P.L.A.N.T.
On the surface, civilian life still appeared relatively normal. Military activity had also begun to ease following Orb's sudden rise.
In the political arena, however, a terrifying storm was raging.
At the heart of that storm was a conflict between two factions.
On one side stood the hardliners and pro-war faction led by Patrick Zala. On the other stood the moderates and anti-war faction led by Siegel Clyne.
In the end, Zala's faction appeared to have emerged victorious.
The primary reason was that his faction wielded far greater control over the military. Many members of the Clyne Faction had been forcibly confined and stripped of their freedom of movement.
It was, for all intents and purposes, a military coup.
Siegel Clyne might still have held the title of Chairman, but he could no longer exercise any meaningful influence over the Supreme Council. He had been completely sidelined.
Several days earlier, he had officially been placed under house arrest and forbidden from freely contacting the outside world.
Now, someone had arrived at the Clyne residence.
Athrun frowned slightly when he saw the heavily armed soldiers guarding the property.
After being captured in Orb, he had met with Lacus. What she told him, combined with the considerable amount of evidence she provided, had shaken him deeply.
Rather than remain in Orb afterward, he had chosen to return to Z.A.F.T. and P.L.A.N.T.
He needed to investigate the matter himself and determine whether Lacus had been telling the truth.
His secret investigation had confirmed nearly everything she had said.
Athrun had not yet obtained definitive proof, but every piece of evidence pointed toward the same terrifying possibility.
He had nearly been discovered during his investigation. Fortunately, Siegel Clyne had made a sudden move that drew attention away from him.
In fact, Athrun's actions had apparently been mistaken for part of Siegel Clyne's secret investigation. As a result, suspicion had never fallen directly on Athrun.
He understood that Siegel had deliberately protected him.
That realization left him with complicated feelings.
Over the past few days, Athrun had uncovered even more irregularities. However, he could not determine what kind of plan they were connected to.
That was why he had come to the Clyne residence today.
Because he was Patrick Zala's son, the soldiers did not subject him to an especially rigorous inspection. Athrun quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Once inside, he met Lacus's father and produced the information he had gathered. At the same time, he activated a small device that temporarily interfered with the room's surveillance systems.
Athrun displayed the intelligence for Siegel to review while carefully watching his reaction.
Siegel's expression steadily grew more solemn. Athrun could even sense anger rising within him.
"You may erase it now, Athrun. Go home."
"What plan does this information reveal?"
Siegel shook his head.
"You can't tell me?"
Athrun did not believe this was because Siegel distrusted him.
The most likely explanation was that Lacus's father had realized how serious the plan was. It was dangerous enough that Athrun could lose his life merely by becoming involved.
"I'm sorry."
That was the only answer Siegel Clyne could give him.
From the information Athrun had provided, he had deduced the existence of a horrifying plan.
Patrick Zala, Athrun's own father, had truly gone insane.
If Siegel told Athrun the truth and Patrick discovered that his son knew about his deranged plan, he probably would not go so far as to kill Athrun himself.
However, other people involved in the plan might target him.
Rau Le Creuset, for example.
Le Creuset longed to plunge the world into chaos. He would never allow Athrun to interfere with that outcome.
Naturally, he would not be foolish enough to let Patrick believe he had personally murdered his son. Instead, he would arrange some conspiracy that resulted in Athrun's death, then manipulate Patrick into blaming Earth and deepening his hatred for it.
There was another concern.
Given Athrun's current temperament, Siegel believed the young man would be unable to restrain himself after learning the truth. He would confront his father, perhaps even resort to force.
That would only cause Patrick to tighten his control over P.L.A.N.T.
Siegel would then find it even more difficult to warn anyone about the monstrous plan already underway.
He could not tell Athrun.
The boy was still too young.
"Councilor Ezalia will be visiting Orb tomorrow, correct?" Siegel asked. "I hope she can spare some time to speak with an old friend before she leaves."
With that, Siegel made his request.
The next day arrived in the blink of an eye.
Ezalia Joule, Yzak Joule's mother, was both a member of the Supreme Council and a member of the National Defense Committee. As part of the pro-war faction, she was scheduled to visit Orb.
The journey was partly an official diplomatic exchange, but it also concerned the fact that her son was still in Orb.
Orb had already stopped treating Yzak as a prisoner. Its leaders had made it clear that he was free to return home whenever he wished.
Yet Yzak appeared to have become infatuated with Siegel's daughter. He insisted on remaining behind to protect her and refused to come home.
