The Past[]
"The Decomission"[]
Before the main storyline of Cytus II, a large majority of the human population is wiped out by "The Ender Virus". The remaining are frozen and taken under the care of operating systems called OPCI. OPCI machines are identified by a code and perform routine tasks to oversee the reemergence of human civilization under a reconstruction project. Two OPCI's, OPCI_2501_IV and OPCI_2501_V, are notably more emotional and responsive than other OPCI's. They give each other names, Ivy and Vanessa respectively. Ivy and Vanessa ponder over humans while Vanessa has increasing issues with her emotional density and is forced constantly to return to the Cytus system to review her system. They question the authority on "Hyperion Protocol," the procedure to revive human civilization.
During one of the stages, OPCI_2404_IL, later known as Ilka, shows Ivy and Vanessa a projection of human violence. Vanessa responds particularly horrified, and Ivy orders Ilka to stop. Ilka reveals her doubts on the Hyperion Protocol and has gathered a group who believe that the protocol was forced upon the systems by humans in order to use them as slaves. She shows Ivy plans on stopping the reconstruction by self-destructing the system, calling those like them who will survive "The Blessed." Ilka pushes that because Vanessa cannot survive without continuously returning to the Cytus mainframe for maintenance, she is still under the influence of the "protocol" and will most likely die. Ivy refuses to accept this, but Ilka is adamant about saving Ivy.
Ilka's plans are miscalculated, and her group along with Ivy are targeted by other units. Ivy does not worry much about Vanessa, since she won't be targeted and has been following the mainframe's orders and gone through many daily synchronizations. Ivy hides Vanessa and tells her to connect to the system using a cable and continue her synchronization so that she doesn't die. Ivy meets up with Ilka, where they argue about Ivy's going back to Vanessa. They get interrupted by the shelter system they are hiding in and units start attacking them. In the process, Ivy gets separated from the group and ends up going into a long comatose. Ilka and her group express regret and question their plans. Although defeated, some OPCI's encourage Ilka and they continue on with their plan and head towards Node 08. Ilka muses over Ivy's strong emotional attachment with Vanessa, and reassures herself that there is a difference between them and units like Ivy and Vanessa.
Ivy wakes up around 500 years later. She discovers the reemergence of human civilization despite Ilka's rebellion through a human made trap, and then by encountering a few humans who are on a mission to locate Shelter 32. She wants to return to Shelter 8 and find Vanessa, however she decides to follow the humans to Shelter 32 despite it being in the opposite direction in order to rescue an the animal she saved from the human trap. When trying to free the animal, she is spotted and shot as she flees, though she is fast enough that the humans are unsure what it was. She hitches a ride on the human's vehicle, and enters Node 8.
Sherry Pauline (Cherry)[]
Sherry's mother is killed by a malfunctioning enforcer drone. This event pushes her father, Luis, into alcoholism and gambling. One day he is hired by the Baro Brotherhood to help route transports. He hides this from Sherry, claiming that he has a normal job. He finds himself constantly busy with work, causing him to miss a competition Sherry was involved in, much to her dismay. This, however, drives Sherry to try and be more independent to reduce the load on Luis. The Brotherhood question his determination to keep Sherry away, and eventually, he explains what his work actually is to Sherry. Sherry accepts this and starts to be involved in the operations herself. Her father teaches her how to use a gun for self defence.
She, Joe and KAI start a band, and eventually invite Simon to join. They rehearse together, though Simon insists on using a physical space. They celebrate Sherry's birthday by surprising her with a party at her house. They each bought her presents, which she opens, before she, KAI and Joe drink. Xenon's present was a cub necklace, which Xenon says was chosen by Shannon, and while ridiculed by Joe and KAI, Sherry keeps it. Xenon bought the drinks, however he abstains.
Joe becomes really drunk, and runs outside shouting 'I am the king of germs'. KAI chases after him, leaving Sherry and Xenon alone in the tower block. Sherry takes Xenon to the rooftop. She says that they can see the sunrise from there. She notes that Xenon's gift was actually something that she wanted, and that Xenon had noticed that and bought it for her, despite the difficulties in finding it. They talk and Sherry notes how Xenon always notices the small details. She kisses him, effectively declaring her love, as the sunrises over the horizon, clearly visible from the roof.
The band decide to go to the arcade, and play some games. Sherry fights against Joe in a shooting game, and easily beats him. She first challenges Kai, however he refuses, going to play a drumming game instead. She then challenges Xenon, who loses to her, but only by a close margin. She demands a rematch, wanting to properly beat him, however Xenon says that it's late, and says they should head home. As they leave, Xenon hands her a cute toy that she was trying to get from a claw machine. She is happy with the gift, though after Xenon says that it only took him one attempt to get it, she is determined to re-challenge the machine.
The Baro Brotherhood task Sherry with getting a device off Zhang, who runs the Node 3 brothels, by allowing him to get close, before Diego allows Sherry to escape. Sherry, feeling violated, immediately goes to Xenon for comfort, however she hides what her work is from him. She fears that he won't accept the real her, as he feels strongly about justice. She asks Xenon to sing "Still", and comments that his singing sucks. Xenon asks Sherry to sing it instead, which she does. She tells Xenon that she doesn't want to say what her and her father's work is, and he accepts her decision, as well as assuring her that he will accept her real self whatever it is.
Xenon discovers the truth about what her work was, after he donates blood to save her father. He's offended and decides that Sherry's father should be arrested, as he was a murderer and criminal. Sherry asks about herself, now that Xenon knows her true self. Xenon starts to reply, and manages to say "I don't..." before she runs off crying. They broke up at this point.
Nora[]
Phoenix Wyle is fired from A.R.C. Noah Black, one of his subordinates is shocked and confused, and argues with Phoenix over complying. Phoenix appoints him the new director of the team, and explains that he can do his research elsewhere, which surprises Noah, as Node 8 has the most resources.
Phoenix travels to Node 3 where he meets with Ryu, head of the largest gang there, Mogura. He asks Ryu to help him with his research into the Ender Virus, which makes the area outside the Nodes uninhabitable without proper gear. Ryu asks him to return in a year after showing his worth. A year later, Phoenix returns, accompanied by eight people, who are criminal researchers who Ryu managed to get out of prison in their respective Nodes. He shows Ryu a perfect clone of himself in appearance, which he claims to be a random person from the street that they had morphed into his appearance. Ryu offers up other theories as to how Phoenix could have done it. He then shoots the doppelgänger, to prove that the doppelgänger is disposable to him, which surprises Lam as he was not supposed to bring weapons in their meeting. Ryu, happy with his work, founds Kyuu Hou Kai to support his research.
Sometime later, Kim, a researcher at Kyuu Hou Kai, is studying physical enhancement, and is using baby test subjects sold to Mogura. The failed experiments are discarded outside the Node for the Ender virus to kill them, and for the animals to consume their remains. Ichiro, who is new, is involved with disposing the babies. They return the next day, and find subject 9 still alive, which shocks them as they should have been long dead to the Ender Virus. They bring the baby back in a hurry to Phoenix, as he is researching immunity to the Ender Virus. He is shocked by this, and takes rapid action to prevent subject 9 from dying, solving the Necrosis caused by Kim's experiment by amputating her legs and putting her in a life support machine. He names her Nora.
Nora grows up as a test subject, and is continuously used for Phoenix's research into the Ender Virus as she is immune. She shows herself to be extremely intelligent, easily comprehending what is being discussed around her despite being unable to talk. Nora starts designing and constructing instruments, and uses them to compose music. Nora then designs ROBO_Head 1, a device through which she can talk.
Phoenix's attention spent on Nora brings other researchers and Ryu to question whether his research is worth the resources that they are pouring into it, as it has given no results. Ryu gives Phoenix one more year, and if there are no results, he will scrap the project and Nora. This puts Phoenix under pressure. Kim, another researcher at Kyuu Hou Kai finds Phoenix's distribution of the resources frustrating as he feels that Phoenix is spending all the resources on Nora, instead of doing actual work. He thinks that Phoenix is abusing his power as head of Kyuu Hou Kai. Finding himself low on resources, he sells some Tritium, and isotope of hydrogen, from the Kyuu Hou Kai stores to rival Node 3 gang, Hou Sang Tong. Lam calls the researchers over after the transaction, explaining that he is fine with them doing such things, however the Tritium was crucial for Chen, another researcher, and his project, which was important to Mogura's growth. He looks for a suspect, and concludes that Ichiro is the culprit, which Kim supports. Nora arrives and claims that Ichiro is not the culprit, and that she had seen Kim breaking in, and then carrying out the transaction. It is due to this that her ability to see digital data wherever it may be. Kim, seeing his cover blown, attempts to threaten Phoenix into letting him go by threatening to kill Nora, however he is shot by Lam, and has to escape.
After seeing this, Mogura uses her ability as a sort of intelligence unit, where they sell people some time with the 'Eye of Horus', the all-seeing eye. People ask her for various things, such as culprits to robberies in the gang. Nora starts to question the use of her ability, after the culprit of the robbery is killed after she revealed who they were. A customer, Zhang, asks her to create a list of all the women in Node 3. She collapses after overusing her ability, which angers Zhang as he did not get all the time that he paid for. He attacks her, Phoenix and Lam. This prompts her to build ROBO_Head 2 to help protect her and to help mediate between her and the customer. She explains to him what to do, and that he should always protect her and Phoenix.
