# Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (simply Xenoblade 3 in Japanese and colloquially) is a 2022 video game for the Nintendo Switch, developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo. The game follows the protagonist Noah, who ends up partnered with Mio from the opposing country in the world's endless war, which they work with their friends to end. The game was later updated with a DLC expansion prequel story, Future Redeemed, intended to act as a "finale" to the Xenoblade Chronicles sub-series.

## Gameplay
### Noah

* Keep your heads or lose them!
* You're on fire, Lanz!
* Upon this sword...I pledge my strength!

### Mio

* Ugh, enemies! I'll hold them off!
* Your fate was sealed when you rose against us!
* I hate the waiting part.

### Eunie

* What you just standin' around for?
* Hah! Get wrecked!
* Hear that, Noah? Lanz wants something a bit meatier!

### Taion

* Well, we've been found.
* This should be our plan of attack!
* This should be worth a look.

### Lanz

* Come 'ere! I got somethin' for ya!
* I used my thinking muscles for this one!
* Whooooah, got a rare doo-dah right here!

### Sena

* Smart? I can smart!
* Yippee!
* I'm the girl with the gall!

### Enemies

    Queen of Keves: I, Melia Antiqua, shall face you in mortal combat.
    Queen of Agnus: Rise if you like, it matters not.
    N: I will take her back. My Mio will be mine. And all who stand in my way, I shall destroy!
    Z: I will face you as many times as you want... The struggle is all that you are permitted...

## Story
### Chapter 1

    [Noah's voice narrates over the chaos of a battlefield.]
    Narrator: Two colossal martial nations, locked in war: Keves and Agnus. What is it they need to stay alive? Water? Food? Certainly. But what we need most... is life itself. Taking each other's lives, with the taken flames becoming your own in turn, while the other, the one whose essence is stolen, leaves only a husk. Fighting in order to live. And living to fight. That's the way of our world, Aionios. Cruel irony that it should mean "eternity". Because slowly but surely, our world is now dying. Even though we have yet to realize that fact.
    Noah: We each have a lifespan of ten years. We call them terms. Life begins with our first term, and ends at the close of our tenth. And over the course of those ten years... we fight, continually. Though in reality, there aren't that many who can hold their flame for the whole ten years. Most lose their lives on the battlefield before they reach year ten. But those who do survive to the end are honored in a special service. We call it...the Homecoming.
    Eunie: Remind me, what're we lining up for here?
    Mwamba: Royal decree from the Castle. They say an enemy armored unit's approaching this area.
    Lanz: Come on, man... I just got to sleep and everything...
    Riku: Friend's fault for staying up late!
    Lanz: And whose fault was it I couldn't sleep? I asked you to do the maintenance on my power frame... But you totally messed up my settings!
    Riku: Oho? Ahh. That probably different frame. Riku is popular guypon, crushed by weight of fans asking to do favors. Sometimes mix up orders. Meh. If configs bamboozle, why not fix by self?
    Lanz: That's why I didn't get any sleep, furball!
    Guernica: That mark there... Late tenth term, eh? Three months left. Till your Homecoming - that about right? As for the rest of you... You're probably about two years off, right? Me? I've been alive sixty years. Or should I say sixty terms, by your counting. Yeah. I've been alive six times longer than you lot. This is how people are really meant to be. Listen, folks... That's not all. There's still...something else that needs to be done. You guys... You wanna survive? Live on? Hold the torch? You kids don't need to be fighting each other. Not... any more. But...that doesn't mean you get to relax. From this moment on, those Moebius bastards are never gonna leave you alone. Because now, kids... You share a common destiny. They'll hunt you constantly, relentlessly, without rest. Even so... There's one place that might give you a chance: Swordmarch. The land pierced by a great sword. You gotta find our hope... Our City... It's the only way you're gonna defeat the real enemy... And reclaim what was lost... The way the world, and life... should be. And listen. Don't give up. Ten years? You kids deserve better. The only thing that can change all this... is the will of Ouroboros... You kids, and you alone...
    [Noah looks at Mio's diary. She's been crossing off days.]
    Noah: Is that...?
    Mio: Yeah. My time left. Heh. Think about it. Wouldn't wanna lose track of time, and just run out. Today, it's exactly three months. Three more months...and then I'll be gone from this world. I've thought about this a lot. About what I can achieve... What I'll leave behind... (sigh) I've sent off so many... who felt the same.
    Noah: I see... So, that's why you trusted that guy? You hope to...live more?
    Mio: I dunno. Doesn't matter. But... You and me, just talking like this... I think that's kind of amazing. And if there really is hope... in that place that the man mentioned...
    Noah: Is that...what you'd want for a legacy?
    Mio: Heh. Weird question.
    Noah: Those who can leave their legacy... Are they content at the end? And the ones left behind... Can they really come to terms with that?
    Mio: That's food for thought. Huh.
    Noah: I think about it all the time. What we leave...when we're gone... What that connection truly means.
    Mio: Connection, eh? Heavy stuff.
    Noah: Yeah. That's life, I guess.

