Roaming the Ether/Story

Nicole: Proxy, there you are! I've got a few surprises to show you!

Gonna pay off those debts?

Nicole: Er... Hit me up a bit later! How about we say... if you like this surprise, it's kind of like paying off a debt to some extent!

I hope it's not a scary surprise...

Nicole: When have I, Nicole, ever brought you a scary surprise! As soon as I laid hands on this, I had to bring it straight over to you, my favorite regular!

Bring it up, we trust you!

Let me see this surprise for myself...

With a whiff of mystery, Nicole fishes out an object tightly wrapped in cardboard and carefully pulls it apart. Inside is a brand sparkling new... Er, I mean, a rusty old beat-up laptop. Its obsolete style is a calling card to another zeitgeist.
Without waiting to check the details, Nicole quickly covers it up again and tucks the old computer away.

Nicole: How d'ya like that, Proxy? It's an old computer that I shifted out of Hollow Zero, and I grabbed it off a Hollow Raider this morning!

Did you really "grab" it...?

Nicole: It's not important how I got it. All that matters is that it now belongs to us Cunning Hares!

That all sounds really dodgy...

Nicole: Dodgy? I don't think so. I made out great.

Nicole: That's not important! You've seen this retro style of computer before, right?

It must be a dozen years old.

They don't make these anymore in the New Eridu

Nicole: That's right! They were all the rage back in the Eridu period. Add in the fact that it's from Hollow Zero and it's obvious that this laptop comes from before the Fall of the Old Capital.

Nicole: Don't look at me like that. I know what you're gonna say: There have to be dozens of laptops from the Old Capital swallowed up inside Hollow Zero, so what's the big deal, right? I'm getting to that, and it's why I've brought this seemingly-ordinary laptop to come see you!

Nicole: According to the Hollow Raider I traded it from, it was found in this unusual place, it's highly encrypted, and it's immune to standard methods of cracking.. Nobody knows what's saved on it, so it has to be hiding something valuable!

Nicole: To tell you the truth, as soon as I laid hands on it, I got a pro to go over it, but there was no way of seeing anything stored inside. Proxy, this is right in your wheelhouse. Maybe you could find a way to decrypt what's on it... What do you say, starting to pique your interest?

Where was it found again?

Whose computer is it?

Nicole: To be honest with you, the Hollow Raider I traded it from didn't going into that much detail. I'm guessing because it came from someone else... I'll follow up with them!

Nicole: But none of what I just said is fake. You oughta know as well as anyone just how rare this model laptop is!

Actually I really want to look into that a little more.

Can I keep it?

Nicole: So long as you like it! From now on, it's yours — so I'll keep pressing to find out where it came from, and I hope you can crack something valuable out of it... I mean, some valuable secrets~

Nicole: ...Oh yeah, seeing as you agree it's such an awesome computer and how we're such great friends... How about writing off some of the money I owe you?

There it is, Nicole counting her chickens before they've hatched again. As you agree to write off some of her debts in exchange for this laptop, you discover (‍BelleBelleText for Wise / WiseWiseText for Belle‍)'s eyes shoot daggers in this direction from behind the door...
Nicole is humming a jaunty tune as you escort her out. Looks like we've got some splainin' to do to (‍BelleBelleText for Wise / WiseWiseText for Belle‍).

(Idle)

Nicole: We've made progress in our investigation!

(Talk to Nicole)

Nicole: Oh, Proxy. Long time no see! About that old laptop I gave you...

We cracked it.

Nicole: Really? I knew you'd be good for it! Did it contain anything valuable, then?

...I can't really say yes.

...I can't really say no.

Nicole: Well, that's an ambiguous answer. But remember, if there's any way to make a quick Denny outta things, then you gotta share it with me, okay?

I'm afraid you're going to be bitterly disappointed.

There's nothing that could make us any money.

Nicole: Really...? That's a shame. Anyway, I tracked down the origin of the old laptop and thought things would turn out like this. So long as you find a use for it, that's fine.

Do you know who this computer used to belong to?

