act19side

They're playing it cool.

Say, you think the megacorps might not, uh... care if their hires die?

What with those two being Infected and all.

Don't give me that.

Infected aren't subhuman or nothing. At the very least, we don't wanna treat each other like that.

Alright... said that on the Pioneer recruitment ads too.

Well, count our lucky stars the ads ain't all lies, then.

Would you kindly drop the communicator, Dr. Urbica?

He said drop it! No funny business!

Alright.

I'm... I'm putting it down. Please don't hurt us.

Sir, she was sending messages!

Bring me those comms, Sam.

Hmm. Only half-typed. Didn't get to send anything yet.

These are our exact coordinates. You want them to send a drone in or something?

Let me give you another idea. Change this to an SOS, send it to your tutor, your manager... whoever.

Tell them—I'm waiting. And my patience is running out.

What exactly are you after?

Well that's wicked simple, doctor.

Me and my friends here, we all just wanna leave this place alive. That's all.

Director, finally, you're back! Can you spare a moment?

You're... Ben. Ben from Structural.

Y-You remember my name?

Call me Ferdinand. Nine whole directors at Rhine Lab and all.

Sir... Ferdinand.

My next meeting is in ten minutes.

I can spare you seven of those.

Ahh... alright, thank you, thank you.

Sir, do you know where Control is right now?

I've got Structural's application for equipment purchases here. Control was supposed to give us an answer three days ago... but we haven't heard anything from her.

Structural's having to suspend a lot of its experiments right now...

Give me the form.

Alright, go procure.

Did... Did you just sign? The handbook says large-scale equipment purchases this expensive have to go through Control...

How long have you been with Rhine Lab? Just a couple of months?

Yes, sir... I reported in a month ago.

See this site in front of you?

Huh?

Isn't it monumental?

Fifteen years ago, this place was still wasteland, not even a single nomadic plate yet.

You wouldn't see Rhine Lab on a foldout of Trimounts back in those days.

I...

Meet Parvis for tea, if you get the chance.

You've got a lot to learn, Ben. And you won't find it in your handbook.

A-Alright... Got it, sir.

Well look at that, I still have four minutes left.

Not often you call me when it's light out, Ferdinand.

Ho'olheyak.

Are you done with everything I asked?

Mmhm... at least three empty seats for Rhine Lab's directors' meeting today?

No. That's not enough.

Oh? Which director's next?

Are you finally fed up with the old goat behind the chimeric organism experiments, or do you want the dreamer at the test site to never come back?

Word is Rhodes Island's people went to the site.

The experiment's almost complete. I don't want anyone getting in the way before it's done, understood?

You want me on site?

No, no need for that.

How cruel. Your assistant's one of the hostages, isn't she? I saw that Elena girl once. She's as pretty as she is hardworking.

I had a feeling you'd like her.

She's with Energy. She can wrangle the Pioneers.

You keep an eye on developments in the city.

It's unlikely Rhodes Island would only send two operators to the site. Don't forget, Saria's had a line to them all this time.

Oh? Your Defense Director again?

Saria's already stalled our experiments long enough... Both the Colonel and I are running short of patience.

Remember, they can't find anything this time.

This is the place, Doctor.

The last message we got from Saria was sent from this alley.

Looks normal to me.;We aren't exactly near Rhine Lab HQ.;Right by the commercial sector.

There's hundreds of these alleys in Trimounts.

Here to there is about a half-hour trip by car.

That's the exact sector she was in.

She was waiting for Muelsyse. They'd agreed to meet at a specific time.

Seems like Muelsyse got chased here.

If she wasn't being pursued, she'd never choose to set foot in this alley.

No matter who it was, acting in the open streets would've obviously been too risky.

Silence told me about Muelsyse's ability.;Saria gave me a report on Muelsyse once.

Right... search complete.

'Ability to manipulate water molecules'—would that be energy conversion-type or matter restructuring-type in terms of Originium Arts? No matter which principle it is, it's powerful at a glance.

'Water molecules'—no flaws visible to the naked eye?

Even more interesting. Experimental research folks and us mechanists are alike. Our powers of observation are usually razor-keen.

If it fooled even Silence and Mayer, then it's not your ordinary Arts illusion.

Muelsyse wouldn't go down easy in a fight.;Muelsyse has strong self-preservation abilities.;Muelsyse is basically fight and flight in one.

There's a couple of scorch marks on the ground.

Not very wide-range... whoever did it, all signs point to some kind of technical equipment used to heat the air surrounding Muelsyse.

Considering her Arts are heavily dependent on water molecules, her opponent must've known her very well.

As well as we do.

You mean...

They might be a Rhine insider too?

Doctor, watch out!

That was close...;I was almost well-done there.

That was an energy weapon.

Shot from deep inside the alley. Enemy's only thirty meters from us, give or take.

And getting closer.

Doctor, you'll want to stay behind me.

Defense system active.

Think we're in an ambush?;Can we hold out?

Dr. {@nickname}, I've never seen this model of power armor before. It's new.

Without testing, I can't tell you exactly how destructive any weapon hooked up to this could get.

And by that, I mean we need a change of plans.

Escape system active—now get on my back!