Chapter 2
The Sum of Discretion
Clovis was sweating, metaphorically at least. All his attempts at rekindling familial ties with Lelouch had been rebuffed. Politely done, but rebuffed nonetheless. When he tried suggesting they enjoy a leisurely game of chess to reacquaint themselves, Lelouch had instead countered that they attend to the matters of state first. And when Clovis made concerned inquires about Nunnally, Lelouch's expression actually turned frigid, causing the prince to back off as gracefully as he could to avoid touching what was clearly a raw subject. The only consolation granted to Clovis was Lelouch agreeing to attend the ball organized to welcome him, and even then the latter had dropped enough hints to make clear he was doing so only to help his brother avoid embarrassment after having invited so many prominent members of high society without Lelouch's input.
A part of Clovis resented his brother for presenting such a frosty attitude. Another however realized that Lelouch was doing so in order to drop hints about what level of disapproval Clovis himself faced. That was less than heartening, considering exactly whom Lelouch was representing. Arguably worse was Lelouch's insistence on Clovis' involvement in every single meeting that occurred over the past two days, meetings where the former grilled the various ministers and bureaucrats on the status of the area's integration and the outlays made towards that end. Lelouch's attention to detail was unreal, and the standard he demanded of others no less so. It had become clear during those meetings that Lelouch did not really need Clovis' presence, seeing how few of his questions the prince found himself able to answer. It felt as if Lelouch was rubbing in his brother's face Clovis' lack of similar competency. Already Clovis was almost relishing the opportunity to just be away from his brother, so after he performed the necessary introductions, he excused himself with the justification that he did not want to be a lingering shadow over Lelouch's mingling with the many socialites clamoring for his attention.
Whether it was because of his innate limitations, or because of the stress he had been under the past year or so, Clovis had grossly misread the motives behind Lelouch's actions. While the cardinal was indeed trying to highlight to Clovis how inadequately he had served as viceroy, the effort was intended to get the prince to take his responsibility more seriously, to pay the sort of attention that Lelouch himself was demonstrating, and to show the necessary leadership to actually tackle the myriad of problems facing the area instead of just complaining about them. Clovis was not by any measure an unintelligent man, but there was a definite aversion on his part to minding the minutiae of rulership. He seemed to hope that by merely giving the order, the desired end result would come about. Such a weakness could be overcome, provided one made the effort and had the right guidance. But the persons that Clovis had taken into his confidence were regrettably not ones to provide such guidance, and Lelouch was left with a choice to make about his brother.
Sipping his glass of champagne, the cardinal mulled over just what he was to do. Or rather, how he was to go about doing it, seeing as he had already arrived at a conclusion. Clovis was not fit to be viceroy. Likely never had been, whatever the emperor's expectations and hopes for his children. Granted the prince's appointment was originally motivated by the need to block an even less desirable candidate from taking the post, but the resulting mess was causing headaches all around. Lelouch took another sip. A shame his augmentations meant the alcohol was flushed from his system before it could actually affect him, though he would have needed something stiffer than this bubbly watered down drink even without them. About the only consolation right now was that the combination of Alice's glare and Sancia's icy expression was making anyone trying to chat Lelouch up uneasy enough that they did not linger overlong. Lelouch knew this was hardly the way to be making the sort of connections he would likely need in the coming weeks though, so he would need to have the two rein in their oppressive auras eventually. Just, not yet.
Of course, there were those whose self-confidence was robust enough that they were not deterred by Lelouch's two escorts. One such person was even now approaching him. For the first time tonight, Lelouch was momentarily given pause, for the person in question was one he recognized, even after all these years.
"So, it really is you, Lulu," Milly greeted with a warm, genuine smile. "Or would you prefer the Cardinal Lamperouge?"
Millicent Ashford. A girl that always managed to catch Lelouch off-guard as a child, and somehow still able to do the same all these years later. Fortunately Lelouch had also grown in the intervening years, so he at least could muster a better response than whining petulantly.
"Etiquette would require the latter, Lady Ashford. But I suppose you were never one to care much about protocol."
"As true as that may be, personal preference has little bearing on the expectations placed upon us," Milly said. "While it may be merely a part, it is a part that I've learned to play well." She gave a deep curtsey in her violet gown. "Seeing as this is a ball, may I have the honor of being your first tonight, Your Eminence?"
Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "I see you have not lost your boldness, Millicent."
The young woman flashed a playful smile. "I would not want to disappoint after our reunion, Your Eminence."
"Well in that case, why ever not," Lelouch said, handing his glass to the raven-haired girl standing by him. "If you would please, Sancia."
"Of course, Your Eminence," she accepted.
"Now then, shall we, Lady Ashford?" Lelouch said, extending a hand.
"It would be my pleasure, Cardinal Lamperouge."