### Chapter 2

    Mio: We're pretty different, huh? Worlds apart.
    Taion: No one's worlds apart. If anything, we should be questioning all that we've thought to be true. Differences...are all a matter of perspective.
    Mio: Hehe... Our skeptic.
    Eunie: Hey... Are you always like this?
    Taion: Of course. It's my nature.
    Eunie: Hmm... Personally, I think it's easier to take things at face value, you know?
    Taion: Now wouldn't that be nice.
    Eunie: Eh? You makin' fun of me?
    Taion: All I said was, it would be nice.
    Eunie: Oh-ho, no you don't! You just called me an airhead, you jerk!
    Taion: This is just... How long are you going to drag this out?
    Eunie: For as long as I sparking need to! Until you come clean, four-eyes.
    Taion: I can't believe this. Someone shoot me.
    Riku: Magic sword, Lucky Seven! In distant past, were seven legendary swordsmithpon. Over course of seven years, forged sword from seven types of steel. No other sword like it in existing.
    Mio's diary: We have endured the fierce fighting at Colony 4, and learned that the Consuls and Moebius are one and the same. Truths we took for granted continue to crumble at our feet... We have spent so long blindly walking the path set before us, without question. But we are more curious now. Of our future selves... Of our purpose...

### Chapter 3

    Ethel: The Castle stripped our colony of our Silver rank, demoting us to Dirt. But look. They were made the lowest of the low... and still they chose to stick by me. Even though it meant having to live day to day... That is why I must prevail. Over him.
    Mio: Huh? But, you're...
    Ethel: Free from the yoke of the Flame Clock, yes certainly. However, this is another matter.
    Noah: What is it about, then?
    Ethel: Hunger. Pride. Desire. Joy, maybe... It's a little hard to put into words... But something along those lines. I haven't all the time in the world. And my troops understand this full well. For me... well, all of us, really... a rematch with Cammuravi is everything. And that...will give purpose to the remainder of our lives.
    [Noah and Mio are looking at a trio of Armuidae, a calf and its parents.]
    Noah: That's funny. I'd never noticed that before...
    Mio: Oh, do they...not have Armus where you're from?
    Noah: Yeah... I meant "getting old". Is that what that is?
    Guernica: [in Noah's memory] It's called getting old, this.
    Noah: That smaller Armu over there. It starts little, but grows over time. Becomes like the bigger one. All the creatures do it... But we never change that much.
    Mio: Huh...
    Noah: It's such a basic fact. So why haven't we realized it before...?
    [This scene is being broadcast to the theater in the bad guys' base.]
    Consul N: Realization leads to hope... Which in due time turns to despair. The significance of the stasis is driven ever deeper within...
    Consul Y: A moment in time. A sublime experience. That brilliance, it shines ascendant over all else.
    Consul X: That's why it takes so much frickin' work. Working stinks...
    Z: They all learn sooner or later. They learn how priceless it was, how grossly irreplaceable.
    [Eunie's hands are trembling from a traumatic experience. Taion hands her a cup of tea.]
    Eunie: Oh, thank you... Smells good.
    Taion: Obviously. It's a Sirius Anemone. A rare flower from the Urayan mountains, crushed and extracted.
    Eunie: Wow, look at you. Sounds like a hobby.
    Taion: Hmph... And a practical one, at that.
    Eunie: Yeah...
    [Her hands have stopped trembling.]
    Taion: Like I said, practical. Glad it worked.
    Eunie: Ah! You noticed?
    Taion: I did. Mine do that too.
    Eunie: Uh?
    Taion: I put down my weapon, look around at my companions and feel relief. Thinking "finally, another day down". Then I think of tomorrow and the tremors are back. Will I see the same faces when I wake...? Will I even be around to see them...? Hah.
    Eunie: Easier with the mark, I s'pose. You know when it's coming. But when you're in a scrap...
    Taion: Can you really speak for them, though? For someone nearing the end?
    Eunie: Huh?
    Taion: Because I couldn't tell you. All we can possibly do is wonder what it's like. What can one feel? Contentment, perhaps...? Or sheer horror...?
    Eunie: I'd really hope it's...not fear.
    Taion: Me too. That's just it...
    Isurd: You must've worked it out. This strategy...mirrors that day. When Nimue's life...was cut short! I figured you would try to use that route to flee. That's how I knew to wait right here. And so I replicated the conditions of that day to a tee.
    Taion: But why do such a thing?!
    Isurd: Why? Well, let's see... In a nutshell... To remind you - of your past! To make you relive it, and drive you to despair! To break your heart! To steal all that you hold dear! To ruin you to your very core! [evil laugh] That is my revenge! It's payback for Nimue dying with her wish unfulfilled! It's your own past! It's finally caught up with you!

