Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume12 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 4===

“Oh, dear.”

Out at sea, the Information Alliance’s Second Generation Gatling 033 detected the change in Second Venice.

She also glanced over at the swimsuit 3D model in another small window.

“So the Faith Organization’s Coilgun 052 has started moving. Oh ho ho. And I thought it had been smashed to pieces by the impact of the fall.”

Kerukeion had been targeting the infection base since before the asteroid incident, but the Information Alliance’s defenses had been too strong and they had had trouble in their attack.

The Appetizer Asteroid had likely been their Plan B.

The asteroid had made a mess of everything, so the Information Alliance military guards had fallen apart and Kerukeion had taken the facility. However, Kerukeion seemed to have had their own difficulties inside the flooded facility, but there was no need to sympathize with them.

Oh Ho Ho did not know whether Pathogen X had already been disseminated or if that was yet to come. She did not know whether it was fast acting or slow acting. She was not even sure if her higher ups had any accurate information. Her unit’s soldiers had only been issued masks that resembled full-face helmets, collapsible raincoat-like suits, and antibiotics that were general-purpose but had powerful side effects. Since they had not received a specific vaccine or antidote, she guessed that Pathogen X’s identity had yet to be determined.

But that was why the island needed to be quarantined in advance. If a deadly virus with an extremely long incubation period was spreading and seemingly healthy tourists unwittingly carried it back to their various countries, multiple pandemics could begin around the world. And Second Venice had originally belonged to the Information Alliance, so more of the wealthy visitors were from their countries than any other world power.

If Pathogen X’s identity was unknown, allowing it spread in the safe countries would cause a great number of sacrifices. If it took five to ten years to fully develop a solution from scratch, several nations could truly sink into a sea of blood.

“Hmm. This isn’t a great position for an idol dependent on popularity. Oh ho ho.”

So she would stop this here, no matter what kind of misunderstandings the world made.

Between her hidden side and public side, she was needed as the Pilot Elite who controlled bloody wars more than as the swimsuit idol that was dancing on the screen.

“But playing the villain from time to time can be exciting.”

The Idol Elite licked her lips with her small tongue and guessed that the situation must have changed for the Coilgun 052 to stop playing dead now.

Had Pathogen X begun to spread or had some kind of failure led them to shift to Plan C?

As the one enforcing the quarantine, she had to assume the worst. What if the Coilgun 052 had confirmed that Pathogen X had covered Second Venice, so it was going to destroy Oh Ho Ho’s Gatling 033 before making an indiscriminate attack on Second Venice?

Dead men tell no tales.

If they only had to be carriers for Pathogen X, then the people did not need to be alive. They could still infect people even if their bodies were sent back to their families. It was unknown how many of the people in Second Venice knew about the infection base, but if they were all killed, it would naturally delay the discovery.

Oh Ho Ho did not know if that was an accurate analysis of the situation.

But to maintain the quarantine, she had to act as long as it was possible. If she chose to be optimistic, she could not eliminate all risk of something escaping. When someone heard a cold was going around, they might decide they should wash out their mouth and wash their hands, but if no one at their school thought it was a big deal and they decided they were overthinking things, the entire school could be wiped out.

She could not let her conviction be shaken by the situation around her. Her decision to quarantine them had to be absolute.

“Release Strategic AI Juliet. The Gatling 033 will now engage with the red target designated Coilgun 052 which has appeared within Second Venice. Requesting authorization.”

She sent a radio transmission to the maintenance base zone as a sort of ritual, but it was essentially meaningless. If she was restricted from doing something, they would contact her regardless. And if nothing was restricted, then she was free to do as she wished. There had been a few restrictions so far, but there had not been a word about not fighting an enemy object or not getting Second Venice involved.

As expected, the response arrived before she could count to three.

“Understood, Gatling 033. But you cannot eject inside the estimated infected area. Lose here and you die. So do not play around with the calculations and use the optimal answer calculated out by Juliet. …Do you understand?”

As her commander with long silver hair and brown skin responded, her tone dropped for the last sentence.

Oh Ho Ho did not say anything, but she did laugh quietly.

(Honestly, she’s letting her personal feelings influence her.)

She switched modes and the processing power focused on a single task. The 3D model dance footage closed and it all shifted toward the coming battle.

“Authorization confirmed. Engage. Oh ho ho. Let’s get this started!!”