Corruption

This article is about the chapter. For the namesake side effect, see Nikke § Corruption.

## Chapter Information

### Soundtrack Album

Sleeping Forest

*A dreadful thing that can grow in any of us, regardless of our wishes.*

"**Corruption**" is the first Story chapter of *Goddess of Victory: Nikke*.

This chapter introduces the Counters squad and follows the story of Marian's eventual descent to corruption.

## Synopsis

Content Warning*"All **salacious** and **impure** thoughts have been swirling in my mind!"*The following article or section depicts a **disturbing** or **suggestive** content! Viewer discretion is advised.
Following a rocky start to his very first mission, the protagonist finds his footing as the commander of his squad. But no amount of instinct, talent, or military academy schooling could prepare him for one of the inevitabilities of fighting alongside Nikkes...

### Conflict: A

Now in a relatively secure position, Rapi questions if the protagonist really graduated yesterday. The protaognist doesn't see the issue, but Rapi fails to see how the higher-ups could send an absolute amateur to replace someone who logged actual combat time. Sliding past Marian's obvious consternation, Rapi explains that the protagonist is now commander of the squad, and outlines the mission objective.

Rapi and Anis were sent here on a search-and-rescue operation for a squad that went missing about 2 days ago, but ran afoul of Raptures and due to unforeseen developments, the death of their commander. Anis chimes in by explaining only the ex-commander knew the coordinates for the mission location, and between the man being *dead* and the protagonist not knowing any mission details, the squad is now at a dead-end.

Fortunately, Marian knows where the coordinates are, having uploaded them to her memory before sortie. Taking the lead for the navigation, Marian stops to chide Rapi for her attitude towards the protagonist. Rapi apologizes to Marian, then the protagonist, for her remarks. The man in question accepts the apology in stride, surprising Rapi and Anis by how he *didn't* act up like most other commanders do...

### Conflict: B

Along the way, Anis notices Marian looking unwell, to which the Nikke in question admits she feels a little off. Rapi decides to perform maintenance on Marian, and tells her to *strip*. Marian is quite appalled at the idea of suddenly denuding herself, especially when the protagonist is *right there*. Anis confidently assures that commanders only see Nikkes as emotionless dolls, and don't find them sexually arousing in the least, prodding the protagonist for his opinion. The man's silent response is quite incriminating, and Anis teases him over seeing Nikkes in *that* sort of light. After a little more back-and-forth between Rapi telling Marian to strip and Marian not wanting to strip, the latter finally acquiesces while the protagonist turns around to give some semblance of privacy.

Some time later, Rapi report no anomalies from the maintenance check, an embarrassed Marian chastising her. The squad eventually decides to move on.

### Shifty

A garbled message crackles over the comms, revealing Shifty, the operator providing tactical support for this mission. While the operator is relieved to see everyone is alright, Anis starts giving her grief over ostensibly leading the transport into enemy fire. Shifty is confused, as by scans and reconnaissance, *there are no anti-air Raptures in the area*. Rapi then requests access to the transport's black box, which Shifty promises to send after she's done analyzing it.

With the pertinent details handled, Shifty introduces herself to the protagonist, and pleasantries are exchanged.

### Bandage: A

Shifty warns the squad of the presence of a high-level energy signature, likely belonging to a Lord-class Rapture. Rapi and Anis are not confident in their odds against a Lord and advise a retreat, even if it means forsaking the Nikkes they're meant to rescue. Marian is quite against this course of action, leading the protagonist to question how dangerous a Lord-class can be. Shifty explains that Lord-classes tend to lead groups of high-level Raptures, and a simulation calculates that while they have a decent chance at defeating the Lord, they also stand to suffer heavy losses even if they win. Oh, and a small but noticeable probability they'll all die.

Marian asks the protagonist if he wants to retreat, but he's unwilling to give up on the Nikkes. At Rapi's behest, the protagonist orders the squad to continue the operation, even if it means forcing them to take on the Lord-class. Anis is concerned that the protagonist has a death wish, given that Nikkes can get a second chance so long as their head is intact. The same can't be said for humans. The protagonist asserts that the mission will continue, and Marian urges him to hide behind her as battle ensues.

### Bandage: B

With the Lord-class down, Shifty asks for a damage report. While Rapi and Anis are relatively unscathed and good on ammo, Marian has taken more than a few hits. While the latter insists that she's fine and that the destination is close, the protagonist bandages Marian's wounds. Anis is befuddled at this behavior, as such treatments do nothing for Nikkes, but hearing Marian's elation over the gesture, both she and Rapi simply let it go. Marian asks the protagonist for more bandages, thanking him for each one as the pain seemingly vanishes...

