The Clustania Slave District (スレイヴ街区, sureivu-gaiku?, lit. "Slave Block"), commonly shortened to Slave District (スレイヴ, sureivu?, lit. "Slave"), is the area of Clustania especially made for the rebel humans and Reyvateils that were captured by the Clustanians. This place, like the Clustania Residential District, was carefully planned and constructed in function of its inhabitants, with the large difference that while the Residential District was made in order to ensure comfort and a nice life to its inhabitants, the Slave District was designed in a way more similar to a concentration camp, given that the people that live within it have only the bare minimum resources to keep themselves alive, and are pretty much treated like war prisoners. Whenever someone is sent to this place, they most likely will be either executed or Cleansed. The place itself is located in the Tyria Head area of the Tower of Harvestasha, right above the Lymph Vessel, and at the base of the tree where the rest of Clustania is lodged.
History[]
Backstory[]
(more coming later on...)
Events during Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel[]
The first time this area is seen is when a Clustanian Reyvateil is taking Katene to the upper areas of the Tower for him to continue his research, while trying to not get caught by the other Clustanians. Katene remarked the place looked pretty normal, while the girl said under her breath that if they could get past the place, everything would go as she planned. However, Akane appeared at that moment, revealing that the girl was actually Mute, who she thought had gone MIA after her last mission. She then showed her disgust to the fact that Mute had brought an Unpurified human into the Tower, and remarked he had seen Katene before, at the Moebius Factory. She then ordered her subordinates to capture him, and send him to the dungeons of the Executive District for later interrogation. However, as they were taking him to the elevator leading to the Executive District, Mute reappeared in her more-known muscular form to try to release him. Akane instantly ordered to have her detained, and despite her strength, she couldn't do much against the many soldiers Akane sent against her. Despite her calmness, Akane showed every bit of anger against Mute for failing at every mission she was assigned, and furthermore, having brought an outsider into Clustania. Mute could only stay silent to this, and then, Akane made official her demotion: from Platoon Leader, she became a Slave Guard; and told her she should be thankful she wasn't expelled from the army.
Imprisoned (Protecting Saki)[]
After they were captured in the Lymph Vessel, Aoto's party was broken up and sent to different cells in this place. Aoto first wondered what was happening to the others, but especially, what had happened to Saki. He bitterly laughed knowing that the Nyamo plan was an utter failure, but at least it meant that she wouldn't be taken back to Archia. Still the situation was pretty bad, and they had to get out of this place and leave for the Rinkernator as fast as possible.
Imprisoned (Protecting Finnel)[]
After they were captured in the Lymph Vessel, Aoto's party was broken up and sent to different cells in this place. Aoto first wondered what was happening to the others, but especially, what had happened to Finnel. She was taken away by Akane, and hoped they weren't torturing her. He cursed at the fact that he was separated from Finnel, and told himself they had to find a way to escape.
Breaking Out[]
Aoto tried to exit the room, but was stopped because the locks notified him that due to his "environmental acclimation level" was only high enough to allow him to be in there, and directed him to examine the Guest Capsule that was placed in the middle of the place. Aoto did so, and reading the instructions in the capsule, he was told to enter it in order to be allowed entrance to Clustania proper. He had a bad feeling about this, but knowing they couldn't dawdle in this place forever, he decided to go through with it. However, before he entered the capsule, a boy entered the room and told him to stop, as that would have killed him off. The boy introduced himself as Totora, and told him the inspections and such other things that the Clustanians did to those who entered the capsules was actually called Purification, or in other words, Cleansing. Aoto was shocked to hear it was the same thing as when the Clustanians destroyed entire cities. Totora explained that this was the meaning the people had given it, but its actual meaning was Purifying people, and that the destruction of the cities was only when they couldn't Purify their inhabitants. He then told Aoto he was pretty lucky, as if he hadn't stopped him, he would be dead now. Totora then unlocked the door and told Aoto to follow him.
Totora explained to Aoto that to move through this place, he would have to use the manholes located in the streets and cells, as many of the streets were blocked off by walls and crates. However, after waking for a while, Aoto noticed that Mute was guarding the place, and hid himself. Totora tried to greet her, but Aoto pulled him back. Totora asked him what was wrong, when he noticed it would be pretty bad if she noticed he wasn't Purified. Aoto asked if that wasn't the case for him too, to which Totora asked if he knew her. Aoto replied she was an hostile acquaintance to him, and wondered what she was doing in this place. Totora explained she was a rather nice prison guard, and that she had saved him and other kids from being Purified, gave them the keys to the sewers, and promised them that she would let them escape to Archia. Aoto wondered why she did all that, but then decided to sneak past her.
