After feeding every last piece of the giant woman’s flesh to Corie and neatly stacking her bones in a pile out of respect, "cough," Corie, who was lying on the table, began to cough. Clyde and Casca turned toward the open holographic screen,
[Hunger : [Progress bar 15%]]
[Stamina : [Progress bar 95%]]
[Regeneration : [Progress bar 85%] status : healthy.]
Broad smiles broke out across Clyde and Casca’s faces. They looked back at Corie, whose skin had returned to normal, though still slightly pale; her frail body was filling out again, and her once-hollow cheeks were beginning to look chubby once more, just like Casca’s, though she was still unconscious. Clyde turned to Casca and then back to Corie, studying both of their faces with a serious look,
"Hmm," Clyde hummed.
"What is it, Big Brother?" Casca asked.
"Your faces look exactly identical. When you were little, there felt like a difference... but now, you look completely identical, from your hair down to your bodies," Clyde answered.
"Oh... that’s true. Does that make it hard to tell Corie and me apart?" Casca asked.
"Not really. You two have different personalities," Clyde answered with a smile.
Casca fell silent for a moment, staring at Corie’s face for quite a while, then looking at Clyde and back at Corie again. Finally, she reverted to her normal form and drew a knife from her waist. Naturally, Clyde was startled by the sight,
"Hey... why are you disengaging your combat form? What if another enemy shows up? And what’s that knife for?" Clyde asked.
"Crasss," Casca gathered her long hair and sliced it off, leaving it only shoulder-length. She then shook her head, tossing her hair before looking at Clyde with a smile,
"This way, you can tell us apart, right?" Casca asked.
"Honestly, I told you that you two have different personalities, why go as far as cutting your hair?" Clyde asked.
"It’s fine... I wanted to look different from Corie, not just have a different personality. This way, we really feel like twin sisters," Casca answered.
Clyde said nothing, simply watching Casca smile before she turned, bowed her head, and pressed her forehead against Corie’s, who was still unconscious. He just shook his head with a smile, then looked back at Corie and her holographic display. Suddenly, the static-laced holographic screen flickered back to life in front of Clyde and Casca,
["I’m... done... song... she’s... about to... wake up... get ready."]
Clyde turned to look at Casca, who turned to look at him as well, before both focused on Corie’s face. Even with her eyelids closed, they could see her eyes darting back and forth—a sign that she was dreaming or that her memories were awakening, but above all, that she was out of the simulation. Clyde and Casca backed away from the table, stepping toward the foot of it, watching Corie from the end of the bed.
"Na... na... na,"
The melody began to echo softly inside Clyde and Casca’s heads as their eyes remained glued to Corie, who was starting to squirm atop the table. Suddenly, flashing text appeared on Corie’s status screen,
[Status : awakened.]
"Waaaaaaaaaa!"
Corie suddenly shrieked. Clyde and Casca darted to the right and left sides of the table, rushing over to the still-lying Corie. Corie opened her eyes and sat up on the table, looking frantically around her environment, her face consumed by panic as tears poured down her cheeks.
"Wh... where is this... Daddy... Mommy... Kevin... help me!"
"Calm down, Corie... it’s me... Casca," Casca said, placing her hands on Corie’s shoulders and turning Corie to face her.
Corie’s eyes widened, "Cas... ca... you’re Casca?" Corie asked. Hearing Corie ask, Casca smiled,
"That’s right, I’m your twin sister, Casca. How are you, Corie? We finally meet again," Casca answered.
"Big Sister... Casca... but... I fell off a cliff... and I saw Daddy... Mommy... Kevin... inside the car... and then... I heard a song, and when I woke up... I was here and seeing you," Corie said, bewildered.
"Did you dream about something?" Clyde asked.
At the sound of Clyde’s voice, Corie turned toward him, her expression turning even more bewildered than before. Her jaw practically dropped as her eyes studied Clyde’s face. But then, she raised her hand and pointed at Clyde,
"Big Brother... Clyde?" Corie asked.
