act25side

Y-Yes, sir!

Seconds pass, then minutes.

Ferdinand could almost hear the sounds of military convoys moving through the streets. Blake could find Kristen any moment.

He must hurry... for what?

Here, and here.

Have these data been manipulated?

O-Of course not! All the data are transmitted in real-time to the army's labs! It's more than my life's worth to upload false data!

No one wants to get on the wrong side of the army...

It doesn't match.

I beg your pardon?

The structure of the S.H.A.F.T., the distribution of the pipelines and the performance of the existing propulsion system. None of them is right.

Just discreet enough to avoid notice... damn.

That can't be, you must be mista—no, I suppose not, you of all people.

Perhaps this is a temporary plan for experimentation and development, and adjustment will be made before the official launch.

What's the plan for the official launch?

Er...

H.A.M.H.R.R. should be on a mobile plate near the S.H.A.F.T.. Kristen stole the entire plate.

But the propulsion device is still here! The army has impounded all the launchers that were under construction!

Even if she manipulated the data, she couldn't... not with this propulsion performance...

Unless...

Get Blake on the line.

Huh?

Now.

This had better be important, Ferdinand, for you to bother me at a time like this.

Listen. Nasti Lunorey is one of Kristen's. The propulsion device that she designed does not have the performance to lift H.A.M.H.R.R. off the ground.

Justin Jr. must have bought out your scientists to cover up Kristen's real goal. They're working together.

So you're telling me everyone in Rhine Lab is complicit in Kristen's suspected treason.

I'm not...

You need to tell me something new.

What?

If the researcher you sent me is actually useful, then I'll drag that Control of yours from the stolen H.A.M.H.R.R. soon enough.

Which is to say, I will soon know how many insurgents there are in Rhine.

Then Rhine...

Is there anything more important that you want to report?

No, sir.

Congratulations in advance on your successful mission, Colonel.

Close the file.

Yes, sir... is there anything else you need?

Do you have a maintenance aircraft? The kind that can reach H.A.M.H.R.R.'s theoretical ceiling?

Yes, we do!

I need to borrow it.

But didn't you say H.A.M.H.R.R. wouldn't fly because of propulsion issues?

Or... can it?

(Whisper) You're right. We took our first steps together.

What?

I mean, you're right. Maybe I was mistaken.

Strong Transmitter reaction. I can feel a lot of it lying ahead.

Right in the middle of urban Trimounts.

Yes, sir. The area ahead is sewage treatment and garbage disposal. Very few people live here.

You mean Kristen Wright hid H.A.M.H.R.R. in some other building, right under our nose.

Target may have set up jammers in the area. Our guys didn't detect any signals when they passed through.

Those egghead sons of bitches and their tricks.

Should we turn the place upside-down?

No, that'll take too much time, and draw the enemy's attention.

Can you locate it?

I need to borrow your neural-electricity stimulator.

Do you know how to use that?

I believe Rhine developed it.

There's no getting away from you people, is there? Give it to her.

Yes, sir.

Cranial-electricity will trigger resonance in the Transmitter inside me.

Resonance will also occur in any nearby Transmitter, strong enough for your sensors to detect.

Go on.

I-I got a reading! It's increasing in strength!

Increase output by ten percent.

Er...

Urgh... nngh...

Pre-epilepsy symptom! Should I take over? I have mech operating experience and long-range Arts Unit implants.

Her Transmitter is from Site 359. It's the only one that will work.

Pro... proceed.

I can take it.

We got a stable signal!

Coordinates have been synchronized to officer terminals, sir.

Good, we know where H.A.M.H.R.R. is now.

Proceed to the target ASAP!

Ngh... guh...

Handkerchief. Doubt you can even see through all that sweat.

Th-Thank you...

Director Jara... did the soldiers bother you?

Oh? No, just usual chit-chat.

Did you... say anything?

...Nothing.

The funny thing is, I don't even know anything. I know Kristen like Kristen knows me.

I didn't sign on to her adventure, and she refused to let me risk my remaining life for her.

Control is lucky to have you.

Lucky?

No, I don't think so, Silence.

When I look at Kristen, I don't see the inscrutable, dominating Control of Rhine... I only see a girl too proud to bow her head.

Maybe time stopped twenty years ago for both of us.

You mean... the day when Control's parents were killed in a flight test accident?

It was supposed to be a sunny, cloudless day.

Is it regret? Remorse?

Is it because I watched them fly to their end, because I didn't check their flight plan carefully—

Or because I didn't expect the government and capitalists would allow that sensitive little girl to become the target of all the attacks on her parents, in order to protect their name?

No, it's neither.

It was just one failure. Even if it was my only one, it should be nothing for an experienced agent.

But I could never forget the look in her eyes. That ball of fire falling from the sky continues to burn in her eyes.

It's appeared in my dreams on many a night.

I don't want to see it extinguished again.

You left the Maylander Foundation because of Control.