Part 154: Post-Intermission
: Urgh...
: Cotset, are you awake?
: Ugh... What was I doing...?
: Thank goodness... You're back to normal, right?
: Normal...?
: Er, well... You did, actually...
: I'm a technician! Why would I do that!? Gawd, who do they think fixes this stuff!?
: (.........)
: Aw, man, listen to this guy. He did all of that himself!
: But, it's nice to see that he's looking better again...
[SCENE CHANGE]
: Looks like he's completely back to normal.
: And the vaccine's gotten everyone's fever down, so that's two less things to worry about.
: The problem now is Elche...
: Blast those Innocent! What the heck did they do to Elche!?
: (.........)
: She was like a completely different person, wasn't she...
: And she even had a ship like the Iron Gear...
: (.........)
: It looked like she was viewing us as the enemy. Don't tell me...
: Yes... the Innocent have probably tampered with her mind.
: Tampered with her mind...!? They can DO that?
: Forcing people to fight by artificially inducing strong feelings of hatred... That was something done even back in our time.
: Yes... I was like that once.
: (.........)
: I don't think so... Elche wasn't using Newtype equipment. So destroying her machine is no guarantee that you could break their hold on her mind. In a worst-case scenario, her entire personality could be altered...
: Curse those Innocent! What do they take us for!?
: It might not sound nice, but they probably think of you guys as test subjects.
: That's like what that Biel guy was talking about...
: Yeah, they did repeated live subject experiments to create the Civilians. It's no wonder they're capable of mental conditioning or artificial Newtype research.
: (.........) Was it Kashim King who did all that to Elche!?
: Probably. He really, really doesn't want us anywhere near Jop Point.
: Playing around with people's hearts... Kashim King's got to pay!
: Yeah...!
: (.........)
: (...Rosamy could turn out to be in Jop, too...)
[SCENE CHANGE]
: (.........)
: ...You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to...
: Eh...!?
: I used to be part of her Breaker team, but I left them when I wanted to test my own strength.
: That's when you started acting against the Innocent?
: Yes...
: Is that why you're hostile now?
: ...Sis used to only care about fighting and profits, but now she's become an Innocent follower...
: What will you do now? If you keep this up, you might wind up having to fight her...
: ...That's my intent. If Sis is going to walk her own path... Then I'm walking mine. ...Otherwise, there would be no point in separating at all...
: Birin...
[SCENE CHANGE]
: Right. There's the matter of Elche Cargo to consider, for one... It's believed that the Innocent at Jop have a serious amount of firepower at their disposal.
: (.........)
: And they're the type of people who exploit people's hearts with no hesitation... It's possible that they have plenty more artificial Newtypes like Caris, ready to use at a moment's notice.
: So you want to give up on capturing Jop?
: No, that's not it. I'm saying we need more time to investigate exactly what the enemy has.
: I get you. Since Jop is more or less the Innocent's main stronghold... Attacking it head-on could be a pretty bad idea.
: What do you think, Lieutenant Commander Fokker?
: The issue's not the Walker Machines, it's that they've mass produced Iron Gear-class landships. So I'm with Jamil on this one...
Someone enters the room.
: Kihel Heim? We're in the middle of a planning session at the moment.
: (.........) I must meet with Arthur Rank as quickly as possible. And carry out peace negotiations between the Moon Race and the Innocent...
: (.........)
: I understand that, but Diana Sorrel isn't here. Negotiations won't be so simple...
: What are you talking about?
: (.........)
: (.........)
: There's only one person the Diana Counter's royal guard answers to...
: (.........)
: ! Y-you don't mean...
: (.........)