[You sit in your chair, floating above the 'ground'. There's no real viewport on Zearth, but you can still see out anyway. Anko's dad and Sasami and Tate are all watching you and filming as you mentally curse your failure and stupidity at letting the enemy pilot escape.]
['I have to kill... everyone on this planet.' You came to the realization just seconds ago, and it already feels like it's been a hundred years. Dung Beetle teleports in a map of this world, and the two officers talk about what to do. Dung Beetle floats near you.]
'Well, what will you do? It might be violent but there are other ways to destroy this planet. But will you really do it? Will you really kill every last person by aiming at them individually, one by one?'
[You lift your head and speak up.]
"I just want to end their lives, with the least amount of suffering." 'Well, I suppose that would kill them instantly so they wouldn't suffer as much but... I wonder if we'll make it in time?'
[Forty-eight hours. A little less. That's all you have.]
'According to our rough calculations, you need to kill at least sixty thousand people per second. Also, taking into account the speed of Zearth's projectiles, which travel at a speed of one thousand kilometers per hour, it would take approximately forty hours to kill every last person on Earth.' 'It would be best if we could just aim for where the pilot is hiding but since we have no clue as to where his location is, we have no choice but to launch an indiscriminate attack on all parts of the world. ... Ushiro. There's no need to push yourself so hard... you don't necessarily need to end this as fast as possible...'
[No. No, that's almost laughable. You clench your fist.] "Please let me do it this way. This is... my responsibility. ... Mr. Tokosumi, please leave the camera like that." [You know it's pointed right at you.]
"But..." [You bow your head.] "Alright... I'll keep on filming." "Thank you."
'At the very least, I'm glad that this happened on an away battle. If this was back on our world, we wouldn't have been able to do anything.' 'Perhaps. We were quite fortunate to have the army's assistance during Komoda's battle.'
[Dung Beetle floats near your head. His grin is everpresent, but he sounds... almost sad.] 'You know, I'm not surprised you couldn't trust me when I warned you. ... It's not your fault. You reap what you sow. Because of that, I've just caused you further grief. I'm sorry. ... Now then, are you ready?'
[Are you? No. Of course you're not.]'Once you start, no matter how many hours it takes, you won't be able to stop. For food, I'll bring you some from your home world. Well, that is if you have the appetite to eat... you can still go to the restroom within Zearth. Don't worry about that. ... Then, shall we start?'
[You pause and look over the city, and then over the sea. All of these kinds of places you'll never see again... and neither will the people of this planet. You take a deep breath, steady yourself, warm up Zearth's lasers... and start to fire.]
[You watch them lance out, homing in on the first life signs you tracked.]"Guh..." [You put a hand to your mouth.] 'Ushiro, don't stop now. You need to continue. There are still so many people who are only half dead. If you want to end their suffering quickly, there's no time to rest.' 'This is... madness.' [You fire again. And again. And again. Over and over and over.]
[Fighter jets come for you, but poof out as you hit their pilots in a surge of energy not native to either of your worlds. The cameras roll, and everyone looks horrified already. You've barely started.]
[And then... you hear them. Hundreds, thousands, millions of screams. Your face twists in horror.] "I can hear... I can hear the screams..." [Dung Beetle sighs.] 'You idiot. You're probably just imagining it. And even if you could really hear it, you have no choice but to block it all out. Just like how I'm doing it too, right now.' [Wait, does that mean that he -]
[An image of Kana flashes through your mind.] 'You're just like Kana. Allowing yourself to be hurt because of understanding how painful hurting others is a much harder thing to do. That's what Kana did.' [You can feel yourself breaking out into a cold sweat as you fire again, and again, and again. The screams keep coming, different genders and ages and from all over the world. You don't know how long you've been fighting. Two hours? Twenty? Time has no meaning right now. Everything is blurred. You feel your stomach heave and you vomit, some of it spraying on your clothes.] 'A-are you all right?'
[What a stupid question. But you stand, shaking as you cough hard.] 'Ushiro, you should change your clothes.' "I'm fine... like this." 'Here.' [A plain brown shopping bag appears in front of you.] 'These clothes are yours, right?' [You reach out and pull out your uniform, slip it on, and look at the empty chairs around you.]
[You close your eyes, open them again, and keep firing over and over and over and over and over and o -]
[You feel Zearth - and yourself - shutting down. The adults shout something, but you can't hear them. You see something in the distance... is that -]
[And then you feel a rough yank, the sight of two familiar cloaked figures swimming into view as the vision ends.]
