Out on the water

ARTIFICIAL HEART // FIRST, known by the episode title "out on the water", is the third episode (when including PRELUDE) of ARTIFICIAL HEART, and covered the events immediately following the hostage situation the group encountered. It was recorded in two parts due to some real-life issues, the first part on January 28th, 2023, and the second part on February 11th, 2023. It has a runtime of 06:33:29. In universe, it takes place from immediately where the last game left off to around 21:38 on the 4th of Neverwinter, 2466.

### Time (IRL)

January 28th, 2023 (part I)
February 11th, 2023 (part II)

### Time (IC)

18:01 (3rd of Neverwinter, 2466) to 21:38 (4th of Neverwinter, 2466)

### Runtime

06:33:29

The previous episode in this arc is deal with the devil. The next episode is the domino effect.

ARTIFICIAL HEART // FIRST is covered by chapters 9-14 of the manga.

### Chapter IX: Nice To Meet You

* Ringer introduces herself by her handle, deciding not to draw her firearm to avoid risking casualties. The man introduces himself as "Antonio".
* Antonio asks Ringer why she’s there, and she tells him that she had planned to meet with a few friends at the café. She responds with the same question, and he claims to be interrogating suspects in search of a terrorist named Mina Robertson. He demands to know how many people are with her. Ringer offers to bring someone else in to negotiate, but he threatens to kill a hostage if she doesn't leave.
* Stroke draws her gun in preparation for a show down, and Diamant decides to step in. Antonio becomes very aggressive and violent, and Diamant attempts to calm him, attempting to get him to release the hostages.
* Antonio claims to be a licensed investigator and says Stitches is a terrorist. Ringer and Diamant both lie and claim they're just customers. Antonio doesn't believe them, telling them unless they're going to help with the investigation, they need to leave. In response, Ringer begins pretending to look up information on Stitches.
* Antonio, seemingly very unstable, loses patience and threatens to kill the hostages unless the group leaves. Trying to remain calm, Diamant agrees to step out of the room and let him leave unharmed. Stroke, however, is unhappy with this goal, and she, Peppermint, and Stitches rush down the stairs, intent on killing Antonio.
* Diamant and the others rush in to release the hostages. The owner of the cafe, Jackie, says the cafe was closed for cleaning, and that Antonio was a violent thug who broke in and intimidated them. She says she does know Stitches, but hasn't been able to contact her.
* The rest of the group confesses to knowing Stitches and working with her, saying that she's fine. Jackie asks them to tell her to contact them, and the group agrees. They then tell the three employees to run, while they head down the elevator after the rest of their group.
* Cut to outside, the other three catch up to Antonio in a parking lot, but he is guarded by a number of PCA soldiers. Antonio makes his way into a vehicle and the group attempts to charge in, but are stopped by the PCAs who draw their weapons and order the group to surrender.
* The group pauses, unsure what their next move should be, but before they're given time to think it over, the PCAs immediately open fire on them, forcing them to retreat as they are heavily outnumbered.
* The other four rush outside and begin running down the sidewalk. As they do, they see the rest of the team running back towards them, and they all regroup.

### Chapter X: Out On The Water

* The sector runs into the nearby alleyways until they feel safely hidden. As their finally catching their breaths, their Wristwatches fill with a strange status and a red circle resembling an eye.
* The being introduces itself as Facsimile and informs the party that it redirected the PCAs to random civilians, and that they are no longer under threat of being chased down by them.
* The sector initially freaks out, but Ringer relaxes them, saying this is a friend of hers and she's known it for a while. She introduces it as a sentient AI, but Facsimile quickly retorts stating that there is "nothing artificial about me".
* The group is just thankful to be in the clear, and decides to try and find a way to catch up to Antonio, who at this point they presume has long since fled.
* Diamant decides to prepare the Kingmaker, a massive helicopter she owns. She contacts Azat, who then flies the helicopter over to a nearby rooftop to pick everyone up.
* The sector climbs inside to find a heavily armed, comfortable interior. They stock up on weapons and grenades, and with the help of Facsimile manage to track Antonio to the Dockyards where he seems to be fleeing. Azat begins flying in that direction.
* The group arrives at the dockyard and finds a parked car, presuming that since it's empty, Antonio fled by boat into The Ring. The group decides to take the helicopter in search of him anyways, and Panda decides to stay behind, claiming that chasing them would be a suicide mission.
* Diamant brushes them off, and the rest of the group sets off while Panda stays behind to keep watch. They fly around for a while in search of where he may be, and eventually spot a large, heavily armed yacht that seems to be their target.
* Stroke, using her Ocular Drone to spy on the yacht, confirms that it has turrets, many PCA guards, and seems to be higher class, and the group deduces that this is likely their target.
* The party begins trying to decide what to do about the guards. Stroke picks up a sniper and decides to try taking a shot at the dwarf guarding the turret, but this quickly goes wrong, as the bullet drop off and heavy armor from the Dwarf causes the bullet to do pretty pathetic damage, and alert the guards to their presence.

