New Investigation/Story

Reverse:

* Kuruto Ryuki
* Tama

## Chapters

* Alone (Branch B)

**New Investigation** is a dreamworld in *AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - nirvanA Initiative*. It is based on Kuruto Ryuki's dream of the Interrogation Room and the Cathedral, and Mizuki Date's dream of the Date Residence.

It is the second chapter of the game; Chronologically, it is the sixth Somnium in the game's storyline of Resolution Routes. It is a combination of two Somnium worlds created using the Psync Machine on Ryuki and briefly Reverse Psyncing into Mizuki's dream. Mizuki investigated Ryuki's Somnium in order to uncover more information about the Half Body Serial Killings from 6 years ago.

## History

With Boss's permission, Mizuki Date took charge of the Half Body Serial Killings case, determined to find the culprit who robbed her of her left eye and her adoptive father, Kaname Date. Together with Aiba, she hunted down Kuruto Ryuki, the investigator who had handled the case six years ago. After the explosion that occurred on the case and seemingly took Date's life, Ryuki fell into a great depression and spent the rest of his days getting drunk. When she failed to get any information out of him, Mizuki took Ryuki to ABIS and Psynced into him to discover his secrets.

Aiba and Mizuki found that the first part of Ryuki's Somnium was based on the Interrogation Room at ABIS. Ryuki was slumped against the table, depressed and unresponsive. The duo attempted to ask him about the HB case and Ryuki finally responded, snapping at Aiba for trying to make him remember when he was so close to finally forgetting the case. He continued begging her to stop and then an explosion went off in the room, leaving Aiba unharmed but a strange blue eyeball on the table. Suddenly, Ryuki's consciousness began flowing into Mizuki's brain instead, creating a Reverse Psync. Tama appeared in Mizuki's dream, which was based on the Date Residence. As she and Ryuki began to look around, the Somnium's colors inverted and a mysterious voice asked if they knew the culprit's name.

### Branch A: Can't remember the name...

Ryuki was distraught as he was unable to remember the culprit's name. Aiba managed to thwart the intrusion from Ryuki's brain and reverse the Psync back to normal, returning them to Ryuki's dream. Aiba was confused as to how Ryuki managed to reverse the Psync, but told Mizuki that they would enter his mind from a different path. The scenery changed, and Mizuki recognized it as the Cathedral. The room was in a dilapidated state, filled with falling rubble suspended in midair.

Aiba and Mizuki began pursuing Ryuki, with their path frequently halted by defensive barriers as Ryuki tried to push them away. They learned that whatever Ryuki was feeling guilty about had left him with a heavy alcohol addiction, and had almost lead to him shooting himself as penance. However, he dropped the gun, telling himself that dying wouldn't change anything and that he had to carry his guilt forever. This prompted another explosion, this time revealing a blue figure on the ground with their feet exposed. Ryuki ran away from the scene and up the steps to the Cathedral's platform, with Aiba and Mizuki giving chase.

Halfway up the steps they were confronted by three different Ryukis and had to find the fake one. They were able to identify the fake because he was happy and willing to forget his past, while the other two continued to wallow in their guilt. Aiba agreed with the fake Ryuki that he should be content and accepted by his peers, which caused him to snap back at her and disappear, allowing them to proceed. The real Ryuki screamed that there would never be mercy or forgiveness, causing another explosion that filled the entire cathedral with flames. Mizuki wondered what Ryuki was holding onto that was hurting him so badly.

Aiba then found a police ID on the ground, belonging to someone that Mizuki recognized. When she tried to pick it up, the floating rubble began to fall and more explosions went off. A large piece of rubble fell on top of Ryuki, trapping his lower half as Aiba could only watch from above. A blue figure appeared in front of Ryuki and he apologized to it, saying that he didn't think "this" was going to happen. The figure reassured Ryuki that he would solve everything and then held out its hand. The two suddenly changed places, with the figure under the rubble and Ryuki standing with his hand out. Ryuki looked on in shock as a large pool of blood spread out from underneath the figure, causing Ryuki to let out a long, painful scream.

### Branch B: You remember the name

***WARNING!!***
***This article contains spoilers for*AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - nirvanA Initiative *from this point on.Proceed with caution!***

Ryuki remembered the culprit's name, "Dahlia Boat", and was confused as to how he knew it when he'd learned one part of the name in an alternate timeline. The world appeared to start glitching, and Ryuki broke out in loud, distorted gibberish. Aiba managed to thwart the intrusion from Ryuki's brain and reverse the Psync back to normal, returning them to Ryuki's dream. Aiba was confused as to how Ryuki managed to reverse the Psync, but told Mizuki that they would enter his mind from a different path. The scenery changed, and Mizuki recognized it as the Cathedral. The room was in a dilapidated state, filled with falling rubble suspended in midair. Aiba then realized with shock that Ryuki's Somnium had changed, and there were now two more Mental Locks.

Ryuki appeared, repeating "Dahlia" and "Boat" over and over. As Aiba attempted to pursue Ryuki, a defensive barrier closed around her and a glitched version of Ryuki appeared. Aiba found a broken AI-Ball on the ground that she realized was Tama, Ryuki's AI-Ball. Aiba called out for Tama and she appeared, telling the fake Ryuki to get himself together and to stop holding onto his guilt. Faced with reality, the fake Ryuki and the barrier vanished, allowing Aiba and Mizuki to catch up with the real Ryuki.

