Heartwarming / Hate Plus

• *Mute's realization of exactly how emotionally abused and isolated Hyun-ae was when she was alive is touching, as is *Hyun-ae's reaction.
  *Mute:' Still, if [women being the family leads] was in your books [as normal]... it's not like your parents would have given you books full of stuff they realized was morally depraved or anything.

  [...]
  *Mute: [to *Hyun-ae] Um, hey, are you okay?
  *Hyun-ae: ...yes, I'm fine!
  *Mute:' Really? Um, you're kinda crying.
  *Hyun-ae: Oh... sorry... it's just... ...that's the first time anyone's ever been willing to take my views on how things were in the past seriously... or given any sort of credit to my real parents.
  *Mute:' [startled] Oh... [sad] ...oh, *Hyun-ae.
  *Hyun-ae: Thank you so much, *Mute.
  *Mute:' ...okay, okay, let's... just get back to work, okay?
  [*Hyun-ae smiles]
• While reading "The Research Problem", *Mute being genuinely upset that *Hyun-ae "witnessed" Kim So-yi's sexual assault.
  *Mute: ...I'm so sorry you had to read this, *Hyun-ae.
• Old *Mute's selection of logs to preserve. She was going to die, and had only a limited amount of space, forcing her to select only the files she thought were absolutely necessary. Among the preserved entries, you see things like careful political maneuvers and power plays, serving as warnings to the future *Mute. But then you see things like drama reviews, or the stories of two homosexual couples, and you realize that Old *Mute was also trying to save the ship's culture. She wanted to have some kind of record of the past that would survive the coming dystopia. She really did care about the Mugunghwa and its people, commoners and nobles alike, even if she was ruthless about preserving the status quo.
  • There's one more file, concerning her infatuated lieutenant: Seo-yeong's smile. Aw...
• The end of the Harem ending, with *Hyun-ae telling the player they "both get the girl".
• *Hyun-ae in the Harem route brings everything full circle, determined to save *Mute from her newfound suicidal ideation, just like how *Mute saved her in the last game. Remember that these two, despite only talking to one another face-to-face at the end of the last game, were at odds with one another in several respects when the story began. Just as *Mute gained some sympathy for *Hyun-ae when she learned all the reasons behind the Pale Bride's actions, so too has *Hyun-ae learned to understand and even love *Mute, despite the patriarchal society *Mute served and continues to idealize. From a certain perspective, both A.I.s are guilty of causing profound destruction to the generation ship—Old *Mute to the original society that Hyun-ae loved, and of course *Hyun-ae for the final complete massacre of every living person on the ship. Both A.I.s essentially forgive one another for what could easily have been unforgivable crimes to anyone else. More than that, they save one another from despair and guilt. If you try to call out *Mute's failures when she is deep in her suicidal depression, *Hyun-ae calls you out and tells you that now isn't the time for "The Reason You Suck" Speech. She may not agree with *Mute on many fundamental beliefs, but she does care about her.

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