Listening

In Molly's office, Chiba and Molly sat at the same table. Each wore an earphone, listening intently—the recording playing through them was the conversation Calvin and Shawn had just had in the corridor.

After bringing Hesta back last time, Chiba had specifically gone to see Molly. She pulled up the Grangua brothers' movements within the base and quickly discovered that although their routes were rather chaotic when they were with Shawn, seeming to go everywhere, Calvin's movements when he acted alone were very simple: the student dormitories, cafeteria, teaching building, or training grounds. That was all.

On one hand, Chiba had Molly tell Calvin to keep recordings of his conversations with Shawn whenever possible. On the other, she figured that since Shawn had been downgraded and they could neither return to the student dormitories nor use the library inside them, Calvin would inevitably go to the library within the base.

So she had placed more than twenty listening devices along the way, especially in this unmonitored corridor, as a second layer of insurance.

—Chiba's original plan had been to install hidden surveillance directly in their current residence. However, having already violated her principles once, Molly firmly refused the proposal, and Chiba had no choice but to drop it.

"Shawn's pretty quick on the uptake." Chiba set down her earphone. "If all newcomers knew to put their effort into what they were good at, Valenti wouldn't have to spend all day thinking about how to ease their pressure."

Molly's face was livid. She gave Chiba a cold glance, and after a long while, let out a scoffing hum.

Chiba thoughtfully reached behind her head and said softly, "What I'm more concerned about now is where Shawn got all that casualty ratio data. It sounded a little like those documents we used to fool the United Government a couple of years ago... Even if they were fabricated, they shouldn't be declassified yet, should they?"

"We're investigating." Molly lowered her voice. "So far, he's breached the computers of at least six faculty members on the base, but they were all relatively peripheral staff with little access to classified documents. Shawn probably obtained some external social engineering databases, used credential stuffing to break into the accounts of some United Government officials, and got the materials that way."

"Of course," Chiba laughed, as if she had heard a joke. "If Shawn had breached the core staff, he'd either be in prison by now or officially promoted, wouldn't he?"

Molly glared at Chiba, not finding any of it funny.

"Still, once this is over, you should find an opportunity to clear this up with him." Chiba rubbed her chin. "Female Quicksilver Needles have better stability because the estrogen in their bodies can lessen some of the effects caused by blood loss—though that was all more than a decade ago. With battlefield infusion devices now, our gender-based casualty ratios are nowhere near that bad."

"Is that the point?"

"What else is there?" Chiba said softly. "Anyway, I felt more reassured after hearing it."

"Reassured?"

Chiba leaned back, lifting the front legs of her chair into the air and leisurely rocking back and forth.

"Since Shawn was thinking about going into logistics later, he couldn't possibly do anything too out of line. Even if, worst-case scenario, he wanted to leave the base and seek a position with the United Government, he'd still have to consider how much of a stain his record could bear."

Molly gave a cold laugh. "Perhaps I should consider submitting a report to headquarters, including all your words and actions, so they can see whether you truly have the ability to fulfill your guardianship responsibilities."

"Of course I do." The smile on Chiba's face faded slightly. "Look, lately I've been making time every few days to come back to the base and take Hesta out for a walk. Among all active Quicksilver Needles, where could you find a more responsible guardian than me?"

"What exactly have you been taking her out to do?"

"Eat desserts, wander around the old district..." Chiba counted off on her fingers, listing the things she had done with Hesta. "And look at the scenery, experience life, that sort of thing... That's all."

Molly narrowed her eyes but did not respond.

"You don't believe me?" Chiba raised three fingers toward the sky. "Molly, I've never told you a single lie, big or small."

Molly had no mood to bicker with Chiba. Things outside had been growing increasingly serious these past few days. What had originally been merely rallies and demonstrations within Tanyi City had gradually spread to other Habitable Zones under the fanning of the media.

Within District 3, at least a dozen foundations with close ties to AHgAs had issued warnings and letters of inquiry to them to varying degrees, demanding that the base respond to the outside world's doubts as soon as possible.

She clasped her hands together—a posture that usually meant Molly wanted to end a conversation or issue an ultimatum.

"How exactly do you intend to resolve the dispute over Hesta's custody?"

Chiba still had her usual breezy attitude. "As for the plan, everything is progressing steadily."

"How much longer do we have to wait?"

"That depends on the United Government's efficiency. The demonstrations are basically all happening within Tanyi City right now. The scale is too small. We need to give the other Habitable Zones in District 3 some time to react." Chiba smiled. "For this trend to reach the Core City of District 3, we'll need to wait at least another month or month and a half."

"You think things aren't chaotic enough already?" Molly's jaw trembled slightly with shock. "And you still want to wait for this fire to spread to the Core City—"

"Stay calm." Chiba wore a meaningful smile. "Everything is under control for now."

Molly took a deep breath. "...So roughly how far has it progressed?"

"If we're lucky, the plan has already reached 40%."

"Lucky?" Molly was deeply shocked by such an imprecise choice of words. "...What if you're unlucky?"

"If we're unlucky, then it has already reached 90%."

Molly found it utterly baffling. "...What does that mean?"

"It means I always have a more reliable Plan B, though it may be a little more crude."

Chiba gave Molly a bright smile.

"If things haven't reached an irreparable point, I'll always prioritize more civilized, more ethical methods... So please cooperate with me properly, Ms. Moly."

Molly lowered her gaze slightly, her expression unpleasant.

"There won't be a next time."

"That was roughly it."

In Valenti's office, Calvin had more or less relayed Shawn's thoughts about Hesta. During the conversation, he did not mention a word about Shawn's plans for the future.

Sometimes, he felt Shawn's arguments were not without merit. For instance, Shawn had previously said that people should hold back some of their own information instead of opening themselves completely to the base. But at other times, Calvin felt that this guy was simply stubborn to an unreasonable degree.

Lost in his thoughts, Calvin heard Valenti let out a soft sigh from across the room. His heart sank, and he began to worry about Shawn's situation. Just as he racked his brains for something he could say to improve Valenti's impression of Shawn, he heard Valenti suddenly say, "You've had it hard lately."

"...What?" Calvin looked up in surprise.

"You really have had it hard. Whenever something happened on Shawn's end, you were always the one being troubled." Valenti spoke gently. "This was never something you should have had to worry about."

"It's nothing. It was what I should have done." Calvin immediately shook his head. After hesitating for a moment, he lowered his voice. "Maybe I shouldn't bring this up now... Do you know about our first real combat deployment next month?"