Cagalli's Shock

January 27, CE71, around 14:30 standard time

Though Tessa had said that, Luther had failed to sense anything with his own Newtype abilities. Even if Tessa was right, he doubted Cagalli's Newtype abilities were particularly strong.

But in any case, now that he knew Cagalli was aboard the Gwameir, he naturally had to meet her first.

"Please ask Miss Cagalli—and Miss Flay, too—to come to the reception room by the bridge.

Aina, would you like to meet them? What about you, Tessa?"

After giving the order to the communications officer, Luther asked Aina and Tessa what they thought. He got one affirmative and one negative reply.

With Aina there to accompany him, Luther decided there was no need to bring in Haman, Monica, or Cima as well. That would only make things feel more complicated.

As the leader of Celestial Being—that is, the Luther Fleet—Luther's orders were carried out without delay.

Luther and Aina had barely had time to exchange pleasantries in the reception room when a bodyguard knocked at the door.

"Lord Luther, Miss Cagalli and Miss Flay have arrived."

"Please come in."

A female officer wearing a uniform embroidered with the Celestial Being Neo Zeon Emblem opened the door. Cagalli, dressed in a plain uniform, and Flay, carrying a shopping bag, entered one after the other.

As for where Flay had gotten Celestial Being's internal currency, Luther quickly figured it out.

Apparently, his subordinates had overheard the conversation with Cima and Haman in the Gwameir's hangar. They hadn't treated Flay too lavishly, but had naturally given her the basic amenities afforded to a member of Luther's harem.

And now, while there was no need to be overly courteous to Flay, the situation with Cagalli Yula Athha was somewhat similar. Since he intended to speak frankly with her, it was only natural to treat her with the appropriate courtesy.

So, after Cagalli and Flay entered the room, Luther and Aina stood to greet them.

"Though it's a few days late, welcome aboard my ship, Miss Cagalli Yula Athha."

Cagalli had been perplexed about how simply asking for more information about the simulator had led her to the heavily guarded bridge. She clicked her tongue, then replied in a rather displeased tone.

"I am Cagalli Yula Athha.

I suppose I should say, 'It's a pleasure to meet you'?

Lord Luther Deikun of Celestial Being."

"I'm Aina Sahalin. It's nice to meet you, Miss Cagalli."

Aina warmly greeted her, addressing her familiarly as "Miss Cagalli" right from the start. Cagalli responded with a slightly awkward bow to the amiable older woman.

Meanwhile, Flay finally put two and two together and blurted out in surprise,

"You said 'Athha'—is that the same 'Athha' as the Orb representative?"

Before Cagalli could answer coldly, Luther beat her to it.

"That's right. Miss Cagalli's father is none other than Lord Uzumi Yula Athha, the current representative of Orb.

Well, Flay? Now do you see how foolish it was to invoke your father's name when you spoke up that day?"

At Lord Luther's teasing, Flay stamped her foot in frustration and turned her head away, refusing to respond.

That exchange also robbed Cagalli of her chance to speak. Aina promptly stepped in to smooth things over.

"Anyway, there's no point in standing around talking. Please, both of you, have a seat.

I have some Darjeeling tea that I've been saving. If you don't mind, please try some."

At Aina's invitation, all four took their seats. The female officer promptly served a pot of freshly brewed tea.

"What a lovely aroma. This must be last year's top-grade second flush, right?

But wasn't last year's new tea almost entirely unavailable on the market because of the April Fool's Crisis?

I even asked Dad, but he couldn't get any!"

As you'd expect from a young lady whose interests centered on perfume, cosmetics, and clothing, Flay's nose was right.

Only, the tea Aina had brought out wasn't Darjeeling from CE70. It was from UC0078...

Since it would be difficult to explain that to a "stranger," Luther stopped Flay from asking more with a mysterious smile.

Beside Flay, Cagalli took a gulp of tea, treating it like it was nothing special. Her tongue must have been pretty tough.

Then Cagalli deliberately tapped her white porcelain cup against the saucer, making a noise, and asked Luther irritably,

"So, Lord Luther Deikun of Celestial Being, why did you call us here? Surely it wasn't just to invite us for tea?"

Luther took a slow sip of tea. Only after Cagalli gave him an impatient look did he reply with a smile.

"Miss Cagalli, do you know that the simulator game you've been playing is actually a simplified mobile suit operating system?

And what you've been looking forward to—the simulator's additional content—is actually real mobile suit piloting training."

Though Luther spoke casually, Cagalli, who knew the truth of the matter, was stunned.

"A mobile suit operating system that Naturals can use?!

How is that possible? That's an incredibly valuable thing, and you turned it into a game and spread it everywhere!

It can't be true. Absolutely not. You can't scare me with that!"

Compared with Flay, who had no idea why her "roommate" had suddenly lost her mind, Cagalli clearly understood the immense strategic value of an operating system for mobile suits that Naturals could use. It might even be no less valuable than the N-Jammer and the N-Jammer Canceller that came later.

So although she connected what she'd played before with some of the material she'd read and already accepted that Luther was telling the truth, she still firmly challenged him.

Luther didn't mind at all. With one simple reply, he shattered Cagalli's last hope.

"If you're still interested, you can go pilot one in the hangar later."

As Cagalli fell silent, Luther naturally turned his attention to the other person in the room.

Flay was still sipping her tea almost reflexively, bewildered because she lacked the information to understand Cagalli's shock. Luther had some brand-new "good news" for her.

"According to our optical observations earlier, the Umbrella of Artemis went through a cycle of deploying, retracting, and deploying again. We believe the Archangel has arrived at Artemis Fortress.

If nothing unexpected happened, your boyfriend Sai, as well as your admirer Kira Yamato, should both have arrived safely at Artemis aboard the Archangel. And as we announced earlier, our forces will be heading to Artemis Fortress next."