Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume9 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 16===

Quenser joined Heivia, Millia, and the others in the ocean.

Millia spoke over the radio while taking the lead.

“The closest of the ‘spears’ are about five kilometers away, but the problem is the depth. We’ve been staying at around ten meters, but we’ll have to cut that distance in half to investigate them.”

“Are you serious? Can’t cellphone signals kill sperm? I think I heard someone say not to keep them in your pants pocket for that reason.”

“Worst case, this will boil your balls white,” said Quenser in annoyance. “Millia, how about we attach a rope or wire to it and drag it into the water? That way, we can investigate the exposed portion without going up to the surface.”

“You saw how big those ‘floats’ are, didn’t you? Are we really strong enough to pull them down?”

“We just have to destroy whatever it’s using for buoyancy. If it has a layer of air, we can open a hole and let water in.”

“Then we would need wires to keep it from sinking.”

As they discussed the issue, they arrived at their destination.

They could see the sharp spears sticking down from the ocean surface like icicles or stalactites.

“The edge of the asparagus field has already spread within five kilometers of the fleet. If the Object itself rushes in, the ten kilometer line of death won’t be far off.”

“Then let’s get started. We need to attach the wire with rubber adhesive. We’ll play rock-paper-scissors to see who gets to do it.”

When Millia immediately lost despite having suggested the idea, she quickly began pulling rank. Unable to disobey his commander’s selfish orders, Private First Class Heivia was stuck with the job as the lowest ranking person there.

“Wait! What about the student over here!?”

“I’m a guest, of course. Now get going, errand boy.”

Quenser was heartless when dealing with anyone who was not a beautiful girl. That was a universal law.

One of the intelligence agents had managed to grab a tool kit during the commotion, so they had an electric drill to work with.

As Heivia nervously attached the wire, he received a ridiculous demand from below.

“Heivia, when you’re done, drill some holes in the side. If it’s like a fishing bobber, the top half is a balloon and the bottom half is a weight!”

“D-don’t be ridiculous!! If I go up to the surface, I’ll be throwing myself into a human microwave oven!!”

“Quenser. I know it’s reckless, but how about you attach the ‘spear’ to your submersible and dive straight down? If we can bring the thing down by even a few meters, Heivia can work more safely in the ocean.”

“Oh, that’s just great!! All of a sudden, it’s set in stone that I have to do all the work up here!!”

The burden was enough to cause a disconcerting rumbling in the submersible, but the buoyant spear was forced down into the water. Heivia used that short time to drill several holes on the upper half of the side.

“Oh, yeah. And you could electrocute yourself if you sever any of the cables inside, so be careful.”

“Bfh!! Tell me that ''before'' I’ve done it all!!”

White air bubbles blew out, so they seemed to have successfully gotten the seawater to flow into the layer used to provide buoyancy.

After supporting the falling spear with the wire and the submersibles, they gathered around it to investigate the equipment.

“This is the top and this is the bottom. Now, listen. It might still be running, so don’t go anywhere near the top.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“It has a huge magnet powerful enough to bend an Object’s main cannon, so what do you think would happen if it activated here? It might tug on our belts and smash us all into one happy chunk of mincemeat.”

“Waaaah!?”

“Don’t strip, Heivia. That’s just pathetic. If I’m right – oh, and it looks like I am – this thing’s magnetism is set in a single direction. If you’re not in the direction of that trumpet opening, it won’t affect you.”

“How can you tell?” asked Millia.

Quenser pointed to the unit on the top.

“If this was a normal magnet, the submersibles would have been wiped out when we passed below the battlefield the first time. And while railguns and coilguns are one thing, you don’t find magnets powerful enough to bend a low-stability plasma cannon just anywhere. Most likely, this uses the same kind of cluster electromagnet used inside plasma cannons or to protect JPlevelMHD reactors.”

“That tech has its roots in the tokamak fusion reactors of an older age, right?”

“That trumpet opening might use the Meissner effect. That refers to the perfect diamagnetism created as a byproduct of superconductor technology. Simply put, this trumpet concentrates the magnetism in a single direction instead of letting it scatter in every direction. It’s a lot like a shaped charge.”

“Hm? But wait.”

Heivia moved below the spear that was lying on its side.

“You say it’s using a crazy powerful electromagnet, but how’s it running? If it was battery powered, it would need a pretty big one.”

“Its power source probably isn’t contained inside.”

“Are you saying it’s connected to the Object with an underwater cable?”

“I doubt it. Here’s your answer.”

Quenser pointed to another unit on the top of the spear.

It was shaped like a twenty centimeter decorative plate.

“It uses wireless power. Specifically, microwave power transmission.”

“Micro…ah!? You don’t mean…!?”