Synchronization.
To borrow Faust's explanation, it is the process of aligning the personality brought over from another world with the current prisoner.
...Why am I suddenly explaining this?
To explain that, we need to go back about three weeks from now.
More precisely, to about a day after Mirror Railway Line 2 appeared.
What happened then was...
The dull days of routine.
Every day, the same scenery. The same position. The same colors drifted past the window.
Right. Back when we were being battered by K Corp's traffic all day long.
More precisely, it was the day after Mephistopheles' noisy alarm sounded.
The thing that appeared this time was Mirror Railway Line 2.
When we were hesitating over whether to enter that thing, which had shown up at such an awkward time...
Dante's mood, while fiddling with the terminal, shifted into confusion.
"Huh?"
"...? Is something wrong?"
"No, it's just..."
Why was he like that? Had he found something strange?
The answer to that question came from a somewhat unexpected place.
Well, not entirely unexpected, since it was someone we could have guessed.
Faust.
"It seems the growth limit has risen further."
...The growth limit?
"The growth limit, you say... the thing from last time with the personality training tickets and synchronization?"
"Correct. It is displayed on the terminal as level and synchronization stage."
To Gregor's question, Faust answered neatly in the affirmative.
"Dante. Could you explain what changes have occurred on the terminal this time?"
"Ah, okay."
What Dante's ticking voice conveyed after that was as follows.
The "level," which gauges the body's raw strength such as power and durability, had increased one step from 30 to 35.
The "synchronization stage," which gauges the body's technique and experience, had also increased one step from 3 to 4.
Now, now. That's enough reminiscing.
Since we've revealed all the necessary information, that should do.
And as for the various conversations about how a new stage had opened up in the meantime and Line 2 would have to be postponed—let's just skip over those.
Anyway. The reason I'm explaining all this is because yesterday, we received a batch process to raise the synchronization stage of the main identities to 4.
...And so what, you ask?
Um... Do you perhaps know that even the base state, the state before a personality is equipped, has a synchronization stage?
Of course, in the many situations where there was no time to equip a personality, we had often fought in that state.
What this means is... the base identities are also included in the synchronization targets.
At first glance, it doesn't seem like there should be a problem... but...
Wasn't there always something like this at times like these?
After the first two missions, I'm pretty sure I started the day with a headache.
"Hmm..."
Nothing... bad... will happen... right?
...Well, worrying probably doesn't mean much. It's something we have to go through anyway.
The only option is to resign myself and take it...
Wait.
Right before something ominous happened, my hands reacted quickly and flew to my ears.
Then, with a thump, I blocked the path where the sound would naturally ring out.
- WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING───!!!! UUUUUNG─! UUUUUNG─! UUUUUNG─!
...Prediction successful. I did it!
But... isn't this alarm a little strange? The bus didn't used to flash green like this, did it?
For a moment I wondered if my eyes were the problem... but fortunately, Ms. Rodion and Mr. Heathcliff reacted the same way, both showing puzzled expressions.
"What the... This thing never flashed this color before, did it?"
"What now...? This damned rust bucket, did it swallow something wrong or what?"
"Ooooh!! At last, has the long, long wait ended and the beginning of adventure arrived!!!"
"I-is this... what we were waiting for?"
"...No."
Vergilius cut Sinclair off with a single word after hearing Don Quixote's remark.
Right, right. Something this noisy couldn't possibly be a before-team notification. And there wasn't any particular reason to wait for the bus's variability and depart on the next mission, either.
Still... even he seemed to find this green light and thunderous alert unexpected, because he furrowed his brow deeply and looked at Faust.
"Emergency. Emergency. Mephi is screaming like it's about to explode. Is Mephi hurt?"
"Faust. We were not informed in advance of this sort of notification format."
"..."
For a brief moment, Faust's eyes skimmed the air, as if she were looking at something.
...Was that just my imagination? For a split second, it felt like she was seeing something.
"First, let me correct a mistaken assumption. Mephistopheles is not a rust bucket. Nor does it engage in the act of eating. We do occasionally use the Enkephalin supply device in the engine for fuel replenishment, but that is not a problem, and even if something does go wrong, it can all be disassembled and repaired afterward..."
"That's just a figure of speech! Tch, so what the hell is this, then? It sounds like it's about to blow up!"
"Calling Mephistopheles a rust bucket is an insult to Faust's painstaking design and..."
Wow, did that really sting her pride that much? One little "rust bucket" and this many rebuttals come flying back.
She could just say no and leave it at that, but her reaction is way more intense than I expected.
