Narration: I see an overcast sky. Cries and screems twist and ring out at a distance. And in that sky, gunfire and artillery create a cacophany.
Heathcliff: "So why the hell are we in a bloody battlefield?! Is this a trap or something?"
Faust: "No. We're on the right track. The essence of the technology we're looking for is not far from here."
Ishmael: "You mean the Golden Bough?"
Faust: "Correct. Do you recognise when this was?"
Outis: "Anyone with functioning eyes should know at a glance."
Sure enough, anyone who's played Library of Ruina can probably tell what this is just by comparing the hellish tableux unfolding before us with some of the flashback CGs seen there.
Except Outis forgot about Dante. Who doesn't know what this is. Because of the amnesia.
Ishmael: "Was that the best excuse you have..."
Flawless, beyond reproach, we love an insincere rat-woman.
Given the chance to clear her throat and recover from showing her ass like that, Outis yet again displays that her military mannerisms are no mere bluster. Based on the number and designs of the flags she spies, she determines that they're at least 70 days into the Smoke War. What is the Smoke War? It's a terrible inter-Wing war that was waged 10 years ago between, among other factions, the old G Corp and the old (as in pre Lobotomy Corporation) L Corp. The titular Smoke was in fact Old L Corp's energy source, the conflict waged - as so many ultimately are - over the precious resource. The circ*mstances surrounding the war and its aftermath are foundational to both Lobotmy Corp (the game) and Library of Ruina, so I will leave anything further at that in case any interested readers would like to play those games themselves.
???: "The outpost next to ours turned into a nursing home - they can't even walk without sticks!"
Heathcliff: "Who the hell are you and why do you act like you know us-"
The man snaps to attention with a salute the moment he sees Gregor.
Gregor: "... you."
Tomah (Reminisced Soldier): "You wouldn't recognise me, sir. I'm Tomah from Biomimetics Maintenance! I thought you were part of the front unit; I didn't expect to find you here at the back. Are you on your way to the front? I could help you get there since the augmentation on my legs allows me to jump-"
Rodion: "Bweh, that sounds gross."
This nets Rodion a suspicious look from Tomah. After all, if they're here in this place, in this time, they're loyal soldiers of G Corp... right? Gregor scrambles to cover for her, stumbling over his words in his haste to distract Tomah.
Gregor: "H-hey, Tomah! So you're an assistant manager - or regular staff?"
Tomah: "Sir, yes, sir! I'm an assistant private, sir!"
Gregor: "Err, you see, s-she's a new hire who had her procedure not too long ago, so... Still getting over the confusion, y'know. I'll give her a good talking to."
Tomah: "Ah, I get it... Our corporation must be getting desperate, sending unprepared employees into battle."
Gregor: "Yeah, we're- sorry for the trouble. I've got to take her somewhere real quick..."
Gregor yanks Rodion out of the conversation and hurries over to Faust.
Gregor: "Just what's going on, Faust? These are..."
Gregor: "... my memories."
Faust does not deny it. She claims the group have entered the "fathoms of [Gregor's] ego", "an open path in [his] psyche".
So much for a simple retrieval job.
The defeat of Doomsday Calendar yields another EGO gift, this one offering a whopping 1 Burn to the entire enemy team... for the first turn of the next 5 battles? Jesus that's pitiful, you f*cking suck Doomsday Calendar. Abyss fiction abnormality tbh, there was a reason I forgot his ass.
EDIT: Upon reviewing the footage, this is just an incredibly poorly worded tooltip. This EGO Gift inflicts 1x5 Burn on the first turn of the encounter, meaning '5 times' is referring to the 5 Count it inflicts. Still not exactly good, but hey it beats a hole in the head if you have Burn IDs.
Behold, the true depths of the dungeon, and Gregor's fathoms of EGO. The dungeon 'floor' may still be divided into 'rooms' but we are travelling now as much through time as we are through space, hitting certain strategic points in the Smoke War with times listed in military 24-hour time. The stripe of Golden Bough iconography at the top emphasises the unreality of the space we're now lost inside, making quite plain just what is causing this dive into Gregor's heart. But why would it conjure up the Smoke War for him? Why would it resonate with him, where no other Sinner could hear its whispers? Questions for another time. The group moves forward, towards the event node seen on the southern path.
Shortly down the path, however, the world shifts and ripples nauseatingly.
Yuri: "Guh... I think I'm gonna throw up."
