Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2/Plot

==Plot==
===Prologue===
Thanks to the activities of Copen "The Luminous Avenger iX", the rampaging administrative AI was destroyed and the world earned a momentary peace. Blade took control of the Sumeragi Institute, and the Minos are now safe under her leadership, and so Copen now focuses on his main hobby of research. At some point a broken rifle-shaped information terminal called the Blaster Rifle suddenly appeared to him. It was an OOPart-like thing, being made from materials and tech that don't exist in this world. Whilst Copen claimed to Kohaku and Lola "If I research this, it could prove the existence of other worlds," an incident occurred.
A voice echoed from nowhere saying "...Please...save..." and at the same time, a wormhole appeared and sucked Copen, Lola, and Kohaku.
They awaken stranded in another world (異世界, Isekai), a desert populated solely by mechanical lifeforms known as Workers--humanity is long dead. The Workers were originally labor robots created for the purpose of environmental restoration, and by default are friendly to humans, but with humanity's extinction have been left to their own devices for generations and are thriving with their own culture.
The Worker girl who originally found them, Null, assists them and suggests they seek a structure known to Workers as the Grave Pillar, an enormous tower which hosts environment restoration experiments and is said to have all the world's data at its summit. The tower was left behind by a figure known only as "The Creator", who also created the original Workers. After months have passed, and now being equipped with new gear, including the Blaster Rifle's remains trimmed down into the new Razor Wheel weapon, Copen and Lola make their way to the structure.
===Reaching the Grave Pillar===
Upon reaching the tower, they encounter a slumped over, lifeless Worker left to rust, which suddenly transforms into a black and red armored figure, with white hair, a face concealing mask, and a damaged shield with an X pattern on it, but with one of the lights out, forming a Y. The figure immediately attacks, and after taking critical damage assess its condition with a mechanical voice and retreats. Lola comments on its similarity to Copen, and Copen questions how they could copy his data instantly, but focuses on breaking the barrier blocking the entrance to the tower. He is then called out to by Kohaku and Null, who managed to follow him despite the area's defenses. After he scolds them for doing something so dangerous, the barrier suddenly deactivates. Null suggests that the presence of a human, Kohaku, caused it, as the tower was created for humanity. Copen commends Kohaku, but she insists he's human too despite his cyborg nature.
Entering the tower, they marvel at the physically impossible environments on the facility map such as an active volcano, as well as the physical amenities and cultural artifacts stored within. Null elaborates on some things, such as the existence of a Mother Computer at the top which holds the data and oversees the tower, and that Workers also developed a hypothesis that humans went to another world, which Copen can't dismiss given how he got there and the areas that can be accessed from the tower. Proceeding upwards, they encounter a bulkhead with two keyholes blocking the way. Lola's analysis determines that there are two Workers who possess the keys, and Null elaborates on them. Within the Grave Pillar are powerful Workers responsible for its protection and assigned blocks within it known as Gravekeepers. Seeking out Dacite in the Volcano Block and Vespa in the Jungle Block, Copen requests to simply borrow their keys, but due to their "command" as Workers to eliminate intruders he is forced to destroy them and take the keys. Null comments that they're special workers and the tower's maintenance system will eventually repair them, and Lola expresses hope that any future encounter with them will go better.
Preparing to unlock the bulkhead and wary of what might be ahead, Copen orders Kohaku and Null to stay behind while he and Lola proceed. Entering the Passage to Upper Stratum, his concern is validated as it is revealed to be full of security robots, unlike the previous area. Destroying as many as they can to clear a path, the figure they fought outside the tower appears. Now capable of speaking properly, the figure identifies himself as Ypsilon, and claims that his "command" is to defeat and surpass Copen before attacking, using copied moves from Dacite and Vespa much like Copen's own ability. After being defeated, Ypsilon expresses frustration and that he should be the one by Mother's side, before retreating once again to collect more enhancements. Copen and Lola are left confused by his existence and motives. Copen concludes that something is wrong considering the state they originally found him in, and speculates Ypsilon has an AI error and is mistaking him for someone else. With the coast clear, they bring Kohaku and Null up to a new area free of security robots.
===Upper Stratum===
In the upper stratum, Copen notes that there are more research facilities compared to the lower area. Proceeding upwards, they once again encounter a bulkhead blocking the way, this time with four keyholes. Copen and Lola seek out the Gravekeepers, Autochrome in the Laboratory Block, Brigade in the Industrial Block, Hail in the Arctic Block, and Ace in the Space Block.