Lelouch escorted Milly onto the dance floor, just in time for a relatively slow melody to begin.
"Hmm, excellent footwork, well-practiced enough to not step upon your partner's feet," Milly remarked as they swayed together. "Is that something you were taught in the Order?"
"As a cardinal, I am expected to attend a variety of social events," Lelouch responded. "Learning how to dance is merely one of the associated requisites."
"So matter-of-factly," Milly said. "Does that mean you don't enjoy it?"
"The pleasantness of present company helps make up for much," Lelouch said.
Milly chuckled. "Oh, you are going to be such a danger to all the hormone addled girls here tonight."
"And does the fair lady count herself amongst them."
The smile turned wistful for some reason. "Maybe." She leaned in closer. "It's good to see you again, Lelouch."
Lelouch fell silent for a moment. "I will admit, it is good to see you as well, Milly."
"A lot's happened, hasn't it," Milly said. "And none of it anything you can tell me about."
"That's right," Lelouch admitted frankly.
"Thought as much, considering how on edge Grandfather has been ever since you coming to Area 11 was announced," Milly said.
"Marquess Ashford is a wise man," Lelouch said.
Milly snorted. "He's also a very cunning one. If you've given him reason to be so worried, then you're deep into something really, really serious. Or should I say Eden Vital is?"
Milly had done a bit more reading up on Eden Vital, just to see if she could better understand why her grandfather was so wary of Lelouch's association with them, and what sort of man Lelouch might have become thanks to that association. The Order actually predated the founding of the modern Britannian Empire, having originated on continental Europe sometime during the Hundred Years War. For a time it was tolerated by the Roman Catholic Church as yet another Christian religious order, but a schism of some sort eventually saw the Catholic Church actively persecuting members of Eden Vital. Exactly what caused that schism had been lost to the annals of history, or at least if either Eden Vital or the Church still recalled, they were keeping it under wraps. Milly personally thought it had something to do with the Order's willingness to ordain women into positions of ecclesiastical authority, something that the Church refused to do even to this day.
Either way, the persecution ultimately drove the Order to retreat across the strait to the British Isles, wherein it played some role or another in another schism, that between the British monarchy and the Catholic Church. While Eden Vital did not outright replace Catholicism as the official state religion, it did become the dominant religious denomination within the old kingdom. When the Americas were discovered and colonies established, Eden Vital spread yet further, eventually developing into the powerful institution it was today.
All so far so good, as far as a history lesson went. But it was what Eden Vital got on to in the present day that would actually help answer Milly's many questions, or so the girl had hoped. Except what she ultimately dug up was so mundane as to be suspicious in its own right, especially considering the expenses the Order had to be accruing. Eden Vital's most publicized activities were certainly their charitable works, providing polytechnical training and mental health counseling to those in need. The Order did not oblige the recipients of its aid to give anything in return, but the gratitude that many felt saw them donate money and time back once they themselves were on solid footing. Even so, there was no way that would have brought enough money back to pay for everything Eden Vital did, not even when combined with the large donations made by various peers and wealthy plutocrats. When so much money was moved in such opaque fashion, it was only natural for suspicions to arise.
A beat of silence passed again before Lelouch responded. "Have a care, Milly, on how deeply you wish to involve yourself in such matters. Whatever your grandfather's concerns, they are almost certainly warranted."
"Maybe so," Milly said. "But then I see that snooty, cocky, kind, and loving boy has become a cardinal within Eden Vital. And I can't help but wonder how much of that kind, gentle soul is still there. The one that loved his mother, his sisters, the one that first made my own heart go aflutter."
It was becoming something of a running theme, with Lelouch taking a moment to consider how to answer. Especially with how earnest and honest Milly's words were, something that felt both so refreshing after dealing with the bureaucrats and politicians of the past few days, and yet also so perilous considering his station and duties.
"It was nice seeing you again, Milly," he thus said. "I pray that you will find happiness."
And stepped back, bowing in time with the fading music to mark the end of their dance.
"Please give my regards to your grandfather," Lelouch said more loudly so that others might hear. "I expect I will be calling upon him in time, to discuss the continued collaboration between Eden Vital and the Ashford Foundation."
"Of course, Your Eminence," Milly said, curtseying in response.
When she straightened, there was a remarkable clarity in her eyes. As Lelouch turned however, Milly's voice sounded once more.
"Lulu."
The cardinal glanced back, an eyebrow quirked. He expected Milly to understand that there was a limit to how much allowance he was prepared to extend. Enough at least to let her say her final piece.
"Is Nanna well?"
Lelouch's jaw reflexively tightened and a slight pressure momentarily passed through his chest. His gaze fixed upon Milly's own, he dipped his head ever so slightly.
"As well as can be," he stated simply, then with some finality. "Have a pleasant evening, Lady Ashford."
