Spark into the Furnace

"Being different is what makes it real."

Twenty-four hours after Lacus said those words, the rescue footage edited by Zhao Wendi was injected into three information streams through third-party channels arranged by Ye Qingluan.

On the tracking panel at the 811 Institute's communications hub, the spread pattern looked like three stones thrown into a pond, their ripples expanding at once.

When Zhao Wendi pushed the data to Sheng Lan's terminal, the curve of his mouth was two degrees wider than usual.

"Deputy Officer Sheng, reposts on PLANT's civilian network exceeded the Security Council's content-review threshold within twelve hours. The Zala Faction's online control system can't delete them one by one fast enough. Every post they remove gets reuploaded by three mirror sites."

Sheng Lan glanced at the dissemination curve.

"What about the Atlantic Federation media?"

"Jonathan Pierce changed his topic at the last minute last night. He was originally planning a segment on East Asia expanding its military presence in space, but what aired was a fifteen-minute neutral commentary titled Humanitarianism in the Rubble Belt. It didn't praise East Asia, but it didn't attack it either."

"Why not attack?"

Zhao Wendi brought up a media analysis summary.

"Because the footage of Lacus Clyne personally comforting the survivors was too powerful. She's a Coordinator, the survivors are Coordinators, and an East Asian ship rescued them. If the Atlantic Federation attacks that act, it amounts to saying rescuing Coordinators is wrong. Blue Cosmos can say that, but the Federation government doesn't dare make it its official position."

Sheng Lan moved the dissemination report into the pending queue and entered the analysis room.

Lin Yuan stood before the tactical display. It showed not dissemination data, but the overall project-progress chart for the 811 Institute over the past forty days.

"Director, the public-opinion front is open. Zhao Wendi's assessment is that the rescue footage has secured East Asia a positive publicity window of at least two to three weeks among the neutral factions."

"The window will close."

"Yes. So what comes next?"

Lin Yuan ran his finger from left to right across the progress chart, pausing for half a second at every project milestone.

G Project data digestion: 87% complete. The core framework has been parsed, the principles of Phase-Shift Armor have been extracted, and the energy-conduit design for beam weapons has entered the comparison stage.

Ceramic Steel armor stability verification: passed. The desert campaign and Rubble Belt rescue provided field-test data from two extreme environments. Xu Yanqiu's redesigned heat-dissipation microtube proposal has entered the mold-development stage.

Bombard Gun combat verification: complete. The 0.7-second ammunition-belt feed delay has been identified, and the mechanical team is improving the transmission structure.

Black Iron modification prototype production: the first batch of three prototype units has entered limited-batch modification. The new model is codenamed Black Iron Armor Two and is expected to be completed within thirty days.

Machine Soul AI controlled training: Jiachen's nonstandard behavior logs have been archived for analysis. Zhou Boyuan is writing controller firmware for a hardware-level output lock.

Lin Yuan's finger stopped on the final project.

"Sheng Lan, what do you see?"

Sheng Lan stepped up to the display, her gaze sweeping from top to bottom.

"All five core projects have entered their second stages. The foundation of East Asia's independent MS system has been laid."

"What do we do after laying the foundation?"

"Build the house."

Lin Yuan turned to face her.

"Building a house requires more materials. G Project data laid the foundation for us, but it's only a variation of technological paths the Atlantic Federation and PLANT already possess. We need something of our own."

"The Candle Core Project?"

"The Candle Core Project is the engine. Only with the engine can the Emperor-class become possible. But before the engine, we're still missing one thing."

Sheng Lan opened her memorandum.

"What?"

"The underlying architecture of Dawn Society's MS control system."

Sheng Lan's pen tip cut a line across the page.

"Director, Dawn Society is in Orb."

"I know."

"Orb is a neutral nation. Its technology isn't open to any faction."

"Orb's neutrality rests on two conditions. First, no one forces it to choose a side. Second, its technology is good enough to give it the right not to choose one."

Sheng Lan turned to a fresh page in her memorandum, her pen hovering above it.

"Director, are you saying those two conditions are disappearing?"

Lin Yuan went to the communications terminal and brought up Ye Qingluan's latest intelligence summary.

Summary title: The Atlantic Federation Pacific Front's second wave of reinforcements has reached its fleet assembly point, seven hundred kilometers from Orb's territorial waters.

Sheng Lan looked at the fleet markers on the screen and counted them.

"Seventeen ships. Three of them are Agamemnon-class."

"There were twelve three weeks ago."

"Why the reinforcements?"

"Ye Qingluan's analysis is that, after the Archangel incident, the Atlantic Federation has classified Orb as a suspected party harboring United Army defectors. They need a reason to pressure Orb, and the Archangel receiving supplies in Orb's airspace is a ready-made pretext."

