MARREND'S PROFILE

I don't know if there is a single script/plugin that does all of this, but, as for how difficult it might be to code them?

Concept Sketch 1 - Command Bar location, and arrangement of menu items
The default layout is for the command bar to be along the bottom, displayed in a vertical manner. I'd have to look at the class structure for MV, but, there might be a [Window_HorzCommand] class that would arrange a menu in a horizontal manner instead. Moving the window to the top of the screen is probably the easiest part of this concept.

Concept Sketch 2 - Change graphic based on state, or inputted command
So, I think the main point here is setting graphics of the busts, because the note about the battle log is default functionality. Setting a bust to reflect a state might not be so bad. Setting the busts when an action is pushed onto the action queue? Well, I have some experience attempting to detect what's on the action queue in Ace. The game had a Unite/Combo system in place, so, I needed to know what characters to skip over during the command input phase when a Unite command was done.

Concept Sketch 3 - Character positioning, and action input indicator
This could be another place where you could use an instance of [Window_HorzCommand], or something like it, for the actual arrangement of the actors. In theory, the cursor would follow suit with the actor that's in focus (ie: whose turn it is).

I've played half the games at this point, and hope to play the rest today/soon. Here's what feedback/notes I have thus far, in the order in which I played them.

The Golden Pan: Side Story - Sweet Delicacy by CrazyBabi


Acceptance 2ugar Diet by OldPat


Sweet by Rpgmakerfungames9800


Confectioner Fantasy by pianotm

Show

This is a charming little collect-a-thon (I found 101 Licorice?), and, the calming music definitely helps keep things stress-free. Though, there's certainly a number of well-hidden objects, thanks to their position in on the maps, and those of trees, but, I suppose the objects all being out on the open might make things too easy. There were a few points in the game where I thought the walking/running speed could have been greater, but, I feel this is a minor point against the game.

I think what pisses me off the most about crafting systems is that, 90% of the time, the items that are used for it serve no other purpose outside of the crafting. Like, if a game has a separate item category for just reagents, I worry about stuff like, how often does the game expect it's players to forage for reagents, and how difficult it is to know what reagent is used for what formula. To say nothing about how rare reagents are. If there's a reagent that has a > 1% chance of spawning, or being dropped, or whatever? Screw. That. In most cases, in games that have any element of alchemy/crafting, I wonder if I can ignore the system entirely, and sell off any and all reagents I find because I just don't want to engage in that system.

I think that's why I like Vagrant Story's system. The formulas on both the reagent end and result end is equipment. I can't say for sure how often the "rare drop" issue I mentioned previously comes up, but, I do know it's possible to forge the second-best pieces of armor after maybe... two runs of the game?

Legend of Legaia

Last time, Cherenkov has checked out of this game. We will never hear of him again. Aside from that, KOS-MOS made quite the showing of her abilities, and in so doing, revealed that there's more to her than whatever Shion and the other Vector technicians installed into her.

At any rate, this chapter being with, you guessed it, a cut-scene! This one, provided by the Department of Character Development, focusing on Jr. We learn later on that this was a dream/nightmare, but, of course, none of the images in the dream have any context. Except, perhaps, an early scene with a dead cat with a name-tag of "Gaignun". I'll note that, last chapter, when Jr. was introducing himself to Shion, was that the name he was giving her wasn't his "real" name, but, the one he did tell her would suffice for now.

He curses to himself after waking up. Then, a bit of a fast-forward to the quarantine hanger of the Durandal, where the Zohar emulators are stored. This cut-scene is brought to us by the Department of Backstory, as it's pointed out that the room is situated in such a way that there are six container on one side, six on the other, with one in the center. Each labled with a name. The names presented to the player are: Peter, Andrew, Boanerges, Thomas, John, Phillip, Matthew, Bartholomew, James, Thaddaeus, Simon, and Judas. The one in the center? Marienkind, or, "child of Mary", as the game will explain soon after. This is absolutely, 108%, a reference to Jesus, and the 12 apostles, by the way.

A lab in the hanger lies a Gnosified human, and the conversation moves to that subject a bit. Which, as you might imagine, gets to Shion. We saw what happened to Cherenkov, and Shion saw how close he was before chaos intrupted the process. Shion had as close a scrape with death by way of Gnosis on the Woglinde, so, I can only imagine she's wondering if a similar fate won't fall on her one day. Allen picks up on this possible thought-process, but, Shion dismisses him, saying it's nothing. The conversation moves to when the Gnosis first started to appear. While there may have been sightings, and such, the Gnosis jumped into the forefront during the Miltian Conflict, and the name of Joachim Mizrahi is dropped again, being called a lunatic, much to MOMO's dismay.