Milly's expression softened as she graced him with a gentle smile. "And you as well, Cardinal Lamperouge."
Taking his leave, Lelouch returned to Sancia and Alice and promptly took back the glass of champagne. He tossed it back, downing the drink in a single gulp. It was not nearly enough, especially as several other noble ladies were starting to inch towards him, Milly having served as the initial trailblazer. A glance at Sancia saw the woman nod and she headed towards a server carrying more glasses. Might as well save the time and just take the entire tray now.
Not too far away, Kallen had watched the entire encounter between Milly and Lelouch with careful attention. She only knew the Ashford girl in passing, they did both attend the same school after all, but from reputation alone Kallen was not surprised that Milly would be the first to successfully approach Lelouch. Milly's success seemed to embolden the other young ladies present and they began more or less lining up to have their turn on the dance floor with the cardinal. Their interest was understandable enough, Lelouch being quite handsome in his own right. And Eden Vital did not have an oath of celibacy, as far as Kallen could determine from the public records, so there might well be a chance, however slim, that today's dalliance might blossom into something more in the future. Indeed Kallen herself had been approached by more than one noble son, which required a round or two on the dance floor as the absolute minimum in order to maintain her cover. Now though she could feign a slight weariness, leaving her free to continue observing Lelouch and find an opportunity to make her own approach.
While the cardinal remained courteous and generally approachable, Kallen suspected he was not terribly enthused by all the attention, not with the way he was downing all that champagne. Indeed just how he was managing to do so while remaining so steady on his feet, and with his footwork during the dances, was a curious mystery. Lelouch was showing no signs of slowing down either, for both his social obligations and his indulgence. Even so, better not to risk the cardinal actually becoming too inebriated to hold sober conversation. When one of Lelouch's companions left to fetch more champagne, and the cardinal himself seemed to be in a short pause between his tours of the dance floor, Kallen took her chance. Grabbing a second glass from a passing waiter, she approached.
"It seems your throat remains still parched, Your Eminence," she said, offering a glass.
There was no quiver in Lelouch's hand as he accepted the glass, nor any slur in his response.
"My thanks, Lady?"
"Stadtfeld," Kallen introduced herself with a half-curtsey. "Kallen Stadtfeld."
"Ah, you would be Viscount Stadtfeld's daughter."
"You are very well informed, Your Eminence."
"An obligatory trait in my line of work," Lelouch said, taking a sip from his new glass.
"As well as being able to hold your alcohol?" Kallen jested.
"This?" Lelouch tilted his glass. "This barely warrants consideration. And I suppose I've built up something of a tolerance thanks to the wine used in various ceremonies."
A chuckle sounded from Kallen. "Of which I'm sure were of greater depth than what is on offer this evening."
"Would you be referring to the refreshments, or the event itself, Lady Stadtfeld?"
"I will leave that to your imagination, Your Eminence," Kallen said with a teasing smile.
Lelouch chuckled. "Well, I am likely sufficiently rested from my prior engagement. Would you care to allow me to repay you for the courtesy, Lady Stadtfeld?"
Kallen tapped her chin. "Are you certain, Your Eminence? You seemed decently fatigued, if not in body than perhaps a bit in spirit. And I would not mind a more relaxed reprieve from the ambience of this evening."
Lelouch withdrew the glass he was about to hand to Alice, even though his expression did not noticeably shift. He really was very hard to read, which would make Kallen's job much harder.
"It seems you are attending this evening with a slightly different goal, Lady Stadtfeld," Lelouch said. "And you possess a degree of discretion as well. A rare enough combination this evening that I am at least mildly intrigued."
"I shall endeavor not to disappoint," Kallen said with a careful smile. She swirled her champagne and took a sip. "Your arrival has caused quite the stir, Your Eminence. As much as there are people unsettled by it, others have invested great hopes that you will bring measurable change for the better."
"And you would like to know which category you yourself should fall into?" Lelouch said.
"I have hopes," Kallen said. "But that is the thing about hope, isn't it. You never know whether they are warranted until it's too late."
"That you speak of hope at all argues well for your person," Lelouch gave a mild compliment. "Hope is after all often the preserve of those that can still imagine a future."
"A future? Yes, I suppose so. But arguably the future I imagine is rather limited in scope as compared to those with greater duties. Mine is to my house and home, whereas yours I presume is more expansive."
"There is nothing wrong with being concerned about house and home," Lelouch said. "It is where we were born and nurtured, after all, and should always be a retreat available to us."
Kallen's head dipped slightly. "Tell me then, Your Eminence. What say you to the state of my home then?"
The way Lelouch now regarded Kallen, the cardinal was clearly reassessing the young woman's aptitude and disposition. Unlike all the others that had approached him, save for Milly of course, Kallen was not interested in drawing his eye with her beauty or charm. She was after information, information that touched upon Lelouch's very reason for having been dispatched to Area 11. The young woman was bold, if nothing else. And what surprised Lelouch the most was he could not quite discern whether she was asking for the sake of her house, or herself. Curious, that.
