Pylgia

The subject's weapon is a diving harpoon, but she does not usually fish with it and instead only uses it for self-defense when attacked by hostile marine life.

The subject appeared on the day of the full Illusory Moon, causing a widespread blackout in the DisSea region. She was personally detained by the MBCC's Chief. Her body shows signs of contamination and corruption, and is already transforming into a Corruptor.

The subject exhibits moderate corruption, retaining both humanity and rational thought, though her body is already manifesting irreversible physical changes typical during the Corruptor transformation.

The subject formerly served as a diver in the Deep Dive unit of the Black Ring Expedition, primarily responsible for placing and maintaining equipment in DisSea, as well as conducting underwater inspections. Despite the numerous hazards in the depths of DisSea, she has almost never been injured or lost during her missions.

Currently detained by and under the management of the MBCC. No significant abnormalities or harmful incidents have been observed to date. The situation remains within the bureau's control.

After being detained during the Illusory Moon operation in DisSea, the subject has been placed in solitary confinement for observation and treatment. Since all current communication methods have proven futile, the MBCC has received the order for Chief to personally conduct dream dives with the subject.

The subject was born in a coastal fishing town. Due to her flawed personality, she was highly unsociable and spent most of her time alone in the sea.

Intensifying disasters eventually forced all industries in the fishing town to come to a halt. Like many local residents, her parents chose to relocate in search of new opportunities. She had to leave the sea behind, struggling to blend in as a normal person.

In N.F. 22, the subject joined the DisSea Expedition as a diver. While her assignments were significantly more dangerous and demanding than those of regular divers, she was unfazed by these challenges.
The subject preferred staying in the ocean to navigating the complexities of human interactions.

Pylgia. Female. Height in infected state: approximately 169cm. Her skin is covered in numerous barnacles and a damaged diving suit. Her body is mildly decayed and has developed several long extra appendages.

After completing the psychic diving, the subject will remain in confinement for observation. According to the log, she prefers staying in vast, dark waters quietly.

The barnacles and appendages on the subject's body are not mere contamination, but have become part of her body. They shed and regenerate from beneath her skin periodically.

The subject exhibits extremely limited social engagement, responding to no humans other than Chief. Reminding Chief to visit her regularly can effectively slow down the contamination rate and prevent the Mania from worsening.

[Pylgia stands transfixed by the endlessly running tap water.]

Pylgia: The water... keeps flowing... The ocean... will draw closer too...

• Prompt: I doubt that would happen. There's a drain, after all.
• Pylgia: As long as more water flows in than drains away... An ocean... will eventually form...
• Pylgia: 😐

• Prompt: But this is fresh water. Would it really turn into an ocean?
• Pylgia: Now that you mention it... the smell... is indeed different from that beneath the seabed...
• Pylgia: 😦

[Pylgia watches a TV commercial for an artificial deep diving facility.]

Pylgia: No... the real ocean... isn't like that... people can never truly learn to connect with the sea... in an environment like this...

• Prompt: Don't worry, they're not really diving in the sea. Nothing will happen to them.
• Pylgia: That's... for the best... otherwise... I can't guarantee... I can get them safely back to the shore...
• Pylgia: 😐

• Prompt: Indeed. Perhaps you could help design a more authentic training environment.
• Pylgia: Even with humans' ingenuity... you can't truly replicate the ocean's chaotic, dangerous, and generous nature... Approaching the sea without understanding it... will only end in disaster...
• Pylgia: 😦

⚠ Aquarium Screensaver

Pylgia seems fascinated by the screensaver on the computer in the Recreation Area.

System Notifications: The computer in the Recreation Area has an aquarium screensaver. Pylgia often stands transfixed before it, watching the virtual fish swim. It's seriously putting other Sinners who want to use the computer in a dilemma.

• Prompt: Throw money at the problem

System Notifications: After seeing the order for the new computer, Faye suggests buying one more to get the discount.

⚠ Fish Treat

Pylgia's therapist has filed a request.

System Notifications: Since she started hypnotherapy, Pylgia has been treating her therapist like some kind of helpless marine animal who can't hunt for itself, always bringing small fish to the hypnotherapy room. Reeking of fish, the therapist shows up to request changes to Pylgia's treatment plan.

• Prompt: Approve

⚠⚠ A Whale's Feast

Pylgia has completed a drawing during her art therapy session.

System Notifications: As you pass by the hypnotherapy room, you run into Pylgia who has just finished her art therapy session.

• Prompt: Greet her

Chief: How are you feeling today?

Pylgia: ...

System Notifications: Pylgia gives an almost imperceptible nod. You notice she's clutching a piece of paper in her hands.

• Prompt: Ask

Chief: Want to talk about what you did during your session today?

Pylgia: We drew...

System Notifications: With Pylgia's silent permission, you gently take the drawing from her hands.

System Notifications: The paper is completely black on the front. You turn it over. The back is just as black.