### Chapter 4

    Mio: Hey, that watch...
    Taion: Our lifetimes run for ten years only. But...this pocket watch has already lived for longer than that, by being passed from Nimue's hands to mine. What Guernica said to us on that battlefield. I don't know what you made of it exactly, but frankly, to me it was a load of nonsense. Not even enough to push us together. But that's changed. If Nimue's life is represented by her dreams, then in remembering those, I carry her life with me. Perhaps now... I can give a purpose to my life. She'd live on, if I were to pass her dreams on to others... Right?
    Mio: Heavy...
    Taion: Also, I've done some thinking. If I had just, say, ten more years... No, even five. With just a bit of borrowed time...how many more memories could I fit...inside this little pocket watch...?
    Lanz: Now that you mention it, what in the world are we even here for?
    Taion: I wouldn't strain your brain too much.
    Lanz: Sounds like *you* have.
    Taion: What gave you that idea?
    Lanz: Cut the snark, just tell me!
    Taion: The end-point of it is... ...suicide.
    Lanz: Say what?
    Taion: If you don't want to hurt others, you'll end up denying your own right to survive. Eventually, you come to the conclusion that the world may well be better off without your presence. The only resolution then, is to erase the self. To die. See? Pointless.
    Lanz: Isn't that taking it too far?
    Noah: The world doesn't just vanish because you've closed your eyes.
    Taion: What...?
    Noah: The moon... Think about it. Why is it that the moon shines? Just because we're watching? Of course not. Even if humans were gone, it would shine on, illuminating the land beneath. And yet... We're the ones that give meaning to it. We say "bit dim tonight," or... "Looks brighter than usual, eh?" Similarly, we can now imbue the world with meaning, or change it. It's a privilege we were lucky to obtain.
    Mio: And that's...the power of Ouroboros?
    Noah: We're obliged to use it. We can make a difference.
    Mio: So we don't become supervillains?
    Noah: That's one thing to aim for, at least. Right?
    Ethel: It's OK, Noah... It's over for us now.
    Noah: That's rubbish! Ethel!
    Mio: This is wrong. All of this is wrong! There's no reason for you two to be fighting each other!
    Ethel: You might not understand now, but someday you will. This is what I... This is what both of us want!
    Noah: How can... How can any of this be what you want?! You're both gonna die!
    Ethel: What we leave you is more important! All our aspirations... You must keep them in your hearts! You must take them... Make it all mean something! You have to live... You must live on!
    Queen of Keves: I have endeavored, for countless years... to protect...and shelter Keves under my aegis. And now you seek to bring ruin to this world. This grieves me.
    Lanz: Come off it. How are we bringing ruin to anything?
    Queen of Keves: You seek to deny it? Think. Upon your actions. Have you, or have you not... destroyed Colony Flame Clocks?
    Eunie: We didn't have any choice!
    Queen of Keves: No choice? Indeed. I assume then...you had no choice but to collude with our sworn enemy?
    Noah: That's why you've been trying to wipe us out? Both us, and Ethel's Colony 4?!
    Queen of Keves: Verily it is said... Ouroboros abhor this world. You must be erased, lest this world be destroyed.
    Eunie: We don't "abhor" anything! Do you realize how many battles we've fought and won for Keves? We've served you our whole lives. And now this bollocks?!
    Noah: Your Majesty! Please!
    Queen of Keves: You say you fight for Keves? That you've served *us*? Are you certain? Rather it seems...you have been fighting for yourselves and none other. You cling to life in your desperation. That is why you have fought. Unchecked, Ouroboros will lead this world to ruin. Now, by my authority, you shall perish.
    Noah: So... That's it? That's your verdict, then?
    N: It is not Her Majesty's "verdict". 'Tis the will of the world.
    Noah: It's what?
    Queen of Keves: Indeed. The security of this world is paramount! Therefore, Ouroboros... The end is nigh...for you shall die by my hand!

