- “For the future to be saved, the pain and hurt of the past must be relived for the key to be revealed.”
- ―Mission Briefing
Pursuit of Truth is the second cinematic cutscene featured in The Final Chapter saga of the Roach Chronicles, created by RoachTheIntelCollector. It is guest-written by Anakin Nakamura.
Story[]
Tachibana opens his eyes to find himself in an endless black void. As he looks at his hands, he notices that he has returned to his original form as The Son, thinking aloud what this could mean. At that moment, an echoing voice asks if the seal has been broken. The Son looks around before he sees a light piercing through the darkness as it approaches him, which manifests into an apparition of The Father. The Son is shocked, as he has not seen The Father since the Nexus's creation so long ago. The Son answers his question, saying that Ignotus has broken the seal and assumed control of the Nexus. The Father tells The Son that he feared this day would come, and even though he saw what he could in the future, it did not provide him with the answers he was looking for to prevent this from happening. The Son asks what could be done, and The Father smiles, telling The Son that for them to fix the future, they must relive the past before the darkness around them explodes into a blinding light.
Before continuing, The Father asks The Son if he needed to prepare for what awaited them. The Son denies, saying that he would feel the pain regardless. As the light fades, The Son and The Father discover their past selves walking away from a temple as the sounds of an ongoing war engulfs the atmosphere around them. While The Son initial takes cover, The Father reminds him that they are in a memory-based projection of the past, explaining that they could not be seen nor harmed, nor could they interact with anything. As they observed the memory, they witness the past versions of themselves talking about Potens Virgam and Kar'auk before time stops. The Father tells The Son that this was a vague memory of his, causing The Son to question who Kar'auk was. The Father explains that Kar'auk was the Hive Emperor who manipulated the Hive's hatred towards the Nexu by creating false claims of deception against the Hive. The Son asks if these accusations were indeed true, although The Father denies, saying that Kar'auk was influenced by Mora the Forgotten, an ancient Nexu enemy who attempted to become the new ruler of the Nexu people and overthrow The Father. Upon finishing his sentence, time resumes, and the two witness the Hive successfully wounding The Father. The Past Son witnesses this and runs over to him, calling out if he was alright, though The Father remains silent and gives The Son Potens Virgam. Through his body, The Son could see that when his past self took hold of the weapon, he could feel the power channeling throughout his body at the exact same moment as his past self. However, time had froze once again. The Father tells The Son that this moment was the one time he truly experienced pain and loss, though The Son claims that he has experienced many more. The Father explains that those are Mr. Tachibana's memories, and that as The Son's host, he possessed the power to nearly subdue The Son internally. Time resumes, and the two witness The Past Son using Potens Virgam to slaughter the attacking Hive in fury. The Past Son attempts to help The Past Father, though the latter states that his time was up, gifting The Past Son his power of reincarnation before requesting Potens Virgam. Once The Past Son gives him it, he tells The Past Son to seek out a future where the Hive lose before a blinding light consumes The Past Son, sending him into an endless void with Potens Virgam in hand. In despair, he came to the conclusion that The Father had sacrificed himself to create the Nexus, and that it was his job to keep moving forward in time. Both versions of The Son felt pain, not wanting to let go of their Father.
