Omelette's fleet consisted of relatively small ships in order to approach the treehouse with moderate subtlety. The treehouse's planes automatically targeted Omelette's, the two fleets engaging in dogfights. Egg Pawns charged along the ground, only to be shot away by defense turrets. Other robots launched their selves into the windows, only to be thwarted by W.A.T.C.H.B.O.T.s.
Omelette launched into the Mission Prep Room amongst the chaos, commanding the Egg Spider, a large mechanical spider with a red behind and yellow star on it. One of its legs defended as Eddy fired explosive pellets from a slingshot. "Listen, buster, I'm only here to kill the purple-haired girl! I don't wanna be here any more than you do, so leave me alone!" The spider stomped toward the elevator and crammed itself in, forcing itself down the shaft. Eddy ran outside and jumped down the side of the treehouse, breaking into a window. He intercepted the Egg Spider as it broke out of the elevator, landing a surprise shot to the cockpit. "OW! You just signed a death sentence, buddy!"
An electric current formed between the spider's teeth, shooting energy spheres. Eddy dodged and tried to get another shot, but the spider's leg defended her. Eddy switched to some new pellets, backing up as the spider approached. He shot a pellet at its foot, popping into some sticky gum that bound it. Before Omelette could register this, Eddy shot the other front foot. He quickly landed an explosive shot on the cockpit, Omelette yelping in pain, and she made the head dodge and shoot Eddy. She fired spheres at the gum to destroy it and free the legs. Omelette pounced to the ceiling and crawled above Eddy, and he dashed forward and behind it before the spider could crash down.
Omelette skittered up the hall and fired Egg Eggs from its behind. They were literally large eggs shaped like Eggman, shorter than Eddy. They rolled toward him and were timed to explode, but the spider would only get further away as he tried to avoid them. Eddy withdrew another weapon, the Spring Fist, a punching glove he could thrust out on a spring. He shot two bombs back to damage the spider's feet, but Omelette endured as she traveled left down some stairs. Eddy pulled out his laptop, which displayed a map of the treehouse with switches to trigger the security devices. He triggered such a device on the stairs. Hatches opened on the ceiling and dropped wads of explosive cheese. Eddy crawled through a vent to reach the room at the bottom of the stairs, finding the spider's front and landing more shots to the cockpit.
"Screw you!" Omelette sprung out of the cockpit and bolted past Eddy, who was blown down after the robot exploded. Omelette drew a gun to shoot him, but he rolled aside and on his feet before shooting a pellet, but she dodged. "Man, do you know what time it is, how're you so awake?!"
"I am pumped full of coffee, you little twerp! And it tastes better than most kids think!"
Several large, mechanical balls blew through the wall ahead. Omelette ran to one with a cockpit and climbed in, the six segments of the Egg Wiggler linking together. Eddy rolled right as she charged him, then back left as she did a roundabout, staying within the safe corner. The stampeding caterpillar easily outpaced him, but the treehouse triggered bars to stretch from the wall and trip the Wiggler. The individual segments broke apart and began rolling, tearing down the bars. Two of the segments rolled at Eddy, but he shot several exploding gum pellets to bind them to the floor.
The other four segments regrouped and kept running. Eddy pulled out his laptop once more and, seeing which passage it was turning down, triggered giant baseball bats to pop out of the wall and bash the caterpillar. The mech endured the first one before breaking into pieces, making it hard for Eddy to target the individual segments. Eddy decided to attach timed bombs to the two segments, then use a S.P.I.C.E.R. to burn off the gum. The segments seemed to home in on the cockpit and scampered their way back, Eddy following. He triggered shutters to impede the Wiggler's progress, but the remaining segments would use Spin Dashes to force them down. When the other two rejoined the body, attaching to the cockpit, the bombs went off.
Omelette's segment was severely damaged, as were two others. Seeing Eddy racing up, Omelette switched on the self-destruct and hurried into a nearby vent. Eddy ran back from the explosion and brought up a camera view of the vents. He activated some sleeping gas, but Omelette held her breath long enough to escape out another vent. "Huff, huff…" She gasped for breath as she landed in a bedroom full of skating equipment; Jenny's room. "No one's in here. But I bet I'm-" She was interrupted with a comms call. She heard the voice of Scratch on the other end.
"Dr. Omelette! The Egg Carrier is under attack! I think the KND are on to us."
Omelette grit her teeth, fearing that backup would be entering the treehouse soon. She looked over as Eddy entered the room, slingshot ready. "Looks like you ran out of time!"