### Chapter 5

    Mio: Huh? I was under the impression that you didn't like fish.
    Sena: Huh? Ah... That is true... But... Can't be too picky! My muscles need protein, y'know! Hahaha...
    Mio: Hey, Sena...? There's no need for this.
    Sena: Huh?
    Mio: Just be yourself. You know you don't have to do what I do, right?
    Sena: N...no, that's not...
    Mio: Sena...
    Sena: Uh... Sorry.
    Mio: C'mon... You say that too often. You've nothing to apologize for, Sena.
    Sena: Uh... OK...
    Mio: Eat what you enjoy. Never stop being you. 'Kay?
    [Everyone in the party was "born" at age 10 and expects to die at 20. They have no clue what they're about to see.]
    Mio: Where are we?
    Monica: This is a maternity ward.
    Mio: "Maternity"?
    [Monica looks into the room.]
    Monica: Doctor. May I?
    [She talks with the doctor for a bit.]
    Monica: Come.
    [The party enters to see a newborn baby in her mother's arms.]
    Mio: (gasp)
    [The father invites the party closer.]
    Taion: It's so...small...
    Sena: It's a little...person!
    Riku: It so teensy-tiny, but it move!
    Manana: Much rejoicing!
    Mio: Uh...
    Mother: It's OK to touch her. Gently now.
    [Mio gently brushes her fingers on the baby's head.]
    Mio: [awed] She's so warm...
    Mother: Place...one finger. In her palm.
    [Mio lets her pinky finger get grabbed.]
    Mio: (big gasp) Hey, Sena... Look at this! You need to try it too!
    Sena: Whooa, you're right! Mimi, it's incredible!
    Taion: [uncharacteristicly excited] L-let me have a turn! Wh-! Hahahah! This is...incredible, Sena!
    [Everyone has a moment.]
    Monica: Funny, right? But this is...human beings' true nature. If you want the ins and outs, go and ask the doctor. Monica gestures at the doctor, who smiles.
    Doctor: All right then, lads and lasses. Who wants to know how babies are made?
    [Everyone's hands shoot up.]
    Doctor: Hmm. Well, you're in for a surprise. Buckle up!
    Mio: You've no idea how many lives we sent... All the friends we had... Wishing they'd had more time! That was each and every day for us. But it was all we could do. It was all we had to believe in... Day in, day out...
    Ghondor: You are... an off-seer?
    Mio: And when we finally made it to the City... I realized there was a whole different world out there. "They're so lucky." I really thought that. I was astounded... Just by extending our years, life could be so different? I even saw the beginning of a new life... That tiny little hand...that was grasping mine... I can understand why you want to protect that. If that's the "now" you speak of, we'd never kill that. Still...! That's why! We're trying to protect it for you! To save our friends! To build a future that would make us free!
    Ghondor: You've got about a month. That enough? For that?
    Mio: I don't know. My time might be up...before our fight is truly over. There's...probably not that much I can do.
    Noah: Mio...
    Mio: But...I've got to try! I'll keep trying...while my flame still flickers!
    Lanz: Here's to us. The mighty weaklings!
    Sena: If you stop us, everything's just going to stay the same!
    Shania: IT WON'T STAY THE SAME!!!
    Sena: Shania...!
    Shania: What's so natural about the life you want? A life you only get one shot at? At any point, someone could come along and tell you "OK, that's it, time to go!"
    Sena: And who are you to say that life's worse?!
    Shania: I know more than you! It's madness wanting a world like that!
    Sena: (small gasp)
    Shania: The best world for us... is a world that at least gives us another go! We fail, we try again! We might do even better next time round!
    Ghondor: Shania... Enough now...
    Sena: We're made to fight! To kill each other! Every single day! Just hoping to see another dawn!
    Shania: Either way, we're still fighting for survival, aren't we?!
    Sena: (gasp)
    Shania: Am I crazy? Am I saying something strange? 'Cause I don't think so. I genuinely don't!
    [Mio is about to die from age. The party is being forced to watch. N carelessly tosses Noah's off-seeing flute at him.]
    N: Pick it up. You're an off-seer. So send her.
    [No response.]
    N: [cold amusement] What's wrong? Go on, send her. Isn't that your role? Isn't she your Mio?!