"Are you asking me to presuppose the conclusion my inspection is supposed to help me arrive at?" Lelouch reposted.
Kallen's eyes averted momentarily as the girl considered the response. When she looked back at Lelouch, she gave a slight shrug.
"I suppose that was not the most courteous question I could have asked. Apologies for any offence, Your Eminence."
"Freely given, freely accepted," Lelouch said and took another sip of his wine. "I will admit, Lady Stadtfeld, that this has arguably been more stimulating an encounter than much of the past evening. For that, you have my thanks."
Kallen regarded Lelouch, then gave a very slight smile. "I will take that as a compliment, Your Eminence. Hopefully the rest of your evening provides a few more memorable encounters than more spinning on the dance floor."
Bending her knee in a slight curtsey, which Lelouch returned with a dip of his own form, Kallen took her leave. Even turned away, she kept her face flatly neutral. The cardinal was a wily one, that much Kallen had concluded. He was also of considerably firmer character than his older brother, and clearly much, much smarter. That might have been reassuring, if she had been able to discern what Lelouch's intentions were. He had rebuffed her however, not unreasonably considering why he was here and now little the two knew each other. Under other circumstances, Kallen might have had the time to further test Lelouch and see if his Eden Vital credentials meant the cardinal would actually do the right thing. Now though, with the Britannian military ramping up activity at the chemical weapons factory, they could not wait. Regrettable, but getting Lelouch's assistance was always a long shot. Time for her to fall back on a tried and true approach. Britannians were not the only ones that knew how to swing a big stick, after all.
"Your Eminence," the fair-haired young woman greeted Lelouch as he entered his room. "I have completed my sweep for bugs and other monitoring devices and have disabled all that I was able to locate."
Lelouch nodded. "Well done, Lucretia. We'll have to see how long it takes Clovis to try to get new ones installed, but this should permit us a measure of privacy until then."
Lucretia dipped her head in acknowledgment of the praise and stepped aside from Lelouch's path.
"Oh, hey Boss," the tanned skinned girl greeted as she shifted from lazily lounging on the sofa to standing straight at attention.
"I see you have been enjoying your evening, Dalque," Lelouch drawled.
"Ehehe," the girl gave a sheepish laugh.
Aside from a resigned sigh Lelouch made no further remark on Dalque's behavior, acclimated as he was to it. Besides, when actually in the field the girl carried out her duty with sufficient seriousness.
"How progresses the overall investigation into my brother's activities?" Lelouch asked as he himself plopped down in a chair.
"His Highness has been mostly forthright with producing the requested documentation, though the sheer volume means it is taking time to go through it all, even with them being provided in parsable electronic form."
"Hmm, at least he's not trying to play games by dumping documents on us in paper form," Lelouch said as he put on a set of glasses. Text began scrolling down the display projected on the lens. A frown appeared. "Why would the military be purchasing raw chemical precursors?"
"That was initially unclear, but sufficiently suspicious that I flagged it for further review," Sancia said as she too took a seat. "There is also the manner in which there was clear manipulation of the records to try to obfuscate the purchases."
"Sloppy," Lelouch remarked as he reviewed the telltales that helped reveal the existence of said manipulation. "Clearly whoever did this has never had to withstand scrutiny of a proper auditor." The frown deepened. "These reagents are for neutralizing acids. Whatever the military is producing must be also producing that as a byproduct. That is, worrisome."
"Does that not narrow down the range of possible final products?" Lucretia asked as she offered Lelouch a cup of tea.
"It does, though considering the type of products that would produce such byproducts I cannot say this narrowing brings me any joy," Lelouch said as he accepted and took a sip. "Hmm, an excellent blend as always, Lucretia."
The girl dipped her head again before proceeding to offer Sancia and Alice cups as well.
"Have we been able to trace where the reagents have been delivered to?" Lelouch asked.
"Somewhere in the Shinjuku ghettos," Sancia answered after nodding her own thanks. "The delivery addresses are to several different locations, so they at least went to that level of obfuscation, but the concentration suggests that the manufactory site itself is in the same area. It also likely helps that the area is a light industrial zone."
"Hmm," Lelouch murmured again, leaning back into the chair as he looked over the projected map and the highlighted districts.
A shadow cast over him, and when Lelouch glanced over he saw it was Anya standing over him, as much as her petite frame allowed.
"What are you thinking?" she asked bluntly.
Lelouch chuckled. "I'm thinking, that someone in the Britannian military may be dabbling in the production of chemical weapons. And I'm thinking about just how much involvement in the production my dear brother has."
Sancia raised an eyebrow. "You believe the Prince Clovis to have ordered this, Your Eminence?"