### Chapter XI: In Over Your Head

* Diamant orders Azat to kill the lights in the Kingmaker. Stroke puts away her sniper rifle as the helicopter begins to fly away from the failed attack.
* The dwarf opens fire in the Kingmaker, but while the armor is dented a bit, the passengers and Kingmaker itself remain unharmed. There’s a moment of stillness, before a mage on the yacht releases a fireball on the helicopter. Everyone aboard sustains some notable damage and minor burns. The helicopter itself is moderately damaged, and Stroke, who was closest to the impact, has her cybernetic right arm partially melt and become unusable.
* The group flees and lands back at the dock where they meet up with Panda. There is a moment of tension between everyone, as they realize that they failed their mission.
* Everyone decides to leave, going back to their homes for the night. Bosko droves Diamant away, Stoke catches a train to the arena, Peppermint goes back to her penthouse and Panda calls a car for herself.
* Auntie quickly pulls Stitches aside before she could leave, telling her that the owner of the café wanted her to give her a call. Then Stitches leaves and Ringer drives herself and Auntie back to their residences.
* After returning back to her house, Diamant is filled with regret as she realizes she almost got everyone killed. She asks Azat if he well stay with her for the night and confesses to him that she may have made some poor choices, and that she may need to call in some contacts for help. Azat sits next to Diamant and watches her as she falls asleep.
* Stitches goes home to her apartment and calls Jackie, and lets her know she’s okay. Jackie is mainly mad at her for getting herself into trouble, but shows concern for her safety. They talk briefly, and Stitches informs her of her new identity. Jackie tells her that they shouldn’t be talking anymore, for both of their safety’s. Stitches reluctantly agrees, and ends the call, heading off the sleep.

### Chapter XII: The Sting Of Failure

* The next morning, Diamant receives a text from Auntie, asking what the next steps are and if she will still be needing her help. Diamant responds that she and Ringer will be needed, and to stay available.
* Diamant calls Stitches and asks her if she can meet later that evening. Stitches agrees to meet with her and Diamant tells her that Azat will be picking her up before ending the call.
* Stitches gets off the phone and calls Alastor, looking for work. Alastor offers her two options, an assassination on a child, or torturing a guy for info. Shockingly unfazed by his proposals, she considers briefly, and decides to meet him for the torturing.
* Stitches and Alastor meet at an old warehouse out of town, and stepping inside, Stitches sees a man, presumably of a rival gang, tied down. The pair of them then violently attack and torment the man for information, before Alastor dumps him in the street.
* Finishing the job and sharing a smoke, Stitches asks him what the status of her new identity is, and after checking over it, is relieved to see that it’s clean.
* Stroke wakes up and goes to speak to Red about her new arm, who isn't able to come up with any new ideas due to how expensive the arm is. She decides to check in with AM, who hears out her issue. While sympathetic, AM reminds her that he can't fix all her problems, or else she'll never learn to be independent. He tells her to try and fix it on her own first, and she agrees and leaves, before getting a call from Ringer.
* Ringer wakes up in her boathouse and begins doing research on Stroke. She confirms the groups earlier suspicion that there is no logical reason for her to be alive, the job would have needed to either be carried out extremely poorly, or she was intentionally left alive.
* Ringer digs deeper, and finds out that Nakamura Runin is a fake SIN, she has no records of existence other than her arrest report and a birth certificate. Deciding that this needs to be addressed, Ringer calls up Stroke and asks to meet her, and Stroke agrees.