As the memory begins to become distorted, The Father confirms that he had indeed sacrificed himself to create the Nexus, and in the process he saw everything in the span of five seconds up until Potens Virgam lost its owner and returned to the Nexus, where he believed that everything that would be a threat to the Nexus was gone, adding that he couldn't have been anymore wrong. The Son states that he cannot continue, for the pain was too much for him to bear. The Father tells The Son that Ignotus has won then before revealing that everything that has transpired since the creation of the Nexus is in Ignotus's hands, adding that if there was no way to reverse what Ignotus has done, then The Father wouldn't be standing before him once again as an apparition. The Son questions if defeating Ignotus and reclaiming the Nexus was even possible, stating that he no longer has the power to control the Nexus. The Father questions if The Son will let everyone down because he feels that he does not have power and allow Ignotus to erase all of which they built. The Son realizes he was right; if The Son did not have power then the apparition of The Father wouldn't be there with him; if there was no way to challenge Ignotus, The Father would not have left an apparition of himself. The Son comments that a lot of pain will come back to him as they keep moving forward. The Father tells him to absorb that pain, adding that from pain comes strength. In another blinding light, the two are teleported again to another memory, this one within Esmeralda's room. The Son is immediately struck with distress, knowing all too well what this memory entailed upon seeing Esmeralda gravely ill in bed. Ozma soon walks into the room and stops upon seeing her condition. Simultaneously, The Father tells The Son that this is one of those painful memories, though The Son doesn't reply, and instead gazes at Esmeralda as she begins to grow even more pale, an effect of the mysterious disease she had acquired. The Father explains that Ozma was the host that provided The Son humanity, with The Son adding that it was the host where he had found love. Not long after, Doctor Schulte enters the room and calls for Ozma to speak with him in private in the hall. The Son and The Father follow them out, and Schulte explains to Ozma that the sickness Esmeralda had was unlike any before, something that was rejecting all forms of medicine, and was seemingly "alive" in its own right. Ozma asks if there was anything he could do, though Schulte apologizes and denies.
Sighing, Ozma thanks the Doctor before returning to Esmeralda's side as time freezes again. The Father questions the purpose of lying to someone on the brink of death, to which The Son explains that it makes it easier on humans, and that if they know without being told, then they will come to peace with themselves, letting their thoughts focus on their loved ones. The Father agrees, and The Son wishes things would have happened differently. The Father explains that if he wanted to do that, it would cause the Nexus to be destabilized, and though The Son asks if the creation of an alternate universe would work, The Father explains that since he was present in that time, it cannot be done. The Son questions that he thought that that was the purpose of the Nexus to do such feats such as changing history, to which the Father agrees with, though as a limitation, The Son himself cannot do such an undergoing, as the price he would pay would be the complete erasure of time and space. Time once again unfroze as Ozma went down to kiss Esmeralda's forehead, still holding onto her hand. The Son felt the emotions Ozma was feeling at the time, sensing that Ozma didn't want her to leave him. Being a former host, The Son felt sorrow for himself, Mr. Tachibana and Ozma; to all three of them, the love that Esmeralda gave was their ichiban no takaramono. The Son leaned down as well, kissing her forehead, despite not being able to physically make contact. The Father tells The Son to keep moving forward as time advances a few days into the future. The two find themselves in the living room, where Ozma is with his four daughters. The Father is initially confused, though The Son explains that Ozma, and by extension himself, had offspring. When one of the daughters asked how their mother Esmeralda was doing, The Son and The Apparition could both clearly see that Ozma wanted to lie again. The Son knew that's what he wanted to do, but couldn't bring himself forward in doing so because the children's happiness was something they deeply cared about. Ozma explains that Esmeralda was going somewhere far away in order to get better, and continues that they would be staying with their aunt for a bit.