Back to regular gamepaly. Talking to the party members, they are concerned about MOMO, and perhaps rightly so. Finding her is our next goal, but, let's visit the save point on the Elsa before doing that.

The Durandal, itself, is sub-divded into the dock, the quarantine hanger, the bridge, the residential distcrit, and the park. MOMO will be found in the park, as is the next cut-scene. This is largely a fluff cut-scene, where Shion tries to cheer up MOMO, with some assistance by KOS-MOS. At some point, Allen drops by to let us know that after refuiling and resupplying at the Foundation, the Durandal will be heading towards Second Miltia. Shion has her suspicions. Why is everybody going to Second Milita? Allen just kinda shrugs it off.

Anyway, the game would have us go to the residential district and take a nap. The room we're assigned to doesn't have a save-point, but, there's a game room in the upper right hand corner of the district that does have one. Let's use that, because having the game prompt the player to take a nap has so far resulted in disaster.

Cut-scene? Yes! Trouble? No! It's just the Durandal docking into the Kukai Foundation, and relaying...



...the wonders of artificial gravity. We then meet Gaignun Kukai, the director of the Foundation, accompanied by both Mary and Shelly. Shion's not quite 100% herself with this introduction, muttering "Jr?" to herself, but, she manages. His attention is then drawn to MOMO, and relays that he's been in contact with Juli Mizrahi, and that he'll do everything he can to get her to Second Milita. MOMO's interest is piqued, asking if she could speak to "mommy", but, no dice.

Fast-forward a bit, to a room likely on the Foundation. Jr. is talking to Gaignun. The topic moves from KOS-MOS, and her potential then to Shion, and how she could be "onto them", though Jr. highly doubts it. He then asks Gaignun to tone down on any Mizrahi talk, as it clearly affected MOMO's mood. Jr. considers the possibility that something's been imprited on her, and talking smack about her "daddy" might be affecting her in unpredictable ways that's more than outward signs of depression. To which, it's suggested she is taken to the beach to get her mind off of things. A ship the size of the Durandal is going to take some time to resupply, I imagine.

Gaignun also presents Jr. with a gift of a gun that he won at an auction, to which Jr. is quite pleased with. Though, reminding Jr. that he's older than him, and that he should act like it every so often, is an interesting tidbit.

Back to Shion in her quarters on the Durandal. Allen drops by, making a quip about how it's time from them to go. Where, to Second Miiltia with KOS-MOS? I'm not exactly sure, but, it's apparent to even him that Shion's not herself. He tries to get her to talk, but, Jr. butts in from nowhere, proclaiming it's time to go out and play, and to meet him at the shuttle. Neither of these two are particularly enthused by this invitation, but, go anyway.

Both Ziggy and KOS-MOS are at the dock, but, neither of them will join in the festivities. Which, perhaps, one can expect from these two. However, Jr. chaos, and MOMO joins at the shuttle launch area, and, oh, boy, I can finally access the Ether, Tech Attack and Skill menu items for Jr. Darigaaz, game.

After spending some time there, I lift off to the beach party. Jr. and MOMO are playing some variation of volley ball, with choas overseeing them. Allen's in the water, looking like an idiot, but I repeat myself. Shion's lying on a beach chair, checking out some info on KOS-MOS before the flashback sets in. The flashback doesn't last that long, but, she's basically looking for some kind of response data from KOS-MOS in regards to empathizing with MOMO in the park. Alas, the data record is a flat line.

Allen eventually walks up to her, to complain that she shouldn't be here staring at a screen. MOMO joins in the push, but, it goes nowhere. At some point, Shion asks Allen if he thinks of Gaignun and Jr. are father and son. Allen shares with her some rumors he heard. One is that Gaignun cloned himself. The other is that Jr. is some kind of illegitimate son. There may have been a third comment, but, MOMO cuts him off, saying she doesn't think they are clones. Their genome arrays are a little too different for that. Which is a comment that surprises Shion, but, let's not forget MOMO is an observational Realian first and foremost. She's literally designed to notice the finer details.

