19 A New Divide
| ← ER01 The Ark Beyond | ER02 Cinder Burns → |
19 A New Divide
A week after the appearance of the Unidentified Twins in the Pulia Forest Park, Babylonia is dealing with the losses of several transport aircrafts. Karenina takes the job of upgrading the engines. However, her design does not produce the expected output since the vice-captain of the Engineering Force, Teddy, altered it due to safety risks. Collins enters the workshop with Hassen and Nikola to discuss an important project with Karenina. Hassen explains that although they have a prototype for the Omega Weapon ready, they can only mass produce it with a zero-point reactor. The only functional reactor is the one in the lunar base, which has been closed since the outbreak. Collins and Hassen convince Karenina to work on this project under two of her conditions: the members who stay behind will keep working on the new craft engines, and Kurono will provide the materials for a new frame designed by Karenina.
Outside the workshop, Teddy encounters Leonardo Norman, CEO of the Norman Mining Corp. They discuss Teddy's past human identity as Christina, Norman's sister. Teddy asks how their younger sister Victoria is doing, and Norman asks if Teddy is happy with her work. After this brief conversation, the two part ways.
One week later, Karenina and Teddy arrive at the lunar base. After finishing the Omega Prototype, they test Karenina's new frame, Scire. Karenina says that although the frame was modified as requested, Collins provided the base model. The research director of the lunar base, Yarha, guides Karenina and Teddy to the testing area. As they leave, Liszt—a Parliament councilman and Kurono member—questions Collins about using the frame they reverse-engineered from “her” for Karenina’s base model.
Following the frame test, Collins tells Karenina that her grandfather, Dr. Kalon, was involved with Construct technology. He takes her to Dr. Kalon's laboratory, which houses the Mega-Omega Weapon, the zero-point reactor, and the Ascendant Luna. Collins explains Kurono's goal of studying the Ascension Network to convert all humans into Ascendants. Teddy deduces that restraining Luna is the reason behind Kurono’s interest in restarting the reactor.
After weeks of work, Karenina and Teddy restart the reactor and zero-point engine and connect the Mega-Omega Weapon to it. Collins then orders the researchers to awaken Luna for questioning. Luna realizes she cannot connect to the Ascension Network and no longer retains her status as an Agent. She notices an absence of the Punishing Virus. Liszt informs Luna that the Mega-Omega Weapon behind her will destroy her if she tries to escape, to which Luna responds that she has no plans to do so.
As Karenina inspects the specialized frame, Yarha explains that Liv volunteered to become the "necessary sacrifice." After he leaves, Luna tells Karenina that the weakness of humanity forces them to sacrifice others to survive. She asks if Karenina can bring hope without sacrificing anyone. Karenina affirms that one day, science will turn its destructive power into hope.
On the surface, Vonnegut decides that it is time to give Roland his reward. He informs Roland that Luna is in the lunar base and instructs him to rescue or erase her depending on her ability to contribute to the Ascension Network. Vonnegut gives Roland a case containing the last stem cell of the twins’ Hetero-Hive Mother, capable of devouring all matter and energy.
Roland tries to figure out how to get rid of Voodoo. When they invade the Babylonian transport base, Alpha appears and clashes against Voodoo. She gives Roland a small storage device before pushing him away. Voodoo stays to fight Alpha while Roland takes the space shuttle and departs for the Moon.
Luna wakes up to find Karenina adjusting the Mega-Omega Weapon. Karenina comments that she will try to conceal as much of the data from Kurono, adding that she will return to Babylonia the next day. Karenina then bids Luna farewell and leaves the laboratory. Yarha comes to see the Engineering Force off. A Kurono researcher informs him that the power of the zero-point reactor is decreasing. Karenina agrees to help and goes to perform an emergency inspection despite the opposition of the other Kurono personnel.
Roland operates the space shuttle and sets course to the Moon. Faced with flying Hetero-Creatures, he uses the stem cell to fight them. Inside the lunar base, Karenina dispatches swarms of Corrupted. She informs Teddy about the situation and orders her to move the wounded while she investigates the source of the virus. Fearing the reactor may be the problem, Yarha gives his clearance to Karenina.
Karenina arrives at the reactor to find Corrupted prototype Constructs. After defeating them, she accesses a record detailing how Dr. Kalon's team struggled to make a breakthrough in the Inver-Device development. They discovered that the Inver-Device uses the Punishing Virus as an antigen. However, the absence of the Punishing Virus on the Moon meant they could not recreate the technology. Instead, they partnered with Kurono to use the zero-point reactor for controlled production. The operation failed after Kurono failed to test the Inver-Device's reliability, leading to the researchers becoming infected and Dr. Kalon sustaining a brain injury.
