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A Terminal Invitation

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A Terminal Invitation

Quest giver
Y'shtola
Location
Living Memory (X:21.4, Y:36.8)
Quest line
Post-Dawntrail Main Scenario Quests
┗ The New Dawn Quests
Level
100
Experience
Experience 0
Gil
Gil 6,000
Previous quest
Main Scenario Quest One of Our Own
Next quest
Main Scenario Quest Blades in Waiting
Patch
7.3
Links
EDB GT TC

Main Scenario Progress: 976 / 978 (99.8%)

   

Dawntrail Progress: 123 / 125 (98.4%)

   

Y'shtola would proceed to the Meso Terminal.

— In-game description


Rewards

Unlocks

Steps

Journal

  • Y'shtola would proceed to the Meso Terminal.
  • Following a brief reunion with your companions by the aetheryte in Living Memory, Y'shtola deems the party assembled and ready to proceed. The darkened Meso Terminal looms in the distance, awaiting your approach.
  • Upon arriving at the foot of the terminal, Sphene relives her recent awakening. She gives thanks to those who have preserved the spirit of her beloved Alexandria, past and present, and together you reaffirm your commitment to fighting against Calyx's callous designs. The opening in the structure's wall glitters with golden energy, inviting you to venture within and confront the architect of Alexandria's mounting mortal dilemma...
※To enlist your companion NPCs for this duty, speak with them near the entrance or access Duty Support via the main menu. Use the Duty Finder if you wish to complete the instance alongside fellow players.
  • You have defeated the Endless entities Calyx has sent against you and secured a path to the Meso Terminal's upper reaches. Now you must ascend to the structure's pinnacle, there to bring an end to this calculated confrontation.
※In the event that you leave the area, you may return via the entrance at the foot of the Meso Terminal.
  • Calyx commends you on your perseverance in reaching him. As you persist in refusing to yield the key, however, he proceeds to summon an entity designed for the sole purpose of defeating you. The chamber darkens with an innervating chill, and the fear of inevitable death flowing from Alexandria's enthralled citizens feeds the manifestation of a terrifying primal being. Though the device holding Calyx's memories is tantalizingly close, you must first contend with this horror whose grasp promises naught but eternal darkness.
※In the event that you leave the area, you may return via the entrance at the foot of the Meso Terminal.
※To enlist your companion NPCs for this duty, speak with them near the entrance or access Duty Support via the main menu. Use the Duty Finder if you wish to complete the instance alongside fellow players.
  • Fighting as one, you triumph over the summoned primal, and you feel the pall of fear lift from your beleaguered hearts. It is time to bring an end to Calyx's Endless ambitions, and return with your companions to the promenades of Living Memory.
  • You strike against the memory bank, only to discover it is shielded by a powerful barrier. As Calyx mocks your efforts, the air grows heavy, the weight of mortal dread once more pressing down upon you. In a dry, academic tone, Calyx explains that the experience of death has only strengthened his creation─that it will rise, again and again, until the lightning aether suffusing his ravaged world is drained to its last spark. However, his promise of enduring memories prompts Sphene to recall the true meaning of those words and the comfort they were meant to offer. With Shale's help, she broadcasts a message of hope across Alexandria, buoying the citizens and interrupting the flow of prayer to the primal. Taking advantage of its momentary weakness, your party divides its efforts, with one half battling the entity, and the other working to bring down the barrier protecting the device. Wuk Lamat and Sphene's combined attack finally shatters the energy shield, while Alisaie delivers the killing blow to your enfeebled enemy. Calyx can only monitor the progress of his memory transfer in silent desperation as you spring into action, your decisive strike causing the memory bank to erupt in a spectacular explosion. In the wake of this destruction, Calyx has winked out of existence, and an exhausted Wuk Lamat collapses to the ground, her promise fulfilled.
  • You exit the terminal with the unconscious Wuk Lamat, and Alphinaud concludes that his patient will survive to see another morrow─though she will be spending that day and many others resting abed. With Preservation no longer a threat, he offers to remain behind until Vow Koana comes to retrieve her. Meanwhile, you and your comrades must return to the outskirts, and begin the task of putting Alexandria and its people back to rights.
  • In the aftermath of the primal summoning, it becomes clear that all who adopted the neo regulators have fallen under the entity's sway. Alexandria's government and citizens have come together to bring the afflicted into custody, but it may help ease Sphene's mind to see the state of the people firsthand.