Jr. walks into the scene protesting the "illegitimate son" comment from Allen. For what it's worth, he tries to change the subject, making a quick quip about the nice weather. Which prompts Jr. to activate a module to change it to a thunderstorm. Which provides quite the reaction from Shion, very loudly proclaiming that she hates thunder. Now, there is a reason for this reaction. However, unlike Rikku's background as to why she's afraid of thunder in Final Fantasy 10, it will take some time before we learn why Shion fears thunder.

Next is a meeting of Gaignun and the Second Miltian representative, Helmer. This is a guy we'll be seeing a lot, so I've no qualms name-dropping him. I'll note that he calls Gaignun "Nigredo" before a correction is made. They first talk about the Zohar that they retrieved from Cathedral Ship, and that it was briefly on the Woglinde. There is no question in Gaignun's mind that this emulator bears some of the responsibility of Ariadne disappearing. He then goes on to inform the representative of the presence of MOMO on the Foundation, and that he's worried about possible action from U-TIC. The subject moves back to Zohar emulators, or the possibility that U-TIC's goal my be to obtain the original Zohar. There's also mention of an "U-DO", and that whatever it is should not be allowed to awaken.

Back to Shion. The mini-conversation with Allen points us to the residential district of the Foundation, proper. You know, it would be nice is at least the bar in town had more than white noise running in the background. There's even a piano, and a player, but, the game pulls a "broken piano" excuse because... reasons? Maybe I should try a hand at researching this decision. Until then, I will continue to not understand this decision to have white noise for, like, 90% of the goddamn game.

Anyways, the shop has a few pieces of equipment of note for me to get. The prompt to get some shut-eye does not trigger a cut-scene upon agreeing to do so, but, the game points the player to join up with Allen for the maintenance on KOS-MOS afterwards. Thankfully, we don't have to walk all the way to KOS-MOS' lab on the Elsa, though, Allen is kinda in the bottleneck between the bridge area with the save-point, and the rest of the Elsa.

Talking to him triggers the next cut-scene, on the U-TIC base of Pleroma. A few tidbits that this scene lays down concerning the Y-Data that MOMO's hanging on to. So, yeah, it's primarily a repository of data from the late Joachim Mizrahi, but, it also seems to contain the UMN column transfer code for the sealed-off sector of Old Milta. You know, where the original/actual Zohar is? Yeah. That is the real reason why the Y-Data is so valuable.

So, while we don't learn exactly what the plan is for U-TIC to re-obtain possession of MOMO, outside of a vague reference to a "Plan 401", and possibly using the Song of Nephilim. Whatever those are. We do, however, get Albedo's name dropped, along with the term "URTV". As a refresher, Albedo is the guy that appeared before Marguils after Ziggy got MOMO off of Pleroma, and claimed ownership of her. As for what a URTV is, well, I'm pretty sure it's another acronym, but, what it stands for is certainly not in the manual. I'll have to wait to see if it's in the in-game database.

Anyway, back to Shion and Allen in KOS-MOS' lab. This is a bit of an incidental peice, as Allen is trying to get whatever Shion is concerned about off her chest, but, she brushes it of with "it's nothing". The man can only sigh and shake his head. Cut to the bridge of the Durandal, where Shelly communicates that they are about to enter the Miltian system, and requests permission to dock. Cut to a scene of MOMO walking the halls of the residential sector, with Jr. meeting up with her to give her a gift of... a bullet attached to a bracelet? Not the kind of gift I would consider for MOMO, but, the girl seems appreciative of the gift, so, I guess it's okay?

Cut to an external view of the Foundation, with approaching Federation ships. Which then proceed to fire on them. Huh. What's all this about? This cues a scene of the Federation Parliament discussing the matter.

So, what this is all about is a faked video of the Durandal destroying the Woglinde. The video used footage of the battle against U-TIC. Now, as one recalls, the Durandal fired against the U-TIC force, and U-TIC fired on the Woglinde. The video spliced the footage so that it looks like the Durandal fired upon the Woglinde instead. The edit is exceptionally convincing. Even the absolute coordinates match. Shion's testimony is meaningless, as it can be easily claimed she could have been in on the conspiracy.

Federation troops invade the Durandal, putting it under martial law. They apprehend choas, Jr., MOMO, Ziggy, Shion, and Allen, putting them in a single room, with Gaignun being taken elsewhere by the officer in charge.

