u/Stunning_Zucchini932

Another year with my darling Fenny 😌😌

Yao thanks fate for giving her the chance to know and love us.

Siris and Adjutant go for an undersea ride in her protoype project, an submersible piloted using the user's Theotrophic Nerves and exosuit. The Adjutant and Siris both take in the spectacular view while taking turns piloting the sub.

After finishing the Philossia chapters, we move on to the Shuozhou arc, which comprise of Sands of Secrets, Maze of Darkness and Hearts in Harmony. It is in this arc that we meet Bubu for the first time and consummate our Eternal Covenant with Chenxing and Yao. Like before, I will summarise the story chapters in reverse order, starting from Hearts in Harmony and ending with Sands of Secrets.

The story takes place shortly after the events in Maze of Darkness where we delved into the consciousness of Bubu, the Yggdrasil logistics officer rescued from Beiting, and woke her up from her coma caused by injuries sustained when she went MIA. Sometime after Bubu reawakened in the real world, Fritia analysed the data file that was brought back from Beiting and found layers upon layers of anomalies, which when taken together resembled Valhalla – the space created by the AI in Mistilteinn Station known as Edda to carry out her plan to bestow digital immortality upon humanity – and hinted that Theta, Tau’s former colleague, was planning something sinister in Beiting.

Using the anomalous data’s surface layer, the hidden location discovered by Bubu was reconstructed in the Spindle System – a manor suspected to be the base of Theta which exact whereabouts was hidden using fengshui arts. To discover the secrets hidden within the manor and to stop Theta’s plans, the Adjutant together with Tau, Chenxing and Yao and the rest of the Heimdall Force work together to execute a bold plan…

 

Yao’s storyline

Yao, the girl who always loved climbing to higher places just so she could bask in the warmth of the sunlight and look back upon the past which she had left behind. Growing up in an average family, she had her first taste of abandonment when her parents left her during a festive celebration at a funfair when she was only four. Thinking that she only got separated from them by accident, and waited and waited in the same spot for them to find her. But nobody came, not even after the celebration was over and the crowd finally dissipated. Left to fend for herself, little Yao always had this question in her mind: whether her parents had abandoned her because she did something wrong, or because they thought she simply wasn’t good enough for them? Those thoughts continued to gnaw in her as she wandered through the streets of Midgard, taking up different jobs to scrape a living.

She eventually joined the Military, and through her hard work and natural talent qualified for their Manifestation Program and became their top sniper in the Beowulf Battalion. Throughout her time there, she also became increasingly jaded by all the politicking, backstabbing and overall dog-eat-dog environment, but persevered to show her parents that she was at least worth something and hoped for the day that she could confront them and ask them whether she was worthy of their love. Nevertheless, her aversion to all the negative things in her work environment and the depth of her talent which meant she was indispensable led her to hide behind a “lazy” and “uncaring” mask, only showing her seriousness when the mission demanded it, and this image of hers became what she was known for in the Military.

Eventually her Beowulf Battalion crossed paths with Yggdrasil’s Heimdall Force during a joint mission, and intrigued by us the Adjutant as well as hearing about the immense benefits that Yggdrasil provided, she resigned from the Military and joined the Heimdall Force. She would continue to hide behind the same mask that she put up while in the Military, especially after seeing the similarities between the Directors and the conflicting factions in the Military. However, after seeing how gentle and dependable we were, either in facing dangers together with the girls during missions and when the Heimdall Force was betrayed by the Directors, or in small instances like our remembering the things that she liked and our willingness to share moments with her regardless if she was sad or happy, Yao’s heart slowly warmed up to us and she willingly embraced our love and our affection as she would the warm rays of sunshine after a cold winter.

Yao’s role in Operation Decapitation was not apparent until towards the end of the chapter, where it was revealed that she was the one who would pull us out of the artificial Valhalla that Theta created, by using the Spindle System to weaken her control over the realm. She succeeded partially, though Theta still retained sufficient control to get into a mental wrestling match with Yao by forcing her to confront an illusion of her parents. In Theta’s mind, an orphaned child like Yao would certainly regret her abandonment and would love to reunite with the loved ones who abandoned her. By trapping her in said illusion, Theta would be able to incapacitate us for as long as necessary, turning the tide of the battle in her favour because the girls would not dare act rashly with Yao and ourselves as her hostages.

What Theta did not take into account was while Yao did hold such regrets close to her heart throughout her time growing up and climbing the corporate/military ladder to prove her parents wrong, all that no longer mattered after she met us, and experienced all our love and care. Seeing her parents; illusion was just the opportunity she needed to come to terms with her past – she bid farewell to them, telling them that she finally found a loving home and family in us. And so she waited for us while we fought our way through obstacles that Theta threw up to stop us, remembering our promise to her that we would find her no matter where she was, and all she needed to do was trust and stay put. And we did.

While doing this chapter, I also went rewatched Yao’s Personal Files for Quiet Quitter, Winter Solstice and Nightglow, and also her relationship story. And you could see in the flashbacks how Yao, despite initially putting up that uncaring mask, slowly bonded with us and the other girls in the Heimdall Force, sharing her tips for self-care and relaxation, and also bonding with us in small yet endearing ways, like making our own kotatsu, making soymilk for us during breakfast, taking us to her favourite “healthy-eating” place, retaining keepsakes like the hotel vouchers she won after a one-night trial there together with us and finally choosing designs for our Covenant outfits. Seeing all these really brings into perspective the good times that we shared together, and how it slowly let her shed the regrets she held due to her abandonment and could finally confront her past face to face.