Dialogue

Accepting the quest

Y'shtola: I believe everyone determined to be here is present and accounted for. Shall we make our way to the terminal?
Y'shtola: We wouldn't wish to keep our insistent host waiting.

Optional Dialogue

Alisaie: So this is where the former queen's memories were stored.
Alisaie: And she herself tried to erase them... Even as an Endless, her resolve was so strong that she would kill her heart to become the cold machine she believed she needed to be.
Y'shtola: Living Memory is steeped in the dense lightning aether of the Ninth. This pervasive energy must be what the terminal utilizes as a power source.
Sphene: I remember little of my awakening. The paralysis yet lingered, and my eyes could barely focus...
G'raha Tia: When we shut down all the minor terminals, we watched as the Endless faded away. I do not believe that was a performance staged to deceive us.
G'raha Tia: As for the Meso Terminal, however... It had already grown dark by the time we had returned from the virtual domain.
G'raha Tia: While I am loath to admit it, 'tis possible its true appearance was hidden from us in our absence. Which is why we must bring this tale to its denouement by our own hand.
Krile: It hadn't occurred to me that one might physically enter the terminal. Although I suppose it makes sense when you think about it. A structure for creating Endless would have required maintenance administered by corporeal hands.
Alphinaud: An Endless existence for the evolution of mankind... I understand what he strives for, but not what drives him to do so with such ruthlessness.

Speak with Wuk Lamat (cutscene)

Wuk Lamat: Well, here we are again, facing another battle to decide Alexandria's fate.
Sphene: For four centuries I slept here. Upon awakening, I found the world as I knew it had changed.
Sphene: I was so frightened at first. I couldn't recognize a single thing, and thought everything I loved had gone to dust.
Sphene: Yet beneath the unfamiliar surface, much remained the same.
Sphene: For that, I give thanks to Otis and Zelenia and their royal knights, who lay their lives on the line to defend our way of life.
Sphene: I thank every Alexandrian, who believed in our future and passed on our legacy.
Sphene: I thank my other self, who so loved this kingdom of ours.
Sphene: And I thank you all, for kindling this hope in my heart. This courage to take up arms and fight once more.
Sphene: So let us make our stand together, and fight for what we hold dear.
Endless Sphene: The kind and gentle Queen Sphene was too weak to serve her people. And so she will serve them no more.
Endless Sphene: Freed from conscience, I shall become a ruler that can protect Alexandria. A devourer of worlds.
What will you say?
> Together we stand. Together we fight.
> We will rise to the challenge that the Endless Sphene could not.
< Together we stand. Together we fight. >
Sphene: You have my gratitude. And surely Otis and Zelenia will join us in spirit.
< We will rise to the challenge that the Endless Sphene could not. >
Sphene: That we shall. Her wish to see Alexandria endure is one I am happy to fulfill.
Wuk Lamat: Let's head inside and finish this.
Krile: In the upper reaches of this terminal awaits the device which holds Calyx's memories. It falls to us to make the climb and destroy it once and for all.
G'raha Tia: Aye, we must bring matters to a definitive end. We'll not suffer him to cause Alexandria further harm nor claim the key.
Y'shtola: The queen entrusted it to Forename for good reason. And besides, 'twould be a tragedy indeed to relinquish a relic with so much research potential.
Alisaie: Apparently, Calyx thinks he's taken your measure. I urge you to correct that misguided assumption!
Alphinaud: I wholeheartedly concur, yet would still counsel caution. That he would be so bold as to extend us an invitation bespeaks tremendous confidence in his preparations.
Sphene: Come, friends. We set forth, into the midst of dreaming Endless.

