Editing City Series:Volume6c Chapter2 (section)

===Part 9===

After leaving the hospital, Elrich and Witzmann got in Witzmann’s car.

It was a soundproof and bulletproof Benz with a partition between the front and back seats.

Witzmann sat in the backwards-facing seat in the front of the back and used the phone to tell the driver to leave.

The car shook a bit and he turned on the indoor light.

“Care for a drink?

“No, it would only remind me how tired I am.”

“I see,” said Witzmann, pulling a few black-and-white photos from an envelope and handing them to Elrich.

“Is this the Messiah girl?” Elrich asked as soon as he saw them. There were three in all.

The first showed a girl with long blonde hair righting a toppled bicycle.

The second showed her practice swinging a Werkzeug on an urban building’s rooftop.

The third showed her showing off an AIF uniform to her parents in their yard.

Witzmann nodded and smiled a little.

“We captured some pretty cute shots of her, don’t you think? She is here in Germany. I intercepted a radio transmission from Air Force Lieutenant General Heiliger earlier.”

“He does like those methods, doesn’t he? Whenever he wants to give us military information, he intentionally uses the radio.” Elrich sighed and leaned forward. “Where is she headed?”

“Borderson. There’s no doubting it. An AIF leader is there.”

“You mean Pale Horse? If not for him, we wouldn’t have lost the knowledge contained in the Naylor fortress. Do you remember that?”

“Unfortunately, I was off observing the revolution in Russia at the time.” Witzmann smiled and loosely crossed his arms. “I have already informed every unit that the time has come to fulfill our commander’s prophecy. …Elrich, it is time to make use of the Ton bullets your development division has created.”

“I see.” Elrich viewed the photos, leaned back in his seat, and crossed his skinny legs. “What did you really want to discuss?”

Witzmann nodded and pulled a document from the envelope.

“Do you remember the 2nd Heidengeist Purge in ’37? You know, the return of the purge caused by the Berlin Conflict in ’35. …It was carried out by the military and we were not involved that time, so it was sorely lacking in courtesy and important people’s families were not spared.”

There was a hint of a smile in Witzmann’s voice. His kind face loosened up somewhat.

“Ordinarily, a blood test is required to label someone a Heidengeist. Proof of being a pure-blooded German comes from detecting a portion of the German Ton that you yourself discovered at the time, Elrich.” He sighed. “Hazel Mirildorf’s mother is a Heidengeist. …Inject her with the German Ton ether your department has extracted from the Vaterlands and she can never again leave Germany.”

“A Ton cage, huh? Because someone who possesses that German Ton too strongly will have all the Tons of their body break down if they try to travel somewhere without that Ton. They will physically ‘tear apart’. And that Ton cannot be removed from their body except with a Ton exchange from a high-level Stimmer or by creating a competing Ton with a serum extract.”

“Which wouldn’t be possible. If we rewrite her Tons…then the Messiah is ours.” Witzmann then handed Elrich the document he held. “Now for my main point. When Hazel Mirildorf was captured in ’37, she never had a Heidengeist test done. However…”

“She did receive a blood test before the Messiah implant surgery?”

“These are the records of that test. …We want to make sure the Live bullet is effective, after all.”

“And the result?”

Elrich’s eyes searched for the answer on the document until they stopped on a certain point.

He gasped and started to stay something but stopped.

In lieu of answering, Witzmann opened the box next to his seat and pulled out a bottle of liquid.

“Has all this talking made you thirsty too?”

He opened the bottle and poured its contents into a wineglass. It was distilled water.

Elrich asked a question while the other man audibly gulped down the water.

“What does this mean? She is a Heidengeist, so how…”

“How can she also have traces of the German Ton? That is exactly what I hope to find out. Along with this.”

He finished drinking the water and tossed the glass in a bucket next to his seat.

Then he pulled a new document from the same envelope and handed it to Elrich.

It was the same type of document as before, but for a different person. Elrich frowned.

“Dog Berger? The man who accompanies the Messiah girl?”

“He has divine blood. Probably only half, but that still makes him a Heidengeist. But for some reason, he too has traces of the German Ton. Even though he was supposedly born in England. And…”

And…

“In another mystery, he has lost his divine power. He has the Tons of his divine lineage inside him, yet he lacks the Ton for that power. Without checking his Tons, he would be indistinguishable from an ordinary human.”

“A fascinating mystery. The blood was taken in Munich back in ’37, I see. For a species test.”

“Do you think he wanted to see if he was no longer a god?” Witzmann held out a hand to ask for a handshake. “Elrich, how about we try to get along? These documents were actually ordered sealed by our commander and commander-in-chief, but I decided to lend them to you anyway. Because I don’t know why those two had them sealed. There must be more to this. Something important. My sixth sense as an intelligence officer says so.”

“Agreed.” Elrich straightened up and tightly gripped the proffered hand. Witzmann smiled bitterly.

“Don’t you find it cruel of them to hide such a cute girl from us? I was surprised to find the Messiah destined to lead us would be so unreliable.”

“Really?”

“I imagined the Messiah as someone void of doubts who lived to save the world and coldly manipulated us like mere tools. You remember that photo of her righting a bicycle?”

“Yes, what was that about?”

“Exactly what it looks like. She was riding her bike when she looked over to greet a neighborhood woman and crashed into a street sign.”

Elrich lowered his head to view the laughing old man two years his junior.

Witzmann ended the handshake and spread his arms so they nearly touched the ceiling.

“Isn’t it amusing!? The Messiah who will save Germany – no, who will save the entire world from the destruction coming in ’43 – is just a girl who can’t even ride a bike without crashing! And she’s our enemy! I must know.” He took a breath. “I must know how a girl like that will lead us! I want to see it happen! If the higher ups insist on hiding her, then we must act on our own. Elrich, I need your research!”

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