The cardinal hummed again. "I doubt this scheme was of Clovis' conception, he does not have the imagination necessary for it. In all likelihood it was one of his military advisors that concocted it. Nonetheless, Clovis is certainly complicit, for he would have to have consented to it to allow for the necessary funds to be allocated and spent."
"So what will you do?" Anya asked.
For someone that served solely as a security operative in Lelouch's entourage, Anya's forthright questioning might have seemed out of place. She after all did not even have an alternate role as one of his personal assistants like Sancia or Lucretia. Then again, all of Lelouch's immediate subordinates had a tendency to speak their mind when they felt it necessary. It was one reason why he valued their company, after all. The other was the fact that they really were very good at their officially assigned roles, from keeping him alive to keeping his schedule efficiently managed.
"Production of chemical weapons is proscribed under the Chemical Weapons Convention," Lelouch stated, "of which Britannia is a signatory. Therefore any persons involved in their production within Britannia is in violation of Britannian law and must face the appropriate consequences, regardless of their rank or station."
Lucretia's expression flickered for a moment. "Under the imperial military code, production or usage of chemical weapons constitutes a gross violation of the laws of war as Britannia adheres to and is equated with sedition against the state. The punishment for complicity in such a crime is death if proven guilty. And as viceroy of Area 11, the Prince Clovis' conduct is held against the standards of military code, not just civil law."
This time no one made to ask what Lelouch was thinking or what he intended. The women simply stared at him, waiting for the cardinal to speak of his own volition.
"Clovis has made a mistake," Lelouch finally did so after a long silence. "A very grave mistake. Were it to become publicly known the magnitude of the crime he has committed, his status would provide no protection. Indeed, His Majesty would be obliged to enforce in fullness the letter and intent of the law so that confidence in them, in him, is upheld."
There was a very telling qualifier in Lelouch's pronouncement.
"Were it to become publicly known," Sancia repeated it.
"There is no doubt as to Clovis' unfitness as viceroy," Lelouch stated bluntly. "His Majesty had already arrived at that conclusion before dispatching me, but left it to my discretion whether that conclusion was warranted. My directive was to evaluate if Clovis' position as viceroy can be salvaged if he were lent the right guidance and offer it if so. If on the other hand His Majesty's concerns proved justified, I was to orchestrate a graceful withdrawal for my brother, so that he may return to the homelands with some measure of dignity. Considering his conduct these past two days, along with this chemical weapons business, the former is now clearly impossible, while the latter has been made extremely difficult. Possible, but difficult, so long as this chemical weapons issue is dealt with discretely with a minimum of fallout."
A palpable tension eased amongst the others, as if they were all releasing a collectively held breath. While Lelouch was arguably granting Clovis more allowance than he should considering the severity of the crime, the cardinal was clearly also not prepared to give his brother a complete pass.
"And what if it does get out?" Anya asked.
The tension returned as the girl asked the one question that arguably tact would have warranted be put more delicately. Lelouch however did not look perturbed in the least.
"Then my hand is forced, and Clovis will need to be made to answer publicly for his crimes," he said with a shrug before taking another sip of tea.
Easily said that, but there were plenty of reasons to not wish for such an outcome, not least the fact that one way for the chemical weapons to become known was for their actual usage. If that happened, the death toll could soar, at which point it was not a question of whether anything could be covered up, but how many additional heads needed to roll. Difficult did not begin to describe what Clovis' scheming had turned the situation into.
"Have you narrowed the sites down sufficiently to make it practical to conduct manual searches?" Lelouch asked, proceeding with the matter without missing a beat.
"Not as yet," Sancia said, "but there is one additional point of interest relating to the chemical weapons production. If you would check the list of suspected complicit officers."
It took a moment or so for Lelouch to navigate the augmented reality interface to do so. When he read through the names, an eyebrow quirked upwards.
"Had Clovis been capable of more guile, I would have thought this entire plot of his was a way to sweep aside the intransigent officers sabotaging integration efforts," he said. "As it is, it looks like he's the one being played by them."
The list of names that Sancia had compiled certainly made for interesting reading, seeing as it included a who's who of military officers whom openly identified as Purists. Technically officers on active duty were not supposed to actively promote political agendas, but discipline within the corps was obviously a bit too lax amongst the occupational forces. It probably did not help that Major-General Bartley Asprius, the highest-ranking officer stationed in Japan, was an unabashed Purist himself, so the only time an officer got in trouble for political activities was when those activities were in opposition to Bartley's own. That left few officers that possessed the sort of moral courage necessary to stand up to misuse and abuse of authority in Area 11.
"Interesting," Lelouch said. "Not all of the high-ranking Purists seem involved with this plot."
"That or we have simply not been able to discover the connection yet," Sancia said.