"That’s right, Corie, it’s me," Clyde answered with a smile.
Without a second thought, Corie lunged forward and threw her arms around Clyde, weeping loudly against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair. Once Corie calmed down, Casca draped a sheet around her bare body, after which Corie looked up at Clyde and Casca. But then, she glanced left and right,
"Where are Big Sister Celes and Big Brother Craig?" Corie asked.
"Oh... you remember them?" Clyde asked.
"Yeah... Big Sister Celes asked me to wake up and remember who I am... I dreamed we were in a garden... like a dome-shaped greenhouse... I remember the five of us sitting down listening to a piano piece... after we gave each other names," Corie answered, her eyes narrowing as she seemed to think back.
Clyde and Casca exchanged glances with each other, as that exact scene was what had pulled them out of their own simulations as well. Clyde then held Corie by her shoulders,
"Corie, listen to me. Everything you experienced up until now was just a simulation. Casca and I will explain everything," Clyde said.
Clyde explained everything to Corie, and as it turned out, because Corie’s simulated life shared the same scripted structure as Casca’s, where they lived with a complete family consisting of a father, mother, and an older brother who died in a car crash while on a trip to the mountains, leaving only the two girls as survivors, Corie began questioning her own reality,
"A simulation... you went through the exact same thing, Casca?" Corie asked.
"Yeah... you said you had a brother named Kevin, while my brother was named Roger, but both were trapped in a car that exploded. The difference is that after that, I lived alone for a year until one day, while relaxing in my room, Big Sister Celes sent a voice message," Casca answered.
"So... my whole life... was a lie?" Corie asked, tears beginning to trickle down her cheeks.
"I’m sorry... but yes, you were inside a simulation all this time... but hey, you have me and Big Brother Clyde now... we’re reunited after all this time," Casca answered, wrapping her arms around Corie.
"But... you... Big Brother Clyde... you’re real, right? Not an illusion?" Corie sobbed.
"No, we’re both real. Calm down now, you’re safe," Casca answered.
"Yeah... but... I lost my parents and my brother," Corie said.
"I know... I lost them too, only at a different time," Casca replied.
The two fell silent, holding each other as tears flowed. Clyde could only remain silent, holding the two girls as they embraced. But suddenly, his eyes shot toward the door. Clyde moved in front of the table, shielding Casca and Corie behind him as he stood facing the doorway. Sure enough, footsteps echoed outside the room. The door swung open, and the soldiers gasped in shock at the sight of the room flooded with blood, littered with flesh-covered bones, and backed by the neatly stacked remains of a giant skeleton behind them.
"Gasp!"
They stood frozen in shock at the sight of Clyde, who was still in his combat form with his face concealed by his mask. Every soldier pointed their weapons at Clyde, spilling into the room to surround him,
"Well, well... so you can wake up after all. Was the sedative we gave you not enough?"
At the sound of a woman’s voice in front of him, Clyde began to fume, clenching both fists as he dropped into a stance. Amara stepped into the room, and the soldiers parted to make way for her. Behind her came Andy, holding a tablet and looking utterly terrified as he stepped inside; his face looked even more like he was staring at pure terror as he took in the state of the room and the giant bones still clinging to scrap flesh and blood behind Clyde.
Casca and Corie, still in their normal forms, stood behind Clyde as he shielded them.
"You kids really are a pain... fine then, sweet dreams," Amara said.
She started playing her melody once more, and naturally, its effects struck Clyde, Casca, and Corie instantly. All three dropped to their knees, clutching their heads, as Clyde reverted to his normal form,
"D... damn it... you bastard... I swear... I’ll kill you," Clyde growled, forcing out the words.
"Go to sleep... none of you can fight this melody," Amara replied smugly.
She cranked up the volume and accelerated the tempo of the song. Clyde’s agony intensified; he stole a glance at Casca and Corie, who were barely holding on and clinging to consciousness, but the situation had turned dire once again, leaving them completely trapped.