Something was clearly wrong.
Even though Athrun and Lacus could no longer be together, Yzak was not the kind of person who would assume that gave him an opportunity with her.
Besides, he had originally been hostile toward Lacus.
"I understand. I'll deliver your words to her."
Before leaving, Ezalia met with Siegel. He asked her to deliver a message to Lacus.
Ezalia carefully analyzed his words, searching for any concealed information he might be trying to transmit to his daughter.
No matter how thoroughly she examined them, however, they sounded perfectly ordinary. They were nothing more than a father expressing his concern for his daughter and telling her how much he missed her.
"Well?"
"There are no problems."
The technicians also confirmed that the recorded message contained no concealed information.
"Then copy the recording onto another device."
Even so, Ezalia believed this extra precaution was necessary.
Orb.
News of Aura Maha Khyber and most of her delegation's deaths remained under tight control. The outside world still did not know exactly what had happened in Orb.
However, if the delegation remained silent for too long, people would inevitably become suspicious.
Fortunately, Orb no longer had to worry quite as much about the disastrous consequences of their deaths.
Just an hour earlier, an operation led by Yzak had uncovered evidence of Aura Maha Khyber's secrets.
What they found was horrifying.
They discovered ten secret experimental facilities operated by Aura Maha Khyber.
Her private experiments were every bit as monstrous as the Earth Alliance's Biological CPU Project.
Countless children had died on operating tables as she attempted to further develop the Accords.
Even more diabolical was the method Aura had used to maintain her unnaturally young body.
She had extracted specialized genetic material from children to preserve her youth, and every child subjected to the process had died.
Meanwhile, Lacus was examining the intelligence recently compiled by Orb's intelligence agencies alongside the information stored in the terminal before her.
She was trying to find a pattern.
Some of the irregularities had occurred around the same time she awakened in the middle of the night.
She could not yet determine what those seemingly unusual activities meant. However, seeing them intensified the lingering unease within her.
Several pieces of information produced that reaction, but she still could not connect them well enough to understand the larger picture.
She needed more intelligence and a stronger stimulus.
Lacus had a feeling that if her unease became intense enough, she might finally discover its true source.
Worse, that ominous feeling seemed to be drawing closer.
Her anxiety continued to grow.
Biting her lower lip, Lacus decided to try a particular stimulus. She turned toward the two people beside her.
"Mr. Kain, Miss Murrue, may I ask the two of you for a favor?"
"What is it?"
Murrue stopped remotely directing the Archangel's personnel through her computer and looked at Lacus.
"Could you repeat what the two of you were doing that night, here in front of me?"
Murrue went completely still.
For a moment, she could not understand the request.
No, she understood it. That was precisely why her mind seemed to shut down.
Kain looked equally stunned.
Lacus's request was truly difficult to process.
When she suddenly made such a request of Kain and Murrue, she was entirely serious.
Lacus believed that observing what they had done might stimulate her unease and allow her to better identify its source.
That left Kain silent for some time.
In many fictional works involving psychic powers, emotional stimulation could indeed trigger an explosive mental response and allow someone to display extraordinary abilities.
Lacus's request, however, was somewhat different.
In those stories, extraordinary power was usually awakened by intense emotions such as love, anger, or jealousy.
Lacus did not appear to be seeking emotional stimulation.
Judging from her explanation, she wanted to analyze what Kain and Murrue had done in hopes of discovering some critical piece of information capable of stimulating her unease.
Moreover, Lacus did not seem like someone who would be overwhelmed by rage or jealousy after witnessing such a thing.
Her objective was purely analytical.
In other words, Lacus was currently attempting to solve a formula, one that might lead to the destruction of the world.
She had already discovered fragments of that formula hidden within several pieces of intelligence. However, those fragments were insufficient to reveal the formula's true purpose.
Something about Kain and Murrue's actions might reveal the crucial missing component. Combined with everything else she had uncovered, it could allow Lacus to understand precisely how the world-ending formula operated.
Would Kain refuse such a request?
Of course not.
He was a shameless man.
Doing it in front of Lacus would add its own unique thrill.
The real question was whether Murrue could accept it.
Her mind was probably in complete chaos. Lacus's request revealed that she knew what had happened that night.
Lacus naturally apologized to Murrue as well.
As for Cagalli and Stella, Lacus asked them to wait outside unless Kain and Murrue did not mind them learning the truth.
Kain did not care, but Murrue clearly did.
