us go mad and turn into a Mermaid. At least it would've been our work at the end of the day.
Outis	A most irresponsible suggestion.
Outis	I would have been the first to suggest that, had I not estimated our losses to be higher than 'one or two' of us.
Heathcliff	So why didn't you?
Outis	We are at a significant disadvantage when it comes to information on this battlefield. The Executive Manager's life may be at risk at any moment.
Outis	Not even witless rookies risk or gamble with the lives of their superiors. And all that for your pride? What foolishness.
Heathcliff	... Tsk.
Ishmael	As long as we destroy the heart... I can end her.
Ishmael	As long as we destroy the heart...
She grits her teeth as she repeats it to herself like a mantra.
So that she may never forget, not even for a moment.
Ahab	Right, then. We will meet again at our rendezvous point.
Ahab	Let this be a good voyage to us all.
Queequeg	…….
Ahab	The sunlight is within our grasp, my dearest crew.
Ahab	We will soon breathe deep the metallic, traitorous stench of the City's air.
Ahab provided us with a boat that could bring us all the way to the heart.
Queequeg	Only Pequod crew steers Pequod boat.
Queequeg	So, I steer.
Queequeg joined us as our helmswoman.
Queequeg wasn't lying—this boat wasn't like any other boat we'd ever seen. Its body was made of flesh and bones. I also noted that a few pieces of metal plates were visible between the organic materials.
... Only a crew of the Pequod could possibly know how to steer this bizarre ship.

Episode: 48
Location: The Pallid Whale's Right Atrium Entrance
Ishmael stares wordlessly at Queequeg.
Ishmael	I... I thought you... everyone... died.
Queequeg	Me too. Also thought you dead.
Queequeg	Where I was, we bury dead people. No burning.
Queequeg	In earth. In hearts. Deep. Never to dig up again.
Queequeg	Because, we have to forget.
Ishmael	Did you bury me... too?
Queequeg	I...
Queequeg	... want to see sunset again.
Queequeg	That keeps me going. Breathing. Throwing harpoons.
Ishmael	... I thought you didn't like the outside world?
Queequeg	Sunset, always warm. Wherever it sets.
Ishmael	…….
Dante	<I'm hearing a terrifying cry... coming from far away...>
Ishmael	It's the Mermaids' cry...
Queequeg	Our future. If we fail to escape.
Queequeg	Cry and cry. Trying to kill all we see.
Queequeg	Then melt. Very slowly. And later...
Queequeg	Float away. Like we were never here.
Queequeg	Don't want to be Mermaid.
Queequeg	The Pallid Whale. Have to kill it. Only then, we get out.
Dante	<…!>
I see another vision of Ishmael.
It's growing more and more frequent... Maybe it's the influence of the Golden Bough.
Ishmael	Crying.
Ishmael	Every night, a terrifying cry echoes from the holds.
Location: The Pequod
Starbuck	Pip, it's your turn to go down there.
Ishmael	The Mermaids cried every single night. So, we had to lock them deep in the holds.
Pip	Pip doesn't wanna go down there... It's scary.
Starbuck	That's just the luck of your draw, Pip. I'm sorry, but... you gotta accept it.
Ishmael	Isn't it weird, Queequeg...?
Ishmael	Why are we... doing any of this?
Queequeg	…….
Queequeg	Ishmael. Steel yourself.
Queequeg	We'll see Pallid Whale. Soon.
Queequeg	Which means all this be over. Soon.
Ishmael	Yeah. It'll all be over, soon...
Ishmael	So when this voyage is over...
Ahab	What is this mess? Can you not even man your stations properly, you deckhands?
Pip	Captain! Pip doesn't wanna go down there. Pip's scared to death. It's so scary down there.
Pip	Every night Pip hears. Every night he scratches at the locked door.
Ahab	Get a hold of yourself, Pip. That's just a Mermaid.
Pip	Pip knows, Pip saw... That was...
Pip	That was our mate Stubb, Captain. The Pallid Whale ate Stubb and the boat he was on, and...
Ahab	Pip. Turn away from the sound of the holds. Look far beyond to the Great Lake.
Ahab	The Pallid Whale's day of reckoning draws near.
Ahab	The louder the Mermaid cries, the closer we are to our goal.
Ahab	That creature will lead us to the Pallid Whale.
Ishmael	…….
Ishmael	That night, I snuck into Captain Ahab's quarters.
Ishmael	To enter the Captain's quarters, unauthorized, was like breaking a taboo. Every sailor knew that.
Ishmael	If I was caught... I would've had to accept whatever punishment they decided to levy upon me for committing a sin that may as well have been a mutiny.
Ishmael	But I don't know what I was thinking when I walked in there.
Ishmael	...!
Ishmael	C-Captain Ahab... I...
Ahab	…….
Ishmael	C-Captain?
Ishmael	The Captain's eyes were locked on the map of the Great Lake stuck to the ceiling of her quarters.
Ishmael	She did not stir.
Ishmael	I looked at this sight for a moment... before stumbling out of the Captain's quarters.
Ishmael	I had to.
Starbuck	So, you went into the Captain's quarters, huh?
Ishmael	M-mister Starbuck...
Starbuck	Captain never gets a proper shut-eye. Even when she sleeps, she sleeps with her eyes wide open.
Starbuck	She's always looking for that Pallid Whale somewhere in the Great Lake. Even as she dreams...
Starbuck	Captain ain't sleeping. She's awake. Always is.
Ishmael	Yeah... on the Pequod, the Captain had a tight leash around us.
Ishmael	We were merely gasping on what little air she permitted us.
Starbuck	Go and get some rest. Like Captain said, that Whale's gotta be close.
Starbuck	I don't always understand the Captain, and sometimes I wish she'd entertain some different ideas...
Starbuck	... But we won't have to suffer much more of that.
Starbuck	We'll all be free soon.
Starbuck	Once we kill the Pallid Whale and leave this ship... We...

Episode: 49
Location: The Pallid Whale's Right Atrium
Queequeg	That. Not Mermaid. Not Whale. Monster from other Outskirts?
Faust	Their official denomination is 'Abnormalities'. They were once contained within the Lobotomy Corp. Branch, but the Whale has devoured them.
Queequeg	I saw similar things before. But not Abnormality. Different.
Faust	Yes, indeed. In the Outskirts, anything is within the realm of possibility. I find it credible that you may have encountered similar entities in the Outskirts.
Queequeg	Abnormalities. Born how?
Faust	They were once human. These have been created by humans as a source of new energy.
Queequeg	They have wishes. Looks like.
Faust	You ask if the Abnormalities have... specific wants or desires, yes?
Queequeg	Yes. They know what they want? What they desire. What they wish?
Gregor	Well, looks like wants and desires are all they have left.
Queequeg	......
Queequeg	Must be nice.
Queequeg	Knowing what you want. Knowing what you desire.
Queequeg was ceaselessly scratching at her arm as her eyes remained fixed on the Abnormalities.
She was scratching so hard that blood and pale gunk were starting to seep from her torn skin.
Ishmael	…!
Ishmael	Queequeg, stop. You're bleeding...
Ishmael	... Still doing that, huh...?
Queequeg	... Born again.
Queequeg	Cocoon. Couldn't become one.

