act34side

I've never seen Gladiia place so much trust in someone, Dr. Kal'tsit. A feat, to be sure.

Perhaps she can be a bridge between our peoples, and aid us in coming to a consensus.

You will see that Ægir's plans are no mere idle pratter.

Now, do allow me a moment alone with Consul Clementia.

Secunda, a fleet approaches from the land!

Iberia.

Hail them via the drone matrix.

This is Praefecta Secunda, of the Milliarium Sea Patrol.

Err... It's me.

Irene?

We're currently in a head-on battle against the Seaborn. Don't come any closer.

Your ships are too crude. I'm sorry, but they may get sucked into the eddies around Milliarium.

You're saying that Iberia should just wait quietly on land?

That I should just watch Milliarium get invaded by Seaborn, and let the Waterway transform into some kind of god-knows-what that even you Ægir never foresaw?

We've already talked about this, Secunda. I'll be there in five minutes.

Halt all attacks.

If we are going to pick up the Iberians, we'll just have to open the access channels to the rear. Why stop attacking?

Look at the screen.

The Academy of Technology just sent an urgent communique.

This...

What do we do?

Are those light-emitting nanomachines components for the Waterway?

But the Seaborn are still attacking the city. If they've fused with the nanomachines and bear identical bio-signatures, our weapons won't be able to locate and attack the Seaborn only...

Don't tell me the Legions want us to halt our covering fire and rely only on Milliarium's force fields to hold them back?

May as well slit our wrists and be done with it.

Scribbling on your device again? You know, sometimes I really admire your ability to keep a cool head.

Use the images from the drone matrix to render a 3D model.

Rendering in progress.

Perhaps the answer lies within the riddle itself.

The bio-signatures of the nanomachines and the Seaborn are identical, but we still know clearly that the nanomachines have formed a Waterway.

How?

We can see them! Each machine emits a particular light that's clearly visible!

Contact the Academy of Technology, and tell them we have a proposal for modifying our weapons' targeting systems.

But... recalibrating two Legions' worth of auxiliary optical systems would take a lot of time.

What about using a lighthouse on land?

Irene.

It seems we arrived in the nick of time. A dozen or so lighthouses on the lost coastline have resumed operation. They're... responding to your Waterway.

Combined, they should be enough to illuminate this entire patch of sea. Maybe they could serve as your auxiliary optical systems?

I'm hardly an engineer, but these lighthouses were built with Islander... er, Ægirian technology. They should be compatible with your existing systems.

That should cut the time needed in half. I'll let Consul Clementia know.

...Thank you, Irene.

The Inquisition would be overjoyed to see these newly unclouded Eyes become part of the combined defenses of land and sea. We're partners now, Secunda.

Though maybe we should be thanking Breogan instead.

Breogan...

He truly dedicated himself to these lighthouses.

A naval architect drifting into a foreign land, striving for the day when land and sea could work together. He foresaw calamity, but left no answers behind.

It's a pity that Ægir saw him as an outsider, while Iberia never truly accepted him. He died alone and miserable. But now, his plans will finally have the chance to become reality.

...We acted far slower than he did.

Indeed.

But it's not too late. Or rather, now is precisely the time.

Let's get started, Irene.

I'm still more used to you with your veil on, Horatia.

Hmm?

Did you show off the scar below your ear to let Gladiia know that, as her mother, you will tolerate her setbacks just as you accept the blemish she left on your face?

Hah, I'm not <i>that</i> strict a mother.

With her left hand on the astrolabe, Horatia's right hand softly strokes her cheek below her right ear, where a thin scar stretches upwards, nearly touching her eye.

There is a smile on her face.

But this is no blemish. It's beautiful. Trivial for a doctor to erase, but I refuse.

My little Gladiia was barely five at the time. She was taking her first career development assessment, and through this made her wishes rather clear.

You don't know how glad I am to see her grown.

She's certainly more suited for the life of a legionnaire than in the Institute of Social Planning or Institute of Scientific Development Planning like you expected.

No matter. Whatever field she joins, she is sure to excel. She was born for Ægir.

I remember when she was two, the Institute of Incubation said your disposition and the nature of your work made you ill-suited to raise her, and suggested you place her in their care.

They said the same when I first decided to raise her myself. Saying that again two years later would not change my mind.

But what truly pleased me was seeing young Gladiia reject it as well.

I wouldn't say you have the best bond as mother and daughter, but you do have an odd kind of rapport.

Alright, that's enough, my little manta ray. I suspect we have more pressing matters to discuss than reminiscing about my daughter.

...Can you please not call me that?

Very well, Consul Clementia.

While we spoke, every city in the home territories has been conducting an unprecedented investigation into the Church of the Deep.

As the core of R&D, Blandus was able to tamper with the Class IV weapons, but his actions should absolutely have been detected at some point before they were put to use.

Meaning there are many behind him fanning the flames.

All members of both Academies who had anything to do with the weapons' design, manufacture, and maintenance are receiving the most thorough investigations possible.

In response, the Church has brought their full influence to bear. By grasping at a single leaf, we may be able to pull out an entire rotten branch.

And with Mártus, no doubt we will be able to identify the Church's deepest roots.

...Ægir itself is undergoing a grand surgery.

Surgery to cut out a festering tumor. Isn't it?

The Waterway is open, and the fallen who corrupt our nation have been revealed. Both are of great value, as I see it.

Are you trying to console me over the superficial Waterway Program's failure? To tell me that the sacrifices Milliarium made were not without meaning?

Why do you insist on double negatives? They make you seem weak.

There is no such thing as a 'superficial' program in Ægir, Consul Clementia.

If the IDP has approved a program, it means its planning and members are entrusted with the hopes of Ægir.

We believed you are capable of using the Class IV weapons to purify our waters and open the Waterway. This has always been an official part of the program.

...Yet it failed.

The theoretical success rate of oceanic purification was never high. However, the Waterway Program was a guaranteed success.

Did I not promise you that, before you set off? Trust in me. Trust in Ægir.

I don't doubt that even if this city were to sink, consigning all ten thousand or so Ægir souls in it to the depths, the Waterway would still open without hitch.

However, of all the possibilities you've accounted for, how many call for sacrifice?

How I wish this meeting of ours never had to happen, Horatia.

Is that why you've worked yourself to the bone, my little manta ray?

I've read the reports on Milliarium. As consul for the entire city, you need not throw yourself into each and every little affair.

The stimulants you abuse will not hide the exhaustion on your face.

You really have thought of everything. As you always do, Horatia.

All these losses and sacrifices, the falls and the betrayals, even Mártus's secret... Are you not the least bit shaken?

Speaking of Mártus... You've reminded me of something.

Of what?

Mártus regards himself as the 'gardener of sin'. At times like these, he is wont to hide himself behind history.

I can infer why he'd seek cooperation from Dr. Kal'tsit, but from the way you describe it, those 'discussions' quickly devolved into a vapid declaration of war.

I find it difficult to imagine he would be satisfied with such a failure of negotiations. That is, unless he gained some other information...

We will continue to track his whereabouts.