Chesed — Episode 4Location: The Library – Floor of Social SciencesRoland(Servant)What are you up to?Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_1"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)Picking out some coffee beans.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_1"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)It’s much more intensive work than it seems.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_2-02"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)I, Angela, and the employees of Lobotomy Corp. were all picked out and ended up where we are, just like the guests were.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_3-01"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)No matter what the individual wishes, society will just pick out the people it wants while leaving the rest to rot in the pile.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_4-01"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)An invisible chain of oppression is weighing down on everybody.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_5-01"Roland(Servant)Those are rules necessary for people to live close to each other.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_2"Roland(Servant)Hell, I bet society’s gonna be even more messed up than it is now without ‘em, y’know?Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_3"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)I agree that some rules are needed. But why’d they all have to be so extreme~?Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_6-01"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)The Syndicates in the Backstreets, the Associations of Fixers, and the Wings… They’re all established on the premise of human sacrifice.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_7"Roland(Servant)That’s how it is in this world. A big game of cat-and-mouse where the winner takes all.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_4"Roland(Servant)There’s no point trying to wrap your head around the inevitable. You really are an odd one, huh.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_5"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)Would you say that the pain and loss you suffered were also inevitable, then?Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_8-02"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)You always talk about the City so plainly, saying that everything happening in it can’t be helped.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_9-01"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)Is it really because you’re indifferent about it? Or are you trying to turn away from the underlying unfairness?Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_10-01"Roland(Servant)…Sure. We’re just being carried away by a gigantic wave.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_6"Roland(Servant)All we gotta do is surrender to the flow and float down the stream.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_7"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)You’re busy running away, aren’t you, Roland~Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_11-02"Roland(Servant)…Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_8"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)You see, I came from the Nest.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_12"Roland(Servant)Figured as much.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_9"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)I was born into a wealthy family that was the envy of all.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_13"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)I didn’t have to worry about my future, and was born smart too, to top it off…Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_14-01"Roland(Servant)Some elite prodigy you were.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_10"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)I know, right~? They all expected me to join A Corp. and climb up to a high position like it was nothing.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_15-02"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)My older sister and other siblings got into Wings like a breeze, too.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_16-01"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)The Wings most people strive to enter were no more than ordinary career paths for me.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_17-02"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)I never got why they were so desperate to join such boring companies.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_18-02"Roland(Servant)Damn, that’s how great your family was?Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_11"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)Yep. That’s the kind of family Daniel had.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_19-01"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)But one day, in a bizarre turn of events one might even describe as fate… he steps into the Backstreets, the place he never thought would have anything to do with his life.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_20"Roland(Servant)A rebellious little deviation from the quotidian life of a spoiled young gent?Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_12"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)It would’ve been pretty romantic if that were the case… But I was just kidnapped, really. Caught me by surprise.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_21-01"Roland(Servant)Someone decided to kidnap a Nest resident, and a rich one at that…Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_13"Roland(Servant)Must’ve been some bigshot Syndicate or just a crazy ass.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_14"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)Well, you see… it was actually Carmen and Kali.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_22-01"Roland(Servant)Huh. If the Red Mist did that… Well, I guess she had good reasons.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_15"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)When I came back to my senses, those two were arguing with each other.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_23-01"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)“You were never good at telling people apart based on their faces, Kali.”
“Well, it’s YOUR fault for giving me a bad description, Carmen!”
Et cetera et cetera.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_24-02"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)I couldn’t help but chuckle listening to that. I thought I was looking at a comedy skit or something.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_25"Roland(Servant)So they got the wrong person? Didn’t take them for a couple of airheads.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_16"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)I’m telling you~? They really were clumsy at heart.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_26-02"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)They were trying to catch some con artist who scammed Carmen out of her research fund, and Kali apparently mistook me for the perp.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_27"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)I thought I’d get some apologies and go back to where I belonged.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_28"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)But then Carmen asked me without a hint of shame to help her out for a bit while I’m at it.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_29-01"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)She said it helps to have a visibly rich person like me stand next to her.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_30-01"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)So I said yes out of surprise and confusion.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_31"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)I was wondering what she was about to do, and then she took me to an open space and started giving a long speech.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_32-01"Roland(Servant)I guess it wasn’t anything weird since there’s plenty of people muttering nonsense in the Backstreets every day.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_17"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)You’re right about that. Can you guess what she was saying, standing next to me?Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_33-02"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)She went on about vague things like how everyone is fatigued and ill with the disease of the mind, and that she’s recruiting people to help her find a way to overcome it.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_34-01"Roland(Servant)Sounds like total hogwash.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_18"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)One thing that stood out about her was that she was so proud and confident with her ridiculous speech. Even when most people barely gave her a glance before going about their business.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_35-02"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)Carmen was vastly different from the people I had seen.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_36-01"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)She had the eyes and voice of a person who was willing to carve a brand new path.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_37"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)I never thought people like her could exist until that day.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_38-01"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)After her speech, Carmen walked me home.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_39-01"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)And on the way back, I saw and heard it for the first time.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_40-01"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)The hellish landscape that was so different from the world I lived in.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_41-01"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)Carmen and Kali taught me about what’s going on in the Backstreets and how people in the Nest are being extorted without meaning.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_42-02"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)When I got back home that day, I spent all night shivering from this odd sense of guilt.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_43-03"Roland(Servant)The naive young noble wakes up to a half-baked sense of justice.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_19"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)I did~ I guess you could say it was half-baked in a way.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_44-02"Roland(Servant)I mean, you could’ve just shrugged the whole thing off as a bad day and went back to your everyday life, no?Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_20"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)Maybe. But I just couldn’t, no…Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_45"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)So~ I ended up joining Carmen’s team of researchers.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_46-01"Roland(Servant)That simple? Aren’t you skipping too many steps at once?Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_21"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)Of course my family had several problems with it, but those were just small details~Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_47-01"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)I wanted to use my capabilities to help people.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_48"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)I was sincere about wanting to make the world a better place. Daniel was.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_49"Roland(Servant)How about now, then. Are you still sincere about that?Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_22"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)Yep, I am. I want to change it right next time.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_50"Chesed(Patron Librarian - Soc. Sciences)If there is a next time, that is~Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Chessed_51-02"Roland(Servant)Don’t expect others to have the peace of mind like you do.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_23"Roland(Servant)It’s all thanks to your prosperous background that you could say such generous stuff.Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_24"Roland(Servant)I’ll be going now~Audio: "ch8_Chessed_ep4_Roland_25"