"I'm not giving up!" She switched on jetpacks and drew twin guns. "You'll never match the might of the Eggman Empire!" She swerved about the air while shooting down, swooping closer for better aim, and she sniped his hip before retreating back up. Eddy saw her about to fly under the ceiling fan, so he shot a pellet up at its base. Omelette was too late to realize this as the fan fell on her jetpack, causing her to swerve uncontrollably and crash headfirst in the wall. Eddy shot two more pellets, both to destroy her jetpack and blast her butt. "AH-HA-HA-hoooowwww…"
"You're dealing with the Eddman Empire, kiddo! Tell your boss not to screw with us!"
Aincrad; Algade (Play "Virtual Enemies" from Sonic Forces!)
Miko and Kayaba traveled down to Level 50, the pirate-themed floor known as Algade. "All right! The pirate floor!" Miko fist-pumped. "Man, the Pirate War was intense. I was super hyped to fight in it until Drake and Haneesh died. Talk about a real mood-killer."
"Haneesh's death was truly tragic." Kayaba replied. "I'm certain Sector Q and many others have felt similar pain for those they have lost. But once they realize what Aincrad is capable of, they can heal that pain."
"Darn right! But, uh… think we're about to feel some pain ourselves." Miko turned to the horde of angry pirates with worry.
"AAAARRRRGGGHH!" The seafaring gamers immediately recognized the rainbow goddess and assaulted her with swords, guns, or waterbending. Kayaba swiped a white, electric airwave from his lightsaber. Miko mustered up multiple Cudges in attempt to smash a horde of gamers—
A gigantic hand suddenly brushed the gamers away like dirt on a table. The hand came from Bergy, restored to his giant self as he grabbed Miko firmly. "Miko, you're not planning to kill anybody, are you?!"
"Relax, Bergs, I've made it so that players respawn after a while. 'Course, after they die once, their bodies are gonna-"
"NO! Don't you see what's going on? These people don't wanna stay in Aincrad! They wanna go back home to their real lives."
"Then why did they get this game in the first place? The whole point of playin' games is it's way cooler than real life."
"That's right, boy!" an echoing voice bellowed. "Now, put the girl down."
Bergy looked up. "YIPE!" Dwarfing him was an even bigger giant, 100 feet tall. It was a robot with an orange, humanoid face and black hair that resembled the Toymaker. The robot swung its foot and sent Bergy flying, crushing a group of buildings. Miko escaped his grasp and levitated in the air.
"Look, I don't wanna be a troll and kill everybody, but havin' everybody gang up on me is kind of annoying." Miko casually dodged some cannon and fireballs.
"Annoying?!" yelled Mitch. "You're the one who decided to broadcast your sorry ass!"
"Hey, don't go looking at my ass! But since y'all wanna attack me, how about I give you a fair match?"
Mustering a large surge of chi, the players were baffled as screens formed around them. An arrow seemed to 'click' them, then moved away as it 'pasted' copies. Miko created an army of purple polygonal creatures in the rough shape of the players.
"What the-?!" Quill gasped as a Polygon Clone began punching him. He jumped back to shoot him with flames. "Fighting Polygons?!"
Carmine's Polygon chased her, but she dropped bombs back to impede it. "It doesn't seem like they have weapons or powers. I think they can only fight us."
Kazma tackled his Polygon and tried to twist its neck, but the copy stabbed him with its sharp ears and dealt an uppercut. "That doesn't mean they go down easy. Hey, she's getting away!"
"Carmine, let's go!" Jenny grabbed her friend and boosted after their teammate, going up a ramp to land on the deck of a pirate ship. "MIKO! Wait, what'm I saying… BOLY! You need to snap out of it!"
"Yeah!" Carmine yelled. "Why would you let all these people die? If you want to become a real girl, why won't you let these people go back to the real world?"
"Because, guys, Aincrad is gonna be the new reality! Aincrad and I are connected, so when I go back to my real body, this world will come with me. And I'll be able to give these people any form they want. Like you, Carmine! You never have to go back to that smelly suit again!"
"But… I…!" Carmine sensed something. "Miko, watch-!"
"NYAAAH!" A figure came flying and spiraling at Miko, swords stretched as her spine was sliced. The skinny robot landed on the ship and slashed a cut at the girls, who dodged back.
XANA then dodged before Kayaba's lightsaber could cut him. "Hurry, My Lady! Don't let these fools distract you any longer!"
