Merel: sigh
The bored and idle remnant of Squad "XII" carries out her as yet tedious orders.
She stops by a window, squinting inside.
Merel: ...
Broken furniture and cobwebs woven between cracked and forgotten china.
A uniquely shaped counter-arcanum monitoring device disrupts the decaying scene.
Merel: Clearly no one's bothered to do any cleanup, then.
She opens the window and leans in, her mask blocking out the sudden puff of dust.
Following her officer's instructions, she pulls out a transparent strip of cloth and places it by the device.
The cloth changes color rapidly, and a line of neat letters appears on its surface.
Merel: "Counter-arcanum device operating normally." Looks like I'm not needed here either.
She climbs back out the window.
Merel: Hmph. Hmm? Aren't you ...?
Marsha: Merel.
Merel: Marsha?
The young soldier springs up to greet her, visibly relieved.
Merel: It really is you! You're back finally!
Marsha: Is Paravyan alright?
Merel: Oh, poor guy's had a hard time of it, but at least he's still in one piece. He's lying in a sickbed as we speak. He should recover soon.
Merel: It's too bad he didn't find anything too useful in the village, well, aside from that armored vehicle.
Marsha: Fortunately, Sentinel happened to be there at the same time.
Merel: So it really was her, the one who assassinated Colonel Hirschfelder?
Marsha: Yes. She'd collected a wealth of evidence concerning Manus Vindictae. I've already delivered it to Commander Creius.
Marsha: As for the assassination, it turns out her actions weren't entirely unjustifiable. Let's just consider it a misunderstanding.
Merel: Misunderstanding? She literally killed a guy.
Marsha: She's not the only one.
Marsha unconsciously rubs the old scars on her palms, feeling them itch like never before.
Merel: ...
Merel presses her lips together, creating a twisted crease in her mask.
Merel: Well, I ... Anyway, I was just worried that something bad might've happened to you, like what happened to ...
Marsha: To whom?
Merel: Charles and Amanda. We haven't heard from them in over four hours now.
Marsha: They were dispatched to investigate Hill 299, correct? Has any help been sent their way?
Merel: Commander Creius sent some men to look for them. Hopefully, we'll hear some good news soon.
Merel: Most of the other teams have finished their investigations. A few of them are already in the safe zone, actually. Apparently, they've found a lot of useful info.
Merel: So, we won't have to head back out again, right?
Merel watches Marsha carefully, as if waiting for her to confirm something.
Merel: The front's getting shelled to hell and back. I mean, chances are we'll ...
Marsha pats her on the shoulder.
Marsha: The evidence Sentinel provided is quite damning. Our job here will be over just as soon as we can get ahold of the team at Hill 299.
Marsha: Don't worry.
Copies of the evidence Marsha submitted have been spread across the table.
Personal letters, marked military maps, battle plans, engineering blueprints, defaced and altered documents ...
Georg: ...
Along with them on the table are exhibits recovered by other investigators from across the front line, arranged in rough chronological order starting from 1918.
Georg: This is unbelievable!
He stares at the pile, the sheer flood of information overwhelming him.
Georg: These documents ... The evidence is undeniable. Every one of those absurd conspiracy theories was true. The 1918 peace negotiations really were sabotaged by Manus Vindictae!
Georg: The nations on both sides of this war have been under the deception of an invisible enemy. It is no wonder that even the victors of the 1919 offensive gained no real advantage.
Georg: My God. To think Manus Vindictae has been sharing war secrets with both sides to ensure neither can win this war.
Georg: That they have used our commanders as tools for their massacre. It is nigh on unimaginable!
He looks up with sudden realization.
Georg: This does not simply concern one nation. These documents could topple nearly all of Europe's military leaders.
Georg: With this list of Manus defectors in our hands, and if we act with haste, we may finally put every one of them behind bars.
Waiting for Georg's mood to stabilize, Creius adds a word of advice.
Creius: Let me remind you that Laplace may be able to heal these so-called "defectors." Eberhard's case proved that the Manus's mental influence can be purged.
Georg: Yes, yes, of course. Whatever the case, we must act as soon as possible. The chancellor and the parliament are prepared to strike.
Finding light in a once grim future, he starts to shake, sending ripples through the papers in his hands.
Creius: Agreed. The evidence is sufficient. There is no need to delay.
Georg: Wonderful! Just think of the soldiers finally making their way home.
Georg: This is the day we secure a century of peace for Europe!
Creius: Hmph. Sounds like a line for the history books.
He has no mind to react to Creius's parting jab. Stuffing all the documents into his briefcase, he rushes out.
Straightening the remaining mess on his desk, Creius retrieves a hidden communicator.
It's been connected the entire time.
Creius: Everything's going according to plan.
Constantine: Good. The other teams have shared the same intelligence with the pacifist political leaders in their respective regions.
Constantine: All the Foundation has to do now is watch for any interference from Manus Vindictae.
Vertin: But, won't this approach cause even more turbulence?
Creius: Timekeeper?
He had been expecting the faction leaders, making this an unexpected relief.
Vertin: Oh, yes, Creius. I was just listening in.
Creius: I see. In any case, the outcome can't be worse than the war we're living through, Timekeeper.
Creius: As I'm sure you learned in your history studies, this war claimed tens of millions of soldiers' lives.
Creius: Not to mention the equally massive number of civilian casualties, whether direct or otherwise.
Creius: We are now two years on from what should've been the end of this war. The death toll has already climbed much higher, and it will only continue to rise if we don't put an end to it soon.
Creius: At least our efforts have won us a marginally better outcome.
Vertin: I see.
Constantine: In short, the war is already over.
Constantine: Once the pacifist political parties take power, an armistice will surely be signed in Montpaix.
Creius: This may not be the time, but I have a question to ask.
Creius: Does the Foundation Committee have any contingency plans should things take a turn for the worse?
The silence in the room confirms the suspicions of the voice on the other end.
Vertin: Did you notice something suspicious?
The former vigil officer fishes out as many suspicious details from his memories as he can.
Creius: It's about Hirschfelder's assassination ...
Creius: Do you remember a certain detail from Marsha's report?
Sentinel: You think his death to be the spark of a reignited war, but, even if I had stayed my hand from him, your plans would have been for naught.
Creius: If that were so, why would the Manus risk exposing Hirschfelder? Why would they allow him to meet with the Foundation in Montpaix?
Creius: If Hirschfelder hadn't been killed, would the negotiations have become a fruitless tug-of-war?
Vertin: Manus Vindictae would only cooperate with the Foundation on something that was sure to fail.
An intuitive guess is assembled, drawing on the experience of prior contact with Manus Vindictae.
Vertin: Could it be that they're purposely diverting our attention?
Creius: My thoughts exactly, Timekeeper.
Creius: That said, securing peace is our top priority at the moment.
