If emotions were affecting Lacus's judgment, that would be troublesome.
But now, seeing her daughter's serious expression, there didn't seem to be any trace of personal feelings involved.
Besides, the girl was only ten years old after all.
Perhaps he was overthinking it.
With these thoughts in mind, Siegel nodded as well.
"If it truly is as he says, then we can indeed place our complete trust in him."
"However, taking him to Mendel will still require some arrangements."
"We won't be able to keep it from Patrick either."
He understood his colleague's temperament well.
In short, while he had seemingly agreed to Fred's request simply, there was actually a great deal of work to be done behind the scenes.
As Chairman, he couldn't just do as he pleased.
Hearing this, Lacus inwardly breathed a sigh of relief while her eyes once again turned to the video footage of Creuset before her.
Looking at the blond, masked young man on the screen, she felt a strange intuition and a chilling sense of fear.
Perhaps, as Fred had said, this man named Creuset truly might stop at nothing to destroy the world.
Fred's arrangements were also quite appropriate.
If Creuset went there and they could truly uncover his intentions, they would be prepared to take action.
Moreover, acting in Mendel would actually be simpler than in PLANT.
After all, they were also being watched by the Council Nations.
Amid Lacus's complex thoughts, it wasn't long before Fred had compiled and organized all the information, sending it directly to the computers of Patrick and Siegel.
Meanwhile, on the other end, Patrick in December City quickly grasped the full picture of the situation.
"His intentions are utterly despicable!"
Patrick gritted his teeth in anger, slamming the tablet in front of him forcefully onto the desk with a loud "thud."
The sharp sound echoed repeatedly in the sealed, dimly lit room.
By now, combined with Fred's analysis of that Mobile Suit, the incident had become quite clear.
The forces stationed outside Julius belonged to the Atlantic Federation.
Letting people in would be simple for them.
As for the unreported missing Work Pods, there were insiders providing assistance.
The plan was intricately linked. If not for Fred's intervention, they might have truly succeeded in probing for information.
Had that happened, they would have been forced to expose themselves, inevitably leading to prolonged disputes with the Atlantic and Eurasian Federations, and possibly even escalating into armed conflict.
"But how did Fred see it?"
In the guard captain's report, Fred had acted like a legendary clairvoyant, spotting the Work Pod from such a great distance.
If applied in combat, wouldn't that be overwhelming?
Feeling that the points of confusion were only increasing, Patrick sighed softly to himself.
The sense that he couldn't fully grasp Fred grew stronger and stronger.
What if he ran away?
What then?
That wasn't impossible.
Fred possessed too much knowledge, making it impossible for Patrick to let his guard down.
However, Fred's relationship with Siegel was also quite good now, and the new marriage law had recently been forcibly passed.
Perhaps they could use this connection to firmly bind him to PLANT?
Patrick thought, narrowing his eyes slightly as he began to consider various possibilities and potential candidates in his mind.
At this point, having not yet experienced the events that would follow, Patrick still trusted Siegel. Otherwise, the two would not have collaborated on developing the new Mobile Suit, nor would they have even considered an alliance through marriage.
Thus, in Patrick's view, even if someone didn't get along with his side but aligned with the Clyne Faction's ideals, it wouldn't be a problem.
As long as they could keep the person here.
After all, Patrick didn't have the advantage of knowing the plot and couldn't foresee his future wife's death.
In the future, from his perspective, his wife had died, yet this colleague of his still insisted on surrender and even committed treason by personally handing over the top-secret Mobile Suit. That was what truly infuriated him.
For now, none of these events had occurred.
The two remained allies with a basic level of trust—otherwise, they would never have co-founded ZAFT.
And so, Siegel pushed forward with the trap, Patrick investigated the mole, and Fred focused on researching the MS. Days passed swiftly in their respective busy routines.
Only a month had passed. In the familiar room, Creuset still sat opposite Durandal, with a chessboard between them displaying an endgame.
"Mendel will be attacked?"
Durandal asked, his brow furrowed tightly.
This news was of immediate concern to him, as someone who worked at Mendel.
"Yes, according to the intelligence dealer."
"Blue Cosmos has indeed been acting unusually lately."
"It wouldn't be surprising for them to attack that place."
"Mendel has also received the news and is likely preparing for evacuation at any moment."
Creuset nodded, his tone sounding no different from usual.
He continued as if discussing an ordinary matter.
"This might be the last chance to investigate that place again. I haven't obtained all the data yet."
"You know I must go there to settle things, to see clearly why they created me."
After speaking these final words, Creuset's lips curled into a cold, thin smile.
The timing of the attack and the evacuation of the crowd presented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"It's your decision."
Durandal nodded in agreement, as usual, with no intention of interfering in the other's actions.
Hearing this, Creuset merely shrugged and said nothing more on the topic, instead asking:
"How are things with Talia?"
"..."
Durandal didn't answer, only gently moving his chess piece.
"Checkmate."
The young man's usually calm voice now carried a subtle tension upon closer listening.
"Seems not too good."
Creuset wasn't surprised, merely shrugging again.
Soon, silence returned to the room.
It was as if both had suddenly become mute, with only the crisp sound of chess pieces being placed breaking the quiet from time to time.
...
The scene shifted. At this moment, in his own study, Fred was also deep in thought, gazing at the MS design before him.
And he wasn't alone—on the screen was the familiar face of Albert Heinlein.
"The Dynamic Balance System must be highly correlated with the external mass to be completed, but the external design hasn't been finalized yet."
Heinlein said with dissatisfaction.
Although there is no aerodynamic shape in space, it doesn't mean that form is unimportant.
For ordinary battleships, it's relatively simple—just forward and backward movement, with a few additional thrusters on the sides.
While the positioning and kinetic energy of the thrusters still require calculations, it is much simpler.
In fact, the Automatic Balance System on a battleship is over a hundred times simpler than that of a humanoid robot.
Humanoid robots are different; their varying heights, builds, and weights result in different inertial effects in space.