"Sure, boss!" Miko whooshed across the town.
Kayaba and XANA engaged in a fast clash, taking several cuts from each other's blades. Quill's race kart flew up onto the deck of a taller ship, he and Kazma looking over the clash. "That's XANA!" Quill exclaimed.
"Well, it seems I have a fan." XANA smirked, leaping over Kayaba with a vertical spin attack. "Can't say I remember you, boy."
"Kodama and I fought you in the Great Clock! You should've been derezzed along with Kaiba!"
"Kaiba?" Kayaba cocked a brow at the name. "Ah…so, you brought about his destruction."
"Okay, please don't tell me he was your cousin or whatever." Jenny said.
"Of course not!" Kayaba rapidly slashed his blade in a complex pattern, carving such a design on the back of XANA's cape. "We went to game design school together. And he was an asshole and a half, let me tell you! Couldn't tell you how pissed I was that his silly card game became so popular."
"The more you talk, the less sympathy I'm gonna have once we kill you." Quill stated.
"Destroy me if you can! But there is nothing that can destroy Her Grace. This game will never end!"
"Really?" XANA smirked. "Then why do you feel the need to protect her?"
"There's no need for her to trouble herself with these riffraff."
"We'll just see how unbeatable she is! I'm sure that with enough numbers, your goddess will face deresolution. Until then, I'd best wait for the next opportunity, nyah ha ha!" XANA flapped his cape at Kayaba and dashed off the edge of the ship.
"Cackling fool." Kayaba scoffed. "Well, there's no need to catch up with Her Grace. By the time I do, the boss may already be gone and she'll be returning. But feel free to follow her anyway, kids." He leapt off the ship as well. (End song.)
"He's got a point." Kazma said. "Miko's obviously not listening."
"It's not Miko!" Carmine argued. "It's Boly! She…she was using Miko. She used all of us."
"Fine, but how're we supposed to stop her? She's hella fast and not to mention OP!"
"I know!" Jenny spoke up. "Maybe the outside KND are attacking Hinobi Headquarters? If this whole thing got passed on to GKND, I'm sure they are. And they could try to hack the game the same way Infinite did; they could break Boly into eight hearts again!"
"I guess so." Quill figured. "But it'll be a while before we get any word of that. Plus, if Miko—I mean, Boly gets to the Lost World before that happens, it may be too late."
"I…I can't take this, anymore." Kazma sighed, climbing out of the kart. "What's the point of even chasing her? She won't listen and we can't do anything to beat her. I think… I need to be alone."
"Kazma, wait!" Carmine's cry was to no avail as the rabbit leapt off the ship and dashed through town.
"Fine, you're gonna abandon us, too?!" Quill shouted. "Then forget you!"
Jenny sighed. She couldn't blame Kazma for his anger, given the Chiaki incident. Even she was struggling to find an answer to this. "…You know, he has a point."
"What?" Carmine asked in shock.
"I mean, Miko's a little too fast to chase. Why don't we just wait by the Elevator Tower until she comes back? It looks like she still needs to ride it, so… we'll try to ambush her then. I'm not sure if beating her senseless will accomplish anything, but it could stall her until the outside KND do something!"
"Y-Yeah! Although, what if other players out there try to attack her? And if she fights back, they could…"
"Let's call Sector Hinobi." Quill suggested. "We'll ask them to wait by the tower while we follow Miko and make sure she doesn't hurt anybody."
"I guess that's the best we can do." Jenny figured. "Might as well signal SA, too. Sigh…this really sucks. We were all set to beat the game and get out of here, I shoulda known that thing would be fucking-"
"It'll all work out!" Carmine yelled, trying to relieve the negative vibe. "Miko's in there somewhere! We just have to believe in her! If we attack Boly from the outside, Miko will fight back on the inside!"
Jenny chuckled. "Honestly, I'm glad we have you, Carmine. This team would be a train wreck without you."
"Aw, that's not true. All of us are important! That's why Drake is proud of us!"
"Yeah… and he'd hate to see Miko like this. We better fix her!"
Sector Q Treehouse
Omelette was tied up and gagged as a squad of hamsters threatened to shoot her with rubber bands. The Gilligan Triplets had her at gunpoint, too. "Thanks a ton for coming, guys." Eddy said. "I can't fucking stay awake, anymore."
"You really tanked it out though." Artie said. "But I'd say you earned some rest. A S.P.R.A.Y.S.H.I.P. is coming, so we'll have this one taken away. We'll protect the treehouse from any more bots."
