Gilberta

CODENAME: Gilberta

GENDER: Female

AUTHENTICATION: Rhodes Island

DOB: November 28

RACE: Vulpo

[ORIPATHY INFECTION STATUS]

Oripathy negative, based on medical examination reports.

[INTEGRATED PHYSICAL EXAMINATION]

PHYSIOLOGICAL STRENGTH: Standard

COMBAT SKILL: Normal

TACTICAL ACUMEN: Normal

ORIGINIUM ARTS ASSIMILATION: Excellent

Recommended by Rhodes Island, Gilberta now serves under the Endfield Industries Specialist Tech Division.

Before reporting in at Endfield, Operator Gilberta had spent two years roaming Talos-II. As a Messenger, she offered kind-hearted help to many across the land. In her words, "That journey shaped who I am today." Then again, don't all our journeys shape the people we become?

Operator Gilberta truly believes in "sharing is caring," and that's something I really appreciate about her. Almost everyone on the Dijiang has received a little gift from her. As for mine ... it was an electronic music record — perfect for playing while writing up HR summaries.

I've never seen anyone dressed almost entirely in red while radiating every shade of color. She's an endless pool of possibilities — yet only a single choice came out from her... Pardon me, this unit was not intended to compose poetry.

— Martin Marvin Malen, Assistant, HR Division, Endfield Industries

Raindrops beaded along the edge of Gilberta's umbrella, each droplet swelling with borrowed weight before surrendering to gravity. Before one could shatter against the ground, she caught it midair with a flick of the Arts and let it balance on her fingertip.

This was her first journey beyond Rhodes Island. The skies were always a weeping steel. She walked unhurried, pausing whenever she felt like it.

Her gaze drifted between the distant horizon and the letter in hand - Warfarin's assignment, her first duty as a Talos-II Messenger.

She'd lingered too long on the road watching burdenbeasts amble, flying wing-to-wing with fowlbeasts, even letting raindrops on her umbrella's edge steal her attention.

Warfarin never set her a delivery deadline. Just an encouragement: "Go see the world."

Gilberta understood Warfarin's message: she needed to deepen her bond with this planet before answering her calling. It was something she genuinely wanted to do as well.

But where to next? Her eyes wandered. A strange glow shimmered at the foot of a mountain. Wild creatures circled near a tower on the open plain. A breeze stirred the curtain at a distant mail depot. Every sight pulled her forward.

"Take it slow, I've got plenty of time," Gilberta thought to herself as she looked at the letter sealed with the crest of an industrial company.

"Just a little longer. I'll be there."

She then flicked the raindrop into the stream before her. As the skies cleared, the Messenger closed her umbrella and resumed with her journey.

With a flutter of crimson, she touched down bearing saccharine candies, animal-shaped origami, and a kaleidoscope of colored pencils.

The kids swarmed around the mysterious Miss Messenger, who came by every now and then with treats, gifts, and tales they'd never heard before.

Together, they drew her stories' vibrant fowlbeasts, then folded sugary foil into tiny mirrors of themselves.

As the evening bell rang, she said goodbye to each kid, watching them run home.

One girl tugged softly at Miss Messenger's skirt. She had nowhere to go.

With a gentle touch to her head, the Messenger sent the girl floating upward as a startled yelp escaped her lips.

Together, they watched the moon climb the night sky as stars arranged themselves into fleeting constellations.

"Miss ... aren't you going home?"

The girl whispered, lowering her head, knowing the Messenger would soon leave her.

"My home... lies beyond the far horizons. Or should I say, it hides beyond the sky and behind the stars themselves."

"Behind the stars?"

"Would you like to visit?"

The girl nodded, then shook her head. She ached to go, yet feared troubling her beloved Miss Messenger.

"Don't worry. I've told my colleagues about a brilliant little girl. They all want to meet you too."

"R-really?"

"Uh-huh. I would never lie to you. Oh, wait, it's time."

"It's ... time?"

"Close your eyes and don't peek. In three ... two ... one ... Voila!"

In Miss Messenger's hands appeared two cupcakes.

"Woah..."

"Hehe, today's your birthday, right? Of course I remembered! This one's just for you."

The girl stared wide-eyed at the Messenger as she dipped her cream-coated finger into her mouth, beaming with a sweet smile.

