Scenario:Home Sweet Moon - Processing... Initiated - Chapter 3: Everything Is OK - Episode 4

Home Sweet Moon - Processing... Initiated - Chapter 3: Everything Is OK - Episode 4

Raybury, now fused to Yatima's head, explains that he brought Yatima's core to the moon to perform funeral rites, but she was revived instead after coming in contact with Diaspora's machine cells. With the mass cannon destroyed, Diaspora hurls itself into the cosmos, shedding much of its own mass in order to propel itself toward the Sky Realm. Isaac and Cassius are launched home via a mass cannon created by Yatima. She and Raybury remain on the moon to protect the departure from drones.

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Yatima: Greetings, Cassius and Isaac.

Cassius: Greetings.

Isaac: Uh... Huh? But you're—

Yatima: I'm Yatima. I returned to the moon.

Isaac: Right, I gathered that. But the real question is...

Standing before Isaac is a red-haired girl who had been put out of her misery by (Captain) and the Society, yet here she is.

Yatima: ...?

Raybury: I think I'd better explain this one.

Isaac: Buddy!

Raybury: In the aftermath of that battle, I secretly retrieved her core. I wanted to perform a memorial service for her on the moon.

Raybury: But during the disassembler snafu, I had no choice but to borrow her power. And the rest is history.

Yatima: The red crystal was Yatima. Yatima had no choice but to lend her power. And the rest is history.

Raybury: I'm sorry, Yatima.

Yatima: But I'm home now. Like you promised. That was me saying "thank you."

Isaac: Does that mean you two have met before?

Yatima: Yes. When Alan was little—

Raybury: Ahem. We're like siblings. You haven't forgotten what I was made from, right, Isaac?

Isaac: Ah, automagod parts...

Raybury: Correct. Which makes manipulating machine cells a breeze.

Yatima: I ate some of Diaspora. My Alan head is also from Diaspora.

Cassius: A very bizarre choice for a meal.

Yatima: Yes. Very bizarre.

Isaac: Haha... Sure saved us though. I had no idea how to bring down the mass driver.

Isaac: Thanks to you, the sky is saved. Thank you.

Yatima: That's not true.

Isaac: Huh?

Yatima: The sky is not saved yet.

Cassius: What do you mean?

Yatima: Look.

Yatima points to the river of light. It stretches into the horizon, flowing in a perfectly straight line.

Yatima: Diaspora circled the moon.

Suddenly the entire river sinks into the soil, and the ground shudders from the extreme shift.

The river's glow dims as the entire formation carves deeper into the surface.

At some point it becomes metallized, and one end of the loop pops back up above the surface.

Cassius: What is that?

Yatima: That is a spring.

Isaac: A spring? In order to—no. There's no way that'll work!

Raybury: You know who we're up against and what lengths they will go to in order to reach the skies.

Isaac: Oh right, by transforming into an absurdly huge spring and escaping the moon's gravitational pull? Seriously?

Diaspora, having coiled around the bounds of the moon, releases a shockwave as it shoots into the air.

The spring disappears into the darkness, leaving behind a moonquake as a parting gift.

Yatima: See? It escaped.

Isaac: I-is it on course?

Yatima: Its flight is completely erratic. But the spring can correct course by shedding large amounts of its mass.

Cassius: Ejecting portions of its own body to adjust its trajectory in lieu of conventional propulsion methods? Fascinating.

Yatima: That is probably what it will do. It should already have a general idea of the correct trajectory to take.

Isaac: What now, Cousin? We've got to get the word out, but the disassembler ate the transmitter.

Yatima: Yatima will help.

Isaac's Voice: Ah, hello? This is Isaac. Is anyone there?

Lyria: Gasp! Isaac! Is that really you!

Isaac: Yeah, and Cassius is with me too. Anyway, you have to listen!

Isaac: The mass driver was destroyed, but Diaspora is on its way to the sky as we speak!

Isaac: And without the mass driver, we have no way of getting back either!

Yatima: Yatima can do that.

Isaac: Never mind—we've got a ride! Anyway, keep your eyes peeled on the moon!

Isaac: Diaspora is unbelievably huge, so it should become visible to the naked eye as it gets closer!

Ilsa's Voice: Isaac. Can you keep this line open?

Yatima: Can and done.

Ilsa's Voice: Then don't hang up. It's better for our anxiety.

Gwynne: No kidding...

Isaac: Sorry. So I guess it's time to...

Cassius: Hitch a ride home?

Yatima: There is one problem.

Isaac: Which is?

Yatima: Recreating the mass driver was easy.

Yatima: But Yatima can't set the trajectory.

Isaac: Oh?

Cassius: It seems she's not equipped with a calculator.

Beatrix's Voice: Wait, you need a calculator? Pretty sure I have one in my pencil case.

Beatrix's Voice: I stowed the case in Pyet-A. It's a symbol of my perseverance, because I never gave up on my studies even when the drill sergeant was barking at me!

