Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume1 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 7===

As Froleytia’s interrogation came to a close on the monitor in front of them, Quenser and Heivia both looked away from the screen at about the same time. They left the small observation room filled with recording and analysis staff and began speaking once they were alone in the passageway.

“Hey, Quenser. How long do you think until the Oceanians start ‘searching for the killer’?”

“If the estimations from the electronic simulation team are accurate, then the military nation’s Object is only Generation 0.5. Its level of tech is too low to have all the proper functionality of an Object.” Quenser chose his words carefully. “An Object’s reactor is like a nuclear reactor or a blast furnace in that it is more efficient to keep it running constantly rather than switching it on and off. However, the Generation 0.5 is too weak. If it kept its reactor running for long periods of time, its inner parts could fuse. As such, its reactor is usually kept off. If we calculate back from how long it takes for its revolution speed to get up high enough for it to move around…”

“That would mean we have somewhere between 4 and 5 hours,” said Heivia as he checked the time on his military wristwatch.

Quenser nodded and said, “According to Froleytia, they intended to have their massacre of the village caught by a reporter’s camera in order to show off their strength to the world. Now that they have failed in that, the Oceanian military must go for something even more shocking to wipe that previous failure from everyone’s minds. In that case, wouldn’t attacking a village with their Object be the most obvious course of action for them?”

It may have been given the unflattering name of Generation 0.5, but it was still an Object. The Legitimacy Kingdom or Information Alliance’s state of the art Objects might be able to defeat it easily, but a powerless village would have no hope.

At the current rate, they would just slaughter everyone to acquire the “obvious tragedy” they wanted.

“This is bad. If we don’t find that Object before then, this will be very, very bad.”

“But how are we supposed to find it? The satellites have been monitored for months, and it still hasn’t been found. How are the two of us supposed to find and destroy this Object in just 4 hours?”

“Destroying it will be simple enough. We have over 20 coalition Objects here. If we can tell them where the Generation 0.5 is, they can focus all their firepower and simply blow it away.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning we just have to come up with a way of finding the thing. We might be able to figure something out if we look at this from a point of view other than the satellites.”

Just as the two of them were about to begin, someone interfered.

It was Froleytia who had just exited the interrogation room.

“To be honest, I would like to let you two do that, but I can’t. That’s what the higher ups have ordered.”

“?”

“If the Oceanians are going to have their Generation 0.5 Object give us a strip show and reveal itself from its concrete building, then we have a chance. The higher ups want to simply watch with the satellites and wait for it to leave one of the base zones. If they notice any reconnaissance attempts, this rare opportunity could be ruined and we would be back to pointlessly searching along the ground.”

“So you’re telling us to just ''let'' them attack some small village!? I know you know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of an Object attack without one of your own!”

“When we spot it leaving a base, we can intercept it before it begins its attack!! We will not allow even a single other person become a victim!!”

“But surely the Oceanians realize we can see them! What are you going to do if we happily head after the target spotted by the satellite and it turns out to just be a gas tank with treads!? Meanwhile, the real one will mercilessly burn a village to the ground, mix in with some other gas tank, and escape to a different base!! If that happens, we’ll have to do it all again. Are you just going to let them attack village after village until we get it right!? It may be wrong to say this after we attacked those Oceanian troops with Objects, but an Object isn’t something we can let be sent after unarmed civilians!!” shouted Heivia, losing sight of any of the formality he should show his superior officer.

Most likely, Froleytia agreed with his concerns, but something was preventing her from agreeing with Quenser and Heivia’s view.

That something was military regulations.

“I would like to send at least you two, but I can’t overturn these orders,” said Froleytia bitterly.

Seeing her expression, Quenser and Heivia fell silent.

“And don’t try to access the military database. In order to prevent having information on our Object leaking to the other members of the coalition, the security has been increased. If you try to access data that goes against your orders, you’ll be court martialed before you know it.”

“Then what are we supposed to do?”

Heivia still refused to give up, but Froleytia turned her back on them.

“I need to make some preparations to ensure we can head out as quickly as possible as soon as the coordinates come in from the satellites,” she said before leaving.

Left behind, Quenser and Heivia exchanged a glance.

“Hey, Quenser, what do we do now? You had special access to the data on Objects after Alaska, right? Can’t you use that to get into the database without anyone noticing?”

“If I had that kind of skill, I would have just hacked in before they gave me access. It’s impossible. There’s no way we can search the database for information on the Generation 0.5 in this situation.” 

Quenser then stuck a hand in his back pocket and pulled out a folded up map.

Heivia was surprised, but Quenser merely pointed at the map and said, “So I think this is a case where analog means would be best.”