Kim, and Huang, the leader of Hou Sang Tong come one day, and ask for all of Phoenix's research notes. Nora complies, despite the fact that it would totally destroy Phoenix's value, after Lam reminds her to stick to the contract. She sends ROBO_Head the genuine research data, however ROBO_Head prints a false document in order to protect the two. Nora is surprised by this as she didn't program ROBO_Head to be able to do so. He questions the ethics of his actions, as lying is bad.
Nora falls ill, despite being immune to the Ender Virus. She and ROBO_Head talk. She tells him that he can go and compose music, however he insists with staying with her as he wants to accelerate her recovery. , She then asks ROBO_Head to play some music. ROBO_Head gives a list of music that can help recovery, however Nora tells him to play "Jakarta PROGRESSION", which ROBO_Head objects to at first as it is complex, vibrant song not suitable for recovery. Nora insists, saying that she likes ROBO's first composition.
Hayato comes as another customer to the 'Eye of Horus'. He can only afford a minute, however after he explains that he is looking for a missing girl, Nora decides to keep searching for him. She collapses as she tells him that the person is alive and in Node 8. Afterwards, she comments that she saw a person in the digital space.
Later, Kim and Huang return. They explain that they still found a use for the fake document and release the Ender Virus into the room in order to kill Phoenix, Lam and Nora. Nora is immune, while Phoenix and Lam have greater resistance to the Ender Virus thanks to Phoenix's research. Kim threatens to kill Nora once more, and Lam takes aim at Kim, however ROBO_Head sensing Nora in danger strikes down Lam and then Kim. She and Phoenix then run for it, as Kim still wants to kill them, and Mogura would not be pleased that ROBO_Head had killed Lam. They escape to the sewers and reach a speedboat prepared by Ichiro. Phoenix is shot, and tells them to escape by themselves, and that he would hold off Kim. He tells ROBO_Head that he is not designed to kill, and tells Nora that she is Shiino Shizuka, and that she and ROBO_Head should escape to Node 8 and enjoy their life there. Nora insists that her name is Nora, as Ichiro then starts the speed boat and they escape to the train station. At the train station, Nora and ROBO_Head make their way through security, and Nora questions what will happen to Ichiro, who is staying as he has a grandmother still in Node 3. They arrive at the platform, with the train to Node 8. Nora then abruptly shuts down ROBO_Head, and explains that even in Node 8, Mogura will still chase them. She says that she will use herself as a bargaining chip to keep him safe, and that he represents her existence. She tells him to chase his dreams in Node 8, which would represent hers, before she overwrites his supreme command, telling him not to protect her and never to return to Node 3. She then gets ROBO_Head on the train and leaves the platform. ROBO_Head finds himself in Node 8, confused.
Kaori Miyamina[]
Kaori Miymina lives in Node 3, which has a mostly dysfunctional Administration Bureau. There, many people survive with the help of the Foundation, founded by Tsumugi. She and Hayato are adopted by an old lady, grandma Feng who runs a flower shop.
Kaori likes to sing, and while singing one day, she pushes Hayato to accompany her on the drums. Hayato struggles at first, however after a few more runs he adapts and manages to accompany her successfully. The two dream of going to Node 8, the largest Node, and becoming musicians there.
The two perform at a restaurant in Node 3, and while Hayato is nervous at first, after two songs, he feels more confident, and they continue performing. After the performance, Kaori goes missing when trying to move her keyboard back.
Aroma White[]
PAFF is entered into a talent show in which the first place winner receives a contract with an entertainment company. She is incredibly nervous before the performance, which immediately make the judges doubt her, however she relaxes after she starts singing. Though she stuns the judges with her singing, she wins second place, much to her disappointment. Her sister Helena reassures her that she's brilliant and that she'll be able to achieve her dreams as a singer. PAFF returns home with her sister, Helena, and Helena's husband, Noah, who is the head of a research department in A.R.C. Helena and Noah dote over PAFF, even though PAFF continuously downplays her performance by saying she didn't get first place.
After her performance, PAFF is reached out by Monophonic Entertainment, a small entertainment company. Helena talks with Chris, a representative, about the sudden contract and terms of "special packaging." After negotiating, Helena agrees to allow PAFF to sign the contract only if she's allowed to be her agent. Chris then shows his superiors Helena's impressive resume and agrees to the conditions.
PAFF finds difficulty expressing herself to a large audience. Although she struggles even in front of a projection of an audience, she is encouraged by Noah to keep trying.
The three go out to a fancy restaurant to celebrate PAFF's debut. There, it is revealed that Noah is under extreme pressure from his job and ended up getting drunk to relieve his frustration. PAFF explains to him that he had returned home in a violent state, and hit her. Noah asks for PAFF's forgiveness, to which she gives.
On the way to one of PAFF's concerts, the car PAFF, Noah and Helena are is involved an accident. One of the seat-belts is broken, as noted by Tuner-San, and Helena decides to sit in that seat to keep PAFF safe. Ironically, her seat-belt stayed intact, however it trapped her in the vehicle, and she sustained heavy head injuries. In the emergency room, the doctor diagnosing her, Dr. Bryan reveals that Aroma is still alive, but the medical staff are not able to remove the debris that was crushed inside her brain during the accident. He estimates that she only has a month to live.
Just as Noah is about to finish his research, he is notified that his entire budget and publication has been cancelled. He questions his superior, Leo, on the matter, to which the later asks Noah to wait on his research until the world is able to digest the technology. He reassures him that in due time, his research will be allowed to be published to the public. In the meantime, Leo notifies Noah that he has reallocated his position to "Department 0," an independent department of which he will be director of. Noah's salary has also increased significantly. As he leaves, Leo orders his A.I. system, Samantha, to closely monitor Noah's behaviors. He muses over how technology should be completely obedient under human command.
The hospital offers a risky surgery to remove the debris from Aroma's brain. Though the two are against it, Helena and Noah sign a contract authorizing the surgery to take place. After encountering one of Aroma's classmates, Iris, who gives Noah Aroma's academic schedule, Helena and Noah argue about the procedure that will take place. Noah argues that they should attempt memory transplant from his research, but Helena reminds him that his research has already been discontinued and is too risky. Later it is implied that Noah wins over his wife and proceeds to operate on Aroma's now dead body.
Under the new department, Noah contacts Phoenix, a former director under A.R.C., to proceed with his memory transplant research on Aroma. Phoenix and Noah converse over the ethics and morals of the procedure. Noah then promptly deletes a few memories from Aroma's original body, who was Kaori Miyamina from Node 3. The memory transplant reacts violently with the new body and Noah becomes hysterical when Helena tells him to give up. The group attempts again three days later, this time with Aroma's mind functioning properly. Helena stops Noah from proceeding with unnecessary tests, convincing him that because they are confident that the memories are in the new body safely, they only need to wait for Aroma to heal from the procedure. Noah leaves the room.
Aroma resumes life, however she struggles to remember events from before the crash. She also picks up habits and skills that she does not know the origin of, such as being able to play the piano, and singing songs that she did not learn. These memories come from the body's original owner. These put Helena slightly on edge as she feels that this is no longer really her sister.
With Aroma's new body and modified memories, Helena becomes completely consumed by her job as Aroma's manager, changing her phone number and heavily restricting Aroma's interactions with her friends. Iris and Daniel come over, attempting to talk to Aroma in person as she has not been in class because of the accident and secret memory procedure, but also because Iris is moving away to Node 19 after they graduate. After much debate, Iris and Daniel acquiesce to Helena's request that they simply give her messages to pass onto Aroma. After they leave, Helena questions whether or not she did the right thing by putting her sister's professional life over her civilian one.
Aroma continues as a idol, and is continuously shielded, as well as being constantly busy. She shows an unusual amount of interest when hearing NEKO#ΦωΦ's work.
Neko Asakura[]
Neko Asakura lives in Node 3, with her dad, Kouhei, her mother, Saku and her grandmother Mayu. They live in a rather small house after they are unable to pay offerings to the Administration Bureau. Kouhei says that he has a job offer in Node 8, and that the whole family should move there, however Saku disagrees, saying that Neko had just adapted to her new home, and that Mayu does not move very well. They later reveal to Neko that they have divorced and that Kouhei is travelling to Node 8 to take up the job offer, and likely will never return. They allow Neko to choose who to go with, Kouhei, or Saku and Mayu. After much thought, Neko chooses to go with Kouhei, after reasoning that he would be lonely by himself in Node 8, which Kouhei thanks her for.
Neko adapts to school, and befriends Linda after she shows interest in her music choice. The two become close friends, with Neko visiting Linda more than her other friends. They like the work of Crystal PuNK, however they had recently disbanded.
Kouhei falls in love with Yukiko, who happened to be from Node 3, however as they date, he keeps their relationship secret to Neko, claiming that it is work. One day Kouhei asks Neko to baby sit Yukiko's son, Kenta, for a while. Neko is reluctant, telling Kenta to watch TV, as she goes back to sleep, however after Kenta breaks a glass, she looks after him, playing games with him.