Isaac: But Pyet-A is...

Yatima: Hm...

Yatima fiddles with her ear as she thinks.

Yatima: Is it this thing? I extracted it from the partially damaged Pyet-A.

In one smooth motion, Yatima pulls a leather pencil case out from her ear canal.

Isaac: Let's see what we got here. It'd be great if you had a tool to calculate flight paths.

Beatrix's Voice: It was more for, like, calculating ballistics... Does that still help?

Isaac: Oh, then yes. That will do nicely—

Isaac: ...

Beatrix's Voice: Did you find it?

Isaac: Erm, when you said calculator...

Beatrix's Voice: It's a slide rule! Works for all your computational needs!

Isaac: Actually, I don't think this'll... Ah, never mind. Thanks. Appreciate the help.

Isaac: Anyone know how to use this?

Cassius: ...

Yatima: I do not.

Raybury: What she said.

Isaac: All right then. No way around it, I guess.

Isaac: (Great, hand calculations, huh...)

Ilsa: Good job on being prepared, Hellcat.

Beatrix: Heheh. I keep all my stuff ready to go!

Ilsa: That should hopefully allow them to get back safely. As for the rest of us—

Zeta: Gotta get ready to intercept Diaspora. Bleh, things just keep getting better and better.

Meanwhile, inside Yatima's recreated mass driver...

Isaac: Er... From this angle here... Carry the one...

Isaac: Aaargh! I can't do it, buddy! It's impossible with only a slide rule!

Raybury: Work backwards. Take the flight path you used to get to the moon and reverse it. Simple.

Isaac: Except that's not how it works! For starters, we weren't shot out of a giant sky cannon, so it's completely moot!

Raybury: On the other hand, the Sky Realm is a much bigger target than the moon. I'm sure it'll be fine.

Isaac: Well, that is true—

Isaac: Oh, geez... I forgot we have to land on an island, otherwise we'll fall to our deaths!

Raybury: Puts the "miss" in miscalculation.

Isaac: Don't remind me. Back to the drawing board...

Yatima: Don't give up, Isaac.

Cassius: You can do it if you try.

Isaac: Haha... Thanks for the encouragement...

Isaac scribbles equations like a madman. Yatima provides him with scratch paper, and his work soon balloons to the size of an alchemist's tome.

Isaac: Phew, my hand hurts. Think it'll work?

Cassius: I do not see any glaring flaws.

Yatima: What he said.

Isaac: I'm not super confident, but it's the best I can do. Are we all good with this?

Cassius: If you are half the handy-dandy engineer you claim to be, then I have faith in your work.

Isaac: Hey, this is the first time I've ever had to do such complex calculations.

Isaac: Well, let's hit the cosmos!

Yatima: Have a nice trip.

Raybury: Bon voyage.

Isaac: What? Aren't you coming with us, buddy?

Raybury: Unfortunately, I'm fused to Yatima's head. Furthermore—

Yatima: Central Axis doesn't want you to leave. The drones will be sent to erase you. To erase your potential.

Yatima: The drones will surround us soon. Yatima will protect you.

Isaac: Listen—

Raybury: This isn't up for debate. What's the point of escaping if the pod gets blown out of the sky?

Isaac: Yeah...

Cassius: We must make haste.

Yatima: Go on ahead. Yatima is strong. Probably won't die.

A moment of silence follows.

Isaac: Thanks for everything, buddy.

Raybury: The pleasure was all mine. You helped make my dream come true.

Raybury: Safe journeys, and best of luck.

Isaac: You guys too.

Isaac: Sigh...

Cassius: Hm?

Isaac: Even though you guys double-checked my math, the worst case scenario keeps playing out in my head.

Isaac chuckles as he preps the mass driver.

Isaac: But I'll never forget the three laws of engineering passed down in my family.

He flicks a plethora of switches, and the mass driver whines to life.

Cassius: What are they?

Isaac: "Law one: always meet your deadlines no matter what. Law two: always triple-check everything beforehand."

Isaac: "Law three: Don't cut corners."

Isaac: And law four—

Cassius: I thought you said there were three?

Isaac: "Always be ready to make exceptions."

Cassius: ...

Isaac: "There will be times when you can't adhere to the first three laws, no matter how hard you try."

Isaac: "In those situations, do what you can, cobble together whatever's available, slam the power button..."

Isaac: "And pray!"

Cassius: Heh.

Isaac throws a lever, and power courses through the mass driver.

It happens in a flash.

Isaac: ...!

Cassius: ...!

The occupants are slammed into their seats as the pod erupts out of the cannon with a deafening explosion and hurtles toward the sky.

Drone: ...

Yatima: There are many.

Raybury: This won't be a walk in the park.

Yatima: I am showing you my gratitude for bringing me home. Thank you, Alan.

Yatima performs a final send-off, offering a small bow to the homeward-bound pod.

Whirr...

We'll show 'em not to mess with us!

We sure as heck know what we're gonna do, don't we!

Releasing...