Heart of the Machine

Heart of the Machine is the third part of .
==Steps==
# Check the unusual area
# Enter the contamination's source
#* Enter the Quest Domain: The Contamination's Source
# Defeat the mechanical monsters that lurk here
#* 
# Examine the strange device
# Follow the mechanical crab and continue your search
# Check on the person who has collapsed
# Collect documents nearby (0/3)
# Stop the Ley Line Extractor
#* Wave 1: 
#* Wave 2: 
# Return to the lab
# Check on the Ley Line Extractor
# Leave the secret lab
==Trial Character==
==Dialogue==
;(Approach the marked area)
: Mechanical Crab: Kuli...
: Mechanical Crab: Kuli...
: Mechanical Crab: Kolu!
: Paimon: It stopped here!
: Tighnari: Upon closer inspection, the plants here are really different.
: Tighnari: Ley Line energies are also stronger here. This may be the place we've been looking for.
: Tighnari: Ready yourselves. We're going in.
----
;(Approach the Ruin Cruisers in the Domain)
: Paimon: There's a ton of mechanical monsters here! They made this place their lair!
: Tighnari: Looks like there's no way to sneak by. Let's take care of them quickly.
;(Approach the device)
: Paimon: What is this?
: I've never seen a machine like this before...
: I don't feel too well...
: Tighnari: Ley Line energy is spilling out from here.
: Tighnari: This device... It's extracting energy from the Ley Lines without end.
: Tighnari: Who in the world would do this without considering the consequences? The Ley Lines won't be able to repair themselves if their flow is perpetually disrupted like this.
: Paimon: That's terrible... We have to stop it!
: Paimon: Let Paimon see... Ugh, Paimon doesn't see controls anywhere!
: I'm starting to get dizzy...
: Tighnari: Standing here is equivalent to being directly showered in Ley Line energy, which may cause irreversible damage to your body.
: Tighnari: , take Paimon and get out of here. I'll see if I can find a way to turn this thing off.
: Paimon: But... You're also vulnerable to the Ley Lines, right?
: Paimon: We're staying. We can't leave you here by yourself!
: Tighnari: Then let's look for it together. If there is no control unit here, then there must be a "trapdoor" somewhere—
: Mechanical Crab: Kolu!
: Mechanical Crab: Kalu! Kalu!
: Paimon: You know where it is? Hey, wait for us!
;(Approach the transparent bridge)
: Paimon: What's this...? It'll only show up if you step on it?
: Tighnari: Be careful, and watch your step.
;(Approach the person)
: Paimon: Look! Someone's here!
: Paimon: Are you the one that's taking the Ley Lines' energy? Turn off that machine now!
: Paimon: Why aren't you saying anything? Too ashamed?
: Tighnari: ...His body is cold.
: Tighnari: It's emaciated, and his eyes are sunken, likely from chronic malnourishment and stress. He collapsed and never got back up. What exactly happened here?
: Mechanical Crab: Kolu!
: Tighnari: ...Almost forgot about you. Here, this is the last one.
: Mechanical Crab: Kalu! Kalu!
: Paimon: What is it doing?
: Tighnari: I'm not sure. Judging by this room's layout, this place was a laboratory. We should find a repository of research documents if we keep going.
: Tighnari: The file room will definitely give us some clues, so let's go take a look. Maybe we can piece together what happened here.
;(Observe the Mechanical Crab)
:Observe Mechanical Crab: (The mechanical crab stands in front of the machine, as if thinking about something.)
;(Follow the marker)
: Paimon: Wooow! It's huge in here!
: Tighnari: This place is very secluded. It's a natural hiding spot.
: Tighnari: The pipes continue further. Let's head in.
;(Approach the marked area)
: Paimon: Did you two find anything?
: Tighnari: There are a lot of lab notes, but it would take way too long to read through them all. I found a tape recording used for an experiment, and based on its serial number, it's from two years ago.
: Paimon: Tape recording?
: Tighnari: Yes. The Spantamad created a device that visually records experiments and consolidates the final production into a tape.
: Tighnari: However, these devices are expensive to make and aren't entirely stable. That's why they are only used in some laboratories and do not see wider usage.
: Paimon: C'mon, let's watch it!
: Tighnari: Hold on, let me figure out how to play the tape. Okay, this should do it.