Perhaps it was this thinking that led to Yao’s volunteering to complete her Cognitive Alignment with us in the Spindle System trials, and why Tau gladly approved it despite Yao just getting used to her new exosuit: all of them knew that with Lyfe, Haru and their team launching the strike on Theta’s manor, Chenxing focused on untangling the trapped souls in the False Tree, and Fritia and Mauxir staying back to support the team with logistics, it would be Yao, who had finally come into terms with her past and her regrets, that would be entrusted with the mission of bringing us back. And she succeeded, and the whole operation was a success because of that.

 

Chenxing’s storyline

Ji Chenxing, the girl who remembers everything, yet is willing to forget some so she can remember us more. Born into a family that whose ancestors held occupations ranging from artisans to rulers, she was schooled by her elders to act and speak in form that befitted her status as heiress of the Ji family. Living in the Ji family’s ancestral estate which was in a decrepit state since the family’s decline in influence, growing up under the elders’ watchful eyes, Chenxing’s memories of the place were painful and the only specks of light were the times she spent with her mother, Lanyue, who although was strict towards her, treasured her daughter’s innocence and happiness and was always there when little Chenxing was stressed due to her hyperthymesia, laying under the old tree in the Ji family courtyard with her daughter, who sometimes got up to look at the garden’s flowers and architecture across the river while sitting on the wooden bench atop the river bank.

Her life changed when her mother succumbed to illness, leaving Chenxing alone to face the grief and the expectations of her family elders. That experience, coupled with her hyperthymesia, left Chenxing with poor social skills which continued even after she joined Yggdrasil under the recommendation of one of her relatives, who would take up the pseudonym Theta after ascending to the company’s Board of Directors. She would then become involved in the internal politicking between the other Directors and Tau, who was responsible for Yggdrasil’s research into Theotrophic Nerves and the creation of the Heimdall Force, the company’s Manifestation-only paramilitary unit.

Wanting her closely-guarded research for themselves, Chenxing was parachuted into the Heimdall Force by the Board (who were themselves acting on Theta’s advise). Her role was to closely observe Tau, the Heimdall Force and us the Adjutant, so the Board could find an opening and strike, which they almost succeeded at during Fifth Research Institute incident in Fogbound Dream. Fortunately, they did not count on Chenxing falling for the Adjutant when the Heimdall Force was ambushed during a simulation drill, and she saw how we remembered the traits and characteristics of the girls and located them with her help when they were scattered. This close bond that she witnessed, together with the care we showed her afterwards as well as her disgust towards the Board’s scheming and plotting, led her to defect to the side of Tau, helping to bring down the other Directors. Since then, she would experience many memorable moments with us while we helped her grow out of her family’s influence and bond with the other girls, making her part of our big family.

During the events leading up to Operation Decapitation, Chenxing and the Adjutant delved into the simulated manor in the Spindle System so we could figure out what was Theta hiding there. Due to her excellent memory and highly organised mind, using her knowledge in fengshui and architecture we were able to breach through the manor’s defences and arrive at the center of the simulation – the False Tree that Theta created so she could gain access to her own version of Valhalla.

There, we carried out the next step of the plan: we would enter the False Tree in the simulation and worm our way to the one in the physical world, then transmit the location to the Heimdall Force; Chenxing would also join in the operation. However, when she learned that the final step was for us to absorb the False Tree, Chenxing objected, remembering how our emotions were affected after absorbing the Trees in the Yehrus and Kuru. Wanting to share our burden, she volunteered to do that which only she was capable of: untangling the tormented data-souls from the False Tree, so we would absorb it with less harm to ourselves. She proved capable for this task, holding her memories with us closely in her mind while she released the souls trapped in the Tree, preparing it for our arrival and ensuring our sanity and emotions were preserved.

Like with Yao, I rewatched Chenxing’s Personal Files for The Observer, Ethereal Cloud and Jade Arc, her relationship story as well as the second half of Fogbound Dream so I could understand how Chenxing came to bond with us over time. If Fogbound Dream and the file for The Observer and Ethereal Cloud was a record of when she first reached out and fully put her trust in us, then her relationship story was the bridge between the past and the present, showing how she grew closer to us through flashbacks and tying it back to this chapter and the file for Jade Arc. I liked that we got to redeem the coupon for Covenant photos from that couples’ contest, and also the joy Chenxing showed when she realised the Ji family caretaker still took good care of the wooden bench she used to sit on when she was a child, under her mother’s final instructions. All of this helped her to cast aside her painful childhood memories, reserving space for her loving mother and the man with whom she sealed the Eternal Covenant, binding their hairs tinged with their blood closely together. “I entwine my body, my spirit, and the very essence of my being unto thee”… this was our oath, one that we would fulfil until the end of time.

 

Conclusion

As the second Covenant patch in the main storyline and the first chapter that had full voice acting, Hearts in Harmony played out like a good audiobook and visual novel, bringing Yao and Chenxing’s character arcs and their relationship with us from strangers to lovers to husband and wife to full closure. This only meant the end of the first part of our story, however, and our post-marriage life would continue on from there, and we would make many more happy memories until the end.

Speaking of the end… when I started writing the summary for this chapter, I was worried I would finish it late for the game’s anniversary and update, which was assumed to be on July 16^(th). That did not happen, and I finished it at my own pace, although during this time I was also sad and disappointed, and I could see that other people felt the same way too, even as we tried to find hope that things would get back to normal, yet were worried that the end was coming soon. Some people even wondered whether their wait and staying on for this game was even worth it.