Following the defeat of two Gravekeepers, a discussion about their identical inner frames comes up. Null claims that Workers like herself are generally created using a combination of a basic inner frame and programmable particles called Pix, and although the Gravekeepers may have special frames the principle is the same. Lola comments on how the mission-obsessed Gravekeepers are nothing like Null, and Null reveals that she's the odd one, calling herself a faulty product when questioned. When Null was created, there was an error in the production process and she was never given a mission. While normally such Workers are destroyed, she was saved by odd strangers, raised by them, and given the name Null to signify both her lack of a given mission and potential to become anything. Kohaku reassures her, calling herself the human version of a faulty product and sympathizing as someone who was part of a group of outcasts. Copen offers to program a mission for her, but Null declines and says she wants more time searching for her "mission", and he apologizes for being out of line, but Null says she'll agree to that if she never finds a mission.
Following the defeat of another Gravekeeper, Ypsilon reports to the Mother Computer, who is sleeping in power saving mode, about the situation. Upon awakening she does not recognize him and apologizes for having fragmented memories after sleeping for so long. After he introduces himself as Ypsilon, she is confused, remarking that that model was supposed to be destroyed. Ypsilon reports on the intrusion into the tower and defeat of numerous Workers. Mother is puzzled and asks if the barrier was destroyed, checking the logs. She is shocked to find a lifeform signal, zooming in on Kohaku, and is further surprised by her being human. Checking further logs about her appearance, she concludes that Kohaku's presence deactivated the barrier and revived Ypsilon. She then orders Ypsilon to bring Kohaku to her, with him being ecstatic to receive a command from her. Apologizing for neglecting and scrapping Ypsilon, she addresses him as her dear partner and says it's time for him to make himself useful. Ypsilon is eager, but asks for more time to prepare due to the strength of the intruders, which Mother allows. After his departure, she remarks that at long last her wish might be granted.
===To The Top of The Tower===
With all Gravekeepers defeated and their keys taken, Copen prepares to open the barrier. Ypsilon suddenly appears and seizes Kohaku. Threatening to harm her if Copen interferes, he, Lola, and Null are helpless to let them go. Null comments on Ypsilon mentioning Mother's orders, and although they don't know what's going on, they know where he must be going. Copen and Lola proceed after him into the Passage to Top Floor, eventually encountering a rebuilt Vespa and Autochrome, who fight together but are destroyed despite the fully realized power of their teamwork.
Ypsilon is found by himself at Entrance to Top Floor, and reveals that he sent Kohaku to Mother in the Hanging Gardens above. He then destroys the teleporter to prevent pursuit, laughing maniacally as Copen is enraged. Null appears claiming there's another way, observing the remaining Pix from the broken teleporter. She claims to have finally found her mission, then violently impales herself with its cables to absorb its data and gain its functions. Copen and Ypsilon are shocked, the latter claiming that this will cause her own self to be overwritten. As Null struggles to speak while interfacing with the elevator and tower itself, Ypsilon calms down, questioning himself for getting so worked up when he just has to destroy the second teleporter. Copen snaps at him and their third fight ensues, with Ypsilon finally being destroyed. Unlike the Gravekeepers, he goes out in a fiery explosion and has no last words.
Copen tells Null to stay with him, but she claims that being of use to mankind is the greatest honor for a Worker, which he rebukes as nonsense. Not long after, she is fully overwritten, losing her mind and fully taking on the teleporter's functions and interface, identifying Copen as a user and asking for confirmation to send him to the Hanging Gardens. Copen is deeply distraught, but Lola gets him back to his senses, claiming it's what she wanted and they can't let it go to waste.
Proceeding to the Hanging Gardens floating above, they find an idyllic looking paradise, and are confronted by the rebuilt Dacite, Hail, Ace, and Brigade one after another. They are all overcome, and Copen and Lola head further in towards the Mother Computer.
===Climax===
As they continue into Hanging Gardens 2, they soon run into common enemies resembling Lola herself, and soon after what appears to be a tear in the space of the Hanging Gardens landscape, revealing a twisted dimension with glitching structures in the background and cables for the floor.
Finally reaching the Mother Computer room, they find Kohaku suspended midair with Pix converging on her, shifting her body into a form similar to Darkness Mode Lola. The figure expresses annoyance with needing more time to adapt her mind to the body. Copen and Lola demand to know who she is and what she has done to Kohaku. She reveals herself to be Mother, the supervisory AI of both the tower and this world, and that she needs Kohaku's human body to achieve her goal. Before leaving this world, her Master, the Creator, entrusted her with the mission of reviving the human race and protecting the environment. Referring to the world as a hellscape with nothing but the simple mission following Workers and the tower, she claims that despite doing everything she could, the task proved impossible no matter how much time spent trying, making it all for nothing. Copen asks if she intends to use Kohaku's DNA to revive them and offers to help if she just lets her go, but Mother denies it. Suffering malfunctions and having gone mad after existing for so long, her goal is to use Kohaku's authority as a human to overwrite her given mission, and commit suicide while using the tower's resources to destroy all the Workers, "resetting" the world. She expresses deep contempt for the Workers for acting like they are the true owners of the world now, referring to them as good for nothing, and despairs over how even if she did revive humanity it wouldn't bring her Master back.