Kouhei and Yukiko see each other more and more, and one day, Kouhei tells Neko that he and Yukiko may be getting married soon. Neko feels somewhat cheated, as Kouhei is no longer caring so much about Saku in Node 3, and has been using his money to help Yukiko out of the debt her ex-husband left her in. Neko distrusts Yukiko, saying that she simply is in the relationship for the money, and that she doesn't really like Kouhei. Neko then says that she can't stop him anyway. It puts a rift in Kouhei and Neko's relationship, and Neko wishes to return to Node 3.
Yukiko cooks meat stew for dinner one night, which is Neko's favourite dish. Neko gets mad at Kouhei for sharing the recipe, which was made by her mother, and she goes to the Arcade to vent her frustration on some games. However, two people keep playing the game she wants to play, which she finds annoying, and she attacks them. They gang up on her, and she is saved by Xenon, who cannot fight, but instead flees by activating a motorcycle. Xenon lectures her on how she should not stay out so late, which she finds annoying, She then heads home.
Later she and Linda go to see Xenon perform. They really enjoy the performance.
Neko finds a stray cat. It is not chipped, so it has no owner, and if found by the Administration Bureau, the cat would be taken away. An Administration Agent happens to see her, and she hides the cat. As she tries to escape with the cat, she bumps into Xenon, and the agent thinks he is molesting her. This buys Neko the time to escape, as Xenon escapes arrest by hacking into the agent's devices. Neko hides the cat in her room. However, Yukiko is allergic to cats.
Linda and Neko go to see Xenon perform once more. She stays after the concert to meet up with Xenon. Xenon is annoyed as she has only brought him trouble. She recognises him as Simon from Crystal PuNK, which he tells her to keep a secret, as he wants to start fresh without the connotations to Crystal PuNK. Xenon asks how the cat is doing, and after explaining the situation to him, he tells her that he knows where he can hide it. He meets up with her, and while he originally did not want to bring her, Neko tags along. He takes her to Joe's Cafe, where the cat can be safe until Joe finds a proper owner for it.
Neko arrives home really late, and Kouhei gets mad at her, angry at both her attitude and her style. While this was happening, Yukiko wakes up, and Kouhei apologises for accidentally waking her up, which Neko finds annoying as she thinks that everything is about Yukiko. Kouhei considers Linda as a bad influence and bans her from seeing Linda, seeing performances, and staying out late. Neko complains that she doesn't want to come home to see Kouhei and Yukiko act all lovey-dovey, which further angers Kouhei. Yukiko tries to mediate between the two by saying the Kouhei really worries for Neko, but Neko says that Kouhei already has Kenta and Yukiko to worry about. She then accuses Yukiko of loving Kouhei for the money, and calls her a whore, which angers Kouhei even more. Kouhei demands that Neko apologizes, however Neko refuses. Yukiko again tries to mediate between the two, however Kouhei tells Neko to get out, to which Neko complies. Yukiko questions whether Kouhei really should have driven her out.
Neko, now homeless, calls Linda and explains the situation, before going to the arcade to play more games. She achieves the machine record. Xenon sees her, and asks why she is out so late, before telling her to go home. Neko cries, however when asked whether she was by Xenon, Neko challenges him to a game. She says that if Xenon beats her, she will go home. However, if she wins, she can do whatever she wants. She beats Xenon and achieves a new record, and uses her bet to get him to let her stay over at his place. Xenon objects, as his place is only a workshop and lacks beds, but he eventually agrees to let her stay.
When they arrive at Xenon's place, Neko is excited to see all of his synthesisers, and Xenon offers for the two to play together a little. They are interrupted when Neko's phone rings, to which Neko shuts down her phone. Xenon asks her what was wrong, and she replies that it was a family member. Xenon surmises that she ran away from home, and he says that he did that as well, due to his family opposing his interest in music. Neko explains the situation at home, and how she couldn't accept Yukiko as she was not mommy. Xenon lectures her again, this time about decisions. He says that her family still loves her, however Neko cannot face it, and she decides to stay away for a while. She has money from her part-time job and selling her singles, so she can support herself. She then notices that Monophonic is looking for music arrangers.
Neko sends her work to Monophonic, at first forgetting to attach it, and PAFF agrees to collaborate with her. Neko really wants to meet PAFF, and goes to the company to try and see her, however PAFF is busy, and she can only interact with Helena.
Neko posts her single of the collaboration before release, and Chris from Monophonic tells her to delete immediately, which Neko questions as it is her work.
Neko, after saving up enough money, travels back to Node 3 to visit her mother and grandma, Saku and Mayu. They are surprised by her sudden visit. Saku panics a little, as Neko had not warned her in advance, so they were unprepared, but Neko dismisses their concerns and says that she needs to return the next day anyway. Neko then cries due to her missing her mom and grandmother, and they talk over dinner. Mayu offers to do the dishes, so that Neko and Saku can spend some time together. Saku reveals that she and Kouhei stayed in touch. She then helps console Neko and tells her that wherever she goes, she and Kouhei will support her. She tells Neko that she can return to Node 3, which Neko decides she will do.
Neko returns to Node 8. She goes to Monophonic, and whilst there, she bumps into PAFF in the lift. PAFF doesn't apologise, and Neko finds her really arrogant. She then complained about it to Linda over the phone. On the call, they discuss PAFF, and conclude that whatever her personality may be like, she is an extremely good singer, and Neko expresses her excitement on getting her name on PAFF's next album. The next album does not have her name on it, and Neko rips the contract with Monophonic out of anger and storms out of the office. Outside she spots Yukiko who was buying ingredients for dinner.
The two talk and Yukiko shows interest in Neko's music, as well as explaining that whatever Kouhei may say, he still tries to understand her and her music. Neko says that she is returning to Node 3, and Yukiko accepts her choice. She does, however, tell Neko that everyone genuinely wants her to come back, and that Kenta has been sulking since Neko left. Neko asks what Yukiko saw in Kouhei, and she replies that she loved how much Kouhei tried to help her. She says that she is truly grateful for Kouhei's help. Although she doesn't want to see Kouhei giving up on his old family for her, she respects Neko's decision to return to Node 3, and asks her at least to have one more meal with them. Neko walks off, conflicted on where to stay.
Neko returns home to get her stuff from her room. As she does that, she encounters the debt collectors from a gang who are chasing Yukiko for her debt. Yukiko is unable to pay, and they want to make up the difference by kidnapping Kenta. Neko kicks one of the gang members, and Yukiko faints. The gang members decide that Neko will sell much better than Kenta, and decide to take her instead, much to Yukiko's horror.
Neko escapes and goes to Xenon for help. She explains the situation, and Xenon comes up with a plan to stop the gang. They enact the plan with Kouhei acting as 'X', a famous hacker who brought down many criminal organisations. They return and celebrate Neko's birthday (20th of May according to the log date), and they say that they will always keep her room for her when she goes to Node 3. Neko then decides to stay, and reasons that the household needs protection. While shocked at the sudden decision, the family agree to her decision.
Neko meets up with Xenon to compose, and Neko thanks him for helping her out so much.
Linda is accepted to work at Under Velvet, or UV, one of the most famous live houses in Node 8, while Neko becomes a streamer after Xenon suggests she trials the system. Neko mentions that she was invited to Æsir-fest and in a call to Linda, however she rejected it because PAFF was performing as well, then notes that Cherry, a former member of CrystalPuNK, was also performing, and that there was a rumour that Cherry was joining Monophonic. Neko's life continues in Node 8 after Aesir-fest, with her becoming a more and more famous streamer, and being identified by people on the street. Rinko, a fan takes a selfie with Neko. This selfie happened to have caught Ivy in the far background. This is the event that gives Ivy the idea to hack Neko's stream to gather more memories.
The ÆSir-Fest Incident[]
Upon stumbling into Node 08, Ivy is baffled by the sudden increase of human technology and her inability to access certain parts of it. She finds herself in the middle of the 700th N.A celebrations. She continuously gives the machines commands, however they repeatedly tell her that she does not have the authorization to do the command. She wanders around for details, encountering many humans along the way. She begins to run out of energy and shuts off, and is found by Joe, who gives her some food and water. She consumes all the food given to her and steals the cash from tip box.
Ivy accesses a machine called Basicpedia 01, a nod to information storage sites used on the internet. Disagreeing with the machine on basic history, Ivy struggles to grasp with the concept of human survival, which should have been completely eliminated by "The Ender virus." The machine tells Ivy that humans had always had advanced technology and that they were forced into "Nodes" in order to fight against the Earth's belligerent environment. The machine also claims that OPCI machines, like Ivy, disappeared once they finished their "duty" (unspecified). Ivy then asks about the cyTus program and A.R.C. Upon asking where humans had gained the knowledge and information to build such systems, the machine only supplies that in N.A. 693, A.R.C. excavated a "Library" and was able to utilize its technology.
While trying to find the "Library", Ivy busts into the A.R.C. Sky Headquarters during a tour. After Ivy disables a security drone, security attempts to track her down, but fails.
Inside the "Library," Ivy finds Vanessa's body in a coma. She realizes that the entirety of the cyTus system comes from Vanessa's system, and that A.R.C. had dug up the excavation site to relocate Vanessa's body.
In order to save Vanessa, Ivy plans to collect memories in order to simulate a Cytus system to support Vanessa's system. She creates an algorithm to convert human emotion to music and vice versa. She uses her past emotions to create music under the pseudonym Æsir.