After a while exploring, they finally found the cell where Saki was being kept prisoner. Aoto was glad to have found her, while Totora and Saki were both surprised to see each other, as Totora was one of the children that was at the pre-school where Saki worked. Saki asked Totora if he was the only one, to which he replied the other kids were here too, and went out to call her, as they had missed Saki a lot. All of the kids: Totora, Kairi and Rendeisha, were orphans and had lived in the pre-school while Saki was there. However, the pre-school closed shortly after she left, and they were left living in there alone. One day, the Clustanians came and began interrogating them about Saki's whereabouts, to which the kids replied that they didn't knew anything. Despite this, the Clustanians arrested them and brought them to the Slave District. Saki thanked Aoto for having helped them, but it turned out to be the inverse, as if Totora hadn't warned him, he would have become a vegetable by now. Kairi then asked if they were lovers, which made both of them blush violently. Saki decided to change the topic and asked how they managed to get out if Aoto didn't help them. Totora revealed it was because Mute allowed them to escape, and that he would ask her to let them escape too. Aoto told them that wouldn't work, and Saki revealed her surprise to the fact that Mute was the one who saved them. The kids misinterpreted somewhat the reason why Mute wouldn't help Saki and Aoto, but still decided to not tell her anything about them. Aoto told them that he would help them get out, but Totora refused, as he liked Mute quite a bit and he didn't want to leave without saying goodbye to her. The other kids agreed, and asked Saki to promise them they would meet back in Ogai once they had escaped. Saki promised them so, and asked them to be safe until then.
Aoto decided it was time to bust out, while Saki announced it was time for Nyamo to shine again, and that she wouldn't commit the same mistake twice. Aoto faceplanted, and told Saki he would be expecting a lot of her.
A little later, they found Hikari Gojo in other of the cells, who was very glad to see they were safe, and told him to follow them, so they could find Cocona and escape. They then returned to the place Mute was guarding a while ago, and saw she was missing, allowing them to use the manhole she was covering. Using it, they finally reached the cell where Cocona was, and surprisingly, Finnel was with her too. Cocona was surprised to see they had escaped, while Finnel was quite worried, as she had gone to their respective cells but didn't find anyone. Saki was quite relieved to see they were okay, although Hikari Gojo told Finnel he thought she had been sent to the Executive District. Finnel confirmed it, and told him she was ordered to bring them there after their brainwashing was completed. However, she didn't like the idea, and told Aoto to escape with both Saki and Gojo, as security would be more lax in the outskirts of the Slave District. Aoto called her an idiot for suggesting something like that, while Cocona reminded her of the promise she made to Soma: she still had to go and meet Harvestasha. Gojo then asked how to get out of the place, which was a concern Cocona was also having: even if they had Finnel with them, they wouldn't allow them to get away upon noticing they weren't Purified. Aoto suggested to pretend they were by shouting "Glory to Clustania!"
Cocona asked if he was stupid, as they would see right through that act, to which Aoto replied it would be fine as long as they could fool the guards at the entrance. Gojo had his reservations about this plan, but told them it was better than trying to go through their security by force. Likewise, as everyone knew here that Finnel worked directly under Harvestasha's orders, they wouldn't stop her.
Thus, they headed to the elevator that led to the rest of Clustania. However, they were stopped there by Mute and a few guards. Mute asked if they thought they could slip through her guard, to which Finnel replied she had ordwers to bring them to Harvestasha's presence. Mute then asked if they had already been Purified, to which Nyamo replied they were. Mute then asked what was up with the cute... erm, condescending cat head, and got angry thinking they were trying to pull her leg. Everyone then began shouting "Glory to Clustania!" and exclaiming they had been brainwashed, which only enraged Mute further for making her think they were treating her as an utter idiot. Cocona immediately declared the operation had gone "boo", with which the entire party agreed. Mute then declared she would personally kill Aoto, as he had completely ruined her life, and attacked them.
After the battle ended, Mute ran out of energy and transformed back into her true form: the same Reyvateil girl they had seen at the Kniehar Signal Station. Mute angrily explained her muscular form was because of an Hymmnos Extract her father had invented, and that said father was Dr. Laude of the Archia Think Tank. Cocona reacted with displeasure at the mention of that name, which surprised Hikari Gojo. Cocona answered she sort of knew Laude, and made her ask if Gojo knew about him too. He replied that it was natural, as he used to be a very famous researcher at the Archia Think Tank, and that he had passed down the position of Chairman when he retired. Mute laughed at that, and told them that actually Raphael had killed him, and that she joined the Clustanian army to avenge him. Aoto was enraged to hear she had been attacking Saki for such a reason, to which Mute replied that it wasn't an stupid reason, as Saki had been the product of their research. She then bitterly laughed, as letting them escape meant she would be finally expelled from the army, leaving her unable to accomplish her revenge. Aoto then tried to apologize, but she told him to just shut up and that she hated being pitied by others. Gojo then asked her what had happened with Katene, as he knew he had saved Mute back at the Signal Station. Mute explained everything that happened after Katene called Gojo through the Telemo.
