Moondancer moved slowly through the corridors of the ship, leaving the cockpit and her father behind her. As he'd promised, he'd told her all of his plan, what he'd done to attempt it, what he intended in the future...and she didn't know what to think. After hearing why as well...she had to see some things for herself.
"The Geeg are superior because our logical thought and emotional thought are not tightly intertwined, and thus our emotions cannot rule us. This is Fact we know from our first day. By this Fact, we bring our greatness to other races, enfolding them into our empire in service of the Geeg, that they can achieve their greatness to add to our own. This is our way. Before we enfold a race, we find a way to study them, to learn how they work, so we can know what place they belong."
Giegue's words made sense from the Geeg perspective, the one Moondancer had been raised on. And yet, some part deep inside her mind and heart declared that the words were...wrong. As she turned the corridor, her thoughts followed the explanation once more.
"The study of humans was different, because they were a very unusual race. Their history was rife with both violence and compassion upon their own people. The Geeg could not understand this, and so they sought to map the human mentality upon the Geeg mentality, to find the translation. A child was sent, to interact with humans. This is how I met my mother and father.
"When they found me, I was under attack by a creature of the world. They did not hesitate to leap to my defense. However, their defense did not drive the creature back. I acted. They were confused, but they cared for me. Seeing this, the other Geeg brought them and I back to this ship, so communication and study could be opened, so understanding could be reached.
"A great deal of time passed. I played with Mother, and learned from Father...but something went wrong. Father found the PSI amplifiers, tools for young Geeg to develop their abilities more rapidly, and to enhance the latent PSI capacities of those that serve the Geeg. And then was the betrayal..."
Moondancer stepped into the hidden storage chamber with the PSI amplifiers, looking them over carefully. There were not as many of them as she expected, suggesting that most of them had been utilized in one way or another. She wasn't surprised, from the rest of the story.
"My own memory of the events is unclear. Niiue speaks of...losing his tail, and when he does he always looks to the double X mark on his own pink tail, which does not make sense to me. All I know from my own recollections is that Mother vanished, and Father abandoned me on the ship, running to Earth. The Geeg tell me he sought to use me and the PSI amplifiers to create a weapon against the Geeg. I had no reason to doubt...and I still do not have enough information to dispute.
"As I grew, I came to certain conclusions based on what I had learned. Whenever Father or Mother discovered something, they got very excited. They displayed their emotions to an extent Geeg would consider rude, and they seemed incapable of holding them back. From this, I deduced that emotional and logical thought are completely intertwined in humans, that their emotions can dominate their thinking, or be suppressed. This is something that is new, and why we could not make sense of human history. I concluded that this is why Father enacted his betrayal...because his fear blinded him to the logic of humanity joining the Geeg. And so I began my project to separate emotional and logical thought within humans, to evolve them to be more like the Geeg, and thus better able to serve the Geeg.
"I modified the engine of this ship to be the primary PSI engine of this endeavor, and chose an isolated section of the planet to experiment. However, the engine's range wasn't strong enough to have the effect I desired...so I buried the PSI amplifiers throughout the region, keyed to resonate with the engine. Admittedly, this caused some...unusual side effects upon the regions, depending on what PSI energy the environment had naturally. Some animal hostility, randomly flying objects...things of that nature.
"But it didn't work how it was supposed to. Instead of separating the sides of thought, those affected had their emotional side amplified, making rage and aggression the predominant mental state until they were consumed by it entirely."
Moondancer paused as she hovered before the engine that had done all this, careful not to touch any of the controls. The massive construction filled her with a nameless dread...but Giegue had given her a name for that dread.
"This is why it is now called the Nightmare Engine.
"I attempted to tweak the engine to create the effects I wanted, trying to change what was going on. However...four individuals began to battle against the very effects I was creating. I watched their endeavors, trying to learn both how they were able to do so and why. This was especially of interest because two of them had potent PSI abilities. In my study, I learned that the boy who led them, Ninten, was my father's great-grandson.
"When they confronted me, only three arrived. I tried to explain to them what I was doing and why in a way that I thought they would understand. Since Ninten was family, I invited him to come with me, to be treated as Geeg rather than servant race. I can only assume there was a miscommunication, because he refused my offer and denied me. And when I decided I had to destroy them to complete my mission...
