IC-ST-1 Eve of Journey

'Manure factory.' What a great word... That's how you say it, right, Yogi?

No, Yota, it's 'manufacturing.' Besides, you should try to get some more rest instead of helping out with work on the... uh... 'Forest Mk. III,' the fully-automatic tree planting and cutting robot.

Actually, since we wrote it off and built a new one last night, this is 'Mk. IV.'

I've been doing great lately, don't worry. I never thought these rocks... Uh, the Originium could be so useful. My eyes are wide open now! Is this new technology? Who brought it here?

Probably Inam.

Ah... It's strong like Gavial, and you can shoot the upper half up in a spiral. It even stays midair for half a minute.

Yeah, it's pretty shocking. Though the High Priest calls that 'disassembly.'

I've been thinking for a while... Look, the lands beyond are so vast, and now we have so much... 'Manufactoring.'

Manufacturing. And the High Priest said before that's not how you use the word.

That doesn't matter. What matters is that we'll have more and more big machines! They'll also get easier to control and cause less accidents, too!

There's much more we can do now, isn't there?!

Like what?

Be ambitious, Brother. Set your sights on all of Sargon. Can you see it now—

Uh, uhh...

—Our statues! As tall as three mountains and as big as two whole lakes!

Ooohh—!

Of course, we need one for the clan leader too... and the High Priest! We can't forget Inam, either...

Finally, we need something special to celebrate all this... A building! Right! A palace! Let's see... with wood? No, it has to be sandstone or some sturdier rock... Let's use Originium! That's it!

We'll pile the Originium up to make a huge building!

Pile it up? I-Into what? Like a temple?

Maybe something simpler. Like a circle... Hm, you can't make a circle with rocks. Let's pile it up layer by layer so it looks like a triangle from all directions!

Oh... Ohh! A triangular tower! Now we just need to give it a name!

Still... there's no point in talking about all this. Gavial said I won't live that long with my disease.

Yota... No! We just have to change the way we think. Let's turn this palace into your burial plot.

That way, forget Acahualla, all of Sargon will remember your name. And I know what to call it, too! 'Yogi Yota Tower!' We'll finish it before you die!

Yogi...!

Don't jinx yourselves like that...

Oh, Tomimi... What are you doing here?

I thought you went straight to Gavial and the clan leader yesterday.

It's been a while since I was back home. I can't just leave like that, can I?

I guess not. So, what are you doing here today? You already stopped by, didn't you?

Actually...

......

Oh, you're the shortie Inam mentioned. What's the matter? Are you here to complain about our food again? Yeah, I've been thinking the food's been kind of bland lately too. How are we supposed to get by without meat?

No, it's something else. And I have a name. Stitch Canvas. You can't judge me by my height. Are all Archosauria like this?

Haha, no, we're not...

Whatever. You're a bunch of weirdos bickering about tail thickness anyway... I guess it's a cultural difference that I'll have to respect.

Huh? Huh...?

Alright, so what do you need? We're working on a magnificent 'bluepint' for Sargon.

Blueprint.

Uh, right. Blueprint. You hear that, Durin man? This is a huge, glorious plan!

I kind of think... a big, over-the-top tomb isn't a such a great plan... Besides, if everyone gets a huge tomb like that, we won't have enough room in the rainforest.

Stop calling it a tomb. It's for celebration! It's celebratory!

If we build it bigger, we can put both the leader and Gavial in there too, and our descendants will sing the praises of Zumama and 'Gavial's Will' in front of our statues, with their kids all around them.

(I am starting to regret this decision...)

Wha...! B-But...

Right. Right now, we shouldn't—

—In that case, we can't call it the 'Yogi Yota Tower!' It has to have Gavial's name in it! W-We can add my name in there too, while we're at it...!

......

Uh, no, I mean... Well, Mr. Stitch already talked to Inam about this, but I want everyone to hear him explain it.

This is pretty serious, after all. I sent Gavial a letter too, but I don't know if they'll make it in time...

Serious? What's so serious? I'm trying to plan out the rest of my life with what little time I have left! What could be more serious than that?

*cough*... I'm not here to judge your fantastical ideas, surface dwellers. However...

Just as I said before, if our city actually meets this crisis, the calamity will destroy everything.

And when that happens, it won't matter how amazing your buildings are. They'll be reduced to rubble.

Hey, Zumama.

Gavial? I didn't know we came back at the same time.

How's the situation? Have those Infected settled down?

Who do you think you're talking to? Not just the Infected. Mine security, the villagers nearby, and that old man from Rim Billiton. I took care of all of them.

Old man...? You dealt with our business partner, too?

Yeah, I've got a problem with the way he treats the Infected. I had to have a friendly chat with him, as a doctor. 'From a doctor's perspective and the Gavial way.'

Never mind all that. Have you seen the letter yet?

I haven't been back to the dorms... It's a letter from Tomimi? She went back home to visit her family, didn't she?

Yeah, and she's been keeping in touch with her Acahualla friends through Inam.

