In the autumn of Cosmic Era 75, artificially regulated warm light streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the PLANT Supreme Council chamber in April City, yet it could not dispel the lingering chill of conflict. Chairman Durandal sat at the head of the table, tapping his fingertips against its surface, his eyes still sharp and resentful. Aura Maha Khaiber stood to one side, faint reagent stains still marking her white lab coat, her eyes alight with a fervor for genetic engineering and an obsession with "perfect order." Below them, Mei Hock wore the white uniform of a ZAFT commander, the medals on his shoulders gleaming. Beside him stood Li Bing, the plenipotentiary representative sent by the East Asian Republic, holding thick volumes and a data terminal-the accumulated wisdom of millennia.
"Chairman Durandal, Dr. Aura," Mei said, his voice calm yet powerful as it broke the chamber's silence, "the war is over. The cycle of hatred cannot continue. The 'human evolution' you seek should not come at the cost of genetic shackles and racial division." He gestured for Li Bing to hand the terminal to them. "This is the culmination of the East Asian Republic's five thousand years of civilization-from the integration of peoples under the Qin and Han to the nations that paid tribute to the flourishing Tang, from mutual support in troubled times to openness and inclusion in ages of prosperity. They never relied on genetic screening to rank people as superior or inferior, yet they continued to advance through diverse coexistence. The coexistence of multiple races and civilizations is not chaos. It is a force that drives progress."
Durandal frowned slightly, his fingertips coming to a halt. "Major Hawke, we both know that human greed and fanaticism are the roots of war. Without genetic optimization, or even locking