Optional Dialogue

Alisaie: I really do think you take on too much from too many people. And yet...it's never the wrong choice.
Alisaie: The queen gave you the key for a reason, so I'll be damned if I let Calyx steal it!
Y'shtola: Calyx's scheme to forfeit flesh to gain immortality calls to mind the Ea. Not that informing him of their fate would do much to dissuade him.
Y'shtola: “Convinced though you may be of this truth, it is yours and not mine. And no conclusion of yours, no matter how grim, can dampen my desire”...
Y'shtola: Such was my reply to the Ea's warnings. So I know a little something of refusing to listen save when confronted with incontrovertible proof of my error.
Sphene: The Alexandria of today has seen countless lives come and go. My other self took their grief and fear and rage upon herself in service to our kingdom.
Sphene: Around me are gathered those willing to give their all to fulfill the promise they made to her. How can I do any less?
Sphene: Alexandrians must be free to believe that more than sadness awaits them... That tomorrow can be better than today.
Wuk Lamat: As the Vow of Resolve, or even as just a comrade, I see myself making a lot of promises.
Wuk Lamat: I mean to honor every last one of them...starting with the oath I swore to the Endless Sphene. Even if it's just a memory, I want to think of her smiling at that promise kept.
G'raha Tia: 'Tis beyond knowing how Calyx has advanced his plans for Endless conversion for the past four hundred years.
G'raha Tia: I do know, however, that pursuing an objective for lengthy spans requires an unyielding will─especially when that objective entails changing the world as we know it.
G'raha Tia: Calyx is a foe possessed of both considerable focus and resolve. We would do well to recognize him as such.
Krile: If my parents were indeed executed by Preservation, for me this will not only be a fight for the greater good. This will be justice.
Krile: If I'm to add an addendum to Grandfather's account of the golden city, then let it be a rousing good one, eh?
Alphinaud: We have no idea what Calyx may have planned for us. Alisaie and I have prepared for every eventuality, yet still...
Alphinaud: ...Nay, you must be free to lead our charge unhindered by doubt. As you press onwards, we shall guard the flanks.

