Level 1
Lune intercepts Verso as he walks by the fire.
Lune: Why are you allying yourself with us?
Verso: Not a lot of options out here. In case you hadn’t noticed.
Lune: What about the previous Expeditioners? Did you help them too? Yet they still failed?
Verso: That’s a terrible way to ask questions. Do you always interrogate people like this?
Lune: Given the circumstances, I think we can skip the pleasantries, no?
Verso: Alliances are usually a give AND take. As are conversations. Trust goes both ways, no?
Lune: Alright then. As a gesture of good faith, I’ll show you how to use Lumina-
Verso: No need. I got it.
Lune: Well, aren’t you a quick study.
Verso: But I appreciate the gesture. Thank you.
Lune: Mmhm. Trust works both ways.
Verso: Alright, as a gesture of good faith, I’ll answer three questions. Choose wisely.
Lune: Only three?
Verso: Someone’s a bit greedy.
Lune: 3 questions with 3 follow-ups.
Verso: You’re really pushing it.
Lune: I think it’s reasonable.
Verso: Alright. Go for it.
Lune: Hm.
Lune spends some time bombarding Verso with questions. Verso remains evasive, which pisses Lune off, but also triggers her insatiable sense of curiosity. Lune is reluctantly intrigued. As is Verso. When the interrogation is over, they go back to the others.
Level 2
Verso approaches Lune. He can see that she wants to ask him more questions.
Lune: I’ve been wondering. Why stay on the continent, alone? Why not return to Lumière?
Verso: I did.
Lune: Hmm.
Verso: I went back, helped with the rebuild.
Lune: Mmhm.
Verso: After the Fracture… We didn’t have anything. Food, shelter, none of it.
Lune: Things must have been chaotic then.
Verso: Nothing like the end of the world to bring out the best and worst in us. I almost miss those times. You know the Dome Shield? My father and I helped build that.
Lune: Oh. Why’d you leave, then?
Verso: Those early Expeditions. They were search and rescue. We didn’t know about the Paintress then. We just wanted to find our loved ones. Like my mother.
Lune: I see. But this time, you didn’t go back.
Verso: People didn’t trust me. Guess I’m hard to trust?
Lune: Perhaps.
Verso: Guess they thought I knew more than I did. Halfway to the Monolith, I was betrayed. barely escaped. Kind of killed my interest in returning home.
Lune: Hm.
Verso: What about you? Do you miss home?
Lune: I spend my whole life studying the Paintress and the Monolith. This is where I need to be
Verso: What a long-winded way to avoid answering the question.
Lune: Yes, there are things I miss.
Verso: You paint such a vibrant picture.
Lune: If you must know, what I really miss are viennoiseries.
Verso: Ooooh, good answer. I miss those too.
Lune: …
Verso: …
Lune: …
Verso: What?
Lune: I enjoyed this conversation.
Verso: High praise.
Lune feels more relaxed in Verso’s presence; She appreciates that Verso has shared actual useful information. Lune becomes lost in thought, reflecting on the information that Verso has shared. Verso feels ignored and goes back to the others.
Level 3
Lune stands by the fire, deep in thought. Verso tries to get her attention.
Verso: …
Lune: …
Verso: …
Lune: Do you like dogs?
Verso: What?
Lune: Do you like dogs?
Verso: I think you’ve spent too much time alone, you’ve forgotten how to start a human conversation.
Lune: I just have this feeling you’re a dog person.
Verso: Well, you’re right. I had a dog named Patte.
Lune: Interesting name.
Verso: My sister named him when we were kids.
Lune: Stella. She was a gifted artist. And… fiery. She definitely made the most of the time she had.
Verso: Were you close?
Lune: When we were younger, I guess. But my brother and sister had their own lives. They didn’t care about my parents’ research.
Verso: Doesn’t seem fair.
Lune: No, I’m glad they got to live. Sol was a great older brother. That’s actually how I met Gustave. Sol was dating his sister.
Verso: So you knew Gustave for quite a while then?
Lune: That’s an awful lot of personal questions.