Episode: 50
Location: The Pequod
Ishmael	Queequeg?
Ishmael	What are you doing?!
Ishmael	Queequeg used to spend some nights...
Ishmael	... in crushing loneliness. In unbearable pain.
Ishmael	Queequeg sat in the corner of a dark, dark room. She looked down at her arms.
Ishmael	Then, with a small dagger she uses for cutting harpoon ropes...
Ishmael	She mercilessly tore into her arms. Like she was carving something into her flesh.
Queequeg	This is price.
Ishmael	I peered closer. Her body was covered with countless, strange tattoos. Over them were scars of old and gnashed wounds, cut as though to hide the tattoos drawn on her skin.
Ishmael	Did you... do that to yourself?
Queequeg	I did.
Ishmael	But... why?
Queequeg	Because of shame. Because the tattoos... I engraved them. Myself.
Ishmael	Queequeg... don't do this.
Ishmael	We'll go look for a place that could erase your tattoos. There's got to be one out there, at one of the nests. So... stop hurting yourself like this.
Queequeg	My tattoos, tattooed in a special way. So no normal way to erase.
Queequeg	And... even if there is...
Queequeg	I won't erase like that.
Ishmael	... Why?
Queequeg	No way to be free from... past.
Ishmael	On a Whaling ship, any discussion of the crew's pasts was an unspoken taboo.
Ishmael	Whalers were often running from their pasts,
Ishmael	Wanted to wash their pasts away in the Waves,
Ishmael	Or threw themselves against the Waves in their desperate need for money.
Queequeg	Ishmael. You already knew.
Queequeg	I come from the Middle.
Ishmael	... I had a hunch when I saw your tattoos.
Ishmael	The Middle... never forgets.
Ishmael	Everyone in the Backstreets knows the story. Though it may just be one of those tall tales, it's not a tale one can so casually laugh off.
Ishmael	Once, a child bumped into a stranger and spilled ice cream on his clothes.
Ishmael	The stranger, whose clothes were spoiled, comforted the crying child and sent him on his way home.
Ishmael	That stranger was an officer of the Middle. And the spoiled clothes happened to be his favorite set.
Ishmael	That day was the last day anyone, including the child, ever saw the child's family.
Ishmael	Maybe it's just dark humor. Maybe it's just one of those countless, baseless urban legends. But no one dares to treat this tale like it is.
Ishmael	Because the Middle really was like that.
Ishmael	But the Middle that I've heard of...
Queequeg	…….
Ishmael	I know that the Middle accepts anyone into their fold... But... I also heard that once you're a part of the Middle... they'll never let you go...
Queequeg	Yes. The Middle remembers. The Middle never forgets. Never.
Queequeg	So, can't leave. So they captured me.
Queequeg	They said to me... to really leave, erase everything of the Middle from me. If not, they catch me again.
Queequeg	My tattoo is the Middle's brand. So I cut up the brand. Have to.
Queequeg	My speech, also touched by the Middle. So I went to doctor... to cut up my tongue. To cut up my brain. To break myself.
Ishmael	......
Queequeg	And I ran. Again.
Ishmael	Even after you lost your speech... even after you cut your whole body up to erase your tattoos... they're still coming after you...? That's too high a price...
Queequeg	Not true.
Queequeg	Back then... I was...
Queequeg	... a maggot.
Ishmael	Hey, you're being too hard on yourself, even if it's just a metaphor...
Queequeg	Crawling in filth. Thinking filth was everything.
Queequeg	Thought filth was the world. Thought I knew the world.
Queequeg	They wanted to make me 'Big Sister'.
Queequeg	So I killed. And killed. And killed. Not because of orders. Killed with my own hands. Because I wanted to. Because I wanted respect as Big Sister.
Ishmael	... No.
Ishmael	We're all... still in our cocoons. Soon, we'll break out of our shells and be born again… okay?
Queequeg	Born again...
Ishmael	Yeah. Once this voyage is over...
Ishmael	... let's go find it together.
Ishmael	A way to break out of our cocoons...
Queequeg	How?
Ishmael	I dunno. That's why I want to go find it with you, together.
Queequeg	This is first time.
Queequeg	First time I heard Ishmael... saying she don't know.
Ishmael	…….
Ishmael	That's how we started looking beyond this voyage.
Starbuck	Kraken Port. That's gonna be the home of my very own seafood grill joint. I've eyed up a nice place during our last voyage, y'know.
Ishmael	Aren'tcha just copying that one popular place from Marlin Port?
Starbuck	I ain't!
Pip	Pip wants to be rich.
Pip	Pip wants to be a landlord. Landlords make a ton of money, y'know.
Starbuck	Heh. I've got my eyes on you, kid. You're gonna be my dishwasher. I've seen how you scrape the oil off the ship!
Pip	No, Starbuck. You'll rent Pip's building. And you better pay rent on time.
Starbuck	... My first mate badge don't mean crap to you guys, don't it?
Ishmael	Pfft.
Ishmael	People who wanted to bury their pasts. People living from one day to the next without dreams, without futures. People like me.
Ishmael	Between every close call, between every moment of triumph, amidst the brutal trials we endured in solidarity, we began to sketch the rough pictures of our futures.
Ishmael	I sketched something for myself, too.
Ishmael	In that sketch... I'm walking alongside Queequeg in some small port shrouded in mist and the smell of fish.
Ishmael	Maybe we're holding large textbooks in our hands.
Ishmael	Or... maybe we're carrying suspiciously well-maintained weapons.
Ishmael	Or maybe we're just heading somewhere with our hands full of tasty treats for the day.
Ishmael	And... we kept sketching.
Ishmael	How we will continue to live out the rest of our days. How we will persevere.
Location: The Pallid Whale's Right Atrium
Here, Ishmael stared wordlessly into her shimmering reflection. Into the rippling and opaque river of acid surrounding the boat.
Just as she stared into the Lake back aboard Mephistopheles.
Her expression was so solemn and withdrawn... that I couldn't bring myself to even approach her.
In the opaque waters, Ishmael saw...
Herself.
Her future that now rested forever out of reach, at the cold abyss of the Lake.
Her friends that could never return.
How would it feel to know that your dreams will never come true?
I was too absorbed in this hazy, ruminating thought to realize that I'd approached Ishmael and struck up a conversation.
Dante	<Ishmael, once this whole ordeal is over and we go back to Mephistopheles...>
She turns around.
Dante	<…….>
Dante	<How about we all go get ice cream together?>
Dante	<You know, the one Don Quixote wanted.>
It won't matter whatever future I bring up with Ishmael now. None of it would reach her.
So... the most I could offer her now was a hopeful, immediate tomorrow.
Something a little closer than the future that Ishmael is trying so hard to take back.
Ishmael	Go... back?
Ishmael	What will you do, manager...
Ishmael	... if I told you that I don't want to go back?
Dante	<... What do you mean?>
Ishmael	Once we destroy the heart, and once I squeeze the life out of Ahab with my own two hands...
Queequeg	…….
Ishmael	... What... would I... go back to? Why would I... go on?
Outis	Is that an official resignation request?
Ishmael	... No. Forget it.
Dante	<…….>
If Ishmael finally gets what she wants...
What's 'next'? Would there even be anything left?
Should I... is it right for me to even ask her to continue onto the 'next'?