Now locked in a room in the residential district, Ziggy makes some observations.

Ziggy: It's all orchestrated too well.
Shion: Huh?
Ziggy: The fleet deployment came too quickly. They must have been prepared to ensure that MOMO would return to them, regardless of what happened. Or, perhaps, ensnaring Second Miltia was a part of their plan from the very beginning.

Ol' Ziggy can't help but to wonder where the information about the asteroid where MOMO was held came from. There was a question raised by chaos if there are members of U-TIC that were on that committee, with Allen going so far as to suggest Juri could be such a member. Naturally, MOMO protests, and Shion gives him a small scolding for even suggesting such a thing.

Elsewhere, the officer from before presents Gaignun with a cell phone. On the other end is Helmer, doing a situational report. Part of of which is letting him know that said officer works for him, and that she was sent to keep an eye on possible U-TIC influence within the Federation. The two will be working together as much as possible before the records on board the Durandal are altered. Then, Herlmer receives a call from the Vector director, Wilhelm. Both Helmer and Wilhelm have no doubts about the involvement of U-TIC in this matter, and what their goals are. His proposal, then, is that Vector will lend KOS-MOS to Second Miltia, at least until Vector's flagship, the Dammerung, arrives to the scene.

The Federation officer in league with Helmer enters the cell-room with a guard. Officially speaking, she's there for the initial inquiry. Unofficially, she provides a situational report, with orders to provide as much support as she can. To be frank, things are not looking good. As things are now, within a matter of hours, MOMO will likely be back in the hands of U-TIC, and Second Miltia will be stripped of any authority it might have. The best course of action is to find concrete proof of our innocence, but the million dollar question is how?

The Woglinde's black box? Nope. Already altered to be the same as the video recording that's being presented as evidence. The database that the U-TIC battleship that Jr. infiltrated had may have the original data on it, but, it was sorta shot it up. What about the Durandal's database? Nope. It's a standard database. It's not secure enough to count. The kind of database that would count would have, like, triple-A encryption on it. However, the systems that come to mind to Jr. when that's mentioned are systems like the Federation government's mother frame, or the UMN operating system. But you know what? We do have access to something like that. KOS-MOS's memory module!

Extracting that data normally requires keys from both Vector HQ and the Federation government. Shion seems to think it might be possible to take a virtual dive into KOS-MOS' subconscious, experiencing the record themselves, and making a copy through the connection gear. They don't exactly have the proper equipment, but, they might be able to use a simple dive unit.

Still, there is a question of how the hell they can get to KOS-MOS, considering the situation. Which prompts some action by the officer. She unshackles Ziggy, and passes a device to Shion, saying it'll open any locked door they comes across. However, to make things look legit, she asks Ziggy to knock her out, and her subordinate. I mean, think about it. Shion and Allen are researchers. Jr. and MOMO are kids. chaos, well, maybe, but, Ziggy makes the most amount of sense for her plan. He proceeds with the plan, punching both the captain and the guard in the gut, apologizing to the latter. Now, as cool as this officer was, we'll basically never hear from her again. That's why I decided against doing a name-drop for her. However, for those curious, the name that was dropped was Lapis Roman.

Our equipment is in another room, which isn't terribly far from where we were held. Let's hit up the save point before moving on. Though, I did access the in-game database to see if there was an entry on URTVs. There was not. Maybe later.

I decide to putz around the Durandal for a bit, getting Jr. up to snuff before attempting to board the Elsa, and getting to KOS-MOS. While we could use the front door, and fight guards while doing so, we can there's something of a backdoor entrance that can take us to hatch #17. This takes us to an area on B1, between the elevator and the ladder to B2. So, we take that ladder, proceed to Ziggy's lab, hit up the save-point there, then proceed across the AGWS hangar to KOS-MOS' lab.

There's a cut-scene here because of course there is of the entire party being pulled into the simulation, and not just Shion. Which certainly wasn't expected.

Shion finds herself standing in the rain before a giant tower. Then, the thunder, to which she cowers. When she recovers, she's somewhere else entirely, and sees a familiar figure...



...on a swing set, humming a tune. Eventually, the youngster gets off the swing, and runs off, proclaiming "Daddy!" Shion turns in disbelief, and whispers towards the phantoms to not go. Then, everybody's favorite Elly wanna-be decides to intervene. Shion finds her sitting on the end of a slide, saying she's been waiting for her, and they've much to talk about.