:
: ???: Karkata? Karkata? Seriously, I look away for one second and you're gone?
: Karkata: Kulilu?
: ???: There you are! Look here — this is our new home!
: Abattouy: I, Abattouy, will unleash my talents here and amaze those ancient fossils at the Akademiya!
: Karkata: Kolu!
: Abattouy: Oh? You're also quite happy! Karkata, do you know what we're about to do?
: Karkata: Kulilu?
: Abattouy: Hahaha... Yes, I thought not.
: Abattouy: Listen up, Karkata. I'm going to make a mechanical life form that can be mass-produced. The technology will be unlike anything else that exists.
: Abattouy: I'll use mechanical organs, and electric currents will course through them like blood. A steel-cast heart that will beat forever, and a brain of myriad components that can think like mine.
: Abattouy: Inspiration from the ruins, and the research that the Akademiya had banned... I hope everything can start anew from this place.
: Abattouy: When you can understand our language and live among us, you will no longer be a boring machine, but a truly living being!
: Karkata: Kulilu?
: Abattouy: It's fine. You will understand. One day, you will understand me...
:
: Paimon: Karkata is the mechanical crab, right?
: Paimon: And that researcher named Abattouy said he wanted to prove something to the Akademiya?
: Banned research...
: Tighnari: I remember now. I had a junior researcher named Abattouy. He was expelled from the Akademiya for researching mechanical life forms.
: Paimon: "Junior researcher"?
: "Junior researcher"?
: Tighnari: Yeah, what's wrong?
: Paimon: Nothing, Paimon was just wondering... Doesn't Abattouy look older than you?
: Tighnari: He is, but academic progression isn't tied to age. I finished my studies a while ago, so subsequent students generally considered me as their senior.
: Paimon: Ohhh!
: Tighnari: Of course, age can be an issue. For a while, people always dragged me into pictures. I felt like some kind of animal on display...
: Tighnari: Ahem, that isn't important. Let's go and see if we can find other tape recordings.
;(If the player goes back and observes Karkata)
:Observe Karkata: (Karkata stands in front of the machine, as if thinking about something.)
;(Approach the marked area)
: Paimon: Look, look! Paimon found another tape!
: Paimon: A date is written on it! Let Paimon see... It's from half a year ago!
: Tighnari: That's quite the time gap. I wonder what happened in between...
:
: Abattouy: It's rare that you malfunction because of an operational error.
: Abattouy: Seems that making coffee is still somewhat difficult for you. Or is there an issue with my set parameters?
: Karkata: Kuli...
: Abattouy: Alright, there you go.
: Karkata: Kulilu?
: Abattouy: Water entered the chela and caused it to short-circuit, so it couldn't receive signals from the ganglion...
: Abattouy: Look at me, talking to you like this. You can't understand me anyway, can you? It's fine. I swapped in some new parts, so you should be alright now.
: Abattouy: Try moving around. Everything in working order?
: Karkata: Kolu!
: Abattouy: Be more careful next time! We're tight on money right now, so we don't have a lot of parts or power to spare.
: Karkata: Kolu!
: Abattouy: I'm glad. Karkata, did you know? Yesterday, I dreamed that you could talk.
: Abattouy: Aren't the bunch at the Akademiya always saying things like "mechanical intelligence is just an extension of statistics"? They were blown away when they saw us talking with each other.
: Karkata: Kulilu?
: Abattouy: Too bad it was just a dream. Forget holding a conversation with me — you're so simple that you probably wouldn't even notice if I died.
: Abattouy: Never mind, I should probably be worrying about next month's power...
:
: Tighnari: After Abattouy left the Akademiya, everyone lost contact with him.
: Tighnari: I thought he was so despondent that he gave up on researching mechanical life forms. Instead, he had holed up here and continued his experiments.
: Paimon: Paimon doesn't feel like he's a bad person. He even changed out Karkata's broken parts. Why would he mess with Ley Lines?
: He mentioned something about "power."
: Tighnari: Let's keep looking around.
;(Approach the marked area)
: Tighnari: Following the serial numbers, the next recording should be here.
: Tighnari: The writing is sloppy. Perhaps his state of mind had changed.
: Tighnari: There's also an undated tape in the wrong spot. It doesn't seem like Abattouy put it there.
: Paimon: Maybe Karkata helped him with sorting?
