Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume3 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 5===

Quenser was walking through an area 5 kilometers away from Heivia and his group.

“Wow, you can see the aurora. Not that it matters to a design student like me. Wouldn’t this be more suited to a student working to be an environmental scientist?”

“Quit complaining about every little thing, you giant-obsessed freak. Learning about the harshness of extreme environments can help you when you’re ‘having fun’ designing. You won’t have to worry about looking stupid when the cold prevents the plasma gas from flowing properly.”

That overly-familiar response came from a black boy. His language could be crass, but his enunciation was oddly precise. Unlike Quenser, he had an interest in smaller machines, and he was carrying an unmanned reconnaissance vehicle (basically a radio-controlled vehicle with a camera attached) on his back.

Quenser replied in disgust, “Nutley, I can learn about extreme environments just fine in a safe country fridge. We had a big one back at my school. We used it for material experiments and raised a seal.”

“You’re just making excuses. The key to happiness in life is to find a way to take in everything you need regardless of the situation.”

“You’re the kind of person that I could see drinking tequila at any time. Hey, Charles, aren’t you sick of trudging through this freezing snow? …Charles?”

Upon receiving no response, Quenser turned around. A skinny white boy was standing there. He was hanging his head down and was not speaking a single word. When he noticed Quenser looking at him, he turned his downward-cast head to the side to further escape.

“Don’t expect anything from him. He’s not usually like this, but this always happens when he gets homesick. It makes me want to hang a chemical dehumidifier from his neck,” said the black boy called Nutley with a shrug. He must have been close to Charles because he did not hesitate to say that. “But he isn’t a bad person. His specialty is Object communications software. He was involved in making this interference program. His hacking skills are better than anyone in the electronic simulation department. He can’t do anything other than that, though. Our victory here is half dependent on that clammy intellectual.”

Quenser, Nutley, and Charles.

Quenser sighed as he recalled the makeup of their team.

“This isn’t normal. Why was the core of this military operation given to some battlefield students?”

“I said this mission is reliant on Charles’s interference program, remember? The team needed to be made up of those who could best let Charles work. The thing is, Charles is clammy and shy. He’ll be less nervous surrounded by students, and that gives us higher odds of success.”

“Yeah, but we’re basically a collection of amateurs, myself included. What is our commander planning to do if we get taken out right away?”

“That’s probably why she sent that cool student council president with us.”

In response to Nutley’s comment, Quenser timidly turned his head to look behind him. A bit away was a woman with brown hair who was wearing a black coat and carrying a large radio.

“…I somehow doubt she’ll bail us out if we get in trouble.”

“She’ll do more than those fat asses lazily guarding the maintenance base zone, I’ll bet. Froleytia’s no idiot. She actually tries to use the right people for the job.”

“Are you sure…?”

Quenser glanced back at the Black Uniform, but Nutley seemed to be enjoying himself. 

“The student council president’s name is Charlotte. Once she finishes with her barrier duty, she’ll be leaving. I need to try to get her into bed before then. I hear she’s a commoner, so I don’t have to worry about her being bound by any pain-in-the-ass family issues,” said Nutley, completely at his own pace.

Quenser decided he must be the type who tries hitting on a lot of people in the off chance of succeeding.

“A battlefield student doesn’t have infinite time. If you do things like that, you won’t be able to gain any practical skills,” warned Quenser.

“I can just extend the time I spend here if necessary. Happiness comes first, right? Nothing will stick in my head if I’m not happy. And what are you so impatient about anyway? You’re hoping to become a designer, right? Do you want to be rich that badly?”

“Yes. When I was a kid, a famous noble family lived nearby. The blonde daughter of that family was horribly selfish and annoying,” muttered Quenser. “One day, her family went bankrupt. They had such a great foundation. Their huge mansion had seemed like it would remain unscathed even if the entire city was bombed. And yet seemingly overnight, such a powerful noble family was left with nothing but debt. They were not exactly well-liked. Even their servants tried to hunt that girl’s family down. A strange atmosphere came over the entire city. If my father hadn’t sheltered them, that selfish and annoying girl and her mother could very well have been gang raped.”

“Well, your father sounds like a great guy. I hope to be someone like him.”

“Even a famous noble family completely collapsed,” continued Quenser while ignoring Nutley’s offhand comment. “I can still see it vividly in my mind’s eye. Those nobles who had always been so domineering were gathered together trembling in the cheese storehouse of a small commoner family. …How much money do you need to have a solid foundation? If not even nobles can have a truly solid foundation, can a commoner gain one with normal work? I decided a special route would be necessary. I decided becoming an Object designer was the only route left.”

“I see.” Nutley took a step away from Quenser and gave a sign to Charles with a gesture. “Then let’s all work as battlefield students towards getting rich as soon as possible. Charles! We’re almost at Point 2. I’ll help you set up the transmission antenna.”

Quenser looked at Nutley’s back as the boy headed off, but they really had nothing else to do. Just as Quenser was about to go help Charles too, the Black Uniform named Charlotte called out to him.

“You.”

“Yes?”

“I could not help but overhear what you were just saying.”

“Were we not supposed to be having a private conversation?”

“That is not what I meant.”

“Was the topic unacceptable?”

“I do understand why you would want to quickly build up a solid foundation, but I get the feeling that your father has a different sort of unshakeable quality to him.”

