(no subject)

[dreamofarcadia]

RePort.NO.2-04

 

Reply No: 2023-11XX-1

 

Classification: Report NO.M-03

 

Observed on: 2018.06

 

Output on: 2023.11

 

Browse and restore records within the ■■■■■■.

 

//

[A loud sound effect, the type you'd often hear in a game.]

Shinano: Teyaaaah! You're finished! Deus Ex Machina!

Kotetsu: No waaaaaaay! Amazing! You're so strong!

Shinano: Yaaaaay! My cute little Light's ultimate is like an 'I win' button!

Kotetsu: Amazing! 5 star characters really do just melt bosses! 

[The sounds of clapping from the living room, and the sounds of dinner being made from the other side.]

Atou: Two grown adults coming over for an overnight stay and they just play gacha...Well, I guess they can do what they'd like.

Otowa: Gacha?

Atou: Yeah, you know, that one...AteKise. 

Otowa: Oh, that one.

[Ingredients are going into the pot. Daikon, carrots, and other root vegetables are hitting the bottom of the pot, with a satisfying sound. In-between the sounds of the stove fan, you can hear a game's background music from a phone.]

Shinano: By the way, Kotetsu, how much of the main story have you read?

Kotetsu: Well, you know, I...I've read about halfway through Episode 4! You told me about Marine and I finally got to meet him, Ei!

Shinano: You're up to Marine! Wow!

[The mustard cabbage is being cut at the root. It looks like a flower inside.]

Otowa: Those two seem full of energy.

Atou: Well, they're close in age, and they're always talking with each other online. So I guess they really would get more excited when they can see each other and play together offline.

Otowa: That depends on the person, doesn't it? Some people want to take their time playing it on their own, others want to get friends together and play something, and other people prefer watching play videos. 

Atou: Right, LPers are pretty popular lately, aren't they...

[They can hear Kotetsu's 'Ah', and then the alert sound for a text message.]

Kotetsu: That was Mr. Kachiya. He said he was done with buying things from the clinic.

Shinano: Oh, so does that mean he'll be here in time for dinner?

Kotetsu: Seems like it!

[The utensils are done being used, and are being put into the stainless steel sink.]

Otowa: Haruki, could you wash this towel for me?

Atou: Right.

Otowa: And after, can I ask you to help make the salad?

Atou: Okay. 

[The sound of house slippers walking for about 2 or 3 seconds, then the sound of a vegetable drawer in a refrigerator being opened.]

Otowa: Deus ex Machina...?

Atou: Huh? You mean that finishing blow attack they were just talking about?

Otowa: You know, part of that incident 3 years ago can be called a deus ex machina. 

Atou: Oh? Really?

Otowa: Right now, no one knows what really happened except the people who were there. And there hasn't been too much information about it that's gotten out to the public afterwards. It's a little unnatural.

Atou: Well...Sometimes I'm not really satisfied with that either, but...if the truth of that really did get out into the world, I'm not sure what I'd do.

[The sounds of both of them preparing food can be heard. The music from the cellphone has stopped, replaced by the sound of the TV.]

Atou: Anyway, I hear the words 'deus ex machina' from time to time, but what do they really mean?

Otowa: Deus ex machina...It means god from the machine. It was originally a theater term. I won't explain the whole thing to you here, but in short...It's a technique in stories or plays where 'God' will show up midway through to solve their problem.

Atou: What?

Otowa: It's not a character, and it's not the ending to the story, either. It's more like...God, or something like it with absolute power, can make the story end in and of itself....That kind of thing, basically.

Atou: Ahh, I see. It seems like it'd be difficult to end a story like that, since people might have...mixed opinions on it.

[The two of them lower their voices, speaking in whispers now.]

Atou: ...So you're saying that there are people who think of what happened to that group as something like that?

Otowa: Yes, that's it.

Atou: God, huh...

[The sound of the vegetables in the salad being mixed together.]

Atou: ...They called Hatsutori the child of God. The origin. They called him absolute, but...

Otowa: Yeah.

Atou: Actually, right now, I'm the one who's...

Otowa: That's right. You are.

[The sound of water, boiling in the pot.]

Atou: But sometimes, I wonder.

[The sounds of laughing voices, on a variety show in the background.]

Atou: Was that really an Origin?

[The voices slowly grow further away.]

Atou: In the end, was he really a grapevine?

[They stop, for a second.]

Atou: And doesn't that mean that the soil that the grapevine grew in is still there? 

[All the sound effects that were in the background return.]

Otowa: ...If something...happened again, what would you do?

Atou: Well, if it didn't have anything to do with me, I'd probably just...try to ignore it. I'm like this, after all-- the type who just wants to protect himself.

Otowa: But what if it did have to do with you?

Atou: If that time ever comes, I guess I'll think about it then.

Otowa: I see. 

[The doorbell rings.]

Shinano: Ah! Mr. Kachiya is here!

//