← Previous Chapter |
Next Chapter →
Back to the game page
Lune: You do that, we both die. Hey. Fucking hell. Wake up, Gustave.
Gustave: Lune– The others–
Lune: I know. We’re the only ones left. You don’t get to die.
Gustave: It’s just a matter of time, before we– “We’re already dead.” Look around– Look– Look–
Lune: This is not a foregone conclusion. “When one falls, we continue.” GET UP. We need to find a safer place, there are Nevrons around.
Gustave: Lucien– I couldn’t–
Lune: This is not the place… The Lumina Converter seems intact. It’s about time we test it in real conditions.
Gustave: Putain… Putain…
Lune: We did it, Gustave. Let’s see if your invention lives up to its reputation, shall we? It really works. We’re not dead yet.
Gustave: Yeah.
Lune: Come on. There might be other survivors at the Indigo Tree.
Gustave: Is that … a house?
Lune: Looks abandoned. The Indigo Tree is not too far from here. If anyone else made it, they’ll regroup there.
Gustave: Yeah. Here we are, huh.
Lune: Yeah. The continent. The Indigo Tree is over there.
Gustave: These blue trees…
Lune: Something’s disrupting the chroma around here. Be careful.
Lune: Someone came here before and set up these handholds.
Gustave: Probably Expedition 69, the climbers expedition.
Lune: Let us thank them for that.
Jar: (weepy mumble)
Lune: Something’s wrong with it. Why isn’t it attacking us?
Gustave: Well, it certainly attacked them. An expedition journal… 81. “Learn from the ones who came before…”
Lune: “… And lay the trail, for the ones who come after.”
Lune: They communicate with a Nevron?
Gustave: The dead here don’t disappear, like in Lumière. Their chroma stays inside their bodies.
Lune: On the beach… some did disappear.
Gustave: He wasn’t a Nevron.
Lune: Something about the way Nevrons kill seems to affect our chroma…
Gustave: Perhaps your friend here can enlighten us.
Jar: Enlighten… Light… I need light…
Gustave: It really does speak.
Lune: What do you mean, light?
Gustave: Did you kill these people?
Jar: I would never plunge others into darkness. I was painted to bring light.
Lune: Painted? By the Paintress?
Jar: Paint-tress? Yes. She painted me. Help me… Find light.
Lune: If we bring it light, perhaps we can learn more…
Gustave: I’m not sure that’s a good idea…
Lune: Flares!
Gustave: Survivors!
Lune: Hurry!
Gustave: LEO!
Lune: Fuck, it’s big. Fall back!
Gustave: Putain de merde!
Lune: Celebrate later. There’ll be others. We should be safe up in the tree.
Gustave: Yeah. PUTAIN. Nobody.
Lune: Wait. There’s a message on the wall—“Took Maelle to the weird corals. Head north. Look for a door inside a hut.”
Gustave: Maelle?
Lune: This doesn’t make sense. Who would have written this? It sounds like an Expeditioner, but everyone KNOWS to sign their messages.
Gustave: Yeah, but they might’ve been in a hurry.
Lune: I dunno. Doesn’t sound like anyone on the team. What if it’s a trap? The man on the beach–
Gustave: It’s a lead, our only lead. Whoever this is knows Maelle. We have to go.
Lune: No, not yet. Protocol is to regroup at the Rally Point and wait three days. This message feels off. If it was an Expeditioner, they would have stayed here. Everyone knows the protocol.
Gustave: Right, but they may have been in danger. Maybe this location has been compromised. Things change in the field.
Lune: There’s a REASON it’s protocol.
Gustave: Protocol doesn’t cover every contingency. You know that.
Lune: There’s a REASON it’s protocol. We designed it to yield the optimal result in the vast majority of situations.
Gustave: Was our entire team dying part of that “optimal result?” Look. I’m going after Maelle. Protocol also states “Never move solo.” I’ll let you choose which protocol to break.
Lune: Merde.
Lune: So. The message said head north. To the “weird corals.”
Gustave: And a door in a hut.
Lune: It’s been a long day, we should make camp.
Gustave: I’m fine. Let’s keep going.
Lune: We won’t find Maelle if we’re dead.
At the camp
Gustave: I’m sorry about earlier. The beach was not your fault–
Lune: No, it was. I convinced Alan to land there.
Gustave: So, uh… We can rest a bit, but the moon is bright, I want to keep moving.
Lune: Have you learned nothing from the beach?
Gustave: I’m not leaving Maelle alone a minute longer than I have to.
Lune: But right now, it’s just the two of us and I don’t want to bring Maelle your corpse. We have to think every step through. The man on the beach, you saw what he did. But more than that… You saw his face. He must be, what, 50? 60? Yet he survived the Gommage. We don’t know who we’re dealing with. We lost everyone in an instant–
Gustave: Exactly. He killed us all so easily, he doesn’t need to fake a message. Lucien– Lucien died to save me. And, and Tristan, Margot, they… they all… I am not letting Maelle die out here. I’m taking her home.
Lune: What, No, no, no. We have a mission–
Gustave: Oh, fuck the mission! Fuck the mission, Lune. What are we gonna do, huh? Tell me. What are we gonna do? We’re gonna take down the Paintress, just the three of us? My… my gun and… and your sparks?
Lune: I didn’t take you for a coward.
Gustave: I’m not a coward.
Lune: You swore the oath. “When one falls. We. Continue.”
Gustave: Yes, I know.
Lune: When one falls. WHEN one falls. Not if. When. We knew not all of us would make it. But “WE. CONTINUE.” As long as even one of us stands, our fight is not over.
Gustave: But I’m not afraid to fight, it’s just Maelle, she’s–
Lune: Maelle swore the same oath.
Gustave: I know that!
Lune: She chose her life! You and I… Come on… we always said the future of Lumière is more important than any–
Gustave: Than any individual life, yes.
Lune: Yes, do you still believe that? Do you still believe that? Do you?
Gustave: I hope I do.
Lune: “Fuck the mission.” Really?
Gustave: Sorry.
Lune: The main continent. Hard to believe we’re finally here.
Gustave: Yeah.
Lune: Good night, Gustave.
Gustave finds a spot where he can be alone. He spends some time writing in his journal. He writes about how dangerous the Nevrons are, but how beautiful the continent is. He hopes that one day, his apprentices will read everything he wrote.
Gustave: For those who come after.