Episode: 51
Location: The Pallid Whale's Right Atrium
Heathcliff	Oi, your headband...!
Heathcliff	It's all mucked up with blood. Now that's a right terrifyin' look, innit...?
Ishmael	Nothing a quick wash in the water can't fix.
Queequeg	Your headband. Familiar.
Queequeg	Familiar knot. Desperate's Knot.
Ishmael	Queequeg... I survived by hanging onto the ropes you tied to your coffin.
Ishmael	The ropes that you could have held... Instead, I held onto it with my dear life...
Queequeg	That rope...
Queequeg	... also for you.
Location: The Pequod
Ishmael	You want me to... bucket out oil from in there?
Starbuck	Yep. It's not as hard as it looks, though.
Ishmael	The cadaver of a Whale hung from a hook and swayed from side to side. Its stench was awful.
Starbuck	The smaller and more nimble you are, the easier it will be.
Ishmael	I'm not that small, though...
Stubb	It's a job for greenhorns anyway! Less talk, more oil-bucketing. Get on with it, will ya?
Ishmael	A Whaler's toil does not end with killing the Whale.
Ishmael	Whalers also had to bucket and carry the inordinate amount of oil from the dead Whale.
Ishmael	I mean... How the hell do I know what's in there...?
Stubb	Well, whaddaya think? Whale oil! It feeds us, it keeps us warm...
Ishmael	Aboard the Pequod was a man named Stubb, the second mate. He was a man of irritable disposition.
Ishmael	I...
Ishmael	I can't. Into that abyss, on nothing but a rope that looks like it'll snap from a slight breeze? I can't...
Ishmael	... Those words nearly escaped my mouth, when...
Queequeg	…….
Ishmael	What... are you doing?
Queequeg	Your rope. Tie it to my waist.
Ishmael	B-but why?
Queequeg	Tethered like so. Now if you fall, I fall.
Queequeg	You. Me. Together.
Ishmael	Her sentences were stuttering and incomplete. But there was something there that oddly soothed me.
Ishmael	Together...
Ishmael	Someone to catch me if I fell.
Ishmael	Someone to watch over me if I fell.
Ishmael	So I tied one end of the rope to Queequeg's waist, and the other on mine.
Ishmael	Ah... Huh...?
Ishmael	Funny I should mention that.
Ishmael	The rope was too short, too flimsy. It immediately snapped...
Ishmael	And I was sent hurtling down into the lard-filled belly of the Whale.
Ishmael	Kah! Gaah...
Ishmael	What was harder to bear than the entrails, the viscera, the oil, and various other things I didn't want to think about... was the pitch-black darkness.
Ishmael	Mmph! Mmrph!
Ishmael	Whale oil makes a sound as it quivers and reverberates.
Ishmael	The reverberating oil tries to become one with everything it touches.
Ishmael	Some City folk talk about this phenomenon using big words like ultravibro-fusion, oscillation frequency... How such elements are used to produce the resonance tuning forks, their wavelengths and fuel...
Ishmael	But the point is, a Whale's oil covers and devours anyone it comes in contact with.
Ishmael	And when you're devoured by a living Whale's oil, you become a mermaid.
Ishmael	And when you're devoured by a dead Whale's oil, your sense of self slowly scatters, until there is nothing of you left.
Ishmael	... Ha, ha... Haah...
Ishmael	That's when I...
Ishmael	... realized how tiny and fragile I was. How insignificant of a thing I was.
Ishmael	Maybe the Whales were just lonely.
Ishmael	And that's why they carried within them the oil that had the power to turn others just like them.
Ishmael	Maybe, people are the same...
Ishmael	Out of loneliness, we want to make something, someone ours. To paint them just like us, to fill them with things that make us.
Ishmael	I don't even know what makes me. How could I possibly paint others like me... if even I don't know what I am?
Ishmael	Maybe I'm shallower than a Whale.
Ishmael	I, who boarded the Pequod just because I wanted to live a life unlike those of others. Just because living a humdrum life was too boring for me...
Ishmael	I...
Ishmael	What do I even want?
Ishmael	In the dark, where the distinction of all things begin to blur...
Ishmael	I saw light.
Ishmael	A ray of light scattered through an opening. I saw a rope drop from there. A rope lowered from the heavens into this dark, lonely abyss.
Ishmael	This rope. I wanted to hold onto this rope and live.
Ishmael	Because it was there, right before me.
Queequeg	Ishmael!
Queequeg	Rope, hold tight!
Ishmael	Ah...
Starbuck	Man... Dying in that oil... Now that would've left nothin' for nobody to remember.
Ishmael	Yeah. Guess I almost died one of the most meaningless deaths in the City...
Ishmael	I was born again that day, maybe.
Ishmael	The rope I held onto that day... was a rope that could never be severed.
Location: The Pallid Whale's Right Atrium
Queequeg	That rope. It snapped.
Ishmael	No, no. It can... We can make it whole again. We'll tie another knot. As long as we can make it to the heart...
Ishmael	... you'll be free.
Queequeg	Once we, trapped here...
Queequeg	We had to think one thing. One thing only. To not become Mermaids.
Queequeg	Doubting. Hesitating. And pale begin to grow on skin.
Queequeg	You know. Like Whale oil.
Queequeg	I thought one thing. To meet you again, to go on a new adventure with you, I have to escape. Have to kill the Whale.
Queequeg	But to do that, I had to cut... the rope.
Queequeg	To not become a Mermaid, I think that one thought. I think that one thought again and again. And suddenly...
Queequeg	I, buried you.
Queequeg	The Whale-heart. To kill it...
Queequeg	I put my heart to sleep.

Episode: 52
Location: The Pallid Whale's Right Ventricle
Outis	So this is the second atrium the Captain mentioned...
Dante	<It's the center of the heart once we get past here, huh...>
Queequeg approached me.
Queequeg	Your name, I know. They call you Dante.
Dante	<Yeah. That's my name. They call me Dante...>
Queequeg	Your words. I can't hear. Like Whale voices, like Mermaid voices.
Queequeg	You bring back dead crew.
Dante	<... Well, I guess that's all I do...>
Queequeg	But not just body-death.
Queequeg	Heart-death, too.
Dante	<... Heart?>
I couldn't help but be confused by what Queequeg said.
Unless she's talking about an actual heart... I never had any powers like that. No one ever told me that I did, either.
Queequeg	You don't make them lose way.
Queequeg	Their way. Where they really want to go.
Queequeg	You tell them. With your clock sound.
Dante	<…….>
Queequeg	Dante. Something I wish.
Queequeg	I want... Ishmael to...
Queequeg	... find her way.

