Ortho and Idia

Ortho’s “burst gear” was inspired by a need to expose overheating circuits to air, designed (by Ortho’s request) to look like the ceremonial robes worn by the other students.

Ortho asks Idia if they might be able to dress up and take a picture together in the Mirror Chamber, as they didn’t have the chance when Idia first enrolled.

Idia reluctantly agrees out of guilt (“Don’t look at me like that! Okay, okay, I-I got this!”), only to immediately regret it.

On the day of the opening ceremonies Ortho is too excited to wait for Idia to finish getting ready and goes to the main campus by himself, excited to look just like his brother.

He runs into Vil who compliments his look (but does not say “Shroud,” as was added to Vil’s dialogue on EN. Vil never refers to anyone by just their last name.)

Idia manages to leave his room but begins to panic and goes into the courtyard to calm down.

He runs into Malleus, who is unaware that the ceremonies are even happening, and says that Idia’s look “may be considered ‘weird’…I simply cannot understand the meaningless things humans do at times.”

Vil encourages Ortho to go to the ceremony by himself but Ortho insists, “I wanna create real memories with Idia. With me the way I am now, I mean. That’s why I wanted to go to a major Night Raven College event with him—to share an experience we can only have right here and now.”

Ortho goes to look for Idia and finds him conversing with Malleus.

At first he is excited (“Does Idia have a friend!?”), but then Idia runs away from Malleus, back to Ignihyde.

Idia reflects that “Ortho would’ve been really sad to see me like that…so this is a good thing! I’m sure Ortho’s having a great time at orientation all by himself. He was so excited for it, after all.”

But Ortho then shows up at his door to apologize, saying “It’s okay. I’ll always be with you.”

The incident is revealed to have been a flashback, instigated by Grim asking why Ortho has a body that looks like the ceremonial robes.

Ortho lies and says, “There isn’t any particular reason. I just thought it’d be cool.”

Ortho is often complimenting Idia, saying he is “amazing,” “more than cool” and that he is “super proud” of every one of the bodies that Idia has designed for him.

Idia says that he initially turned down the position of Housewarden, but then Ortho asked if there was anyone more capable, and “then it hit me—he was right. There’s no one in Ignihyde who’s smarter or more competent than I am.”

After Malleus’ overblot Ortho checks on Idia first out of everyone, and when Silver and Sebek are crushing Idia between them it is Ortho who asks them to give him space.

We learn in Book 7 that despite how Ortho has had his own room (with roommates) since the end of Book 6, his maintenance station is still set up in Idia’s room.

Ortho’s father cautions him about making contact with Idia within Idia’s dream world, as there is a chance that Idia would reject him: “Your maintenance station was gone from his room. Surely you can put together what that signifies. This could be deeply unpleasant for you.”

The Director shares his plan of reaching out to “a professional with a PhD in psychology” to try and avoid as much confusion as possible, but Ortho says he will be fine as Idia will most likely greet him with, “A handsome young humanoid is asking me for help from inside my computer?! I’ve read literally 500 million light novels with this exact premise! Is it finally time for me to be the chosen one?!”

Ortho is proven correct.

Ortho appears in Idia’s dream in-person in order to save him, triggering a paradox as his very existence compromises Idia’s world. Ortho swears to do whatever it takes to save him.

During his Master Chef class Ortho decides to use his Cooking Gear to help improve Idia’s diet.

Ortho buys apple-core-flavored candy and a postcard for Idia at Playfulland, and in Clock Town he buys potato chips that can only be bought locally for Idia to eat while gaming.

Ortho will often mention Idia in conversation: when discussing detail-oriented people Epel suggests that performing delicate work might make someone have a delicate personality as well and Ortho comments, “My brother is a wiz with technology…but he’s not like that at all.”

He also quotes Idia during the Rabbit Run race, saying, “As my brother would say, the dungeon’s not really beat until you’ve sprung all the traps,” and says that he cannot wait to tell Idia about the experience.

Ortho says that it is difficult for him to make things from scratch, so he really respects people who are able to do so, and especially Idia.

Even before Book 6 there were hints that Idia is living with the guilt of what he did to original Ortho as a child, asking in a vignette what he was trying to accomplish by equipping Ortho with so many different functions. “Installing the latest medical tools in you now can’t change the past…”

But Ortho insists that he likes how handy his body is. “I can do lots of stuff regular people can’t!”

Ortho can be protective of Idia: our first introduction to Ortho in the main story is instigated by Ortho crossing a room to scold Cater and Grim for gossiping about Idia, saying, “He’s not desperately lonely or anything, okay?”

He accepts Cater’s apology with, “I just don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea about Idia.”

