act25side

Colonel, sorry to keep you waiting for a half hour.

I'm the one who should apologize, Mr. Vice President. Your schedule in Trimounts is packed, and I heard from Secretary Pavard you had to cancel a meeting on account of my sudden visit.

The military's response to the District 13 incident has been quick...

It has also been intense.

You had just given such a powerful, rousing speech for the masses. This couldn't have happened at a worse time.

By the looks of things, this is more than a little 'accident' on your end as well.

I'm just saying... It's still too soon to reveal the 'Horizon Arc Project' to the public.

Which is why we would like you to cancel the rest of your itinerary and leave Trimounts. And we'll take care of these 'accidents' as soon as we can.

Colonel, I understand what you're asking...

But my schedule isn't going to change. In fact, I'm going to extend my stay in Trimounts.

In my last meeting, I decided I'm going to Rhine Lab to enjoy a fruitful dialogue with our exceptional researchers.

We're one Columbia, Colonel Blake. We're all ready to give everything for our country.

But, with all the technological pioneers gathered in this city, they form the bedrock of Columbia's technological development. It's no exaggeration to say they're shaping the future of our country.

Do you understand what I'm getting at?

Even on the assembly lines of our nation's most developed munitions plants, it takes a day and a half to produce a single shell to spec.

And that doesn't include the time it takes to send it out into the field to give the men some real practical time on the thing.

Take a step back, Colonel. The more we find ourselves facing superweapons that can change the world, like that 'Arc-01', the more composed we have to be.

This is Columbia. Not Sargon, not Bolívar.

These past few years, the Armed Forces, or more accurately, the Department of Defense, has continued to explore the nation's military capabilities.

As a whole, progress has been fairly steady. From the President's perspective, this is a good thing, and he is glad to see it happen.

However, given the shifts in international dynamics in recent years, particularly the re-emergence of Victoria's Shard, a number of things have changed.

Such a terrifying superweapon has erased the concept of 'distance.' All our ground defenses will be rendered useless, and the dust brought about by the Storm may well fall upon our pillows at any time.

The voices within the Department of Defense have grown increasingly hawkish, and a number of troubling signs have already appeared. They're hedging their bets on the research and development of similar era-defining strategic weapons.

And that's how Kristen caught the military's eye?

Correct. Kristen became the military's core technical advisor.

In a very short period of time, she submitted the proposal for the 'Horizon Arc Project,' planned the construction of the Arc-01 superweapon, and quickly began its implementation.

The military has devoted a vast amount of resources to it, and as such, Rhine Lab has enjoyed greater policy-side support for quite some time now.

This is why Rhine has been able to stand head and shoulders above many other tech companies in Trimounts.

According to the information we have on hand, the construction of Arc-01 required digging complex S.H.A.F.T.s as well as erecting a H.A.M.H.R.R. at our aircrafts' altitude limit.

A monumental project indeed, and the military has spared no expense in the effort.

I imagine the man in front of you who fell from the sky was a part of this project.

Saria's eyes shift from the factory ruins to the sky above her.

Using the sky as an intermediary transfer node?

We don't know the specific conceptual design, or how it's implemented...

Using the sky as a transfer node to focus or redirect an enormous amount of energy, so as to achieve a powerful strike over extreme distance...

In theory, that is indeed possible...

But would Kristen really help the military construct a superweapon?

Looks like you didn't get the answer you wanted.

I knew from the beginning. This just makes it more apparent.

A good politician would never rush to make his stance clear. At least for now, they don't want us taking over the project that fast.

And how do they intend to do that?

It's simple. All they need to do is delay. If we say that efficiency is the pursuit of scientific research, then, Ferdinand, 'delay' is the preferred tool of these politicians.

When the Singas administration first entered negotiations in Congress to reclaim the Woods Company's logging camp, virtually no progress was made in three years. It took the latter party losing control of the area.

They want to delay until we have our hands full, until we lose faith in that damned 'Horizon Arc Project,' until it doesn't matter anymore.

You've already been on-site, right? What are your conclusions?

It was indeed the test flight of Arc-01's H.A.M.H.R.R.

The sky appears clear, but it is far from being a safe haven. Kristen will need to test the new pressure and navigation system, a trial-and-error process that may need more than one flight.

I'm more curious about the military-controlled S.H.A.F.T. at the bottom of Arc-01. Where did Kristen launch a beast of that size?

The H.A.M.H.R.R.'s black box still hasn't been found? By tracing its routing data, we can triangulate the position of the launch site and locate Kristen.

We already conducted a full-scale search in District 13. Came up empty.

Someone managed to retrieve the black box at the very beginning.

Any possibility it might've been destroyed, given an explosion of that scope...?

(Shakes head)

Kristen has already been missing for two weeks. She may have already obtained the experimental data she wanted in the black box, but she still doesn't want us to find her.

In other words, the so-called 'Horizon Arc Project,' propped up by the military itself, is completely out of the military's hands.

The longer the delay, the more variables there will be.

I know.

It's me.

That's right. Jackson had no intention of talking things through with us.

Me? Why would I have anything to hide? Go ask the agent sent to spy on Kristen...

Understood. I won't give an inch. I'll resolve this situation post-haste.

Wait, what did you say?

That's...

Alright, I understand.

You don't look so good, Colonel.

You're right, Ferdinand. We can't let ourselves get bogged down any longer.

The fact that Kristen went AWOL while the military had eyes on her precisely shows that the project has progressed to a near-feasible state.

She might've defrauded her investors.

We have our suspicious as well, but you seem pretty sure of it, Saria.

Because I know her well enough.

Oh?

Since its establishment, Rhine Lab has been committed to breakthrough research in civilian technology, and rarely intersects with the military. Kristen herself has no interest in it.

Furthermore...

If the 'sky' were part of her research plans, it would not be a means, but rather her ultimate objective.

The Wrights?

Precisely.

'We haven't even explored everything these lands have to offer, and have only just begun measuring the heights of the skies. Why fly to such high places in vain?'

I still remember that comment in the newspaper made by the hovercraft expert, Stevenson, after the Wrights' test flight crashed.

It encapsulated his regret for the death of the genius scientists, but has been twisted out of context as 'accurate peer review.' How ironic that it's become a weapon used against the Wrights.

I'd like to hear more.

Stevenson had a very good relationship with the Wrights, and even looked after Kristen to some degree after their passing. Later, Kristen was able to get on track in academia thanks to his recommendation.

A substantial secret that even I'm not aware of.

But, the relationship between Stevenson and Kristen is not a cozy one. She inherited her parents' obsession with the skies, and does not expect others to understand.

She abhors the sky, Tin Man.

It can't be a coincidence that Transmitter appeared at the scene of the accident, but what exactly is the connection between Transmitter and the explosion?

Did the things used in this factory require Transmitters? I recall no such relationships between Triton Chemicals and Rhine Lab. Or, perhaps, the Transmitter had something to do with the ring-shaped mechanical object that smashed through the factory building...

Saria's too far away. I can't hear what she's saying...

Maybe I can try moving the drone a bit closer.

An unidentified drone has been shot down.

Oh no...

Miss, show me your security clearance.

Don't have one? District 13 is under temporary lockdown. I'm gonna have to ask you to come with me.

I'm a worker at the Triton factory. I had the day off today, but I heard the factory exploded... so I came here to see what's going on.

If you're a worker at the factory, then explain the drone. And don't say you have nothing to do with it.

I—

She's going to photograph the site.

Marianne...?!

Is it really you? Oh my g—

Marianne...

The last time I heard that name... was forty years.