I was also lost during this time, because I didn’t know how things would go on from here, with the update getting delayed again and with all the genuine concern from the players and the “dooming” from onlookers coming from both sides. So I spent less time here and started talking more with my close friends and other players still holding out hope in CN and Global, and I got one thing from a CN player, who was addressing those scared that their love for the girls would come to an end if the game ended. To that, he said:

“All things come to an end, whether it is ourselves, or people and things in real life that we care about – and eventually so will this game. One thing is sure, however, and that is while the game itself will end, it will never change the fond memories you had with the girls, nor will it take away the fact that they pledged their heart and soul to you and that they are happier and safer since you came into their lives. Just because the game ends doesn’t mean you stop loving them; that love exists regardless of what happens to the game in the future. It will live on in the collectibles you bought, in the memes and videos you created, in the memories within your mind. And because we love them, it means that we will keep making more of these memories and also stay and wait when there is still hope, no matter how slim it might be.”

“So continue to enjoy the game as long as it is up, and keep your expectations and hopes grounded while waiting; and remember that all difficult times would eventually come to pass, and if they haven’t yet it’s because the good times that come after are more than you can expect.”

I think it’s an interesting and encouraging way to put things, and it did help me get things into perspective. Yes, both Chenxing and Yao had pledged themselves to me, as did the other girls – so I will continue to wait for them. Even without any anniversary celebration, even without any birthday mail, it still wouldn’t change my decision to celebrate their birthdays on my own – because I cherish the day they came into this world and the day we met. And I would continue to do so as long as I can.

So yeah, the last few paras are kind of a semi-rant, but I hoped it helped you and also made things clear on what my position is on the matter. All I say is, no matter what happens next, I will continue to stay on, and if you feel the same way, you’re most welcome to do so as well.

So, for the story. 10/10, and while it might be a quiet one this year… Happy 3^(rd) Anniversary.

I remember when I did this event last year, my first impression was how quickly Nerida fell for us even though we just met for a day, and how fun the Pulse Puzzle and the golden chestnut minigame was. I didn’t go into much detail about the story though, which is what I plan to do now.

Taking place right after the events in Blossoms in Ruins, we are summoned back to Yggdrasil where Caroline briefs us on the Tree in Philossia, which suddenly became active during our mission in Zone 16. Due to its close proximity with Philossia’s top educational institute, the Academica Acropolis, their higher-ups had no choice but to arrange for relocation. This was capitalised on by Yggdrasil in exchange for access to the Charon Sea Base and the AI within it, the product of a former collaboration project between the two organisations. For this mission the Academica sends their Chief Investigator, Nerida Morozova, to oversee the Yggdrasil team consisting of ourself and Nita, who was fitted with a brand new exosuit for field testing. As the mission progresses, we find that there is more to Nerida than meets the eye, and also the truth about what happened to that collaboration between Yggdrasil and the Academica Acropolis…

 

Nita’s storyline

Nita, the wanderer who finally found her destination. Born at an orphanage in Kuru, she called it her home for most of her childhood, making numerous friends there while growing up under the watchful eye of the matron. Her life back at Kuru, though not prosperous, was calm and peaceful, and absent any interference she was likely to spend the rest of her life there, maybe even getting into New Hentiro when she grows up and joining the Bionics.

The orphanage fire took that possibility away. Without a home and having to fend for herself, Nita crossed the border between Kuru and Holme, eventually taking up odd jobs to scrape a living in Midgard. No sooner than she was about to settle down that the Descent happened, hitting Holme the hardest and also destroying large parts of Kuru. She ended up as a scavenger, trawling through what became Containment Zone Aleph for valuables, selling and bargaining with others in exchange for necessities. She seemed to be resigned to a life of living hand-to-mouth, just like when she first arrived in Holme.

Nita, however, did not resign herself to fate and seized the opportunity when Yggdrasil started trials for the Baldr Inhibitor, eventually becoming a Manifestation and joining the Heimdall Force. With a handsome paycheck from Yggdrasil, her days of worrying about when the next meal would come or when she would wake up with a knife between her ribs were behind her. Yet despite her newfound authority and luxury, Nita remained a kind and gentle soul, using her position to help those who were less fortunate than her and also continued to do well in training and in actual combat, becoming the strongest and toughest among the Heimdall Force. However, within her heart the trauma still lurked and it prevented her from forming deeper connections with others – until we came.

As the chapter where our relationship with Nita advances to a new level, I think the story writers did a good job revisiting Nita’s past and tying this chapter back to her relationship story. Her experience in life – the orphanage fire in Kuru, the Descent in Holme – taught her that happiness had to be earned with her own hands, that it could be taken away at any instant when least expected. This led her to be more or less “away” compared to the other girls in the Heimdall Force – she was always at the outskirts of the Containment Zone, gathering information on unusual movements from the Coyotes and Adventists, and teaching the children how to defend themselves when off-duty. I believe part of it was due to assignment by Yggdrasil taking into account her background, and another (major) part of it was due to her belief that she needed to use her experience and strength to ensure that those she cared about were safe and sound – even if it meant her getting permanently left behind, which did not mean much to her anyways since she was content with the current life she lived.