Looked like she was going to ask us to go with her, too.

A trip home together... If only Master Closure hadn't given me any work. That would've been nice.

But if that was the whole story, you wouldn't have bothered to come looking for me, right?

Hey now, when did we become strangers?

Never mind... So, what did Inam say? Did Tomimi run into trouble?

Yeah, more accurately, the whole rainforest's in trouble.

What?

Better pack up and get yourself ready. We're in for a big adventure.

T-The whole rainforest will sink into the earth?! The entire land will shift and change?!

That's right.

I could explain the structure of a Durin city, but it's not like you would understand. To put it simply, my homeland is under the ground not far from this rainforest.

We've run into some trouble... and that's why I came up here to seek the surface-dwellers' help.

Now, I didn't actually have very high hopes for you lot to begin with, but I saw what you've been doing. Perhaps you can be of some help.

Well, that does sound like a big problem... but that doesn't have much to do with our tribe, right?

Wait, this guy said if the Durin city's destroyed, it'll cause a chain reaction that will affect the surface... and our Yota Yogi Tower will...

On the flipside, if you help us, we'll return the favor with our Durin technology.

I don't know a lot about your tech level... but I can tell at a glance that your kind can sometimes be outrageously primitive.

Help? From an outsider? Now I'm not so sure we could use any...

Ugh, to me, it's you surface-dwellers who are the outsiders... Never mind.

But Mr. Stitch did point out some serious problems with the 'Forest Mk. III' when he looked at it... although it kinda seems like he got rid of a lot of its functions...

This guy did?!

Yep, that's why Inam figured we should follow Mr. Stitch underground to see what's going on. I-I'm going too, of course, as the clan leader of 'Gavial's Will.'

And while we're gone, it's up to you guys to take care of everyone in Tiacauh.

Well, I've got problem with that... I mean, for the sake of our Yo... No, our 'Great Gold Originium Jade Triangular Tower of Great Acahualla,' you better get this problem solved!

You used the word 'great' twice...

We will.

But how are you going to get there...? We haven't been outside the forest too much. Are you sure you won't get lost?

Don't you worry!

After all, I am coming along.

Mr. E-Elysium!

You're the Rhodes Islander...

Resilient as I am, even I have to take a vacation to alleviate the stress I've accumulated. Little did I know I'd find myself in another tremendous operation to save the Durins... But never mind. Who am I to miss out on more fun?

Dylan and Blaze were right. It's a bustling place, but you can still relax and wind down a little. A wonderful little spot.

I still have yet to find those famously delicious mushrooms after searching through the woods multiple times, though...

I only hope that Miss Inam will follow through on her promise to help me accomplish the 'seven must-dos when visiting Acahualla.'

Mr. Elysium and Mr. Stitch have already gotten the ball rolling. With the two of them as guides, we won't ever lose our way... or at least that's what they promised.

Haha, perhaps by the time Gavial and Eunectes make it home, we will have already taken care of everything.

......

She used to be the impatient one... How come I have to wait half an hour in the hallway for her now?

Look at this new gear... I thought Gavial would file a request for this stuff every month, but I guess that wasn't really the case, judging by Master Closure's reaction.

So I guess she's not going back to playing 'wandering medic who left the tribe'?

......

This is taking way too long! Gavial, what are you doing?!

Don't rush me! You guys put together the most complicated equipment, you know?!

This is what you get when you make an order on such short notice! If you have a problem with that, maybe you should go through proper procedures with Engineering next time.

Ugh—! This sucks! Not even those knights in Kazimierz wear this much armor!

Doesn't matter, if there's anything you can't figure out—

Forget it! This will do! I'm tossing the rest!

Huh?!

Yeah, forget all that junk. Don't need it. The moment I picked up this axe, I figured it all out.

Figured what out...?

That this guy's all I need.

Did you make it?

It was a rush order.

I knew it. Only you could make something this kick-ass. No complaints. From the balance to the weight, all perfect.

But this little ornament...

Lancet-2 told me to pour my feelings into everything I contribute to, whether a patient or equipment.

She said that, huh? Probably learned it from Closure. Well, whatever winds your sprocket.

Alright then, let's go!

...Gavial!

What now, more dawdling?

What... are you going to do? It sounds like the Durins' call for help that Tomimi got might be some kind of crisis their city is facing.

It might be a Catastrophe... It might be war.

The letter says 'fire rained down from the sky and burned our quilts' and 'a giant mushroom sprouted from the ground and blocked the sunlight, preventing the plants from growing,' but it's all too abstract.

No matter what the problem is, we oughta be able to tackle it. I mean, Inam and Elysium are coming too.

Tackle it how?

Didn't you just give me the answer? Check out my getup. I really mean it, Zumama. I haven't been this excited in a while.

So you mean you're using your fists again.

Hah, the usual!

The usual, huh...

Time waits for no one, Zumama.

Don't you want to see with your own eyes what those guys from your tribe have done to the forest?

Hah... I guess so.

Let's get going, then.