-3: 113
Back at Eden's headquarters. Specifically, the briefing room.
Johan, the commander once esteemed as New Hope and the one thought to lead the Second Reclamation War to victory.
Cecil, the brilliant mind that was so great the Central Government had intended to turn her into an artificial intelligence to rival Enikk.
Together, the two of them gathered in Dorothy's absence to discuss recent events.
Specifically, the very extensive report that Dorothy had sent them.
"...What do you think about this, Cecil?" Johan brushed his silver bangs away from his eyes and frowned. "...This is Dorothy, so this shouldn't be a lie. But this is too incredible to be truth."
Cecil furrowed her brows and pursed her lips. She idly twirled a bit of her long white hair to think as she skimmed through the report again. "...To summarize. Deputy Chief Andersen is the Legendary Commander. And he had a son with Liliweiss. Said son is currently a commander assigned to the Outpost. But said son is also a genius who managed to create a safehaven for Nikkes and humans alike without utilizing optical camoflage but instead some other unknown Rapture repellant."
Johan nodded. "Correct."
"Then continuing on..." Cecil crossed her arms, making her white lab coat flutter before saying, "This new commander is known as The Valiant, fights on the frontline alongside his Nikkes, devised a complete dossier of combat techniques to induce Rapture structural integrity failure through accumulated pinpoint attacks and timing, and he is currently heading a new Nikke manufacturing line as CEO. And now Dorothy is insisting that we utilize Eden's resources to find a solution for the fact that he has a rare bloodtype that no one currently alive can donate or replicate."
"...That sounds about right."
Cecil nodded. "I see. ...Are we sure that Dorothy hasn't suffered a Mind Switch?"
"...That's what I thought. But I've confirmed it with Snow White and Scarlet through our old contacts as well."
"Really?" Cecil blinked. "That changes things. But..." She frowned. "...Why now?"
"I don't know." Johan frowned. "The timing is too convenient. What if this is a ploy by the Ark to lure us out?"
"I don't think so." Cecil shook her head. "From the sound of it, the Ark doesn't care about us. And if even half of this is true, they wouldn't need us either."
"...So you're saying that, right now, just after Eden has gained sufficient resources and stabilized enough to begin proper surface reclamation attempts... A greenhorn genius shows up, suddenly understands Rapture morphology better than anyone in written history, and also possesses technology that outclasses what you've designed, Cecil?" Johan scoffed. "Sounds like either a pipedream... or a Rapture infiltration."
"Mm... it could be." Cecil nodded. "There were reports about humanoid Raptures being spotted. And different from Heretics as well... But I don't think so."
"And why not?"
"Well. If the Raptures can do that, they would have killed us all by now, right?"
"..."
"See?"
"...So do we ignore it?"
Cecil hummed. "...I think it's fine to ignore it until Dorothy gets back. We still need to finish processing the resources from Nihilister. I think there's enough to modify Eden's Spear."
Johan paused, his eyes narrowing. "...What kinds of modifications?"
Cecil smiled. "The kind that lets us break through the obscuring screen preventing us from seeing the Queen's location."
Johan's eyes widened for a moment. Then they narrowed in calculation. "...How soon and how certain?"
"Likely by the new year, and completely. There was a lot of fascinating information I obtained from what we retrieved from Nihilister's cast off parts. And although it's still in the works, I believe I might be able to find a way to track the Queen through them. And once we can, it should be possible to fire Eden's Spear at her."
"Excellent." Johan smirked. "We can finally show that monster that humanity isn't a force to be trifled with."
Cecil nodded. "That's right. But..."
"What is it?"
Cecil frowned, thinking. "...I wonder if it will be enough? There's so many unknowns about the Queen and her abilities. I'm confident in my creations, but if there's even a chance that there's something unaccounted for, it could be disastrous."
"...Then think it over again and again. You said by the end of the new year?"
"That's right."
"Then I'll prepare contingencies." Johan glanced in the direction of the Outpost. "...Some things have to be seen with your own eyes."
===
Back in the Ark, Andersen sat in his office, mulling things over while the Halloween festivities unfolded elsewhere in the Ark.
'...The world really loves to keep pissing me off, doesn't it?'
After some time, Enikk forwarded Andersen what she found.
And what she found had been reports of a failed mission where Andersen's son had a childhood friend. Mary Anne, a girl suffering from illness and being treated at the same facility his son had been kept in.
No doubt part of the V.T.C.'s holdout experimentations...
But they had both become healthy and went to the military academy together as classmates. Fellow commanders in training.
And then Mary Anne died on a training mission to protect his son.
And his son died from his injuries retrieving her body.
It was clear what happened to Mary Anne after that. The papertrail to her being converted into a Nikke as Marian was fairly clear.
Although there were suspicious parts considering that Ingrid didn't have any records of her in Elysion's databases, there *were* records of Marian in the MMR databases.
That wasn't the issue.
