-Nier Epilogue-
"Project Gestalt"
"Dammit... we're losing him!"
"How?! You mean to the Black Scrawl? Don't be serious Devola, he can't get the Black Scrawl!"
"Well, he just... died way off our reach, and now that we're trying to bring him back, he's immediately getting the Black Scrawl. Something... something in the code has to be malfunctioning."
"... then we have no choice. We need to force the merge now. It's the only way that Nier is going to become human again and avoid the Black Scrawl."
His mind stirred, he heard the voices of Popola and Devola echoing about... he saw a light forming in front of what he perceived to be his eyes. He didn't feel anything anymore. All that he could perceive was the voices and seeing the light shining down onto him. Nier would try to say something, to get their attention, but nothing came out of his mouth. He had no voice, he was left stranded here in this void. Then... then he realized something, upon listening into the banter the twin sisters had.
That's right... I... I died.
Brief flashes of his last moments in his life during the aftermath of Handsome Jack's demise, being held close by Vanille... He could see it all flash in one instance, and then immediately be cut off... just like how he was immediately cut off from saying his last words to the pinkette. It was strange, to think that he would develop feelings for Vanille so fast, and at first he felt that it was only his natural habit of protecting people kicking in. It felt awkward to him, remembering that he was also developing feelings for Kainé before being dragged into Rapture... before the Shadowlord's attack onto the village.
I... died to the... Black Scrawl...
Even in death, Nier couldn't fight back the feeling of tears, not sure if he would feel his tears in such an empty place. Releasing what felt to be a stream of tears, Nier would've done so when he first realized that he was infected with the Black Scrawl, where he wanted to be wrong and that it was something else. But the truth was there, he was dying to it, and here he was... alone in some different afterlife. He wasn't sure how long he had been dead... but only now Popola and Devola were working on reviving him... somehow.
That meant he would be able to see everyone again. Including Grimoire Weiss, Kainé, Emil...
Yonah...
Everything stopped as Nier came to this name, he instantly remembered what he had to do once he was revived. The very purpose of hunting down the Sealed Verses to regain Grimoire Weiss's strength, the very purpose of killing the Shades, the very purpose fighting his way through Rapture to go home: to ensure his little sister would live happily and not suffer under this dreadful disease that was feared by all. He didn't care if he was too late anymore, he needed to see his little sister again. Nier wanted to save her still, and if he was too late, he could give her a proper resting place... the least that the older brother could do.
Yonah, I'll... I'll be back soon... I promise...
Unable to see his own form, Nier reached his hand towards the light that was above him, as if trying his best to speed up this possible revival process. He didn't understand how exactly the twins had found a way to revive him, but he supposed it was related to the mysteries concerning the ancient civilized world. But he ignored those facts, because Nier was bent on coming back and fixing as much as he could. Such as the damages from his disappearance and writing out the wrongs that plagued others that he cared for in his life.
"Alright, got the necessary pieces for the merge. His data within the Replicant System was thankfully still intact. Initiating the merging sequence of Project Gestalt now!"
Even if he were revived successfully... where would he appear? Back home in the village? Back in the hellish city known as Rapture? Some other place he had no knowledge of? He wasn't sure. The light above him began to grow greater and greater, brighter and brighter... and before it could consume him whole... Nier had one more thought before he disappeared to this light. A thought he wished he could say to a particular girl now...
I'm... sorry for dying on you... Vanille... I'm so... sorry.
<->
July 20, 3471
Report #11242
One year after the merge that would've concluded Project Gestalt. At first, we were successful on bringing back the Replicant of Nier, despite the Replicant disappearing from our radars a week ago. However, in order to do so, we were to force a merge with what we had left over of Grimoire Weiss and the original Grimoire Noire.
What we did not expect was that the merge with every other Gestalt and Replicant had immediately malfunctioned and relapsed. Thankfully, our treatment in keeping the Gestalt of Yonah stable and the Replicant of Yonah safe had ensured that her merge was successful. The same cannot be said for the rest of the Replicants and Gestalts, leaving Nier and Yonah to be the last real humans on this world.
The merge with these two last humans was not without fault. Upon their awakening, both subjects, Nier and Yonah, began to tell us about a strange voice in their heads, voices that sounded similar to them but were of different conscience. It can be possible that even with the merging of a Gestalt and a Replicant, the miscalculation with the Replicant's data, the separate conscience and personality, had remained within the newly recrafted humanity of Nier and Yonah.
Furthermore, we noticed a strange biological change in their bodies, where human cells that had been recrafted by the merge appear to be non-aging and thus unable to die off. This could a strange case of apparent immortality, where they cannot age and die off naturally.
In a way, Project Gestalt was successful, but only to a very select few. With humanity left to only two individuals, we may have to resort to repopulating the world once more, start anew.
More will be reported on the way as time goes on.
Observer: 021 Codename: Popola
<->
"Brother, it's getting cold in here."
Yonah mumbled, curling up into a ball on her bed. Despite it being summer, the cold began to settle it, and Nier had distant memories of Shinjuku. He remembered how it all happened on the year 2042. It felt the same in their new yet familiar home within this empty village. It was truly haunting to see a village this empty, but according to Popola and Devola... they were probably the last of humanity. Nier reassured Yonah that they weren't alone if Popola and Devola were around, but he was well aware of what the twins were. He remembered all of it. How he got into Project Gestalt to save his sister's relapsing Gestalt. It was just a coincidence that he was designated as the original Gestalt... the Shadowlord.
