No need to look for me. I've always been here.

Those in the dark cannot show you the way, nor can they see where you point. Don't tarry here, it's time for you to leave...

Under this mask, even I do not recognize myself.

This is Ms. Christine. I don't know where she came from, nor do I know when she will leave. If she likes you, she will approach you on her own... Yes, just as she's doing right now.

In the past, I was not lonely. I once had several friends, and we traveled all over as a theatre troupe. But when Oripathy broke out, everything drew to a close, and everything began...

This darkness is a refuge, a throne, and Paradise above all. The spirits of the dead have never left, and I've cursed the world from atop their bones... You see me as I am now. Do you still wish to hear my song? Do you still dare... to stand before me?

This device embedded above my throat presses against my neck, but it is exactly what I need. Like a mask does, it conceals my sins and my voice. You'd like to hear my real voice? No, you can't. It isn't something you ought to bear...

My song ended all of their lives. It came, that endless night, the song that would not stop, the quivering falsetto and organ fragments that expelled from a throat—it horrified them, suffocated them, but it was so... miraculous. Doctor, tell me. What in the world is it... that I do?

I can end many lives for you, but I first need you to confirm that I am awake. Something is trying to influence me. It doesn't want me to leave the stage. It wants my song to echo forever... and it wants me to kill you. Before I play the role of your assassin once more, I must discover the truth.

The shadows have never left your side, even without the night. Do be careful of your untimely somnolence, Doctor.

Code name, Phantom. The Phantom Behind the Curtain, Treasurer of the Night. Tell me, who are your enemies, and where do they hide?

Killing is not an end, but a means.

As you wish. You are the one who sets Rhodes Island's tune, and you require neither guide nor guardian... Yes, I know all too well, you are your own master.

There is no looking back after this step, no turning back. What I am about to share with you is not as wonderful as you may believe... Come, come here, and allow me to show you what lies beneath the veil of night.

Is it time for me to take the stage?

I am no stranger to giving guidance.

I'll do as you say...

Let us raise the curtains on this play.

I'm with you.

So, let us sink into the night.

I come from the shadows.

Hear my voice. Hear my song.

Do you see your own face in the mirror?

The actors are all puppets of the script.

The guilty... will be punished.

Yes, lift your voices! Sing for me! Sing for me!

Is this the victory your leadership has brought about...?

It is over. Victory is not sweet, as conflict always leaves an aftertaste.

They escaped. Fortunate for them... and perhaps for me as well.

Fall back... You've already lost your way.

Hm? Behind this mirror, there seems...

What is it?

The sound of these footsteps... It's you, Doctor.

Arknights.

Is time's passage so worthy of celebration? Is it truly within our power to bid adieu to the past? It may be all too ironic that one like I, draped in misfortune, should wish you well... but as the New Year beckons, the shadows shall continue to keep to your back.

The shadow behind you looks heavier than it was yesterday, Doctor.

A role who deviates from the script cannot exist, nor may a shadow hide forever in the night. Rhodes Island—are you to be the stage I next take...? I only hope that this time, it is by your hands the curtains are brought down.