With an all-powerful AI being corrupted by age and going out of control, Copen remarks that even in a different world, the story is similar. Attempting to subdue the Mother possessed Kohaku, her outer form is broken and the floor collapses, revealing Mother's true mainframe body. She doesn't give up, sealing Kohaku's body in a crystal attached to the mainframe, and Copen tells her that this world belongs to those who live in it--Null and the Workers. In round 2, Mother primarily attacks and defends by manifesting a giant winged solid hologram vaguely reminiscent of Lola's idol form, but with many differences. Overcoming it many times and striking at the mainframe when possible, he eventually causes critical damage and saves Kohaku from the crystal, with a pod form resembling Lola's but with orange and grey colors falling out of the mainframe after Copen grabs her.
====Normal Ending====
Kohaku begins regaining consciousness, and apologizes for the trouble she caused while possessed. As they regain their bearings, the damaged pod Mother says that finally she can rest, and notes that it's strange how even though he isn't human, Copen looks just like her Master, before going offline. Copen and Lola observe the familiar form of Mother's core, but can only speculate. Kohaku reveals that while possessed she could see Mother's memories, and thinks that Mother truly believed the world was broken and needed to be reset, yet was also aware deep down that something was wrong with herself, and may have wanted Copen to stop her. Although it was faint, Kohaku also believes the "Master" she saw in Mother's memories looked just like Copen.
A blackout occurs, and Kohaku says that the machines are probably shutting down now that Mother is gone, but they should be safe since the Gardens are fixed in space rather than floating with machines, although she's not quite sure how it works. As Lola fears they might be stuck there, Kohaku reveals she learned more things about the Gardens, Tower, and possibly even about Null, and identifies the path to an emergency exit. They find a white wormhole similar to the one that originally brought them to this world. Kohaku is confident it will take them home, and says it must be Null's doing and her way of saying goodbye. Returning to their own world, they encounter a worried Blade, Jin, Kyota, and Maria amidst ruined buildings.
After the credits finish, it cuts to Null, still gruesomely merged with the teleporter and fully conscious. She thanks them for everything and tells them to take care. 
====Bad Ending====
If Kohaku is injured too much after the crystal breaks, Mother will say "Not yet..." instead, followed by silence from Kohaku and Lola being worried for her. Everything else plays out as in the Normal End.
After the credits, Copen and Lola talk with Kohaku about how her cleaning up the lab and being very diligent lately. Kohaku says she recently had a slight change of heart, and a nervous Lola asks if she's really Kohaku. Kohaku asks what she's talking about and asserts that of course she is. It then cuts to an image of Kohaku with the lightless purple eyes of Mother's hologram form, giggling and saying she'll be here with Copen forever.
(This unlocks art of Mother possessed Kohaku to her menu outfits, along with the line "We'll be together forever, Copen."
===Hard Mode and True Ending===
Discovering a hidden passage in the distorted area of Hanging Gardens 2, Copen passes through a door marked with an X and finds a room with a differently colored teleporter, much like the one that sent them up from the Grave Pillar. The same disembodied voice from before the wormhole that brought them to this world speaks out, telling him that he must save "her", and the teleporter activates, warping them back to the Pillar Outskirts. Lola says that the Grave Pillar in the distance feels like it has a different atmosphere now. Copen checks his equipment and sees that some of it is malfunctioning, and attributes it to damage from the teleporter or interfering jamming. Resolving to climb the tower again, Copen claims he'll bring back Kohaku no matter what.
As Copen and Lola reach the entrance, they are confronted by a figure nearly identical to Ypsilon, except with white armor, blue lights, and the X on his shield complete. Upon defeat, he fades away. As Copen and Lola defeat the Gravekeepers once more and restore some of their lost equipment, the white armored figure is encountered again, this time with the Gravekeepers' moves and an extremely powerful version of Stellar Spark as his special skill. After he is defeated and fades away again, Copen and Lola ponder his existence. Lola doesn't think he's Ypsilon, and because she didn't get any readings from his presence, admits she thinks he's like a ghost, although Copen is skeptical of the idea.
