Tedious though it was, Portland endured the sub-division's technical explanations regarding the other components of the project with diligent passiveness. Although none of the information registered in his mind, he made ample use the time to refresh his impressions about each of the scientists. The useful new tidbits he would file away in the recesses of his mind, ready to be called upon should the situation come to pass.
"More sakuradite? Not possible. Britannia controls much of supply now. Legitimate efforts: too expensive. Underground: still too expensive, and we cannot risk exposure. Other news...Britannia has taken another Area? Becoming more of a world power than it ever. The Chinese Federation has withdrawn from..."
Although that speaker's pathetic, hunched figure told volumes of the man, Portland still found something profoundly sinister within the man's shifting eyes. One of the few surprises he had upon being introduced to the project was this man's role - that of the Head of the General Affairs Division. The division officially managed the inner workings of the Project, from upkeep of the facility to compensation of the miscellaneous personnel. Unofficially, it was the spy network employed by the Project, to keep watch internally and externally. Reports on erratic personnel would be sent to Portland, and the Division would be responsible for disposial. They were also responsible for gathering information, official or clandestine, about the outside world. For now, Portland filed the man's status away as dangerous and unpredictable, for even if the man was efficient in his duties, there was no way he could fully trust a man whose personal information was a damned classified secret even to him.
"....it features Omni-directional Landspinners coated with...it allows the Knightmare to scale any solid surface while the system is activated...installation of the Merlin module unfeasible without completion of the Siege Perilous mainframe....overall efficiency from preliminary simulations estimated at 40.12%...a stronger core must be developed to prolong the Knightmare's limited 49 minute operation time...."
Dr. Rouche Aiyme, on the other hand, was a far better card to read. A product of the Britannian Imperial Colchester Institute, the scientist would have been the spitting image of an ice queen from the mountains, had it not been for the reports of hot-headed outbursts. Known to be a maverick engineer even as a student in the Institute, the pure-blooded Britannian had been forced to join the project due to increasing pressure from irate companies back at home which had rejected her proposals and subsequently found themselves at the receiving end of her outrage. As it was, Portland had long decided, the woman would be easy to control - it would only take the effort of pulling her ambitious strings.
On screen, a cone-shape object connected by a wire smashed into the side of a wall, the cone afterward opening in a flower-like form. The wire was then pulled taut like an anchor, and a moment later the wall shattered from the force of the object being pulled back to its origin point. In another presentation, an object similar in design to a Gatling gun was mounted on a platform. After a few moments, the gun roared to life, spraying a hail of bullets on a sample of thick concrete wall. After 3 seconds of firing, the settling dust revealed a heap of slag where the wall had been.
Portland watched the scientist known as Valdez hobble back to his seat. This man, to Portland, was on the outside quite easy to read. The pale man's perpetually bloodshot eyes and unkempt brown hair was a good indication of his character, but it was the man's reputation as an arms fanatic which truly gave justice to the man. The man's obsession with newer and more exotic ways to kill reflected even in his private quarters, where Portland once glimpsed aisles upon aisles of ancient weapons on display.
During the report, Portland had seen past all the technical gobbledygook to the man's own brazen attitude of twisted excitement in presenting his artifices - similar to the way he himself would point to one of his finished products and gloat. Yet the man, infuriatingly, worked at his own pace: a dangerous variable in the Breaker's rigid plan and hence, a constant headache to be constantly managed every damned day of the week. Despite numerous warnings from the latter, Valdez would simply plod along with his inventions, only concerning himself with the boss should an issue with the sakuradite (there was always an issue with the sakuradite) arise - else, the man would spend every hour of his life crafting with his assistants. A mad genius, Portland thought. A type like that would always be out of place in any joint collaboration.
The last briefing from Dr. Rimes Duran was without a visual presentation, owing to the man's special condition. As head of the First Special Division tasked with managing the creation of the "Mind's Eye" System, the man had requested to have no assistants. This request, Portland assumed, must have originated from the man's stubborn insistence on independence and self-determination. Admirable for a person such as he, but also quite predictable. And his disability made the man even more susceptible to manipulation.