### Red Eye: A

Eventually, Marian leads the squad to an open field, insisting that they've reached their destination even though the vanguard they're looking for is nowhere to be seen. As Marian steps forward to look around, Shifty gives Rapi the blackbox data analysis, and after a moment, she levels her gun at Marian and tells her to stop, accusing her of shooting down the transport.

The blackbox data shows the transport was destroyed by two *internal* detonations. There were explosives provided for this mission that can't go off without a detonation signal, and according to the data, that signal originated from *Marian*. Marian herself...barely explains anything, simply repeating "We're here" over and over until suddenly, her eyes turn *bright red* and she begins chanting "Over here" ad infinitum.

Shifty and the Nikkes are taken aback, claiming Marian has been corrupted. The protagonist himself has no idea about this until it gets explained to him; Raptures can use code that hijacks a Nikke's consciousness, turning them into a puppet soldier. Marian continues to chant "Over here", which turns out to be a distress signal to draw in more Raptures. Rapi readies to terminate Marian, but her aim is thrown off by a sudden rumbling. With no small amount of horror, Shifty recognizes the vibrations as an incoming Black Smith.

A massive Rapture shows up and engulfs Marian before anyone can react. Shifty explains that Black Smith is a Tyrant-class, one of the biggest and strongest Raptures one can encounter. This one's specific role is to capture Nikkes and melt them down into parts for Raptures, hence its moniker. Seeing their comrade get sucked in, Rapi gets an idea of where teh vanguard went; right into the belly of the Black Smith. She then considers the possibility that they're all still alive, given Black Smith's propensity to let Nikkes "simmer" inside of itself before doing anything.

Rapi asks the protagonist for orders, despite Anis insisting they run before they too get devoured. Disregarding Shifty's projections on the odds of success, the protagonist orders the squad to rescue Marian, even if it means taking on a Tyrant with only two Nikkes.

### Red Eye: B

Shifty marvels over the squad's victory against the Black Smith, and relatively unscathed to boot. Rapi checks the corpse for survivors, to little success. All members of the vanguard are deceased, their parts ransacked by other Raptures. Marian is still alive, though she's down an arm and a leg, and the red right eye shows she's still corrupted.

Seeing Marian continue to chant "Over here", Anis remarks that Marian's brain has been terminally corrupted. Shifty elaborates that by Ark regulations, corrupted Nikkes on the surface must be terminated, no exceptions. The one who is tasked with handling that role is the commanding officer...which in this case means the protagonist. Rapi hands the protagonist a pistol to carry out the execution. While she tells him to get close to make sure it hits, the protagonist's body language is all too clear; he doesn't want to go through with this. Anis tries to offer an out by doing it herself, but as Rapi explains, Nikkes are restricted from exerting lethal force against each other.

Coming up to Marian's husk, the protagonist levels the gun at her head. The pistol quivers in his grip as he teeters on the edge, despite Rapi's urging to get it done before Marian becomes an Irregular. The protagonist's hands go slack and lower the gun, Rapi shouting at him before something unexpected happens...

Another hand comes up to steady the gun. *Marian's* hand clutches the barrel and bring it closer to her head. Beckoning the protagonist and calling his name, Marian shocks everyone by steadying the gun until its muzzle is point-blank to her head. Slipping her finger into the trigger guard, Marian thanks the protagonist for his bandage, closes her eyes...and pulls the trigger.

As the protagonist bandages Marian's head wound, Rapi reports the completed execution to Shifty, who confirms it. With the mission deemed complete, the operator orders everyone to return to the Ark. They turn around to head back, Anis stopping to curse as Marian's corpse is left beside the wrecked Black Smith, not even allowed a burial...

### Return to the Ark

Back at the Ark, Anis asks Shifty about what happened to Marian. The operator posits that Marian's corruption acted as sort of GPS navigation that lured Nikkes to the Black Smith so it could capture them. Which does nothing to explain why Marian was normal until then, but Shifty has her own hypothesis. As a Nikke's foremost directive is to protect and obey their commander, her proximity to the protagonist restructured her priorities. Until the Black Smith appeared and her corruption reasserted itself on the list, a sign that her corruption was already quite high...

On the elevator, Rapi asks Shifty for a specific time when Marian was corrupted. While the most likely outcome was during the mission, Marian's destruction of the transport before arriving implies she was corrupted even *before*, while she was *still in the Ark*. Given how the Ark's Aegis Barrier remain uncompromised, that can only mean one thing...