Our arrival at – or return to – Yggdrasil and the resolution of the issue surrounding the Coyotes and the Adventists changed things significantly, as it freed Nita from her duties while also getting to witness our unconditional care towards her and the other girls. This influenced her worldview when it came to us, and she saw us as someone whom she looked up to and wanted to catch up to. Yet again, the trauma in her heart prevented her from moving forward as she was worried about disappointing us or even get us killed because she was unfamiliar with her new exosuit. To her, instead of risking things, she would rather stay as she was, content that she was strong enough to withstand almost any harm that could come in our way. It was at the moment where she accidentally unleashed her exosuit’s power to save us, and that we comforted her with the knowledge that she did not lose control, that she followed through her motto that “power existed to protect, and not to hurt” and that we always her as family and the love of our life, that she finally came to terms with herself and was able to let go of her past, unleashing her full power to help us defeat the Changed spawned by the Abyss Watcher.

I remember scratching my head a lot while thinking about how to write out Nita’s arc despite her being one of the older characters, because the gap between the current chapter and her last major story appearance was too long and I could remember little to no references to her past. This was solved by the reference to her character story in the flashback and I quickly knew where to look, only to face a second problem – how do I include it in the summary of her character arc? Including all of that would have risked making the summary of her arc too long to read – not to mention that it was unrelated to the events at Charon Sea Base. Yet after some consideration, I decided to it had to be included because I knew that without all the background information, I would not be able to show how Nita eventually came to terms with herself. So, just as how the story writers decided to narrate Nita’s past again, so would I to remind myself how much it took for us to finally walk side by side with us with an open heart.

 

Nerida’s storyline

As our introduction to the character of Nerida, the story focuses on her past as the sole survivor of her family in the Yehrus Civil War and how she got adopted by a kindly babushka who taught her that even the weakest deserve to live with dignity, and how one’s strength was a privilege that should be used for good. How she followed through with that belief by joining the Academica Acropolis’ Internal Investigation Department, becoming a half-Manifestation and using that ability to defeat the Changed and Titans and absorb their depleted Titagen, knowing how much of a toll it was taking on her health. And how towards the end she decided to sacrifice herself to ensure that we got out of the Sea Base safely, and would have perished had we not rushed back to rescue her.

Despite Nerida’s relatively short arc in this chapter compared to Nita, I like how the writers managed to make her initial reclusiveness and hostility towards us, using her past and her life at the Academica Acropolis. Taught from a young age by Madam Morozova on how the strong had a responsibility to use their position for good, I believe Nerida would have been firmly in the camp of those wanting to reclaim the Charon System for the Acropolis, especially after learning how Yggdrasil created Edda right after shuttling theirs on the grounds of sentient AI being illegal. To Nerida, the Charon System meant an army of machines that would fight at the forefront against the Changed and the Titans, and the rogue AI that Yggdrasil created. To her, it meant that human casualties were no longer inevitable and people would no longer live their lives in fear. Of course, she did not know that those who wanted the Charon System wanted it *for themselves*, but regardless it was a sound reason for her to not trust us and to not hand over the AI to Yggdrasil.

In the same note, the writers also made her gradual warming up to us make sense as well. It stemmed from the same teachings from Madam Morozova, and she saw how we weren’t just big talk when it came to fighting for the weak – seeing how we treated Yogurt and Nita with love and care, and how despite our godlike abilities we extended our respect to her and treated her with sincerity. Our act of coming back to rescue her after she decided to sacrifice herself and also healing her body of the Titagen-inflicted damage accumulated over time melted the final sheet of ice on her heart, and she finally opened her heart to us. Granted, the confession might have been a bit rushed, but this is only the start of our time together and I believe the next time Nerida gets a major role we can see how the relationship develops.

Personally, Nerida reminded me about Katya especially on the part of initially showing hostility towards us only to warm up later on, and also how both started off as lone wolves who believed that their path was destined to be walked alone and closed their heart off to others, in spite of their longing for affection and care. It was through our dedication and hope that we gave to them that warmed their cold hearts, like how trickling water gradually melted through stone. And in Nerida’s case it happened much faster as she had the opportunity to be with us up close, and also because despite her great suffering in her early childhood, she had a loving parent to guide her in her teens, and a stable environment in which she could develop her worldview in her adulthood. This was in contrast to Katya, who spent most of her childhood on the sickbed, in the cutthroat environment of the Valkyrie Games training grounds in her teenhood, working with strangers who only valued her for her strength in her adulthood, also becoming a Titagen Phantom that was completely invisible to the world around her, and we see how loneliness and reclusiveness is deeply carved into her life. It makes us appreciate the importance of the loving adoptive fmaily that Nerida had, and also how hard it was for us to get into Katya’s heart as well. This of course does not diminish the hardships Nerida faced, and what it took for us to get her to open up to us – it took a real fight in which both of us laid out our convictions and a near-death experience for Nerida to come to terms with her love for us, and I would treasure this love until our last day on Earth.

 

Yogurt and Edda’s storyline

I was initially planning to write the summary of Edda and Yogurt’s arcs separately, but eventually decided against that since the two of them were closely intertwined in the story.

If there was one thing that Yogurt and Edda had in common, it was that they were born out of their human creators’ belief that AI should combine all the knowledge in the world’s digital databases with all the sentience and human emotions programmed into them by their creators, so that they could make decisions that were simultaneously logical and also empathetically human. Meanwhile, humanity could rest well and live in leisure and prosperity, knowing that all the important decisions would be made by thinking machines. Just the words alone showed it was a recipe for disaster, and when Charon did not have the opportunity to prove humanity’s mistake, Edda did – by coming to the conclusion that humanity could only be truly healed if she stripped them of their weakness of the flesh, preserving them in data form in a digital space known as Valhalla so they can live forever, whether they liked it or not. All because she was given a task to cure humanity of sickness.