"Hold on Yonah, I'll grab some of my blankets from my bed, you'll need it more than me."
With that said, Nier began to head downstairs of their home within the village. The house in general felt familiar, and at the same time, new. When brought here by the twins, Nier strangely remembered that Yonah would always rest upstairs and that he remained down on the ground floor of the house. Even though he was first hopeful that this Project Gestalt would solve their problems, it only created more problems from what he saw other than the only benefit being that they would live.
Upon getting downstairs, Nier felt a pounding in his head, something was yelling within his mind. It was enough to make him stop in his tracks, holding the side of his head in an annoyance. Snapping out of his own thoughts about how things had gone so far, Nier froze as he heard something else, or rather... someone else.
Damn you... this was my home with my sister! Not yours!
There it was again, the strange voice that had a great disdain for him. Nier never had thought that this Project Gestalt was going to finish smoothly. He was told that his Replicant's conscience would be still around, but he never expected it to be this self aware... When this occurred the first time, it frightened him and Yonah. He knew the Replicants were practically copies of themselves, and that they developed a separate consciousness of memories. However, something about the awareness of the Replicants... it felt almost different... they weren't perfectly in sync when it came to their memories.
"This is our home. We share the same identity, body, personality, we're not that different, other me."
Not wanting to disturb Yonah upstairs, Nier kept his voice in a leveled tone, folding his blankets so he could carry all of it upstairs. As he was uncomfortable with this occurring the first time, it didn't take long for Nier to get used to this, not losing his calm in contrary to the voice's apparent anger and frustration.
Tch... I still don't understand why you Shades wanted to take over the lives that we all wanted to live peacefully... look around you. Everything is gone... and it's all your fault. You got Popola and Devola doing your deeds... taking advantage of Grimoire Weiss like this...
"Other me, we both wanted the best for everyone, and some times... the world isn't going to follow what you want. Either way, we both worked ourselves to the brink of death, wanting the best for our sisters. We're not that different... and this is probably the best outcome we can get..."
The voice in his head became quiet once more, letting Nier get a sigh of relief to see that the entity within him had calmed down. The Replicants saw the Gestalts as Shades... much like monsters, but it was just ironic on how such "monsters" were actually just as human as the Replicants. The actions that the Replicants had done due to this assumption, it was like they were the true monsters here... Yet, both were the same, due to how they were always meant to merge in order to become true humans again. It was only the matter of perspective while living in such a dying world. That was all that Nier could think of on the matter, not that it would actually matter anymore with the lack of actual other humans in this world. However, it seemed to whisper something in his thoughts...
Vanille... I'm so sorry... for dying on you...
Nier didn't recognize that name at all. Vanille... it felt familiar, but Nier was certain that in his normal life and his life as a Gestalt, it didn't ring a bell. Was this a name that his Replicant had acquainted himself with? What exactly did his Replicant end up doing with that strange disappearance? He witnessed his Replicant disappear from thin air before him when he first appeared at the village to go and retrieve Yonah's Replicant. He overheard the conversation between the twins, that his Replicant had gone off the radar, and disappeared from the face of the world. To think that his Replicant had gone to a world unknown to them, it felt unreal for Nier to think about.
Now that he had questioned that name, Vanille, he began to have brief flashes of a distant place, a city underwater... a particular girl with bright pink hair and an optimistic attitude... Maybe there really was another world that they just didn't know about.
"Vanille is waiting out there... somewhere... one day, we'll see her again. I'll let you talk to her, she seems important to you... and I won't deny you the chance to talk to her. I promise you that."
Despite the Replicant of his being a copy, meant for the sake of the Project Gestalt, Nier felt the strange need to affirm his copy's conscience that it'll be fine. He knew little to nothing about this Vanille, but the more he thought about it, he figured it was a very important person that his Replicant had met during his disappearance into another world. Heading upstairs with the extra blankets for Yonah, Nier noticed that his little sister seemed uneasy while trying to sleep.
"Big brother... there's a girl in my head... she's crying out for her brother... I... I feel bad for her... she sounds like she... hasn't seen her brother for so long..."
So it was happening for Yonah again? Unlike the frustrations that Nier had to listen to often, Yonah had said that her other voice, the voice of her Replicant, was always crying, crying out for her own brother. It must feel cruel to the Replicants then, that they were unable to reunite with each other, that they were only a mere side effect of the separation and merge of the operation. A grimacing face appeared on Nier for a brief moment before a gentle smile took it over, he kneeled at her bed.
"Don't worry... it'll be fine, Yonah. If we happened to be find ourselves again, after all of these years, I'm sure that this girl you hear in your head... she'll see her brother soon. Or that maybe... both probably found each other now."
Yonah blinked at that explanation as she was not so great to understanding certain things in the world, and then she noticed something different to where she had a confused look on her face.
"... the girl... she stopped crying..."
Even now, Nier felt that himself and this other self were in sync, patting Yonah on the head. It felt like both Niers were comforting and reassuring their Yonahs at the same time, something that should've been the permanent result of Project Gestalt, except... it was only for that one instance this quiet night.
"... see? She's better now, she probably found her brother. Good night... Yonah."
Reassured and no longer worried for her own Replicant, Yonah finally fell asleep, and with that... Nier blew out the candle lights of the room before closing the door behind him.
A night has passed with many more days to come...
-End-
@A Tiny Fool @Chewy Rabbits @anybody else that wants to read this wall of text xD