"I- I want to visit your home..."

To her, this cupcake was a treasure beyond price, held carefully as fragile glass.

Now aboard the Dijiang, she studies tirelessly to become an official technician at the EF-ED.

Whenever challenges arise, she takes a cupcake to the Bridge and gazes toward Talos-II. She finds herself drawing courage from that familiar crimson figure, always trailing a scent of sugar and resolve.

TRAINING LOG I

ENVIRONMENT: Setting C

GRAVITY: Setting 2

SUBJECT: Gilberta

RECORDER: Lil' Dodge

Gilberta's training performance exceeded all benchmarks. For her Arts specialization, we modified the chamber with gravity field generators and tactical release nodes, anticipating a lengthy adjustment period. Yet her combat instincts proved sharper than projected: mission accomplished in 1/3 the estimated time, with notably restrained collateral damage (a rarity for these fragile systems, as you know). Her gravitational control hints at paradigm-shifting potential: a tactician who warps the battlefield itself, or perhaps a one-woman armada-breaker. With this being said, I'm sure every commander will vie for her deployment.

Our next step is clear: help Gilberta unlock her full potential and refine her tactical instincts. Her abilities can turn the tide under any condition — and that's thrilling.

TRAINING LOG VI

ENVIRONMENT: Setting S

GRAVITY: Setting 26

SUBJECT: Gilberta

RECORDER: Lil' Dodge

In recent training sessions, we've been exploring Gilberta's control over her Arts. When we increased the number of non-directional gravity sources to eight, her control over the surrounding field showed a marked decline. Most of the time, she was able to maintain stable gravity around herself, but at critical environmental thresholds, she could no longer stabilize areas a few meters away — which means she couldn't ensure the safety of nearby teammates.

All relevant parameters and environmental conditions have been uploaded to EFDB. While Talos-II is unlikely to present situations with multiple gravity sources shifting unpredictably, the risks our operators face extend beyond this planet. At certain Depths, any battlefield condition is possible.

Gilberta expressed some dissatisfaction with her performance, but she did more than enough. This training was designed specifically to test the limits of her abilities — and it's now our task to develop the next training phase accordingly.

Gilberta first met them with a white bedsheet draped over her head, as she played hide-and-seek with the hospital's children.

As the door creaked open, she floated like a dandelion seed over giggling kids, then whooshed straight at the intruder for a tackle-hug.

"Hehe, gotcha!"

She yanked off the bedsheet triumphantly, only to freeze. Not a giggling child, but a stranger. A figure in a specialized mask, tilting their head in bemused silence.

"Oh..."

Gilberta recoiled, hands snapping back to her chest. A flustered smile flickered across her face just as recognition dawned, stealing all words of apology.

"That outfit ... that mask ... no way..."

Gilberta had imagined countless ways they might meet, but never like this.

"You must be Gilberta, right? I'm ... well, I think you already know who I am."

Their voice carried no thunderous command, yet it etches itself into memory like a half-remembered lullaby.

Gilberta's face burned crimson, replaying her earlier blunder. She stepped back only to catch her heel on a hospital cot, sending her sprawling onto its edge.

"I-I ... didn't expect you here..."

"I heard some kids had been rescued and brought in, so I came to check on them. What were you doing just then...?"

"Oh, uh — hide-and-seek. The kids were getting bored, so I figured we could play a game to cheer them up a bit."

"Hide-and-seek... I see."

They picked up Gilberta's bedsheet.

"Well then, since you caught me, does that mean I'm 'it'?"

"Huh? But you are..."

"They scheduled me to give a speech. But honestly I'd rather play with you and the kids."

"What's wrong?"

Noting Gilberta's silence, the figure touched their own cheek in quiet bewilderment.

"You are nothing like the rumors,"

Gilberta smiled in relief.

"Is that so..."

Confusion deepened. Freshly cleared for independent movement yet still adrift in memory’s fog, they stood suspended between protocol and instinct.

"Alrighty, let me explain the rules,"

Gilberta said with a grin on her face.

Ah, so this was them. That half-remembered silhouette, the voice murmuring at fate's periphery.

She was grateful for the Originium Woods left behind, more grateful still for this place, this moment.