Episode:53
Location: The Pallid Whale's Right Ventricle
Dante	<Whew, we just need to get past that Abnormality. Then we can get to cutting the Whale's arteries.>
Gregor	Looks like we can cross that sinew-like bridge over there.
Queequeg suddenly steps in between us and the bridge.
Ryoshu	H.W. What are you doing?
Queequeg	The bridge. Made of flimsy veins.
Ryoshu	This way. Original plan.
Queequeg	This looks like the way, but no. Not the way. Once one person cross, bridge snap under next.
Dante	<What...?>
Outis was the first to put the pieces together.
Outis	I get it. You already knew that this path was going to snap. Despite that, you have led us here. That means...
Outis	You were going to cross this bridge, and drop all of us behind you.
Heathcliff	... Blimey. What'd I say? There was something iffy about this plan! Oi, is this that loony Captain's orders?
Queequeg	... She said... sacrifice, necessary.
Queequeg	Can't go forward unless someone falls.
Queequeg	I wanted to escape. I wanted to escape with Pequod crew.
Heathcliff	And we were just acceptable losses on the way, huh? Just like that?
Queequeg	Yes.
Ishmael	Then why... did you change your mind?
Queequeg	Want to know, now.
Ishmael	Know... what?
Queequeg	My way. My path.

Episode: 54
Location: The Pequod
Pip	He got bit, trying to save Pip. The Whale bit him when he tried to save Pip, he...
Starbuck	Shit, why'd that oil barrel have to fall on our oarsman...?
Starbuck	None of it made sense from the start, making that kid row as a replacement...!
Pip	Captain, please tell Pip. Is Stubb going to die?
Ahab	…….
Ahab	What did I say?
Ahab	As long as you are my crew! None of you! Shall die without my explicit permission.
Ahab	And I don't remember giving any of you permission to die just yet.
Stubb	B-but... I... What will happen to...
Ahab	The Pequod is on the brink of reaching the Pallid Whale of hatred! All we need is a good compass that'll lead us to it.
Ahab	This Mermaid before us will serve that role better than anything.
Stubb	B-but, Captain, I... am not... a Mermaid...
Starbuck	…!
Ahab	Whatever that Whale devoured will eventually turn into a Pallid Mermaid. You must know that.
Ahab	Incarcerate this Mermaid in the large cistern down by the holds. Its instinct will drive it toward the Whale of hatred.
Ishmael	…….
Stubb	Captain... Captain... Please, no...!
Ahab	Starbuck, send down a skiff.
Ishmael	... What? Now?
Starbuck	... Aye.
Ishmael	A few moments later, I heard a splash of water. All hands of the ship emerged from their stations and gathered around Ahab.
Ishmael	And Ahab... thundered.
Ahab	Ooh! I hear him! Listen well, for it is Stubb who speaks! Heed his voice!
Pip	…?
Ishmael	What the hell is she...
Ahab	All of you! Listen well! The voice of the great sailor Stubb echoes from across that Lake! The great sailor Stubb who so willingly threw his life in danger for the hunt of the Whale!
Stubb	... I... the great...
Ahab	In our urgency, we had no time to bring him back aboard!
Ahab	Yet he lives! He did not die! Though he is overboard, floating on the Lake after this fateful battle, he will soon find safety aboard the skiff I have lowered for him!
Ahab	He shouts! Oh yes, he bellows for our victory! And he bellows that we must go on, sail forth to victory!
Ishmael	What kind of insanity is...
Queequeg	... We. Sail forth.
Ishmael	... Queequeg?
Ahab	This voyage will soon meet its victorious end. Then I shall sail to the nearest port!
Ahab	And there he shall await us, the great Stubb! With a profound smile he shall greet us.
Ahab	He will be rightly rewarded. And of course, we will all share tales of this long voyage over many sleepless nights!
Stubb	With... a profound... smile... I...
Ahab	And there you shall all be as well! We will buy rounds upon rounds of drinks for everyone in the tavern in Stubb's name!
Ahab	Once! This voyage is over! EVERYTHING! WILL! COME TO BE!
Starbuck	... Once this voyage is over.
Queequeg	Once this voyage... Over.
Stubb	Once... this voyage... is over...
Stubb	The Whale of Hatred... is finally... in our sights...
Stubb	You'll kill it, right...? Captain...
Ahab	Let us answer his calling! We will kill the Whale of Hatred... WE WILL KILL THE PALLID WHALE!
Ahab	All aboard, men! All aboard for the hunt for the evil...!
Ahab	All aboard on this voyage to hunt the fount of all evils of the world, of the City, the hateful evil that pushes you all to the brink of death!
Ahab	All of your struggles, all of your injustices, all of your pains and losses... that very evil sprang forth from that very Whale...
Ahab	So we'll kill it! We'll kill it and watch as the new dawn breaks upon a world that has been mended!
Queequeg	... Aye!
Ahab	SHOUT! BELLOW!
Starbuck	Aye, Captain...!
Pip	Ehehehe, goodbye! Stubb!! Let's meet again! Again, and again!
Stubb	... Aye!!!
Ishmael	Yeah. It'll all be over when we kill the Pallid Whale.
Ishmael	When we kill the Whale of all evils...
Location: The Pallid Whale's Right Ventricle
Dante	<So all along, we've not only...>
Dante	<... been trapped inside the Whale, but also in her palms, all along...>

Episode: 55
Location: The Pallid Whale's Right Ventricle
Ahab's commands led us straight to her singular goal, the heart.
Dante	<We've all been played by the Captain... From the moment we met her...>
As the Pequod's Crew...
Sailing for nothing, no one, but Ahab herself.
Heathcliff	Clockhead. You see it too, don't you?
Captain Ahab has the uncanny ability to effortlessly delve deep into one's heart, to fish out their deepest wishes.
Those hidden, yet desperate wishes.
Everyone bites onto that bait. Getting dragged deeper and deeper into the abyss.
Heathcliff	Bite the bait and sink with the Captain, snared by those sweet words and the tantalizing hope that she dangles right in front of you. Not even knowing that you're slowly suffocating.
Heathcliff	It's your job, clockhead. Fish her back up. The lass is sinking.
Queequeg	Broke it. Captain's orders.
Queequeg	Broke Captain's orders. Can't see sunset again.
Ishmael	No, you can. You'll see the sunset again. As long as you sail your own path...
Ishmael	Because we'll get to the heart. No matter what.
Ishmael	Ah...!
Ishmael	Can you hear that? The distant beating of the heart.
Queequeg	The heart, beating...
Dante	<It'll take us some time... But let's pay close attention to the heartbeat and feel our way there.>

Episode: 56
Location: Rendezvous Area Before the Heart
Sinclair	Finally, once this is over... We can get out of here.
Dante	<I guess Ahab's not here yet...>
Ishmael	Tsk... is that an Abnormality?
Something twitched before us. An entity skewered by numerous fluorescent bars.
Ishmael	… Get out of my way.
Dante	<Watch out, it's charging!>
Perhaps it felt threatened when Ishmael grabbed her harpoon. It leaped out of the Lake and began rushing toward us.