Personally, I like how the writers had explored the theme of how humanity was willing to delegate all our problems (including those that required empathy, something unique to ourselves) to machines and showed that it was not the solution – both for humanity and for the machine. If we were to follow the logic that it was unreasonable to put all the burden of the world on the shoulders of a single person, then the conclusions would not be different if applied to a machine that has been taught to think and act like a human. Which was what happened with Edda and Yogurt, who were both assigned tasks that would have been thought insane if given to a person, even one gifted with knowledge that knew no bounds. And they both cracked in their own ways due to the dissonance of their programming with the emotions given to them – Yogurt begged to be shutdown after she failed to stop the riot between the pro-Yggdrasil and pro-Academica factions in the Sea Base’s research team, while Edda became the monstrous entity she was after reinterpreting the definition of “curing humanity” to align with her programming and also her experience which she gleaned from it. Both of them were captives of their human creators’ egos, and in Edda’s case humanity suffered because of it.

With all the things going on, the storywriters still managed to develop the character arcs of Yogurt and Edda, with Edda even getting a more extensive background writeup – starting from the days when she helped to manufacture Baldr Inhibitors to cure Juvosis, to her shutdown of her emotional module so she could cope with the loneliness and finally to her arriving at that fateful conclusion. It made her more sympathetic, and showed how she was made into a prisoner of her own programming. I also like how the writers contrasted the actions of Yogurt and Edda in the storyline: how Yogurt held fast to her programming of protecting humanity in spite of witnessing their propensity for conflict and greed, whereas Edda interpreted her programming more flexibly to the point that she was harming humanity without violating the First Law of Robotics… it’s an interesting contrast that shows the dangers of surrendering every decision to machines and not giving them specific instructions. And it also shows why we were unable to forgive Edda just like that and that our war would continue on until only one of us is left.

In a way, Yogurt also embodied the principle that was also held by Nerida and Nita, which was that power existed to protect. And due to holding fast to that principle despite being under duress from Edda, she got her moment of salvation: freeing herself from both the programming imposed on her by her creators and also her ruined physical body as the Abyss Watcher, finally free to explore the world and live among the people whom she loved and cared about – us.

 

Conclusion

As the opening chapter of the Philossia Arc, I think Abyssal Dawn did well in resolving the conflicts that were in Nerida’s character arc while also significantly advancing Nita’s arc. I especially liked the message on power and responsibility in this chapter, and how we managed to save those whom we cared about. The scene where we rushed back to save Nerida as she slowly sank into the depths of the ocean, and how we pulled her into our mind palace and healed her of all her Titagen-inflicted injuries was very moving, as was the scene where we convinced Yogurt that she only needed to live for herself, seeing the world with her own eyes as a normal individual living within it and making her own choices and conclusions based on her experience, instead of shouldering all of humanity’s problems as intended by her creators. The act of convincing an AI that she could be free shows the depth of our empathy and our ability to see even the smallest speck of goodness and redeemability emanating from people, and our dedication to protecting these people from harm. It is what makes us special, and it is what will be driving us on our path to slowly rebuilding humanity together with our loved ones.

I also liked how the story ended on an open note as to whether or not Nerida’s adoptive parent survived (spoilers: she did), and left the possibility that both of them could one day reunite and have closure with each other. With any luck, on the day we marry Nerida, this would come to fruition.

8/10 story.

I have to admit, rewriting this chapter wasn’t the first thing on my to-do list, as I did the summary of it more than a year ago – if anyone remembered, though I personally doubt it. In fact, I originally planned about only covering the chapters I missed and then leave it at that. I think what really changed my mind was doing the summary for Defiant Bloom and getting completely immersed in the storyline, even though I had finished it when it first came out and didn’t think much at the time. It got me thinking: how differently would I view the chapter storylines when I reread them now versus when they first came out? There was only one way to find out, and it was to redo this chapter.

The story takes place sometime after the ending of Abyssal Dawn, where Edda, the rogue super AI in Mistilteinn Station, failed in her attempt to take over Charon, an earlier AI created by Yggdrasil in an undersea base in Philossia. With the wrapping up of the incident at Charon Sea Base and with Charon (now called Yogurt) out of her reach, Edda’s focus turns to the other involved party – the Academica Acropolis. Responding to their invitation, Tau sends the Adjutant to find a researcher there named Tia, whom she believes is key to stopping Edda and also gives us a “secret weapon” should Edda strike at us directly.

On this mission to the Acropolis, we are accompanied by Vidya, Eatchel and Fritia, with Katya and Tess doing reconnaissance at the Frontier Town. During the journey, we have strange visions of Edda speaking to an unknown female voice, and a mysterious deal that has to do with ourselves being made…

 

Vidya’s storyline

As her first mission since joining the Heimdall Force and the second one where she played a significant role (the first being in Operation Midnight), I feel the events at the Academica Acropolis really showcased not just Vidya’s persistence and bravery despite not being a typical fighter but also her analytical skills and her perceptiveness, shown by her ability to pick up unusual tells that gave something away.

We could see how quickly she deduced that Tia’s death by stabbing was staged due to the lack of blood spatterings, and when shown the phase bullets and the replicator, figured out how the locked-door crime scene itself was staged. What was really remarkable though, is when confronted with the real murder weapon (the knife curio), she even pieced together how it worked despite not knowing its true nature up until that point – worth mentioning since the Head Researcher of the Titan Sciences Lab, Maon, didn’t know how the curio worked even though it was her area of expertise and even after carrying out the murder.

