Amnesia

ARIGATOU FOR 556:
a brief summary

"Arigatou for 556" is probably the Umineko related official text that remained
untranslated for the longest time. It isn't even the longest "extra tip" made by
Ryuukishi, it's not even one of the longests, so why nobody provided a translation yet?
Everything became clear to me as soon as I tried to translate it myself, the story
starts with a lot of technical words and technical stuff, it's enough to scare
anyone without a perfect proficiency in japanese, me included.
Therefore I can't really say in confidence that I can provide a reliable summary
of this story; I can only provide what I got from it and that's probably the best
you can get as of now. If you prefer to wait for a full and more reliable translation
skip this page. If you think you can add more insight or correct my summary feel
free to inform me, I'll make the necessary adjustments.

Okay, everything starts with a general description of some national defense ministry
(of the magical world I guess) and their need to possess strong units to defend
against their enemies' attacks.
Who are these enemies? Why are they fighting? That's for you to speculate, not
much is revelead about them. What is it certain is that a few "weapon development"
projects started so to provide units that would satisfy the "3F" requirements:
First look, First shoot, First kill.
The Chiester Corps were designed with this philosophy in mind. They were instantly
dispatched on the battlefield and proved to be extraordinarly efficient weapons.
Among the various Chiesters, 410 distinguished herself as one of the best
snipers but she lacked reliability. Her targeting system being analogical allows
her to see the "gray area" of the battlefield rather then seeing it all as series of "0"
and "1", that is an advantage but at the same time a disadvantage.
To compensate 410's shortcomings, the higher officials decided to pair her with 45,
a Chiester unit specialized in acquiring multiple targets' positions and sending the
data to other units via data-link. 45's targeting system is digital and therefore very
precise, but it's no capable of seeing anything in between a "0" and a "1".
This improbable pair proved to be extremely efficient and became the strongest
among the Chiester Corps, receiving many accolades and scoring the highest
kill rate in the battlefield. However the merit of this exceptional performance
seemed to be attributed to the sole 410 who physically shot the arrows. In truth
410 used 45's data to pinpoint with accuracy her targets but then used her analogical
functions to adjust her aim with even more precision. 410 mischievously made fun
of 45's inability to read the gray area and this led the latter to believe herself
to be useless and only a hindrance to 410's natural talents.
Chiester 00, the squad leader, noticed this, and once asked 410 why she didn't
recognize the fact that without 45's support her battle performance wouldn't
be as good. But 410 surprised her by stating that she was actually very
grateful to 45. 410 has always been well aware that she needed 45's inputs
and she considered her her irreplaceable partner.
So Chiester 00 asked her why she never thanked 45, why she kept making
her believe that she's useless and nothing more than a liability?
410 responded that she'd never go out and say something so embarrassing.
She said that she considered 45 her partner and that was all that mattered,
words were unnecessary.
Some time later, the higher officials decided to add to the already exceptional
group a newly devoloped unit to cover the squad's weak point: short range battle.
Chiester 556 was developed with this purpose in mind and she was meant
to act as the ultimate line of defense to protect her comrades from those
foes that would get too near. Chiester 556's bow was bulky and unelegant, but
possessed a tremendous power. Her new companions soon realized her potential
during a mock up battle against dummy targets. 45 provided the information
regarding the targets' positions and 556 destroyed all of them in a single volley.
Everyone remained speechless in front of such awe-inspiring performance, but
the proud and mischievous 410 refused to acknowledge that. Rather she
tried to enrage 556 by making caustic comments about the lack of elegance
of her bow. However 556 had an extremely laid back nature and she simply
accepted the critiques with a smile. 556 thanked 45 for providing the data
and thanked 410 for being so straightforward. 410 commented that all she could say
was "thank you", "thank you" and she decided to nickname her "thank you bunny".
556 replied by saying she was happy to receive a nickname so early and once
again she thanked 410.
Needless to say 410 wasn't pleased to see her attacks being deflected that easily
and before leaving with 45 commented that she really doesn't like people like 556.
Once alone Chiester 00 inquired on the new recruit's strange habit to thank
everyone for every small thing. She asked why she felt the need to repeat
that over and over. 556 answered by telling her that she knows that the
destiny of a soldier is to die in battle. She decided to never fail to thank all of
her comrades so to never regret it later. Because once "they" are dead or "you" are dead
there's no way to talk and convey those feelings anymore. That's why 556 made
a vow to always thank everyone around her.
Chiester 00 was impressed by 556's profound thoughts but she thought it was very sad.
When 556 was about to thank her too, 00 remembered her position as a leader
and begun talking like a true drill sergeant should. She dismissed 556's words of
gratitude by saying they were unnecessary. As the squad leader she claimed that she'd
never allow anyone under her command to die. She added that it was shameless
to have that kind of attitude in the first place and she promised to beat 556 into shape
soon, then she officially welcomed her in the squad.
556 understood 00's feelings and with a smiling face she thanked her (anyway).
The story ends with this sentence:
"Starting from that day, that group of four became Lady Maria's personal escort."

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