| Operator Record Selfhood |
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| With her memories back, Specter wants to reascertain her own likeness. | |
Unlock conditions
- Raise Specter the Unchained to Elite 2 Level 1.
- Have at least 50% Trust with Specter the Unchained.
| Characters |
| Backgrounds |
 1  2  3  4 |
| “ | Away from the sea and returned to the coast, an awakened Specter collates anew the fragments of her ego through her interactions with the Abyssal Hunters and Irene. | ” |
| <Background black> | |
|---|---|
| Gladiia | On behalf of Ægir, I hereby accept you as an Abyssal Hunter. I will be your captain, and more than that, your teacher. The ocean has permitted our hunt, and no pest will have anywhere to hide. |
| Specter | I will follow you, and I will hunt. |
| Gladiia | Arise, Laurentina. |
| Specter | Yes, Captain. |
| Gladiia | Have you ever danced before? |
| Specter | I attended dance classes once, but I'm not too well-practiced, Captain. |
| Gladiia | Proficiency or lack thereof does not affect the emotional reach of one's dance. Step forward, and take my hand. Before I formally begin your training in slaughter, I would first like for you to comprehend– Your life skills. Let us begin. Take in the rhythm. Come– |
| <Background 1> | |
| Gran Faro, Iberia | |
| [The now-sane Specter teaches Skadi how to dance in the square.] | |
| Skadi | So... like this? |
| Specter | Yes. Step to the rhythm, keep your feet light, and leave the rest to me. Bow, and... wave, and... twirl, and... stop. Yes, not bad, Skadi. The captain might just be dying to be your dance partner by now. |
| Skadi | That's not funny at all, Shark... |
| Specter | Oh, my, really? Heheh. |
| Skadi | Seems your recovery's gone well. |
| Specter | How could it not, with someone as considerate as you caring for me? |
| Skadi | ...... You still love to babble. No change at all. |
| Specter | Who else but you could praise me sooo sincerely? Do I owe you a word of thanks? Hmm, now that I think about it, I really do, don't I? A real thank-you from the heart. |
| Skadi | For what? |
| Specter | For... caring for me. No dry-lander could ever hold me down, when the other me had the onset. And no one else would've been able to drag me back to that hospital bed, either. Skadi. |
| Skadi | I'm just... so happy to have found an Abyssal Hunter on the shore. There's you, my captain, the captain of the Second, and I haven't seen any other Hunters. Protecting my teammates is my duty. And that's that. |
| Specter | Thank you, Skadi. |
| Skadi | You're welcome, Shark. |
| Specter | Anyway, now that I've taught you the charm of dance, do you think you could teach me the secrets of song? The other me's singing could stand to be a little easier on the ears. I want a professional to help tune me up. |
| Skadi | I thought it was quite nice. |
| Specter | But I still want to sing my own song. |
| Skadi | Alright. I can teach you. But be sure to learn, Shark. |
| Specter | I'll be a model student. |
| Skadi | (She breaks into melodious song.) ♪ |
| Specter | (She breaks into jumping refrain.) ♪ |
| Skadi | Lower your voice a little more. Hold your breath steady in your abdomen. |
| Specter | I'll give it a shot. |
| ...... | |
| [Gladiia walks toward Specter and Skadi.] | |
| Gladiia | Excuse me. |
| Specter | Top of the morning, Captain. |
| Skadi | 2nd Captain. |
| Gladiia | Skadi, Kal'tsit's looking for you. |
| Skadi | Kal'tsit? |
| Gladiia | Mm. She has a need to conduct more focused medical tests on you. |
| Skadi | Alright. I'll go now. See you in a bit. Shark, 2nd Captain. |
| Specter | See you. |
| [Skadi leaves.] | |
| Specter | What a shame, I wanted to sing a little more. Any plans right now? |
| Gladiia | Our time is limited. We cannot return to Rhodes Island to resupply. Kal'tsit will take charge of allocating resources aboard it. Iberia's Saint pledges the Penal Battalion will assist our movements. They will be an important backer in our return to Ægir. |
| Specter | Sounds like you've got this all worked out. |
| Gladiia | Considering the scale of the Seaborn swarm, our chances of making headway into Ægir with the resources we have are dim. But finding a path to reach a specific strategic goal is my duty as a Designer of Warfare. However, my worries do not end there. Ægir's cities cover the ocean, and I have been lucky to visit the majority. But the city we saw... I have no recollection of. I know not its scale, nor the particulars of its construction, nor whether it meets the Academy-enacted standards. |
