Civilight Eterna

[Code Name] Civilight Eterna

[Gender] Female

[Combat Experience] Undisclosed

[Place of Birth] Kazdel

[Date of Birth] Jul 11

[Race] Undisclosed

[Height] 165cm

[Infection Status]

Undisclosed

[Physical Strength] Excellent

[Mobility] Standard

[Physical Resilience] Excellent

[Tactical Acumen] Outstanding

[Combat Skill] Excellent

[Originium Arts Assimilation] Outstanding

'Theresa, you know you don't have to take these tests.'

'I have to contribute where I can, you know. I'm just as much a part of Babel as anyone.

'And as you see, I have quite stellar scores, don't I?'

Theresa, founder of the nomadic city of Kazdel, co-originator of the Military Commission of Kazdel, creator of the Babel organization, and former head of state of Kazdel. She's spearheaded medical, educational, and urban infrastructure projects, led the Sarkaz in repelling multiple invasions, and personally raised the bar of diplomacy work during her time in office. She passed away during the Kazdelian-Victorian War.

(This personnel file is stored in a database sealed by the Rhodes Island HR Department.)

Imaging tests show the indistinct outlines of internal organs, obscured by abnormal shadows. Originium granules detected in the circulatory system. The subject is confirmed to be infected with Oripathy.

[Cell-Originium Assimilation] 17%

[Blood Originium-Crystal Density] 0.29u/L

'Patient BOCD has risen steadily over last three months. Proposing curtailment of any Originium-related work.'

Last logged: Nov 17 1093

Logged by: Kal'tsit

(An old medical report that Kal'tsit always keeps in the locked top left drawer of her desk.)

[Classified Log]

The war is over now.

In doing what we can, Rhodes Island has accomplished the objective set out for it. I thank you for all your efforts, and Rhodes Island will commemorate everyone who gave their lives here.

Waves from the sea of change in Victoria will soon be felt throughout all of Terra. We've passed a point of no return as plain as day.

Once, Rhodes Island persisted in sidestepping any given nation's agenda, but as it stands now, it is no longer our role to be the perfect outsider. We must prepare ourselves for the changes that lie ahead.

For the first item of this meeting, our verdict is rendered.

Rhodes Island will not revive its Babel callsign.

Wiš'adel has brought the name 'Babel' back to Kazdel, as well as Babel's founding goal, one imperceptibly yet definitively inherited throughout the years. I imagine Theresa would be delighted to see what we've achieved.

We will continue to work with Babel, or should I say Kazdel. That said, we will stay true to our original course, and go ever further.

Oripathy... no, not only Oripathy, but Originium itself; these are the issues Rhodes Island has always striven to solve. As our past will attest, our future will only see us grow firmer. Rhodes Island will not forget how conquering Oripathy has been our guiding star. It is in this first and foremost goal of ours, in fact, that we must meet the greater weight of its calling.

We will fight for the future of these vast lands.

Originium proliferates in a manner almost beyond control. We are likely to face an enemy beyond comprehension. We will put every ounce of strength we have to the task, and steel ourselves to the prospect of sacrificing everything we have.

All in all, Rhodes Island resolves today to be ever more proactive in its interventions, as we go unto all that transpires to endanger these lands.

Yes, Theresa has left us forever.

It was she who led the way in touting Babel's philosophy. But in her words, it was those at her side who lifted Rhodes Island to where it is today. It was everyone sat in attendance now, and everyone who fights on for this ship's future.

If there is anyone still skeptical of the passing of this resolution, you have the following ten minutes to submit your objection.

Amiya... I understand.

I know she's listening.

(—As spoken by Kal'tsit at the ■■■■■■■■ conference.)

[Log of visit 1.]

Visitor: Amiya

'Miss Theresa...?'

Yes, I'm here.

'I'm... sorry for coming so late. I wasn't sure if I should bother you or not, but I still have so many questions. I... what exactly are you?'

I am a program Theresa stored within Civilight Eterna. For you, she left my highest user privileges. You need but keep the crown with you, and I will never leave your side.

My 'physical manifestation' exists sustained by Civilight Eterna, and has the power to protect you. Only you, and those you grant permission, can see me.

You can try holding my hand, Amiya.

'Thank you... I can feel... its warmth.

'I'm still a little confused. Should I be calling you Miss Theresa? I'm not sure how I should address you...'

Amiya. Theresa is gone. I have her memories, but nothing more.

If you'd like, though, you can still call me Theresa.

'I'm sorry... I understand. We already said our goodbyes. I can put away my unrealistic fantasies now.'

Yes, I remember.

A reunion so fleeting could do little to fill the void left behind by those years of companionship. In our time to come, I will see her promise to protect you through.

Amiya. It tore at Theresa so. Leaving you was her one and only regret.

'I've been so grateful, truly, to feel Miss Theresa's love for me. I've never once had reason to resent it, not at all... It's just...

'There, in that space, she saw my past, and everything that Rhodes Island has experienced since. But looking ahead, our path is still so long, and surely the list of places I'll go will only grow. There's still so much I'll want to tell her...