Back to Jr., Ziggy, and MOMO. The trio are getting their bearings as a vessel flys by. The marching of troops are heard as they hide behind some rubble. They take a peek, and see... child soldiers? Jr. has no doubts about what they are. Those are URTVs. Ziggy asks if he can recognize this place. After coming to his senses, Jr. relays that if this isn't some kind of illusion, this is Old Miltia about 14 years ago. In other words, during the Miltian Conflict. He runs off on his own, and neither Ziggy nor MOMO think this is a good idea, and go after him.

Back to Shion, but only long enough for the Elly wannabe to finally get a name-drop: Nephilim. The game then shifts back to Jr. and company, into regular gameplay, if only for one screen before getting hit with a cut-scene. This one has a bunch of URTV soldeirs firing off at citizens. To which, Jr. can only proclaim that they were infected. A non-infected unit guns them down, then calls out for "Rubedo". As he moves off the scene, Jr. speaks out the name "Gaignun", and we get into a flashback. Young Gaigun walks along an hexagonal catwalk above a pit, but, another URTV blasts hiim away onto a level below before floating down before him, exuding this red aura of power before Jr. snaps out of it. MOMO does her best to try and reach out to him again, but, recoils on his angered response. He apologizes, then wonders what the hell is going on.

Back to Shion and Nephilim in the park. I'm not sure if I'm entirely capable of summarizing this, so, excuse the quote-block.

Shion: So, you're saying this really is Miltia?
Nephilim: Yes. A world of unbroken memories slumber at the depths of your consciousness. KOS-MOS has sensed this, and recreated it. This world, it is also KOS-MOS' memory as well.
Shion: KOS-MOS' memory? No, that's not...
Nephilim: Memories do not belong solely to one person, and they are not fixed to just one location.
Shion: No, I mean... it's... the original KOS-MOS was...
*flashback*

Nephilim: ...Destroyed, during that incident, two years ago.
*the flashback commences, showing the archetype's head being blown off, then to a moment before when it tore into Kevin*
Nephilim: And you lost someone dear to you as well.
*returns to the present*
Nephilim: Joyful memories form only one half of the whole. Only when they are combined together, with the other half, can your consciousness truly take form. You must, no, all of you must accept the entirety of your memories.
Shion: Accept... our memories.
Nephilim: You must return to Miltia once again.
Shion: Please, tell me! Why must I go to Miltia?
*Nephilim points in the distance*
Nephilim: Only KOS-MOS knows the answer to that question. She is waiting for you there.
Shion: KOS-MOS is... out there?
*stares, then starts walking off*
Allen: Hey! Wait up! Chief?
*the two move, before the camera refocuses to choas and Nephilim*
Nephilim: Are you sure this is what you want? There is no turning back.
chaos: I know, but, Shion is vital to her.
Nephilim: And to you as well? What will you do?
*the camera cuts again to behind the swing set then pans to show red lights flying upwards where Nephilim used to be*

So, uh, it seems Nephilim and chaos know each other. Just another mystery for later. For now, we gain control of Shion and chaos. There's a handy-dandy save-point in the next screen that we utilize. There's a few fights on the path that I have a little trouble with, but, nothing else worth noting in my book. After two, maybe three screens, the game jumps back to Jr. and company. They move into a subway, with a handy-dandy save-point for us to use as a checkpoint. There's tough fights abound on this path, with the party finding itself on a sewer floor that we had passed through as Shion previously. Climbing up a ladder triggers the next cut-scene.

Jr. and the others find themselves staring at a tower before them. This is the same tower Shion saw earlier. Jr. identifies the building as the U-TIC's base on Milta, Labyrinthos. On top of that tower is the man, himself, Joachim Mizrahi, spouting stuff that sounds like it came from the Book of Revelations.

Joachim: Hallelujah! "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged, every man, according to their works!"
MOMO: That voice. That's... That's daddy! Daddy!!
Ziggy: What!?
*MOMO starts to rush forward, Ziggy attempting to hold her back*
Ziggy: MOMO, stop! Where are you going!?
MOMO: Let me go! Daddy! Daddy is calling for me!
Ziggy: "Daddy"? Is that really him?
Jr.: That's Joachim Mizrahi, without a doubt.
*as Jr. says this, you can hear Joachim saying in the background, the following: "And death, and hell were cast into the lake of fire! This is the second death!"*
Joachim: "And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire! Rejoice, all ye! The time for feasting has come!"

