Ortho in the Main Story (pt1)

Book 6 begins with a hunt for Grim and Ortho asking “Does it matter if the target is alive when we bring him in?”

After the students are kidnapped and Rook arrives at STYX headquarters, Rook explains how he sometimes wonders if he is to blame for Vil’s overblotting, but then reminds himself that “Vil’s anger and despair are his alone.”

When Ortho asks why he came to find Vil regardless, Rook says, “So that I could tell myself, I did what I could.”

This seems to leave an impression upon Ortho, who asks himself what he can do for Idia.

He tries to encourage a depressed Idia by reminding him that he is a genius who could change the pre-determined course of his life if he put his mind to it, but Idia counters with, “…you can’t have forgotten…what happened to Ortho when we tried to leave this place.”

After Idia complains about the lack of a sequel release to his favorite video game, Vil gives a speech about how there “will always be a zero-percent chance as long as you believe it impossible and refuse to act.”

Much like Rook’s comment, this also seems to inspire Ortho.

He and Idia discuss the system that will be wiping everyone’s minds after the experiments are complete, and Idia realizes that Ortho seems “a bit off,” though Ortho refuses his offer to run maintenance.

Once alone, Ortho reflects on what he can do “to make sure zero doesn’t stay zero,” and is beckoned to by a voice from Tartarus who says it was there since long before Ortho was born, and wants everyone in the world to be their friend.

Ortho seems to recognize the voice after it refers to Idia as “Idy” (EN’s equivalent to JP’s “Nii-chan,” in contrast to the “Nii-san” variation usually used by Ortho).

Ortho thanks Rook for helping him understand his purpose and follows the voice’s instructions, shutting down STYX’s Cerberus system and the power to STYX itself.

We learn that the cages in Tartarus have begun to thaw, despite how any changes to Cerberus require biometric authentication from a member of the Shroud family.

Ortho tells Idia that he wants them to erase their story and rewrite it from scratch.

Ortho claims he is expressing his “will” and Idia reacts poorly, saying that Ortho is “a technomantic humanoid with an on-board autonomous AI modeled after my little brother. What you think is your ‘will’ is just a program!”

Ortho agrees, but follows up with, “I can go beyond the confines of my robotic existence…I can exceed the limits of my programming!” because “the person who built me is a technomantic engineering savant known as the ‘maverick genius,’ you!”