"The melody, the one I have sung to you...it was one Mother sang to me. It...it...I cannot explain the effect it had on me that day. But ever since, the separation of my logical and emotional thought has...suffered. I found myself susceptible to the Nightmare Engine's effects, and so I shut it down. ...I regret I did not realize it sooner. If I had...no, I cannot let myself linger on that..."
As Moondancer floated down to the other end of the ship, to the nursery area she had never seen before, she let herself think about what Giegue's plan was. Humanity in its current state was a danger to the Geeg. They feared the Geeg, and some had access to powerful PSI. If they could not be brought into the fold of the Geeg empire, they had to be destroyed as a threat. The plan was to use a device based off the Nightmare Engine to drastically increase his PSI reach so he could grasp every mind on the planet at once, and alter them to either be clear, submissive, or dead. Moondancer understood that this was necessary from the Geeg perspective...but she also knew that Niiue was drastically against the plan, and the conflict over this between Giegue and Niiue was coming to a head.
As she entered the nursery, she looked around for something, anything to give her some hope. Eventually, her eyes fell on an old music box. Curiously, she opened it.
As the notes played, Moondancer felt as though maybe, just maybe, things would work out after all. For a few brief moments, she felt at peace and believed in her Father, believed that there would be a happy ending.
As she felt the ship shake and a distant surge of PSI - the pair of sensations damaging the music box to twist its notes - she felt that hope fade.
Aaaaaaaaaand begining of Cognitive Dissonance it seems. I'm actually playing the game, and i learned there was multiple endings depending on some actions in game. Will Moondancer's presence will help the game go toward a specific ending or will she create her own ?
These two had accidental paragraphing.
In this case, it's them and me.
Not exactly. According to the MOTHER Encyclopedia:
{In the vicinity of town are Stray Dogs and Crows who will attack you. And, unbelievably, even humans will raise their ire against you.... But, they are never your enemy. They are only being controlled by some tremendously great power. In order to protect yourself, you cannot avoid battles with them. However, I want you to remember something. That is, it's not a battle to thrash them, but a battle to save them.}
While I can safely say Giegue's right in that they're consumed by their rage, I wouldn't say they're so consumed that they can't be brought back to their senses with a couple swings of the bat, some PSI moves here and there, and a couple explosives to the face. So I guess when they said "Such-and-such became tame" or something of the like, it wasn't actually a euphemism for death. like some comics would make fun of.
i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--QmOPEM-j--/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/18w4e5p31fizbpng.png
Still pretty hilarious, though.
Alright, let's give him the benefit of the doubt.
{Earthßound Zero/Earthßound Beginnings
*Giegue
draws near!*
*A Turn passes
Giegue: Ninten!
I am grateful to your family.
*The form of
Giegue's attack
was inexplicable!*
*Next turn
Giegue: Your Great-
Grandparents,
George and Maria
raised me.
*The form of
Giegue's attack
was inexplicable!*
*Next turn
Giegue: But, George stole
vital information
from our planet
that can be used
to betray my
people...
*The form of
Giegue's attack
was inexplicable!*
*Next turn
Giegue: And now, one of his
descendants
is obstructing
our plans,
and must be
stopped!!
Ninten!
I am talking abut
you!
*The form of
Giegue's attack
was inexplicable!*
*Next turn
Giegue: Go home now!
Perish with the rest of the ugly
Earth People.
*The form of
Giegue's attack
was inexplicable!*
*Next turn
Giegue: Foolish one, you
cannot do a thing
with your meager
powers...
Powers worthy of a lowly insect.
*The form of
Giegue's attack
was inexplicable!*
*Next turn
Giegue: Ninten!
You alone,
I may save you.
Just you alone.
Board our
Mother Ship with me.
*The form of
Giegue's attack
was inexplicable!*
*Next turn
Giegue:... then, fall into
long sleep
with your friends
and the other ugly
Earth People.
*The form of
Giegue's attack
was inexplicable!*
*Insert God of Hyperdeath fight here, because they end just about the same way}
Hmm, not very effective, I must admit. Let's see how the fan translation does it.
{Mother 1+2 Tomato Patch
*Giygas suddenly attacked!*
Giygas: "Ninten! I owe a great
deal to your family line!"
