What exactly was the Tai Chi Position? Lacus had once again gained a piece of knowledge that left her utterly bewildered.
Yet even after they finished and she finally came back to her senses, she did not feel that strange unease growing any stronger.
That meant there had been no information hidden in what Kain and Murrue had done.
Her unease clearly had nothing to do with their actions. The two things had simply happened at almost the same time, creating a coincidence convincing enough to mislead her.
Realizing this, Lacus apologized to both of them, overwhelmed by guilt and shame.
Asking them to do something like that in front of her had been incredibly rude.
No, rude was far too mild a word. It had been outrageous. Absolutely outrageous!
She had asked them to do something that stripped them of all dignity.
It would have been one thing if they had done it alone, but she had demanded that they do it in front of her while she watched. That was clearly humiliating.
When embarrassment became that severe, it crossed the line into degradation.
For a moment, Lacus had no idea what to do. Her request had gone far beyond what was acceptable. Even if Kain had a good temper and showed no sign of resenting her, what did he truly think about it?
"Lacus! Lacus!"
"Huh?"
"What are you spacing out for? What exactly did you ask those two to do last night? You've already apologized several times, and you've been restless ever since. You look like a child who knows she did something wrong."
Cagalli genuinely wanted to know.
What had the three of them done inside that room? They had not emerged until an hour later, and Cagalli had nearly lost patience and barged inside.
Afterward, Lacus had acted guilty around both of them.
Kain, on the other hand, seemed no different from usual.
As for Murrue, her face had been red beyond belief. None of the calm maturity expected of the Archangel's captain had remained. She had seemed younger, much easier to embarrass, and generally very strange.
"I'm sorry, Cagalli."
There it was again. All Lacus could do was apologize. She clearly had no intention of explaining, which made Cagalli scowl as she shoved something into her hands.
"Here. That white-haired man took this from the laboratory. It contains some of Aura's secret research."
Lacus accepted the data disk from Cagalli and immediately composed herself, forcing her thoughts back into a calm and rational state.
She inserted the disk into a computer, opened its contents, and began reading.
"Is this information about the Accords?"
Much of it consisted of specialized terminology that Cagalli could not understand, but even she could tell that it described technology for genetically modifying humans.
"Yes."
Lacus nodded and continued reading. When she reached a particular section, her eyes widened.
The document described the capabilities an Accord would possess upon achieving its most perfect form.
A perfect Accord would become humanity's king, exerting a mental influence over the entire human race. In a sense, such a being could even be considered humanity's god.
If malicious thoughts appeared in someone's mind, the mental fluctuations created by those thoughts would spread outward and ultimately reach the king. The king could then identify the person responsible and deal with them.
The king might even be able to send out a mental command and eliminate that person directly.
Of course, the mind of a single individual could not transmit its thoughts over an enormous distance.
However, all of humanity could be compared to countless Wi-Fi devices, with their signals overlapping to form an immense network.
When one person generated a malicious signal, the mental signals of other humans would act as bridges and relay stations, passing that signal onward until it finally reached the king.
If the Accords described in these files could truly achieve such a level of ability, Lacus now had a general idea of where her unease might have come from.
"Lacus, could that uneasy feeling of yours have been caused by this ability?"
Cagalli had read the same passage and arrived at that possibility.
"Perhaps, but I still can't identify who it came from or even the direction."
After saying this, Lacus suddenly closed her eyes.
She intended to perform an experiment.
She continuously extended her consciousness outward, allowing it to spread like a long antenna. If she could stretch it far enough, perhaps she would be able to receive a clearer signal.
Her first attempt was directed toward the sky.
Extending her mental antenna upward would expose it to the least interference from surrounding objects.
She pushed it farther and farther, driving it high into the heavens.
Lacus had no idea how high it ultimately reached. She only knew that she was approaching the absolute limit of her mental range.
If she pushed it any farther, she would no longer be able to maintain the mental antenna.
At that moment, her unease suddenly intensified.
It grew stronger and stronger.
Where was it?
From which direction was the signal coming?
There!
"The sky!"
"The sky?"
"It should be coming from space!"
Lacus opened her eyes and clarified what she had sensed. The signal behind her unease was coming from outer space. The farther upward she extended her consciousness, the stronger it became.
"Space again!"
Cagalli's expression darkened.
Were they planning to use the same trick again and drop something from orbit?
Whatever the answer, Orb needed to order its satellites and every other observation system at its disposal to closely monitor the space above the nation.
The time reached a little after one in the afternoon.
Ezalia Joule, a PLANT Supreme Council member visiting Orb, handed Lacus a data disk after their official business had concluded. It contained a recorded message from Lacus's father.
Correction, Ezalia did not personally hand it to her.
Ezalia and Yzak had suddenly started arguing, and she had gone after him when he stormed away. Only then did she remember that she had something to give Lacus, so she asked the two sisters accompanying Cagalli to deliver it instead.
Those sisters were Lunamaria Hawke and Meyrin Hawke, who were supposed to make their debut in the story's second season.
"Lacus, if there's someone you love, you should pursue them yourself. You should be the one to decide who will become your future partner. If possible, when the second... cough, cough... moon is full, bring them home and let me meet them... my beloved daughter."
The entire message seemed to consist of nothing more than a father making ordinary conversation with his daughter. Cagalli could not detect any useful information, even though Lacus had openly played the recording for everyone.
It was perfectly normal that there seemed to be nothing useful in it.
Lacus's father was currently in a difficult political position. Any message he sent to her would undergo layer after layer of scrutiny, making it nearly impossible for him to transmit sensitive information directly.
"The second moon!"
"Huh? Did your father send you some kind of message? Is the second moon the key?"
"Yes."
Lacus understood what her father had meant. The deliberate pause and coughing had been intentional.
Anyone else who heard the message would assume that he meant the second time the moon became full. In reality, he had been referring to the Second Moon.
The Second Moon was how her father had once described a vast piece of land floating through space.
They had once gone there to mourn the dead. As they departed, sunlight had illuminated the drifting landmass. From their angle at the time, it had appeared as a circular disk reflecting the sun's light, almost like another moon.
Her father had called it the Second Moon.
At last, Lacus understood the truth behind her unease.
It was something truly horrific.
Her face turned ashen.
At that instant, the ominous feeling surged through her once more, stronger than it had ever been before.
"Lacus, your unease is connected to this Second Moon, isn't it?"
Kain had noticed her reaction.
But what exactly did the Second Moon refer to?
"Yes. The Second Moon is Junius Seven!"
Her voice trembled with barely restrained fury.
It was understandable that she could not suppress her anger.
Kain understood as well.
He had never expected the Junius Seven drop incident, which should have occurred during the second season, to happen ahead of schedule.
(End of Chapter)
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