act47side

Report.

All pods on the levitation layer are now connected to the detonation web. We have people on the lower levels evacuating people from the square.

People are very passionate about the exhibition. Things will take some time, but it will not delay our plans.

We will detonate the levitation layer as soon as Propeller Paradise docks with the District.

Any movement from Rhine?

We've taken twenty-three into custody. A dozen are still at large on the platforms.

We have control of the eight observation points. Those people are going in and out of the exhibit area and the ropeway stations. No special Rhine equipment other than standard maintenance gear.

They're just playing hide-and-seek? No plan B?

Keep an eye on them. They don't know the details of Maylander's plan, nor do they have any means of communication. Any last-gasp effort is doomed to fail.

Understood.

The outline of Max, D.C.—the most vibrant nomadic city in Columbia—is already visible from the ropeway station's waiting area.

The agents have not had a chance to enjoy the view of Propeller Paradise until now. With an excellent visibility, all the elaborate facilities of the levitation layer are brimming with vitality.

Pods float in mid-air like aquatic creatures. Floating botanical units line up orderly between small platforms, forming a power grid that supports the entire layer...

Wait... where did you say Rhine's people were?

Exhibit area and ropeway stations.

Where exactly? Show me.

Looking at their movements, there's no way they can reach the platform where that 'tree' is, or other companies' pods...

Could it be... they're not trying to take back their turf at all?

But Rhine's people, the testers, and the company reps, they all seem to be flying around blindly in the dark...

What's the point of it all?

The agent casts a casual glance at the nearest planting unit. The unremarkable Rhine creation stands quietly.

He suddenly realizes that the warning lights on their edges are easily visible even during the day, and they have been blinking irregularly for quite a while now.

Spotters report that all the Rhine people have disappeared from sight!

No, they didn't disappear!

They're going in the same direction... there's a pattern to their movement!

Everybody, listen up! Destroy all the planting units you see along the way! They're not decorations! Rhine is using them to communicate!

Cut off the exhibit area from all the ropeway stations, and find every one of those people playing hide-and-seek! Find out where they're heading!

What on Terra are they thinking...

You've been looking outside the window for a while.

You said you must win your gamble, and you have a reason.

Yes.

I'm in the middle of a gamble too.

I have a rough idea what's going on in Propeller Paradise, given the look on your face and the freefall that we just experienced.

You wouldn't run this kind of risk with me for no reason. But there's nothing I can offer you now, except—

Hm...

You want the Lucky Cystybeast?

You could say that.

I want the contraband that Gordon Tannen sold you.

Coming to the broadcast room to bother me, when you should be preparing your own speech? You sure have a thick hide, Mr. Tannen.

I would have died a long time ago if all my enemies refused to work with me ever again.

Work with you? I'm afraid I can't.

Maylander has a laundry list of violations that I committed during my career. I don't want to spend the rest of my days giving prison tours.

Neither are you looking for a peaceful life. Besides, my proposal has something to do with Maylander.

There's no better vantage point than here on Propeller Paradise. Oakley's too excited to notice, but I doubt you would miss what's going on.

Well, if I gotta say it...

The broadcast screens of the levitation layer are switching too quickly. They say it's because they're doing testing, which I'm not convinced about. There are a dozen testers on the square whom I don't recognize. They don't look like they're taking a stroll; they look like they're patrolling.

Like they know that danger is impending.

Are you trying to trick me into another plot?

There's a plot afoot on Propeller Paradise alright, that's a fact. It's also a fact that I won't let Gustave make a mockery out of this place in front of all of Columbia.

You have ten seconds. Yes or no.

What are the chances of success?

Ten percent.

Doesn't sound like a gamble you'd take.

I don't have a choice with that old fox sitting across the table, holding all the cards.

A plan almost certain to fail... interesting. Tell me about it.

I need you to convince as many people as possible to return to the levitation layer, and retrieve the Originium equipment and Arts units on this list.

...All contraband that you sold?

They have far more potential than just sitting under the spotlight.

You want to...

Escape. And take all of Propeller Paradise with me.

Gustave and Maylander never intended to allow the exhibition to go ahead. The opening ceremony was just a smokescreen.

The levitation layer will fall a second time soon. But miracles don't happen a second time.

The Lucky Cystybeast can't afford to start over...

Neither can most startups on Propeller Paradise.

'Escape. And take all of Propeller Paradise...'

It's the only way to save both Propeller Paradise and the people on the lower level.

Propeller Paradise has been traveling on the barrenlands for seven days. Fuel is short, and the plate is operating in safe mode. The basic propulsion module is not enough to change its direction.

But the Arts unit that the Lucky Cystybeast got was just a transformation stabilizer. It can't supply enough energy to turn a plate.

Correct.

But it wasn't the only item that Tannen smuggled.

You mean, get all the contraband devices, and build a makeshift propulsion module to make the plate deviate from its course?

Not deviate. Make an about-face.

About-face? Have you any idea what you're saying? It's the direction of the borders!

True, the procedures for cross-border travel is a little complicated.

It would be treason!

No, I can't go to jail. People need to see Lucky Cystybeast on the broadcasts. My wife in Northville needs to see it...

In the interest of full disclosure, I must inform you that people won't see Lucky Cystybeast on the broadcasts, whether we succeed or fail.

No...

I'm sorry, but I'm taking the unit, whether you give it up voluntarily or not. We don't have time.

What's the point? We can't even leave the pod...

Someone has unlocked it remotely.

What?

You see the floating botanical units outside the window? Three flashes is a distress call. The current message is cycled after five continuous seconds of being lit.

Right now... three, four, five... seven flashes.

Looks like the other units on the list have been retrieved. Everyone is rendezvousing on Platform 7. Wait—

...The light went out.

What does that mean?

It means Maylander knows what's up. We're in danger.

Mr. Aspen, you can either come with me on your feet, or you can go to sleep right here, right now.

People like us never get to choose, do we?

Sit down.

Gustave looks at the Savra who has butted heads with him for seven years, who now sits stiffly on a chair, like a potato wrapped in foil.

He knows young officers well. They are angry, flamboyant, unhappy about everything, and frustrated about being restricted by rules.

In the end, however, they all sit in the same chair that rectifies their young spine, and become a proper member of the upper stratum of Columbian society.

As Gordon Tannen will.

Once Maylander's plan succeeds, the broadcast room will switch over to Cloud. Don't screw up.

Put your usual attitude away. Sound sincere, devastated. It's the Propeller Paradise you built. It won't be hard to stir the appropriate emotions.

Tomorrow, that sorry face of yours is going to be on the front page of every Columbian newspaper. Look the part, won't you?

And stop staring at your little freak.

I know, I know. You don't want to be Propeller Paradise's sin eater, sharing the same spotlight as Nasti.