He was confined in the Executive District for being the prime suspect for activating the DFP in Ciela Gate, which made Gojo relieved to know he was still alive. Mute was worried about him too, and revealed they were childhood friends, although they hadn't seen each other in ten years. She also revealed she always admired him, and that she was in love with him. but never managed to confess it to him. Upon learning this, Aoto decided to help her out by rescuing Katene, taking advantage of the fact they were going to the Executive District to meet up with Harvestasha. Gojo assured her that they would save Katene, and that he would tell him about the feelings Mute had for him. Mute thanked them, but before they departed, Saki took off her Nyamo helmet, and also thanked Saki for having saved the children. Then, they departed for the upper levels of Clustania. Mute then assured them she would keep the promise she made to the children and help them return to Archia.
Ar Ru?[]
After the party returned from the Rinkernator and Ayatane Kureha tried to force Finnel's unknown persona to surface again, Finnel ran off to this place. When Aoto and his friends arrived at the exit of the Slave District following her before she tried doing something stupid, but she was nowhere to be found. Upon arriving, they noticed that the exit was very crowded, leaving Aoto surprised, but Saki then explained that Mute had released all of the people that was imprisoned here, while Hikari Gojo guessed that Ayatane's aim most likely was manipulating Finnel for something. Katene was glad that Ayatane had focused on them, so Mute had an easier time freeing the prisoners. Gengai then approached them and asked what happened, as they looked so serious. Aoto asked him if he had seen Finnel, to which Gengai had to answer negatively since he was so busy taking care of the prisoners. He suggested Aoto to ask the people who were still around to place in case they had seen something. Aoto decided to obey the advice, and ran off without explaining anything, leaving Gengai very confused.
Unfortunately, they didn't notice that an Archian soldier was in the place, and as soon as he saw them, he immediately went to report it directly to Raphael...
After running for a while, they finally found Finnel, who reached one of the edges of the Tower and jumped off. Fortunately, Cocona jumped on her V-Board and managed to catch Finnel before she had fallen too long from the place. After Cocona brought her back to safety, Aoto went and called her an idiot for doing something like that. Finnel retorted between sobs that if she continue living, Ar Ru would appear and destroy the world, and she didn't want that to happen. Aoto asked her if she knew what it meant to die, to which she answered that she didn't care, as if Ar Ru appeared, she would be done for anyway, and she preferred to die before harming anyone. Aoto screamed at her to make her stop acting in such a way, and declared he would never allow her to die, neither would he allow the Antibody Brain to come and do whatever she wanted to the world. At that moment, Finnel's last strengths faded away and she transformed into the unknown persona as she screamed in pain.
The strange girl then declared she existed in the physical world, and how nostalgic it was to feel everything again. Aoto asked her if she was Ar Ru, but the girl just replied in confusion if that was the name of her new vessel. Aoto ordered her to give the body back to Finnel, but the girl just replied this was her body now, and now she had a chance to visit what she called the "Vale of Tears" in ages, she wouldn't throw that opportunity away. She then ran off to the lift that led to the Lymph Vessel. Once they catched up with her, Aoto ordered her in vain to wait up. However, as they tried to board the lift, the ground began shaking again, and upon looking up, they saw the entirety of Archia's fleet descending upon them.
Raphael then appeared accompanied by several escorts, making Hikari Gojo remark he couldn't have appeared at a worse time than this, while Aoto screamed he was pissing him off. Raphael ignored these words, and fed up with Aoto disobeying his orders, he ordered his escorts to take Saki away, despite her protests. Katene told Aoto he couldn't protect her and Finnel at the same time. Gojo suggested to split the party in two groups, so Aoto had to decide who he would protect this time...
