Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume2 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 10===

A bit before the prototype reactor explosion, Froleytia was sitting in her commander’s office with a bitter expression.

The expression was caused by the laptop sitting atop a short table. A video chat window was open, but she was no longer speaking with Major General Buffer Planters of the Capitalist Corporations. She was speaking with someone who was even more of a pain to deal with.

Lieutenant Colonel Lendy Farolito of the Information Alliance military.

She was a brown skinned woman of about 20 who had silver hair. From the medals on her chest, it seemed she had spent an even longer time on the battlefield than Froleytia who had worked her way up from being a child soldier.

“Let me be blunt. We have no interest in whether Sladder Honeysuckle survives. We merely want the technological information he possesses. It just so happens that the most efficient way to get it is to support his defection.”

“And if you send an Object across national boundaries and into our Amazon district to do that, you will be causing a war on all sides. This is no mere skirmish. This could lead to our home countries being targeted. Do you understand that? Is this really that valuable to you?”

“There are a few different ways of avoiding that. For example, you could attack the Mass Driver conglomerate base yourself and hand over any data on Honeysuckle’s technology that you might find. I believe that would solve this problem.”

“…Do you really think the Capitalist Corporations would go along with that?”

“No.” The image of Lendy on the screen smiled. “But such trivial matters are none of our concern. Even if war breaks out between the Legitimacy Kingdom and the Capitalist Corporations, that does not affect us in the Information Alliance any.”

“I suppose not,” agreed Froleytia.

But that was exactly why she had no duty to cooperate with them.

“What is it you are prepared to go this far to get?” asked Froleytia.

“What do you mean by that?”

“It is true the high power railgun that acts as the main cannon of the Break Carrier – that is, the Mass Driver conglomerate Object – is powerful. Its construction likely requires the application of the mass driver which is a crystallization of space development technology. However, it would be in the format of the Capitalist Corporations military. It may not conform to the standards and compatibility of an Information Alliance Object. Is it really worth going this far for?”

“You misunderstand. It is not that high power railgun we are after.”

“?”

“This is the ‘Mass Driver’ conglomerate we are talking about. What we want is space launch technology. Many agencies and organizations are continuing research into the construction of electromagnetic space development bases. However, due to a lack of technology, a lack of development funds, a lack of safety, and unease due to the worldwide format shifting toward laser space elevators, they have all come to a standstill. We can create railguns as weapons, but we cannot use that technology to create mass drivers that can safely, cheaply, and stably transport goods and personnel. It is rather ironic.” Lendy spoke smoothly. “Currently, no one but that conglomerate has successfully mass produced them on a practical level. It would be such a shame to let that technology die out. We respect their technological culture and have determined it to be worthy of preserving. That is why we are gladly accepting Honeysuckle’s defection after he tried and failed to get that mass driver technology adopted.”

Froleytia frowned at the Information Alliance lieutenant colonel’s words.

What she was saying was odd.

“Are you trying to confuse me? I thought the Information Alliance’s new shuttles used laser space elevators just like ours. Gaining that railgun-focused mass driver technology will serve you no purpose.”

“Yes, for now.” The silver-haired brown woman named Lendy Farolito’s words seemed to hold deep meaning. “At the moment, laser space elevators are the more efficient method. However, we have no idea how long that established theory will last. …It is not unusual for weaknesses and problems to be discovered in such things. If we have no alternative once that happens, we will be in trouble. That is what the mass driver technology is for.”

“…”

Froleytia remained silent.

There was some sense to what the other woman said.

However…

“You are willing to take actions that have a 100% chance of causing a war in order to resolve a problem that may or may not ever even occur?”

“Yes,” replied Lendy without hesitation. “When you have a weapons development race, it seems you scrap the loser. However, we find that to be too much of a waste. If the two technologies rival each other, it is best to preserve both of them. And we do not merely store the data away. We preserve even the familiarity with the technology on the worker’s fingertips. That way the information is ‘alive’ and can be used at any time.”

“…”

“That massive and overwhelming collection of data may seem meaningless at first glance, but it serves to protect us from unforeseen worldwide trouble. If you loathe wasting bullets and hold back on your barrage of the enemy, you cannot stop the enemy’s advance. Even if it is meaningless at first, the thicker that barrage becomes, the safer we are.”

“Perfect browsing…?” muttered Froleytia in annoyance.

The Information Alliance was trying to create a system that would display how to resolve a worldwide crisis just by typing a string of text into a search engine.

“However, you will lose any reason to go ahead with that plan of yours if you lose the ability to take in Sladder Honeysuckle,” said Froleytia. “This will all be over if we kill Honeysuckle and destroy the Mass Driver conglomerate’s data before the Information Alliance Object being prepared on the Parima district border is ready. If you are sure to gain the mass driver technology, that is one thing. However, I doubt your superiors will approve a mission that will cause a war if the odds of acquiring the desired information are exceedingly low.”

“True,” admitted Lieutenant Colonel Lendy Farolito. However, her smile remained as she continued. “But can you really do that?”

“…”

“If Sladder Honeysuckle were to destroy the Legitimacy Kingdom Object, you would have nothing left to stop our advance.”



After ending the transmission with the Legitimacy Kingdom, Lendy Farolito sank down in the sofa. The Parima district was also just below the equator, so it was hotter than 30 degrees. Those who were not an officer like her were likely dripping with sweat due to having to work without air conditioning.

Lendy got up from the sofa and pulled some brandy out from a small refrigerator similar to those in hotels. She used her brown fingers to pour the liquid in a large glass while using voice recognition mode to connect to the maintenance base zone’s hangar.

Her question was straight and to the point.

“How much longer until our Generation 2 Gatling 033 can head out?”

“I can be out there annihilating anything and everything in another half hour. Oh ho ho.”