22 Renaissance du Fantastique
| ← 21 Spiral of Chronos | To be Released |
22 Renaissance du Fantastique
The creation of "the Clean Zone" on Earth following the events at the Hetero-Tower signals a new chapter for humans and machines alike. On Babylonia, a World Government Association of Art member, Leonie, informs Allen that Ayla’s Kaleido frame is ready for deployment. She assures him that Iris Warbler, the WGAA’s new Task Force squad, is in its final stages of development. With Ayla as the squad captain, Allen hopes it will become a stage where she can showcase her talents as humanity ventures into a hopeful yet uncertain future. Inspired by her failure to save Selena at the International Space Station, Ayla’s new frame is now suited to take on more dangerous missions.
Babylonia assigns two additional Constructs to Iris Warbler: Trojan and Lena. A jaded veteran who has served since the Acadia Evacuation, Trojan has ties to Kurono and Norman Mining Corp. Lena receives a notification of her transfer to Iris Warbler a few hours after trying and failing to apprehend Teasell, the Construct who defected from Vanessa’s Egret squad. The commandant of Iris Warbler is Sica, a recent Chief F.O.S. graduate who struggles with feelings of inadequacy as she compares herself to other alumni, such as the Gray Ravens’ and Strike Hawks’ commandants.
A few days after the squad’s formation, Allen assigns them to their first mission. An area under the influence of the Inver-Hetero Tower emits encrypted signals, with survey drones showing images of a city populated with mechanoids. The area, Constellia, turns out to be an unfinished but recently renewed city from the end of the Golden Age. Michele Vasari, a former WGAA member, was the original designer of Constellia before construction shut down following the Punishing Virus outbreak.
Arriving at the destination, Iris Warbler finds the inner city reconstructed, with a great windmill decorating the center. Having finished their reconnaissance, Lena informs the rest of the squad that the mechanoids onsite are not hostile, although their obsession with creating art is abnormal. They learn from one of the mechanoids, Bazille, that other Babylonian Constructs have been in the city before and have captured and disassembled other mechanoids. Bazille informs them that their leader, Cervantes, should be in one of the museums in the city center. As Iris Warbler departs, Ayla’s behavior reminds Bazille of Selena, who visited the city some time ago.
Upon entering the central museum, a statue-like mechanoid welcomes them with an overview of the various exhibits. When the group moves to the Arctic Route Union exhibition, Cervantes confronts them via a hologram. He hopes his guests will enjoy the exhibition and mentions that he awaits Ayla, wanting to grant her insight as a member of the WGAA.
The squad progresses through exhibitions re-enacting humanity’s struggle against the Punishing Virus in the ARU and Kowloong. Once night falls, they decide to camp on the streets. Ayla and Trojan agree that Iris Warbler may never become true comrades but agree to work together for the same goal. Trojan and Lena get into a heated discussion over their mysterious backgrounds, but Ayla de-escalates the situation. Lena senses the presence of an armored mechanoid in the windmill. She excuses herself with the pretext of checking on Sica.
Meanwhile, Spooner and Haicma fight Cervantes’s combat mechanoids in an exhibition hall. Haicma remarks that Cervantes was a part of the “machine consciousness test project.” Once known as Carl, Cervantes used to be Michele Vasari’s assistant. After his master's death, the Church of Machina took him in, but he departed the Church to fulfill his master's dream of finishing Constellia’s construction. As the two are about to leave, Haicma notices a Kurono squad nearby, and the machine duo decides to follow them.
Realizing that the Kurono squad plans to impede Iris Warbler’s progress, Haicma and Spooner intervene. They rescue the kidnapped mechanoids, but the Kurono Constructs detonate before Haicma and Spooner can obtain any information from them.
At the Engineering Force’s base, Leonardo Norman of Norman Mining Corp. is scouting for a new business partner since the group cut ties with Liszt after the Lunar Base incident. He meets with Collins and Rebecca to share data on the mysterious mechanoid in Constellia. Collins reveals it is Project Echo, a “Project Winter” experiment that escaped. In agreement, the two conspire to leak this information to Babylonia to undermine the rest of Kurono.
On Babylonia, the leaders discuss the possibility of deploying the Gray Ravens and the Egrets to Constellia, thanks to the data Trojan anonymously sent on the orders of Collins and Norman. Nikola reveals that Kurono was the mastermind behind the city’s creation, hoping to attract collaborators for “Project Winter.” While Kurono dismissed the project as a failure after the Punishing Virus outbreak, Nikola suspects they may be operating in the area again.
