In the silent study, Ai Qing stared wordlessly at the phone on the table. The light rising from its screen wove an invisible display through the air, revealing a stiff-faced man seated at his workstation.
"I want to check the status of the report I submitted," she said.
After a moment of silence, the impassive clerk looked away from his computer screen and replied, "Your request for reinforcements has been approved. In accordance with the Ascender Administration Act of your host country, it has been forwarded to the East Asia Social Security Bureau. You will receive a reply within one working day.
"Eliminating threats to the Present Realm is the duty of every inspector. Please continue monitoring the situation and ensure that conditions do not worsen before the incident is resolved."
Forwarded...
Ai Qing sighed.
In recent years, as pressure beyond the border had gradually weakened, the United Nations had begun imposing further restrictions on the Astronomical Society's authority. Now, within countries where sovereignty was strongly asserted, frontline inspectors like her were no longer even qualified to retain armed divisions. Their staffing had also grown increasingly sparse, and they had gradually transformed from operational agencies into observation agencies.
As the Five Powers became increasingly forceful, the Unified Bureau chose to compromise, handing routine armed operations over to the host countries in order to avoid sovereignty disputes.
No, perhaps it should be said that the struggle between the Sovereignty Faction and the Border Faction within the Unified Bureau had already reached a fever pitch?
As the agents of the Five Powers began demanding more authority and resources, conflict had become inevitable. At this rate, would she have to go work for the Special Affairs Department someday?
Yet they still maintained such a conservative attitude toward an incident involving a Destruction Factor.