Strange Events in Loveland City
Why Are People Falling Asleep and Not Waking?
Beginning last weekend,
many people have fallen into a deep sleep from which they do not wake.
A large number of these cases have been confirmed in Loveland City.
According to the Loveland Cognitive Psychological Association,
the comatose patients' vitals are stable,
and their lives are not at risk.
No abnormalites have been found in their brain waves.
Strange Events in Loveland City
Why Are People Falling Asleep and Not Waking?
It is being theorized that they are simply in a continuous dream state.
We have appointments with several overseas research labs.
We've already sent the data,
so once it's been reviewed, it will be examined.
We've begun investment reviews of relevant companies.
Once they've received funding,
we'll establish a specialized development team.
Please continue inquiries along those lines.
I will reach out to the Cognitive Psychology Association myself.
Proceed with Plan C.
Yes, sir!
This project has great significance for society!
Our CEO himself is taking personal command!
Let's give it our all!
Yes, sir!
Understood.
We'll do everything we can, too.
Strange Events in Loveland City
Why Are People Falling Asleep and Not Waking?
What happened to those files?
We bring the flavor of coffee to life.
Our hand-picked beans produce a complex flavor.
By destroying the electromagnetic wave transmitter at Loveland TV Tower,
Enjoy a moment of refinement in one cup.
we were able to stop Evols from going berserk everywhere.
The new Major Coffee is on sale now!
Guide Robots Gone Berserk at Loveland TV Tower? No Casualties.
But...
Kiro... You're okay, right?
You wouldn't let them take you down that easily, right?
You're a hero, after all.
All communication is still cut off.
Nothing from Kiro, Victor, or Gavin...
Gavin!
What happened?
You're hurt...
You don't need to worry about anything.
I have some things I need to take care of.
Once I have... I promise I'll come back.
Papa...
Is there anything I can do to help everyone?
Further news on the spreading cases of sleeping syndrome.
The number of people who have fallen into a comatose state continues to rise.
A fear of sleeping has been observed in a portion of the populace.
In response, the Cognitive Psychology Association says that excessive...
Nothing is over yet.
It's more like this is the real beginning.
There's something inside me telling me so.
I'll never let you destroy
this world everyone has been so deeply wounded to protect. No more!
"It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place."
~The Red Queen Hypothesis~
"Queen."
The one who possesses her genes
can bless those who have special powers, Evolvers,
with even greater power, clearing a path to the future.
When the Queen truly awakens,
will the world achieve further evolution, or...
Mr. Love: Queen's Choice
"At the Edge of the Coming Time"
We immediately began researching the sleeping syndrome
spreading throughout the city.
The cause is still unknown.
A countermeasures task force transfers the sleeping patients
to the Cognitive Science Association.
While they are observed and tested,
they are supplied with nutrients that serve as life support.
One unusual characteristic is that most of those who remain asleep
are young people, in their teens to thirties.
This really isn't normal, is it?
The Cognitive Psychology Association is looking into a lot of things, too,
but they say not a single person has woken up yet.
Maybe they're having really nice dreams?
Take a look at this.
Miracle Entertainment
It's eyewitness testimony from the families of the sleeping people.
Some of the ones who have fallen into the deepest sleep
have been showing unbelievable symptoms.
Like things suddenly catching fire,
or parts of their bodies freezing solid,
or nearby electronic devices shorting out...
What's that supposed to mean?
I'm going to the Cognitive Psychology Association.
Be careful, okay?
If all this chaos is being caused by Black Swan,
then is Lucien also...
Victor?
What have you been doing all this time? I've been trying to get in touch—
Get in.
You're going to the Cognitive Psychology Association, right?
In general, it is just as you have theorized.
Black Swan is using sleeping gas to send people into a deep slumber.
Then, by using some method to monitor the depths of their consciousness,
they are attempting to awaken Evols.
Is that even possible?
Logically, it is a possibility.
One's state of mind is deeply connected to the manifestation of Evol.
The things depicted in dreams—memories, scenes,
internal desires...
Providing a strong stimulus
calls these forth, awakening the powers within the dreamer.
That's...
The Cognitive Psychology Association is well-established,
but currently, the majority of them are involved in research tainted by Black Swan.
There's a diagram of the Association building's layout in the dashboard.
Review it until we arrive.
This really covers everything.
How long has LFG's great CEO been working as a detective?
Well, I knew you'ld charge straight into wherever things were happening.
It's faster if I provide follow-up support for you,
and above all, it's safer.
What is it?
It's just... you're not stopping me.
Usually, it'd be,
"What's an idiot like you going to accomplish by charging in there?"
You'd get angry and say something mean, you know?
You want me to get angry?
No, but...
It's throwing me off...
Where have you been all this time?
Mr. Mills and everyone at LFG was really worried.
I went to see the future.
Wh-What do you mean?
When my Evol went out of control, I fell into a wormhole,
a border zone between here and a different space-time.
What I saw in that space was a world
corresponding to roughly ten years from this point in space-time.
At first, I was somewhat confused, but it isn't an issue anymore.
It's a huge issue!
To think you could do something like that...
The world of the future...
What is our future like?
These incidents... They wouldn't have caused...
It is peaceful.
It prospers as if nothing ever happened, and the people live happily.
There was no information on comatose victims or Evol at all.
It must have been resolved in the early stages.
You were doing well, too.
You were so busy that even I needed an appointment three days in advance.
Future me is doing that well?
And this successful person actually spoke with me over a meal at Souvenir.
Would you like to hear
about how she asked Mr. Mills for an extra large pasta and—
That's enough! That's more than enough!