"Miss Murrue, I'm..."
"I agree, Lacus."
Murrue interrupted her before she could continue apologizing.
Lacus sincerely wanted to prevent some terrible disaster. Her request was not meant to humiliate or anger Murrue. She genuinely believed that their actions might contain information capable of triggering her strange premonition.
Although it was difficult to understand, Lacus's unease had begun at the same time Murrue and Kain were together. That suggested there might truly be a connection.
Lacus had previously suggested that Murrue might play an important and decisive role in whatever was causing her unease, perhaps because she was being drawn toward a compatible individual.
If Lacus was doing this to save her, then Murrue ought to make a small sacrifice of her own.
It was only embarrassment.
If sacrificing her dignity could help avert a terrible crisis, then it was unquestionably worth it.
"Mr. Kain..."
"I have no problem with it."
Of course he did not.
Murrue gave him a long, resentful look.
She sighed inwardly. This meant Lacus would also discover one of her secrets, the fact that her body could produce MR substance.
Given Lacus's personality, she would never make fun of her for it. Even so, it was still deeply embarrassing.
Taking a deep breath, Murrue began to release the substance her body could produce.
Before long, Kain and Murrue were sitting together in an intimate embrace, their clothes set aside.
"Murrue, shall we begin?"
"Yes."
After receiving her permission, Kain took hold of the part of her body capable of producing MR substance. He applied pressure and began drawing the substance out.
At the same time, Murrue rubbed against the part of him capable of producing something similar.
Lacus watched their actions with complete seriousness.
Having her eyes fixed on him made Kain feel as though a massive surge of dopamine had been injected into his brain, accelerating every nerve.
At the same time, guilt began to grow within him.
Lacus's innocent gaze was focused entirely on finding crucial information, while he was secretly delighted that he now had a perfectly legitimate excuse to enjoy himself.
The stark contrast filled him with guilt toward her.
"Lacus, has your feeling of unease grown any stronger?"
Murrue looked at her hopefully, wishing they could stop as soon as possible.
"No."
Lacus shook her head.
Witnessing the scene had not intensified her unease.
Why?
Had her deduction been wrong?
Wait. Perhaps the problem was that she had originally witnessed the scene through her psychic perception. What she saw with her eyes could be very different from what she perceived mentally.
Considering that possibility, Lacus immediately closed her eyes and observed them through her psychic senses.
Yes, this was almost identical to what she had perceived that night.
Yet her unease still did not intensify.
What was missing?
Lacus opened her eyes again and studied what the two of them were doing.
Suddenly, her gaze locked onto something.
During Dr. Yūko Kōzuki's broadcast, that part of him had not remained outside. It had entered somewhere else.
Right now, it was merely pressing against Murrue.
They were clearly not performing the same act.
"Miss Murrue, Mr. Kain, I need you to truly repeat what happened."
"Truly repeat it?"
Murrue did not understand.
However, Kain followed Lacus's gaze and roughly understood what she meant.
"Lacus, are you saying this needs to go inside?"
"Yes."
"D-do we really have to do that?" Murrue asked in a flustered voice. "That night, we only went this far. It never went inside."
"You didn't, Miss Murrue?"
Lacus looked slightly startled.
"No."
Upon hearing Murrue's answer, Lacus became momentarily distracted.
A quiet burst of happiness rose within her.
So they had not truly crossed that final boundary.
No, this was not the time to think about that.
"Could it be that you need to perform the Tai Chi position?" Kain suddenly suggested.
Part of him genuinely hoped it would help Lacus uncover useful information.
Another part of him looked forward to performing the Tai Chi position in front of her.
There was also a contradictory hope buried within him. Perhaps witnessing it would make Lacus somewhat disgusted with him and persuade her to keep her distance.
"The Tai Chi position? What is that?"
Lacus tilted her head in confusion.
That night, once she understood what was happening, she had immediately withdrawn her psychic perception. As a result, she did not know what they had done afterward.
"The Tai Chi position? That..."
Murrue's mind descended into chaos once again.
It was what they had done after nearly all the MR substance had been extracted from her body. She had reciprocated by drawing out a similar substance from Kain.
At the same time, he had also consumed something especially extraordinary.
"I'm sorry, Miss Murrue..."
"Lacus, you don't need to apologize," Murrue interrupted her again. "If this can help you obtain the information we need, I can do it!"
This small sacrifice was insignificant compared with the danger represented by Lacus's premonition.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]