### Chapter 6

    Noah: Daddy will have to go soon... All right? But you know, your Daddy's and Mummy's love, our life, will always be within you. You'll never...be alone. Things will get tough... You'll be hurt. You've a whole host of things to go through... as you head into the future. A time might come...when you'll be on the verge of giving up. But you have to keep going. Make friends. Keep them close to you always. That's what Daddy and Mummy did. The child sniffles, tears forming in his eyes. Noah hugs him tight, and lets his own tears flow. As Noah's body glows golden with motes, he looks at his son again with a smile. We're with you...now and forever...
    Z: There are two roads set before every individual... The left. The right... What lies down the road you choose? Is it hope? Or despair...? It repeats, and repeats, as you make countless, endless choices. You too, like everyone, have been making them all along. If the results satisfy, that is well and good. But...if they do not satisfy... What then? Will you weep, battered by grief? Or howl, seething with rage? Have you never prayed that time would simply stop? Have you wished the "now" would last forever...? Your two lives, thriving and persisting far beyond Homecoming, surpassing the system of the world. I was fascinated, even beguiled by you. My name is Z, the ruler of this world. I shall grant...your desire. So you have chosen, then. The "endless now".
    Mio: N. Do you know why she traded places with me? She felt imprisoned. And you... You put her there. Shuffling lives pointlessly back and forth... for an eternity of control.
    N: You call it...control?
    Mio: She never really wanted anything like that. She just, she wanted to live out her precious days together with you. You should've been able to give her that!
    N: Is that...why she handed her life to you? Is that why she rejected me?!
    Mio: It's not rejection! She understood, she always knew your reasons! All she wanted was to end your misery... That's the reason she gave this body to me. By leaving this world behind, she wanted to tell you - she didn't want "forever"... She wanted to be there with you...!
    N: And so she left me behind? She wouldn't do that! How can we be together now?! With her gone from the world, what's the point of it all?!
    Mio: It's you that drove her to this! Wake up already! You're Noah, right? Why...? Why does nothing seem to get through to you?!
    Noah: I wanted time to stand still... More than anything. I felt completely powerless, I wished time would stop. If the moment could have lasted forever, we... I wished for the unthinkable. Just like N. I proved to be just like him...
    Noah: So, I...just pulled it free.
    Riku: Noah mean Lucky Seven?
    Noah: Mhm.
    Riku: Well, seem like it.
    Noah: It's not changed one bit.
    Riku: Well, obviously. Shape just cosmetic.
    Noah: Pardon?
    Riku: People and Ouroboros also not change. Before pull free, Moebius power not affect it either.
    Noah: Right, mm.
    Riku: Lucky is simple contraption. What actually matter, Noah-
    Noah: The will of the...wielder.
    Riku: If understand, then why ask?
    Noah: Just who...are you?
    Riku: Riku just Riku, common variety Nopon.
    Noah: And how's a common Nopon get his wings on this?
    Riku: As said, received from masterpon to keep safe.
    Noah: [doesn't believe a word] Really?
    Riku: What Noah possibly think? Riku mustard up some big fancy lie?
    [Noah tries and fails to not laugh.]
    Riku: What Riku say funny?
    Noah: Nah, all good. We'll say I believe you.
    Riku: Meh-meh? Riku bothered by that wording.
    Noah: Don't worry, I think I get it now.
    Riku: Oh?
    Noah: Nonetheless, Lucky Seven is something we'll have to cherish as we go on. Riku...thanks a lot.