| Specter | Well, that's a hump. |
| Gladiia | Thus, before we enter it, we must prepare as well as we can. Once the time is ripe, then whatever the city's encountered, whatever developments have taken place in Ægir... I'm sure I will be able to give you both a full account. |
| Specter | Well, just give me a shout whenever you need something cut. Me and my saw will be waiting. |
| Gladiia | Mm. Laurentina, do you have a moment? |
| Specter | The sea breeze feels nice today, doesn't it. Let's take a walk, Captain. |
| <Background 2> | |
| [While Specter and Gladiia are looking around the streets...] | |
| Specter | (She deeply inhales–and exhales–) Feels just great to be back to myself. |
| Gladiia | I'm glad you've managed to free yourself from the Originium's effects. |
| Specter | I can still hear the ocean waves, after all. I can still smell the salt in the water. I'm stable for now. I can keep a hold on myself. If I head too far from the sea though... I'm not too sure. |
| Gladiia | You needn't force yourself. You've done very well. |
| Specter | I've gained a new understanding of myself, actually. Odds are good the other me would eagerly devote herself to my goals. I think me and me will get along just fine. |
| Gladiia | Kal'tsit and I have discussed this. She is to assist in resolving any intractable problems you face. As with the matter of Skadi, this is part of our mutual cooperation agreement. |
| Specter | Thank you, I mean it. Now how about we saunter ourselves out of town for a little art appreciation? |
| <Background 3> | |
| [Specter and Gladiia arrives at a boulder.] | |
| Specter | Right here. See it? That big, upright crag, way over yonder. |
| Gladiia | Very abstract. |
| Specter | Very... |
| Specter pauses to assemble the words to describe this unique boulder, eaten away at by the sea breeze. From the front, it resembles an old woman cloaked in rough hemp, but with just a few steps to the side, it becomes a follower in silent prayer. As if it is possibility itself made tangible. It is one, yet many. For a while, at least, it actually leaves her at a loss for words. | |
| Specter | Very beautiful. The wind erosion's endowed the sculpture with a multidimensional sort of tension. |
| Gladiia | Do you want to make it your own work? |
| Specter | Mine? No, I'm not qualified. It's a complete piece already. Chiseling any more? Practically profane. Ahh, it sucks that we'd never get art like this in Ægir's cities, though. |
| Gladiia | In the ocean, we have subjugated nature. That inherently comes with a cost. |
| Specter | Still, I'm happy I got to see a miracle like this. You'd need the endorsement of an elite technician to sculpt a statue this big back in Ægir, and then you'd have to pay to use the extruder, or spend even more buying stone that works. And then you rent one of the big sculpting tables, and make sure your sculptor's hands don't make a single damn mistake. You shed all that blood and sweat and it's just to reach the starting line. Welcome to the next few months of your life: that stone is your baby now. Goodbye to your everyday quibbles and daily meals. You must even forsake your flashes of inspiration with every ruthless bone in your body. Pour it all into the stone. Give everything you have to raise it. Shave away its impurities. Breathe life into it. In the end, it's forced to suffer the appraisal of the masses, and I know I'll hear some COMPLETELY unreasonable commentary on it. |
| Gladiia | This is the vocation you were meant to take then? |
| Specter | Someone told me a joke once. Goes something like this. Why do they call a sculptor a technician, and not an artist? Because their main job is sculpting for the Academy, and of course those eggheads would turn artistic expression into pure science. Heh-heh~ |
| Gladiia | You're laughing quite a bit. |
| Specter | Oh, wow, am I? Whoof. I just thought describing it like that might help you understand why I love that boulder so goddamn much. |
| Gladiia | Merely a fluke of time. |
| Specter | Yep. A fluke achieved by time and nature. It's the coincidental things in life that make my chest jump with glee. Mind if we sit here for a sec? I want to admire it a little more. |
| Gladiia | By all means. |
| <Background fades out and in> | |
| [While Specter and Gladiia sits near the boulder...] | |
| Specter | Captain. |
| Gladiia | Hm? |
