"Over the past half month, the researchers at the base had endured unimaginable harassment—their private inboxes, homes, and even the departments of the schools they had once attended had received massive numbers of warning letters and curses. It was as if, overnight, these researchers who had always fought on the front lines against Chelated Disease had become the devil's accomplices.
"Everyone, including those closest to them and most familiar with them, kept demanding answers. Why wouldn't AHgAs release Hesta? Why hadn't the union within the base organized strikes and demonstrations? What was each individual's stance on this matter? Yet bound by confidentiality regulations, they could offer no explanation—when the true conspirators stirred up public opinion and sought to exploit the citizens' sympathy to break Quicksilver Needles' defenses, they could only remain silent.
"According to reliable sources, Avinash Rakotia, a retired Quicksilver Needles operative from District 11, had recently arrived in Tanyi. He would lead the Third District United Government's first Quicksilver Needles Task Force, and the entire struggle over Hesta and the manipulation of public opinion were part of the task force's 'recruitment plan.' The so-called 'set her free' was merely a coating of sugar. Even if Hesta truly was an angelic little girl, the path awaiting her would only be another thorn-filled road.
"Now, under the pressure of frenzied public opinion, 27 foundations worldwide had issued written warnings to the District 3 Reserve Base or decided to temporarily suspend funding. Meanwhile, angry citizens kept storming the office buildings here to protest the cold-bloodedness and bureaucracy of Quicksilver Needles. But what most citizens did not understand was that two-thirds of the staff here were ordinary people like this writer, and under such multiple pressures, they could barely fend for themselves.
"On the 14th of this month, the Quicksilver Needles underground