### Chapter 7

    Queen Nia: In the distant past, what was once a single world was cleft in twain. Plus and minus... On the surface, they were identical. These two worlds, of opposing nature, knew nothing of each other as they wended their way towards their own respective futures. However, the worlds yearned for each other. Against the solitude of existence, they strove to reunite... though it would spell certain destruction. Should the two worlds intersect, they would cancel each other out and cease to be, leaving only light. Light... A shining beacon in the darkness. The last common language left to us. Though we inhabited separate worlds, the medium of light allowed us to communicate for the very first time, and so we sought for a way to prevent total oblivion... We pooled our knowledge, and through time gave birth to a single point of hope... Origin. An ark, containing all the worlds' data, recorded in words of light, carrying hope into the future... Origin was a system we constructed to reboot the worlds' states. And then... the time was upon us. The reboot process failed to initiate. Instead, in that instant, the worlds became still. By the will of Moebius.
    Queen Melia: About Z... He is not a person, but a concept.
    Noah: Concept?
    Queen Melia: Everyone can feel uncertain, frightened... These feelings, coagulated, and then given human form, are Z. Unlike those people who were granted a Moebius body, he is a true Moebius.
    Noah: Sounds ominous...
    Taion: So he's not even an individual?
    Queen Melia: He is and he isn't. There is some Moebius within you, too. But...perhaps you've realized that?
    Bolearis: Come on now, you lot! It's time for Colony 4 to show off its fangs! So what're you loafin' around for?! Get your arses in gear!
    Soldier: S-s-sorry, boss! It's just, th-the engine's conked out and won't start!
    Bolearis: Then *kick* the mudder till it does! You gotta be firm! Really give it some elbow grease here!
    Soldier: Sir, that's insane! This is a delicate instrument!
    Bolearis: Delicate, my arse! [He walks over and starts punting the wall.] Whack it! Smack it! Show it who's sparking boss!
    Soldier: I'm telling you, you can't just kick it and...
    [The engine roars to life.]
    Bolearis: Well lookee here, guess I'm the boss!
    Soldier: ...Is this a joke?
    Z: Freedom is nothing more than fiction... A deception. Those with power, those who can choose think nothing of it. What then of those who cannot choose? What about the meek and frail? Not everyone is granted as many options as you all have! Will you share? Give them some of yours? Will you call that charity? Or compassion? Will you show it? Imagining them who are granted it to be thus satisfied? Imagining not a piece of wretchedness to remain? Making the best possible choices under duress. Living the best life. There are no losers in the world I offer. With a turn of the clock, anyone can be a winner, given the time.
    Sena: The only thing we ever do is take lives! There is no winning! You can't just invent some rule!
    Z: Why do you recoil from taking lives? The world itself has set this rule - why...resist? It is through consumption of life that this world persists. Denying it is self-delusion. The only outcome, self-destruction. It is unequivocal fact! The imperative that is intrinsic to all living things! The source of our power, and of all living things, lies therein. Young, spirited people, trading lives, aiming for new, ever-loftier heights with each new day... That explosive motive power is something we lack. The essence - of life! And we are here...to express ourselves as an embodiment of life!
    Noah: Z and the other Moebius... They wanted to protect the world too.
    Taion: That's why they created one they could control. I see where they were coming from.
    Lanz: That's something that... we feel almost every day.
    Eunie: Having to change... To continue to change, that's sparkin' scary.
    Mio: But...we can say this: Even if we are reborn later, right then, what we think and feel that moment is real. To sacrifice that is never the right way.
    Sena: If you can't be true to yourself, then you're doing something wrong.