The Super Miracle[]
Aoto stayed with Gojo and Katene, while Cocona went after Finnel. Then, Aoto ordered Raphael to give Saki back. Raphael remarked he didn't know when to give up, and that if he kept doing this, they would have to kill him and his friends for the sake of the world. Aoto told him to shut up, and that he wouldn't give up Saki for his fascist and fake paradise. In order to solve this peacefully, Saki told Aoto she would go to Archia, which made everyone look at her in disbelief. Saki thanked them for their help, but also told them she couldn't continue causing Aoto trouble. Raphael congratulated her for taking such a decision, but Aoto told her that she wasn't causing him any trouble. Mute appeared at that moment, telling Saki she didn't know what she was saying, to then remark that humans and Reyvateils have been bothering each other since 700 years ago, and that's how things were supposed to be. Katene showed concern for the wounds that Mute had sustained from protecting the party back at Tower Block A, but Mute told him that it wasn't nothing, and that she wouldn't be able to rest in peace until she sent Raphael to the other world. Raphael bitterly called her a cockroach, and remarked he would have gotten rid of her had he knew this was going to happen. Mute dared him to do that now, and then offered her assistance to Aoto. Aoto thanked her and drew his weapon. Raphael then ordered his escorts to capture Saki and kill everyone who tried to oppose him. Aoto confidently told him that he wouldn't get away with this, but Saki, fed up with this, began using again her Miracle power, despite the promise she had made Aoto and his protests. The resulting miracle was so powerful that it didn't only turn into cakes the soldiers that were surrounding them: most of the airships that were around the place were also turned into gigantic cakes to then fall into the Sea of Death. However, this took a pretty high toll on Saki and made her fall unconscious.
Seeing her chance, Mute went up to Raphael and told him to say his prayers. However, Raphael turned back and ran away as the coward he was, now he didn't have anyone to guard him. Seeing Saki's condition as critical, Aoto and the party went back to Clustania to take care of her.
At the Inn, Aoto asked Hikari Gojo how Saki was, which he replied it wasn't very good, as she most likely had never used so much power before. Aoto bitterly asked why she had to do that, as she herself said she never wanted to forget anything again. At that moment, Saki woke up to the relief of everyone, Mute and Katene included. However, they had to endure a large shock: the Miracle had completely wiped off Saki's memories, and the only things she could remember now were her own name and that she had to go back to the Archia Think Tank. As she tried stepping out from the room, Aoto grabbed her by the hand, prompting Saki to ask him to let her go. Upon getting asked by Katene, Gojo explained this was the worst case scenario for the outcomes of using the Miracle, but despite not remembering the atrocities the Archians were going to commit, Saki still insisted in going back. Gojo sadly told the others that most likely this was her default setting, and the only memory that remained in her mind was her duty as the Vaccine. Mute asked if they couldn't do anything, as if they left her like that, she would go back to Archia by herself. Katene then had the idea of using the VR21 Dive Machine, which was discovered in the ruins during the times of his father Kiraha. It was a valuable piece of lost technology that would allow them to inspect the collective of her mind and the unseen sides of her subconscious. Aoto asked if this would allow them to reawaken Saki's memories, to which Katene replied it was possible, but in the worst case, they would have to manipulate parts of her memory. Gojo voiced his rejectal to such an extreme measure, to which Katene replied it would be used just as a last resort. Aoto then offered himself to do that Dive if there was an small hope of this working, although Gojo told them that the machine was under Archia's control. Katene told him to not worry, as the machine was actually stashed in the Eternus Shaft, and he could easily open the gate leading to it. Mute complimented Katene for this, and then, Aoto told Saki to go with him. Saki still insisted in going back to Archia, so Aoto had to promise her that he would take her there after they had gone to the Dive Machine. The party then departed for the Eternus Shaft.
A Mysterious Persona[]
Aoto went with Cocona and left Saki to Hikari Gojo and Katene. After apologizing to them for this, he and Cocona followed the mysterious girl into the Lymph Vessel.
Layout[]
The Slave District is mostly made of many narrow alleyways, which interconnect several of the rooms where the prisoners are kept; and the sewers that spread under the complex. However, there are also some shops to make treading through this place easier, and some Save Circles as well. Some areas of both the surface and the sewers are blocked off due to walls or grates, so the player will have to carefully navigate through both areas in order to get out of here.
Maps[]
Treasures[]
- Gold Material
- Gold Material
- ?Mode Clothes?
- Stress Doll
- Anti-Grav Gloves
- Shockback Band
- Soul Charger
- Inverse Chip
- Platinum Material
- Platinum Material
- ?Sowing Machine?
- ?Roller Skates?
- Heart Apron
- Soul Charger
- V-Style: Extra Issue
- Spark Stick
- ?Freaky V-Board?
Number of Treasure Chests in this Area: 17
Enemies[]
- Furia Model I (from Phase 4 onwards)
- Furia Model I-B (from Phase 4 onwards)
- Furia Model II (from Phase 4 onwards)
- Advanced RT B (until Phase 3)
- Advanced RT C (until Phase 3)
- Light RT A (until Phase 3)
Number of Random Encounters in this Area: 10
Encounter Rate: Low
Bosses[]
- Mute and Light RT B
Talk Topics[]
- Bad Environment
- I'm Scared If it Rains
- Dive Machine?
Party Topics[]
- Cocona's Plans (only after the second encounter with Ayatane in Module Harvestasha. Triggered by talking to the man in room #5)