The businesslike stiffness had somewhat left Charlotte’s voice.

As she was human it should have been obvious, but it appeared she did indeed have the ability to just chat.

“That’s because you don’t know the situation he is in. My father is just a white collar worker. Even a slight change in the economic situation could lead to him being fired. He’s always bowing down to his bosses. And it doesn’t matter if he might survive a round of layoffs, if the entire company goes under. That’s how life is for those whose bloodline does not help their social standing.”

“But even in that situation, he reached out his hand to help those bankrupt nobles. He sounds like a wonderful father. If he ever does lose his job, tell him to contact Charlotte Zoom. I know of some lines of work that are suited towards someone of his character.”

(It seems my father has gotten a rare long distance boost in popularity. Unfortunately, he has the double issue of being too old and being a father. As a member of his family, I truly hope he can keep on his feet.)

“What happened to those bankrupt nobles afterwards?”

“They contacted the Lineage Department, had their IDs changed, and got a fresh start. We couldn’t have them living in our cheese storehouse forever, after all. If I recall, that selfish and annoying daughter became an idol.”

“Quenser!” shouted Nutley.

It seemed they had finished setting up the transmission antenna. An antenna as large as an open suitcase was spread out at Charles’s feet.

Quenser and Charlotte approached Nutley and Charles.

“Is there anything for us to do?” asked Quenser.

“Take this,” said Nutley as he tossed a pair of night vision binoculars to Quenser. “We have to transmit the data from a position where the UAV can’t see us. Charles has to use the antenna to transmit the interference program, so he will not be able to tell where the UAV is. That means someone has to follow the location of the flying target.”

“And that’s me?”

“I set up the antenna. Charles will be transmitting the data. So who does that leave for the last job? I think you’d be getting a little too much happiness if you left that to the Black Uniform lady and headed back without doing anything.”

“Fine, fine. Dammit. I’ll be in the place most easily spotted by the UAV. That means I have the most dangerous job.”

“No,” cut in Charlotte. “There is no reason for me to do nothing. I will go with you. …You seem too inexperienced to me. I would prefer not to have a bomb dropped on me because we left this to you and you got spotted.”

“(Quenser, if you two head off and things start getting a little steamy, call me over. It’s cold here, and you’ll keep your warmth better with more people.)”

“If you were a proper soldier, that comment would be enough to get you shot,” commented Charlotte.

They were currently located behind a low hill. The Faith Organization UAV would not be coming that far, so the hill hid them well enough. However, they could not see the UAV’s location from there. To remedy that, Quenser and Charlotte crawled up to the top of the hill to use the binoculars to check on the UAV’s location while remaining as hidden as possible. Charles would transmit the interference program using a direction and output strength based on their information.

If only a portion of the signal arrived, the program could be damaged when it entered the UAV. That would make the entire operation a dud. The location of the UAV was crucial information.

If they were spotted, it was all over as well.

Quenser was incredibly nervous as he stuck his head out on the hill, but Charlotte said, “Do not get so tense. The UAV’s expected route passes by 3 kilometers from here. If we stay still, it will not notice us in this blizzard. And our insulated coats will prevent the infrared sensors from easily spotting us. The UAV’s path here is up in the sky rather than between the cliffs. The sense of distance when looking up from the ground is quite different from when you are looking down from the sky.”

“If you say so.”

“I see something NNW. Check it with the binoculars.”

In shock, Quenser looked through the night vision, but it was just a large bird.

“That’s an eagle, I think.”

“Beyond it. I see something else. Eagles are not nocturnal, so it may have been the noise of the UAV that woke it up.”

“Hmm?”

Quenser frowned as he looked through the binoculars, and then he spotted it. It was a UAV. It had a cylindrical body about 2 meters long with two straight wings stretching out from the side. It looked a bit like a miniature cruise missile, but the propulsion device at the back was a propeller. It must have been designed for flight time rather than speed.

“I’ve found it. It’s 2900 meters NNW of here. It’s following the edge of the cliff east at a height of 15 meters. …That design looks horrible. I guess that’s what happens when you just focus on functionality.”

“The rumor is that they were given such a simple design so that they could be launched with old launcher vehicles. At any rate, let’s tell them its location and finish up our job here. You are not the only one that would rather not be doing work unrelated to his proper field,” said Charlotte.

“Okay. Charles, the target is at BC9. It is heading towards BF9 at 150 kph. It’s following the edge of the cliff, so we can predict any curves by checking the terrain. Charles?”

While still looking through the binoculars, Quenser assumed he was getting no response due to Charles’s homesickness.

But that was not the case.

In the next instant, a burst of gunfire from an assault rifle rang out.

Something was being fired behind Quenser. It was not a Faith Organization weapon. The noise was exactly the same as when Heivia fired his assault rifle. However, Quenser did not have time to turn around. He only managed to move his shoulders slightly. A sharp impact ran through his back along with the gunshots. All the air in his lungs was forced out. The shooter was sweeping the rifle horizontally as he fired. Quenser’s upper body had been propped up to look through the binoculars, but he was slammed flat onto the ground and his vision wavered. He forced his head to turn and he realized Charlotte had been shot in the back too.

Neither of them had had time to shout out.

Quenser’s consciousness rapidly faded as he tasted blood flowing into his mouth.