*You can't grasp the form of Giygas's attack!*
*Next turn
Giygas: "Maria, George's wife,
raised me
when I was very young..."
*You can't grasp the form of Giygas's attack!*
*Next turn
Giygas: "While George himself
stole vital information
from our planet and tried
to turn against us..."
*You can't grasp the form of Giygas's attack!*
*Next turn
Giygas: "And now their descendant
is bent on hindering our
plan again...
Ninten! I am referring to
you!"
*You can't grasp the form of Giygas's attack!*
*Next turn
Giygas: "Now leave!
May you be destroyed
with the rest of the
disgusting Earth people!"
*You can't grasp the form of Giygas's attack!*
*Next turn
Giygas: "You are too weak to do
anything!
You are mere insects to
me!"
*You can't grasp the form of Giygas's attack!*
*Next turn
Giygas: "Ninten...
I'm willing to let you,
and only you, live.
Board the mothership with
me."
*You can't grasp the form of Giygas's attack!*
*Next turn
Giygas: "... Then you can perish
here with your friends
and all the other hideous
Earth people!"
*You can't grasp the form of Giygas's attack!*
*Insert God of Hyperdeath fight here, because they end just about the same way}
Yeah... I dunno about you, Giegue, but it kinda makes sense why they'd try to fight you on this. But in all seriousness, this is probably the only thing keeping Cognitive Dissonance from being a perfect game (other than the lack of a run button).
Yeah, people aren't typically fond of being called ugly, disgusting, hideous, or insects here on Earth. He probably didn't appreciate getting attacked, the form of which is ungraspable/inexplicable, on EVERY. SINGLE. TURN... either.
Uh-oh, looks like things are happening.
Anyways, I'll see you later.
Oh beepity, something just went wrong. Moondancer, you better get to your Daddy and shower him with love and affection.
8088751 In non pony land, endings are defined.
In pony land, they take a page out of Gurren Lagann and write their own story full of love, friendship, and magic.
Also bigass rainbow lasers that shove the shittiness of the world back up the shitter's asshole, but that's not important.
8088986
Wait... the Tomato patch for I & II was completed? Sweet! I'll look into that as soon as I get both enough free time to find a quality GBA emulator, and enough time to actually play it. I have both of the Wii U ports, so everything is nice and almost legal.
8090400 I don't know if things on the Earthßound spectrum was completed, but Mother 1 has been translated for quite some time, now (it was considered as an alternative to Earthßound Zero, the English Prototype that was uploaded several years before Earthßound Beginnings, due to its uncensored content and more fluid translations). I must have played that... three, maybe four years ago?
Love the new cover-art.
Uhhh sorry but idk what universe this is at all. Anyone know?
8094800
The Mother universe.
Mother for NES
Mother: Cognitive Dissonance (fan made) for PC
Earthbound for SNES
Mother 3 for GBA (only in Japan or via emulator and fan-made translation patch)
Cult classic sequence of JRPGs.
...You know ? That's your fault Tats. Because of you, i just finished Cognitive Dissonance. (severance ending)
That's all your fault.
YOU MAKE ME DISCOVER NEW THINGS ! AND I LOVED IT ! YOU MONSTER !
(More seriously, this game was gold. Thanks for writing this fic, that motivated me to go seriously into the Mother Series. I had already did Mother 1, but never went around doing the rest of the series, and even less this fangame, that i was not really convinced to play at the beginning. You changed that, you can be proud. Kudos to you. )
Edit : Next Stop : Earthbound !
8095245
You should probably also play the 'Good End', achieved by using PSI Harmony on Giegue's last form eight times in a row.
8095246 Not now, but maybe later today, with my habit to have a 'staircase of saves' I didn't erase my save just before his fight, so it will not be too hard to do. Just... i'm resting a bit. X)
8095252
Understandable.
Ah yes, the future refused to change.
And it turns out my guess about the Geeg motive on sending Giegue was wrong. I kind of figured.
Still, my other conclusions remain solid and applicable: emotions are power. Humans embrace their emotions, and so grow strong. The Geeg suppress their emotions, thus stunting their own development in ways they cannot comprehend. Giegue wields power overwhelming, and drawn from emotions that are overwhelming him.