Post-dungeon voiced cutscene

Wuk Lamat: Sphene...?
Sphene: The Endless he sent against us... They were from the time of the Storm Surge, before I was placed into stasis.
Y'shtola: As far as we know, the only sector to escape the shutdown was the one containing Calyx's memories.
Y'shtola: Assuming a chronological system, every other memory stored in that sector would belong to people who lived around the same period in history as he did.
Sphene: Calyx... How long have you pursued this madness...?
Alphinaud: We seem to have exhausted his defenses for the moment. I say we take advantage of this lull to press on.
Wuk Lamat: Calyx!
Calyx: Well done. I commend your perseverance.
Calyx: The entirety of my memories are stored within this device.
Calyx: In the early stages of Endless creation, we established several core tenets. One is a prohibition on memory duplication.
Calyx: Despite the inherent risks, I agree and abide by this. Memories are the essence of the self, and should not be diluted.
Calyx: We each have our goals. You seek to destroy your target. I seek to reclaim the key.
Calyx: Shall we forgo the posturing and begin?
Sphene: Do not doubt that we are here to fight, and I do not mean to lose.
Sphene: Yet as one born of the same era, I must ask...
Sphene: Why do you pursue your evolution with such fervor? What do you hope to achieve with this eternal existence?
Calyx: Your question is meaningless.
Calyx: I have ascertained a superior path to mankind's preservation. And that which must be done is that which I can do.
Calyx: What other reason do I require?
Calyx: Surely you have seen it. Traditional survival strategies are at odds with an increasingly complex society, leading to a breakdown of order.
Calyx: This course promises no liberation from pointless conflicts or inane tragedies. Physical traits do not to represent the limit of our potential─why then should we relinquish that potential when our hearts cease to beat?
Calyx: I realized it was past time that we corrected our heading. Nothing more.
Sphene: Even then, you were always so single-minded.
Sphene: I, too, have a vision for the future, and your plan is not a part of it.
Sphene: I won't let you harm another Alexandrian!
Calyx: Then fight we must. Thankfully, the entity I now summon will make short work of you and your comrades.
Y'shtola: A summoning!?
Wuk Lamat: What now...?
Wuk Lamat: What... What was that!?
Wuk Lamat: A chill...? No, something else... I feel so cold...so weak...
Calyx: Across Alexandria, a certain emotion is taking hold.
Calyx: The fear of death. Terror for the eternal darkness that will, without fail, engulf the lives of every living thing.
Calyx: Allow me to introduce it to you.
Manic Citizen: I got it... I got one!
Manic Citizen: Four thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine. That's how many people he said they were up to!
Manic Citizen: I made it just in time. Now to register...
Manic Citizen: Death can't touch me now. I'm free of all that crushing fear forever...
Public Announcement: Congratulations to all who have acquired a neo regulator.
Public Announcement: We have reached our total of five thousand registered users. The day of deliverance you were promised will soon be upon us.
Robbed Citizen: Give it back...
Manic Citizen: I don't want to die... I don't want to die...
Robbed Citizen: You think that's what I want!?
Public Announcement: Remember now. Remember your fear of dying.
Public Announcement: That terror will carry you across the threshold─make of you an Endless. Your prayers will birth a miracle which commands death itself.
Robbed Citizen: What in the...?
Robbed Citizen: What's going on!?
Calyx: Securing the requisite aether is simple. I need only reroute lightning energy from Living Memory.
Calyx: Then, I encourage the populace to define its form through hope and thought and prayer.
Calyx: Such an abstract method, however, is rife with unpredictable elements. What I wanted was an entity that could defeat you with utmost certainty.
Calyx: To that end, I set strict parameters for a “concept” of my own design.
Calyx: It was a laborious task, one that required almost more time than I had. But I managed it in the end.
Calyx: And now, everything is in readiness. I bid you, come forth!
Sphene: What...what is that?
Y'shtola: A primal summoning, and one defined by a concept no less... How did he learn such techniques...?
Alisaie: Keep these close!
Alphinaud: That is a false deity, brought into being through the prayers of the desperate and the hopeful. The talismans will protect your minds from being enthralled.
Calyx: Do you still mean to stand against me?
What will you say?
> I mean to win. The key will never be yours!
> You have much to answer for...
Calyx: Hmph.
< I mean to win. The key will never be yours! >
Calyx: That remains to be seen.
< You have much to answer for... >
Calyx: Assuming you win. The defeated ask no questions.

Optional Dialogue

Krile: It all finally makes sense. Those mechanical rampages were not orchestrated solely for the purpose of harvesting aether.
Krile: They were intended to heighten the collective fear of death, that the primal manifested by the people's terror would be that much more powerful...
Sphene: What is he saying? That the fears of everyone in Alexandria gave birth to this...this horror?
Alisaie: The summoning ritual alone made my blood run cold. Like I was halfway to becoming a corpse...
Y'shtola: So, 'tis a primal which embodies the concept of death in all its terror. He has made manifest a most troublesome foe.
Alphinaud: As I feared, I was right to bring spare warding scales. Against the threat of a primal, we must take advantage of every warrior we can field.
Wuk Lamat: I don't care if that thing is a waking nightmare! Let's send it back into the darkness, Forename!
G'raha Tia: An abundance of lightning would indeed obviate the need for crystals. I should like to know whence Calyx came by this summoning knowledge.