I see...
The future continues on from here.
Cognitive Psychology Association
Victor's thorough preparatory investigations
made it possible for us to obtain detailed data on Black Swan's plans.
The special sleeping gas dispersed throughout Loveland City
only affects those who aren't Evolvers,
Hey, what's wrong? Hey...
sending them into a deep sleep.
With their consciousness stolen, their brains are disrupted
by an electromagnetic wave with a specific pulse frequency,
which gives them dreams and encourages their Evols to awaken.
However, the probability that the Evol they manifest in their dreams will be
compatible with their bodies is extremely low.
The people who are unable to awaken as Evolvers...
"Survival rate... 0.01 percent"?
Most of these people are unable to become Evolvers, and will eventually die.
Those who cannot adapt to the new world
have no choice but to perish as the vanquished.
This is what Hades was talking about.
Intruders detected in the research building west wing.
All sections, commence countermeasures.
Let's go.
...givable. What they're doing is unforgivable!
Hey! Who's out there?!
There's still no known way to wake those people up, is there?
Multiple companies are developing
devices that disrupt brain waves to stimulate waking.
But no one has successfully escaped from Black Swan's "dreams" yet.
We can't let there be any more victims. We have to stop them!
Yes.
Evolvers...
It is pointless to resist any further.
We will take up the fight against Black Swan.
Currently, they are a presence that disrupts world order.
It is still too early for the world to learn of Evolvers.
They will only bring confusion and destruction.
So you kill them? No one has that right.
Your Evol has already far surpassed its limits.
The trigger must have been those electromagnetic waves...
But after losing your conviction and learning how powerless you are,
you have no strength left in you.
Rest easy.
We will protect the peace and order of this world.
You're wrong.
Our bullets are only fired...
to protect people!
Wait for me...
Mr. Love: Queen's Choice
In that world, she no longer existed.
My Evol going out of control allowed me a glimpse
of a possible world ten years in the future.
Loveland Super Expo 2030
In that world, where humanity lived
in peace and prosperity as if nothing had happened, there was one thing...
Her existence, and hers alone,
had been erased, as though it were wiped away.
It was as if she had never been born to begin with.
After that, I learned how to control my rampaging Evol
and peered into countless different space-times,
searching for a singularity.
What happened to the world?
How did we lose her?
Over and over again...
I told myself, "This time, I'll find a future where we don't lose her."
But she...
Don't!
Every time it repeated, it forced me to realize...
You rise up again and again, pushing forward without giving up,
fighting to protect everyone, getting hurt, and sacrificing yourself.
If that is who you are, then...
I've decided that I will fight at your side,
that I will change fate with you.
The Evolvers are...
Let's go!
What about me? Why can I move?
A lot has happened.
Would you rather be frozen back there?
N-No, but...
Not only can you stop time for Evolvers now,
but you can choose who you stop at will?
This is just a theory,
but it seems Evols evolve according to experience.
Evolve?
But that's unfair, isn't it?
It isn't boundless.
There are limits.
Hades.
The clock hand of evolution has begun to move. None can stop it.
Everything that has happened in Loveland City up to this point
has been no more than preliminary experiments.
The electromagnetic waves we're broadcasting will soon spread over the entire globe,
leading all people into a dream of evolution.
We've utilized the Queen's genes, which can cause Evols to evolve.
The data from your unique brain waves allowed us
to create electromagnetic waves of awakening,
which will screen the human race and lead us to evolution.
Queen...
You are the one who will cull the human race.
Originally, the prototype for this system was meant to help awaken you as Queen,
created for that purpose by Ares.
Though... it seems he has failed.
I will never
lose to you!
Then I'll be waiting.
For you, Queen who never stops moving forward,
at the end of this path you tread.
Was that... me?
Yes.
That is your true power.
The power of the Queen, which is near completing its awakening.
Don't let them get away.
Capture them and bring them back within the facility.
Tell those stationed outside—
This is my order to you.
Nothing has happened here.
No one has broken into the facility.
Return to your posts and continue your usual duties.
Just as my Evol evolved,
your Evol must have started to gain new powers, as well.
Only the Queen can show us
Why Are People Falling Asleep and Not Waking?
the future that awaits us after evolution.
This power is meant to manifest that.
Faced with that light,
there is no way the darkness Hades wields could win.
If I use my power, I can defeat Hades.
Before, someone told me
that it was Black Swan who was in the wrong for trying to use the Queen's powers,
that it wasn't my fault.
In that moment... honestly, I felt like I'd been saved.
But now, I feel like it's not quite right.
It's true that this situation was caused by Black Swan.
But it isn't as though I have nothing to do with it.
If my powers as Queen put everyone in danger,
then I have to put an end to this with my own two hands.
I'm certain that's why my powers exist.
I'll stop Hades,
and I'll make that wonderful future you saw a reality.
Don't worry!
Compared to LFG's business meetings, Hades isn't scary at all!
True.
You have overcome every ordeal I've put you through, after all.
Thank you for taking the trouble to see me home.
What is it? Did you see something?
I know where Hades is.
The key to the truth is in your hands.
Lucien...
Even when it calls for so many people to be sacrificed,
do you still wish for the world's evolution?
Are you certain about this?
That thing has never once proved itself useful to me in any way.
With this, its birth finally has some meaning.
And this is something it has chosen for itself...
The power to realize the world it desires.
Wait for me!
You should take the path you believe in.
You can do it, Potato Chip Princess!
Your power is more than that.
I will gamble everything on your future.
Episode twelve...
"Bonds."
"Bonds"