Verso: It is, isn’t it? Alright, we can talk about me again, if you want.
Lune: How generous of you.
Verso: Ask away.
Lune: Hmm.
Verso: I’m being sincere. Go ahead. Ask me anything you want. We’ve got all night.
Lune: Remember, you offered. Do you like monkeys?
Verso: Oh, come on.
Verso and Lune enjoy a moment together. Lune is in such a good mood that she forgets to ask Verso other important questions. Which Verso takes note of. They have a bit more fun together before heading back to camp.
Level 4
Verso: My fellow night owl.
Lune: Night owl?
Verso: You never seem to sleep.
Lune: I sleep.
Verso: Hmm.
Lune: I sleep enough.
Verso: What keeps you up?
Lune: What doesn’t keep me up?
Verso: From one insomniac to another…
Lune: Mmhm. Sometimes, I just can’t turn off my mind. It’s like… I pick up a puzzle and I can’t set it down until I solve it.
Verso: Hmm. And what’s your current puzzle?
Lune: The talking Nevrons. The ones that seem to have personalities and thoughts and feelings. I’m trying to make sense of the things they said. I know there’s an important piece of the puzzle there. We need to find and talk to more of them.
Verso: I’ve talked to a few. They mostly spout nonsense. I wouldn’t expect much.
Lune: Maybe you weren’t asking the right questions.
Verso: Well, I’m certainly not as experienced as you.
Lune: What about you? My “fellow night owl?” Why can’t you sleep?
Verso: Oh, you know, weight of the world, a tortured soul, things like that…
Lune: Ah, a “funny” night owl. Come on, I just shared with you.
Verso: You did, didn’t you? Feels nice, sharing, huh?
Lune: Mmhm. Feels even nicer when people reciprocate.
Verso: Sleep is not very restful for me. I used to have horrible dreams. But somehow, it was worse when they stopped. Now it’s just this… oppressive void.
Lune: Fascinating. So you experience discomfort while you sleep? Pain? Are you aware of time passing? Hmm. I should observe you next time you sleep.
Verso: Well, that’s not creepy.
Lune: Precisely. It’s science.
Verso: Well, it’s not like we have private rooms here. So, sure… knock yourself out.
Lune: For science.
Verso: Right.
Verso flashes a grin at Lune. Lune can’t help but smile back. The world feels a little brighter when they’re together. Lune can’t restrain herself from asking Verso a few more questions before they head back to the others. Thanks to Verso’s answers, Lune understands Chroma better than before.
Level 5
Verso approaches Lune, who is working on the Expedition 33 journal.
Verso: Working on the 33’s journal? Are you planning to die anytime soon?
Lune: Well. You never know what tomorrow brings. Not to you, but to us.
Verso: Do you always take such copious notes?
Lune: Since I was four.
Verso: Really, four?
Lune: That’s what happens when you have obsessive researchers for parents.
Verso: Still. Four is young.
Lune: Not anymore. Not when you only live to 32.
Verso: …
Lune: Everyone in Lumière starts their apprenticeship at six. And I was apprenticed to my parents, so they started me early…
Verso: I guess that’s nice. They got to spend more time with you.
Lune: They needed a research assistant who never went home. The obvious solution, birth your own.
Verso: …
Lune: Look at you, getting me to talk about myself.
Verso: Doesn’t that feel nice?
Lune: …
Verso: My parents were both artists. Widely respected, very prominent artists. So. There was a great deal of pressure to follow in their path.
Lune: You’re an artist then?
Verso: Not the kind they wanted me to be.
Lune: Meaning?
Verso: Music is my passion.
Lune: Huh. Mine too.
Verso: What do you play?
Lune: Guitar. You?
Verso: Piano mostly, but a little guitar as well. You know how to summon an instrument from Pictos, right?
Lune: …
Verso: Of course, you do. Maybe we could play together sometime?
Lune: Maybe we can.
Verso and Lune have found a common passion. Lune is intrigued by this facet of Verso. And Verso is excited to play music with a fellow music lover. They spend some time discussing their favourite songs and how they learnt music. The discussion is passionate and lasts for several hours. Neither notices the time passing.