"Possibly, but considering the ease with which you were able to ferret out the other conspirators, the lack of similar such telltales would suggest the ones not on this list are genuinely uninvolved." Lelouch pursed his lips. "That could prove useful."
"Because Colonel Gottwald is amongst those absent?" Sancia said. "He clearly desires some sort of acknowledgment from you, likely on account of his past service to the prioress."
Whereas the general public knew Lelouch's mother first as the Knight of Six and then as the Empress Marianne, those within Eden Vital continued to refer to her by the last station she held, that of a prioress in direct service to the grandmaster herself.
"We shall have to test the colonel, to see the true depths of his character and conviction," Lelouch said as he took off the glasses and put them away. "Schedule a visit to the ghettos, two days hence. We will publicly call it a tour to examine firsthand the circumstances of the Empire's latest subjects. Make sure to include stops at the appropriate Order sponsored centers so it looks legitimate."
"Yes, Your Eminence," Sancia said as she began writing on her tablet.
"Anya, head down to the base tomorrow and make sure all of the knightmares will be ready for deployment," Lelouch continued. "I'll want you and Dalque prepositioned and on standby with them if things go awry."
"Understood," Anya said with a nod.
"Alice and Sancia will accompany me directly. Lucretia, you and your knightmare will be stationed with the rapid response force that the military will insist be on standby during my visit. We will also engender to have Colonel Gottwald be placed in command of that force."
"Roger," Alice acknowledged.
"By your will," came Lucretia's response.
Lelouch set aside his drained teacup and stretched. "Well, it has been a rather long day, and the next few promise to be equally tiring. I think I will turn in for tonight."
"Of course, Your Eminence," Sancia said as Lucretia cleared the tea set. "Have a good night."
"And all of you as well."
"So those are the Eden Vital knightmares," the bespectacled man in a white overcoat said in an almost giddy tone. "About time they allowed us a peek at their hardware."
The fair woman with a dark, bluish head of hair gave a reproving look to her superior. "Please restrain yourself, Colonel. The Order has been very explicit about what services they require from Camelot. If we attempt to overstep, you know there will be consequences."
"Details, details," the man said flippantly. "Besides, if they want our help, we should get at least something worthwhile in return."
"The Britannian military is being compensated as per market rates for the manpower and resources requested," a voice sounded from behind the two officers. When they turned about, they found themselves facing a petite girl with pink hair in the robes of Eden Vital. "Those are the terms agreed upon between the Order and His Majesty's government. As the specific military subunit that the appropriations has been delegated to, the Camelot Institute is expected to abide by the entirety of the terms and not attempt to deviate from them."
"And who would you be?" the man asked.
The girl regarded him with an oddly blank expression. "I am Sister Anya Alstreim of the Order Militant of Eden Vital. You would be Colonel Lloyd Asplund." And looked over at the woman standing beside Lloyd. "And you would be Captain Cécile Croomy."
"Order Militant, you say," Lloyd said with a curious smirk. "So the rumors are true then, Eden Vital does have its own little private army."
Cécile cleared her throat before nodding to Anya. "A pleasure to meet you, Sister Anya. We came to discuss the requisition submitted by your Order."
Anya tilted her head. "Is there a problem with the provided documentation?"
"Umm, no," Cécile said. "It's just, some of the requested items are rather specialized, and Camelot's own stocks are not that high. Providing them in the requested quantities may have a direct impact on our own development schedules."
The girl seemed to consider it for a moment before nodding. "And hence the colonel's belief that he might be able to wring further concessions from the Order in exchange for access to Camelot's inventory."
"I am standing right here, you know," Lloyd said, indicating he possessed enough self-awareness to know when he was receiving a backhanded insult.
"Along with your minder, yes," Anya said straight to his face.
Cécile suppressed a smirk. Despite her age Anya was obviously not one to take any crap. That or she had no use for tact, those two were not mutually exclusive. Anya looked over at said minder.
"The control system for the GX-01 is classified beyond your clearance levels. You may take a look at its armaments and mechanical joint systems, but that is all."
Lloyd notably deflated. "But the control system is arguably the defining feature of the GX-01. The mechanical systems are basically just copies of Camelot's own design."
Anya raised an eyebrow. "If you think Camelot's designs were adequate for Eden Vital's needs, Colonel, you have things very much backwards."
Cécile winced slightly as Lloyd's face started mirroring Anya's.
"Are you doubting the originality of Camelot's work?" Lloyd said sniffly. And of his own, was the unspoken implication.
"Perish the thought," Anya responded. "I simply point out that we are hardly reliant on progress from Camelot to meet our own requirements."
"Oh ho, so you think Eden Vital has made genuine improvements upon our designs?" Lloyd sad.
"That I leave you to find out," Anya said. "If it so interests you."