When Ace wonders aloud if Idia does not have any friends who would be willing to help him out during Phantom Bride Ortho responds, “Can we PLEASE focus on the mission and stop dissecting my brother’s lifestyle?”

After explaining to Kalim that Idia canceled plans to play outside after ranking lower than expected in a video game Kalim responds, “Spending quality time with your sibling is way more important than some game.”

Ortho immediately defends Idia, saying, “Don’t diss my big bro! Idia’s nice and smart and the best brother ever. He’s just…kind of an oddball.”

Ortho is concerned about looking for the missing students during Spectral Soiree alone, but says, “I’ll do whatever it takes to get Idia back!”

When Idia goes missing during Vargas Camp, Ortho abandons his responsibilities to search for him.

Idia refusing to spend time with Ortho (despite previous plans or promises) is not unusual.

Ortho has a voice line about inviting Idia outside to play Spelldrive for some exercise, “but he said no…again.” We also see Ortho invite Idia to spend time together on a Saturday where Idia refuses in favor of plans with Muscle Red, and Idia being very tempted to refuse to join in the Spectral Soiree Halloween party, but “…considering everything you did for me today, it’s hard to say no…”

Despite his role in trying to get Idia to interact with others (re: tricking him into going to Epel’s hometown alone and leaving him to his own devices during Vargas Camp 2) Ortho seems to have issues with forcing Idia to do things against his will, and he is very much aware of it.

Despite his eagerness for Wish Upon a Star Ortho says he doesn’t want to force Idia to perform if he really doesn’t want to despite his desperation to create new memories.

Ortho says, “If another ceremony comes up, could you drag my brother here, even if he’s kicking and screaming? I’d probably cave in and relent…”

Ortho also makes sure Idia fulfills his punishment during Vargas Camp 2.

Much like how he does not acquiesce to Ortho’s every invitation to spend time together, Idia also refuses to provide Ortho with the ability to walk, even upon request.

Ortho explains that he wants to join the other students playing soccer in the school yard and running on the ground, which he cannot do with his anti-gravity legs.

Idia refuses because “Floating around is every guy’s dream!…Walking is so analogue. Total NPC stuff. Flying is for heroes.”

(A conversation with his brother about becoming heroes was the catalyst behind the incident that killed original-Ortho.)

Ortho is not convinced, however, and goes to the library to look up sneakers in a fashion magazine. Ortho is visited by Jade and Floyd and explains how he wants to try walking on the ground, but Idia has forbidden it.

Floyd and Jade agree that they “cannot let this slide” and they “gotta teach him just how wrong he is,” with Jade saying that he seems “to recall a rather fascinating snippet of information about Idia.”

Three days later Ortho has been equipped with legs without an anti-gravity unit, enabling him to jump on the ground and “do everything I’ve ever wanted to do.”

Ortho is delighted, and Jade and Floyd assure Idia that his secret is safe. In a voice line Ortho says that he received a pair of limited edition sneakers from Floyd for his birthday.

There is an interesting parallel to this situation during Tsumsted: the tsum shows interest in being able to fly like Ortho, and Idia agrees to craft an external attachment for it.

With a control system of Ortho’s design (and his help with identifying multilayer board misprints) Idia crafts an antigravity unit for the tsum that operates at 96% energy efficiency, but tries to excuse himself from testing.

Ortho offers to carry him and Idia relents, despite having not gotten any sleep the night before.

They follows the tsum’s lead, flying above the clouds, and while the tsum is delighted Idia falls asleep mid-flight. Ortho is happy that the tsum gave him the chance to go flying with his brother.

Ortho has additional overlap with Jade and Floyd during Playfulland, joining them in a group with Vil. After the spending part of the day with them Ortho talks about inviting them out again to go bowling and play ping-pong.

In a voice line Ortho talks about Jade telling him stories based on the exhibits in a museum.

Vil and Crewel invite Ortho to participate in Fairy Gala IF, and when they appear in Ignihyge Idia responds, “Danger, Ortho, danger! Run!”

Ortho explains that Idia was against his participation, but eventually conceded after being pleaded with enough.

When Ortho is met with the crisis of coming up with an original idea for the fashion show Ace recommends that he discuss the problem with Idia, but Ortho insists he wants to challenge himself: “I don’t want my brother to tell me what I should think.”

Ace responds, “Yeah, I had a feeling you’d say that.”

After coming up with his idea Ortho then refuses to confide in Idia, though Idia insists, “If the choice is between missing out on spring and putting Ortho in danger, I’d skip spring ever time. We can still call this off, you know.”

Idia panics during the show as well and when he insists that he has faith in Ortho (despite how he sounds), Crewel responds, “Then let’s hear some encouragement.”

