Though our last meeting with the Agency looked like a victory, the only thing we truly gained was a deferral of our problems. I had shared maps we didn't possess and presented reports we hadn't made, supposedly compiled by teams that didn't exist. But do you know what the worst part was? Those damned fossils. We had submitted fake visuals and documents claiming to possess five fossils. What did I mean by fake visuals? Photographs of the fossil research computers taken from above, showing the indication that they were fully loaded. You might also be wondering why these weren't scrutinized in detail. The truth is, the Agency simply doesn't believe anyone would have the audacity to execute such an enormous lie. If our lie were to be exposed—if genuine reports for those fossils didn't reach the Republic within a year—we could be prosecuted for Treason against the Republic. In these times where immortality exists, being eternally branded a traitor was perhaps the most frightening thing after hell.
"What we're going to do is simple," Ilya said, touching the screen lying before her with her hands: "First off, if we use the facility's own budget for this endeavor, it will attract too much attention. Currently, 1.2 million SWD has been accumulated by Velsil through stock market investments. The commission we received from the heirs, meanwhile, is a figure around 3 million SWD."
"Only 3 million out of 48 million SWD? Despicable scum!" I waited on the other side of the table, clenching my fists. Velsil and Goma preferred to sit in the chairs behind us rather than at the table. Alora, meanwhile, was listening to the discussion, legs crossed and leaning back in her chair as if she were dozing.
"If we want to find 5 fossils within five years, and simultaneously continue gathering resources, we need to allocate a separate budget for a fossil-finding team. We must set aside a total of 4.2 million SWD to establish this team."
"4.2 Million?" I yelled, springing up from my chair. "I mean, seriously, are you out of your mind with that kind of spending?"
"It's barely enough," Ilya said, adjusting her glasses. "...we are currently trying to find fossils on a geologically unstable planet. And these fossils need to be useful ones to justify an analysis that takes a year. Even if the luck factor is with us, one year is a short time! Therefore, our team must be genuinely large and high-quality."
"And where are we going to find the team?" I asked. "If we ask the Agency, our bluff will be exposed."
"Actually, I have an idea, but I don't know how to phrase it." She sighed and paused for a moment. "I don't think we have any choice but to acquire it from the Raiders."
The entire team was instantly focused. Even Alora had lowered her legs and was staring wide-eyed at Ilya. Goma didn't quite understand what was happening, but Ilya's suggestion caused a small giggle in me.
"That's rich, Ilya. Truly hilarious," I said, and continued to giggle. Seeing me chuckle, the team also started giggling, and this small chuckle quickly turned into laughter.
"Oh, Ilya," Alora said. "You're so amusing."
"You're wonderful, big sister Ilya," Goma said. "Your joke was hilarious."
Velsil was content with just laughing when Ilya firmly slammed both hands on the table. She hit the table so hard that the holographic table's light flickered. "Stop being ridiculous!" she said in a truly angry tone. "I'm serious about this!"
"You stop being ridiculous!" Alora shot back. "You're going to trade with those human scraps?"
"I think you're missing the actual point," I said, leaning forward in my chair. "You're going to make a 4.2 million SWD purchase from the Raiders, huh? That's a sum those freaks have never seen. No matter which Raider community you visit, they can't sell you anything else worth 4.2 million SWD. Even if they could, that item couldn't be a robot! I haven't heard a single story about a Raider possessing a high-level robot!"
"Do you have a better idea?"
"We'd have an easier time buying one from a damn CLAUDIS colony! At least if they scam us, we'll end up with something that vaguely resembles a robot!"
"It might be a colony not under the Republic's control, but ever since the Raiden administration fell, most black market trade there is run by Supreme World diplomats. Robots sold to an off-world planet would definitely attract attention!"
"Especially because you're a Weisshafen, you can't easily shop from any Republic Network colony, Aldoux," Alora said, supporting Ilya.
"Can't we buy one from the internet?" Velsil asked as soon as he raised his hand, but Alora shouted:
"The Republic owns the internet too, you idiot!" Alora exclaimed.
I leaned back in my chair and thought for a while. Ilya was looking into my eyes from beneath her glasses. I tapped my fingers on the table, keeping a rhythm.
"I need to think." I said, because I genuinely needed to think. "Kindly grant me the space to do so."
"There was nothing to think about, really," Ilya said, pocketing her hologram cubes and quickly leaving the room. Goma left the room with two or three stretches, while Velsil also departed with rapid steps.
"Then, excuse me as well..." Alora said, yawning and pushing her chair back. "...I wish you good thoughts."
"No, Alora. You're staying."
"Me?" she said, pointing to herself in surprise.
"Yes, you."
Alora pulled her chair back and sat down. She placed her staff on the table. We were both on one side of the square holographic table.
