BP-ST-2 Backflow Current

Señor... Ulpianus?

You?

Phew... So it is you, okay.

We met once, at Gran Faro, actually it was you who approached me... Though I never learned your name until after I got here.

Please, you're not supposed to be here, it's—

Control center for the beacon tower.

That man on the floor... did you do that?

It's the most fitting end for one who fell.

What did he do?

None of your business, young one. Leave this place, for your own safety.

The nest beacons have all been activated. The sabotaged weapons are warming up. How else can I warn the Hunters...?

Is Laurentina's group in danger?

Did this man do it? Is that why you...?

...

You won't tell me. You don't trust me... Well, I don't trust you either, honestly. You never introduce yourself, and seeing all this, it's really only right to suspect you.

But they're your friends. You're a Hunter, too. I think I know a little about your tales together.

He did his dirty work on them before they left.

They're still caught in the Seaborn tide for now. I'm not entirely certain what's going to happen, but the danger is definite.

If they went to plant the beacon and are still in the nest, maybe we could send their beacon a signal from this tower, to warn them.

I was helping out here earlier. I know roughly how the basic controls work.

...Then do it.

O-Okay.

Well?

It's much more complex in practice, but I can say this tower seems to operate on a very similar framework to a lighthouse's control system.

As far as I'm aware, Breogan passed through this city and aided the tower reconstruction effort.

The technician mentioned that the tower will automatically navigate the weapons once every beacon is active, and all other controls will be locked out by the program.

So if we want to send a signal to one of these beacons—let me see...

Just as I feared, it's impossible to resume control.

Do you have any way to circumvent the lockdown?

If Breogan was involved in the reconstruction, then maybe, just maybe... I have a very stupid plan.

My entire time here in Milliarium, I've been trying to get to understand the man Breogan was.

He had a habit of writing things down. Always noting his thoughts, his suspicions, etc. He kept it up even on dry land.

Was it so he wouldn't forget things? I think... I can try temporarily shutting down the main control panel's data decomposition system, like this—

Um, before, you were bringing up... my history...

You called me Breogan's descendant, but just from looking at his images, you can tell I don't resemble the genius architect one bit.

My parents were just Ægirs 'rooted' to the land. There are plenty of us across Iberia and the other terrestrial countries. Strictly speaking, we don't even count as...

So what?

It... it used to trouble me, but recently I've been learning to let myself get over it, to not think so hard about it.

It's just, you were the first to ever mention that to me, so I wanted to be sure. Um, why did you think I was...

True, I did miss the mark, but I never engage in baseless speculation.

There is more of a bond between you than you think.

A bond?

The Profound Silence ruined Iberia. The lighthouses fell dark along the coast, and doubt and suspicion grew in their shadow.

Breogan was forced to flee the splendor he himself had designed. Gran Faro was one place he sheltered while on the run. The research notes your parents left you are undoubtedly connected to him.

They were people he knew he could entrust his life's work to.

Look at what you're doing now, young one. You may not be his descendant by blood, but you have most certainly inherited a portion of his wisdom.

I...

Milliarium is the first Ægirian city you visited and, coincidentally, the last Breogan stopped at before leaving the country entirely.

His trail covers the entire seabed, and everywhere he went he visited those of great repute to share his thoughts on dry land, his conjectures on Terra's future.

He had hoped someone would head for the continent with him, so that one day land and sea might stand against crisis together, seek new possibilities together.

Many admired him for his talent, but perhaps his suggestions were too ahead of his time, for in the end hardly any responded to his invitation.

In Milliarium, he even volunteered to take part in this tower's reconstruction, in exchange for an audience with the then consul.

And?

Do you need to ask? He was rejected.

But as the work finished, he made the final decision to wrap up his winding tour and officially depart for the faraway soils.

Even if his time on the road had gained him practically no support.

...

Think over what you've done. You left the town you knew, and came to this alien place they call your home. That, too, took incredible courage.

In this respect, you and Breogan are not dissimilar. Conversely, if all you'd shared was just blood, then that would have been something to be ashamed of.

I do not usually play psychological counselor, Jordi Fontanarossa.