Episode: 57
Location: Thumping of the Heart
Ahab	Oh, you are doing much better than I expected.
Gregor	Hey, you... Don't tell me you've just been twiddling your thumbs, watching us fight?
Ahab	I would have just gotten in your way.
It appeared that Ahab lost most of her crew on her way here.
Queequeg	…….
Queequeg	Rest of crew not here. Only five now. Why?
Ahab	You dare question me now, eh? Your present company must've rubbed off on you.
Ahab	I have enough men left. The rest were... disposable. They must have left you quite the impression, Queequeg.
Queequeg	Say it. Why.
Ahab	Before I do... Queequeg, where's your greeting for your Captain? For your surviving compatriots?
Ahab	Especially when... the heart presents itself before us! We are THIS close to killing the Whale!
Pip	Pip hates Mermaids!!! W-want to! Now! Want to get out of here!!!
Pip	But the pale keeps trying to eat Pip. This. Ugh, ughh. It won't come off.
Ahab	The Pallidification is progressing, the closer we get to the heart. It is starting to get rather... bothersome.
The Pallidification effect was intensifying, indeed.
Ahab	But you. All of you are somehow completely unaffected.
Ahab	And... this ticking sound! It has been getting on my nerves!
Ahab strode toward me.
Ahab	Tell me. What will I find in your clock-head?
Dante	<…!>
Ahab looks into my head.
And I, in turn, raise my head to return the gaze.
Dante	<This is...!>
Ahab's journey through the pancreas plays right before my eyes.
Hanging Villager	Cap'n... You said... you won't let me be... a Mermaid...
Ahab	Well, then... this was not the right method indeed.
Despairing Villager	Huh...? No...! Don't cut that! Everyone behind you will...!
Pip	Captain! That was Pip! Pip cut the vein!
Ahab	Wonderful! Imagine how overjoyed Stubb would be, were he to witness your exploits!
Pip	Think he's watching over Pip? Can we kill the hateful Whale?! Heheh! Ahahahaha!
Falling Villager	Huh... Huuh? Aaaaaahhhh!
Shocked Villager	C-Captain... What did you just...?
Ahab	I kicked the lad in there. Looks like that wasn't the right path.
Ahab	You dare beg for your life?
Hesitating Villager	C-Captain. That's not it. It's...
Ahab	With every moment, every second we waste, the end of days grows near! Every beating of that Pallid Whale's heart is a bell tolling for the end of the world!
Ahab	We can stop the apocalypse with our own two hands! Yet you kneel here and dare to grovel for your life?!
Ahab	You mean to make your crew's sacrifices to have been for naught?! Unbelievable!
Hesitating Villager	N-no, Captain...
Hesitating Villager	I can die, for this cause I will...!
Ahab	Nay, not death! I have never, and will never order my men to their deaths.
Ahab	I send them to greatness, not death.

Episode: 58
Location: Rendezvous Area Before the Heart
Ahab	Your head... What an odd power it has. Just like the peculiarities of each Whales.
Queequeg	... Pequod crew sank. Right before heart.
Queequeg	Because of you.
It was a mistake to expect even a hint of surprise or shame from the Captain...
... when it was revealed that she'd sent her crew to their deaths.
Ahab	Hahahaha!
Ahab	Yes, you can say that. You may indeed claim that I have sacrificed my crew.
Ahab	By now they must be wandering the Whale's guts, transformed into Mermaids. Lucky ones probably turned to sludge in acid.
Gregor	But why...
Ahab	I know this heart better than anything else in the world. I know it better than my own body. The pancreas we have journeyed through is an endlessly winding maze! And if our limbs were to be melted off, we'd have no means of recovering them as you do.
Ahab	I had to calculate the ideal path to the heart, losses be damned. I see no injustice committed in my pursuit of practicality.
Ahab	I even encouraged and reminded them of their pride and greatness as they drew their last breaths.
Ahab	When it could not be helped, I made sure that they perished before fear overwhelmed them.
Ahab	My crew and I are one, bound by oath! The promise that we will hunt the Pallid Whale, whatever it takes!
Ahab	Are we not, Ishmael?! Now, we shall...
Ishmael	... Sail... to the heart?
Ahab	Quite! Yet we need one last piece of the puzzle before we set sail.
Ahab turns to face me again, glaring at me with her burning eyes.
Ahab	That shard of the Bough.
Dante	<What are you...>
Ahab	I, Captain Ahab, cannot be deceived! That thing in your clock-head... is a piece of that Golden Bough, is it not? It is that Golden thing that counteracts the Pallidification effects! Am I wrong in assuming that this is how you and your crew have remained untouched by its effects?!
Ahab	Soon, our final battle for everything that we hold dear will commence. And for victory, I shall spare no quarter.
Ahab	No one knows what will happen here, at the heart of the Whale from which all evils of the City, the world, spout.
Ahab	And is it not patently clear that you are the only one inexperienced in combat?
Ahab	What if you were to perish...? What fate shall befall your crew?
Ahab	What fate shall befall your crew, should you meet a pathetic end without having destroyed the Whale's heart!
Dante	<That's...>
Ahab	Everyone here, including your crew and mine, will turn into Mermaids within hours.
Dante	<So... what the hell do you want me to do?>
Ahab	Hand it over. That golden shard in your head.
Ahab	And I swear by my name that I will personally see to it that everyone trapped within this Whale safely makes it to the world outside.
Starbuck	Captain ain't wrong, you know...
Dante	<Huh. I guess that makes... some sense.>
Ahab	It takes but a single sacrifice... to ensure that everyone survives. Down to every single crew.
Don Quixote	I... I detest that. I shall not relinquish Manager Esquire's head to thee...!
Ahab	Then what? Fail to destroy its heart and let us all be Mermaids together? Is that how you wish your tale to end?
Don Quixote	That's...
Ahab	My friends. Is there not something out there, past this Pallid Whale's flesh, that awaits your return?
Ahab	Laying your lives down just to save the life of some useless clock cannot possibly be your dream.
Ahab	You must have something that drives you! A desire, a goal, a mission that you must see to its end once you escape this Whale!!!
Captain Ahab cuts through our hearts, cracking them little by little, and nests in there.
Even the Sinners may have been moved by her speech, even for a brief moment.
And that brief moment is all it takes for that thought to spread through the heart as water freezes between the cracks of a rock.
That's what she's always done, I'm sure.
And all of a sudden, when everything reaches a crescendo... it will shatter.
Ishmael. Her crew. This is what Ahab had done to them...
Dante	<Tell her what I'm about to say, Faust.>
Faust	Understood.
Dante	<You're not going to be responsible for the Sinners.>
Dante	<And no one knows what'll happen to the Sinners if my head is crushed.>
Dante	<I'm not going to let the doubts you cast chart our futures.>
Dante	<Because I am their Manager.>
Heathcliff	Ooh…
Ahab	Hmph, predictable. Pleading for your life now, are you?
Dante	<Besides... I don't want to die.>
Faust	…….
Sacrifice. A gilded name given to death so that it won't feel as hollow when it claims us.
I've seen the Sinners die a thousand deaths. And I've shared that very same pain that killed them countless times.
I've felt the weight of their every death... so I can't bring myself to wrap them up in a pretty box labeled 'sacrifice'.
Instead, I endure. Endlessly.
What gives our collective struggle significance, what gives our suffering meaning... is us. We share the weight and convey our own meanings to our battles.
So that everyone can reach for their own dreams.
That's why this struggle is no sacrifice.
I won't seek death willingly.
Ishmael	Ahab... You really haven't changed. ... No, you've become even more revolting.
Ishmael	I struggled, I thrashed, yet... Again, you had us in the palm of your hands…
Ishmael	Commandeering our ship, turning me into one of your crew again…
Ahab	Silence!!! Shut up. This... is a moment of paramount importance.
The path to the heart opened as Ahab finished her words.