Pylgia: It's... a whale feeding on fish.

• Prompt: I see.

Chief: Is the paper black because the whale has eaten all the fish and swum away?

Pylgia: No... the fish are here...

Pylgia: It's too dark under the sea... You can't see with your eyes... You have to feel the presence of life...

System Notifications: Her finger points precisely at one spot on the black paper. You stare into the pitch black as it stares back at you.

System Notifications: You decide to take the drawing so you can contemplate it further.

⚠⚠ Lifeguard

The pool maintenance work is interrupted by unexpected obstacles.

System Notifications: The pool maintenance staff report that a Sinner is refusing to leave the water.

System Notifications: You rush to the Outdoor Activity Area. Sure enough, you find Pylgia in the pool. She's keeping her distance from the others, but upon seeing you, she swims over.

• Prompt: Ask

Chief: Pylgia, what are you doing here?

Pylgia: Humans... don't belong under the water... It's dark here... dangerous...

Pylgia: I must eliminate the threats... save them... This is my duty.

System Notifications: She says and immediately dives back into the water, dragging up a maintenance worker who's barely been down there for five minutes, *rescuing* him to the poolside.

System Notifications: The entire process takes less than two seconds.

• Prompt: Try to explain

Chief: We're not in DisSea, so the water here is perfectly safe. Besides, the maintenance crew has all the safety equipment they need. There's practically no risk of danger.

Chief: So you can rest easy. There's no need to keep watch.

Pylgia: Must stay vigilant... Need to watch them...

System Notifications: Having heard your explanation, Pylgia stops pulling people out of the water. Nevertheless, she insists on staying nearby until the pool maintenance is finished.

⚠⚠⚠ Slacking Off

Sinner Pylgia fails to attend today's training.

System Notifications: Supervision System:
Abnormal behavior detected in Sinner Pylgia: absence from regular training. Go and inspect?

• Prompt: Yes

System Notifications: Following the Supervision System's indication, you arrive at the corner of the Outdoor Activity Area where a new touch pool has been installed.

System Notifications: The mirror-like surface of the water breaks into ripples, and a graceful figure emerges from beneath.

Pylgia: It's you... You've come.

Pylgia: I know... why you've come here...

• Prompt: Ask about her training attendance

Chief: Pylgia, you should be doing your regular training right now. Why are you here?

System Notifications: Before you can finish, she plunges back into the water. When she pokes her head out again, she holds out her cupped hands before your eyes.

System Notifications: In the small pool of water cupped in her pale hands, a tiny fish is swimming in circles.

Pylgia: I heard a human crying out... during work... that he needed a breather... like a fish out of water...

Pylgia: That's why I'm here... catching a breather with them... You should too, so you don't die.

System Notifications: She holds her cupped hands closer to you, showing you the fish.

System Notifications: Pylgia's suggesting you slack off so sincerely. You hesitate for a brief moment before making your choice.

• Prompt: Laze around
• System Notifications: Guess we all need a little break every now and then.
• System Notifications: You postpone Pylgia's regular training missions until tomorrow and spend the afternoon with her at the touch pool.
• System Notifications: By the end of the day, you can tell she's in better spirits.

• Prompt: Go back to work
• System Notifications: Now really isn't a good time for breaks.
• Chief: Thank you, but what you heard isn't meant to be taken literally.
• Pylgia: Hmm...
• Chief: By the way, do you still remember who told you he would die if he didn't catch a breather at work?
• Pylgia: I remember... him...
• System Notifications: You gently coax Pylgia out of the touch pool and try to explain to her the true meaning of the sentence she overheard.
• System Notifications: Later, based on Pylgia's description, you track down the *culprit* Che and tell him to stop encouraging others to slack off at work.

⚠⚠⚠ Pink Warmth

The researchers have developed an ocean-simulating hologram.

System Notifications: Recently, the researchers have developed a holographic projection that can recreate the coastal ecosystem from the past. Thinking it may pique Pylgia's interest, you bring the device to her room.

System Notifications: As you activate the projection, numerous light particles dance around both of you, bringing the coastal scenery to life.

Pylgia: Here... the color is wrong...

Pylgia: White dolphins are supposed to be dark gray at birth... They only turn this shade of pink... when they're nearing the end of their lives...

System Notifications: Following her gaze, you see a small dolphin leap up, leaving a pink arc in the air.

System Notifications: Pylgia rarely speaks unprompted. Seeing her interest, you decide to encourage her to share more.

Chief: Apart from that, does the rest of it match the ocean in your memories?

Pylgia: I... can't remember clearly.

Pylgia: I've always stayed in the deepest parts of the sea... It's pitch black and silent there... This doesn't look like the ocean floor. It's too bright...

Pylgia: It's been so long... since I've been near the shallow part of the sea... This makes me feel... nostalgic...

System Notifications: She gently runs her hand through the projected school of fish, then opens her palm toward you, as if wanting to show how she feels.