Level 6
Verso approaches Lune, sensing she has something on her mind.
Lune: You said you travelled with other Expeditions?
Verso: Yeah, some.
Lune: Did you ever travel with the 46?
Verso: 46? No, why?
Lune: Oh. Nothing- I just- I thought maybe-
Verso: Must be serious. You’re usually more eloquent than this.
Lune: Am I now?
Verso: Sorry. You were saying?
Lune: My parents. They, um…
Verso: They were Expedition 46?
Lune: …
Verso: I didn’t travel with them, but I have come across their, um- their trail.
Lune: You have?
Verso: Yeah. On Sirène’s island.
Lune: Oh.
Verso: I can show you.
Lune: Really?
Verso: But- Don’t expect too much, yeah? Come on. It’s not too far. Especially now that Esquie can fly.
Lune: No. No, we can’t afford detours right now.
Verso: Mm. Well, if you change your mind… We can go anytime. It’s not far, on the outskirts of Sirène’s island.
Lune: Thank you.
Verso promised to show Lune where he found Expedition 46, Lune’s parents’ Expedition, on Sirène’s island, not far from Sirène’s Coliseum.
Lune: …
Verso: You ok?
Lune: Let’s head back to camp.
As they arrive at camp, Verso sees that Lune has a lot on her mind. He invites her to talk, away from the others.
Lune: …
Verso: …
Lune: All my life, everything we did was about the Paintress. It was a constant hum in the background. This worry, this responsibility, just…. always there. Always… Always. Always. There was no relief. Never. Even when I sleep—It’s still there. Like a breath I can never release.
Verso: That’s a lot of pressure.
Lune: Even her last words were still— “Finish our work.”
Verso: It also shows how much faith she had in you.
Lune: That’s one way to look at it.
Verso: And the other way?
Lune: My only value to them. Not as a daughter, but as a backup plan. For their legacy.
Verso: You really believe that?
Lune: They always said, at the end of the game, there are no points for effort. Only results.
Verso: If you hate it so much, why continue their work at all?
Lune: I don’t know. Maybe because I still hear their voices in my head? And running away won’t silence them.
Verso: They’re dead. The voices aren’t theirs. They’re yours. Even if they were alive, the voices in your head, the voices you listen to, have to be your own.
Lune: … Is that how it works for you?
Verso: Getting there. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell.
Lune: Yeah.
They share a commiserating smile. They understand each other. Lune impulsively kisses Verso on the cheek. Caught off-guard, Verso smiles at her, a question in his eyes. Laughing, they return to the others.
Level 7
Verso approaches Lune as she writes in her notebook.
Verso: What’re you writing this time? More notes on Nevrons?
Lune: No.
Verso: No? “Theories on Axons” then? Or “Observations of Flora and Fauna?”
Lune: Keep guessing.
Verso: Hmmmm. Well, I saw you interview Monoco earlier. So, “A Treatise on Gestral Behaviour?”
Lune: Oh, so close.
Verso: It’s about me, isn’t it? “The Strange and Shattered Life of Verso Dessendre.”
Lune: That’s a mouthful.
Verso: Well.
Lune: Oh, really.
Verso: Come on. You’re smiling so it must be good.
Lune: Well, if you must know, I’m working on a song.
Verso: A song?
Lune: My parents said music was frivolous, but you know what? “The voices we listen to have to be our own.” And I’ve decided to be a little selfish with my time. Our problems will still be there in the morning.
Verso: I fully support taking selfish breaks.
Lune: Oh, you do, do you? Maybe we should take a selfish break together. Stay up with me tonight. Help me with my song?
Verso: Sure. I’d love to help you with “your song.”
Lune: Let’s go find a comfortable place to compose then.
Verso and Lune walk into the woods together, away from camp. They spend a few hours together. Which Lune really needed to release some frustration. After they did what needed doing, they sat for a while and composed music together. Sciel smiles at them as they return to camp. She knows. Lune better understands the world and herself.