### Chapter XIII: Felony Team-Bonding Exercise

* Stroke and Ringer meet at Tartarus, and Ringer confronts her about the information she found, suspicious that Stroke is hiding things from the group. Stroke, however, insists that she has no idea what's going on, though she does confess that Nakamura Runin is a fake SIN, but says there's no reason her old SIN would cause this much trouble.
* After Ringer calms down, Stroke asks her for help figuring out how to get cash to replace the arm, and Ringer devises a scheme to use her Quickhacks to go siphon money from rich casino-goers.
* The two dress in fancy clothing and drive to The Ballrooms, where they park near a street with expensive casinos and restaurants. The two initially attempt to hang around The Yellow Lotus, but are told to step off by the bouncers. They hide out in a nearby area instead, and Ringer begins siphoning funds from anyone who passes by while Ringer keeps watch.
* In the end, they steal around 24,000 credits, and the two celebrate together on the drive back.
* Meanwhile, Auntie wakes up early in her tent the next day, and goes through her morning routine before starting Shamanic meditations.
* After going through a relatively normal day, Auntie decides to earn some money, and drives over to the Sandman Arena, where she gets involved in a few rounds of fighting. This earns her around 120 credits.
* Peppermint drives to the Panta 62 store where the initial teleportation incident occurred. Meeting up with a small Demihuman named Melanie, she asks her what happened with the spell, and Melanie confesses that she has no idea what went wrong.
* It comes out quickly that the "spell" was, in fact, a teleportation circle. Melanie says it was donated to her for free by a man who claimed not to understand how it worked. Peppermint asks for specific information, but Melanie doesn't know any details. While they're talking, they hear the door to the shop open behind them.

### Chapter XIV: A Bad Time For A Robbery

* A man enters the store with a mask and a gun, attempted to rob the place blind. As soon as he sees them, however, he seems visibly shocked that the store isn't empty.
* The man holds them at gunpoint, yelling that Melanie was supposed to be dead. It's revealed that he donated the teleportation item that Peppermint used, but it was initially meant for Melanie so it would clear the store out. Peppermint orders him to leave, and the man grows angry with her.
* He shoots Melanie in the shoulder, not killing her but injuring her gravely, and Peppermint summons her Eidolons in defense. A brief fight ensues, but the man quickly releases he is hopelessly outmatched by an actual Wastehunter. He is pinned to the wall by Enderlam.
* Peppermint runs over to Melanie and gives her a Stimpak, the adrenaline boost of which keeps her conscious. Melanie weakly thanks Peppermint for her help and tries to control her breaths. Peppermint calls the cops, and a Trauma Team unit arrives with multiple Patrol Units. Melanie and the man are taken away, and Peppermint is briefly questioned before they let her go.
* That evening, Stitches arrives at the Dockyards again with Azat, who tells her to go meet Diamant on her boat. Stitches quietly exits, and walks onto the top deck, where Diamant is waiting for her, offering her a drink and a seat.
* Diamant calmly tells Stitches that she would like to trust her, but last night she almost got everyone killed on Stitches behalf, and before she does it again, she needs a better reason to trust her. Diamant says secrets are bad for teamwork, and as such agrees to a trade, each of them can ask each other a question at a time to learn the truth about their pasts.
* Stitches, hesitant warns Diamant that she’s been burned by these kind of deals before, and that if Diamant wishes to betray her, she should be aware that Stitches has a tendency to be vengeful and well-connected. Diamant reply’s coolly telling Stitches honestly that she’s also been betrayed before, and that even her own parents hurt her for money.
* Diamant then confesses that she wasn't always a Dicubus, and that she was altered by a very severe curse. It's unclear exactly what happened, but she states that her parents were involved in the matter. She wishes to be human again, and is currently in hiding from her parents while plotting her revenge.
* Stitches deems the a good enough secret to earn her trust, and tells Diamant that her real name is Wynona Raynestrum, but confesses to having used many fake names over the years, enough that she's nearly lost count. She agrees that the two of them can safely trust each other.
* As the two of them toast to their newfound trust and friendship, and both of them from the boat see a plume of black smoke rising into the sky, as the result of another attack.

## Characters

### Major Characters

* Nakamura "Stroke" Runin
* Diana "Diamant" Bernhardson
* Pandora "Panda" Oliveberry
* Mya "Auntie" Li
* Farrah "Ringer" Silverlock
* Arandyl "Peppermint" Peyzazh
* Anthony Silvers
* Azat Bosko
* AM

### Side Characters

* Facsimile *(debut)*
* Lismohr "Red" Omalog
* Alastor Blackwell
* Melanie Fairweather *(debut)*

### Minor Characters

* Jackie Frostfield
* Female Celt Employee
* Male Chondathan Employee
* Armored Dwarven Guard *(debut)*
* Torture Victim *(debut)*
* Yellow Lotus Bouncer *(debut)*
* Store Robber *(debut)*
* Unnamed E-SEC Officer *(debut)*
* Diamant's Mother *(mentioned, debut)*
* Diamant's Father *(mentioned, debut)*

### Creatures

* Enderlam
* Sanatris