They still managed to create a stable Inver-Device model. The last surviving researcher sent Dr. Kalon to Earth in a life pod, perishing after shutting down the array and sealing the corrupted Constructs inside the reactor.
Roland finally arrives on the Moon. His connection to Luna weakens, making him realize that she is on the brink of death. Wishing that the Agent can decide her fate, Roland inserts the storage unit Alpha gave him in the Kurono system to send the message contained in it to Luna. As he leaves, he throws the Hetero-Hive Mother stem cell into the cables surrounding the Mega-Omega Weapon
In the core, Karenina realizes that one of the reactor control centers is infected and pumping out excess energy that creates gravitational anomalies. Unable to manually shut down the power supply, Karenina returns to the propulsion lab to do it remotely. Teddy informs her they cannot cut off the power externally due to the infected relay program. If the gravitational waves are left unchecked, the Punishing Virus will spread and implode Moon debris that will hit Earth. Teddy tells Karenina there is a small window of opportunity to destroy the zero-point engine between the gravitational wave contractions. Realizing the severity of the issue, Karenina attempts to contact Babylonia.
Collins celebrates the success of the new specialized frame as a way of gaining more leverage in the Parliament. Liszt invites Norman to attend the World Government meeting with him as a citizen representative. If Liszt gains acclaim, it will open a possibility for Collins to discuss research on the Ascendants. However, Liszt suggests using the zero-point reactor to restart Babylonia's engine so it can take humans away from the Earth. He also mentions that Collins must postpone his Ascendant research as it exceeded the available budget.
Using Karenina's participation to boost the project's credibility, Liszt gains the Parliament’s support. Before Hassen can officially approve, Karenina's emergency signal arrives. She informs them of a Punishing Virus leak in the reactor. Liszt presumes Collins orchestrated the message. He argues the information is insufficient to make a rational decision, urging the councilmen to think carefully before destroying the engine. However, Collins brings the Gray Raven Commandant and Simon to convince the Parliament. Having been informed about the situation, the Gray Raven Commandant argues that even if they destroy the zero-point engine, they can reconstruct it later by saving the scientists instead.
Bianca requests permission to go to the Moon and help Karenina, but Nikola denies her request. Chiko, Bianca's vice-captain, offers to deal with the traitors in the ongoing ground mission. Nikola says that since their investigation showed Ascendant traces, Nikola designates Bianca and Chiko to different locations. As they leave, Nikola questions why the Control Court would ask for a change of locations.
On the Moon, Karenina orders to evacuate the wounded personnel while she destroys the gravitational engine. Meanwhile, Luna wakes up and feels the Mega-Omega Weapon draining the Punishing Virus in her body, weakening her. Karenina rushes in, hoping Luna might help. She refuses because she has lost her connection to the Ascension Network and her will to live. As Karenina returns to the power lab, Teddy informs her that the technicians decided to keep working on the problem while the non-technical staff evacuated the injured. She also explains that they are collecting data on the zero-point engine to restore and improve it since Kurono is no longer in the way. Karenina runs towards the zero-point engine and witnesses her target floating in a gravitational storm. Using her Blast Hammer to propel herself upwards, Karenina shoots at the engine to unveil a layer of pale matter entangled within. Both objects fuse into a vaguely humanoid creature, and as Karenina engages it, she receives Babylonia's confirmation to destroy the engine.
Back in the power lab, the message Roland left for Luna plays: it is a record of Alpha congratulating Luna on her birthday. Attached to the recording is a small frog charm—Alpha's gift to Luna. The walls of the power lab rupture, and Luna breaks free from her shackles. Reflecting on her emotions and actions, Luna realizes she wants to connect with humanity in the search for her future of coexistence, thus guaranteeing the realization of her dream. The Ascension Network re-establishes its connection to Luna, returning her Agent powers. Luna decides to help Karenina by gathering the Punishing Virus close to the reactor and draining its energy.
When Karenina severs the creature's right leg, it fails to regenerate. The creature recovers and moves to siphon more zero-point energy. Teddy warns Karenina that the gravitational waves will reach a critical point soon. After a prolonged fight, Karenina manages to kill the creature. However, the resulting explosion was not enough to destroy the engine. Teddy asks Karenina to go to the transport craft in the coordinates she sent so they can evacuate.
They rendezvous with the lunar base personnel and retreat. When Babylonia's space fighters start firing at the ship, Roland reveals he is the captain. He severs the connection between the life pod and the cabin, sending the pod towards Babylonia while the cabin heads for Earth. Outside the lunar base, Luna encases the damaged zero-point engine and herself in a sphere of Punishing Virus. She uses the explosion to propel herself toward Earth where Alpha meets her.
| ← ER01 The Ark Beyond | ER02 Cinder Burns → |
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