Time froze again, and The Father comments that they were all so young. Not hearing a response from The Son, The Father turns to him, only to find him down on his knees looking at Ozma's daughter Sophia directly in the face as a tear ran down his right eye; he missed her deeply. Sophia was the last to be born, and thus granting her the same abilities and traits as The Son, making her a Nexu as well, but The Son was unaware of it. The Father however knew, as required, and did not tell The Son as he figured he knew already. Advancing time a few hours shortly after the children had left with their aunt, Ozma was back at Esmeralda's side, the latter asks if everything was going to be alright. The Son began to feel his distress coming up once again, feeling as if he was dying and that he wanted to do something, but could not. Ozma tells her yes, and that he would love her forever; through death and resurrection, in another life if they are to become enemies or are separated, Ozma promises that he would never love another ever again, and that Esmeralda would always remain in his thoughts. With her final breath, Esmeralda tells Ozma she would meet him again in another life before dying. The Son places his hand on her forehead as The Father did nothing but watch as the memory went on. However, Ozma, Mr. Tachibana and The Son all at the same time manifested feelings of sorrow, sadness and depression. Ozma cried, as he hugged his wife's now lifeless body. The Son stood up beside him, now crying as well. He felt what Ozma felt. The feeling of losing someone they truly loved was something that The Son disliked to feel. But it was the way of life. He couldn't change that, it was out of his reach. He had to live with the path life had given him, whether he approved or not; Ozma then softly told Esmeralda that he would she her on the other side. As time again freezes, The Father himself is saddened by this, and solemnly concludes it as a tragic ending. The Father praises Ozma as a man of truth and peace, and before he can say more, The Son interrupts and continues that he was a librarian, with every story ready to be told for the occasion, and that Ozma once told The Son a story of hope, saying that he should never let go if he believed things would come his way in the future to come. The Father tells The Son that he has indeed held onto that hope and believed right, causing The Son to ask how so. The Father explains that though Ozma had taken his own life and separated himself from his daughters, he was ultimately reunited with Esmeralda, and The Son hoped he would be on the same path, which he was indeed correct with. The Father notes that Doctor Schulte had mentioned something that was rejecting his medicine, and that they both know what it really was: The Angel. The Father explains that Esmeralda was reborn as The Angel, a now evil spirit bent on revenge towards The Son and ruling the Nexus. The Father wishes to continue with their journey, though The Son wishes for a few more minutes. Sitting by his former host, The Son tells Ozma that he cannot hear him and that he was sorry. He goes on to say that "the man in your head" is sorry too, and though he is different than The Son is, the three of them are the same. He continues that Sophia will one day understand as she is as strong as Esmeralda was before saying one last goodbye. As time resumes, The Son and Father depart the memory as Ozma continues to cry over Esmeralda.
As The Son and The Father arrive at yet another memory, The Father reveals he was surprised that The Son held feelings of sorrow for her. When The Son explains he loved Esmeralda, The Father corrects himself and The Son by revealing he was referring to Mrs. Nakamura as the next memory plays out. In this memory, the two find themselves at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Nakamura, leaders of the Nakamura Crime Family. Upon entering the house, they discover the two were housing a meeting with other members, discussing the problems of the Italian and Irish mobs trespassing in their territory. Internally, The Son could see his past self interacting with Mr. Nakamura, and after his past self makes a snide remark on a mobster's suggestion, Mr. Namamura excuses himself from the room before confronting The Son's past self mentally. The Father instructs The Son to touch Mr. Nakamura's forehead, though The Son reminds him that he cannot make physical contact with him. However, The Father reveals that he has the power to allow The Son to carry out this task, something The Son becomes furious over after realizing that he could've shared another moment with Esmeralda, though The Father justifies his actions by revealing there was something in that particular memory that would've compromised their mission. Sighing, The Son begrudgingly complies and begins eavesdropping on his past self and Mr. Nakamura's conversation. Through it, he learns that Mr. Tachibana wasn't keen on remembering Mr. Nakamura as a previous host, as the latter despised having "a voice in his head". After The Son steps back from touching Mr. Tachibana's forehead, he glares off to notice a family portrait of the Nakamuras, something The Fathers follows suit in. He comments that they looked strikingly like the children of Ozma and Esmeralda, something The Son was shocked at learning, but was nonetheless relived that there was a possibility to reunite with them. The Father reveals that Sophia had inherited the power to reincarnate through other hosts, though he was confused as to how she got Ozma's powers since she was the last-born of the family, which causes The Son to become angered again after learning he withheld information from him twice now, though The Father explains that he thought The Son was already aware of this. Already annoyed, The Son asks The Father to take them to the pain of the memory, to which he complies with.