Episode: 59
Location: The Pallid Whale's Heart
Ahab	Do you see it? This... is the heart.
Ahab	An amalgamation of all that the Pallid Whale has ever devoured.
Ahab	This makes the Pallid Whale breathe, this makes its heart pound, and from here its evil spouts! Behold! It spews evil again! Again! Again! And again!
Ishmael	Stop laughing like you're happy when your path here was paved with the lives of your own crew.
Ishmael	I suffered my whole life. Everything, my dreams, my friends, all of them… sank right before my eyes. You… it was you. You did that to me. You…!
Ahab	Indeed, That was I! I led my crew to their deaths.
Ahab	And what of it?
Ahab	Their fates were sealed the moment the Whale swallowed them. Fated to become Mermaids, fated to wander the Whale's belly until they keeled over and died. I saved them!
Ahab	I merely reap my recompense for extending their lives, even for a fleeting moment!
Ahab	I looked after them, watched over them, and led them to this place... And for that, I have been rightly rewarded.
Ahab	I was the one who sparked the proverbial fire in their meaningless, pathetic lives. It has always been me!
Ahab	I still remember the day you lot boarded my ship, not even a spark of light manifest in your aimless eyes. What a pathetic display that was, nothing more than flotsam bobbing up and down without cause!
Ahab	I gave your worthless lives a reason to go on. And on the Pequod, you sailed with conviction!
Ishmael	No… You devoured the crew whole. You painted over their wills, just like the Whales— no! Just like the Pallid Whale! Molding them and shaping them to fit your wants and needs.
Ishmael	We didn’t board your ship solely to hunt some stupid Whale. And you knew that.
Ahab	I didn't. In truth, I could not care less about your reasons. The moment they set foot upon MY ship, their sights should have rightly been set upon the Pallid Whale!
Ahab	In fact... You must know better than anyone that their hearts were flimsy. That they let themselves be swallowed because they were shallow; that they let themselves be molded because they were weak.
Ahab	I am the only one who matters. What matters is that I have declared this beast evil—and that is my commandment, my belief, my religion, and my creed.
Ahab	When I perish, this world shall perish as well. So my very life, my very existence itself, is then the world! And I have deemed it so! No one will be the helmsman of my life but myself!!! No one shall live my life in my stead!!!
Ahab	What do you, all of you, believe in? Tell me. Is your belief unbreakable? Is it absolute?
Ahab	My beliefs are absolute! My definitions of good and evil are clear-cut! Thus my beliefs are unclouded, unassailable. Because I have made it so.
Ahab	That is why I will never be broken. That is why I stand tall, unshakable, as a missionary of my own faith.
Ahab	I have blessed you with my absolute definitions of good and evil! So that you may live your life with unhesitating, unwavering tenacity!!!
Starbuck	…….
Starbuck stands next to Ahab. He wears a wide smile, as though a weight has been lifted from his shoulders.
Queequeg	…….
Queequeg also slowly positions herself next to Ahab. I could not read her expression through the mask, but her shoulders appeared... laden.
Ishmael	…….
Ishmael	Then you are my definition of evil.
Ishmael	All of my hatred, all of my goals, all of my failures, all of my past, all of my... losses!
Ishmael	They all came from you, Ahab!
Ahab	Very well! Then crash unto me like the Waves! Let your world and mine clash!
Ahab	Let us see whose evil is the more tenacious, the more overwhelming!!!

Episode: 60
Location: The Pallid Whale's Heart
Ishmael	You could've given your crew a chance!
Ishmael	A chance to see for themselves where they stood...!
Ahab	Always in my wake... are pallid, opaque traces.
Ahab	You say that I stole their chances? Wrong. They merely followed in my wake, setting their course to the same destination as mine.
Ahab	Because had they not done so, they could not have endured this world. Because they were weak! I was their lighthouse in this world of tempest... I gave them an unambiguous path to follow!
Ahab	The last of my sailors! By me! Heed my orders! Pursue them!