The issue was the fact that there was a clear autopsy report for Jacob Ian Andersen and his cause of death. Specifically, from bleeding out and blood transfusion complications.
But there weren't any traces of where his body ended up... if at all.
Even more suspicious was the fact that he had suddenly shown up again in the graduating class this year with no one batting an eye. And alongside Marian as well, who didn't look an iota different from her time at the military academy.
Which all meant...
"A cover up." Andersen murmured. "On a level unprecedented while also remaining unaccounted for until the current day."
The problem was, nothing made sense.
Enikk said that there was no one in the Ark with the ability to perform something like that.
And Andersen agreed. The only ones who could pull off something like that would be the CEOs of the Big Three. But Ingrid and Mustang wouldn't do something like this, and Syuen was terrible at covert operations.
A thought suddenly came to Andersen's mind.
Someone who would have had the same level of access as a CEO, but who was unaccounted for after vanishing. Whose motives were never truly understood even when he was part of the Big Three.
"...Enme," Andersen murmured.
Syuen's father. The genius who developed the Alva Particle communication infrastructure that allowed the Ark to communicate everywhere on the surface where Alva Particles existed.
If it was someone like him...
"No. It doesn't make sense either."
He was a likely candidate. But Andersen's gut was telling him that wasn't it.
Whoever had saved his son and brought him back as Commander Hoopa didn't have a hidden motive. And something told Andersen that Hoopa having Marian as the first Nikke under Hoopa's command was arranged, but not due to some greater plot or ploy.
"...Argh, this is pissing me off."
Andersen's gut was telling him that there was definitely 'someone' who arranged Hoopa to be on that transport ship with Marian. And moreover, someone had arranged things so that Hoopa's memories would be too hazy to recall what happened before that first mission.
But his gut was ALSO telling him that whoever did it had the best intentions for both of them.
And that was what was throwing Andersen off, because in this godforsaken world pure altruism didn't exist. At least, not among people with that capability.
After mulling it over some more, Andersen decided to leave it be.
"...It's fine. The kid's alive, Marian's alive and clearly healthy since she's having his kid. And the Ark is better than it's ever been."
It was a mystery that was nagging at the back of his mind, but Andersen decided to deprioritize it.
There were more important matters at hand, such as preparing for the Third Surface Reclamation War.
...And finding a proper costume for the Halloween Gala later.
'Hm... Maybe I should see if Mustang has anything flashy for me to borrow...'
===
Since Indi had definitely fallen asleep instead of just taking a nap, I carried her to her bedroom in the dorms and tucked her into bed for the night with her favorite plushed scorpion as well as a spare Commander Doll.
After that though, I took a walk back towards my office, mulling over the information I got from that Nikke called Nayuta.
'An ascetic monk from D.E.E.P. who roamed the lands acquiring information using clones who return information on death...'
Maybe it was because she was fascinated by the fact that I was controlling my Guardian so fluidly (in her eyes) with just basic radio signals and not a full neural link, but she ended up spilling her entire M.O.
Essentially, the fact that she was a hidden observer to most events and was trying to find a way to do a decisive strike against the Rapture Queen, and that her numerous clones allowed her to do that across the years and vast locales on the surface.
Either way, it was useful. Especially since Nayuta seemed perfectly content with just staying at the Fifth Weapons Depot to guard it.
In her words...
"This modest body of mine would be honored to serve the great purpose of safeguarding one of humanity's anchorstones, Valiant One."
...It seemed like Nayuta, or the clone of her that met my Guardian at least, didn't have anything better to do.
Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better 'treat' on Halloween in terms of personnel.
I paused, the thought suddenly crossing my mind. "Personnel... I have been getting a lot of that recently, haven't I?"
It reminded me a lot of Burningum, actually.
Setting the stage and putting the pieces in play while not stepping onto it yourself...
There was a difference though.
While Burningum wouldn't ever be able to properly step foot on the battlefield, I could.
I was pretty much the king and the player on the chessboard match against the Rapture Queen.
"Mm... Lelouch said the King should move first, but that really only works when you're playing against humans..."
My opponent was a hyperadvanced AI hivemind leader who put humanity on the backfoot for over a century now.
...Or less than a century?
The timeline was kind of fuzzy since the records back then were hectic, but let's call it a century.
Anyway, if there was one saving grace it was that I knew how AIs worked.
Specifically, the fact that the Rapture Queen was definitely not human in its calculations, nor did it even pretend to be.
And so...
"I should just keep stacking unpredictable cards, huh?"
It was clear from recent events that the Rapture Queen was getting impatient and flustered.
I didn't blame her though.
Random swathes of her 'children' were betraying her. The humans she had written off were suddenly biting back.
And there was me.
Considering that the Rapture Queen went so far as to somehow pull an EVA Unit from beyond the veil to try and off me showed that she was fine with risk now if it meant that the unpredictable variables could be cleared.
But...
"...I don't think she realizes just how many of those there are now."
Old Pops and the Goddess Squad were up to full capacity pretty much.