The two are transported to the interior of a limousine owned by the Nakamura Crime Family, where Mr. and Mrs. Nakamura were being driven. Mentally, Mr. Nakamura was engaging in a conversation with The Son's past self, and once The Son placed his hand on Mr. Nakamura's forehead, he learns that his past self had used Mr. Nakamura's body to save Mrs. Nakamura, something Mr. Tachibana was surprised at, as he did not realize The Past Son cared for her. The Past Son explains that he develops the memories, emotions and personality of his hosts before going on to reveal his powers and what will inevitably happen once Mr. Nakamura dies as the vehicle stops at a red light. Once the light goes green, the vehicle begins to move, though tragedy soon struck; a speeding vehicle blew through their red light and collides with the limousine, causing it to flip onto its roof. The Son soon realizes that the crash had taken Mrs. Nakamura's life, and soon witnesses Mr. Nakamura desperately begging for The Past Son to save her, no matter the cost. The Past Son solemnly explains that the only way for her to be saved was if Mr. Nakamura allowed The Past Son to extract his soul's essence, which he would use to save Mrs. Nakamura, but at the cost of his own life; a soul for a soul. With a tough decision before him, Mr. Nakamura ultimately allows The Past Son to carry this motion out, thus resurrecting Mrs. Nakamura while surrendering his own life for her's. As the time froze, The Apparition asks if The Son was starting to feel any different now, though The Son remarks that he still feels pain, even if he wasn't present during most of these memories. The Father explains that they are coming back to him, though The Son sighed and wished to move forward, not wanting to discuss what just happened; mainly to avoid asking questions that would have no answers. The Father accepted that whatever pain was here had been absorbed, drawing them closer to their goal as they depart the memory after attending Mr. Nakamura's funeral.
Upon returning to the void, The Son questions why they weren't continuing on with their mission. The Father explains that he needs to check up on something before summoning Odin, one of the few Nexus Apparitions standing against Ignotus. The Son is surprised to learn from Odin that the Norse Gods are in actuality Nexus Apparitions, though The Father reminds Odin to stay on track after he goes on a small history lesson. Odin reveals that he was spying on Ignotus in secret, learning that he had constructed a realm at the heart of the Nexus, claiming that it was a supposed paradise, though Odin is unsure as to what Ignotus's overarching goal is and how the realm correlates to it. After The Father thanks Odin, he leaves, leaving the two Nexu to ponder on Ignotus. The Son asks if they should be concerned with Ignotus's current actions, though The Father explains that while Ignotus is busy with the creation of his new realm, he wouldn't be busy searching for the two Nexu. The Son asks about the Heretic Apparitions now serving Ignotus and if they would come after them, though The Father remains confident that the Unique Apparitions are doing their job to mask the Nexu's presence from the rest of the Nexus, leaving them dark to Ignotus. Concluding their theorizing, The Father soon shuffles through Mr. Tachibana's memories before coming across one that the latter had intentionally tried to forget. Materializing themselves in the memory, they find themselves at an abandoned factory, where they witness a hostage situation; a teenage girl named Lucy was being held hostage by an unknown woman, with an equally unknown man attempting to control the situation. Observing them, The Son soon detects the presence of three other Nexu as the memory freezes, causing him to question the man's identity. The Father reveals that he was another host named Marshall, the host of the one trying to repress these forgotten memories, causing The Son to question if the three Nexu he was detecting was The Father, Marshall and Lucy. However, The Father remarks that he wasn't the third Nexu he was detecting, as he was merely an apparition of The Father and thus wasn't the real deal, causing The Son to realize that the woman was also a Nexu as well.
As the memory continued, Marshall tosses a bag containing one million dollars onto the ground, demanding for Lucy to be released. The woman laughs however, explaining that this was more than just money, which causes The Son to be alarmed upon recognizing her choice of words. Upon using the word "humanly", Marshall questions what she was going on about, causing the woman to notice his lack of memory and resolves to remind him; she was a survivor of the war against the Hive, furious over both his and The Father's abandonment of their troops. This revelation further alarms both The Son and The Father, as neither of them did not think any Nexu survived the war with the Hive, not alone escape it. Mr. Tachibana, currently within Marshall, began to remember about his past journeys. He remembered leaving a temple and traveling with someone, it horrified him. He could not handle the guilt he suddenly felt, as did The Son as the memory froze once more. The Son questions who she before Sif, another Neuxs Apparition, appears and telepathically gives The Father the information from her search. Once she leaves, The Father becomes visibly worried, causing The Son to question what he had just learned. The Father soon reveals a dark revelation; the woman before them was in fact a host of The Angel. The Son is soon drenched in fear; out of all the enemies that Mr. Tachibana had made throughout time, he didn't think that The Angel would be a Nexu. His thoughts immediately centered on Esmeralda. When The Son questions if it was true, The Father tells that it was, and goes on to reveal that Lucy is actually Sophia as he continues the memory. The Angel's host continues, saying that she has longed for revenge on The Son before drawing a firearm and pointing it behind Lucy. As Marshall takes a step, The Angel's host reveals that all of them present were Nexu, and they possessed the power to reincarnate through other hosts. Revealing that Sophia as Lucy has that power too, The Angel's host sadistically remarks that she had stripped Sophia of that power, saying that she would die along with her host. Simultaneously however, The Father knew that this was an impossible feat, but leaves The Son in the dark of this information, only to allow the following events to play out while he stood witness. As The Angel's host berates Marshall, The Son desperately attempts to get The Father to allow him to interact with The Angel inside her host, but to no avail as The Father silently refused. As Sophia finally spoke through Lucy, and Marshall soon remembered who he once was as Ozma and The Son and begins to speak with his daughter for the first time in millennia, The Angel's host violently executes Lucy with a shot to the head as the memory ceases. The Son, emotionally shattered, collapses to the ground as The Father mournfully apologies. The Son, his face flooding with tears, yells Sophia's name is anguish to the void above.
