Arknights story · Babel
BB-ST-3 End of Souls
Theresa sees everything in the Doctor's memories, and finally completes her farewell to that particular person.
1 scenes, 122 lines
1. Interlude
122 linesErasing memories. This is something Theresa actually lacks experience in.
Not to mention she now faces a rare kind of mind.
She knows not what she will see, and has no clue if it will be dangerous. But there is no room to retreat.
She has made the final decision of her life.
She walks into the Doctor's memories, and cuts them up into countless fragments of dissipating threads.
Memory fades away in silence.
She walks through a world she has never seen and could never understand.
How did such a glorious civilization meet its end?
How do geniuses as bright as shooting stars struggle for a solution to their ultimate problem, yet find nothing?
Is resistance futile? Is unity a mere fantasy?
Is Terra's future already set in stone? What of her beloved homeland?
What of her loved ones?
She has no answer. She cannot find the answer.
She can only continue meandering in the void of memories gone.
Finally, she sees someone familiar.
Is all their enthusiasm overwhelming you?
What brings you here, Kal'tsit?
Should I not be present at this celebration of your latest victory?
It's been a long time since I last... days like these were rare back then, you know.
Or I should say, I've grown so unaccustomed to it now.
No matter, you will get used to it again, in time. Babel will be a new beginning.
Go. We should enjoy this celebration.
Theresa watches Kal'tsit pat the Doctor before gently pushing that very back into the waiting crowd.
Too many are forcing their way through the throng, hands stretched out, fighting each other to be the first to shake the Doctor's hand, or pat the Doctor's shoulder.
Some taller and gutsier ones even try to put their hands right on the Doctor's head for a good kneading.
...?
Uh, sorry about that unruly subordinate of mine, Doctor. I wanted to stop him...
But my arm's injured... so I couldn't make it in time.
It's fine... how's your arm?
Recovery's going pretty well.
It's a pity you won't get to enjoy many drinks here tonight.
That's alright, Doctor. I'll have a few more pints on this guy's behalf.
We might have gotten ourselves stuck in that encirclement, had you not sprung that surprise attack at the end.
C'mon, let's slam a few glasses to honor the Doctor!
I'm afraid my alcohol tolerance may disappoint you, Ace.
Excuuuuse—me,—make—way please... I have to see the protagonist of the day!
So many people in here! This is the first time I feel that the command center is too small... do you want me to widen it later? There's still so many people outside hurrying in here with snacks and drinks.
Doctor, everyone's cheering for the victory you've brought us, but you seem a little... uneasy.
I thought I was masking it pretty well. *ahem* I'm just a little nervous in crowds.
Hey, careful. That's enough pushing. Amiya, you good?
I'm okay!
Doctor! Come with me, Theresa and I made you a cake!
Look, the oven was so hot I got a blister on my finger.
Thank you... Oh! Are you okay? Does anyone have some burn cream...?
A gentle cough sounds in the room, and the crowd splits into two.
Theresa sees a woman dressed in white passing by, smiling as she extends a hand to the Doctor with a still healing needle wound.
She is looking at herself.
The joy fades away, as do the memories and voices.
Theresa erases the memory she is too familiar with, and continues forward.
She sees a record she has never seen before within PRTS.
Invoke imaging capabilities. Enable administrator-level encryption.
Image number (0091_admin)...... Add subject: (This is for you).
Activating recorder... Beginning video record.
......
If I didn't hold on until you woke up, you'll see this video.
I will remain here, in the safest of places until everything settles.
Once I'm done with everything, I'll vanish into silence...
Disappearing before all those who hate me.
......
There is always a voice inside me, reminding me, asking me—'Who am I?'
Our own watcher? Or a traitor to future civilizations?
I can no longer recognize myself—
You'll get an answer after checking all the logs I left behind. But for now at least, I'll no longer hesitate to do what I should do.
...I...
When you wake up, I will have already disappeared in your past, and also unable to appear in our promised future.
That's why I hope...
...Pause recording. Delete all previous content. I... still need a bit more time.
......
She does not pause or sigh, just continues what she ought to do in silence.
Theresa goes deeper into the buried memories.
I need you to contact the closest rescue team! The wrecked transport has a Rim Billiton logo on it, this is your squad...
I hear someone still alive in there!
*bzzt* We got your call, but it'll take some time for us to rush over from the nearest mining plate.
Based on the information you gave us, there's been banditry at your location there before, so we'll also notify armed security to send a dispatch at once.
...Ugh...
...Armed security...? But with the way Rim Billiton treats Infected orphans...
Hmph—
Just hold on... I'll get you out of there myself...
...You...
Please, stay with me... gah... that's a good girl, give me your hand.
Hold tight!
But... I'm so... tired...
What's your name—
...I—
Name...?
Mum... calls me... Amiya...
Amiya, just hold on tight!
I... I'm holding—
I won't let go—
The memory shatters.
This is Theresa's destination, the terminus of the Doctor's memory—
'Theresa...'
......
This is impossible. Every memory should have been...
'Theresa.'
She follows the voice to a void, and it speaks once more from behind the nothingness.
Where am I—
You're finally here. I've been waiting for you.
Doctor...?
Doctor?
Not many people call me that. They prefer my team codename—'Oracle'.
...Oracle...
So you're the one Kal'tsit believes in.
I've let her down terribly. But we had no choice, I'm entangled in an inescapable plot.
I've been watching you from here as you went around nurturing your hopes, as you suffered betrayal—
As if I was looking at my past self.
...I'm sorry.
You are only residue of the Doctor's burned away emotions. There's no way for me to preserve your emotions and memories in our current circumstances...
You've reached your destination, so just do what you have to do.
Thank you for trusting me.
It may be a little late for this... but I'm glad to meet you.
I'm glad to meet you too, Theresa.
Oracle walks into the distance of the endless wheat fields, disappearing within the stalks.
A draft of wind tears through the plain with a roar, and the final scene disperses until only the end of a thread is left.
Theresa holds the strand. It quickly loses its luster, and turns into powdery dust.
It's time to say goodbye...
We'll meet again in the future, won't we...?
Kal'tsit... Amiya...
......Doctor.
Theresa lets go of the final strand of thread in her hand, and watches it disperse and fade away like starlight.
She takes a step forward, towards hope...
Towards death.