Somehow it doesn't look like this is going to end anytime soon...
"Mr. Heathcliff, if you don't take back what you just said, I think she'll keep going like this..."
"Tch, damn..."
"Heath, hurry up and take it back... What if it really blows up while we're stuck here without even hearing the explanation!"
"Khh..."
At Sinclair and Rodion's restraint, frustration spread across Heathcliff's face.
And then...
"What I said earlier, I take it back..."
"The phrase 'earlier' is highly broad in scope. Faust cannot determine precisely which statement you intend to retract. Instead, Faust can explain in detail the greatness of Mephistopheles. For example, this screw is..."
"This! Bus! The thing about calling it a rust bucket! The thing about asking if it swallowed something wrong! I take it back! I'm sorry!!!"
Wow. He actually forced that answer out of him. His pride is more... no, given his usual self-importance, maybe this was expected.
...
It seemed a satisfied smile flickered across Faust's face after she finally got the answer she wanted.
"Good."
"Is the farce over? It wasn't even funny, so I'd appreciate it if you'd stop testing my patience."
"That's right. This alarm feels different from the one before... It doesn't seem like a new door has opened."
"It's simple. That night has come."
"Spit it out plainly."
"Speak so I can understand."
"If you keep making this difficult... I'll... tear off your neck..."
"It seems the Night of Walpurgis has arrived."
Walpurgis... Night? That's not a name I know. It's clearly a proper noun, though.
"It is not night right now. At least not along this coast."
"I am not speaking of night as the phenomenon in which the sun cannot be seen with the naked eye."
"Hmm."
"Then I suppose this is a name given to a phenomenon."
Perhaps because the waves were calm, Yi Sang's face looked livelier than usual.
He seemed to be the type whose medicine didn't work very well either... I wonder if we can get some seasickness medicine that actually works at U Corp's harbor.
"Yes. Mephistopheles' engine is equipped with many functions, but the one most relevant to you is likely the extraction of personalities and E.G.O. However, the range from which extraction is possible is somewhat limited. It is gradually expanding, but..."
"Does that also have something to do with the Golden Bough? It seemed as our journey progressed, new things were being drawn up."
"That would not be entirely wrong. The extraction range gradually broadens according to what the Manager and our prisoners experience. Normally, such extraction must be performed at a cost, but... as you have experienced, there are personality cards that suddenly appear. You remember, Dante?"
"...Ah, right. There was that personality card that the engine just spat out."
Was there? Hmm... what was it again. Had I even seen it?
Wait—ah! I remembered.
"Hold on, hold on. I'm lost here... what exactly is a personality card?"
"You didn't know? Hmm... Mr. Heathcliff, you only ever take interest in the things you're interested in, don't you. I'm a little envious."
"You want your head split open?"
"Whoa, whoa. Mr. Heathcliff. If you really did that, you'd make Vergilius look worse than dead."
"Yeah, stop fighting. The guide's watching with those bright eyes of his too. Anyway, that thing... that thing. The Manager guy sometimes pulls something out of the engine and brings it over, right? Another world... was that what he said? Mirror world? Ah, was it that? Anyway, I mean the thing that shows what we look like in that world. The small, long... rectangular thing."
"That's right. It's like a mahjong tile, isn't it?"
"I thought it looked more like a wafer snack."
...How varied. I thought it just looked like an employee ID card.
"Since the object containing the personality is like a tile... I think at some point it came to be called a personality card."
"So... we transform with those square toy-like things? I've never used anything like that."
"That's because I'm the one who uses them."
"The Manager's terminal has slots built into it where the personality cards and E.G.O you possess can be directly equipped. The contents are reflected whenever each of us enters battle."
"I kept wondering what you were fiddling with before every fight, so that's what you were touching..."
Gregor's words brought the conversation to a close, and Heathcliff looked astonished.
...That man has never once thought about personalities, has he?
...
But... it's strangely calm. Maybe because Don Quixote, who usually handles the noise, is looking gloomy.
"Don Quixote, is something wrong?"
"Ah, it is just that... in a situation like this, if Ms. Ishmael were here, she'd be saying things like 'You still didn't know that?' or 'How pathetic,' but since she can neither be seen nor heard, my heart feels a bit lonely..."
"Ah..."
"Ah~ I see. That's what was missing."
"You bastards..."
Just as Heathcliff, irritated by Ishmael's absence, was about to raise his bat...
Vergilius rolled a step across the floor with a thud and cut the conversation off.
"Enough. The explanation is lagging behind. Faust. Enough of that—continue explaining this green light."
Ah, so now it begins.