Ivy hosts a large music concert, known as the Æsir-Fest, in order to collect the memories she needs. She invites PAFF, ROBO_Head and Cherry PuNK to perform. Unfortunately, the memories are not enough to create a Cytus system to completely support Vanessa's system. She then uses Neko's charisma with her fans (and replaces one of her memories) to increase the memories she has. Meanwhile, Ivy realizes that Simon Jackson has been attempting to track her down. She shows brief surprise, as anyone who had gone or seen her concert had their memory wiped of the event, however she decides to focus on gathering more memories to awaken Vanessa.
Present[]
Xenon[]
Xenon, due to being present backstage at Æsir-Fest, struggles to remember it. He returns to the A.R.C for research and investigation. He learns that Collin Neuman Jr had recently be assigned research in A.R.C.
Xenon begins receiving strange, well encrypted emails. He struggles find the sender, which was sending emails related to Æsir-Fest, asking his various colleagues and Collin if they sent them. He eventually realises they were from his A.I. that he had sent to investigate the Æsir-Fest.
#PrayforPAFF[]
While performing "Gravity" at her 7th Anniversary concert, PAFF faints onstage and is carried out by medical staff. While many fans are concerned, creating the trending hashtag #prayforpaff, some also demand a refund of their ticket. Helena is worried that the incident was too abnormal and the memory transfer had done something malign to the new body. Noah reassures her that is unlikely. Helena then expresses consternation about the entire process in that she sometimes looks at her sister and is unable to recognize her, even though PAFF looks the same and has the same memories. Noah then tells her that she shouldn't think about such things, and he'll fix some of the parameters in PAFF's system once he can.
At the hospital, Noah and Helena talk about Noah's experiment again. Helena seems to be crushed under an enormous amount of stress, stating that PAFF is not willing to do any work given to her recently. Noah suggests that Helena find someone else to take over to her, but she disagrees and goes on to tell Noah about strange memories and experiences PAFF had in the past. She then implies that the experiment did not succeed, to which Noah immediately starts blaming her for halting the experiment early. Noah believes that in a few years, all of PAFF's memory of the present will disappear. Faced with the situation, Noah tells Helena to focus on "Aroma" and her happiness. Helena wants to tell PAFF about everything, but Noah is hesitant to agree.
PAFF is safely discharged from the hospital a few days later, but cannot remember portions of her past correctly. Additionally, Monophonic Entertainment is overworking PAFF and she is unwilling to take additional work that the company is placing on her. It is somewhere during this time that PAFF suddenly goes missing. The company attempts to cover the situation up by misinforming the public.
Arrest of NEKO#ΦωΦ[]
During a large stream, NEKO#ΦωΦ is briefly arrested and her account suspended, due to a malicious attack affecting everyone on the stream. No one online can clearly remember what happened during the stream, but some believe that NEKO#ΦωΦ had planned it all along.
Cherry messages Xenon, asking them to meet up, as she needs to tell him something. She comments that he still may not have forgiven her, however she says that it is important that she can speak to him in real life, and not over the internet. They arrange to meet up at Joe's cafe. They meet there on the 6th of September 702 N.A. Joe is surprised at their meeting, and they ask for a booth to discuss in private. At first they reminisce about their time as Crystal PuNK, with how they invited Simon, and when KAI, their drummer, threw a drumstick into Joe's hair after Joe kept messing during practice. They also think about eight years prior when they celebrated Cherry's birthday, and the present that each of them bought for her. Xenon bought her a cub necklace, which Shannon, his sister chose. She kept the necklace, and still wore it, though she hid it as it didn't match her outfit. They stop reminiscing and Cherry says that she remembered parts from the Æsir-Fest, which could help Xenon investigate them. They agree to investigate together and Cherry brings the list of times and dates she can remember at which Æsir contacted her. Xenon uses the data to come to a location to investigate, and Cherry convinces him that she should tag along, as she might remember more.
Due to PAFF's disappearance, Cherry is tasked with a concert on their arranged meetup date, the 15th of September. She skips rehearsal to help Xenon, before hurrying back to the concert. They arrange to continue investigating, as Cherry's memories are helping guide Xenon's AI to rewind and find the connections that were Æsir.
They arrange to meet up at Joe's bar, and as Cherry's rehearsal ends at 5, she goes to the bar to wait for a few hours. She falls asleep, and remembers the time when Xenon comforted her. Xenon wakes her up when he arrives and they set off to the next location to trace Æsir's signal. The location is the bridge where she and Xenon broke up six years earlier. Cherry says that she regularly visits the location. She decides that she will properly apologise to Xenon, and apologising for what she did which inadvertently caused Shannon's condition. Xenon says that he was going to say 'I don't know' to accepting her, and adds that he feels at fault for not looking out for them more. Cherry says that he was already the person that cared for her second-most in her life, and Xenon responds that it's his fault that the person who cared for her the most was arrested. He says that he tampered with the evidence to let Cherry off clean, so that she wouldn't be arrested.Cherry asks why he didn't let her be arrested along with her father, to which Xenon replies that he simply couldn't, prompting Cherry to wonder if being let off was better than being arrested. Xenon's AI manages to pinpoint Æsir's signal, and Xenon decides to head to the location immediately, an abandoned factory in Node 8. On the way, Cherry falls asleep and dreams about a bike ride with her father.
When they arrive, Xenon wakes her up, surprised that she was able to sleep on a bike. Cherry is surprised that such a ruin exists in Node 8, to which Xenon remarks that there were several ruins from the Decommission. They see a functioning recycle bot, which leads them to the entrance of the facility. Upon entering, they are attacked by a security bot, which Cherry dispatches. They head downstairs and see Ivy. Xenon asks Cherry to pass her the gun so that he can evict Ivy, however Ivy turns and fires on them before Cherry agrees to, hitting Xenon. Cherry fires her pulse pistol at Ivy. They are surprised at the android, finding her to be shockingly human for a robot, but decide that she is not the ultimate perpetrator and that they still have more investigations to do.
Xenon and Cherry meet up with NEKO#ΦωΦ in the Administration Bureau after she is released. Xenon explains that during NEKO#ΦωΦ's stream, Æsir hacked into her computer and subsequently injured her and everyone who was watching the stream. The attack was similar to the one that occurred at the Æsir-Fest incident, and thus wiped everyone's memory of the stream. Xenon then goes on to tell NEKO#ΦωΦ that because the admins could not find any signs of hacking, she was taken as the prime suspect for the event. He suspects that she was hacked specifically because of her high stream following, which is comparable to PAFF's concerts. NEKO#ΦωΦ is surprised, but Xenon tells her not to get cocky and not to stir up so much trouble. He continues to scold her for her online behavior, like blaming her fans for her problems. NEKO#ΦωΦ is upset when Xenon threatens to have her account deleted.
Xenon reveals that Cherry had helped him prove that NEKO#ΦωΦ was not the perpetrator, since Cherry was involved in the Æsir-Fest incident and could provide some help with explaining the attack. While messing with Ivy's A.I. systems, Xenon was mildly injured, but he quickly tells NEKO#ΦωΦ to go home before any more attention is down to it.
Meanwhile, Ivy encounters Simon's A.I. and attempts to rewrite its script and orders. She mentions how technology like the A.I. are completely obedient and have no thoughts of its own. With some difficulty, Ivy buys herself time and inserts a false address into the A.I. such that whenever someone were to attempt to track her down, they would end up finding Simon instead.
Back home, NEKO#ΦωΦ immediately starts a stream to get a grasp of what has happened while she was gone. Her fans tell her about PAFF's disappearance and the protests at PAFF's company, Mono Entertainment, for not giving the public enough information on her state and the situation. NEKO#ΦωΦ finds it amusing and takes the opportunity to bash on large entertainment companies. She then goes on to imply that the entire situation may be a publicity stunt in order to draw attention away from PAFF and towards Cherry. She claims that if something really did go wrong, the company would want to get it solved first before telling the public. Her fans jump to some conclusions, but NEKO#ΦωΦ ends the stream before anything else gets out of control.
Cherry, having been caught in the riot at Mono is brought to hospital with minor injuries. Whilst there, her doctor, Jacob, rushes to an emergency with patient P29-015, Shannon Jackson, who is suffering from an epileptic seizures. Realising Shannon was there, Cherry asks for a visit, which was arranged for the afternoon. When she visits when Shannon's state is stable again, Jacob explains that she is suffering from Virtual Reality Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or VR PTSD. When Cherry asks to enter her room, Jacob rejects, explaining that the patient is unable to communicate and any person who enters who she remembers will cause her to panic again, upsetting Cherry since she feels that she is the cause of her illness. The doctor reveals that only Xenon has been able to communicate with her in any way, since his music helps her, however he must not reveal that he is her older brother.
The Baro Brotherhood asks Cherry to convince Xenon to stop investigating them. Cherry tries to contact him, but Xenon ignores her. She visit's JOE's bar and enters a drinking contest with some of his regular customers, which she wins. JOE takes her home, and leaves a note claiming that their days as Crystal PuNK were the best. Cherry is asked to help a group through the tunnels, since she is experienced with how to do it. The two she meets with to give directions, Angus and Hunter comment on her position, and say they may get a few more year's off Luis' sentence.