Final Week, Wednesday night [cw: emeto, hallucinations]
Date: 2020-02-27 05:54 am (UTC)['I have to kill... everyone on this planet.' You came to the realization just seconds ago, and it already feels like it's been a hundred years. Dung Beetle teleports in a map of this world, and the two officers talk about what to do. Dung Beetle floats near you.]
'Well, what will you do? It might be violent but there are other ways to destroy this planet. But will you really do it? Will you really kill every last person by aiming at them individually, one by one?'
[You lift your head and speak up.]
"I just want to end their lives, with the least amount of suffering." 'Well, I suppose that would kill them instantly so they wouldn't suffer as much but... I wonder if we'll make it in time?'
[Forty-eight hours. A little less. That's all you have.]
'According to our rough calculations, you need to kill at least sixty thousand people per second. Also, taking into account the speed of Zearth's projectiles, which travel at a speed of one thousand kilometers per hour, it would take approximately forty hours to kill every last person on Earth.' 'It would be best if we could just aim for where the pilot is hiding but since we have no clue as to where his location is, we have no choice but to launch an indiscriminate attack on all parts of the world. ... Ushiro. There's no need to push yourself so hard... you don't necessarily need to end this as fast as possible...'
[No. No, that's almost laughable. You clench your fist.] "Please let me do it this way. This is... my responsibility. ... Mr. Tokosumi, please leave the camera like that." [You know it's pointed right at you.]
"But..." [You bow your head.] "Alright... I'll keep on filming." "Thank you."
'At the very least, I'm glad that this happened on an away battle. If this was back on our world, we wouldn't have been able to do anything.' 'Perhaps. We were quite fortunate to have the army's assistance during Komoda's battle.'
[Dung Beetle floats near your head. His grin is everpresent, but he sounds... almost sad.] 'You know, I'm not surprised you couldn't trust me when I warned you. ... It's not your fault. You reap what you sow. Because of that, I've just caused you further grief. I'm sorry. ... Now then, are you ready?'
[Are you? No. Of course you're not.]'Once you start, no matter how many hours it takes, you won't be able to stop. For food, I'll bring you some from your home world. Well, that is if you have the appetite to eat... you can still go to the restroom within Zearth. Don't worry about that. ... Then, shall we start?'
[You pause and look over the city, and then over the sea. All of these kinds of places you'll never see again... and neither will the people of this planet. You take a deep breath, steady yourself, warm up Zearth's lasers... and start to fire.]
[You watch them lance out, homing in on the first life signs you tracked.]"Guh..." [You put a hand to your mouth.] 'Ushiro, don't stop now. You need to continue. There are still so many people who are only half dead. If you want to end their suffering quickly, there's no time to rest.' 'This is... madness.' [You fire again. And again. And again. Over and over and over.]
[Fighter jets come for you, but poof out as you hit their pilots in a surge of energy not native to either of your worlds. The cameras roll, and everyone looks horrified already. You've barely started.]
[And then... you hear them. Hundreds, thousands, millions of screams. Your face twists in horror.] "I can hear... I can hear the screams..." [Dung Beetle sighs.] 'You idiot. You're probably just imagining it. And even if you could really hear it, you have no choice but to block it all out. Just like how I'm doing it too, right now.' [Wait, does that mean that he -]
[An image of Kana flashes through your mind.] 'You're just like Kana. Allowing yourself to be hurt because of understanding how painful hurting others is a much harder thing to do. That's what Kana did.' [You can feel yourself breaking out into a cold sweat as you fire again, and again, and again. The screams keep coming, different genders and ages and from all over the world. You don't know how long you've been fighting. Two hours? Twenty? Time has no meaning right now. Everything is blurred. You feel your stomach heave and you vomit, some of it spraying on your clothes.] 'A-are you all right?'
[What a stupid question. But you stand, shaking as you cough hard.] 'Ushiro, you should change your clothes.' "I'm fine... like this." 'Here.' [A plain brown shopping bag appears in front of you.] 'These clothes are yours, right?' [You reach out and pull out your uniform, slip it on, and look at the empty chairs around you.]
[You close your eyes, open them again, and keep firing over and over and over and over and over and o -]
[You feel Zearth - and yourself - shutting down. The adults shout something, but you can't hear them. You see something in the distance... is that -]
[And then you feel a rough yank, the sight of two familiar cloaked figures swimming into view as the vision ends.]