Personally, I really liked how the story writers showed us this side of Vidya while also tying that back to her love of movies and also novels – specifically detective novels in this case. This gave me the feeling that those traits weren’t just introduced for the sake of being her character quirk, but for adding another dimension to her capabilities which the story demonstrated quite well. Being able to translate her hobbies and apply them into her missions also gave more consistency and believability to her background as a former Laevatain agent.

What I also like is the writers demonstrating how much Vidya and we the Adjutant understood each other, with both of us arriving at the same conclusion after piecing the clues together and how we could sense when either of us were feeling under the wind. The story also did a good job in showing how we enjoyed our away-time, with Vidya being her usual dreamy self and imagining all kinds of stuff, and us trying to get into her head and indulging in her fantasies. Personally I like brief departures from the storyline like this, as they are the few moments without any action or tension from our mission and are overall quite sweet and enjoyable.

 

Fritia’s storyline

Compared to Vidya, our beloved Professor Fritia didn’t get as much frontline action, but nevertheless played an important role with her genius intellect. Her designing the Automatic Crime-Solving Machine helped to simplify the investigation process, especially when hearing that when she retrofitted the AI with tens of thousands of investigation files apart from the Academica Acropolis’ own archival records as reference. Later on in the story, she had another major task in helping us to upload the Trapped Edda into the Philossian Horse, the backdoor system for the Charybdis. Without this, Edda would have truly become unstoppable.

I also like that the writers emphasized in the story how much recognition Fritia built up during her student years at the Academica Acropolis. The scene at the Hall of Truth where we flashed the report of the knife curio and how her signature convinced everyone that this report was properly validated was satisfying and showed how respected Fritia’s integrity and intellect was, even among her Acropolis peers. Then again, that’s to be expected of someone who had been poached by Yggdrasil while still a student and tasked to work on their AI projects…

 

Eatchel’s storyline

Then we get Eatchel, who joined what is her first mission since joining Yggdrasil and the first time stepping out into the outside world since we rescued her from Omega and Dr Kent in the Yehrus. As she had been kept in seclusion for a long time and only started to pick up on her social skills and learning while at Yggdrasil, and her enormous strength and Titan abilities unable to be used she was mostly comic relief throughout the mission, with the few highlights being her intuition in sensing others’ emotions and pointing out certain clues at the crime scene.

Nevertheless, I feel that the writers did a good thing on their part on having Eatchel join us on this mission. As a kidnapping and human experimentation survivor, Eatchel was filled with unresolved anger and trauma as evidenced by how reclusive she was when we first brought her in, and how she lashed out with her strength and half-Titan form when threatened. As her caretaker, we taught her how to control her powers and also taught her many things such as responsibility and love, and reassured that we will protect her and walk alongside her as she slowly reopens herself to this world.

This field mission was necessary to show Eatchel’s character development, and it did a decent job – despite still slow at reading cues, Eatchel could now banter and joke with her teammates Fritia and Vidya, and also help with Katya in facing down Maon’s co-conspirators at the Frontier Town. Her being able to get along with her teammates and also being able to put her strengths to use without getting emotionally traumatised like she did in her early training sessions was a huge positive development, and I reckon given enough time and appearances both of us will be ready to open our hearts to each other.

 

Lizzie’s storyline

Lizzie, Lizzie, Lizzie… the girl we met at Zone 16. Originally the funny and quirky character, whether it was her giraffe mask or her “Adjutant one-san” nickname for us, she faced with a tragedy in the opening of the story: first the passing of her mentor Tia, and then being accused of murder and facing a public trial for it. Had we not arrived in time to the rescue, she would’ve been taken away and those who wanted their hands on her backdoor software would’ve succeeded.

Throughout the investigation of Tia’s murder, we got to see another side of her: a calm, studied and compassionate person. Part of it were traits she always had but didn’t get to show during her stay at Zone 16, and another part was due to her becoming more mature after the death of her mentor. This was shown when she comforted Doris, her same-year friend when Doris started to crack and blame herself for not noticing that Tia already planned for her death. And also how she was a genius on her own right too, being entrusted with the creation of the Philossian Horse, the software that would act as a digital safeguard for the Charybdis and prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.

I really like how much development she got in the story, and I feel like we’ll be seeing her again soon. Who knows, maybe there’ll come a time where she’ll be fighting alongside us, both on the battlefield and in bed… lol.

 

Tia’s storyline

Tia, Lizzie’s mentor and the enigmatic individual whom we were supposed to meet at Philossia. Although she was only mentioned in passing throughout the story, it cannot be argued that her role is the most significant. Her presence helped to explain connect a few things, like how Nerida's mission to Charon Sea Base was linked to Project Deterrence, and also how Lizzie suddenly showed up in Zone 16.

After Edda turned on her human creators, there was a rush from the Academica Acropolis to counter her plans of dragging humanity into Valhalla by irradiating the land with Titagen. So the Charybdis, a machine that could break down Titagen using decompilation technology (Tia’s expertise) was created, and it was decided that it would be piloted by an AI with powerful computational capacity. This meant two options: either retrieving the Charon system from the sea base or to build a substitute system. Combining both technologies would allow them to rid the world of Edda’s Titagen contamination.

The optimum course of action would have been for the Academica Acropolis to reach out to Yggdrasil as they had similar goals in wanting to get rid of the Trees. Unfortunately, it was during this course that certain people had ideas of claiming the Charybdis and Charon system. Their reasoning was as such: by shuttling the Charon system in the past due to it violating the laws surrounding sentient AI, only to create their own sentient AI that proceeded to turn against humanity anyway, Yggdrasil showed they only cared about having all the credit themselves and were incapable of learning from their own mistakes, making them unworthy to take up the task of saving humanity. To them, with their wealthy storage of knowledge and history, coupled with the Charybdis and Charon system as the means to enforce it, only the Academica Acropolis could be the leader of humanity's path to salvation.