Episode: 60.5
Ishmael	…!
Ahab	Do you still fail to see? They are already 'Ahab'.
Ahab	They are my harpoons. My hatred is their hatred. My vengeance is their vengeance. And my harpoons... shall not be defied!
Pip	Ehehehe, heheh. Hehe!
Ishmael	Stubb's death did this to you, didn't it...?
Ahab	Stubb's not dead, Miss Ishmael!
Ahab	Pip would have said as such! He crushed his own heart and gave himself to me, so that he would be freed from his guilt!
Ahab	Be not so cruel to a mere child, Ishmael! Cast your eyes upon me!
Ahab	His broken heart led him to me, and I have freed him from his guilt to the best of my abilities!
Ahab	But what did you do? Nothing! The least you could have done was to volunteer to row in Pip's place on that fateful day!
Ahab	The fault lies with you, Ishmael!
Ahab	Yet I am the evil here?
Ishmael	Starbuck...! You... you were the only crew of the ship that could challenge Ahab.
Ishmael	So how could you...
Ahab	How foolish, Ishmael! How foolish!
Ahab	Starbuck was the first to kneel. It matters not how many waves a first mate has weathered... A first mate's station is still beneath his Captain...!
Ahab	Out of his own volition, He blinded his eyes in that complacent belief that regardless of whatever paths we took, the Captain would lead him to his destination!
Ahab	If you knew that he had sought a better path, then why have you not helped him see it?!
Ahab	So the fault lies with you again, Ishmael!
Ishmael	Queequeg... I don't...! I don't want to let you go... Not you...!
Ahab	It's all because of you, Ishmael!
Ahab	This happened because you dared to unearth her buried heart! Because you forced her broken heart into the open!
Ahab	The fault lies with you once again, Ishmael!
Ahab	Look at what you've done. Watch her determination crumble, her conviction collapse. Now, with her faith broken, the pale claims Queequeg!
Ishmael	The Pallid Whale, and... Ahab...
Ishmael	They force their way into the cracks in our hearts.
Ishmael	Everyone has those cracks in their hearts. They're what makes us hesitate, what makes us waver.
Ishmael	Confusion. Loneliness. The anxiety of the unknown. The fear of knowing that the people... the things you cherish... will one day leave your side.
Ishmael	They tightly choke these fragile, countless cracks in our hearts to the point of breaking.
Ishmael	Before I even knew it, those cracks in my heart... were filled with a singular obsession. So much so that I was suffocating.
Ishmael	"I will kill Captain Ahab. The cause of all evils in the world that has brought me to this point."
Ishmael	That obsession has wrapped me so tightly, and in so many impenetrable layers, that I...
Ishmael	... I could no longer even recognize the times I've spent with everyone... and the choices I've made...
Ishmael	And all of a sudden...
Ishmael	I began to sink, even memories of my own shape fading into oblivion.
Ishmael	I'm lost here. I don't know where to go anymore.
Heathcliff	…….
Heathcliff	The hell are you doing in there?
Heathcliff	Come out.
Ishmael	Heath... cliff...?
Ishmael	When... when did this happen...? When did it... I-I didn't realize...
Location: The Pallid Whale's Heart
Heathcliff	No. I saw that very same look on your mug from the moment we first met.
Heathcliff	Thought you might suffocate and kick the bucket any minute.
Ishmael	…….
The pallid membrane devours Queequeg before Ishmael's eyes.
Ishmael	I’m so sorry, Queequeg… I… couldn’t save you…
Queequeg	No. I was. Too late.
Queequeg	Too late to think. About what is right and what is wrong. To think for myself. Too late.
Ishmael	I, I should have been more... I should have...
Queequeg	Hey.
Queequeg	Your name. Tell me. Once more.
Location: The Pequod
Ishmael	The Great Lake might be one of the worst places in the City... but it sure has a pretty sunset.
Queequeg	…….
Queequeg	Your name. What?
Ishmael	My name? W-why?
Queequeg	Because, your hair color. I like it.
Queequeg	Whales. When they die, they turn to the sun.
Queequeg	And your hair color. Sunset-color.
Queequeg	So when I throw the harpoon, Whales turn to you.
Queequeg	We can be good friends.
Ishmael	Well... call me Ishmael, if you please.
Location: The Pallid Whale's Heart
Ishmael	... Call me... Ishmael...
Queequeg	…….
Queequeg disintegrated until she was no more.
Ishmael	…….
Ishmael limps toward Ahab. The Captain is on the ground, defeated.
In Ishmael's hand is the harpoon that has been whetted and sharpened for this singular moment.
Dante	<…….>
Ishmael	You're in my way, Dante. Again.
Ishmael	Why are you doing this? Why do you keep getting in my way? Why do you even turn the clock for me? What the hell do you get out of all this?
Ishmael	What, does pretending to be a good person help you feel better?
Dante	<I wanted to know more about you.>
Dante	<So I can... find you a path that doesn't go in circles.>
Ishmael	Do you... Do you even know?
Ishmael	Do you even know where you're going?
Dante	<I'm... constantly searching.>
Maybe I summon the flow of time to turn the hands of my clock...
... to find the paths for the endlessly wandering Sinners.
For all those who are lost.
So that I may not be lost.
Dante	<Ishmael, we're all Captains of our own hearts.>
Dante	<We just happened to be sailing the same path, and sometimes we'd let each other take the helm...>
Dante	<But at the end of all things, you still have to be the Captain of your own ship. You're the one who has to steer your very own path...>
Dante	<So don't you dare let go of your helm before the voyage is over. Because I... I won't, either.>
Ishmael slowly approaches Ahab. Her face is shrouded in a grim shadow.
Ahab	So you've finally killed everyone. Didn't even leave a single one of them alive.
Ishmael	Yeah. And you're the last one.
Ahab	Hah...
Ahab	HA! HA! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Ahab	YES! Now, we have become one and the same, Ishmael.
Ahab	The paths to our destinations are both unclouded. Any sacrifice, any amount of death can be justified as long as we can see our missions through to their ends!
Ahab	As long as we kill that bastard, we will have nothing more to wish for in our lives!
Ishmael	One day, I had a sudden epiphany.
Ishmael	That I was tired of living like this.
Location: Somewhere in U Corp.'s Marlin Portship
Ishmael	Hmm...
Ishmael	Aimlessly taking tests, earning certificates, finding a place in a nest, landing myself a good career.
Ishmael	Struggle in an endless competition, writhing and thrashing every single day to be a feather of a Wing so that I won't fall behind. All that to trap myself into a desk job, to make money...
Ishmael	Yeah. I quit.
Ishmael	... What am I going do now? I don't know. I don't care.
Ishmael	I wanted to leave everything behind. Everyone that told me to not do this. I wanted this dreary existence to end.
Ishmael	I don't know if that meant that I wanted to die, or if I just wanted to do something new with my life.
Ishmael	But I knew that I was always fond of the waters.
Ishmael	So if I were to die... I wanted to die near a body of water.
Ishmael	Recruiting sailors... for a Whaling ship. Huh.
Ishmael	For the first time in my life, my heart began to pound.
Ishmael	Requirements... an able body that does not suffer seasickness.
Ishmael	... That's it?
Ahab	Another would be the generosity of your heart to not whine when someone tosses you a rag to shine the bow of the ship.
Ishmael	... Who am I talking to?
Ahab	Just an old salt who doesn't like how the solid earth feels against her one good leg.
Ishmael	…….
Ahab	Whales are... magnificent yet mysterious monsters.
Ahab	Everyone flees screaming at the sight of a Whale. But we give it a toothy grin and a wild guffaw.
Ishmael	Every morning that I woke, I wondered what it meant to live.
Ishmael	…….
Ishmael	This woman stood before the recruitment board as I have, but...
Ishmael	Her sights were set on something beyond the Lake's horizons.
Ishmael	Though she had but one leg, she stood taller than anyone else.
Ishmael	The Pequod, huh. This ship's Captain must be one lucky person.
Ahab	Why do you think that?
Ishmael	I wanted to be like her.
Ishmael	Not a lot of sailors out there, willing to work for such a pittance.
Ahab	Hm. Still, sailing with this ship will net you a Grade 9 Fixer license for the Eight Association.
Ishmael	I hoped to be like her one day. To be someone who will face the destiny of her own choosing. To have something I could give it my all with conviction and without a moment of hesitation.
Location: The Pallid Whale's Heart
Ishmael	Yeah. There once was a time when I wanted to be like you.
Ishmael	Once, I was your Mermaid. Devoured and overwritten by your beliefs, I swam toward a towering mad Whale that wore your face.
Ishmael	Because if I didn't... I... didn't know if I could go on.
Ishmael	My years of aimless wandering. My loss of everyone that was ever precious to me. That I was the only one who survived. That, once I had one chance to get them back, I ended up killing them with my own hands.
Ishmael	All of that had to be your fault. That was the only way to make it bearable.
Ishmael	Before I saw that recruitment post... after I boarded the Pequod... even after I joined Limbus Company... I've never taken the helm of my own ship.
Ishmael	But... I think I've finally found my compass.
Ahab	Does a mere deckhand dare speak of her own compass now?
Ishmael	Yeah. An incredibly annoying compass that keeps getting in my way. But... they're also a compass that, even as they waver, points to where I want to go…
Ishmael	So I want to go on an adventure with that compass. A real adventure. To explore and learn this world we live in.
Ishmael	But that bloodied past I've sailed in this voyage... is also a path that I charted.
Ishmael	I accept that now. And I'll carry that weight with me. ...All of it.
Ishmael	That's why I have to let you live. That is how I will chart my own path.
Ahab	What...?
Ahab	What... What have you...!
Ishmael	Look at me.
Ishmael	And tell me that we're still "one and the same".
Ahab	Why... Why...!