I think, really, I...

Ah.

That did it. At the very least, signaling a single beacon shouldn't be an issue—let's see, Nest 37...

I hope Laurentina and her friends notice.

Actually, Señor Ulpianus.

Is it just me, or is the air getting... stuffy?

...

My comms just picked up a faint gravitational wave. What a strange feeling, seeing the ripples in spacetime with my own eyes.

Just like in the manual. Seems the beacon's already active.

According to Clementia, this beacon going live should mean the Class IV weapon array will automatically come online.

We should head back the way we came, immediately.

Aw, and here I was thinking we'd stay behind and enjoy our front-row seats!

What's so fun about watching cannons fire?

Oh? Weren't we supposed to have something rather different in store?

I thought we'd see the Seaborn silently 'popping' all at once across the entire stretch. How poetic, how fitting, when you consider all the little bastards' wrongs, no?

Though Class IV weaponry may not affect us, pointless dithering will only invite more variables.

Hrmph, fine. Off we go, then.

(Vacuole merrily whirls)

—!

Shark!

Don't attack yet, Skadi.

It went straight past us?

Doesn't strike me that we spooked it. More like something pulled it away.

...

The beacon!

Captain?

The gravitational waves coming from this thing aren't supposed to be so irregular, are they?

...

Skadi, behind you!

Move!

(Vacuole merrily whirls)

(Soft membrane cheerily stirs)

(Creased skin excitedly shudders)

The beacon's been completely drowned out.

The eggs and newborns are multiplying rapidly!

Clementia said all formless newborns would enter straight into necrosis, and the mature individuals would flee from the area.

While the fungal mat, the vegetation... the whole nest would decay, starting from the environment.

But clearly we're not seeing much of a 'collective necrosis' here, are we?

If anything, I'd say they're full of life!

Pull back!

...

Ever since that little bastard touched my face, I've been feeling sleepy, somehow...

How very strange. It's been so long since I felt this way...

Ugh, I thought it was just me.

This shouldn't be...

Combat only sharpens an Abyssal Hunter's lucidity.

Blandus?

You mean the auto-adaptive junction surgery?

We discovered an anomaly, and Blandus certainly treated us, but he also tampered with the procedure.

Yet whether coincidence or not, the Church's attack cleared our suspicions of him.

...This was my mistake.

But, he's the Advisor. Why would he?

If we want answers, we must make it back to the city.

...

(Vacuole excitedly swells)

The beasts have noticed us, and yet show hardly any will to attack.

Captain, Shark, have you noticed the water flowing... slower?

Get a hold of yourself, Skadi.

No, wait. She's right.

...

...

These animals are secreting something.

Something has provided them immense nutrition. The whole nest is forming a carapace, and spurring every life within to evolve faster.

A 'shell.' If we take the Iberian's so-called 'nethersea brand' as the roadmap for the organisms' expansion, then this shell is the final act of fuelling before it begins.

...

...

Without warning, the beacon pulsed irregular gravitational waves. Right afterward, the Seaborn swarm began to nest around it...

Either this is some elusive aberration in the weapons themselves, or someone in the city is trying to remotely control the beacon to transmit information. Or possibly both.

Whatever Blandus did to us during surgery has dulled our senses.

Consider the hunt on! Time is of the essence! Get out of here!

*pant*, *cough*—

Your cheeks are flushed, and your clothes soaked through with sweat.

I-I'm not nervous!

No.

You're accustomed to dry, arid land. You're more sensitive to dampness than an average Ægir.

The humidity is wracking you.

Hold on...

Look, look at the chart!

Densely packed bio-signatures... from—from right above us?

...

It's the dome above the tower... The Seaborn are seeping into the city through there.

No, but weren't there two Legions out there keeping them at bay? Plus the Hunters...

Even, even if some from other nests slipped around the perimeter, Milliarium still has countless sensor units across the dome, and all sorts of complex defenses...

How could the Seaborn get into the city without a sound?

Did this tower draw them in?

*cough* *cough*, *pant*—But why?

...

My guess is, someone showed them the path.

Blandus, had it ever dawned on you that your folly would lead to such disaster?