Sheng Lan Reports for Duty

Xu Yanqiu's laboratory building was filled with the scorched smell of burned metal.

Lin Yuan stayed there for forty minutes and spoke only three sentences the entire time.

The first was writing the basic molecular structural formula of Taogang Alloy on Xu Yanqiu's whiteboard.

The second was telling him that the 811 Special Tactical Research Institute's materials division had no budget ceiling.

The third, left as he departed, was: "Give me an answer within three days. After that, I'll find someone else."

Xu Yanqiu did not throw a beaker at him.

The graying materials science fanatic stared at the structural formula on the whiteboard for a full two minutes, then crushed the coffee cup in his hand. Scalding liquid spilled across the table, and he did not even notice.

On the ride back, Sheng Lan asked him, "Will Xu Yanqiu agree?"

"He already has." Lin Yuan leaned against the back seat with his eyes closed. "If a materials scientist can see something like that and still refuse, then he has no business being in a laboratory."

That had been last night.

It was now exactly nine in the morning on January 18, C.E. 71.

Lin Yuan sat in the Special Equipment Bureau's office, with three encrypted folders spread across his desk.

There were two knocks at the door.

"Come in."

Sheng Lan pushed the door open. She had changed into a new uniform, with a new nameplate pinned to her collar and a silver identification badge added over her right chest.

Executive Director of the Special Equipment Bureau.

Her stance was no different from yesterday's, her back ramrod straight and her hands clasped before her.

"Director, Sheng Lan, Executive Director of the 811 Special Tactical Research Institute, reporting for duty."

"Sit."

Sheng Lan did not sit.

"Director, according to procedure—"

"Sit down, Sheng Lan."

She glanced at him, pulled out the chair, and sat down.

Lin Yuan did not speak immediately. His fingers tapped lightly against the desk as his gaze settled on the identification badge over her chest.

"The military oversight system sent you."

Sheng Lan's breath caught for half a beat.

"Director—"

"No need to deny it." Lin Yuan raised a hand, cutting her off. "Your appointment request went through two channels. One was the Special Equipment Bureau's standard personnel channel. The other went directly from the National Defense Oversight Commission to the East Asian General Staff Headquarters. Your posting is under me, but a copy of your evaluation report will also be sent to Deputy Chief of Staff Zhao."

The office fell silent for several seconds.

The low hum from the air-conditioning vent filled the gap.

Seated in the chair, Sheng Lan kept her back straight, but her right thumb unconsciously brushed over the back of her left hand.

"When did you find out?"

"From the beginning." Lin Yuan's tone was flat. "You should know how many connections the Lin Family has in the military. An arrangement like this can't be hidden."

"Then why didn't you reject my transfer order?"

"Because there was no need."

Sheng Lan stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Whatever the oversight system wants to see, I'll let them see." Lin Yuan opened the first folder on the desk. "Everything the 811 Institute does will eventually be placed before the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff Headquarters. I have no need to hide anything. What they need is to understand it."

He pushed the folder toward her.

"But that is where your task ends. It is your duty to submit reports to the Oversight Commission, and I will not interfere. But while you sit in this chair, you are first and foremost the Executive Director of the 811 Institute."

Sheng Lan lowered her eyes to the folder cover.

A red confidential stamp, numbered Spark-001.

"What is this?"

"Open it and see."

Sheng Lan opened the folder. Three sets of documents had been neatly sorted inside.

The first was a list of third-party logistics contractors for the Heliopolis colony satellite.

The second was a compiled file of personal records for Dawn Society engineers stationed in Heliopolis.

The third was a timetable of Atlantic Federation G Project material transport nodes.

She turned the pages, gradually slowing down.

When she reached the third set, her fingers stopped.

"Director." She looked up. "These transport nodes are detailed down to individual service run numbers."

"This isn't peripheral intelligence gathering."

"No."

"You're preparing a technological interception."

Lin Yuan leaned back in his chair, fingers interlaced on the desk.

"The G Weapons—five prototype units. Strike, Duel, Buster, Blitz, and Aegis. The Atlantic Federation's most crucial next-generation MS achievement is all hidden in Heliopolis."