They tried to speak to him but were instead shifted to a flashback in Boss's Office, where Boss scolded Ryuki for being too lenient on criminals and gave him a two-week suspension. As Ryuki wallowed from the lecture, Date offered him words of encouragement, telling him that everyone made mistakes and that he shouldn't stop pursuing his idea of justice because of it. This cheered Ryuki up, but then the flashback ended, and the real Ryuki was slumped against the desk with alcohol in hand. He told the absent Date that he'd made a mistake, and he didn't know what to do about it this time. Aiba and Mizuki were able to trigger another flashback of Date offering Ryuki coffee and a quote he'd heard from a homeless man: "One mistake teaches you more than a hundred successes." This cheered Ryuki up again, and Aiba and Mizuki were returned back to the cathedral.

Another defensive barrier appeared, with two distorted Ryukis chasing after Aiba. She got rid of them by firing them with an Evolver, causing them to burn up as they asked Date to forgive them. The barrier shifted and even more distorted Ryukis appeared, which Aiba disposed off by detonating a thermite bomb - just like the one that caused the explosion in the real cathedral six years ago. The distorted Ryukis burned up, this time while saying two names: Kizuna and Mizuki. This made it apparent that Ryuki was holding onto the guilt of Kizuna Chieda and Mizuki getting caught in the explosion; the eyeball in the Interrogation Room had been Mizuki's left eye, destroyed by rubble, and the figure with the prominent feet from the other branch had been Kizuna, her lower body disabled from when the rubble had dropped on her. This was reinforced by Mizuki's iron pipe and Kizuna's loafers appearing within the defensive barrier.

Aiba was able to find the real Ryuki again and speak to him. Like before, she was shifted to a flashback inside Brahman, where a drunk Ryuki complained that no-one understood how good he was at his job. Date told him that he'd drunk too much, but Gen said it was alright for Ryuki to stay. The flashback ended, and the real Ryuki called himself an arrogant piece of shit as he slumped against the bar. Aiba triggered another flashback of Date giving Ryuki food to cheer him up, telling him that he shouldn't worry about his own value because it would inevitably be made apparent if he just kept going. This helped Ryuki along - though he did throw up from the food - and Aiba and Mizuki were returned once again to the cathedral.

The pair dodged around even more distorted Ryukis and were finally able to catch the real one atop the cathedral's platform. When Aiba approached him, he was still trying to make sense of "Dahlia Boat". Tearer's iron mask then appeared and floated down towards Ryuki. Tearer mocked Ryuki, saying that everything was his fault and that he had no future. Ryuki became unhinged and screamed back at Tearer, accusing him of killing Date.

Ultimately, Ryuki's mind was too damaged for Aiba and Mizuki to learn anything helpful from it. The only clue they were given was "Dahlia Boat", the supposed real name of Tearer - but how had Ryuki learned that name in the first place? And why did he feel so guilty about the explosion when it was all Tearer's fault? These were questions they would ask Ryuki in the real world, outside of Somnia.

## Name

* The name "New Investigation" refers to the re-opening of the Half Body Serial Killings, and Mizuki entering Ryuki's mind so that she can learn what he knows of the old investigation and apply it to the new. This can be seen as an ironic title in this regard, as the Half Body Serial Killings is a six-years-old cold case. It can also refer, more generally, to the Somnium being the first of the game, thus symbolizing the player starting a new investigation.
* The name of the Somnium's achievement, "Determination", relates to the Buddhist concept of *satori*, which is about seeing into one's true nature and gaining understanding and enlightenment. Not only does this refer to Mizuki Psyncing into Ryuki to understand the case and its effect on Ryuki, but also to Ryuki's struggle with finding his own concept of justice, and how Date acted as a mentor along the way. In a more general sense, Mizuki and Ryuki are both determined to solve the case, and it was Ryuki's reckless determination that led to the explosion six years ago and left his Somnia in such a damaged state.

## Navigation

 Locations | **Tokyo**
*Chiyoda District*: Police Headquarters (Boss's Office, Psync Room, Interrogation Room) • Sunfish Pocket • Sekiba High
*Chuo District*: Horadori Institute of Genetics (Underground, Hostage Room) • Naixatloz Japan Branch (President's Office, Cathedral)
*Koto District*: Harbor Warehouse District • Date Residence
*Minato District*: Studio Dvaita • Aioen Orphanage • Ikume Shrine • Kumakura Office • Sejima Residence • Central Hospital
*Shibuya District*: Lemniscate Entertainment Offices • Yoyagi Park
*Shinagawa/Kabasaki District*: Matsushita Diner • Sagan Residence • Enda Residence • Kabasaki Chemical Plant
*Shinjuku District*: Golden Yokocho (Marble, Brahman World Cuisine) • Misetan Department Store • Tokyo National Stadium
**Side Ryuki:**
Dispossessed • Anyone Imagines • Ought to Know • Nothing to Be Done • Go • Farewell
**Komeji and Shoma Route:** Joy for Anguish • I Found Me • Past Its Ken
**Explosion Route:** Smiles for Tears • Well-Known • The Mind of God • Not All A Dream • She Was the Universe
**閭｡陜ｶ荵句､｢邱ｨ Route:** 遐ｴ邯ｻ逋ｾ蜃ｺ • All This Happened, More or Less
**Side Mizuki:**
Alone • Pass Mildly Away • End Where I Begun • Traveler • Left Behind • The Expense of Spirit
**Gen and Amame Route:** All Living Things • Of Arms and Of Man • Who's There • All That We Are
**Kizuna and Lien Route:** Bid the Soldiers Shoot • Sweet Silent Thought
**Resolution Route:** Hell • Visions • In Truth • Births • The End of Craving • Braver Than All Flowers