Sheng Lan wrote two lines in her memorandum, then closed it.

"Director, it's only a matter of time before the Atlantic Federation pressures Orb. But isn't it too early for East Asia to get involved with Orb? Luo Qiming's faction is still watching the budget."

Lin Yuan closed the intelligence summary and brought up another document.

It was a record of Luo Qiming's speech at a closed East Asian Parliament session three days earlier.

Sheng Lan scanned two lines.

"He said the input-output ratio of the North African desert operation was unreasonable and demanded that the Special Equipment Bureau submit a complete project-benefit report before the next quarter's budget review."

"What else did he say?"

Sheng Lan read further down.

"He said East Asia shouldn't project military power overseas and should concentrate its resources on consolidating homeland defense."

Lin Yuan placed that document beside Ye Qingluan's intelligence summary on the screen.

"Sheng Lan, Luo Qiming says we should concentrate resources on consolidating homeland defense. The Atlantic Federation is assembling a fleet off Orb. What do you think is the connection between those two things?"

Sheng Lan spun her pen once in her pocket.

"If the Atlantic Federation takes Orb, it will control the strategic passage through the central Pacific Ocean. One layer of the outer buffer protecting East Asia's homeland will be stripped away. The homeland defense Luo Qiming wants will become far more expensive instead."

"So?"

"So Dawn Society isn't just a technical issue. Orb is a geopolitical issue."

Lin Yuan shut off the screen and walked to the desk, where he sat down.

"I'm convening an internal meeting this afternoon. Attendees: you, Xu Yanqiu, Zhou Boyuan, He Changying via remote link, and Ye Qingluan via remote link."

"The agenda?"

"A contingency plan concerning Orb. Don't put Orb in the title. Call it Feasibility Assessment for Technical Cooperation in the Pacific Direction."

Sheng Lan walked to the door.

"Director, if Luo Qiming finds out you're preparing a plan to intervene in Orb, he'll make an even bigger scene in Parliament."

"The rescue footage bought me a two-to-three-week public-opinion window. During that time, Luo Qiming won't dare openly oppose the Special Equipment Bureau that just saved seventeen people."

"What about after two or three weeks?"

"If the Atlantic Federation makes a move against Orb by then, Luo Qiming will discover that the political cost of opposing me is much higher than the budgetary cost of supporting me."

Sheng Lan pushed open the door, took three steps, then looked back.

"Director, this Spark Project you mentioned—from G Project data in Heliopolis, to desert testing, to the Rubble Belt rescue, and now preparing an Orb contingency plan—was all of it part of your original plan?"

Lin Yuan's fingers rested motionless on the tabletop.

"The framework was. Not every detail. Han Zheng using his knee as bait wasn't. Xuanwu Three getting trapped in the Rubble Belt wasn't. Lacus asking whether I was keeping accounts wasn't either."

"Then what was?"

"The direction. East Asia needs its own technological system, a fleet capable of fighting, and a foundation of order that depends on no power. As for how to get there, we felt out one path in the desert and another in the Rubble Belt."

As Sheng Lan pulled the door until only a narrow crack remained, Lin Yuan's voice came through it.

"Sheng Lan."

"Yes."

"Notify Xu Yanqiu. Don't make enough heat-dissipation microtube molds for only three units. Make enough for thirty."

Sheng Lan gripped the doorknob for a second.

"Director, thirty units means a production line. The budget will increase sixfold."

"I know."

"Luo Qiming will jump."

"Let him jump. On the day the Atlantic Federation's ultimatum reaches Orb, he'll quiet down."

Sheng Lan closed the door.

In the corridor, her boot heels struck out a steady rhythm. On the newest page of her memorandum were four words: Spark into the Furnace.

That same evening, on the other side of Earth.

Within the Atlantic Federation Pacific Front's communications network, a highest-priority dispatch was being transmitted from Washington to the fleet flagship.

Forty-seven seconds later, Ye Qingluan's interception system pushed the dispatch summary onto the 811 Institute's screen.

The summary contained only one line: The Federal Ministry of Defense formally authorizes the Pacific Front to issue the United Emirates of Orb a demand for security cooperation. Deadline for refusal: seven days.

Standing before a terminal in the communications hub, Sheng Lan looked at that line and turned to the next page of her memorandum.

She activated the encrypted channel.

"Director, the Atlantic Federation's ultimatum has arrived."

Lin Yuan's voice came from the analysis room, his pace unchanged from when they had discussed the number of heat-dissipation microtube molds.

"Eleven days earlier than I expected."