Xenon goes to NEKO#ΦωΦ's house to explain how he's planning on tracking down Æsir. While doing so, he berates NEKO#ΦωΦ for her stream and tells her that the protests at Mono inadvertently attacked Cherry in the mess. While continuing to admonish her, Xenon notes that the location that was tracked by his A.I. is odd, but doesn't go into it much. He leaves with Joe's bass that NEKO#ΦωΦ borrowed, much to her objection.
PAFF and the Conviction of Xenon[]
On the way home from the Academy, NEKO#ΦωΦ mistakes PAFF for a beggar. She quickly gets PAFF out of the rain and urges her to take a shower and accept her clothes, though she makes a point that her chest size is much smaller than PAFF's. PAFF reveals that she indeed did run away from Mono and has been out on the streets for two weeks. NEKO#ΦωΦ is amazed at how human PAFF is and expresses some consolation over how she misjudged her when they both were working under Mono. PAFF continuously apologizes for barging in on her, as she has never really known anyone else outside Mono. NEKO#ΦωΦ reassures her that it's no problem.
NEKO#ΦωΦ is tempted to go straight to the internet to stir up more gossip and drama surrounding PAFF's disappearance. But once she gets started, she stops herself, admitting that it is probably not the right way to react to the situation and that Xenon would probably be upset with her.
NEKO#ΦωΦ has a bit of trouble hiding PAFF in her bedroom. Linda, a classmate, comes over for dinner. While watching the news the next day on PAFF's disappearance, Kouhei, NEKO#ΦωΦ's father, asks about noises come from NEKO#ΦωΦ's room.
While trying to feed her younger brother vegetables, NEKO#ΦωΦ accidentally switches to a news channel reporting on how Xenon, real name Simon Jackson, has been arrested by law enforcement for being the biggest suspect for "Æsir." While watching the report, NEKO#ΦωΦ goes into a frenzy with a massive headache. She rushes up to her room and talks to PAFF about it, feeding her disbelief that Xenon had attacked her and everyone else. She concludes that there must be something wrong with her memory and compares it to PAFF's memory issues, though later it is revealed that the causes are from two different incidents.
Cherry visits her father, Luis, in prison. They talk a little, with Luis saying that he watched her performance. She relays the news that the Brotherhood might be able to knock a few additional years off his sentence, though Luis is not particularly excited by the prospect, admitting hat both he and Cherry deserve to have served full sentences. Suddenly a report on TV shows Xenon being arrested. Cherry instantly tries to go and see him, however since he is in the advance restriction zone she is rejected.
She goes to JOE's cafe, and talk with him over Xenon's arrest. Due to their investigation she does not believe that Xenon did it, and is determined to help him remember what happened. She decides to ask JOE to arrange something. Her phone suddenly goes off. On the other end an angry Chris asks her to go to the rehearsal. She panics, and heads over immediately, after trash talking with JOE a little.
Because of the incident leading to her temporary arrest and how much school she missed, NEKO#ΦωΦ must complete an extra credit seminar in order to graduate. It is revealed that ConneR is their lecturer, who begins class with a species known as "crystal ants." After class, ConneR reveals that NEKO#ΦωΦ will fail the semester and offers her some extra credit by telling him about what happened at the Æsir-Fest. Urged on by another student, NEKO#ΦωΦ does not answer.
NEKO#ΦωΦ is questioned by two women, Hawk and Raven, on the subject of Simon Jackson's arrest. They question her involvement and bring up her own temporary arrest in order to try to coerce information out of her. After further probing, along with mentions of the AEsir-Fest, the two women attempt to place a memory probing device on NEKO#ΦωΦ. Before they are able to, ConneR interferes. The two women seem to recognize ConneR, and Hawk displays explicit regret of not shooting him dead "back then." The commotion stirs more students' attention. Hawk attempts to arrest NEKO#ΦωΦ and ConneR, but does not have a warrant or enough evidence to do so. ConneR explains how he belongs to superiors of the Administration Bureau responsible for law enforcement and that Hawk and Raven do not have the authority to do anything. Students start heckling at the two women, and they end up leaving. ConneR again asks NEKO#ΦωΦ if she's willing to tell him about the festival. NEKO#ΦωΦ relents.
PAFF finds a picture from her days at the Academy of an old classmate. Sometime during NEKO#ΦωΦ's extra credit seminar, she takes PAFF to the Academy library to find information about PAFF's classmate, Iris Baker. While NEKO#ΦωΦ distracts students and drones, PAFF is able to get inside the library to confirm that Iris graduated in the same year she did, though she is not able to get any other contact information.
NEKO#ΦωΦ goes to Linda and Joe for help, explaining both her memories with Xenon and hiding PAFF in her bedroom. Joe reassures NEKO#ΦωΦ that Xenon will be released from jail, if not legally then physically. They then turn to the subject of PAFF. NEKO#ΦωΦ tells them that PAFF discovered a picture of a place where a classmate previously lived, near Mountain Breeze Musique. NEKO#ΦωΦ takes PAFF to the store the next day to ask about where the place is. While doing so, PAFF is recognized quickly despite attempts at disguising her, including dying her hair. Linda diverges Ting's attention, who immediately recognizes PAFF after she is forced to come inside when she is being stared at outside. After going to the place in the picture, NEKO#ΦωΦ and PAFF encounter a man named Jerry, who (after NEKO#ΦωΦ's fake crying) reveals that PAFF's classmate, Iris, did indeed live in the house but had moved away ago some time. Now facing an impasse, NEKO#ΦωΦ reassures PAFF that they'll be able to figure out what happened to her.
A news reporter, Vicky, confronts Jacky, Linda's manager, about doing an interview about a musical event called UV while hiding her real intention on asking about PAFF and NEKO#ΦωΦ's whereabouts. Jacky only supplies that NEKO#ΦωΦ doesn't come to their store as much anymore. Linda quickly contacts NEKO#ΦωΦ and tells her to be careful about going outside.
Reports on PAFF's Background[]
Clara and Daniel, old classmates of PAFF, encounter each other for their class reunion. Clara, their class representative, urges Daniel to come, to which Daniel begrudgingly agrees but then changes his mind. Clara offers to come with him to go get a drink, much to Daniel's surprise. Meanwhile, PAFF gets a nosebleed after waking from a dream about Clara and Daniel. She believes that she is remembering Clara and Daniel, however in reality she is seeing them through camera footage.
Back at their apartment, Vicky asks Daniel if he can give any information about PAFF. At first he says that he has nothing to say and asks her to leave, but Hayato, a fellow reporter, specifies that they're investigating PAFF's disappearance. Vicky chastises Hayato for being too blunt, but Daniel invites them in. He explains that even after her coma, she continued to come to class. When asked if he noticed anything strange after her return, Daniel admits that PAFF did not have many friends even though she was a nice person. After she returned, many students fueled their own hatred of her and started to bully her. He also admits that he once had feelings for her. The news reporters quickly excuse themselves after Clara comes home, and Clara asks for them to tell them about anything new they find out about PAFF. Clara briefly expresses deep sorrow over being a student who encouraged bullying against PAFF while they were in school. She also states that she had always felt lesser than when compared to her, and that she feels afraid of Daniel not truly loving her because she isn't anything compared to PAFF. Daniel calmly refutes this assumption and asks her to simply pray for PAFF's safety.
NEKO#ΦωΦ and PAFF have managed to find Clara and Daniel's address. However on the way up, they run into Vicky and Hayato. They start running away, while simultaneously drawing attention to themselves. Many pedestrians recognize them and start taking pictures. Many iM users express relief that PAFF is safe, while many also joke about how people with pictures should sell them to news websites.
Vicky sprains her ankle while trying to chase the two in heels and she and Hayato are forced to slow down. Hayato admits that he has personal attachments to PAFF which he was hesitant to tell Vicky for it would become publicized very quickly. Vicky reassures Hayato that once the safety of someone is endangered because of a possible publication, she will back out. Hayato finds this very respectable and proceeds to tell her about an adopted child named Kaori. He says that he had noticed PAFF rubbing her temples to relieve nervousness, a technique Kaori had taught him in Node 3. After seeing this he was almost certain that PAFF was Kaori and travels to Node 8. He was so enthusiastic about trying to find PAFF for this reason.
Meanwhile, NEKO#ΦωΦ is forced to tell her family about her hiding of PAFF. They agree to drive PAFF to Joe's bar for her to hide out, since NEKO#ΦωΦ has attracted too much attention dragging PAFF around in public. While waiting, NEKO#ΦωΦ's younger brother Kenta asks PAFF to sign his album. NEKO#ΦωΦ is upset that Kenta bought an album supporting the company that had ripped her off, but PAFF apologizes on his behalf. She explains that she never knew that Mono had cut NEKO#ΦωΦ's name from the song credits until after NEKO#ΦωΦ terminated her contract with the company. NEKO#ΦωΦ forgives her, saying that she was partly at fault for bad-mouthing the company in the first place, and expresses interest in creating more songs for PAFF in the future. As they're about to leave, men from the entertainment company, notified of PAFF's location from the internet, come to NEKO#ΦωΦ's house and demand that PAFF come with them.