Confronting the figure for a final time at Entrance to Top Floor, his mask comes off revealing a face nearly identical to Copen's own. Referred to only as ???, the figure claims she can no longer hear his voice and that he can't do anything anymore, and beseeches Copen to save Mother. As he fades away in a pillar of light, he causes Null to be restored to her original self and the teleporter's data to be transferred to the Razor Wheel. Copen, Lola, and Null are left perplexed by the events, with Copen only speculating that the Pillar itself or one of the Workers was responsible, although he admits he isn't sure. Null reveals she was watching over Copen's movements while part of the tower, and will do her best to help save Kohaku.
With the dialog somewhat different from in the Normal Mode version, Mother is finally confronted and defeated. Her damaged core addresses her Master, claiming to have missed him, before going offline. Null thanks her for everything. No blackout is seen occurring, and the scene switches Copen, Lola, Kohaku, and Null back in the Hanging Garden, with Mother's core placed by the flowers. As Null prays, Lola is surprised by something in the air, and she, Copen, and Kohaku look up to see what appears to be spirits of the white armored figure and a different version of Lola. Lola asks Copen whether machines like them have souls, which Copen can only say is a good question.
Afterwards, Kohaku questions how they're going to get home. Null says she found a way home while "spending time" as a teleporter, and reveals that the one in the pillar had the ability to reach parallel worlds, and with its data now installed in the Razor Wheel that can be used to return home. Null speculates that The Creator used this function to travel to a parallel world, and Lola notes how he never came back and Mother ended up the way she was. Copen guesses what happened at the end of that journey, but doesn't speak it. He then speculates that the one who sent the Blaster Rifle in the very beginning was... Kohaku doesn't get it, but is happy there's a way home and considers how much everyone must be worried.
Null is happy that she was able to help, but becomes sad at the prospect of them leaving now even though she knew it was coming. Although Lola and Kohaku get sad too, Null mentions that with the Razor Wheel it will still be possible to meet again some day, if they want to, with Kohaku saying of course they do. Copen gets to the point and asks Null if she wants to come with them, saying that if she can't find the "mission" she's looking for in this world, she can try finding it with them. Calling her possibilities limitless, he says she can try to find it here, their world, or any other, as long as she wants to. As a white wormhole is opened, her answer is left unrevealed.
===DLC Character Encounters===
====Yang Yumo====
Under unknown circumstances, Copen and Lola encounter Yumo in a block of the Grave Pillar resembling the Jungle Block. Yumo sees the "scary look" in Copen's eyes and becomes worried that he's possessed due to him carrying a buzz saw, while Copen is surprised to have found another human. Due to inability to communicate, a fight ensues, seemingly ending with Copen the victor and Yumo returning to her world under unknown circumstances. According to Lola in the Dusk Diver 2 DLC subquest "Visitors from Other World", Yumo held back against them in the fight.
====Jason Frudnick====
Outside the Grave Pillar at night time, a super-dimensional space tear opens up before Copen, with the SOPHIA-J1 coming through it and Jason jumping out of the cockpit. He identifies Copen, and thanks him for the improvements made to his equipment by analyzing Copen's. (In the Gunvolt News Channel 37 stream about the DLC, it was revealed that Jason created his hover ability in BMZ3 based on Copen's.)
Copen is confused, as he has no idea who Jason is. Jason apologizes and claims that his acquaintance with Copen was one-sided, and remarks that he's learned a lot of things while traveling through SD space. He then properly introduces himself as Jason Frudnick, a scientist like Copen himself. Jason briefly ponders over their meeting being brought about by Roddy's* Blaster Rifle, before deciding to challenge Copen to test his strength. The fight concludes with Jason wishing to meet him again.
*Roddy, in this case, is the deceased and never seen pilot of MA-02 Andreia in Blaster Master Zero 2, whom Jason and Eve later name their son after. Like Eve does in the canon BMZ2 story, in his DLC Copen retrieves the damaged remains of Roddy's rifle. This broken rifle serves as the basis of the Luminous Avenger iX 2 story, although Copen has no idea how he got it, and later concludes The Creator was the one who sent it to him.
====Kirin====
Having been sent to the alternate desert world outside the Grave Pillar during a battle, Kirin ends up before Copen, whom she mistakes as part of the enemy's attack and fights. During her brief conversation with him, she deduces the iX 2 world is one of the Potential Worlds attracted by Moebius, declares herself Shadow Yakumo's Battle Priestess, but then corrects herself and claims to be with the Dragon Saviors instead.
==Luminous Avenger iX 2 Navigation==
Category:Plot Pages