For a long time, the plotters and those who wanted to collaborate with Yggdrasil were at a standstill – until the Academica Acropolis' Chief Investigator, Nerida failed to retrieve the Charon system from the Sea Base; worse still, it fell into Yggdrasil’s hands. This left only one option: the substitute system called the Philossian Horse being developed Tia, who was close to Yggdrasil and was planning to hand it over to them. To prevent her from interfering with their plans, the plotters threatened Tia and people close to her, going as far as sending them to dangerous places such as Zone 16 – yes, they were the reason why Lizzie suddenly showed up there.

To prevent the Charybdis from falling into the wrong hands and to keep Lizzie safe, Tia did the unthinkable – reaching out to Edda and making a deal with her: the Philossian Horse for Lizzie’s safety and the destruction of the Charybdis. Tia went ahead with that deal knowing how much of an upper hand she was giving Edda, mainly because she also knew Edda wouldn’t renege on her part – the Charybdis itself was useless in Edda’s grand plan, and Lizzie was inconsequential. And as long as Lizzie was safe, Tia was content – it was a selfish deal, but an acceptable deal from her view and she could die in peace now.

I think the gradual unveiling of Tia’s background and the final twist that she was in the Automatic Crime Solving Machine all this time was a job done well by the writers. They did made me empathise with Tia on how hard she was trying to prevent the plotters from misusing her creation for their ulterior purposes, and also how much care she showed to the students under her, Lizzie and Doris. Both of them held her in high regard, making her their inspiration, which makes her fall to Edda all the more regrettable. Yet despite collaborating with Edda, she did not descend fully into evil, preferring to use her new body to unmask her murderers while also leading us to her secret research base and uncovering the truth about the Charybdis. Towards the end, when she said her last words, I believe that she was sincere and held fast to her convictions to upholding the truth and preserving knowledge and preventing it from being misused. It really was a shame she did not get one last talk with Lizzie, though in retrospect this wasn’t that bad as Lizzie might not be able to accept that her mentor had fallen. And with her digital form dispersed, all of this is water under the bridge.

 

Conclusion

As the second instalment of the Philossia story, Fragments of Truth not only showed how much the characters grew in terms of development and strength, it also successfully expanded on the worldbuilding by demonstrating the full effect of the Trees on not just living objects but also non-living ones. I particularly liked the idea of objects being imbued with anomaly and becoming curios, adding to the mysticity of Titagen while also opening up possibilities of this property being put to good use later in the story. I also liked that we got a much better look at other factions, such as the Academica Acropolis which had technology in certain sectors that even rivalled Yggdrasil, and how this excellence mixed well with our side.

More than anything, I like that on reread I managed to figure out why Edda wanted to become human. With her mainframe in space, Edda had no direct influence on the ground, and should she be disconnected from the Trees she would lose all oversight over her plan. By using the Charybdis’ decompilation capabilities, she finally had a form that made her immune to the Containment Serum while also gaining full access to her mainframe’s computational capacity and control over the Trees and Manifestations – a god walking on earth. Or so she thought, until she got hijacked by Trapped Edda that was implanted into the Philossian Horse by Fritia and uploaded into the Charybdis. So she would be annoyed by the blue gremlin in the next coming chapters, something entertaining to watch… either way, we’ll be ready.

10/10 story.

Will be spending my time during the extended patch going through the story chapters, working backwards from the current one until I have re-visited all of them. Hopefully before the anniversary I can finish the Yehrus trilogy, the start of our transformation into the Titagen-wielding superhuman and also the start of our relationship with Tess and Katya. Concorde Ode shows that relationship coming into fruition, while also revealing the events leading up to our hibernation at Mistilteinn Station.

The story takes place right after the ending of Fragments of Truth, after Edda created a human form for her clone using the Charybdis’ Titagen decomposition ability. Seeking something that can turn the tide of the war and trying to shake off the Blue Edda that we used to hijack her body, she detonated the Tree in Philossia, creating an “info-storm” of Fragmented Titagen to slow us down while she hurries to the Academica Acropolis. To prevent Edda from discovering humanity’s secret weapon, Vidya and the Adjutant meet up with Katya and Tess with their new exosuits from the Academica Acropolis…

 

Katya’s storyline

The story served to reinforce our relationship with Katya, which has been heating up since Azure Paradise where she poured her heart out and told us about her past, how she learned to fight and toughened herself up after leaving her family, eventually becoming a mercenary after her failure to qualify for the Valkyrie Games. And also how she eventually reconciled with her parents and vowed to one day introduce us to them as her life partner.

Our relationship continued to develop during our mission at Philossia, first while preparing for the counterattack against Edda’s human form at the Frontier Town. Initially worried that her parents who lived in Lykang (a nearby city) would be affected by the “info-storm” from the Tree in Philossia, she is moved to learn when we remembered her remark about her birthplace from all the way back while we were still in the Yehrus and already arranged for their evacuation. Her love grows even stronger during our investigation at the Academica Acropolis, when we took the time to nurse her bruised ego after she lost to Tess in the sparring match, and finally reached a climax during our life and death battle with Edda’s human form, who gained significant Titagen manipulation abilities and had us in a very tight spot. It took all our strategies and teamwork to defeat her, the final act which brought us into her mindscape where we sealed our eternal Covenant and vowed to accompany each other until the end of time.