As The Son continued to lament over Sophia, he furiously questions why he had to deal with so many emotional losses, blaming Ignotus for manifesting at the worst possible time for him while arrogantly protesting he would have rather died and let the Hive win than live in a future with so much personal tragedy, all while rejecting The Father's advice to absorb the pain for their mission. Knowing deep down he truly did not believe this, The Father responds that The Son knows the true cost of letting the Hive win and continues to lie to him on Sophia's true fate, telling him to continue the mission for her, or else her death would be in vain. Pulling himself back together after being reminded that Ignotus still possessed No Name and could potential end their existences at any moment should he learn the Eye's true powers, The Son tells The Father he would not forgive him for denying him one last chance to see Sophia personally, but begrudgingly readies himself nonetheless for the final memory. The Father soon selects the final memory, one that had transpired five years prior, and is intrigued to discover Mr. Tachibana had split himself for this specific host: The Drifter. The two soon venture into the memory, appearing in The Drifter's quarters aboard The Derelict, which could be identified by a song playing on a nearby radio, one The Son explained fit The Drifter well. Navigating through the ship, the two discover Mr. Tachibana and The Drifter, both of whom looked indistinguishable from one another, in a meeting with several other associates celebrating something. Internally, The Son could sense his past self within Mr. Tachibana, but could not sense anything within The Drifter. Pausing the memory, The Father soon discovers that Mr. Tachibana was utilizing a special drink known as Who's Who II to clone himself, sending these various incarnations across the many universes and timelines in the Nexus, all while assembling a small army of them in their current timeline.
Resuming the memory, the celebrating associates discuss their payments for assisting the two lookalikes in taking down their various rivals, to which Mr. Tachibana promises they will all be paid handsomely and that the money awaits them in the hold. Out of the associates, The Son identifies one of them, Breach, wasn't as joyful as the others, and ponders what was wrong with him as he could faintly sense The Angel's presence. The Father immediately calls for Baldr, another Nexus Apparition who was currently deep undercover in Ignotus' paradise and bearing the new robes the Nexus Apparitions received. Like Sif, Baldr telepathically tells The Father the information he needed before parting away, leaving The Father to explain that The Angel was within Breach's head, attempting to make a pawn out of him. To himself, The Father finally learned that Mr. Tachibana realized his connection to The Angel via The Son, causing The Father to realize that Mr. Tachibana had been cloning himself and placing his various selves in universes and timelines that he found of high interest in order to prepare an army of his own for an incoming conflict, one that even The Father could not foresee. The Father instructs The Son to place his hand on Breach's forehead, who soon discovers that The Angel was influencing Breach into killing Mr. Tachibana. As Breach stood up from his chair, the memory froze, causing The Father to comment that time and again The Angel would be the cause of some of Mr. Tachibana's torment, and his hosts ultimately meet their ends one way or another. As the memory resumed, Breach drew his sidearm and shot The Drifter, mistaking him as Mr. Tachibana due to their identical appearance, which results in the Rogue Ghosts pinning down Breach while Mr. Tachibana held his dying friend in his arms. Reminiscing over the time they shared together, The Drifter ultimately passes away in his friend's arms, leaving Mr. Tachibana to furiously execute Breach in spite upon hearing The Angel's voice coming from him. As the memory concluded, The Father reacts to the memory by saying he had nothing to say about it for the first time. The Son meanwhile was quiet; he was glad that everything was over, but knew deep down it wasn't. Suddenly, something triggers in his head, and he asks for a brief moment to himself as the two return to the Nexus. Complying, The Father disappears, leaving The Son to think to himself.