Pylgia: There's a warm... sensation.

• Prompt: Take her hand
• System Notifications: She returns your grip clumsily and uncertainly.
• Pylgia: It feels just like the warmth of your hand...

• Prompt: Touch the projection like she did
• System Notifications: Actually, the hologram doesn't come with any temperature simulation features.
• System Notifications: You realize that the warmth Pylgia felt must have come from memories buried so deep that even she can barely recall.
• Pylgia: When was... the last time... I felt warmth...

Deep Sea Reverie

The ocean is a casket that buries secrets, the paradise lost where she slumbers.
All sorrows eventually fade into the fathomless depths.

[Phase One]

In N.F. 14, a young Pylgia is out to sea on her parents' sailboat. They discuss the difficulty that she has relating to her classmates, and Pylgia expresses that she wants nothing more than to play in the water with them. A gust of wind causes her dad to drop his fishing pole overboard, and Pylgia eagerly jumps in to find it for him. She spends multiple hours in the water, seemingly without coming up for air, and has friendly conversations with a variety of sea creatures who live in the nearby coral reef. A squid asks Pylgia a riddle "What is hard to recover once lost?" She answers "time", and the squid replies that that's a good answer, but there is a second answer that she will only understand in time.

Once the sea creatures help her find the rod, Pylgia remembers that her parents had given her a time limit before coming back to the boat. She bemoans that she can never find friends on land like the ones she makes in the sea, but she obediently returns. When Pylgia surfaces, her parents are in a panic that she has been underwater for forty minutes past when they told her to return. She relates her conversations with the fish to them, and they play along but don't take her childish story seriously.

[[Phase Two]]

Two years later, intensifying calamities and severe storms have led authorities to ban civilians from taking boats out on the sea. Against her parents' wishes, Pylgia continues to slip away and go swimming. With a storm approaching, Pylgia finds a damaged research vessel. Pylgia convinces them, despite their skepticism, that the only way they can get to shore before the storm hits is to let her guide them through the treacherous waters around the reef. To their awe, she gives them perfect directions that safely get the boat in to port. Pylgia is equally fascinated by the researchers' work as ocean scientists, although she doesn't understand why one of them says that being away from land for so long makes it a boring and unpleasant career.

When they get to land, Pylgia's parents are again panicked at her disappearance. Pylgia tries to explain to them everything that happened and that her sea creature friends will keep her safe, but this time they tell her that she's not a little girl anymore, and has to get over these tall tales. One of the researchers tells them that Pylgia really did save the boat, but she agrees with her parents that the changing tides and worsening conditions at sea mean Pylgia should stop playing in the water.

The next year, N.F. 17, Pylgia watches the research vessel leave port. Her parents discuss that in addition to the storms, there are now reports of sea monsters attacking vessels, and her dad decides that he can no longer make a living as a fisherman. Her mom urges Pylgia not to go into the water until someday the calamities subside, and Pylgia resignedly agrees.

[[Phase Three]]

In N.F. 19, Pylgia has grown into a withdrawn, depressed teenager. She hasn't returned to the sea in years, and her family is struggling to make ends meet as the once-busy harbor is now abandoned. While being bullied by her classmates, she has a vision of all of them turning into sea creatures. On the way home she stands on the breakwater and watches the waves in a trance for hours, until her mom comes to bring her home. She tries to comfort Pylgia, but doesn't know any way to get through to her. That night, her parents decide that in order to survive, they have move inland to find work.

[[Phase Four]]

While her parents get ready to leave, Pylgia runs back to the breakwater and jumps into the sea. She goes back to the coral reef, where all of the sea creatures are excited to see her again. The squid asks if she has learned the second answer to its riddle, but Pylgia does not remember the question from so many years ago. The fish urge her to stay with them, but although she wants to, she's snapped out of it by the sound of her parents' voices calling for her. Moved by their determination to find her, braving a storm in the old rusted-out boat that her dad had to buy back to come look for her, Pylgia returns to her parents. They embrace her and apologize that they are keeping her from the water, but they don't know any other way to survive.

In N.F. 22, since graduating Pylgia has struggled to keep a job as she rarely speaks to anyone or seeks any kind of human connection. She goes to a lake for solace, but finds that it doesn't connect with her the same way that the sea does. To her surprise, she is approached by Shin, one of the researchers from the boat that she rescued years before. Shin recruits her to join the Keylan Expedition, telling her that they need the best diver in the world. Although Pylgia is initially resistant, Shin reminds her of the squid's riddle. This time, excited by a chance to return to the real sea, Pylgia accepts Shin's offer.

The cold, dark waters drown out all sensations and emotions impartially.
After all the drifting and churning, the bottomless sea still calls out her name.

Years of dwelling in the depths of DisSea have turned her body almost transparent, with marine animal-looking parasites attached to her skin.

In the deep sea's utter silence lies solitude uknown to anyone.