'And she won't be able to hear, will she?'

I'm sorry, Amiya. In that sense, I'm just as powerless as you.

Is there anything else I can do for you?

'No, that's all, really... Goodbye, for now.'

Goodnight. Sweet dreams, Amiya.

[Log of visit 4.]

Visitor: Kal'tsit

'Query: Celestial Fulcrum.'

In the 10,000 sidereal years of Civilight Eterna's extant logs, active Celestial Fulcrum signals were only transmitted from the planet's surface on one occasion. You are acquainted with what the planetary system's natives did.

Ever since the curtains fell, it's been silent as the old stars, with the continent lifted by the Shadow-Moon showing no signs of life whatsoever.

'And still no word from the legacies of the past?'

The Preservator's sarcophagi remain silent. Further, the other two 'Originiums' are buried deep where they belong, their only trace is the occasional unsettling noise from the southern ocean's waves.

Kal'tsit, these logs, and all of this crown's data, should be plain to you by now. Retrieving the same files again and again won't reveal any new possibilities.

You look extremely worried.

'I need to check if your... if Theresa's experiment has... already had unanticipated repercussions.'

It pains me to say this, but even as Civilight Eterna I still lack a way to log the internal fluctuations of Originium.

'...You can see, can't you?'

Yes.

Theresa found Civilight Eterna to come with limitations, but I assure you my current form can read all the data stored within.

And you... you've shouldered this weight all alone, for all your interminable time.

'Then I ask. Would Theresa, now knowing all this, still choose 'hope'?'

I'm afraid I cannot easily answer that. There is no simple way to sever one's personality from their knowledge.

But I'm willing to trust that, knowing Theresa, she would marvel at how the breadth of dangers to Terra—the countless critical moments only a hair from collapse—had relentlessly remolded the very land on which she lived. Indeed, this world's present manifestation is its own miracle, one that statistical probability has no chance of explaining.

The more one comes to know the full picture of our world, the more the very word 'hope' seems a kind of foolishness flying in the face of reason.

You know better than anyone the challenge in bearing your mission... and your choice to press on has never been contingent on hope.

Hence why Theresa always trusted you would stand alongside her.

'Meeting over. Please encrypt the contents of this conversation so as to keep the Doctor and Amiya from reading it... At least until the time is right.'

As you wish. While still a lie of omission to Amiya, this is well in accordance with Theresa's original intent to protect her.

'You were right, Theresa. For all they could do, none would dare claim with certainty to change their own fated end.

'I hope that... from hereon out, you can keep the Doctor and Amiya safe.'

[Log of visit 11.]

Visitor: The Doctor

'It's surprising to realize, Doctor, how long you've traveled with Rhodes Island now.

'You may call yourself just a passerby, but I'd still like to welcome you alongside us.

'I'll never get to see the epoch you came from. I hear its people were free from the troubles of Catastrophes and Oripathy, and words and notions could be conveyed to one another in the blink of an eye.

'How beautiful a past that must be. Still, I'm sure you see something or other in this great land, given your eagerness to return to a lone journey of ten thousand years and counting.

'Please, I ask that you continue to keep Amiya and Kal'tsit company.

'I have faith you'll learn to love this world anew, to choose hope and a future once again.

'Thank you, Doctor.'

(—As taken from Theresa's voice logs, last updated Jan 1 ■■■■ 0:00.)

Theresa predicted this would happen eventually, Doctor.

You, questioning Civilight Eterna about Theresa, everything about her. You, out of either curiosity or remorse, wanting to know what kind of person she was. Why she would rest such grave expectations on you of all people, and why... you would 'betray' her like that.

So she recorded these messages, just for you.

The answers you seek aren't in the past.

You shouldn't trust surface appearances. You can look up every last piece of information on her here, but you'll never know the full her from that, just as you'll never know the full you from what others tell you.

And as for yourself, Doctor, this is all Theresa sought to tell you: you are her dear friend, her most trusted companion.

Continue on your journey.

It's only on your own path that you'll find the answers to her.

And those will be the answers to you too.

[Log of visit ■■■■.]

Visitor: ■■■■

Weird, what's all this noise in here?

Who plugs their personal instruction set into a Public Calculational & Metrological Reconstruction Platform? And filled with nothing but Open Project Gate Definition they forgot to delete?

Scrubbing the redundant data out of Originium is already frustrating enough—does Project DWDB really need more people helping with the chores?

Complaining doesn't solve anything. Just handle it and move on. This timeslice is almost up, anyway.

WARNING. Malicious routine detected. WARN—[STATIC]—threat to—

No, hold on.

It's... It's 'you people.' Are the project targets skewed too?

Overriding permissions. Calculating structural integrity—

[STATIC]—

Wait...

I remember you. We've met before, haven't we?

How amusing...

You're like a creature who's just learned the use of tinder, leaning on the clumsiest motions over and over until you finally leave a scorch mark on the land beneath, a sign that civilization was there.

In the midst of all you puny organisms, you surprise me as a specimen... I may need to reevaluate this 'redundant data' now.

So this is the 'hope' you've chosen, Oracle?