| Specter | Want some fin jerky? Disclaimer: the workmanship's a little shoddy. |
| Gladiia | You mean to say hunger weighs on you? |
| Specter | This won't sate it. Just gives my taste buds a little stimulation, and me the joy of chewing. |
| Gladiia | It's unnecessary. |
| Specter | It really, really is. Want to try? |
| Gladiia | Hmph... (She takes the fin jerky.) |
| Specter | Seems you're a real stranger to snacks. |
| Gladiia | (She quietly chews.) Dry, stiff, overseasoned. |
| Specter | But it's convenient. It can put some of the feeling of life back in you. Every time I did well enough in my studies, my parents'd shove a bag of fin jerky just like this into my hands. The bag WAS more refined than this, though. More vivid. |
| Gladiia | You were fortunate to have blood relatives who approved of and supported you. |
| Specter | But they gave me plenty of grief, too. The woman who raised me was the one tasked with planning city domes. And my father, well, he was in charge of engineering and realizing her creations. |
| Gladiia | I am familiar with the material on your parents, from when we were recruiting Abyssal Hunters. |
| Specter | I always drifted wherever they went, watching the domes in my mother's blueprints gradually take shape, watching the cities sprawl out from the seabed in all directions. Her artistic sensibilities influenced the children born under those domes, myself included. City after city, dome after dome. I witnessed the majesty of creating something from nothing, plus the joy of starting all over again. She saved the abyssal sea, plucking it out from the nihilistic dark. And I hoped I could be someone like her. Every city I stayed at gave me the chance to choose. Music, sport, drawing. Experiencing Ægir's rich culture in the concrete details broadened my horizons. I thought I'd be choosing forever, until I saw that statue. It was then I decided to become a sculptor myself. How valuable that gigantic, flawless, snow-white figure seemed, stood before the gloom of the ocean. You gazed up at it, looked over its posture, and unconsciously, you went to mimic it. That was prayer. That was hope. And maybe those exact hints are what made the other me so happy to accept the identity of a Church sister. |
| Gladiia | I will not judge. It was your choice. |
| Specter | And here I was, all ready for you to lecture me. There's a damn pity. |
| Gladiia | Being chosen to become an Abyssal Hunter far from implies that you must renounce the right to pursue your dreams. |
| Specter | So what's your dream, then, Captain? |
| Gladiia | To hold on until the light of the cities once again blankets the ocean, sit on the red velvet benches of an Ægir opera house, and watch another production. |
| [Gladiia rises up.] | |
| Gladiia | Let us rise. We've rested for long enough. It's time we return to town. |
| <Background fades out and in> | |
| Specter | In a few more hours, once the sun sets, the starry sky will reveal itself. |
| Gladiia | You seem very fond of the night sky. |
| Specter | Specks of light flickering in the heavens, those heavens as deep and boundless as the ocean. Aren't you a fan? |
| Gladiia | It may shake me, but not enough to make me sentimental. It is not as if we are clueless regarding anything above sea level. |
| Specter | While the little apprentice sculptor I am tried so futilely to turn an instant into an eternity, the skies had already made eternity as colorful as every instant in it. How can I not be moved? |
| Gladiia | It seems living on dry land has awakened your passion as an artist. |
| Specter | This land's put me through enough agony, that's all. Washed ashore and desiccated in the sun, taken away and filled with Originium by a bunch of sad, pathetic asses, and now I have to endure the reality of the Seaborn fraternizing with me. So, carpe diem. I have to live it up. Use my passionate love for the arts to add a bit of seasoning to my life. You should understand that better than I do, Captain. Art doesn't betray, it only draws a line between beautiful and ugly. And I'm so glad I still understand this little piece of beauty. |
| [Gladiia sees the town ahead.] | |
| Gladiia | The town is before us. We still have many matters to deal with today. Thank you for bringing me this momentary joy, Shark. |
| Specter | Hold on a moment. We've got the perfect chance. I'd like you to agree to a humble request of mine. May I have this dance, Gladiia? (She presents her hand.) |
