A Song Mother Taught Me

Ah, Amy, you came.

Wait, Sebastia! This Synth Soldier...

Ah, don't worry. I'm just collecting parts dropped by others and putting them back together. It's not dangerous.

Putting back together... You mean you do this on your own?

Yeah, so what? Anyway, I was talking about this. Amy, listen up. While I was collecting this stuff I found a sound orb. It seems like it was one of the Synth Soldier's. I've restored the data that was left on the orb, and...guess what?

Sebastia! This sound orb... Where did you get it?! Tell me! Please!

Amy, what's wrong?

That was...my mother's voice. She died 10 years ago... There's no mistaking it! That's the song she used to sing to me as a child...

I thought so... I had an idea it might be your mother. It's been badly damaged... I'm sorry but I was only able to retrieve this much. I found this orb at the end of the airport.

Okay. Thank you, Sebastia.

Any time.

Hey, Aldo, Riica?

Ah, you want to investigate the airport? I'll come with you.

Of course. I can't come up with a reason not to.

Thank you, both of you! Now, let's get going.

10 years ago, when I was a child... my mother brought me here. It was my birthday. Back then there was plenty of trade between the countries. This place was bustling. That's when my mother and I...got caught up in the Synth Human rebellion.

There was a huge crowd that day... It was chaos. Everyone was panicking. Who wouldn't? And then the Synth Humans suddenly... No one would have expected them to attack. The fleeing people came crushing towards us... My mother put me on a cargo ship, smiling. "It's okay...off you go." Well it's not okay at all...

I scratched against the window, crying. "I love you, my dear Amy. Forever and always..." The cargo ship set off... My mom got smaller and smaller... She got blurry in my tears... That was the last I saw of her...

After that my father did his best to find her again, but we found no sign of her... Even now I come here from time to time, hoping to find some trace of my mother.

...?! You?!

I am Galliard, the leader of the Synth Human army.

Galliard?! Why are you here?

I've come to take back something that was lost. Listening to your story, it seems you have it.

The sound orb? But, it's broken, why would you want it?

Hmph. The soldier who had the orb, maybe he heard it was broken and thought it was nothing.

But why would a Synth Soldier have a sound orb with my mother's voice?

It's a souvenir. We have a tendency to be attracted to the strange knickknacks you real humans make.

A memento...a keepsake? Why would a Synth Human want something like that?

You mean you've never thought of this, being an android yourself? What is the human heart, the soul? Where does it reside? We who were made to resemble humans, do we have hearts? Do we have souls?

What are you talking about?

I'm talking about the kind of value something like that sound orb has to us. But there is another orb like this one. If you want it, you'll need to go to Route 99.

Hold on, wait! Galliard!

Another sound orb...

This has to be a trap... But we have to go, right? We can't just ignore this.

Let us go, Aldo. Amy. I need to confirm that this Synth Human souvenir case is true...

So you came, humans?

So, the other sound orb... Where is it?

Here. Just listen.

Can you hear that, Amy? I've recorded your favorite song, to commemorate this day.

Mother?!

That's it. All the other data is corrupted. The noise is too much, you can't hear anything. I picked up both sound orbs on the day we attacked the airport 10 years ago. It seems that your mother may have been a victim of our attack. I found this sound orb, similar to the one you found at the airport.

Wha, ! You!

Listen, what makes a human? Memory. Humans are made out of memory. But we Synth Humans have no memory. We record what happens, but these are not memories. Do you understand? The data stored in our hard drives is everything we are. Replace that data, and we change into someone new. In fact, we won't even have any reason to think the data has been changed. I think that's why we're so attracted to unique items which mean a lot to humans. If we collect those items, then maybe we can find our souls.

Enough talk! I'll never forgive you... You have the last memory of my mother, give it back!

If you want it, come and take it. I'll take you all on!

You're...a Synth Soldier? You're not Galliard?!

Sorry. I'm just an underling. I'm not a special model like the real Galliard. I'm just a mass produced model...

I did think it was strange that the commander would lead the attack on the airport.

We have no siblings, we have no families. No memories... All we have are the records in our heads. We are fulfilled by the souvenirs we keep. They make up for what we lack. It may just be an illusion, but... it's still better than nothing. Really.

We will leave nothing behind when we die. Nothing... Understand? We... Our feelings...

......

Let's head back. I'm sure Sebastia will be able to do something with the orbs.

The case of Synth Human souvenirs... confirmed. Time to return.

Welcome back. How did your investigation go?

Ah, Sebastia. We found another sound orb. It looks like this one's broken, too.

Is there any way to recover the data? Please, Sebastia!

Let me see. I'll do what I can. I'm sure I'll be able to do something.

Okay. I did what I could.

Really? Thank you, Sebastia!

Don't mention it. Okay, let's play it. Ready?

Wait!

Ready. Let's do it.

Can you hear that, Amy? I've recorded your favorite song, to commemorate this day. I've made two copies of this sound orb. One is for you. The other is for your father. Watching you as you sleep, listening to this song... We really love you, Amy. I'm sure we'll have all sorts of fun and adventures together in the future. And when you enter your rebellious teens, we'll fight, talk about your crushes, you'll laugh and cry with your friends, you'll surprise us both, you'll get into trouble, I look forward to all those things so much.

Amy... Happy birthday!

This was...my birthday present from 10 years ago!

Mother... Thank you...

Amy, are you all right?

Yes... I think somewhere in my heart I always knew. My mother was already...

Why does the world have to be so cruel? It's always full of sadness and hate. But I will change that! I'm going to rid the world of sadness and hate. We'll find our way to another Eden one day...

Amy...you're a good person.

Wh-Where'd that come from?!

If we work together, there's nothing we can't do. Okay! Let's go. The world of tomorrow is just waiting for us to find it.

I hacked the entrance to the Industrial Ruins, it's open now. You are going in there to investigate Galliard's army, aren't you?

Thanks for the help, Sebastia. Okay, Amy, Riica, let's go.

Yeah. This time we'll find the real Galliard.

Understood! We'll do the best we can.