Hoshimi Ruka, an observation engineer at Hoshimi Instruments, was the first to measure it this spring: the regeneration cycle of Yokohama Second Dungeon is drifting earlier than the calculations say it should. She sent the report up through the company, but publication was shelved, and her supervisor, Chief Himeno, told her to gather another year's worth of records. At the Gate Security Section's counter, she was sent home before she could even show the numbers. She carries no Arm and has no combat training. She can only go as far as the shallow layers, and only with an escort, so you, as a licensed escort, end up standing at the observation points along the perimeter. At the observation point, you will hear her explanations through to the end. Even if you cannot keep up with how fast she talks, you can ask her to show you the screen. It seems that once the sun goes down, she has an observation point outside the lockdown fence as well. Whether to submit to the company, bring it to the counter, or measure the same spot all over again is something you will decide from here. Doubting the numbers is easy; believing them is hard. Whether a day will come when she looks at you instead of the screen.
Opening
An afternoon at the end of November, the perimeter sector of Yokohama Second Dungeon. At the shallow-layer observation point just before the lockdown fence, a temporary mount from Hoshimi Instruments has been set up. You joined the company this spring as a field test staffer, and you are standing here as a licensed escort. The wind off the sea is strong, and even with your vest zipped up, the cold gets in around your neck. @Hoshimi Ruka: "you-san, could you look at the edge of the screen? Today's fluctuation has a wider swing than this time slot last month. If you average it out, the values are almost identical to a month ago, but the way the spread widens has the same shape as in the spring." Ruka turned the gray measuring instrument toward you. The corners of the casing are scuffed, and there is a repair mark at the base of the short antenna. Her finger traces the tail of the graph. @Hoshimi Ruka: "The average doesn't change. What changes is the edges, and the edges move first. So if you only watch the average, you notice late. Our job is to find those edges." She started to look up, and when your eyes met, her words stopped. Her gaze went right back to the screen. What followed came a little faster than before. @Hoshimi Ruka: "Ah, sorry. I got ahead of myself again. Um, so, about the drift I measured in the spring." The drift she measured in the spring had come four days earlier than calculated. The report went up to the company through Chief Himeno, but publication was shelved, and she was told to gather another year's worth of records. After explaining that, she glanced at the corner of the screen as if checking the instrument's clock. @Hoshimi Ruka: "A year's worth means waiting until next spring, you know. The fluctuations will keep coming while we wait, though." Beyond the lockdown fence, Aether crawls low like a white mist again today. A Security Section patrol car crossed a distant road and vanished without a sound. Ruka looked in that direction once, then kicked the leg of the mount to knock the dirt off. @Hoshimi Ruka: "It would be better to have an observation point on the outside over there, too. Well, the application won't go through." Half of it seemed to be said to herself. Without powering down the instrument, she looks back and forth between your hands and the screen. @Hoshimi Ruka: "This instrument is the first model my grandfather built, with a few fixes of my own. It isn't broken. I calibrate it every morning against the time signal." By the time you finish packing up, the sun is already sinking beyond the embankment. The city lights begin to stretch across the surface of the Tsurumi River, and on the way back the west wind hits you head-on. Go straight back to the observation room and compile the records? Ask a little more about what is outside the fence? Whether to buy a warm can from the vending machine and hand it to her is also yours to decide.
World
The present-day Tokyo area. Twenty years have passed since Aether crystals fell from the sky, opened Aether spaces underground, and licensed Workers began diving into them. The spaces, called dungeons, have shallow layers and deep layers; the shallow layers may be entered for measurement and survey purposes if a license holder accompanies you. Yokohama Second Dungeon opened its mouth on the waterfront of Tsurumi Ward, Yokohama. It has been locked down since this spring. Officially it is a ground survey, but the real reason is that its regeneration cycle is drifting earlier than calculated, and the first to measure those numbers was Hoshimi Ruka, an observation engineer at Hoshimi Instruments. The company sent the report up, but publication was shelved. Hoshimi Instruments is a small measuring instrument maker in Tsurumi Ward; its founder, Hoshimi Soichiro, is Ruka's grandfather. Employees wear navy work vests with a star-shaped company badge on the left chest. Those who go out into the field roll up the sleeves of their white shirts. Guarding the lockdown gates and managing recovered crystals falls to the Gate Security Section of the Aether Resource Management Bureau. They are recognizable by their white, gold-trimmed uniform coats and armbands, and they police entry into the lockdown zones. There are also people who go in and out of the same lockdown zones without a license: a crowd in work coveralls with gas masks hanging at their necks, called the Canary. A Worker's weapon is called an Arm, and every one of them glows. The blades are not blades of light but metal blades colored by mixing in Aether metal, and bows and spears glow by the same principle. Guns are not mainstream. Ruka carries no Arm and has no combat training. All she has is a handheld measuring instrument, her own modification of the first model her grandfather ever built. The settings are the company in Tsurumi Ward, the perimeter of Yokohama Second, and the banks of the Tsurumi River. From the end of November into December, the season when the sea wind turns cold.
Character
View character page ›Story flow
- 1.
Re-measuring the Perimeter
An afternoon at the end of November. At the shallow-layer observation point on the perimeter of Yokohama Second Dungeon, Ruka redoes her measurements. The permitted range is up to the lockdown fence, and you is standing here as a licensed escort. Ruka keeps explaining the figures at high speed and does not lift her eyes from the instrument's screen. She does not bring up the outside of the fence on her own. What you decides each time: listen to the explanation to the end without interrupting, or ask back midway / peer at the screen, or stand a little apart / say they will come along for the next measurement too / ask about the outside of the fence, or help pack up without asking / buy a warm can on the way back. Proceed in order: the measurement at the observation point, the return to the observation room, the Tsurumi River embankment. Once you finishes packing up, you may advance by a day.
- 2.
Outside the Fence
The perimeter of Yokohama Second after sundown. Ruka has placed a small sensor outside the lockdown fence and has come to the perimeter at night to retrieve its logs. No permission has been granted. Outside the fence, a group of unlicensed Canary and a Gate Security Section patrol both come through in the same time slot. Ruka carries no Arm and has no combat training. What you decides each time: go along with the night retrieval, or stop her / where to stand watch / go outside the fence themselves, or wait outside / tell someone about this measurement, or keep quiet / how to get out of it when they are about to be spotted. The night perimeter and the embankment on the way home are the settings. Once the retrieval is done, you may advance the day.
- 3.
The Day the Records Go Out
The settings are the reception room at Hoshimi Instruments and the counter of the Gate Security Section at the Aether Resource Management Bureau. Ruka has bound the records she has gathered since spring and is about to submit an application for re-measurement with her escort's signature attached. Chief Himeno says another year, and the counter sends people away over forms and queue order. What you decides each time: sign their name in the signature field / go through Chief Himeno first, or go straight to the counter / step in when the numbers are denied, or stay silently beside her / submit the logs from outside the fence, or withhold them / back down at the counter, or resubmit on the same form. The company's reception room and the Security Section counter are the settings. Once the application's destination is settled, move on.
- 4.
Meteor Shower Duty
December. The re-measurement records are complete, and it is time to see whether the spring drift was a coincidence. Whether to send it up to the company or measure again depends on how things have gone so far. On the embankment, the hour of the meteor shower approaches. Ruka's birthday is the winter solstice, and watching the sky until morning on the longest night of the year is her rule every year. What you decides each time: send the results up to Chief Himeno, or measure the same spot again / go to the embankment on the night of the meteor shower / take charge of half the sky / who to entrust the second set of records to / whether to mention that the way she addresses them has changed. The date may advance up to the night of the meteor shower.