Editing City Series:Volume6e Prologue (section)

===Part 2===

The pit was easily half a mile deep and more than 100 yards across.

Light filled it from the inner walls and a thick metal column pierced it down the center.

Several walkways connected the inner walls of the cylinder to the column.

A large man stood on the highest of those walkways.

He wore the black combat boat of the Geheimnis Agency Air Force Division and he stood next to the column with his right prosthetic arm entirely motionless.

He was staring at a desk-sized control panel installed on the side of the column about 8 yards in front of him. The control panel had a fist-sized hole on the left side and it was not currently functioning.

His gaze climbed from there.

A glass window was installed on the wall above the control panel. It was 2 yards tall and a yard wide and several plastic pipes could be seen crawling and intersecting on the other side.

But something else stuck out from between the pipes twisted in a wild but flat arrangement.

It was a skinny arm. The feminine right arm had the frail lines unique to sickly people and it stuck out toward the window. The open palm was pointed upwards and it was so close it touched the inside of the glass.

An ear of golden wheat sat on the palm.

The man’s eyes narrowed at the wheat.

Just then, he heard a voice from behind him.

“Captain Schweitzer. You were in here again?”

Schweitzer turned toward the voice.

He saw the walkway leading to a large door on the pit’s inner wall. That door sat open and a tall, skinny man stood in front of it. He spoke the name of the elderly man who wore the same black coat as him.

“Bermark. Do you need something?”

“With martial law and a strict security alert in place, I have a lot of spare time. As do you.”

That comment put a bitter look on Schweitzer’s face. He sniffed the air blowing in from the door.

“Is it raining outside?”

“Yes, a large craft will soon be landing on the high-altitude launchpad at the end of the hallway.”

The two automatic doors sitting open behind Bermark led to a long hallway. That led to another door which led to the launchpad hangar.

Schweitzer walked forward and Bermark nodded.

“Are you returning to your quarters?”

Schweitzer frowned at the question.

“What are you trying to say? Are you suggesting I stay here forever?”

“Not at all. I was merely asking if you are heading back…which would mean you are not going anywhere.”

Schweitzer sharpened his gaze and looked to Bermark.

Bermark gave him a much calmer look in return.

After a bit, Schweitzer sighed.

“Where are you taking me?”

“You misunderstand. I have no intention of taking you anywhere.”

“You are the most irritating aide in the world. Where is it I am apparently going?”

Bermark nodded and pointed toward the corridor behind him.

It continued to the left, right, and straight ahead, but he pointed at that last option: toward the launchpad.

“You cannot just choose to leave during this alert.”

“I am not ‘just choosing’ to leave. Because I imagine a few different people want this. Also, do you have no intention of confirming what the fräulein wanted?”

That shut Schweitzer up.

His gaze wandered for a moment, but he finally looked back toward the hand visible through the window.

“She once told me to believe her lies no matter what might happen. And if this is what she wanted…”

Bermark stopped Schweitzer from continuing.

“Perhaps she did want this, but can ''you'' accept it?”

Schweitzer slowly turned back toward Bermark.

He found Bermark was not looking at him.

He was looking over Schweitzer’s shoulder toward the window on the column.

“Captain. I hear that, when Hazel Mirildorf lost the Sylphide, she grieved, but she did not give up.”

“And so I shouldn’t give up either? She did not want that to happen. And if you claim to be her ally, why did you let it happen?”

Bermark raised his right hand a bit. He wore a white glove over it.

He moved the fingers in the glove, producing a quiet mechanical sound.

“I am a non-evolving Sein Frau, so I do not know what it is like to have a ‘heart’. My tooth-fueled Freischütz remains undeveloped, but that is why I do not obey the decisions made for me. I-”

“Enough. Tell me where I am going.”

“To the old HQ, captain.”

Bermark placed his right hand on his chest.

Then he sang a song for Schweitzer.

''Follow the path to a familiar face

:''While walking side by side

''Your hand and voice might reach them

:''But the moon sees it not

''The gatherers begin their party

:''A wall separates the pair

:''As they follow the same path with the same words

After singing the gentle melody in a low, steady voice, he looked up at Schweitzer.

“The fräulein’s final prophecy was the 6th Section of the Ending God, but…”

“You mean the prophecy Lowenzahn left us with before entering Tristan, claiming the true purpose of the Panzerpolis Project would be fulfilled if we followed it? You want me to obey that?”

“No, do not forget how this has always worked. Back in ’37, we were not obeying the prophesies – we were fulfilling them. This is the same, captain. Will you grieve, will you give up, or will you hope for something else? Hazel Mirildorf should have reached the point where she can accept both grief and resignation. If you wish to reach her level, you should consider all of these things with what you will obtain at the old HQ.”

“I have just one question regarding this long speech of yours.”

“What might that be?”

“Whose side are you on?”

Bermark narrowed his eyes and finally closed them. He even inclined his head forward.

“I am your aide, Captain Schweitzer. I am yours to command. Where will we be going?”