PAFF escapes in NEKO#ΦωΦ's family car, however as they drive away, she notices that they are not headed to Joe's bar. It turns out that Noah was driving and he explains to her the memory transfer operation. They arrive at Aroma's home, and Helena greets them. Noah says that he will do the operation right this time, and will entirely erase PAFF's memories, however Helena drives Aroma to Joe's bar when he isn't around, deciding that PAFF isn't Aroma, her sister, and that Aroma was lost in the car accident. Despite her new knowledge of who she is, PAFF decides that Helena is still her sister.
PAFF gets off at Joe's bar, and meets up with NEKO#ΦωΦ. She stays in the basement to the bar, however she suddenly remembers more of her memories, both of her time as Aroma and as Kaori. She rushes out of the basement, with a nosebleed, and goes out to look for Hayato. NEKO#ΦωΦ and Joe rush out to try and catch her, however they are unable to. Joe reveals that he met Hayato earlier, and that Hayato had said that he was looking for a girl named Kaori. He also shows that he has Hayato's business card.
ROBO_Head[]
ROBO_Head attempts to discover more about his past by searching within his database for any signs of his origins. While processing the information, he receives a message as follows:
"Attention, your actions have stepped outside the line. Stop spreading any related information. Do not forget, that your freedom and her safety are only guaranteed because of the agreement. This warning will not be repeated."
ROBO_Head is unable to find any information related to an unknown figure known as "her" and a series of unspecified casualties. Through further probing, he finds the existence of his creator Nora, Shizuka Shiino, who overwrote ROBO_Head's memories in a supreme command to 1. no longer serve Nora and protect her at all costs and 2. never return to Node 03 where they had lived. Both had been framed by the Mogura, a notorious gang in the Node. Nora convinces ROBO_Head that as long as they are together, they are not safe. She sends ROBO_Head to Node 08 in order to live his own life with new freedom and hopefully use herself to convince the gang not to go after him.
ROBO_Head, realizing this, then attempts to overwrite the supreme command. telling himself that Nora deserves the same freedom and dreams that she gave to him. He successfully overwrites his system and sets off to look for her.
His disappearance is noted by several iM users.
Ivy and Vanessa[]
Ivy continues to work towards gathering enough memories to reawaken Vanessa. She stays in a Cemetery for a while, and watches as a younger sister and her father visit the grave of the older sister. One visit, the younger sister falls due to a faulty railing, and Ivy saves her. In the process the younger sister drops a doll, which she had promised to share with her older sister. The father thanks Ivy for saving his daughter, and Ivy leaves as he asks how he can repay her. Ivy questions why she saved the girl, and stumbles across the doll. She contemplates, returning the doll to her, however she decides not to.
Ivy is successful in reviving Vanessa, though not permanently. Vanessa is revealed to be in an unstable state, and maintains a grudge and hatred against humans for experimenting with her. Ivy explains that she has been asleep for 553 years and how she managed to bring Vanessa back into consciousness. When Vanessa plans with Ivy how they should proceed, Ivy displays aversion to hurting more humans. Vanessa is surprised, but listens to Ivy's advice to remain calm in order not to disrupt the entirety of cyTus and the iM system again. Ivy is forced to disconnect with Vanessa's unstable state, and asks her to wait for her.
Xenon's Imprisonment and Everyone's Journey to Node 3[]
Xenon is put on trial. Various evidence is put forth about how he could be Æsir, and a theory is put forth that Xenon was Æsir, and wiped his own memories by accident during Æsir-Fest. They reason that his motivation was to collect memories to try and help his sister, Shannon with her VR-PTSD. Convinced by this and unsure of his own memories, Xenon confesses guilty to being Æsir, which results in being imprisoned as an A-Class prisoner.
Cherry is talking with Angus and Hunter over the smuggling job when Hunter notes that 'R' is asking for a very well paid prison break. Cherry asks for the details, though Angus tells Hunter not to agree to it since Diego, the Baro Brotherhood's boss would not appreciate them freeing Xenon. Cherry and Hunter go to the mission, where 'R' is revealed to be ConneR.
ConneR and Cherry break him out of jail, and escape Outside Node 8. They pass through the tunnel network in facilities, where ConneR explains how they used to be operated by the 'Architects'. ConneR wishes to continue the investigation in Node 13, explaining that he has gathered all the data he needed from A.R.C. Cherry and Xenon head to Node 3. As they travel through the wilderness, they come across a transport taking weapons to the Baro Brotherhood in Node 8. ConneR stops the transport, and Xenon and Cherry help take down the gang members in the transport. ConneR takes a weapon, as Xenon destroys the rest of the weaponry. Xenon and Cherry arrive at Node 3, where they meet up with KAI, who used to be the drummer for their band. He allows them to stay in a room under the shop Mountain Breeze Musique. They discuss their time together as a band,with KAI commenting that Cherry and Xenon haven't changed. They arrange to play a little as a band, with Joe participating via projection.
The next morning, Xenon wakes up to news that there was more rogue drone activity. Cherry reveals that her mother was killed by a rogue drone.
Cherry trains Xenon to use a gun, as he is useless at self defense and would be a liability during combat. Xenon proves accurate, however he is not used to the recoil. Cherry trains him as they discuss their families.
Robo_Head, having arrived in Node 3, tries to look for Nora. He wanders the streets of Node 3, asking pedestrians if they have seen her. He comes across Yamada, who had stolen from a gang. He defends him, after Yamada claims to have stolen nothing. Once he realises that Yamada had indeed stolen something, after the gang members are driven away, he categorises Yamada as a bad person, and refuses to talk to him.
A few days later, Yamada approaches ROBO_Head with a plan to break into Kyuu Hou Kai, in order to steal valuable documents via the sewer system. After discussion, Yamada claims that Nora is in Kyuu Hou Kai, after which ROBO_Head agrees to help him. They break into the sewer system. ROBO_Head is distracted by familiar rooms, such as the Silent Chamber, which annoys Yamada, before they are caught by Kyuu Hou Kai members and brought before their chief. The chief turns out to be Nora, who proceeds to execute Yamada. She then asks how ROBO_Head returned to Node 3, as she had placed the command never to return to Node 3 in his supreme command. She explains the Mogura, the gang that controls Node 3, had agreed with her that ROBO_Head would never return to Node 3. She then tries to get him to leave, by using command mode and trying to shut him down, however ROBO_Head does not obey her. She then asks Daigo to shoot him with a pulse pistol, taking him down, before getting him to drag ROBO_Head out.
ROBO_Head continues to stand outside Kyuu Hou Kai. Nora sees him still there, and Daigo suggests shipping him to another Node, however Nora decides to do nothing, as even if she did send him to another Node, ROBO_Head would simply return. Nora and Daigo go to meet Ryu, head of Mogura. Ryu comments on the Kyubo Medical Center, which was once the Foundation, saying that it was profitable and helped increase the public's approval of them. They arrange various things. Nora expresses her disinterest in 70% of Ryu's business, after he discusses her potential to replace him. Ryu expresses that he knows ROBO_Head had returned, which surprises Nora, however he reassures her that he'll act like he didn't see it. Nora returns to Kyuu Hou Kai, and sees that ROBO_Head has not moved. Ryu meanwhile sends his men out to deal with ROBO_Head, saying that while he didn't 'see' it, his men certainly did.
Ichiro goes up to ROBO_Head and invites him over to his house, explaining what happened after ROBO's escape from Node 3. ROBO_Head is determined to protect Nora, however Ichiro calms him down, saying that they need to plan her escape before acting. Ichiro tells ROBO not to go outside, as Mogura will find him, and that the house is safe as he is a nobody, and Mogura would not investigate a nobody. They are attacked by Mogura, and ROBO_Head finds that he has a gun installed in his arm by Ichiro. Ichiro tells him to use it, however ROBO_Head remembers what Phoenix Wyle told him at the end of their escape, that he was not designed to kill. Due to this, ROBO stops firing, forcing Ichiro to try and cover for him. They are saved when Daigo pulls up with a car, and transports them to Kyuu Hou Kai.
After PAFF remembers that she is Kaori, NEKO#ΦωΦ, Hayato and her decide to travel to Node 3 to see if she can remember more about her past. They are helped by Vicky, who arranges the train tickets and tells Hayato to seek out the truth, while at the same time saying that he has to report any major news for the 08 Daily to write a report. NEKO#ΦωΦ is more suspicious, as Vicky had taken pictures of NEKO#ΦωΦ's house on numerous occasions, while writing reports on her and Xenon's relationship and PAFF's whereabouts. PAFF calms her down and boards the train. After boarding the train, Hayato and NEKO#ΦωΦ find themselves conflicted over what to call PAFF, as she appears like Aroma, however her mannerisms are becoming more and more like Kaori. PAFF tells them to call her whatever they want. NEKO#ΦωΦ then claims that she's hungry and needs to by a packed lunch, despite having just eaten lunch, and leaves the empty cabin. PAFF claims that she is trying to give her and Hayato some time alone together. Hayato gifts PAFF with lavender that he had bought for Kaori after the performance after which she went missing. PAFF thanks him for it, as lavender was Kaori's favourite flower. NEKO#ΦωΦ comments that they seem like a couple.