Faust: "It would appear the psychogenic pressure is rising."
Faust: "But you should be... fine..."
Narration (Gregor): Maybe I'm still in one, even now.
Narration (Gregor): The blue covering every wall, and the dangling dot of red.
Narration (Gregor): All I had to do was stretch out my arm and cut the hanging apple.
Narration (Gregor): The people in blue coats seemed to think I failed to understand that.
Narration (Gregor): Unfortunately for them, that wasn't the part I struggled to understand.
Narration (Gregor): I don't remember what drove me to do it. Maybe I was exhausted mentally. Or maybe I thought to resign myself to it.
Narration (Gregor): In either case, what I do remember is my desire to break free from the nightmare.
And then there is a woman's voice, echoing from memory.
???: "You finally did it. I knew you could. The surgery was successful, after all."
???: "You just have to keep it up. Chop up the apples in front of you. Simple, isn't it?"
???: "Oh, right. Happy fifteenth birthday!"
Gregor: "... Okay."
Narration (Gregor): A nightmare I escaped through renunciation and resignation.
Narration (Gregor): Some were hard, some crumbly, some were soft, some sappy.
Narration (Gregor): At some point, I realised something: I thought I woke up from the dream.
It's left unclear if any of the group, even Gregor, were able to truly perceive that flashback as we did. We stumble instead into a battle with more G Corp soldiers - not withered shadows of their former selves as we've been facing before, but twisted, infested nightmares conjured by Gregor's vivid memories of the war.
Are they maggots? Tendrils of the Ebony Queen's Stem? Some stranger, more alien infestation corrupting their bodies to match how Gregor sees them? It's impossible to say. We kill our way through to Defensive Line 23-7 at 1300 Hours.
Gregor: "Still in a battlefield..."
Yuri: "... it's the same place as before. Though, something about it is different."
Tomah: "The Nest next to ours turned into a nursing home - they can't even walk without sticks!"
Rodion: "Hold on, isn't he the same guy we just..."
Tomah: "He doesn't suffer side effects like the rest of us, and he can regenerate his arm, too! He was operated on by none other than Hermann, our most skilled director."
Gregor: "..."
Tomah: "A hero shouldn't be on the rearguard. I'll give you a ride!"
Rodion: "Wh-what the hell? Get away from me!"
Rodion recoils in disgust as four insect wings erupt from Tomah's back, clicking and twitching.
Tomah: "Why are you running? You should raise G Corp's banner and take the lead on the frontlines!"
Gregor: "I..."
Gregor: "I never wanted any of this... Not the procedure, nor the war..."
Jesus Christ how horrifying
Rodion: "Yeek... we gotta fight them again? My stomach is gonna turn..."
Outis: "What is that display of weakness? Do you wish to be punished for insurbordination?"
Dante: <... I think we should run here?>
Outis: "An excellent plan, Manager. You know when to strike and when to withdraw."
Heathcliff: "The hell is her deal?"
I can always count on Outis to be hysterical, it helps distract me from the Unending Horrors.
Ishmael asks, more pertinently, why the G Corp soldiers are so grotesque. She knows that everyone under the corp got modified, but it couldn't have been this bad. Faust dispassionately explains that what they see now is far from objective reality, a path opened by Gregor's feelings far more than his memories.
Yuri: "... This is how he felt in his heart about his own allies."
Yuri: "Did all the employees in your Wing... receive the augmentation procedure?"
Gregor: "... Most did."
Yuri: "Was it done with their consent? That's so..."
Gregor: "Did the people in L Corp consent to offering themselves up to Abnormalities?"
Yuri: "That's... I heard that was written on the contract. We were never properly informed, though... They said such routine procedures should be skipped for efficient management..."
Yuri: "That we should face the fear."
Yuri: "In the end... anyone who joined the corporation agreed to it, knowingly or not."
Gregor: "... Can guess how it went for us, then."
With that, the cutscene leads us into the event node we were aiming for.
A G Corp soldier, faintly calling for help. We choose to follow the source of the voice, perhaps hoping to help him.
Ryoshu aces the check, and the man thanks her with his last breath.
Narration: The soldier's life was delivered a coup de grace by the knife. The human rhythm that rose through the blade soon ceased, and the soldier was eased into eternal rest.
Another EGO Gift, this one improving the party's survivability. I know for sure that I never got half these EGO gifts my first time through, so chalk that up as another way this LP is enriching my own experience with the game I guess.