Portland also observed the other division heads' reactions to Duran's report. As the blind man droned on enthusiastically about the tweaks to his invention, Aiyme leaned in, focusing her undivided attention with an intrigued look; Valdez would seem uninterested but his eyes had that unnatural gleam to him; only the first presenter was the exception, for he, Portland noticed with annoyance, was watching HIM through half-lidded eyes.
"So to conclude, we are almost ready on the technical side of the project?"
The others shared a look amongst themselves, a look which Portland did not want to like to see. "There will always be some improvements that could be made, Mr. Portland-"
The man waved his hand, uninterested. It was a dismissal, which the others took as the sign to head back to their stations. The hunched man tapped Duran on the shoulder, from which Duran uttered, "It's over?" and standing to leave as well.
Portland resisted the urge to yawn as he too stood to leave the room, reflecting with derision that he could remember none of the technical information at all. As he took a swig from his ever-handy flask, he noticed the General Affairs head peeking at him like a child through the open doorway.
"What is it? Got something more to discuss, F-"
"The older one. Can I start playing with him?"
Portland's eyebrows twitched, remembering a similar question the man had asked a few days after receiving the two subjects.
"By play, I assume you mean - "
"Harmless. Meant as a test of mental faculty. If he is as the reports regularly say, then it will be interesting."
The bigger man seemed to consider this for a moment, but afterward waved at the other in a dismissive fashion. The other man bowed deeply, and left Portland to his thoughts.
My role in this project is nearly at a close. That was partly true, for he was no teacher, he was by essence a disciplinary manager. That had always been the case in the projects he had been completed: when it was judged that the subjects had been sufficiently trained, then his role would be completed. In the end, the project's aims WERE to create top-class Knightmare operators, and unfortunately he did not possess the level of expertise in the field.
The only thing left to be done was to continue supervision of the project, most especially the unique subjects he had been given.
"Alright, Subject N., we're done for the day; you are free to disengage your thought-spheres."
"Yes."
Nunnally let her mind free, relaxing it from its state of tense concentration that had lasted four hours. This action, she remembered from the man's explanations when they had initially started, would serve to disconnect her mind from the "Mind's Eye", severing the images that she had been "seeing" and plunging her once again into darkness.
She removed the device which had been placed on her head, removing the wires plastered methodically. She turned her head to where she thought the man had been, and felt his presence move closer.
"That was a better attempt than was projected, Subject N. It is pleasing to see you integrate the Mind's Eye well with a computer simulation, and at the first try at that."
Nunnally winced to be called by that name again, it had been hers ever since the voice had "transferred" her over to Dr. Duran's care. At first she had hoped that she and her brother would be finally free of the voice's conditions, but the voice had heartlessly reminded her of the continuation of that fact - a fact which Dr. Duran was in no hurry to disprove.
Nunnally had spent every day over the past months coming to Dr. Duran's laboratory - testing out the new system and giving it her best, knowing full well that the voice would be watching her. She felt helpless at this fact, although as time went on when there had been no "tests" to complete, Nunnally had slightly relaxed her rigid determination to excel. Dr. Duran, whom she had discovered to be blind such as herself, was also a gentler existence than the voice's.
However, this was not to say that Nunnally could completely put her trust in the man, as she discovered that he was just as uncompromising in his own way as the voice. Dr. Duran seemed to value his new invention more than the girl herself.
At first, Nunnally could not understand one bit of the scientist's explanation for the system - it was only through personal experience that Nunnally figured out how the system seemed to work. With minute cameras the size of a thumbnail scattered throughout an area, the user of the system would be able to form a live, three-dimensional image of that area. When the system is activated through the device placed on her head, she would be able to see that area through visual stimuli sent to her brain. It had its limits, most obviously that it required the cameras to be placed beforehand so that a definite picture could be formed - and thus the lack of cameras would result in blind spots or even a return to blindness altogether.
So far, Nunnally had heard the man explain, the images she would see would be mainly in black and white hues. But Dr. Duran had promised improvements, namely the feature of colored images being created, but for now, as the voice had coldly stated: "As you have gotten some familiarity with the system, I have decided to move you along the next stage." And that stage was -
"Computer simulations?"
She had been surprised to hear it earlier that day. Dr. Duran had informed her of the sudden shift in tests, a change from the usual everyday tinkering with the system.
