Episode 258

Updates are super irregular. Forgive me!

“………………”

A heavy silence descended upon the room. The gathered members exchanged wordless glances and gave each other slight, knowing nods.

“Hmph. I expected you to be shocked, or perhaps even appalled,” Joachim said, sounding genuinely surprised by their lack of reaction.

Taro just waved a dismissive hand in front of his face. “Oh, I’m shocked. Totally floored. But, well, we’d already braced ourselves for something like this.”

Actually, we basically called it, Taro thought, recalling the conversation he’d had with Marl and Phantom.

Phantom had apparently suspected the truth for a while, and during their recent strategy session, Taro had managed to reach the same conclusion: there was something out there trying to pick a fight with the entire human race.

Of course, it had been nothing more than a wild guess—and the kind of terrifying theory he’d hoped would be wrong—but hearing it directly from a primary source made it impossible to ignore. The evidence was simply too consistent to dismiss as mere absurdity.

“So WIND is supposed to be our successor? That hardly seems realistic,” Liza remarked. She had remained silent until now, likely feeling like an outsider since she wasn't part of The Facility’s inner circle.

Joachim tilted his head. “WIND?”

“Your old hangout had a whole research wing dedicated to WIND,” Taro explained. “I checked with Alan, and he said even the official Imperial labs aren’t that far along, especially when it comes to the software side of things… though I might have ‘borrowed’ a bit of it myself.”

Taro mumbled that last part under his breath.

Enigma, one of Rising Sun’s biggest cash cows, was a technology born from analyzing that specific laboratory. It was currently raking in obscene amounts of profit and was being distributed across the galaxy by Gigantech Corp.

“I see. Now that you mention it, I suppose that was part of the plan. Whether it was the primary objective, I cannot say. The Voice only told us what to do; it never shared its inner thoughts.”

“The primary objective, huh? But if that’s the case, we can’t even be sure if the whole ‘Replacement Species for Humanity’ thing is anything more than your own guess,” Taro pointed out.

“True enough. It is entirely possible it was attempting something else altogether.”

“...Well, there’s no point betting on the 'maybe they're nice' option. It’s more realistic to prep for the worst-case scenario. If we’re wrong, we can just laugh about it later over drinks,” Taro said.

“Wise.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Taro gave a half-hearted reply to Joachim’s dry compliment and took a moment to summarize the situation.

The enemy—and they were definitely enemies—was The Voice. Using the Override Device and the equipment within The Facility, it had churned out Colemans to act as its hands and feet. It was clear now that this had been going on for a very long time, involving a significant number of clones.

It had forced them to conduct research into the evolutionary refinement of biological organisms, presumably with the goal of creating a species to replace mankind. Taro didn’t like to admit it, but Marl, Bella, and even Phantom—with their inhumanly high specs—were likely the fruits of that labor.

The Alpha Region Space had been their private hunting ground, a place to harvest the funds and resources needed for their experiments. While Rising Sun had acted as a massive wrench in the gears of history and put a stop to it there, they had no idea what was happening in other sectors or star systems.

However, they had succeeded in neutralizing what appeared to be the headquarters. Research facilities were usually centralized for efficiency, so it was unlikely that identical facilities were scattered everywhere. In fact, the Data Bank at New Eden showed no signs of major data transfers with other sites.

“So, through a mix of coincidence and a ‘landslide’ victory, we’ve actually managed to sabotage them pretty well. But man, finding out we accidentally saved humanity… how am I supposed to feel about that? Is it okay to just be happy?” Taro grumbled.

Usually, in stories, you’re supposed to actually know who the enemy is before you crush them, he thought.

“I wonder about that,” Liza chimed in. “Calling us the ‘Savior of Humanity’ feels like a bit of an exaggeration. The Colemans were certainly planning something audacious, but was it actually feasible? That part doesn't seem very realistic to me.”

Liza looked like she was struggling with the technicalities, but many in the room nodded in agreement. The Mercenaries, while a massive organization under Coleman influence, paled in comparison to a titan like Gigantech Corp. And if they ever truly challenged the Galactic Imperial Government Forces, the power gap would be so laughable it wasn't even worth comparing.

