The Exhibition Stage trembled, startling both the backstage staff and researchers, yet there were no obvious structural changes to be seen—here, outward structure had never been reliable to begin with.
After the fright passed, some people became exceptionally excited. Doctor Songkan, for one. As the Exhibition Stage shook, he had a powerful premonition, while the monitoring instruments he had transferred over picked up clearer signals as well.
"Forward, forward... no, upward!" In his excitement, Songkan's instructions were far from clear. In the end, he simply took over himself, disregarding the danger as he rushed to the front line to direct adjustments to the equipment parameters.
Whether it was the Exhibition Stage's structure or the subsequent noise, Kawahara Machiko saw little difference. As a non-professional, she could not make sense of any of it anyway, so she turned back to face the person blocking her path.
"Department Head Kawaguchi, if I remember correctly, you're the on-site dispatcher. Shouldn't you be checking on things?"
"No, Executive Director Kawahara. My current mission is to stop you." Kawaguchi Shun, the department head who had rushed ahead, was the same man who had previously received Vice President Tomiya Shingo's call and questioned Kawahara Machiko's actions.
Kawahara Machiko did not get angry. Instead, she smiled. "Stop me from doing what? Kawaguchi, you're being overly tense. This place has nothing to do with me now. I won't do anything else."
Kawaguchi Shun was a robust man in his forties. Aside from his somewhat thinning hair, his face and build were fairly well-proportioned. But at this moment, his face was flushed, his eyes bright, and he was both nervous and excited. "Executive Director Kawahara, you cannot do anything more on this ship, but there is something you must do. You must immediately return to Slope City to report