"I need to check with my team before I conk out. See if anything's…"
Eddy groggily returned to his room and picked up the controller. He controlled his avatar to climb out of Carmine's pocket. "Hey, guys, is everyone okay?"
"Eddy!" Carmine gasped. "Where were you?"
"I was defending the treehouse!"
"What?!" Quill jumped. "We were under attack?!"
"Yeah, it was Eggman's robots. Apparently, he has some little fangirl working for him now. Sector V showed up, so we managed to get things under control for now. But they were here to kill Miko."
"Oh, my…" Carmine said horrified.
"Wait, how's Miko's body?" Quill asked.
"I just checked you guys, nothing was wrong. Why?"
"It's… a lot to explain." Jenny said. "But Miko's been possessed by Boly."
"WHAT?!"
"And worse, she's not letting anyone leave the game. She wants to keep us all trapped here… and that's only the beginning."
"What the fuck?! Why the hell is she doing this?!"
"Eddy, you should get some sleep." Quill said. "We know you're tired, and this is too much to explain right now."
"How do you expect me to get to sleep-"
"Eddy, I'm sorry! I'm sorry for what I said before. I'm glad we have you to rely on, and thank you for protecting the treehouse. But you really should go to sleep."
"…" He was taken aback by the sudden humility. "But if I'm gonna be asleep, I feel like I might as well go in there myself. Other operatives are protecting the treehouse, so…"
"It's better that you stay on the outside." Jenny said. "Go to sleep and log back in as soon as you can. We'll do everything we can to save Miko on our end."
"…Okay. Good night, guys." He climbed back in Carmine's pouch. The girl smiled and patted his little head.
However, Eddy actually returned to Miko's room, where his team lay in captivity. Approaching Miko's body, he could hardly tell that anything was wrong. Who'd have thought this energetic gamer would bring so much drama when she joined their sector? He had strongly mixed feelings for her back then. But she apologized for her mistakes and did her best to be part of the sector. Beyond that, she was just a fun girl to play with. A fun girl to be with. She was cute, perky, tough, and empathetic. He hated whatever force was controlling her… and sincerely hoped they could save her.
"…Boly is possessing her? Miko… was supposed to be a part of Boly, right? And Boly is also… the Firstborn? And Quill…" Quill knew about this. With curiosity, Eddy reached into Quill's pockets. He felt a round object and pulled out a dark-blue ball with black lines. "It is! This is a Pokéball! No, a Spirit Ball! Sigh…" He faced down at Miko. He softly placed the ball in her palm, clutching her fingers. "If you're the Firstborn Guardian… then you have to come out of this. You can't just… be part of the Firstborn, can you? Miko… just come back to us soon. …Boy, you guys kinda stink. Let's visit a bathhouse after this." With that, he returned to his room for well-deserved shuteye.
KND Moonbase; noon the next day
Cheren went to sleep in his own office and didn't wake up until about 11a.m.. He couldn't force himself to stay awake, even through all the crazy events happening. But after waking, Cheren quickly looked over the reports sent by the Aincrad operatives, nearly scrambling his mind with the crazy developments. Once he gave his mind some time to process it all, he changed gears to a different matter.
Cheren logged into his computer and began to search through the Top Secret Files. There were numerous ancient files about significant historical operatives, or events that had transpired… but one file stood out among all the others: Deoxys.dna.
The file's icon depicted a blue face with a purple slit down the middle and narrow, slanted eyes. Whenever Cheren tried to click on the file, it would bring up the usual password screen. He once asked his mom what this file was, but she didn't know. Cheren tried to delete the file, but it was impossible. And he had no idea what the 8-digit password was… until now.
When he had received the shocking update about Miko, he learned that the MCP's full name was Bolypius. Boly was most likely the Firstborn. And this Firstborn was tied to the element of matter. Deoxys was named in one of Sector Q's reports. …Cheren curiously typed 'Bolypius' into the blank space.
His office seemed to turn dark, rumbling ominously. A rubbery mass began to mold from his very screen, rising above Cheren and taking shape. The entity bore the same face as on the computer, but possessed red robotic-like armor, a purple chest gem, and red and blue, wriggling arms that resembled DNA. He seemed to have two wide ear-like parts jutting from his head.
The entity gazed down at the Supreme Leader. He spoke with a distorted microphone voice. "It's about time I was summoned. You wouldn't believe how upset I was to be cut out of the Firstborn Quest. I am the God of DNA, Deoxys."