Sheng Lan closed the file and looked directly at him.

"Director, if this operation is exposed, the Atlantic Federation will classify it as espionage. East Asia's position within the United Army is already delicate. If relations break down—"

"What is East Asia's position within the United Army?" Lin Yuan interrupted. "We provide money, troops, and factories. Our technology is locked down, our intelligence is compartmentalized, and East Asia does not get a say in strategic decisions. When something goes wrong at the Alaska Defense Line, whose soldiers are the first sent in to fill the gap?"

Sheng Lan said nothing.

She knew the answer perfectly well.

"There are no allies in the United Army." Lin Yuan's voice was very soft, yet every word carried undeniable weight. "There are only those who hold the technology and those who tighten screws for others."

He pushed the second folder toward Sheng Lan.

"I don't need you to judge whether this should be done. That is my decision. What I need you to do is ensure that no one in the operational chain can be identified, ensure that once the data is transmitted back to East Asia, a complete technical evaluation team is ready to take over, and ensure that everyone who meets the criteria in the engineers' files receives an invitation from East Asia afterward."

Sheng Lan did not take it immediately.

"Director, there is one more matter."

"Go on."

"Heliopolis is a neutral colony satellite under Orb's jurisdiction. The Atlantic Federation placing its project there was itself a gray-area operation. If the operation is exposed, East Asia's room to defend itself—"

"It won't be exposed."

"What if it is?"

"If it is." Lin Yuan paused for a second and tapped the desk with one finger. "Then it will be exposed amid the chaos after ZAFT attacks. By then, the entire colony satellite will be burning. The Atlantic Federation will be busy searching for its missing units, and Orb will be busy counting casualties. No one will investigate why a maintenance contractor's server has a few extra data transmission records."

Sheng Lan's back tensed slightly.

"ZAFT will attack Heliopolis?"

"They will."

"Are you sure?"

"I am."

"The source of this information—"

"Sheng Lan." Lin Yuan did not raise his voice, but that pause was enough to make her fall silent. "There are some things whose sources you do not need to know yet. What you need to know is that none of the intelligence I've provided has been wrong so far."

He opened a drawer and took out the third folder.

"The Spark Project infiltration team has already departed. Ye Qingluan is leading it. Your task is to prepare the technical dismantling team for when the data is received in East Asia. Give me the personnel list this afternoon."

Sheng Lan looked at the three folders before her and remained silent for five seconds.

Her thoughts raced.

This young director knew ZAFT would attack Heliopolis. He knew every detail of the G Project. He knew the Atlantic Federation's transport schedule down to individual service runs. Yet none of this intelligence could be obtained through East Asia's official channels.

She had a hundred questions she wanted to ask.

But she chose a different action.

Sheng Lan stood, gathered the three folders into the crook of her arm, and brought the heels of her military boots together.

"The list for the data reception team will be on your desk before three this afternoon."

"One more thing."

"Please."

"Write your reports to the Oversight Commission as usual." Lin Yuan picked up the pen on his desk and opened the next document. "What I do can stand up to scrutiny. You do not need to cover anything up for me."

Sheng Lan paused at the door, her hand gripping the handle.

"Director."

"Yes?"

"If the Spark Project succeeds, how do you intend to use what East Asia obtains?"

"To keep East Asian soldiers from dying in other people's wars."

The fingers gripping the doorknob tightened for an instant, then relaxed. Sheng Lan turned and walked out.

After the door closed, Lin Yuan was alone in the office.

He set down his pen and looked toward the door Sheng Lan had left through.

This female officer came from a military martyr's family. Her father had died in an intelligence leak, when the Atlantic Federation used East Asia's frontline troops as scapegoats to cover up a failed operation.

She had come to monitor Lin Yuan, but she was also scrutinizing every part of East Asia's military that might betray its own people.

"Enough," Lin Yuan said quietly.

At the far end of the corridor, Sheng Lan's footsteps had already faded away.

Three encrypted entries had just appeared in her paper memorandum.