"Did something happen?"
"No. Why would anything happen? There's nothing particularly noteworthy. I'm just asking out of curiosity. I'm curious what it was like to live with the capsule of a former Weapon Security Agency officer."
"It was wonderful," Alora said.
"Oh, wonderful. So why, then, did you keep the existence of this 'wonderful' damned capsule a secret from us?"
"Hey! You can't just make assumptions without knowing anything!"
"Then tell me everything! In every detail!" Alora was about to start speaking when I stopped her once more. "In painstaking detail." I stressed again.
Alora rolled her eyes. I knew she thought I was a perverted, useless man with a slow mind. That's why she didn't want to tell me, but... she also knew she had to share such crucial information.
"Do you remember why I was kicked out of this facility?"
"I was slightly intoxicated, if I recall."
She took a deep breath. "I have to admit my fault too, Aldo. I was putting too much pressure on you because your life was filled with nothing but drunken lust. Trying to fix you was my mistake. I pressured you too much and earned your hatred."
"Why are you telling me this now?"
"Because I don't want that man's life to be changed either, Aldo. If that man is lying in that capsule, there must be a reason. If I am going to interfere with other people's lives, the offer should come from them. So... after what I tell you, there is only one thing I ask from you: Don't disturb that man in his peaceful sleep."
"What if he's waiting for someone to wake him up?"
"I don't know. I genuinely don't know. Hundreds, even thousands of scenarios have gone through my mind since I started living near that man. The same mind considered he might be a criminal, and also that he might be a fallen hero. Perhaps this man was a sign sent to me by God."
"God doesn't exist, Alora!"
"Go f*** yourself!" she shouted angrily, showing me her middle finger. "Where was I? Yes... Actually, when I tell you this, I might need to start from the very beginning. After arguing with you, I stayed in an excavation area, but... the robots seemed quite bothered by my presence. They were bothered by the space I occupied while sleeping, the vapor that came out of my mouth when I breathed, and so many other things. Even my snoring while asleep...
Not only that, Goma and Velsil were constantly sneaking food to me. If I was in exile, I couldn't accept such a luxury. Such an exile should not be a burden on the innocent. This exile had to be an enlightenment for me. They invited me back sometimes, but I was determined not to return just to avoid seeing your grim face."
"Care to get to the point already?"
She glanced at me, her face flushed. She took a breath and calmed down. Then she continued. "Then, to take the burden of my exile onto my own shoulders, I threw myself into the wilderness. One thing I knew was that this planet's predators didn't nest in high places. So I tried to climb to the highest places I could, until one day I noticed no birds were flying over the top of one hill. It was as if the place at the edge of that hill, whatever it was, was guiding me there, a sign shown by God. So I climbed the hill."
"Well, thank the cosmos, we've finally reached the capsule!"
"If you interrupt me one more time, I won't tell you! Then you can do whatever the hell you want!"
"No... Please continue, I'm listening."
"It was hard for me to realize that what I found on the hill was a capsule. I wandered around it, set up a small bed, and many other things to keep warm... But finally, one night, I heard a sound from the capsule."
"What kind of sound?"
"In the middle of the night, I heard a tapping sound inside the capsule. Of course, I didn't know it was a capsule at the time. Since I thought the thing was a tomb, I had quite a chill inside, so I was sleeping in a swing hanging between the high branches of a tree. I was so startled by the sound that I almost screamed and left the place, until... the sound turned into talking."
"What was it saying?"
"He was talking about his son."
"His son?"
"Yes. He was talking about sacrificing everything to protect him. It was as if he was talking to his wife in a dream. As I ran my hand over it, I touched a spot on the glass, and that's when I saw the man's face for the first time. He was talking about how peaceful he was while talking to his wife, and how he never wanted to leave this life."
"The idiot is only happy because he's hallucinating! It has nothing to do with him lying there!"
"But doesn't this man deserve such happiness, even if it's a lie?"
"A man who has been lying there for 400 years? His wife is probably dead. Maybe his son is looking for him. And did this damned man say anything about his job?"
"No."
"Then why hasn't this man's energy run out? Why can the capsule still keep him asleep? Why is this man inside a capsule? Or why is this man's capsule keeping other animals away?"
"How am I supposed to know all this?"
"Goddamn it! You're proving completely useless, Alora."
"If!" Alora said, standing up angrily: "If I can't help, don't keep me here any longer…" She was about to exit the door when she turned and said this.
"I know you don't believe in anything I consider sacred, Aldo. But I want to tell you this. No saint finds rest until they die, Aldo. When you wake him up, you will also wake up his unfinished atonement. Know this."
As Alora walked out the door, I muttered to myself: "Saint, my ass! He's just some random bastard who managed to oversleep."