Red Hood had finally gotten a proper Nikke frame after the data we got from Syuen's Nikke body too, so the only one missing from that group was my mom, Liliweiss.
Mustang still had that mystery Nikke he wanted me to try and revive, and one he said could rival Liliweiss in her prime too, so that was another.
Neon... I didn't even KNOW what sorts of crazy things she had developed with Endless.
Ah, and there was Endless and Eternity too. Since neither of them left any survivors when they were deployed and also destroyed everything so quickly, the Rapture Queen definitely didn't know about them yet.
Basically, the deck was completely stacked against the Rapture Queen.
Even so, I still felt a bit anxious.
"...This is too easy."
I didn't have proof yet.
But I knew that I was put here as the commander because the real commander lost.
...The problem was that I didn't know how.
From what I could see, it was pretty straightforward. If it was just a purely mechanical threat like the Raptures I'd fought, then raw firepower should have been sufficient.
And you definitely could get raw firepower.
Was he hampered by the Ark?
My memories of the game were vague now, but the fact that he lost Marian and was pushed around by Syuen showed that he was working against the Ark's system of command instead of outside it...
Sabotage could have led to his loss.
But I had a feeling it wasn't that either.
I held my chin as I walked, mulling it over some more.
'If I simulate a decisive battle based on what I know...'
Pops said that he and Goddess were going to rush the Queen in space using an airship they had before it crashed.
It was possible the Commander tried the same thing, but I don't think so.
Assuming he had the same, or more, resources than me... the fact that he lost implied a factor I didn't know about.
Since he wasn't a frontline fighter like me, he definitely would have wracked his brain more. And if he was Pops' son too, or at least related, then he definitely had tactical sense.
'So how would he lose?'
Was he outmaneuvered? Possible, but that wouldn't require pulling me in.
If it was simply a matter of bad luck, turning back the clock would be sufficient.
But since I was here, that meant that there was a decisive factor I had that would let us win that he lacked. That it was fundamentally impossible for No. 7 to win.
'Let's see... what's unique about me in particular?'
I set aside the combat abilities and tech developments. If you had infinite time, you could arrive at the same conclusion. And whoever brought me here would have surely tried giving No. 7 infinite tries while maintaining his memories as well.
But he still lost.
That meant that it wasn't a matter of capabilities... at least not ONLY capabilities.
'Does the Rapture Queen have the ability to completely replicate all tech advantages and firepower?'
That was likely- No. That was inevitable.
I'd seen it already in how she had made some melee-specific Raptures to try and counter me.
If that was the case... maybe it was a loss due to the Rapture Queen scaling in power too quickly?
'No. That's not enough to send in a new player. The game would have to be impossible to win.'
If it was impossible... then instead of resources, it was probably a way of thinking-
I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, the answer hitting me all at once.
"...The Corruption."
I could see it now. How the loss occurred.
No matter what weapons they gained, no matter how strong a Nikke, the Corruption was a dead end.
Even if they found a cure, that cure didn't matter if the Corruption spread too quickly.
And if someone on the level of Endless got corrupted, it was over.
But...
"...I solved it though."
Rather than a 'cure' for Corruption, I had a vaccine.
Through recontextualizing the 'self' as a foundational and self-proving axiom, no matter what the Corruption tried, it wouldn't be able to change anything.
Not only that, but by presenting it in the form of a 'proof' instead of just an impassionate speech, the NIMPH processed it as a logical firewall too.
...It also had the side-effect of unshackling any Nikke who heard said proof from any inhibitors, but that was a secret.
If that got out, the Ark would ACTUALLY declare me public enemy number one by virtue of the fact that Nikkes could just murder everyone if they were pissed off.
Anyway-
"And what did you solve, my handsome Nephew?"
I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sudden sweet voice by my right ear.
Rapunzel giggled and waved. "Sorry~! Did Auntie Rapunzel scare you?"
"Yes." I stared at her and tilted my head. "...How did you do that?"
I didn't sense her at all, and it definitely wasn't because she was harmless.
Was it because she was in casual clothes?
Instead of her usual priestess outfit, she was just wearing a white blouse and blue jeans.
...She also had a limited edition commander doll of me hanging from a chain by her waist, but I decided to ignore it.
Rapunzel looked amused and said, "A woman has her secrets, Nephew~ Mysterious women are more attractive, aren't they?"
She was trying to play coy.
I could tell she was trying to play coy.
...But when her blue eyes literally had pink hearts in them and she was actually drooling, it didn't work.
Since that was the case, I decided to immediately change the conversation by answering her first question. "If you were curious though, I was thinking about the fact that I solved corruption."
Rapunzel froze. Then all traces of levity and her lewd demeanor vanished, replaced with an uncharacteristically serious expression. "...I believe it's about time we had a proper discussion together, Nephew." She let out a serene smile, but her blue eyes were sharp and focused. "You'll come along with your Aunt, won't you?"