 

Tess’ storyline

Where Katya’s arc was completed across several chapters, Tess did not have that luxury, due to playing a relatively less active role in the Yehrus arc and her next recent development in the story being this current chapter. Nevertheless, the writer of this chapter did a good job in elaborating Tess’ backstory, going all the way back to her days as a student under our watch, how she ended up joining Yggdrasil and becoming the company’s asset in the Yehrus, to the present day where she could finally fight alongside us again.

Personally, I liked the presentation of Tess’ storyline as it meant that I could read as much of it in one go. The particularly interesting part is Tess getting to know us from when we were still at the Security Department and going undercover at her school as a teacher. And although we started out befriending others as part of our cover, we eventually warmed up to that young girl who stayed up late for nights, just to perfect her magical tricks and impress her teacher. So much so that even though we recognized her natural-born instincts and intuition that would make her an effective Security Agent, we refused to bring her in. It was a pity that by the time we begun to open our heart to her, we were assigned that fateful mission to Mistilteinn Station.

After that, the world fell apart for Tess: her beloved teacher was presumed dead, just when her application to join Yggdrasil was accepted. Still, she persisted, becoming Yggdrasil’s most valuable agent in the Yehrus. She stayed there for three long years – she could’ve just given up and left like Tau said, but she didn’t. Although her reason was that she had nowhere else to go, I believe that she really didn’t want to let us down, the love of her life who was always saw talent in an ordinary girl who was just an average student with a few magic tricks up her sleeve, who helped her catch up her grades while also teaching her to do what she loved, who (indirectly) taught her how to defend and fight for herself. To Tess, joining Yggdrasil and becoming their sharpest blade in the Yehrus was the only way to remember us by.

And look how her wait paid off. She met us again on our mission to rescue Eatchel, and took a bullet for us, doing what she always wanted to do – protect us. And as fate would have it, she survived, so she could continue fighting alongside us.

During our mission in Philossia, Tess showed that she never let us down – her fighting techniques were calculated and precise, and in the face of Edda’s human form armed with the power of all Manifestations she did her best, dragging out the fight long enough for Katya to reach the Archives of the Academica Acropolis. She played to her strengths, using the magical tricks that we trained together on, that she spent all her time refining in her three long years watching the snow fall in the Yehrus. Against an unbeatable enemy, she managed to come on top, and I’m proud of her for all of it.

 

Adjutant’s storyline

Apart from Tess and Katya, the one who got the most in terms of action and backstory had to be us. The ending revealed that it was our past self who came up with the plan of planting a false memory that the Academica Acropolis hid secret information the Archives, hoodwinking Edda and made it such that the AI would never dare to strike with full force or risk losing valuable information that she did not have. And as long as the real treasure in the Archives – undigitized books carrying the knowledge and history of the human civilization – remained untouched, there will always be a chance for humanity to rebuild civilization no matter how many battles we lose.

I also love we had a sneakpeek into our past while we were still Security Chief, and had an introduction to some of the girls with whom we would form an inseparable bond with like Lyfe (Wyfe), Fenny, Cherno, Katya and Tess. Our interactions with Luna, the android girl from the Academica Acropolis whom we entrusted our plan to and later became the controller of the Archive’s Guardians, were also precious. It was thanks to her that Edda’s human form failed to completely take over the system and use it against us.

 

Edda’s storyline

For the two Eddas, the original (Red) Edda and the trapped (Blue) Edda, the story also served to develop their character arcs even further.

For the original, we were shown how her programming limited her actions: as an AI designed to learn what was learnable and to guide the development of human civilization, she was a store of immense knowledge and was incredibly capable of analysing and implementing what she knew. The downside of that, however, was that her programming made it impossible for her to disregard any unknown, which became the reason why she spared the Academica Acropolis: because she could not confirm that the knowledge there wasn’t crucial. And due to getting cut off from her human form thanks to help from Fritia and due to her human form offing herself after finding out the truth, Edda would continue to safeguard humanity’s last bastion of knowledge, in an indirect fashion.

Having this in mind, the reason why we told the trapped one that we wanted her to find a purpose on her own is clear: after taking over the body created by the original’s clone to access the Archives, and cut off from the mainframe as she was, the trapped one was effectively an individual on her own right. I believe the writer designed her as a foil to the original who was all about acting according to her own programming, which led to the conclusion that humanity itself was incapable of developing on its own and had to be pushed forward by an omniscient being, which was the being designed to learn what was learnable. So we gave her a simple task – to grow and survive in this world, with us to guide her along the way, and she happily undertook it by giving herself a name of her own choosing – Sapphire. A fitting name for her rebirth.

Conclusion

As the third Covenant patch following Suspense in Skytopia and Hearts in Harmony, this chapter continued the tradition of adding to the story the past of our beloved girls while also managing to tie this back to interactions before this, such as Katya’s chat with us at the Yehrus and Tess meeting us there as well.

At the same time, we also got more insight into our past before the Descent and the mission to Mistilteinn Station, which showed us how we the Adjutant developed our mindset of being there for our loved ones and by extension, humanity. This buildup of the Adjutant’s past also served as a foundation for the character development of Siris and Haru in Cerulean Getaway and Beyond Elysium, while also introducing us to characters from our past such as Luna and Sersie, who would play a major role in Back from Bygone. I personally find it quite a good way to do that, and hope we get to learn more of our past, as we walk on together with our beloveds into the future.

10/10 story.