Episode: 61
Location: The Pallid Whale's Heart
Ahab	You should have stabbed me! That harpoon should have pierced my heart! How! Why were you the one to—!
Ahab	We must find the Pallid Whale! Look alive, men! Spring! Roar!
Ahab	Harpooneers, tighten the ropes around your harpoons! Helmsman, set course to the Whale!
Ahab	Full sail! Full sail, my first mate! Row! To the Pallid Whale from which the all evils of the world spout, we sail!
Ahab	Navigators, chart course…! We set sail! We set… sail…
Ahab roars. She cries out to her crew, but they will never return.
Her voice scatters to nothingness.
Ishmael	I will watch you live. Because you are the proof of my wandering years.
Ishmael	So that I may endlessly struggle against the devouring seas. The testament to my sins. My Whale.
Ahab	No, you will not look down at me…!
Ahab	I am Captain Ahab. I, I…!
Pale blood explodes from the gaping rupture in the Whale’s heart.
As though the Pequod’s crew were raising a toast to victory.
Drink to the Pallid Whale's death.
Drink to the downfall of Captain Ahab.
Thus the voyage came to an end.
Heathcliff	Oi... The Whale's not letting us out, it's caving in on itself...!
Sinclair	So what she said about destroying the heart and escaping...
Gregor	Of course... Full of lies to the end.
Outis	Well, it technically wasn't a lie. We will eventually end up outside the Whale.
Rodion	She didn't say anything about being outside the Whale in one piece, I guess. Ugh, I shoulda seen this coming~
THUMP!
Someone, something dropped a large, sturdy rope from above us.
Ishmael	…!
Dante	<Who dropped that rope...?>
Rodion	Doesn't matter, let's take it!
Ishmael stared at that rope for a moment.
Heathcliff	What are you standing around there for? Let's go.
Ishmael	This rope...
Ishmael	I have a feeling that this rope won't snap.
Ahab	You... You should have killed me...
Ahab	I should have been the one to kill the Whale...!
Heathcliff	What... about her?
Ishmael	... We'll let her watch as this place crumbles around her.
Ishmael	The Captain must go down with the ship, after all.
We all grabbed onto the rope and climbed.
Like Ishmael said, this rope did not snap. We felt the cool breeze blowing in from the outside.
We never once looked back at the abyss that was the Whale.
Never.
After some time...
Location: Cabins of Mephistopheles
Rodion	Apparently the Whale's hide's too thick and tough for most things to puncture...
Rodion	... So how'd ya do it? Hmm? Hmmm?
The Indigo Elder did not seem to mind Rodya's persistent, somewhat rude questioning; he replied patiently.
The Indigo Elder	I do not know if it is because the Pallid Whale swallowed the Golden Bough... or because it swallowed you and your friends. But its behaviors changed in ways that I had never seen before. I presume that something had gone wrong in its brain.
The Indigo Elder	So I punctured a hole in it with my anchor. That is all.
Vergilius	Now... two of the five Calamities of the Lake have met their end by your hands.
Vergilius	Will you remain here, Indigo Elder?
The Indigo Elder	Why would I leave? The sea still harbors three Calamities.
Vergilius	Hm.
Sinclair	Oh... That butterfly...
Location: Aboard Mephistopheles's Deck
A solitary butterfly takes a moment to rest, before fluttering over the Lake's surface.
Sinclair	That butterfly looks similar to the one we saw in the Lobotomy Corp. Branch.
Meursault	It appears to be the exact same Butterfly.
Hong Lu	I'm envious. To be able to cross the Lakes so unbound, so freely like that.
Dante	<What do you think his deal was? Rim...>
Dante	<He did help us at the end of the day, but...>
Faust	He has certain expectations of us. I expect that he will return.
Heathcliff	I don't like being a pawn in some dodgy bloke's games.
Sinclair	I think... he was watching us from a short distance away. Maybe a step away.
Ishmael was gazing beyond the Lake's horizons.
She no longer casts her gaze into its waters.
Dante	<Ishmael.>
Ishmael	Oh, I was reading the winds.
Outis	We're cutting it close. I expect to see the Waves rushing in our direction at any minute.
Ishmael	... Heh.
Ishmael chuckled lightly.
Ishmael	Then let's face it head-on this time. Ready, Dante?
Dante	<I... don't know how to sail.>
Ishmael	Haah... Don't you understand? After all that? It doesn't matter how good of a sailor you are.
Ishmael	What's important... is that someone is there to help steer you right.
Ishmael	And as the first mate of this ship, I'll trust and follow your directions.
Ishmael	So... you're my Captain. For now.
Ishmael	My skiff will go on an adventure of its own one day. But for now, I've tied that skiff to a bigger ship called Limbus Company and you.
Ishmael	Because I really want to find out what's waiting for me at the end of this voyage.
Ishmael	... Besides, you guys are the only friends I have left.
Dante	<Ishmael...>
Ishmael	I'll trust your decisions and your orders, Captain. But I'm not going to just accept them at a face value. I'll constantly question and try to understand them.
Ishmael	So that when I see that my compass no longer aligns with yours, I can take my skiff and sail away.
Ishmael	So that I won't let anything consume me again. So that I won't lose myself again.
I can see the Waves rushing toward us from a distance.
The Waves are as colossal as always. There is a little fear in my heart.
Yet...
Dante	<Well, I think we can manage that.>
Ishmael	Heh.
Location: Cabins of Mephistopheles
Outis	Waves incoming in 15 seconds. Get to the helm, Swab— No.
Outis	First mate Ishmael.
Ishmael	You're not even the Captain, Outis. Come on.
Charon	Sorry for intruding.
Charon	But Charon's got the helm. Hold on, everyone.
Outis	Khm...
Ishmael	Haaah...
Now that's a proper Ishmael sigh. I haven't heard her do that in a long while.
With it, she tightly gripped a handle of the bus, her gaze fixed on the approaching Waves.
Determined to never allow herself to be swept up by the tempest that the waves bring.
Her hair, the color of sunset, flows and flutters in the wind.
Ishmael	The wind feels... nice.
Ishmael	It's a perfect breeze to push us toward a new voyage.
Charon	Mhm. Voyage to ice cream. Splish splash.
Location: The Great Lake
Hermann	My, what a mess...
Ahab	…….
Ahab	Is it still... not in your sights...?
Ahab	That cannot be... We must continue our search... Comb... every corner...
Hermann	Sorry that the Whale died.
Hermann	But you don't have to completely give up on life, do you? What you've lost is but a 'single' Whale.
Ahab	You... You're here to point and jeer at this Captain Ahab, have you...?
Hermann	Captain. In this world of infinite possibilities... Do you really think that there is but a single Pallid Whale?
Ahab	…….
Hermann	Yes, now there's a spark in your eyes. I think we're starting to understand each other.
Hermann	I'll help you kill that Whale. And I'll make sure that you're the one who gets to do it this time.
Hermann	So that you may hunt every Pallid Whale in every world.
Hermann	All I require from you is your staunch determination and conviction.
Hermann	So, is that more than enough reason for you to come aboard my ship?
Hermann	Let's make this voyage a good one.
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