Later, Shifty concludes her report on the operation to Deputy Chief Andersen, one of the Central Government's leading authority figures. The man himself is in disbelief over the reports; how could one commander fresh out of the academy take out a Black Smith with two to three Nikkes, all on his *first day and mission*? Curiosity piqued, Andersen tells Shifty to set up a meeting with this commander in the afternoon with the Nikkes who worked with him.

Some time later, the squad is confused at the sudden meeting with HQ. Anis is sure this is just another of those sessions where the cushy higher-ups pat them on the back and tell them to keep marching in line. The Nikkes become most confused when the protagonist notifies them of the extra condition to come armed.

### Deputy Chief

After introducing himself and exchanging pleasantries, Andersen cuts to the chase. He wants the protagonist and his Nikke to undergo a quick test and directs them to the Simulation Room. Anis is quite annoyed at coming all the way here just to be told to take a test, but there's little that can be done to gainsay a Deputy Chief. As the man calls the meeting to a close, the protagonist stops him to ask a question; does he know anything about how Marian was corrupted in the Ark?

The Nikkes are shocked that the commander would be this impertinent, but Andersen decides to oblige. An investigation is underway, but all that's known is right now, the Aegis Barriers have not been breached by Raptures. He *does* pose a question to the protagonist, however. Hypothetically, if someone *did* corrupt his Nikkes with malicious intent, *and* was someone so powerful that there's nothing he could do to them, what would he do? The protagonist answers that he'd ask why...and also make them pay. Such a prospect intrigues Andersen, but with how tight his schedule is, he dismisses the squad so he can be on his way to another meeting.

### Her Space

A woman named Ingrid welcomes the squad to the Simulation Room, claiming to be their coach for this exercise. Rapi and Anis note how odd it is for them to undergo a skills test *after* a mission rather than *before*. Moreover, Ingrid is the *CEO* of Elysion, confusing Anis as to why such a bigshot is running drills like this. According to Rapi, this is kind of a hobby/side job for the CEO...

Ingrid cuts the chatter and outlines the Simulation Room's features and what they'll be expected to do. Refusing to answer any questions, Ingrid asks the protagonist for his squad name. With the squad locked in as "Counters", the test begins.

### The Trial

While Anis bemoans how tired she is, Rapi reports that the test results should already be logged and looked at. She posits that this test is from the fact that Counters performed so well in the field as to arouse suspicion from anyone reading the reports. With nobody really knowing the full context, all they can do is wait...

Meanwhile, Andersen is convening with Ingrid over the test results, marveling over how *absolutely awful* they are. With these kinds of results, it's a miracle they didn't die within 3 minutes of the operation, let alone take down a Tyrant. Hypothesizing that perhaps real combat is where they flourish, Andersen proposes sending Counters on another mission. When he suggests taking the highest difficulty mission possible, Ingrid picks one from the pile...

Outside, Anis is grumbling over how they're immediately being sent on another mission, snarking at the protagonist's passive acceptance of this unreasonable circumstance. A chide from Rapi cuts the venom off, as the red-haired Nikke asks who the commander for this operation will be. The fact that it's the protagonist again comes as a surprise. Normally, Nikkes and commanders working with each other for consecutive missions often leads to tension, which leads to infighting, which leads to...unfortunate casualties. Thus, a rule was enforced that squads and commanders will not work together until they've spent at least three missions apart from each other.

While Anis grumbles over this being a glorified suicide mission, Shifty pops up and explains that if the government wanted them dead, they'd be dead already. Accepting that this is indeed reality, the protagonist asserts that he trusts Counters and isn't going to arbitrarily execute them over petty issues. This sudden bout of faith is unexpected, but welcome to the Nikkes, who affirm that they'll also put their trust in him.

### To the Surface

As the squad readies for another deployment, they notice a figure approaching them. The girl introduces herself as Neon, a Nikke assigned to Counters as of today. She *also* reveals that she is a spy, who will report whatever she sees back to Ingrid. The rest of Counters note how...earnest Neon seems to be, and consider her to be a small *potential* problem, if not relatively harmless...

## Character appearances

* Protagonist
* Marian (***Dies***)
* Rapi
* Anis
* Shifty (***Debut***)
* Black Smith (***Debut; Dies***)
* Andersen (***Debut***)
* Ingrid (***Debut***)
* Neon (***Debut***)