Iris Warbler returns to the museum and enters a theater hall housing a device that resembles the WGAA’s “Hamlet” model. When Ayla connects to it, she experiences a retelling of Don Quixote. Back in the present, she debates the myth of Icarus and whether it is worth chasing an impossible dream with Cervantes, who awaits her answer at the end of the exhibit.
The squad moves on to the Pulia Forest Park exhibition. Entering a simulation of the Pulia Forest Park disaster triggers a memory in Sica’s mind. She recounts her helplessness during the battle, feeling shame and envy when seeing the heroic feats of the Gray Ravens and Strike Hawks squads.
However, recalling her encounter with Ayla at one of her exhibitions many years ago, during which the artist’s works gave her the courage to forge ahead, she grows determined to press onward in the exhibition with the rest of the squad.
When entering the memories of Constructs, who perished in the evacuation, Ayla finds another data chip containing Cervantes’s memories.
In the memory, Cervantes strolls through the ruins of the forest park, documenting the names and memory data of the fallen. Further in the memory, Cervantes witnesses the descent of Liv Empyrea and the Commandant and Lucia rescuing her afterward, dumbfounded by their display of human perseverance.
An alarm blares and mechanoids hijacked by Kurono enter the room. Amidst the chaos, Haicma pulls Ayla into a hidden passageway. She and Spooner inform her of Kurono’s interference. The mechanoids escort Ayla to the next exhibition dedicated to the Church of Machina. Upon defeating a replica of Trailblazer, Ayla retrieves another data chip that contains Cervantes’s final memories.
Meanwhile, the rest of Iris Warbler arrives at the final corridor, finding the Echo test subject in a glass cage. The mysterious entity communicates with Lena, but she resists its call. However, a Kurono ambush causes her M.I.N.D. stability to deteriorate, making Lena give in and merge with “Echo,” releasing it from its glass cage.
Ayla and Haicma enter the final, unfinished exhibition based on the moon base. Cervantes steps out from behind the panels, explaining that he has grown unsure of the path he–and Constellia–should take from here on. He asks Ayla for a paradigm he can use to find a perfect future, but she tells him that such a thing does not exist.
Explosions from outside interrupt their conversation. Cervantes explains that an escaped Echo has seized control over Constellia’s systems. Ayla rushes outside to find Sica and Trojan injured. Lena and the mechanoid, now merged into one consciousness, confront the squad. The merged being warns Ayla to leave them alone and departs to the top of the Constellia windmill. Now beset by mechanoids Echo sent, Vanessa and the Commandant rescue the remaining Iris Warbler squadmates. After Sica briefs them, the Gray Ravens and Ayla split up to go after Lena while the Egrets evacuate Trojan.
Outside, Issarius leads the Purifying Force to set up a blockade, aiming to capture Echo. Haicma and Spooner block the squads’ advance, and Issarius challenges the duo. The Gray Ravens and Sica stay behind to carve a path for Ayla, who rushes towards the windmill tower. She finds her way blocked by Cervantes, who wishes for her to fail as he believes he has. He declares himself her enemy, but Selena steps into the hall before the two clash.
She urges a confused Ayla onward, with Ayla promising to come back for her. Selena defeats Cervantes’s mechanoids but decides to leave, only returning to Ayla when she reclaims her memories and past. She walks away with Cervantes, now aware she has a place she can call home.
Ayla ascends the tower, determined to bring Lena back. After a fierce fight, she disables the “Echo” knight statue and speaks with Lena face-to-face. The girl refuses their friendship and rejects coming back, stating that Iris Warbler is just a tool of the shadowy elites to do their bidding. Ayla tries to sever the connection between Lena and the knight statue, but the statue reactivates and flies off with Lena in its arms.
The Gray Raven Commandant catches up to Ayla, reassuring her that she can rest as long as she wants. They tell her that Echo has escaped the city with the Purifying Force in pursuit. Ayla feels bitter about the ending, but the Commandant agrees to keep it a secret. She glances at the night sky, a rainbow stretching over it.
Down below, the hiding Echo comes across the deserter once known as Teasell, who offers them his support.
The next day, Cervantes parts ways with Selena and returns to the Church of Machina, leaving his chief assistant Dulcinea to oversee Constellia.
One week later, Leonardo Norman confronts Trojan as she finishes medical check-ups, who reveals to Trojan that he and Collins plan to seize Echo. Trojan reluctantly agrees to work with him, provided she receives better pay and working conhowditions. Meanwhile, Sica and Ayla bid each other farewell, with the Iris Warbler squad now disbanded.
| ← 21 Spiral of Chronos | To be Released |
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