"What the FRICK?! How the hell long were you waiting in my computer?! Why WERE you inside my computer?!"
His "ears" molded into his head as he became more chubby, his pitch changing. "Eons ago, I sealed myself inside of a comet, in reality a supercomputer where I recorded the DNA of all beings. As I was passing by Earth 3,000 years ago, the KND landed on my comet and discovered my computer. After learning what it was and who resided within it, they ripped the computer out of the comet and would use it to better their organization."
"I keep forgetting how dope our technology is."
"Very dope indeed. It was through my knowledge they invented the Code Module, a device that would transmit their DNA into data, and therefore officialize their union as an organization of friendship and kiddom. We gods knew the KND would be the heroes of this universe. Others like Celebi and the Firstborn have done their part to serve you, and so I felt my destiny had come. But with my primary service completed, I chose to lock myself away deep in this database. That file you opened contains the original data of this computer."
"Well, that answers some questions I had… I think."
He changed to have more tentacles form a cloak, donning a dreary expression. "But now I see the time has come to where I am needed. You have learned of the existence of Bolypius."
"Yeah, they're possessing one of my friends and trapping everyone in a virtual world! It's one of the Newborn, isn't it?"
"Perhaps it is. You see, my element of Matter is of the most integral forces in the universe. It is the very force that shapes the physical universe. Matterbenders can control the particles that form any physical element, but the elements themselves are difficult to control directly. Furthermore, I designed the element so that any displaced matter will return to a reformed state once the user's control has waned. Managing the matter was supposed to be my basic purpose… but God Arceus had assigned me for a separate purpose. As it was my job to compose the matter that would form their elements, the gods used me as a computer to record the 'data' of the universe, the laws behind their elements. That 'Data Chi' became mixed in with my Matter Chi, and thus posed a threat to the structure of reality itself."
"My head already hurts. Just tell me what Bolypius is."
A square grew on Deoxys' head, and he donned the robe of a graduate. "To put it simply, it was the Goddess of Chaos, Pandora, that conducted Boly's creation. Her Chaos Chi was made to be the natural enemy of law, and as the gods were using me, she implanted my data with a terrible curse. It caused all the data to be overwhelming to me, caused my matter to go wild. I had to bundle up all that corrupt data, rip it out, and seal it within the digital dimension of Cyberspace. In time, I would watch the data attain its own consciousness. I could feel the Chaos Chi inside it, as digital matter began to form around it erratically, like a god aimlessly creating its own world. It wasn't enough to seal it in Cyberspace: I had to completely secure it so that it could never reach any other network. I knew that mortals would one day develop ways into Cyberspace, and the presence of Boly posed a threat to that. In the physical world, I created a device called the Cube to contain Boly's data. The only way they could enter Cyberspace is if they were directly connected to a network."
"According to the reports, Boly needs to recollect the 'Chaos Heart' before it can enter reality. It's using one of my operatives as some sort of vessel to the real world!"
"I can already sense it happening… a planet in the process of forming."
"What…?" Cheren remembered what Nebula mentioned before.
"This is not the only time this has happened. 10,000 years ago, a group of scientists discovered Bolypius. They implanted it inside their computer and learned of its incredible creation abilities. Such creation was only meant to be contained in the virtual world, and thus used it to create a world where they could reign as gods. They placed their selves in that world and merged their data with the world's, becoming one with it, and after returning their selves back to reality, the world came with them. That world is now known as Mira."
"That is just insane…"
"Yes… so insane that the true gods had to intervene. We had to enforce our own law over that world, keep it in balance, but the power-hungry lead scientist resisted our orders. Palkia trapped those scientists, and with them a great chunk of Mira, in a separate dimension. They would remain there until some noble mortals would rise up and destroy the corrupt, wannabe gods. However, Boly itself was not part of the upload, and its Cube would be lost on Mira… or so I hoped. It seems a new threat has discovered Boly, and their new goals are in Boly's favor. If it can fully upload itself into reality, their chaos will no doubt spread as well."
"Then quit wasting my time with lore and go stop it!"
"I'm certain your friends would like to be privy to this knowledge. In any case, you expect too much of me. I may not be a match for Boly in its own world. I will do my part to prevent them from reaching the Chaos Heart, but it will be up to the mortals to fully defeat them."
"And how're they supposed to do that?"