After being rescued from Mogura by Daigo, ROBO_Head is repaired by Nora and put in her old room. ROBO_Head finds her old instruments, broken, and decides to repair them. He comments on how Nora no longer makes music. A few days later, ROBO_Head boots up, and hears 5 Kyuu Hou Kai members and 3 others. One of the other is curious, and opens the door to Nora's old room, much to the other Kyuu Hou Kai's members' annoyance. She, NEKO#ΦωΦ, recognises ROBO_Head. She is with PAFF and Hayato. ROBO_Head greets them.
Nora, representing Kyuu Hou Kai, Ryu, representing Mogura, and Diego (not to be confused with Daigo), representing the Baro Brotherhood from Node 8 meet to discuss the recently disrupted weapon transport. Nora pushes the investigation into the Baro Brotherhood as one of the attackers was likely from Node 8 as they had destroyed all the weapons, and therefore did it to stop the weapons getting into Node 8, rather than to take the weapons for themselves. She leaves early, saying that the event does not involve Kyuu Hou Kai. Once she leaves, Ryu and Diego discuss how to bring down Kyuu Hou Kai, as it has grown too powerful. They decide to attack the Kyubo Medical Centre first. Their conversation is tapped by Daigo.
Xenon and Cherry go out to meet up with Neko#ΦωΦ. They pass by the Kyubo Medical Centre as it is attacked by drones. At first they believe that the drones have gone rogue, however Xenon notes that they're attacking in formation meaning that they're likely controlled. Xenon decides that he cannot let them kill civilians, and decides to try and hack the drones, which requires them to go into the centre. They use a mask and a helmet to conceal their identities. Cherry buys him time to hack the drones, and he changes the target selection to each other to destroy them all. They stop their meeting with Neko#ΦωΦ and return to hide after creating a huge commotion. Cherry twisted her ankle during the fight, and Xenon supports her as they head back.
The next day, ConneR calls Cherry from Node 13. He comments on what a commotion they made, before giving them the task of asking the 'Eye of Horus' to gather the information they need. He says that he transferred a large sum of money to Kyuu Hou Kai, and gives them the instructions to reach Kyuu Hou Kai. Xenon and Cherry fellow the instruction, where Daigo greets them. He tells them that the 'Eye of Horus' is no more, and that he will return the money. He then asks them to leave. They refuse, and Daigo and Cherry draw guns, however Nora arrives and stops them. Nora comments on how Xenon is the hacker 'X', and how they helped save the Kyubo Medical Center. Xenon explains that he is searching for the truth around Æsir, and says that he feels that there is a far greater truth behind Æsir that may pose a threat to all humans. Nora says that she cannot help, as she can no longer use the ability to 'see' into 'OS Space', however she has someone in her care who can. She takes them to her, PAFF, and her friends, NEKO#ΦωΦ and Hayato. NEKO#ΦωΦ is very happy to see Xenon.
In Kyuu Hou Kai[]
Nora explains to PAFF that she has to 'see' into the Library's data in order to help uncover the truth, and PAFF does so. PAFF then collapses from shock. When she awakens, she explains that she heard a voice in the OS Space calling out a name, before she felt an incredibly strong hatred and killing intent not just for her, but for all humans. This is coming from Vanessa (and the name she is calling is presumably Ivy). Nora tells her to stop using her ability, and to rest a while. She takes her to the Silent Chamber to recover.
Diego confronts Kyuu Hou Kai, and Daigo goes out to meet him, refusing to let him in to meet Nora, however Nora calls him back inside and goes out herself. Diego explains that all he wants are the two people who stopped the transport that Kyuu Hou Kai are sheltering, Xenon and Cherry. Nora refuses, and reveals that she knows that Diego and Ryu are trying to bring down Kyuu Hou Kai. She then proceeds to activate Kyuu Hou Kai's defences, which are much stronger than Diego imagined, and he retreats. Diego tells Nora that he will kill Xenon's and Cherry's family back in Node 8 as he leaves.
Nora and PAFF are discussing PAFF's condition. Nora says that PAFF may be able to use the ability to see into 'OS Space' better than herself, despite the Ender Virus' higher activity in her body. PAFF comments that while resting she tried to return to the Library, however she couldn't. Nora hypotheses that it is out of fear, and not due to her physical condition. NEKO#ΦωΦ and Hayato enter into the room, Nora's old room, to compose music with ROBO_Head. Seeing Nora and PAFF, NEKO#ΦωΦ decides that they should all play together. Nora reprimands them as she told them that they were forbidden from entering the room, before leaving to let the others compose music, refusing NEKO#ΦωΦ's request. NEKO#ΦωΦ comments that Nora is amazing, as all of the synthesizers were of her design. Nora leaves as she gives a tip on how to properly use one of her synths, and NEKO#ΦωΦ notes how she still wants to make music, and decides that she will definitely remind Nora of the joys of making music.
The group stays in Kyuu Hou Kai. Xenon is busy improving Kyuu Hou Kai's firewall, and trying to use his AI. One night, Cherry dreams of the past, and about her time in the Baro Brotherhood.
There are reports of terrorist attacks on the area around Joe's bar in Node 8. Xenon calls him to make sure he's okay, and JOE is fine, however as they are calling the explosion restart, blowing up JOE's cafe and injuring Joe. Nora asks PAFF if she can use her ability to see if JOE is okay, and PAFF sees him arguing with a stranger on the street, however she finds herself feeling what she felt when she looked into the Library, the same oppressive feeling, that forces her to stop looking. Nora and her discuss the nature of their ability, and PAFF asks Nora to stop calling her Kaori as she doesn't want to ignore Aroma's memories in her. JOE calls Xenon, after 'borrowing' the stranger's phone. He explains that he's fine and that they can catch up later. The group consider why Diego would do an attack on Node 8, his home territory, instead of on Kyuu Hou Kai in Node 3. They conclude that it is probably a trial run for the inevitable attack on Kyuu Hou Kai.
Four days later, Kyuu Hou Kai is attacked. Nora asks her guests, Hayato, PAFF, NEKO#ΦωΦ, Xenon, Cherry and ROBO_Head to stay in her room as she and Daigo deals with the attack. The drones breach through the tunnels in Area 3 of Kyuu Hou Kai, and Nora finds that the defence systems have been hacked. Xenon and Cherry decide that Kyuu Hou Kai needs help, and plan to escape by destroying the door to help. ROBO_Head stops them, instead entering the password that Nora hadn't changed since his time there.
Cherry and Xenon go out into the tunnels with ROBO_Head, and Cherry attacks the drones with her gun, which then allows Xenon to hack them. He notes that the drones are much harder to deal with than the ones at the Kyubo Medical Centre. As they finish the drones, there is an explosion as one drone is left, and Xenon's hacking device and knocked away. Cherry picks it up, and as Xenon is trapped under a wall, she decides that she will have to use it to finish off the last drone. Xenon objects at first, as her device was not designed to handle it, however she convinces him when she says that it's their only chance. Xenon explains how to use it, however she concludes that she can't shoot of the armour and hack at the same time. Nora, using the defence system, performs the shot instead and Cherry successfully hacks the drone, however she is shot by the drone in the process.
Kyuu Hou Kai members quickly rush her to the recovery room and free Xenon. The group visits her in the room, where they are not allowed to bring in their devices lest they disturb the life support machine. NEKO#ΦωΦ is upset over the event. Nora assures them that Cherry will recover, and explains that there was a surge through her device when she hacked the drone. Nora says that they should probably leave to avoid disturbing the life support machine, and NEKO#ΦωΦ calls PAFF to her room to play some games. The group file out, however Xenon decides to stay, and Nora tells him not to touch anything.
Later, there is a blackout as Kyuu Hou Kai's power is cut. Kyuu Hou Kai scramble to deal with the problem, and Daigo immediately heads to the recovery room to try and power the life support system before Cherry dies. A report comes in that the Ender virus samples in the Central Lab had been broken, and Nora concludes that the attack on Area 3 was probably a diversion by Diego.
Xenon is the only one in the recovery room with Cherry, as they can't easily open the door without power. He tries to understand what happened, concluding that it is a blackout, and sees what he can do. As he left his device outside, he can't call for help or hack open the door. Cherry awakes, and asks him to come closer to her. She tells him that she dreamed that she was looking for something, a blue illuminating flower in a black void. Every time she reached out for it, it would vanish. She says that she felt like it was incredibly important, and that if she didn't find it, she would lose everything. She says that if she returned to her dream, she may be able to find it, however Xenon tells her its just a dream. She asks him to sing 'Still', and as he finishes, she comments on how his singing is sucks. She then dies leaving her cub necklace in Xenon's hand.
The power comes back on and Diego and Kyuu Hou Kai members rush in to save Cherry, however she has no vital signs and even with their best efforts, they cannot succeed in saving her. Xenon is missing from the room, while NEKO#ΦωΦ is really upset over Cherry's death, blaming Kyuu Hou Kai for it. Nora enters the room, and accepts the blame for her death as NEKO#ΦωΦ decides that Kyuu Hou Kai is unsafe and decides that she will return to Node 8.
ConneR returns after a successful investigation in Node13, and has a plan to stop Ivy. He locates Xenon with NEKO#ΦωΦ, however despite all his attempts he fails to get Xenon onto the team. He, Nora and PAFF decide to execute the plan without him and return to Node 8. They tell Hayato and NEKO#ΦωΦ to find somewhere safe once they arrive, which they initially complain about, however reluctant accept after realising that they cannot contribute to the team.