After he finishes saying this, his body ignites, and falls to the ground. This is too much for MOMO to take, and frees herself from Ziggy's grasp, running towards the plummeting form of her father, only for the body to dissipate into the aether in her hands. Visibly shaken, MOMO can only whimper the words, "Daddy", then rises her head, and cries out that same word. Jr. looks on worried, while Ziggy wonders if this really is Miltia from 14 years ago. Then, the ground beneath them fades in a pixelated manner and the free fall in the void before a bright light envelops them.

Back to Shion, finding herself in a forest. There's a handy-dandy save-point right here, so, let's use it. Along the way, we see a Bunnie (an in-game mascot character who looks pretty much as one might expect with a name like that), headbutting a carrot-like object, and taking the contents. This is a puzzle-hint for later on. See, Bunnie likes the "Super Carrot Juice" that are left behind by using the Vaporizer on those carrots. We can lay one on a stump to lure it out of it's home, and, with a little timing and luck, we can race Bunnie to the the door before it closes on us. The thing has another face on the other side of it's head, so it's not a simple matter of being able to sneak up behind it, though it is kinda possible.

The prize for beating Bunnie in this race?



A decoder. I haven't been talking about this at all, but, suffice it to say, there's doors and keys to said doors strewn across the game. How relevent the rewards are is sometimes questionable, but, I don't have too much interest in this pursuit. If I come across a door, and don't have the key, fine. If I came across a door and do have the key, fine.

Anyway, we're back with Jr. and company, MOMO crying her heart out. They're in a forest clearing, and there doesn't appear to be much danger, so, the let her cry a little before attempting to cheer her up. Back to Shion's group, they come across an old church in the middle of the forest. She turns, and finds Jr. and company, and the parties combine. Though, the Department of Padding makes it so that it takes a while for this to happen, since the characters have to muse about how the hell it's possible for everyone to be here, since the Simple Dive Unit should have only brought in Shion.

Attempting to enter the church triggers the next cut-scene. A woman kneels before the alter in prayer. She's not dressed as a nun, but, still, one gets a sense of devotion from her. The party makes some exchanges between themselves concerning the possibility of her being a Realian. Ziggy asks more directly to the subject, to which she answers the affirmative, and gives her name: Febronia. This is a figure from Shion's past, of which we only get a brief flash of.

Febronia asks Shion to follow her. She moves to a side door, and then, everybody's favorite Elly wannabe, Nephilim, appears out of nowhere, saying that they will face "themselves" when they open that door. Or some such nonsense. After the blat, we gain control of Shion again, with the default party of her, Jr. and chaos, with access to a handy-dandy save-point. Well, then, since the game is very obviously suggesting something really really important/crapastrophic is going to happen soon, let's use it.

So, what's behind door #1? Why, it's the next cut-scene! The party finds themselves in a hallway, with a window on one end being cracked. There's blood smeared across the wall in one section as they move down. They arrive at the end of the hall, stopping at a door there. Nephilim id's the place as the Acute Neurosis Treatment Facility on Miltia. More specifically, they stand before room where Shion's mother was kept. At this time, we only know that she was hospitalized here, but not the reason for the hospitalization. Anyway, the door opens, and with a flash of light, the party is in the room. The room is a mess, with objects strewn about the floor, and the dead body of Shion's father against a wall, a splattering of blood behind him. There are maybe two other bodies on the floor, and, of course, Shion's mom on the bed. She gasps, and flinches backwards at the sight, and then, strange figures phase into the room, then fuse into one gigantic being that serves as the next boss fight. Though, before doing so, Jr. has his own visions of the past, of a young Albedo spouting complete nonsense.

I'm not sure if I can explain this boss very well. So, it's got a kind of barrier that will sometimes respond to attacks by Jr. or Shion. I don't know what would happen if chaos tried to get in there, as I had him on support/healing. However, once the boss falls below 0 HP, it's barrier against the character that felled it, and again, it can only be Jr. or Shion that does this, it counter-heals for 1500, that the other character has to whittle down. Or, you know, do a tech attack that's at least 1500-ish.