"Uh...yeah, the boss demanded and I really can't refuse the boss," the man had said sheepishly. "Basically, Subject N., the images will no longer be coming from real-time images...that is to say, not from the little cameras, but from the computer itself..."
Little Nunnally just nodded her head, and when she saw what the simulation was, she was momentarily confused. She saw that she was sitting in some sort of closed area, with numerous dials and buttons around her. The computer's voice had suddenly started a tutorial on "nightmare operations", and it was only when the image of a blocky robotic figure traverse over land like a figure-skater appeared that the girl realized what she would be learning to do.
"Knightmare?"
The little girl's voice, which she had spoken in a whisper, had barely registered in Duran's ears. He had been too busy working with his own Mind's Eye component to monitor the girl's progress, as he had been ordered to do. As such, when the initial tutorials ended hours later, he was surprised to hear the results from the on-board computer - the figures were astronomically higher than anticipated!
So it was that when the girl had been dismissed early for the day, Duran fumbled for the phone, literally punching the hotline for the Knightmare Frame Research and Development Division. Dr. Aiyme would be unpleasantly surprised to hear this...
The hunched figure of the man stopped before the door leading to Subject R.'s room. The man swung the box he was carrying absentmindedly, seemingly divided over whether or not to finally push the open button.
Finally, it seemed that the man had decided - as the door slid open, it revealed a shirtless form doing push-ups on the floor.
Over time, Lelouch had endured numerous changes to his physique. A dozen more endurance sessions in hostile environments had wrought their effects all over the boy's body - from scars to burn marks. He had also developed quite an impressive figure, surprising for a boy his age. Unfortunately, the boy's stamina remained frustratingly unchanged, causing much consternation in him, for it had been the factor in most of his failures. (He could only do push-ups up to the twenty count.)
By now, the boy had settled in completely to life as a subservient. There were no thoughts of revolt or plans for freedom that dwelled in that boy's mind, instead, every day was a personal battle for his sister's well-being. Every success he applauded greedily, seeing it as a personal victory over the voice; every failure he took as a step downward in his dignity. If one were to meet the boy's eyes, as the visitor now did, one would behold a violet void locked in an lifeless loop.
Those eyes now beheld the hunching visitor with surprise and suspicion. Lelouch spent some time, poised in his push-up position, locking stares with the man.
"Chess?"
Lelouch's eyes widened for a second, before narrowing. "Who are you? Is it another test? I assumed I was done for the day." An exhausting day, Lelouch added silently.
The man did not answer as he squatted down and began opening the box he'd been carrying to set up the field. Lelouch looked annoyed, and said, "I ask you again, who are you? Am I to be having another test? Are you planning to test my resilience? If so, I can assure you - "
The man, having finished setting up the chess pieces, now sat up and regarded the boy with an expectant gaze. The boy, still in the same push up position, refused to budge, holding the other's gaze resolutely with his own. The staring contest ended with Lelouch's sigh of defeat as he too took his place opposite the man.
The man was amused, judging from his smiling, half-lidded eyes, and immediately proceeded to move his pawn forward. He watched as the boy regarded him for a few more seconds, and then clenched his feet excitedly as he saw the boy's face put on an analytic look as the latter surveyed the field.
"Very interesting."
Daily Diary
Total Estimated Performance Level: 57.74%
Total Estimated Performance Level: 97.65%
I pulled the former estimates from Subject R.'s latest attempt with a live Glasgow model.
He had average scores all-around, from maneuvers to combat. His level was equivalent, as the computer says, to that of a beginner.
(I cite the more recent studies showing the average Britannian soldier's level at approximately 60.6%.)
This after endless weeks of constant Knightmare operations training.
The latter estimate was sent to me earlier today, from Dr. Duran.
I'd barely remembered that the trial simulations would be starting today, and I almost didn't believe my eyes as I saw the figures.
I yelled at the man, demanding him to run his numbers again. He did it thrice, and it took four times on my end ,studying the data for any discrepancies, for me to finally believe the estimate. Unbelievable.
In short, Subject N., whom I previously had no high hopes for, now supposedly has the rare one-in-a-million raw talent as a Knightmare pilot.
I hurriedly scheduled more simulations in the future, ordering techs from their beds in order to integrate the Mind's Eye into the various simulations.
It looks like Portland actually scored a big hit this time.
Dr. Rouche Aiyme