Post-trial voiced cutscene

Wuk Lamat: Is it over...?
Y'shtola: Now, the memory bank!
Alisaie: It's shielded!
Calyx: I invited you to destroy it. I did not say I would let you.
Calyx: It is clear your strength cannot be gauged by ordinary means.
Calyx: ...But I anticipated as much.
Sphene: What did you do to it!?
Calyx: The ignorance is almost laughable. You do not understand that you yourselves are to blame.
Calyx: You brought death to my creation.
Calyx: What do you suppose happens when a being manifested by the fear of dying experiences that terror firsthand? It grows stronger.
Wuk Lamat: I feel it again... That same...weakness...
Calyx: It will rise again and again, until the lightning which infuses this entire world has been drained to its last spark. You fight a losing battle.
Wuk Lamat: Gods...damn you!
Calyx: Harnessed in this manner, does it not demonstrate just how powerful mankind's aversion to death truly is?
Calyx: You will not prevail against this foe. I, meanwhile, will continue my crusade against mortality.
Calyx: So long as our memories endure, we may live on... That is the promise I offer.
Sphene: “So long as our memories endure”...?
Sphene: This is wrong, Calyx. You twist the meaning of those words.
Sphene: They are not meant to teach the living that physical death is nothing to fear.
Sphene: They are meant to offer comfort to those we leave behind.
Sphene: I know that litany, all too well! I heard it time and time again over the course of the war...
Sphene: Help me, Shale! I must speak to Alexandria. Make my voice heard!
Erenville: Naahe, don't you recognize me!? Naahe!
Lithander: What's happening!? What's wrong with them!?
Malachite: What will become of us...?
Sphene: Fellow Alexandrians... Please, heed my words.
Lithander: What now? Another broadcast?
Malachite: I know that voice...
Sphene: Death can be frightening and terrible... I understand the desire to forget─to seek eternal life and be freed from fear.
Sphene: Yet we live in this world in the here and now, the bearers of memories varied and rich.
Sphene: Our worries can weigh heavy, and there may be nights when the darkness feels like more than we can bear...
Sphene: But if we can endure those dark hours, the world will always brighten come the dawn.
Sphene: And in the chill of that new morning will the memories of loved ones be there to warm us and carry us forward.
Sphene: So do not forget their passing... Let them be our courage. Fear not a life well lived.
Sphene: For one day, the memories we leave behind will be the warmth another needs when their morning finds them...
Calyx: What is this...reaction?
Calyx: An irregular factor in the equation.
Calyx: Eliminate her.
Wuk Lamat: No you don't!
Calyx: Memories cannot be duplicated...but they can be transferred.
Y'shtola: Leave the primal to us! Hurry and take care of that memory bank!
Wuk Lamat: Hyaaah!
Sphene: Wuk Lamat!
Wuk Lamat: I gave her my word!
Wuk Lamat: I promised I would protect her people!
Sphene: And we will protect them. Together!
Alisaie: The others!
Alphinaud: Careful, you're badly hurt. You'd be lucky if you only broke a bone or two.
Alphinaud: It won't be long until your fever rises. We need to see you back to Tuliyollal, and into the care of a chirurgeon.
Wuk Lamat: I kept...my promise...
Sphene: Thank you...Lamaty'i.

Optional Dialogue

Y'shtola: Let us bask in the victory a moment, shall we? We can take stock once we've had a chance to recuperate.
G'raha Tia: Phew... 'Tis good to be out of that terminal. But what of you? No injuries or lingering ill effects?
Alisaie: After dealing that last blow, I hadn't a drop of aether left to spend! Thank you for seeing it through to the end.
Krile: I believe Calyx was working to transfer his memories at the end there, but he vanished at the exact moment the device exploded. We must have stopped him just in time...
Sphene: It's finally over...