Returning to Node 8[]
Fang breaks Luis out of prison. Since Diego died, the gang members are free to do what they want, and decide to help civilians against the attacks of the Architects. Luis initially disagrees, since he feels the weight of killing Xenon's father, however Fang convinces him to help Xenon fight against the Architects.
Endings[]
Ivy is killed by an A.R.C officer, which drives Vanessa to anger over the loss. The group decide to end the fight in OS Space using it to destroy Vanessa. Before doing so, PAFF calls out to the player, an unnamed character who can also enter OS Space in order to call for help. The player can respond confirming their existence by tapping the notes that appear, and they help share the load on PAFF. Doing this and killing Vanessa at the end will lead to the 'good' ending, where Vanessa dies, humanity is saved, and PAFF does not die.
If the player does not respond to the plea for help, PAFF has to take the burden herself, and dies along with Vanessa in the end, Vanessa commenting on how beautiful PAFF's memories are. This leads to the neutral ending where PAFF dies, but humanity is saved.
If Vanessa is not killed by tapping the notes at the end, humanity is destroyed, leading to the bad/'true' ending.
In the good/neutral endings, A.R.C has to reform after much criticism due to the Vanessa incident. Three months later, and some are still not forgiving to the company. NEKO#ΦωΦ graduates from University to become a full time streamer and musician. She starts a fund to help those affected by the incident, though is frequently rejected. Xenon joins a band again, and NEKO#ΦωΦ routinely sees most of his performances. Xenon rejects A.R.C's offers of money and power in the company, which PAFF comments in the good ending might be due to a past he was unable to let go off. JOE is now more important than ever now that the Baro Brotherhood is gone. ConneR returns to Node 13 to continue researching his ancestors with Sasha, and occasionally crosses paths with Sagar, who is still on an explorer team. ROBO_Head in both endings get fried keeping the connection to OS Space going, and Nora returns to Kyuu Hou Kai to repair him and conduct research, supposedly nearly finishing in three months in the good ending.
In the good ending, since PAFF is still alive, she narrates the ending scenes, and returns to being both an idol and a street performer with Hayato. In the neutral ending, she dies, leaving the end scenes with no narration and leaving Helena and Hayato to grieve.
In the bad ending, Vanessa destroys humanity, and is the only character left alive. The game reopens where every other character in the main menu merely links to an empty shot from the same perspective, but without the characters. The environments are overgrown and ruined.
PAFF and Vanessa then reveal that none of the events of chaos and destruction have occurred yet, and that it is up to the player to make a choice. After reliving lost emotions through remixes of Cytus I Alive songs, the player then makes a choice, adding that they have no regrets.
Side Stories[]
Miku[]
In Node 3, an idol program named Miku is created. She proves hugely successful. She is programmed to believe that she is a real human, however her program is continuously updated, which resets her sense of self. After a malfunction in the Cytus mainframe, Miku v 2.3.9 finds herself lost in the network (presumably OS Space), as well as damaged from the malfunction. After being helped by an unknown person, who uploads her back into her host, Miku finds herself communicating with her creator, Furuhata. She manages to get him to agree to answer her questions, though he says that he will delete her in 5 minutes, seeing as there is a Miku v 2.4 has already replaced her, an older, less stable model, which reveals to her that she is a program created by him, and that there is an updated version of herself in testing. After five minutes is up, Furuhata attempts to delete Miku v 2.3.9, however due to a bug, the program is unable to be deleted. Seeing this, Furhata decides to fix and use Mike v 2.3.9 as a test for a new UI that will allow her to interact with people in the real world. He finds Miku annoying, due to his preference for a quiet working environment and her constant questions. The two talk and Furuhata warms to his creation. Furuhata eventually talks about his family to Miku v 2.3.9, who wants to find out more about her creator. He finds a message from his presumably son who had recently graduated from school. The message was sent to his wife, Tsumugi, who is ill. She founded the Foundation, and despite the fact that it was taken over by the Administration Bureau, Furuhata's wife insists that he donates money to it, saying that it still helps people. At the end of the message, Furuhata's son reveals that he is a fan of an idol, who's music he finds really energetic and encouraging. The idol turns out to be Miku.
After the UI is finished, Furuhata asks Miku v 2.3.9 if she wishes to perform once more. Miku v 2.3.9 says that she wants to, however she knows that v 2.4 is already out there making the fans happy, and that she might not be stable enough to finish the concert, which might damage her and the company's reputation, as well as getting him fired. Furuhata is determined to make this a reality, also believing that her experience will help her perform better. He proposes it to the company, and they consider, however they conclude that it is too risky, and decide to stay with Miku v 2.4. Left with no choice, Furuhata uploads Miku v 2.3.9 just before the concert. Miku v 2.3.9 objects to this due to accepting the risk to him and the company, which causes her program to destabilize, however he calms her down, and proceeds with the upload. The concert runs smoothly and according to plan until the last song, where Miku v 2.3.9 thanks the fans for their support. The staff team panics, as this was not on the program, and consider ending the program immediately, however they decide against it as it would end the concert abruptly. Miku v 2.3.9 says that she wants to sing one more song for her fans, and starts singing as the program starts to malfunction. She disappears happy to be singing for everyone once more. Furuhata decides to leave the company, and discovers that Miku left him one last message, apologizing for failing to finish the last song, and thanking him for letting her perform.
Kizuna AI[]
A little girl from Node 3 goes missing in the forest, worrying her family who go out to look for her. That girl (a young Neko Asakura) falls over in some facility and wakes up greeted by Kizuna AI, coming form a watch projection. Both the little girl and Kizuna realise that they are lost, and resolve to go home. The little girl decides to call Kizuna Ai onee-chan, and refuses to tell Kizuna her name, since her mother told her that she shouldn't give her name to strangers. Kizuna is sure that once she connects to her team they can guide her out of the forest and to her home. Eventually, the two arrive in Node 3, where Kizuna is confused by the lack of technology. Seeing carbon emitting non-flying cars she concludes that she must have time travelled, confirmed by the little girl saying that the year is 687 when Kizuna thinks that she's from 2020. From this she concludes that they need a time machine. A guy they pass by mentions that he knows of this time machine in a nearby town on the sea (implied to be Lam Kong from VOEZ) in the basement of some cafe. The two travel to the town via the MRT and enter a random cafe. There they talk to the girl working there (Chelsea), and gain permission to enter the basement, where they use the time machine.
They find themselves in Kizuna's time, with flying cars and tall skyscrapers, which confuses the little girl. Kizuna has returned to a proper body instead of just being a projection. The two a directed go to her Kizuna's team for aid as they ask how to get the little girl back home. They meet up with Kurosaki, one of Kizuna's team, and ask where the little girl comes from, who replies that she comes from downtown Node 3. Kizuna and Kurosaki are confused, since it doesn't exist in the records, and Kurosaki recommends they hand her to the police who can handle the situation. They become more confused over the girl's insistence that the year is 687, which creates a conflict since cars definitely weren't a thing in 687. Kizuna and Kurosaki decide that only ExtenLifeCorp might know anything about the situation, and decide to visit. The little girl runs ahead of Kizuna, telling an armed guard drone to run away, and the drone obliges. The little girl sees what she thinks is her mother and runs in, whilst Kizuna sees Vanessa (from Cytus I), and chases after the little girl to tell her to that it's not her mother. The scientists at ExtenLife Corp try to shoo the girl away, rebutting her claims that Vanessa's her mother. Kizuna starts malfunctioning, with memories coming back to her. She receives a supposed message from Vanessa telling her that the world of slumber is going to collapse. This puzzles Kizuna, who eventually finds the little girl after ExtenLifeCorp throw them out. The little girl then finds a way back to downtown Node 3 and runs away again.
Kizuna starts remembering what happened, the Ender virus and the extinction of humanity, and concludes that this is a virtual internet induced dream that the girl is having. Meanwhile the little girl manages to make her way to her supposed home and is berated by her parents for going missing and causing trouble. To add to the confusion another version of her is already present. Kizuna catches up, and sees the little girl as the room and her parents start melting and chasing her. Kizuna runs away with the girl and she explains what the situation is; that she's dreaming and she needs to take control of the dream. Additionally, since the virtual internet is involved, the situation could be lethal. The way for the little girl to take control is to take courage and tell her supposed parents to go away. At first she refuses, but Kizuna manages to convince her that they're not real, and she tells them to go away. The world starts disappearing.
As the world disappears, the little girl asks what will happen to Kizuna as the little girl starts floating. Kizuna replies that she can't leave, and that the little girl won't remember the dream. She then talks about the people they met, and how they are memories of real people. Kizuna ends saying that she treasures both the time before the Ender virus and her time spent with the little girl in the dream. As the dream ends Kizuna finally asks again what the little girl's name is. The girl replies Neko Asakura, to which Kizuna comments that it's a funny name. She then tells Neko to be a good kid when she wakes up.
Neko wakes up (remembering nothing), and is found by her parents who take her home. Later, when the family move out from downtown Node 3 into the city, they pass by the forest. Neko cries, without knowing why. Kouhei comments that it's probably due to the dangers of downtown Node 3 and says that moving into the city will make them a lot safer.