: Tighnari: It's hard to say. These are the last two tape recordings. Let's watch them.
:
: Karkata: Kulilu?
: Karkata: Kuli...
: Karkata: Kolu!
: Abattouy: Sorry, Karkata. I was just thinking about something. Today might become a special day.
: Abattouy: In my recent experiments, I successfully gave you a living being's "instincts."
: Abattouy: When you're low on power or if one of your parts is damaged, you will prioritize your "survival" command and proactively recharge or replace your parts.
: Abattouy: That is a very dangerous thing. And today, I did something even more dangerous.
: Karkata: Kulilu?
: Abattouy: I've officially activated the third generation Ley Line Extractor. The Ley Lines will serve as our power source from now on.
: Abattouy: Conducting research on mechanical life forms requires a large amount of power. Even if I scrimped and saved, the Mora I have wouldn't last for long.
: Abattouy: I'm also getting tired, Karkata. I don't know what's driving me to continue with this research anymore.
: Abattouy: They say that even if it simulates the operation of a living creature's organs, a machine is still an ice-cold tool. I want to prove them wrong. I want to turn you into a living, breathing, and talking being...
: Karkata: Kolu!
: Abattouy: I'm not talking about anything cheerful, Karkata.
: Abattouy: Modules for language, emotion, and movement... I've been working my absolute hardest to augment and refine your functionalities, but I've never seen an effective response.
: Abattouy: You are my finest success, but even you can't understand me. All you can do is execute limited responses based on preset commands or keywords.
: Abattouy: Karkata, I wish you could speak to me, even just once...
: Karkata: Kulilu?
: Abattouy: *sigh* Yes. You cannot understand me, so you cannot answer me, either.
: Abattouy: It is what it is. In a few days, I'll sell the failed Ley Line Extractor for some Mora and continue my experiments. Life goes on, and I have to as well — I don't have any other choice.
:
: Abattouy: This is new.
: Abattouy: If I place another two control modules here to simulate the brain's thalamus...
: Abattouy: Agh... Of course my heart decides to act up now. Why did I cut medication from our expenses...? Karkata? Come help me— *cough*
: Abattouy: Strange... I feel weak...
: Abattouy: Oh no, I have to shut down the extractor...
: Karkata: Kulilu?
: Abattouy: Shut them off... *cough* *cough* If we let them recharge indefinitely... they'll... go out of control...
: Karkata: Kolu!
: Abattouy: Right... I never input a command to shut down the extractor, so you don't understand what I'm saying...
: Abattouy: In the end, it's just like the Akademiya said: Mechanical life forms only bring danger. My research... Was there any point to it at all?
: Karkata: Kulilu?
: Karkata: Kolu!
: Abattouy: I'm sorry, Karkata... In the end, I still wasn't able to turn you... into a true mechanical life form...
:
: Tighnari: I see, so the Ley Line effluence was an accident.
: Tighnari: After Abattouy's unexpected death, the mechanical monsters were driven by their "instincts" and continuously drew out power from the Ley Line Extractor. This eventually resulted in severe damage to the Ley Lines.
: Then, Karkata...
: Paimon: Paimon understands, then why didn't Karkata go haywire like the other machines?
: Tighnari: Because Karkata is different from the other machines.
: Tighnari: To Abattouy, for a machine to truly be considered a mechanical life form, it must possess features similar to any other living organism... It should be structured similarly, it must be able to cry and laugh, and it must have the capacity for independent thought...
: Tighnari: Perhaps only by building such a machine could he have the Akademiya acknowledge his protracted research.
: Tighnari: But if he had slowed down and saw Karkata as a friend instead of as an experimental product, he would have noticed.
: Tighnari: Karkata can't speak, and yet it cares about Abattouy far more than it does about itself.
: Paimon: What does that mean?
: Tighnari: You'll see in a bit. But before that, we have a more urgent task at hand.
: Tighnari: First, let's find the control unit for the Ley Line Extractor and shut it down.
;(Approach the transparent bridge on the way to the Ley Line Extractor control unit after falling through the hole)
: Tighnari: More of this transparent flooring. It feels like a maze...
: Paimon: It's even more complicated than before. Looks like this place won't let us pass so easily.
;(Approach the end of the path on the way to the Ley Line Extractor control unit)
: Tighnari: Below us is the final room. The control unit is likely in there.