| Gladiia | ...... Heh. It would be my honor, Laurentina. |
| Upon withered plains, daughters of the sea spryly begin to dance. The sea winds provide accompaniment, while the leaves respond in kind. For a fleeting moment, sorrow and anguish are nowhere, and life's joys fill the world. Abyssal Hunters are bound by blood. A dance draws to a close. | |
| Gladiia | It's been so long since I shared a dance. I very much enjoyed it. |
| Specter | Too right. And I've never danced a dance like that before. |
| [Specter sees Irene walking by.] | |
| Specter | Oh, if it isn't the cute little Iberian bird. She was heading to the coast towards the lighthouse. Did she want another look at it? |
| Gladiia | The Sea Terrors there are long since annihilated. What business could she have? |
| Specter | Who knows? Are we heading back to work now, Captain? |
| Gladiia | Many details remain to be discussed with both Kal'tsit and the old Iberian. |
| Specter | Then I'll keep strolling out here a little longer. Make sure our little bird returns to the nest safe and sound. See you. |
| <Background 4> | |
| [Irene is looking at Gran Faro's Eye of Iberia.] | |
| Irene | ...... |
| Specter | Are you lost, my poor little bird? |
| Irene | Who's there?! |
| [Specter walks toward Irene.] | |
| Irene | Oh, it's you. Of course. Who else would call me that? |
| Specter | This coast is a terrible place to kill time at night. |
| Irene | The Penal Battalion has the area under control, and the Sea Terrors have been swept clean. I can't imagine what there is to be frightened of. |
| Specter | Sometimes, for landwalkers, the waves can be more heartless than Seaborn. The tide's coming in. Mind your feet. |
| [The ocean waters swept Irene's feet...] | |
| Irene | Agh! |
| [...prompting her to step away from the shore.] | |
| Specter | Are you sure you truly understand? |
| Irene | Even if I didn't, I would request for you all to teach me. In order to respond to this calamity, I MUST learn. |
| Specter | Such a teacher's pet. Tell me, then, why exactly did you come here? |
| Irene | I wanted to see where my maestro gave his life again. I wanted to follow his teachings and try to overcome the fear in my heart once more. Ow! Wh-What are you hitting my head for?! |
| Specter | What a cute reaction. Heheh. Sooo energetic. |
| Irene | Make sense. Just what are you– |
| Specter | You already have the self-confidence to face straight ahead. Could you describe for me what's down there? |
| Irene | The sea, the lighthouse, the Penal Battalion's warship. Could they not be more obvious? |
| Specter | Keep going. You should be able to see it. |
| Irene | The reef, the lights, an unfinished column. |
| Specter | Aaaand? |
| Irene | Exactly how long do you intend to toy with me?! |
| Specter | Look up. |
| Just as Irene is about to get truly mad, Specter points into the air. Irene's line of sight follows the Abyssal Hunter's finger, and climbs through the night sky. She sees the stars filling the firmament, and in an instant her fury vanishes. | |
| Specter | You can still feel it, can't you, little bird? Dreams are weighty things, and you're ready to put in what it takes. But when your staunch beliefs pull you to battle, don't let them push life's joys to the back of your mind. They might be the most ordinary of things, but they really can save you. |
| Irene | Urgh... nngh... |
| Specter | Heh, heh. Good little bird. That's what makes you so charming. It's time you went back to the nest. Watch your step. |
| Irene | Are you leaving? Urgh, wait! |
| Specter | Did you need something? |
| Irene | I think I may have been impolite. I've simply been calling you "you" all this time. |
| Specter | You're right. I don't think I've ever introduced myself. |
| Specter takes two steps back, and lightly lifts her skirt. The light of the twin moons spills over the hem, the pallid glistening of the waves letting off specks of light, shining over the scripture on her parchment strips. | |
| Specter | Hello, Irene of Iberia. I am Specter, Abyssal Hunter. If you're willing, you could also call me–Laurentina of Ægir. |
| Irene | Laurentina... Laurentina... What a beautiful name. |
| Specter | Well then, see you, my strong little birdie. (Faintly, she hums.) |
| [Specter walks away.] | |
| Irene | Is she... singing? |
| ...... When I pray♪ The stars wax in night♪ When I dance♪ The moons shed mournful black♪ When I smile♪ The seas will be witness to my joy♪ | |