### Future Redeemed

    [On a fresh battlefield, only one person from each side is left.]
    Matthew: Is it just those two left? No one else?
    A: No one. Mutual destruction. The battle has already come and gone.
    Matthew: Then why are they still fighting?
    A: It's just who they are. Nothing for us to get involved with. Pull back. Moebius will notice.
    [Matthew thinks about it for a moment, then starts to go in.]
    A: ...Oh, come on! Matthew!
    Matthew: I'm not just gonna stand aside! They're only kids! I'll put an end to it! I have to!
    A: Moebius are always present for the aftermath!
    Matthew: Then that Moebius is getting a socking!
    A: Both of them?!
    Matthew: Then I'll make it a two-fer!
    A: Ughhh...
    [Nikol is interested in Shulk's mechanical arm.]
    Nikol: Your arm...
    Shulk: A war wound. From way back when. Then Riku here made me this one, but...
    Riku: "But"...what, please? Manner of expression seem pointed.
    Shulk: I'm not saying it's bad! It's not bad at all. Just a little squeaky.
    Riku: That same as saying "bad". Riku had to make from hodgepodge material. Do not nitpick.
    Nikol: People...would bully me...
    Glimmer: Wha?
    Nikol: Cause...I can't summon a Blade. Makes me...kinda useless. ...But all those bullies, they're dead now.
    Glimmer: Yeah? Well, good for you. Bet that's a weight off y-
    Nikol: Someone like me... How'd I survive? Nobody else did... ...But now, I can make something of myself. That's how it feels. Honestly, just knowing who I'm meant to be fighting... That's the biggest thing of all.
    Glimmer: Nikol...
    Nikol: Another thing...I'm happy about.
    Glimmer: Hm?
    Nikol: Back then... I'm glad I didn't have to kill you.
    Glimmer: You have got to be joking. A little squirt like you could never take *me* down.
    Nikol: That day... we became friends.
    Glimmer: [in denial] You're an idiot. Wow...
    Glimmer: Hey, why do you do all this?
    Rex: Why do I do all...what now?
    Glimmer: All the helping. It's nothing to do with you, but you risk life and limb... fighting to protect people you don't even know...
    Rex: Smiles, I guess.
    Glimmer: Smiles...?
    Rex: If through my fighting...someone out there gets to smile... That's the kind of world I wanna help create.
    Glimmer: And that's why you fight?
    Rex: Yeah. And also...
    Glimmer: Hm?
    Rex: You're a little off. It's not "nothing" to do with me.
    Glimmer: Huh?
    Rex: Long as you're alive...you're always connected to others. We used to call it affinity, or bonds.
    Glimmer: "Bonds"...?
    Rex: Our meeting was the work of chance. Chance. That's what tied the bond between you and me. And now... We gotta protect that.
    Glimmer: Well, spark...
    Rex: Protecting the world, see... It's just that simple.
    N: The people who are of the City... are the future of this world. And in Alpha's eyes, they are a crucial source of power.
    Matthew: So you killed them all... Killed Grandad...
    N: It was Ghondor's choice. I simply cut him down, as he desired.
    Matthew: Stop taking the piss! Grandad wouldn't... He'd never side with the likes of you! "The future's in my hands?" That can't be what he meant! ...You don't even see it. Are you really... that much of an idiot?! [He slugs him one.] It's not just us, you know... It's your arse as well! It's all of that and more that he meant... And if you can't get that into your head, you're about the dumbest bastard there is.
    A: Matthew...
    Matthew: Let's go. I don't have time for his idiocy.
    Glimmer: You're gonna leave him?! He's Moebius!
    Matthew: If he tries a stunt like that again, I'll just sock him another one. This was a family matter, through and through. End of story.
    Alpha: Matthew... Your actions have made the future uncertain. Have you no regrets? Given a choice of this magnitude... Surely...there is doubt.
    Matthew: Oh believe me, got 'em in spades. That's why we move forward, always ahead...

## See also

* Xenosaga
* Xenogears
* Xenoblade Chronicles
* Xenoblade Chronicles X
* Xenoblade Chronicles 2