In just a few short exchanges Cécile had gone from trying to suppress a wince to doing the same for a smile. The Eden Vital sister had dangled a juicy bait in front of Lloyd to make her initial offer appear all the more enticing, and the colonel was falling for it even though he should well know that was exactly Anya's aim considering how blatant the girl was being. But having been so goaded, Cécile knew from long experience that her superior would not back down from the implicit challenge.
"I suppose such a claim warrants further investigation," Lloyd said as he adjusted his glasses. "I would however hate to be so disappointed such that I need find succor in progressing my own works, with the attendant demand on manpower and resources."
Of course Lloyd was not going to just let himself be caught hook, line, and sinker. The colonel had not risen to his present rank without at least a modicum of mercantile sense, even if his primary obsession remained his research.
"Then we are in agreement," Anya said. "I will expect prompt delivery of the requisitioned supplies and manpower within the hour."
And turned about to take her leave. Once some distance away, she whispered, seemingly to no one.
"Was that acceptable, Your Grace?"
The girl's eyes glowed with a red outline for a brief moment before they returned to their normal hue, as if in unspoken answer to her question.
As Cécile watched her go, she could not help but be impressed by the aura projected by the girl. Young as she was, this Sister Anya seemed well used to dealing with adults of some authority. Then again she was part of the Cardinal Lamperouge's entourage, so Anya likely had ample opportunity to rub shoulders with such persons.
"Hmm, a shame that was the most we could win as concessions," Lloyd said, stirring Cécile from her own thoughts. "I really would have liked to get a peek at their control systems."
Cécile gave a resigned sigh. "We should take what we can get and be thankful for it, sir. Eden Vital was under no obligation to have granted us access to anything, and the priority attached to their requisitions was such that we would be hard pressed to deny them without eliciting attention from higher up."
"If only I could submit requisition orders of that priority level, we might be making faster progress on the Lancelot," Lloyd said petulantly.
That saw a reaction a bit stronger than mere resignation from Cécile.
"Faster progress may be had if we placed greater emphasis on the safety of the design, sir," she said tartly. "After all, few pilots would want to volunteer for a machine that risks rendering them paralyzed."
"Hmm? But that is why we decided to approach Eden Vital in the first place, no?" Lloyd said, completely missing the woman's point, though whether it was willful or unintentional it was hard to tell in this case. "The components requested by Eden Vital clearly indicates they are also employing a neuro-link interface for their knightmares. The fact that they have five clearly intended for field deployment suggests that at least on that front they have made considerably greater progress than us. Likely because they have had no lack of volunteers."
Of course whatever common sense Lloyd did possess extended only so far as to not interfere with his innate sense of curiosity. The man was utterly incapable of not pursuing a problem posed to him, assuming he found it sufficiently stimulating, regardless of the cost entailed in solving it, in both wealth and blood. Cécile had learned this very quickly about Lloyd when she first met him during her graduate studies. The earl was no doubt a brilliant man, and in time the fruits of his labor would likely help improve the world, but that lack of consideration had seen Cécile genuinely considering parting ways on numerous occasions. These days, she stuck with him if only to try and limit the damage Lloyd's incessant pursuit of scientific advancement could cause.
"Well, we might as well get started," Lloyd said. "Hrmm. Though…"
Cécile regarded her superior warily. "What?"
The earl did not let her brusqueness faze him. "If the normal ranks of knights are proving too reticent about assisting in Camelot's work, perhaps we should expand our search. Surely there are Elevens in the service that possess the necessary qualities and would be tempted with sufficient renumeration that they would accept the accompanying risks."
Cécile bit back the urge to openly yell at Lloyd, at least out here in the open. The man really was incorrigible, considering he was talking about exploiting the fact that those Honorary Britannians serving in the armed forces were still so ill-treated as to be little more than cannon fodder. Indeed, Lloyd was arguably doing the same. The fact that he would have considered a pureblooded Britannian to be of equal dispensability was hardly consolatory either.
"Before considering from where to draw upon new volunteers, might I suggest we actually fix the problems that rendered the previous ones invalids?" Cécile said icily.
"To do so we require much more data," Lloyd said nonchalantly. "It is after all difficult to pinpoint the exact problem with the existing sample size. Access to Eden Vital's designs might have helped compensate, but seeing as they have denied us a look, we must fall back upon the available options."
Cécile took a deep breath and counted mentally. It took well past ten before she was able to recompose herself.
"I will consider how best to find such candidates, sir," she finally said. "But the screening and sign-off for actual hookup to the neuro-link interface will be on my authority, Colonel."
"Fine, fine," Lloyd said with a carefree wave of his hand. "If you so insist."
"I do, very much so."