Speak with Alphinaud (cutscene)

Alphinaud: She has yet to regain consciousness, but worry not─Lamaty'i will be fine.
Alphinaud: I've been in touch with Vow Koana, and he has made arrangements to convey her home. By which he means to come and fetch Lamaty'i himself, apparently. Given the extent of her injuries and exertions, she'll likely spend many days abed.
Sphene: Oh, Wuk Lamat...
Alisaie: You just can't help yourself, can you? Like a certain someone. That said...we couldn't have done it without you.
Krile: And once she had the barrier down, you saw to it that Calyx's stored memories were destroyed along with the memory bank.
Krile: Which means Preservation is no more, I pray.
Sphene: No longer will Calyx dictate the course of our people...
Sphene: No longer will our grief be locked away or forgotten...
Sphene: The freedom to feel joy and sadness─to feel all that we are meant to experience─is in the hands of Alexandrians once more.
Sphene: I can never thank you enough!
Y'shtola: When we are rested and ready, we shall have to conduct a thorough investigation into how Calyx came to know that summoning ritual.
G'raha Tia: Aye, for where there are primals, the Ascians are ne'er far.
Alphinaud: And we must consider that those who offered up prayers during the summoning may very well have fallen under the entity's sway...
Alphinaud: I shall wait here with our patient until Vow Koana arrives. Feel free to go on ahead and attend to Alexandria's needs in the meantime.
Alisaie: Yes, we should get going. I'll contact Shale en route and ask for an update on the situation in the city.
Sphene: Shall we make for the outskirts first, then? We can check on things there before heading into Everkeep.

Optional Dialogue

Alphinaud: I expect I shan't be waiting long. After hearing of Lamaty'i's injuries, Koana sounded fit to launch himself here by siege engine.
Y'shtola: No signs of recent violence. The soldiers have been behaving, at least.
Krile: Thank goodness... Things are much calmer than I anticipated.
G'raha Tia: I've given Sphene an abridged explanation of primals and their enthralling influence. Too much detail would overwhelm her.
Alisaie: I was able to speak with Shale and Erenville. I'll share the news with everyone in just a moment.

Speak with Sphene in the outskirts

Sphene: Forename... Everyone has been teaching me what it means to be enthralled by a primal...
Sphene: The outskirts seem untouched by trouble, as far as I can tell, but... What if something awful has happened!?
Alisaie: Deep breaths, Sphene. Erenville and Shale have brought me up to speed.
Alisaie: First off... Just as we'd feared, those who adopted the neo regulators appear to have been enthralled.
Alisaie: So far, however, they've not shown any hostility towards others. I suspect this was due to the calming effect of your broadcast.
Alisaie: Government administrators are presently working with the rest of the citizenry to bring the afflicted into the care of the authorities, and I'm happy to report that this seems to be proceeding in a largely peaceful manner.
Alisaie: ...Which is all well and good, but the city officials are understandably requesting an explanation of events. Raha, Krile, would you be able to handle that?
G'raha Tia: Certainly! We shall return to aid with the treatment efforts forthwith.
Krile: Meanwhile, might I suggest you look in on the people you fought so very hard to save? It may ease your mind to see the fruits of your efforts firsthand!
Sphene: Thank you again... How very fortunate we are to have you as our allies.

Optional Dialogue

Y'shtola: If every person who was equipped with a neo regulator was affected, then we have no less than five thousand patients. Even with an army of trained mages, rehabilitation may take many moons...
Y'shtola: And yet this is a best-case scenario. The fact that we even have the capability to exorcise a primal's influence would have been unthinkable not so long ago.
Krile: Let Raha and I brief the officials on what to expect. I think Sphene might like to have you nearby for a little while longer.
G'raha Tia: It has never been easy for me to explain primal summoning to the layman in a clear, concise manner... But 'tis a skill I must hone if I'm to uphold the Students of Baldesion's good name.
Alisaie: Once I've had a look around, I'll go and assist with the treatment of the enthralled. We'll have to mobilize Angelo and all his siblings!

Trivia

  • The scene of the player character destroying the memory bank will vary depending on the player's current job, which is a first in the history of the game. Consequently, it cannot be viewed while playing as a Blue Mage.