Then, the voice of the Imperial General rang out.

“Anti-government factions are a dime a dozen in this galaxy, for all sorts of reasons,” Dean said. “One could argue the Colemans were just another radical sect. Though, of course, you all deserve plenty of praise for mopping up such insolent rebels.”

Taro offered a wry smile. Having struggled so hard in the last war, it was a bit jarring to hear Dean dismiss the enemy as ‘just another faction.’

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Taro said, before pivoting to a different question. “Look, I think I get the gist of the Coleman situation. We just need to find the true identity of The Voice. If there are other facilities, we’ll find clues there. And if we can bag a living Coleman, that’s probably the fastest shortcut.”

A chorus of agreement followed. Now that they knew what they were dealing with, everyone felt confident they could handle a second round better than the first.

“But the problem is, these places could be anywhere in the galaxy, right? We can’t chase them all down ourselves. We’ll have to let Gigantech and the Imperial Military handle the heavy lifting while we take responsibility for our own backyard. But that brings me to my next question—”

Taro paused, bringing up the mystery that had been gnawing at him since the moment they boarded New Eden—a puzzle none of his crew had been able to solve. He ran through his theories one last time, confirmed he still had no answer, and finally voiced it.

“Where did all the people in New Eden go? We haven't found a single soul.”

The place was empty. For a fully functional facility, it was hauntingly unnatural.

Given its purpose, if the staff were no longer needed, the enemy would have likely self-destructed the whole place—especially the sensitive data terminals. Yet the facility remained intact, and Rising Sun’s researchers were currently picking through the archives.

And yet, there were simply no people.

“...Is there no possibility they were… disposed of?” Joachim asked. It was a question, not an answer. He clearly didn’t know.

“You guys don't exactly strike me as the 'safety first, evacuate the personnel' type,” Taro spat, crossing his arms in frustration. Joachim had been exiled from New Eden a long time ago, so Taro hadn't expected him to know, but the confirmation was still a letdown.

“Hmm.”

Dean let out a small sound. It was a single syllable that sounded disinterested on the surface, yet carried an undeniable, heavy weight. The room went still as all eyes turned to him.

“The Delta Star System is perfectly managed,” Dean said. He crossed his legs with an air of absolute authority, his face twisted into a grimace Taro had never seen before. He began to tap the polished tabletop with an irritable, rhythmic thud of his index finger.

“I mean that literally. Every person. Every object. Every byte of information. Everything is tracked. This is the heart of the Empire; no exceptions are permitted. In any other sector, perhaps, but not here.”

Clack. Clack. Clack. The inorganic sound filled the gaps between his words. He looked uncharacteristically restless. Maybe he’s not used to being disconnected from BISHOP for this long, Taro wondered.

“...I intended to keep this within the military, but I’ll stop. Since you are all involved, it would be more advantageous to bring you into the fold.”

The tapping stopped. Dean pointed his finger directly at Taro.

“As you requested, I had the Central Server Information Group scrub the Delta Star System, including the space around The Facility. There are zero records of unidentified personnel. No navigation logs for ships heading toward that facility. Based on its scale, we aren't talking about ten or twenty people, are we? It is impossible for them to be hiding.”

Dean spoke as if he were addressing an invisible entity hovering just behind Taro. Taro felt a chill, sensing a presence that Dean was staring at through him.

“Since there is no way to leave Delta without using a Stargate, we have a contradiction. So, which is the truth? Either New Eden was empty from the very beginning… or the data within our Imperial Data Bank—the highest security in the galaxy—was rewritten by someone.”

Dean let out a short, dry chuckle and lowered his hand.

“Heh. I found traces of something similar happening once in the distant past, but I assumed it was an isolated incident. It seems I was mistaken. We’re going to have to brace ourselves.”

The emotion vanished from Dean’s face as he stood up. He walked toward the exit and spoke without looking back.

“It’s the military. Someone very high up. We have a traitor in our midst, without a doubt. It looks like it’s time to cross swords.”

Dean turned the knob and vanished from the room.

Behind him, no one could find the words to speak.

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