While Cécile doubted she could eliminate all of the risks to the devicer candidates, she could at least make sure those clearly unfit, physiologically or mentally, would be weeded out instead of consumed to merely provide additional data points. Lloyd would have had no compunction against paying such gruesome costs, but the earl was at least cognizant enough about his emotional limitations that he was willing to delegate out to Cécile when she absolutely insisted. It helped that she also generally got the results he wanted, even if it took a bit longer. Another of the earl's few good points that made working with him tolerable, he could be patient.
Looking at the Eden Vital knightmares, a thought suddenly struck Cécile. If the Order really did have a version of the neuro-link actively field deployed, that implied they had confidence that it was not likely to cripple their pilots. That was a given, since Eden Vital's apparent success in overcoming the challenges Camelot was presently grappling with was exactly why they wanted a peek at the hardware in the first place. But what price did the Order pay to achieve such progress so much more quickly than Camelot? Cécile shuddered. And why did a supposedly religious denomination have need of neuro-link controlled knightmares in the first place? Those questions frightened her, but what was worse were the possible answers that arose unbidden in her imagination.
End of Chapter 2
I will not be maintaining this sort of update pace. I've been on sick leave for a bit and hence have had some idle time as my recovery reached the point where I'm not constantly exhausted. Once I'm back at work proper, I fully expect the time between updates to stretch out, as there is a lot of work waiting for me.
Lelouch went through more than one bottle of champagne over the course of the ball. That was one of the few highlights, as far as he was concerned.
I actually had to very deliberately not use the word gas when referring to Sarin, and I'm still not sure I didn't let it slip here and there, since it's a liquid at room temperature. Aerosolizing it is indeed one dispersal method, but normally it's stored in its liquid form or as two binary precursors that rapidly combine to form the toxin at deployment time.
My author notes generally don't get that lengthy, the entire bulk of the previous one was basically just a response to a PM that I decided to make public because it was not going to fit in the character limit of the site's messaging system. The only other time I recall having anything nearly that long was when I did basically a short essay explaining some of the fundamental nuances of international law. Otherwise generally I aim for an average of 7000 words per chapter as a rough guideline for how many scenes I should have in each chapter. That usually ends up being 3-5 scenes per chapter, depending on the complexity of each one. Author notes end up as long as whatever it takes to answer questions or respond to comments.
The last scene with Kallen and company was the previous chapter written and arguably was a bit rushed. I could have smoothed it out if I had given it a bit more time to bake, but I just wanted that chapter out of my head and done with. Generally though the fact that Lelouch Lamperouge is the same person as Lelouch vi Britannia is public knowledge and has been since the announcement of his appointment as a cardinal. That's not the same as widely publicized however, and Lelouch was able to lie low for a good chunk of the two months between his appointment and his dispatch to Area 11. Once the emperor announced that he was sending Lelouch, the news agencies and tabloids went ballistic trying to figure out everything they could, and there was no particular secret or effort made to obfuscate the fact that this Lelouch is indeed the former Prince Lelouch. Most of the information Kallen's passing onto the others is information she's gleaned from the news, as well as bits of gossip from her classmates at Ashford.
One thing that probably wasn't entirely clear was the sequencing of the announcement of an envoy being dispatched to Area 11 and the different announcement of whom that envoy was. The announcement of the dispatch came first, then Schneizel gave Clovis a heads up as to whom the envoy was, and then that information was publicly released. So when the call between the two happened, Clovis initially only knew that there was an envoy, not whom the envoy was, hence his considerable surprise.
I have other plans for Mao. That's about all I'll say for now. Okay, I'll say one more thing. Lelouch is going to have very, very personal reasons for wanting them dead by the end of the arc I'm using Mao for. Ahem.
As the chapter has more clearly indicated, Eden Vital does not enforce celibacy for its ordained clergy or lay members. Indeed Marianne herself was an ordained member and she married Charles and had children. She took a leave of absence because she could not really perform both her duties as imperial consort and as prioress, but as mentioned in the prologue, there was always the expectation that she would return, likely after Lelouch and Nunnally had grown up. To say that C.C. was pissed about losing Marianne to V.V.'s idiocy would be a mild understatement, even setting aside her personal affection for the woman.
A harem. Hmm. So, Lelouch's entourage are obviously not lovers of his, their interactions with him are basically that of very loyal retainers and in some ways surrogate sisters. There will certainly be romantic subplots in the story and I obviously have intended pairings and the like, but readers of Calculus may recall from one of my author notes there that one of my original pairing plans didn't quite go the direction I expected, which necessitated a shifting of gears. That could also happen here. So if a harem situation were to occur, it wouldn't be because I was explicitly aiming for it, it would be because I ended up writing myself into a corner in such a way that a polyamorous relationship actually made sense, as odd as that may sound. There is definitely going to be one major pairing in this work. And let's just say I didn't choose the specific characters in this story's character list on a lark, as they represent characters that I intend to play major, long lasting roles in the story, amongst other things.