It was the worse situation yet. The appearance of the three Gundam Thrones, the United Nations Forces using fake Solar Furnaces to power their mobile suits… and at the core of it all, Veda might've been compromised decades, even a century ago given the time it takes to produce a Solar Furnace.
Everything was taken into account for the next battle plan, but the one crucial thing was proving a lot more difficult to swallow – Disconnecting Veda. Sumeragi Lee Noriega, or Leesa Kujo as she preferred when alone in her room, played the scenarios over and over, looking for the best situation leading to the most desirable outcome… but like the taste of scotch being poured into a glass, the outcome was anything but sweet. It tasted more like 'death' to be exact.
There's no other way. I'll have the girls program an independent operating system for the Gundams… but still…
All of the operations with the armed interventions have gone according to plan, save for a few adjustments. And all of this was largely thanks to Veda's information. Continuing with the plan Celestial Being has laid out without Veda will be dangerous at the very least – the team will be flying blind, not knowing if their enemies know as much or, worse, more than they do.
A gulp.
It tasted bitter, but the dull pain throbbing at the side of her head eased up as she spread her arms across her desk in defeat. Leesa was a skillful and promising tactical forecaster back in the day, but today she could want nothing more than the most miniscule probability of something going wrong for the enemy to happen – an act of the heavens turning against them and siding with hers.
"Aeolia Schenberg… did you anticipate this?" she asked, praying for divine intervention as she once again rummaged her head for the best scenarios, "Disconnecting Veda is a very big risk… I guess I'll check for other useful information," Propping herself up on her chair, she activated her terminal and prompted to access Veda.
My access level isn't as high as Tiera's but there must be something around my access level. There must be something we can use here... Upon Veda's activation, her screen was flooded with data, mostly useless, referring to the current status of the Ptolemy and suggested maintenance procedures. This is all useless… hmm? What's this? One of the folders in the flood of data stood out from the corner of the screen, "Ptolemy Crew Data – Health Status and Recommendations… I've never noticed this before,"
The Ptolemy has a sufficient medical facility with a senior medical officer… why would Veda have separate data on the crew's health? Coming up with scenarios without Veda will come later; this was too unusual to ignore. Leesa opened the file, and found different directories, each named with the corresponding crew member, "'Personnel ID and Voice Recognition Clearance Required'… huh?"
Leesa scanned the directories, until she found hers, "Here it is – Leesa Kujo, Codename Sumeragi Lee Noriega," hers was placed at the bottom of the pile… and was oddly blinking red. Is there something wrong with my file? She clicked her directory, and a security prompt was activated,
(Supply Personnel Identification and Corresponding Code Prompt. Code Prompt CURSOR)
"Leesa Kujo, Codename Sumeragi Lee Noriega, Identification 04051081. Code Response AZTEC,"
The screen flickered once, twice… then the data on Leesa Kujo appeared on the screen, "Access Granted," said the terminal as the Security Prompt disappeared.
"Now… what's this all about?" The page displayed her data – family background, military history, grades on Celestial Being Tactical Operations… and finally, the folder for Health Status, "Health Status… so this is the one that's been blinking," Leesa clicked on the blinking folder of her Health Status, then another prompt activated on the screen.
(New Data Found. Update will begin on user's activation. Activate file?)
"Fine. Fine… just show me the file," she said impatiently as she activated the file. The screen flickered… then her file opens. A picture of her appeared on the screen, the same picture that was taken when she first joined Celestial Being a few years ago. And the data beside it… "What the?"… caused her jaws to drop, as she slammed the glass of scotch on the desk, "WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?"
WHY WOULD CELESTIAL BEING KEEP THIS DATA? And what's with this Health Recommendation?
The screen prominently displayed… Leesa Kujo's vital statistics beside her picture, along with the recommendation of not only her uniform size, but the size of her bra and underwear as well, "Aside from size, for clothing fabric, Crew Member Sumeragi Lee Noriega has a preference for- WHA?"
Leesa was beginning to grasp the kind of data Veda had as she read on, reaching the bottom of the page where it read Health Recommendation:
(Crew Member Sumeragi Lee Noriega has considerably gained weight since assignment as Celestial Being Tactical Forecaster and Ptolemy Commanding Officer. Weekly data shows that the crewmember gained an average of 0.21 lbs largely due to constant alcohol consumption. Weekly projected body images based on the crewmember's updated vital statistics and initial weight has been created for analysis by the appointed Celestial Being Senior Medical Officer.)
(It is recommended that this recommendation be forwarded to an appointed Celestial Being Senior Medical Officer, and Crew Member Sumeragi Lee Noriega immediately schedule weight-loss sessions in the training wing. Recommendation Ended.)
"…" The air in the quarters was thick as Leesa slowly deactivated the file, "… Veda has my…?" Veda, the ultimate intelligence technology, the core of Celestial Being… for all members to utilize, can access her vital statistics. Her cheeks flushed red as she pushed aside her glass… and reached for the bottle of scotch. Her fingers were trembling as she downed the bitter liquid… and at first, they were trembling out of anger.
At the moment, the calculating tactical forecaster Sumeragi Lee Noriega was out cold as there was only one thing she could think of…
…
…
…
AEOLIA SCHENBERG YOU DIRTY OLD MAN!
This is insane! Celestial Being kept my data… my VITAL STATISTICS and updated them weekly… and even my preferred fabric! What the hell will Celestial Being do with my data? Are they lechers, spending weeks underground left to their own animal instincts or something?
Leesa's face flushed even more furiously as she emptied the bottle, gasping for air after the last drop, "Celestial Being… I won't ever forget this! If only I didn't have to worry about Veda being compromised, I-" Veda… compromised…?
It didn't register earlier… but now suddenly, it all came crashing down like a barrage of missiles. Blood in her face suddenly disappeared, leaving only a ghostly tinge of pale white as her eyes widened in shock. Veda… compromised… that means…
…
…
… the world, the entire world… has access to my weight and vital statistics?
…
…
Dashing out of her quarters, the distraught tactical forecaster made her way towards the bridge – the plan has been set! Right now, she couldn't care less if the battle scenarios were full of improbability.
This is really the worse scenario ever. I swear I'm going to kill somebody on board if they ever find that file!
It was the worse situation yet. The appearance of the three Gundam Thrones, the United Nations Forces using fake Solar Furnaces to power their mobile suits… and now, the possibility of world reviewing her outrageous 'Health Status'!
That's right… the plan is set now – all future missions will be operated without Veda. Veda has to be disconnected now!
Veda has been compromised!