[ Claudia server room / September 21, 0078 11:05 ]
Subaru had never been good with analytic work. It gave her headaches. But right now, the Bureau needed every analyst they could get their hands on.
She and Tea sat in a cramped server room, staring unblinkingly onto projected screens in front of them. The Infinity Library mainframe was trying out every possible 128-bit key to decipher the encrypted part of the Crown photo, matching the results to every language and numeric notation known to the Bureau. Their job was to analyze manually whether any of the filtered results made sense. With a dozen new character strings streaming in every second, none so far had been any good.
"Emergency transmission from the Captain."
Two faces appeared on her screen almost immediately: one belonged to Admiral Harlaown, the other to a woman she didn't recognize. She had short dark-blonde hair and wore the blue Main Office uniform.
"…was the one who escorted the package to the Mid, Sir."
"So it was the Scryas, after all… Did you know what you were carrying, Lieutenant?"
"Yes, Sir. Professor Scrya has informed me on condition of full confidentiality."
"Does the Chief Librarian Scrya know? Why didn't you inform us sooner?"
"I… I didn't know about your taskforce until tonight, Sir. And I didn't know the Crown was this important. And my deployment was strictly classified per standing orders of the Main Office…"
"Damn this secrecy!" Chrono groaned. "Our left hand doesn't know what the right one does…"
"…but when I saw the picture, I immediately tried to contact you!"
"That's good, at least. Where exactly did you deliver it?"
"The Lost Logia Warehouse #107 in Southern Mid, Sir. Professor Scrya wanted to study it further when they returned, but…"
"With any luck, it's still there. Patch all the data you have through to Battalion 386. Tell Major Gaiz, Admiral Harlaown sends his regards."
"Roger that."
"You did good, Officer. Harlaown out."
The blonde woman's face disappeared. The Admiral mustered Subaru and Teana.
"Did you hear everything, Officers?"
"Yes, Sir."
"As luck will have it, we are one step ahead of the Cradle this time," Chrono rubbed his chin in uneasiness. "But if it hits the Mid… With a major population center endangered, I may have to call in the entire Navy."
"What should we do, Sir?"
"Once in range, I will drop you off on the Mid. Assist your colleagues and recover the Crown, whatever it takes."