: Paimon: The way ends here. Hmm... Wanna try jumping down?
;(After defeating the enemies)
: Tighnari: ...This should be the control unit.
: Tighnari: Once we turn it off, the Ley Line Extractor should also shut down.
:;(The green crystal on the control unit stops glowing)
: Tighnari: Without an external force damaging the Ley Lines, they should start to slowly repair themselves.
: Tighnari: Oh, but I bet you two are more worried about Karkata. Let's head back.
;(Approach Karkata and Abattouy)
;(A cinematic plays)
:;(Karkata looks curiously at Abattouy's body and tries to place a mechanical part onto his chest)
:;(The mechanical part rolls off. Karkata quickly picks it up and carefully places it over Abattouy's heart)
:;(Seeing no reaction, Karkata gathers all the mechanical parts it collected and piles them onto Abattouy's chest)
:;(Karkata nudges Abattouy's head a few times, but he does not wake)
:;(Karkata's core begins to spark and he curls up onto the floor)
:;(A mechanical part rolls off Abattouy's chest, stopping at Tighnari's feet. He picks it up)
:;(Paimon and the Traveler look at each other and back to Abattouy)
:;(Cinematic ends)
: Paimon: So... Karkata has been collecting parts because it thinks doing so will "fix" its owner?
: Tighnari: Karkata is unable to understand the concept of "death."
: Tighnari: However, it probably remembers when Abattouy replaced its parts when it malfunctioned, and how that restored it to an operational state.
: Tighnari: It's true that Karkata isn't able to think or understand many topics, but it is like a small child that imitates what adults do.
: Paimon: So that's why it kept stealing mechanical parts... But, it can't repair its owner, no matter how hard it tries.
: Tighnari: Yes, but the important thing is that it formed the thought of "wanting to repair Abattouy."
: Tighnari: Who knows how this thought came to be... but it has even suppressed the "instincts" that Abattouy had installed.
: Tighnari: If it really is as we've predicted, this research truly will make waves in the Akademiya. It might've been possible to achieve this with ancient technology, but no one has been able to do the same with modern tools.
: Paimon: Karkata? Karkata?
: Paimon: Can you hear Paimon? Tighnari says you're awesome!
: It's not responding...
: Tighnari: It reached its limit. It hasn't recharged this entire time, nor has it replaced its severely damaged parts.
: Tighnari: It's truly a miracle that it managed to hang on for so long.
: Tighnari: I'm going to go confirm that the Ley Line Extractor has shut down. Come with me.
: Tighnari: Let them... be alone for a while.
;(Interact with Karkata)
:Lab Scene: (Before you lies a non-operational Karkata and a lifeless Abattouy.)
;(Approach the Ley Line Extractor)
: Tighnari: The Ley Line Extractor has ceased operations.
: Tighnari: Traces of Ley Line energy are still in the atmosphere, but the effluence's source has been stopped. The Purification Devices will handle the rest.
: Tighnari: Moving on, those affected by the Ley Lines need immediate care. We'll put up an announcement on the bulletin board about the dangers of entering the contaminated region, and for symptomatic individuals to find Collei.
: Karkata...
: Abattouy's research...
: Tighnari: According to the Akademiya's policies, we need to bring everything back.
: Tighnari: Research materials related to mechanical life forms will be destroyed, and Karkata will be disassembled and sealed away.
: Paimon: What the heck!
: Tighnari: You two should return first. I'll take care of things here.
: Tighnari: Although we've stopped the source of the effluence, the Ley Line energy in the air exceeds normal values. Your bodies won't be able to hold up if you continue to stay here.
: Paimon: B—But...
: Tighnari: Listen, hasn't rested very well, right?
: Tighnari: Also, it'll take some time to pack up all the research documents. You're not familiar with this research after all, so you won't be of much use here.
: Tighnari: Tell the Adventurers' Guild that the incident has been resolved, and then get some sleep. We can discuss matters tomorrow.
:
: Tighnari: Oh, and... Don't talk about Abattouy. The fewer that know about mechanical life form research, the better.
: Paimon: Alright... Then, let's go back to Katheryne...
;(Talk to Tighnari again)
: Tighnari: Why are you still here?
: Tighnari: I'll take care of this. Go and report to the Adventurers' Guild, and then get some rest.
==Soundtracks==
==Other Languages==
==Change History==