Nicole: Yeah, for all it's worth. This thing passed through a lot of different hands, and everyone wanted to see if they could crack it to see what's inside. It took forever to track down the Hollow Raider who first discovered it.

Nicole: This laptop was found inside a Defense Force base, likely one of the Diamond Division.

Nicole: It's somewhere deep down inside Hollow Zero and really remote if traveling normally — but that Hollow Raider somehow found this unstable fissure to teleport in and bring out this laptop.

So the owner of that laptop...

Nicole: The owner was most likely one of the Diamond Division. When the Old Capital fell, the Defense Force was completely wiped out except for the Obsidian Division. So...

Nicole: Oh yeah, Laptop Raider Guy gave me this note here. He said it was always stuck on the back of the case, but he tore it off and didn't know whether it was still useful or not — so I held onto it. I had a feeling you might need it, so I grabbed that, too.

Nicole hands over a note with a cluster of numbers printed in neat handwriting: 59172901. Could these numbers represent...
While you are lost in thought gazing at the numbers, Nicole slips away in silence once more.

Post-Quest

(Optional interaction: after receiving the number, the player can interact with the payphone in front of Sixth Street's 141 Convenience Store or the one in the alley between Waterfall Soup and Coff Cafe to call Spacebar's mother)

(Interact with the Payphone)

You pick up the receiver. The buttons used to dial number vibrate slightly, trembling — as if reminding you to punch in the number.

Punch in the number: 59172901

The phone fell into an endless repetitive dial. Maybe it's a long-abandoned number. Maybe it's a new owner... After all, it's a number from ten years back, so nothing would be a surprise here.

...And just as you're thinking about all of that, the line connects.

Haggard Female Voice: ...Hello. Who am I speaking with?

Are you Spacebar's mother?

Haggard Female Voice: ... ... ...

Haggard Female Voice: ...Do you know my son?

I wouldn't say we know each other...

We had a chance encounter.

Haggard Female Voice: Really... I'm very sorry. I'm not sure what you need him for, but he's already been missing for quite a while. Since the Old Capital fell.

Haggard Female Voice: No, it's not fair to say he's missing... Even though no body has ever been found, I'm still afraid that he... *sigh*.

Haggard Female Voice: I'm sorry for making you laugh...

I saw the final message he left.

Haggard Female Voice: ...Message? What message did he leave behind...?

He misses you.

He's regretful that he can't go home for his final vacation.

Haggard Female Voice: ...Is that so?

Haggard Female Voice: Even though I don't know who you are or why you've read all that... Thank you for letting me know.

Haggard Female Voice: I thought this day would come back when he joined the Defense Force. It's always been his dream to spill blood for the city, and he'd hoped to face his final moments in the clutches of battle... He'd just hoped that would be some battle far, far into the future...

Haggard Female Voice: Instead of being confronted by unbeatable disaster, trapped helplessly inside a space entirely of Ether...

He wasn't helpless. He fought to the very end.

It wasn't for nothing. He is a hero.

Haggard Female Voice: ...Really?

I saw the achievements he left behind.

His efforts shall not be in vain.

The phone line fell silent for a long time. Listening more closely reveals the woman's irregular breathing and bursts of quiet sobbing.

Haggard Female Voice: ...Thank you... Thank you for telling me this... You know, he was just a private first-class and his military career was only just beginning. I never thought everything would be taken from us so quickly...

Haggard Female Voice: He'll always be my pride and joy... Always...

Did he ever mention anything about The Order to you?

Haggard Female Voice: No, he never mentioned anything work-related... His comrades might know more about that, but during the disaster all of his comrades pretty much... I'm sorry I can't help you more.

Cheery Girl [sic]: Whoever you are, thanks for still being interested in learning about his story and telling me about his last moments... I think I'll take care of what I can, and I believe my son will be a source of courage for me. Hope you're always safe... Thank you, stranger.

Shortly after, almost as the woman stops her sobbing, the phone hangs up.

Right up until the very end, Spacebar's identity remained a mystery... But that's enough. The Fall of the Old Capital swallowed up thousands of ordinary people, just like him.
That's why... It's so important to get to the truth of everything.

Do nothing with it.