As The Son began to ponder over everything he had just witnessed, he soon notices a glaring light approaching him in the distance. Standing up, The Son is soon greeted by manifestations of all of his previous hosts, including ones The Son did not encounter in his memory recaps. Confused as to why all of them have gathered, the final manifestation appears: Mr. Tachibana himself in his original form. Tachibana questions The Son what he thinks on everything happening the way they did, asking why his essence chose to merge with theirs. The Son responds that it was because his essence resonated with like-minded individuals, though Ozma stops him, saying that it was because he had lost sight of his mission. Tachibana, along with the rest of the hosts, explain that every time The Son joined them, he would lose more and more of himself, and would ultimately become nothing more than a nameless muse for his hosts. As The Son realizes that everything they've said was true, Tachibana tells him that everything his mission thus far was all for him to fulfill his mission: to finally remember who he was and what he is truly capable of. For the first time in eons, The Son finally comes to peace; he finally reclaims himself as The Son as a surge of energy begins to flow through his hands. As this happened, every host he had throughout time began to merge with him, granting him what pain they had left, turning it into strength. Each prominent host had given him a piece of their personality and their trait; Mr. Tachibana gave his life-force and essence, Ozma gave his generosity, Mr. Nakamura gave his integrity, The Man in the Trench Coat gave his determination, Ilse Kissling gave her self-control, Marshall gave his persistence, The Mysterious Man gave his patience, and The Drifter gave his optimism. With each merging into him, they had all become one. A single essence formed from many. They had become The Son.
Suddenly, The Son opened his eyes again, finding himself back in the Graveyard of the Ancients with the others. He questions what was going on, and comes to learn from Doc that he had collapsed onto his knees, having blacked out for about ten seconds before jolting back up. Getting off of the ground, Roach questions what he was thinking, to which The Son explains that in those ten seconds, Ignotus had built himself an entire realm in the heart of the Nexus, something that the others became extremely confused at. The Son dismisses their confusion, saying that it would take longer than they have to explain everything they had just seen before asking for the group to now call him The Son. Agreeing, Roach asks what should be done as The Son takes notice of Ignotus's discarded Harbinger. Walking over to it, The Son asks if he could use it, though Roach says that it technically isn't his and that he didn't care if they used Ignotus's own stuff. Looking back towards where the portal once was, The Son manifests a shotgun in his left hand, placing it on his back while suddenly de-materializing Ignotus's Harbinger. As a surge of energy envelopes his left hand, a white portal forms in front of the group. Roach asks The Son what the plan was, to which he merely responds with a grin on his face as he leads them through the portal.
Transcript[]
- Main article: Pursuit of Truth/Transcript
Characters[]
In order of appearance/mention within transcript.
- The Son/Mr. Tachibana (mentioned only)/The Past Son/Ozma/Mr. Nakamura/Marshall/The Drifter
- Apparition of The Father/The Father
- Ignotus (mentioned only)
- Kar'auk (mentioned only)
- Mora the Forgotten (mentioned only)
- Esmeralda/The Angel
- Doctor Schulte
- Elizabeth
- Christina
- Sophia
- Alanna
- Esmeralda's sister (mentioned only)
- Mrs. Nakamura
- Frank
- Daughters Reincarnated
- Odin
- The Angel's Host
- Lucy
- Sif
- Texas
- Maddy
- Kate
- Daniel
- Jesse
- Baldr
Music[]
Trivia[]
- This is the first map/cutscene in the Roach Chronicles to be guest-written by another publisher on the wiki.
- Doctor Schulte is an ancestor of Dr. Wilhelm Schultz.
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