Idia follows with a quiet, “Your big bro knows you can do it,” referring to himself with the same word that human-Ortho did when he was alive rather than the word that robot-Ortho uses to refer to him (more here ->)

Ortho is the driving force behind Fairy Gala, coming up with the idea of doing an illusion during the event that utilizes his projection mapping abilities and using the Fairy Queen as their volunteer (“Every living creature has lapses in judgement when they’re excited. It’s the perfect time to do something sneaky”).

Silver, Jack and Ace all agree with Ortho’s plan, but Vil is unimpressed by Ortho’s runway walk, which he devises by replicating the motions of models in videos of past fashion shows.

Vil instructs Ortho to come up with something original and, when Ortho asks how, Vil refuses to answer. (“I want to hear YOUR thoughts on the matter. Don’t just parrot something you found online.”)

The problem becomes something of a crisis for Ortho, but Vil is unconcerned as a “rather thoughtful classmate” goes to his aid: Ace. Ace gathers the rest of the first years (and Sebek invites himself), and their conversations inspire Ortho.

Ortho struggles with understanding that humans require food and rest, but his interpretation of the gala theme of “evolution” is a great success with the fairies.

Jack accidentally compromises the illusion that enabled them to steal back the school’s magestone by sneezing and Ortho comes close to during off his technomatic beam in order for them to escape, but after Silver apologizes on the group’s behalf the fairy queen, too, apologizes for the theft of the stone, thanking Ortho specifically for his “stirring performance.”

She invites him to put on another show in the future and Ortho immediately agrees.

In a Chat Ortho asks Idia if they can go to an amusement park and Idia agrees to meet him halfway, saying he will “code up a VR amusement park” instead.

Ortho insists, “That defeats the whole purpose!”

Ortho says that “until Idia started shutting himself up in his room” their family would go on outings “to parks or the woods or the riverside,” but it seems none of those outings included a theme park: he says he would love to take a family trip to a theme park someday.

Idia refuses on the grounds that “only extroverts go to amusement parks” (Ortho: “I don’t think that’s actually true…”), to Ortho’s disappointment.

Ortho says that while he had been considering giving a tearful performance that would convince Idia to go to Plaufulland with him a sudden trip to an amusement park might be far much too stimulation for Idia.

It seems that Ortho also wished to perform with him, saying, “I just know that any performance the two of us put on would be in perfect sync. We could’ve hit the big time and become stars!”

Ortho ultimately goes to Playfulland without telling Idia, saying, “There was a distinct possibility he would’ve stopped me with some claims about not wanting me to be subjected to extrovert influences.”

At the park Ortho’s first choice in attraction is a shooting gallery, as, “If it’s hard yet rewarding, it could pique my brother’s interest in coming here.”

After being trapped in puppet form, Ortho apologizes to Idia.

Ortho sends Idia a postcard from Playfulland as a souvenir. Out of all the illustrations available he says he choice a scene that depicted a puppet and toymaker trying to escape the belly of a whale.

He explains, “It represents my belief that when Idia and I work together, we can clear any quest, no matter how high the difficulty. So I hope he’ll take the hint and go on an amusement park adventure with me next time we get the chance!”

Ortho’s tsum seems to know Idia as well as Ortho himself, waking him up from a post-all-nighter crash by playing the main theme from one of Idia’s favorite games.

The tsum also fetches water for Idia when bade. Idia observes, “It’s not exactly floofy, but being a mini-Ortho qualifies it as cute.”

(Idia has less luck with his own tsum, calling for Ortho’s help when they get into a fight that he loses.)

We have repeated examples of Ortho successfully convincing Idia to do things that he wouldn’t normally do: after Floyd and Jack invite them to compete in a game during New Year’s Idia declines on the grounds that it is likely just a campaign where the staff will have a huge advantage, making it a waste of time.

When Ortho announces that they will be participating together, however, Idia acquiesces.

This also happens when Ortho is working at the store himself. Idia agrees immediately under the misunderstanding that he will be able to play with Ortho and he is not pleased about having to go up against Rook and Jade instead.

After the match Rook points out that Idia has spent enough money to compete five more times and Idia responds, “If I wanna battle again, I’m not coming back until I can go against Ortho!”

In Ortho’s third birthday vignette we learn that he has even convinced Idia to spend time outside in the Foothill Town in order to play a mobile game that incorporates their smartphone GPS.

In Idia’s third birthday vignette we learn that he actually isn’t very interested in the game itself at all, saying, “The systems are pretty basic, so I was planning to give it the shut-in seal of disapproval and write it off. But then Ortho asked me to play. He even looked up spots all over the island. When I learned I could play without going THAT far, I was like…yeah, okay…I figure while me and Ortho are in the same school, we might as well have a few adventures.”