After the boss is felled, the room fades to black as the boss turned into purple lights that surround Shion and Jr. The two shrink from them in fear. The camera moves to a different POV, as the lights orbit, then one comes smack dab into the camera, where it fades to white, then fades back to a grassy plain with a tree in the middle, and one can hear the laughter of children. The camera switches between a view of the party, and the tree before it pans down, and we can see a pair of girls running around the tree, and a vision of Febronia leaning against it, observing in a motherly fashion at the girls. The music during this scene is a rendition of...



..."Green Sleeves". At which point, Febronia takes a post in the Department of Backstory. This lovely scene before us is an illusion created for the girls, Cecily and Cathe. When the illusion is removed, the scene is much less a happy one. Rather than blue skies, a healthy tree, green grass, and a smiling Febronia, there is a gray sky, a withered tree, rubble on the street, and a knocked-out Febronia. The actual Febronia goes on to say that they are imprisoned, and this imprisonment has something to do with the Zohar control system, and wants Shion to release them. This, according to both Febronia and Nephilim, is "for the future" of Realians, humans, non-humans, and all matter of living consciousness.

Nephilim then shows us a vision of a possible future. Under a backdrop of space, a planet comes into view that Shion identifies as Miltia. Then KOS-MOS flies into view, equipped with her tertiary weapons system. The planet before her pulsates red, then shoots out a beam. KOS-MOS counters with a beam of her own. Then a super zoom-out of the galaxy(?), where there's a little blue spark at the edge of the cluster, which expands rapidly outward to engulf, well, everything in sight. Nephilim goes on to explain that the steam of energy is a consciousness known as U-DO. It's definitely got something to do with the anomaly that engulfed Miltia 14 years ago. The future that we just saw is merely one of the many possible futures that could come to pass. One in which KOS-MOS faces U-DO in the "form she was meant to have". She then spouts that even the smallest of waves can cause ripples in the stream of time, and yes, Shion picks up on the possibility/hint that Nephilim wants her/them to be that wave, and proceeds to ask "why us/me"?

Nephilim points out that Shion was once "touched" by a Gnosis, yet remains as human as she ever was. Which, yeah, is very much an interesting point onto itself, considering that Jr. said earlier how humans touched by Gnosis become Gnosis, themselves, no exceptions. Though, I suppose, there are exceptions where humans are turned into salt piles instead of Gnosis, or Gnosified humans, but, I suppose this is more about how "alive" one is after being touched. I'm not sure if you can call a Gnosis, or being Gnosified, could be considered "alive", but, I digress.

Either way, a familiar blue-framed door phases in (there was one of these during Cherenkov's visions) before Shion and company. She opens it, and then the party finds themselves in a cave. At the end of the cave is a stone crucifix, with...



...KOS-MOS arragined with wires on it. Shion approaches her, then places a hand on her cheek. The figure starts to glow blue. Then, after a bit, Shion makes a sign of the cross and speaks the password: "Ye shall be as gods." This activates the dormant KOS-MOS, and exits the dive. Here's the full cut-scene, as it's a bit of a doozy.



The evidence submitted, the Kukai Foundation is cleared of charges in due time. Though, Jr. has a bad premonition concerning the name "Nephilim". Cut to the park, where chaos and Allen have become members of the Department of Padding, and talk over how Allen wants to be more than just a co-worker to Shion, but also understands she doesn't see him that way at all. Cut to Guignun's personal quarters, where Helmer makes a report, concerning the review of MOMO's subconscious, and that the charges against Second Miltia, and the Kukai Foundation, will be dropped, officially, tomorrow. Naturally, they suspect that U-TIC won't let MOMO go quite yet, but, they also don't know what they could attempt to pull.

Back to Shion, failing to get any amount of sleep. She's perfectly aware that handing over top-secret government info is very likely going to get herself fired. Her train of thought moves to MOMO, and how incredibly sad she looked. It then moves to Allen, where he was making an attempt to cheer her up with something that sounds like a date, but, Shion refused, not exactly feeling positive, herself. He mind continues to whirl chaotically, thinking about the task laid before her by Nephilim and Febronia, and what it all means.

Rather than trigger an end-of-chapter save, despite all that's happened, and despite how it feels like there really should be one, the game gives control to Shion again, on the context of wanting to apologize to Allen. However, this is plenty of content for this update, despite how the game refuses to end Chapter 5. What will U-TIC pull next to reacquire MOMO? I guess we'll see, next time on the Xenosaga Episode 1 LP!