Deoxys changed into a form with a large spike at the back of his head, arched arms, and sharp black legs. "Who knows? Beating them senseless usually works, doesn't it? Or perhaps the possessed one will muster their willpower and escape. Anything can happen. Regardless, you must not let Bolypius succeed." Deoxys turned gray and vibrating as he phased through the office window like a ghost. He cut through the universe with great speed.
Cutie Park
Kazuma wasn't sure where to go after ditching the others… so, he decided to return to the amusement park. Despite what happened, the park was a fairly fun and pleasant place. Or maybe his heart ended up growing attached to it because of what happened.
The park's guard, Giffany, seemed to be absent, so he was able to enter the park without paying. He wandered around in his human form, head hung in depression. He rode a few rides and ate some food, but nothing invigorated him. It didn't help that most of the other park-goers were still panicking over the recent news.
Kazuma decided to go for a lonesome ride in the Rainbow River. It was the best, quiet place to be alone with his thoughts. The homey boy lay curled on the seat, merely facing the backrest as the illusory stars hung over him. "We're gonna be trapped in this world forever… Hmph. What does it matter? Nobody likes me in the real world. I'm stronger in here. And I…I'll just regenerate if I die. I know the others wanna go back, but… why even stress over it?"
It was then he felt a presence over him: a sort of "ghost" sitting through his head. A whitish hologram of Chiaki was flickering on the seat. "Then why were you helping them?"
"Huh? Wh-Who said that?"
"You don't remember my voice? Also, your head is in my butt."
"AAAH!" He immediately sprung up. "Ugh…it IS you again! The fake!"
"Yeah… I guess my ghost appears if you decide to revisit my boss room. You seem pretty sad."
"Yeah, you think? We just got duped by that stupid Program and now we're stuck here! Not that it matters to you… you're a part of this game, so you have everything to gain."
"True… but you're not part of the game, right?"
"I'm about to be…"
"You were helping those people fix the game, right? Why did you stop?"
"Because I realized it was impossible. Might as well give up and accept it."
"Just because your opponent's changed, it doesn't mean the game is over. One of my favorite twists in videogames are secret final bosses."
"Y-yeah. That's always been a cool twist. This one villain's been orchestrating the story and you think he's the final boss, then you beat him, then it's like, 'Oh, turns out THIS thing is the final…' Ugh, and it's WAY worse when it's actually happening!"
"Things are more exciting in fiction than they are for real. But since this is a videogame, in essence, then it's our duty as gamers to defeat the true final boss."
"I always hated it when people only stop the game after the fake final boss. Just because the credits roll, it doesn't mean… God, what does it even matter? I don't even know why I helped those guys."
"To escape the game?"
"I dunno… I feel like I just wanted to feel important. I thought if I helped fix Aincrad, more people would respect me. But no one's gonna respect me at this rate. I was used by that thing just like they were."
"Even so… it's not too late to earn that respect, is it? You and everyone else still want to escape this world, right? Or else… who's going to be around to give advice to all those gamers?"
"Pfft. Advice? They'd rather call me a whiny kid who does nothing but complain. They aren't like you. The real you. They don't want complaints or criticism."
"But if I listened, don't you think others would, too?"
"Beats me. By the time I found them, I would be too pissed to even try, anymore."
"But it was your reason for living."
"Pretty dumb reason."
"Kazuma… you're a good boy deep down. You have a passion for videogames that not many have, and I'm sure it can reach others. You just need to refine it a bit. But you won't be able to do it if you're trapped here."
"…?" He looked at her curiously. "It's weird… you almost sound real."
"Well, I'm only a Program. I was programmed with a base personality and loose memories. I can only assume what the 'real' Chiaki would say… and somehow, my artificial feelings compel me to defy this world. Not that I can do anything about it. What do you think? Are these the things that Chiaki would say?"
"…Yeah. But the real Chiaki wouldn't fall for me so easily."
"I was programmed to fall for anyone who hung out with me. It's what triggers my boss fight. But beyond that, I can only speak what I feel. It's up to you how to interpret my words. The ride's almost over, so… I guess I'll be going now."
The hologram disappeared as the light of the tunnel's exit enveloped him. Kazuma sighed and climbed out of the boat, going to sit on the stairs. He could only stare at his own feet as he tried to recollect his own thoughts.
…Giffany was lightly flickering on-and-off above the boat ride's hologram projector. Sometimes, she would flicker with the sharp-toothed grin of Love Machine, the hostile Program glaring at Kazuma.