3.7 Billion

Are you ready for genetic animal testing?

We (the player) hear the ten men discussing that we traveled with them. They're surprised a Needian would be on Expel, and they considered killing us now. They don't because they think so little of us. We'll die soon enough anyway.

A voice calls out to Rena, asking her to wake up. She does, and it's Claude! But he wasn't the voice she heard. But where are we? The rest of the group comes into the shot, and they ask the same thing. Rena knows this is a place called the Nede Outer Wall Paradise. She's not sure how she knows this but assumes this is why she's loved the Shingo Forest. Rena leads the group through the beautiful garden, and they wonder how Expel is because they didn't pay attention. Eventually, they come to a strange device, and a voice calls out to them: the same voice Rena heard. We're unsure if we should follow its advice and enter the teleporter before us, but Rena trusts it.

We exit into a futuristic place. Through the door is the body of the voice, Mayor Nall. He's the de jure leader of the high energy field that is Energy Nede. We ask if he knows who those ten guys were, and responds with "God's Ten Wise Men." Before going into anything else, he explains their past. 3.7 billion years ago, Nede ruled the galaxy with advanced heraldry and technology. They weren't tyrants, and their rule was amicable. Despite that, ten men rose to attack Nede. Nede eventually won but at a massive loss of life and through unconventional means. Nede couldn't kill the Ten Wise Men, but they could trap them in Eternity Space, a prison where time doesn't move and floats through space. After that event, Nede broke apart its home planet and has been existing as this strange thing I don't fully understand. And in that time, the Ten Wise Men broke out. Nall then suggests that our group aid in stopping them because Nede is weak, and we have different powers from them. We've got nothing else to do, and we don't want them to rule Expel, so why not! Our next task is to go to North City and get a synard. Explore Central and North City between. We'll stumble upon a strange woman with pink hair running away from us outside Central's inn (not PA), and she'll run into the bushes in North (PA).

We'll meet Artol at the Home, and no one is comfortable with this arrangement. To make a synard, they have to scan us and input that data into the beasts... or something. It's genetic engineering, and we're against it. But we have no choice. As we wait outside the scanner, we (the player) overhear the interns worrying if this will work with a non-Nedian? Meanwhile, we discuss contacting Expel again because we don't listen. We're quickly called into the office. The scanning goes easy, and I just stared at the crt tv flashing the Home's logo. It's four billion years in the future, but cathode rays are still king! Suddenly, the place begins to shake. The synard has become aggressive because Claude has bad DNA. Reluctantly, all we can do is kill it.

This was another fight I used to have issues with. The first time I ever played Star Ocean, I never bought skills. Kitchen Knife is a better strength boost than leveling up, and I know that now. After we win, that redhead will comment she missed a great story.

The interns hate their boss and storm out as we head back to his office. Artol knows our mission and how important the synard is. The only option we have now is to go through another teleporter. He avoids all questions, so let's just go...

We arrive at a cozy cabin, and the homeowner is upset we barged in. After we explain the situation, we meet Noel, the caretaker of the wildlife refuge. He picks up that we'll need to tame a wild synard even though there's only one left. The only way to do that is by combat. Noel will guide us to our destination.

As we enter the cavern, Noel senses the feeling of murder in the air. Something is attacking the synard, and we blame the Ten Wise Men. En route, the third screen is very important. Head down to pick up the chest. The red haired woman will appear again, trip, and drop something. Pick us Chisato's ID Card. Deep inside are the evildoers. This also was a fight I had trouble with back in the day. Double boss battles were my bane. But the Eternal Sphere can overcome any childhood trauma.

The synard falls in place as Claude prepares to battle it. It's wounded, so his heart fights against his needs. Not only that, but two cubs emerge from their mother. We prepare to return to Nall with bad news, and Rena heals it as we leave. Suddenly, she learns to speak synard. "You don't need words if you want to understand." The synard wants to help us. The beast takes to the skies, and we jump on. Noel asks to come with us, but I sadly turn him down. I only have room for one more character, and it needs to be someone I don't know much about. Many people don't like Noel, but I think he's fine. Apparently, he used to be "partisan with the Ten Wise Men." We should head to Nall for further orders.

Or...

Visit the second floor of the Central building. We'll see our ginger sitting in her chair. After she pretends she doesn't know us, we show her her ID. Chisato admits she's been following us because all of Nede is enthralled with our antics. Chisato is a reporter for the newspaper and will be following us one way or another. Rena can either tell her off or invite her into the group. I've never really dabbled with her, so I might use her instead of Dias. After I travel around Nede, getting better armor and weapons, I land back at Central City. I'll see Nall again...

...tomorrow!

Can synards reproduce asexually? I also loved the callback to these guys in Star Ocean 4.

Why is Dias so bad at customization?!?!