“Name?”
“Elsie Wadsworth.”
“What was your position aboard the General Graham?”
“Security officer.”
“Have you ever harmed your own kind?”
“No.”
“Do you’ve family?”
“No.”
“Why did you surrender?”
“I…” Elsie swallowed. “You’re good people. You’re more worth following.”
“You sure it wasn’t because you were afraid to die?”
“Of course… not.”
“Do you’ve any information you want to share with us?”
“What do you want to know?”
“Anything,” Little White said. “The Azure Thunder’s location, newly issued policies, personnel assignments, travel plans for high-level staff… anything you think has value.”
“Well…” Elsie hesitated. “What I know, my colleagues have probably already said.”
“Do you’ve anything to add? We don’t mind hearing it again.”
Elsie thought hard, then suddenly blurted, “Dr. Tyler Lynn isn’t dead. He survived.”
“What?” Little White’s voice sharpened.
“Your assassination didn’t work,” Elsie said. “All five of his assistants died, but he lived.”
“Assassination?”
Little White couldn’t help glancing at Bit beside her. Bit looked just as confused—and slowly shook his head.
“When?” Little White asked. “How much does Edean know about that attack? Describe it in detail.”
“Okay.” Elsie took a breath. “It happened on the day you rescued Dr. Morag. The location was in a glacier field about seventy kilometers east of the Five-Color Fortress. A Punisher jumped out of nowhere and attacked Dr. Tyler Lynn’s hovercar, wiping out the escort robots. Everyone died. But Dr. Tyler Lynn only got hurt.”
“And the Punisher?”
“It escaped in the chaos. Aurora Plateau was a mess that day. The general went into a rage afterward. A lot of people were stripped of their posts.”
“Fine,” Little White said. “Thank you. You can go back to your room.”
“Sure. That’s barely news—Edean already knows it.” Elsie removed the lie detector from her head, stood, and walked out under guard, still visibly anxious. Before she left, she even snapped a salute.
Little White turned to Dancer.
Dancer glanced at the screen and nodded. “Not bad. Out of ten questions, only two were lies. She’s just a little afraid of dying. Most of the rest is credible.”
“The question is,” Bit said, “who was that Punisher?”
Little White shrugged. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”
“Could Lord Blin have arranged it?” Dancer asked.
“He probably didn’t have time for that,” Little White said. “Could it have been Wyatt? Don’t let the idiot act fool you—when it goes feral, it’ll do anything. Speaking of which… here it comes.”
A moment later, Wyatt pushed the door open. “You said you had news about the Azure Thunder?!”
“Yes,” Dancer said. “We still don’t know where the Azure Thunder is right now. But we can be certain of something else: in one month, Lord Julian’s mainframe will be moved into the Glimmer Caverns.”
“How?” Wyatt frowned. “The entrance to the Glimmer Caverns is only four meters wide. There’s no way the Azure Thunder can fit.”
“Not the ship,” Bit said. “Just the mainframe. They plan to dismantle it.”
“What?!” Wyatt went still. “Dismantle it?”
“They’ll separate Lord Julian’s mainframe from the Azure Thunder and install it beside Edean Tower,” Little White said. “Multiple crew members told the same story. It’s real. Someone even took photos.”
Dancer pushed the images to Wyatt.
It saw an enormous platform under construction. From the angle, it was still just a frame, but the shape was clear: an octagon, with a recessed slot in the center for the mainframe. Each of the eight points had a large defense tower. Nearby buildings were going up too—backup power and a substation, by the look of them.
Bit added, “The installation site is only 3.5 kilometers from Edean Tower. When Phantom Forge attacked, it drilled a huge hole through the cavern ceiling. They expanded the opening to thirty meters and installed an iris gate. Small craft can come and go freely now. The Azure Thunder can’t fit, but bringing in the mainframe is more than easy.”
Wyatt’s optics sharpened. “I remember now. That was Tyler Lynn’s idea—Morag mentioned it. I can’t believe they’re moving this fast.”
“Once the platform and the substation are done, they’ll move it,” Little White said. “We need to move faster. Because after that, we’ll never have another chance to reboot Lord Julian.”
Bit leaned forward. “I think the best time to strike is the day they transfer it. Ambush the convoy. That’s when Ogen is shut down and can’t command the army. We concentrate all forces, hit Edean, and seize the mainframe.”
“I don’t see it that way,” Wyatt said. “They’ll think of the same thing. They’ll prepare heavy defenses. They might even set a trap. Too many unknowns. I think we should act earlier.”
“I agree with Wyatt,” Little White said. “Times have changed. The highest control authority for machines isn’t actually in Ogen’s hands. It can issue orders, but major decisions still need Edean’s signature. And when they dismantle the mainframe, they might remove the receiver unit too. If that happens, we’ll be too late.”
“But before that, where do we even find the Azure Thunder?” Bit asked.
“We still have time,” Wyatt said. “After the exchange, we search. If we still can’t find it by then… we do your plan.”
“It has to be somewhere near Aurora Plateau,” Little White said. “That ship’s too big to hide forever.”
“Morag and Cole are both with us now,” Wyatt said. “So who’s running the project?”
“Tyler Lynn,” Bit said. “At this point, he’s probably Edean’s third-most important figure—after Soren and Graham. And… Wyatt, did you ever plan an assassination attempt on Tyler Lynn?”
“No,” Wyatt said flatly.
“Then that’s strange,” Little White muttered. “Do we’ve an ally…?”
He let out a long breath. “Ugh. Thinking about this makes my head spin. You two keep interrogating the rest. I’m going to go relax. I need to play with Sweet Bunny.”
And with that, Little White left.
…
***
Meanwhile, the Glimmer Caverns.
The octagonal platform had progressed far beyond the photo Wyatt had seen. The frame was basically complete, and hundreds of engineering robots worked day and night. Above, the iris gate opened and closed as freighters shuttled materials back and forth.
Not far away, on the 502nd floor of Edean Tower, Soren sat on the balcony outside his office. He sipped wine and stared at the bright construction site through binoculars, lost in thought.
His bioengineered companion, Solina, walked out and draped a blanket over his shoulders. “Back inside, my lord? It’s colder out here than it used to be.”
“That’s what happens when you open three enormous ‘skylights,’” Soren said, taking her hand and kissing it. “But with you warming my heart, I don’t feel cold at all.”
“Only your heart?” Solina purred, sliding onto his lap. She traced his cheek with a finger, smiling like a blade. “Then I must not be doing enough.”
“Ah… don’t,” Soren groaned, half thrilled and half miserable. “I can’t move right now. Give me time. In a while, I’ll show you how fierce I was when I was young.”
“Oh, I already know that,” Solina murmured. “But I don’t know what you’re like when you can’t move…”
She leaned closer—
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
“Who is it?!” Soren barked.
“It’s me,” a voice answered. “Tyler Lynn. Lord Soren—you were looking for me in the rehabilitation ward?”
“Ah—yes,” Soren said quickly. “Where did you go? I looked everywhere.”
Solina immediately helped maneuver Soren back into the office, then opened the door and slipped away with perfect timing.
Tyler Lynn entered. He was still wearing a patient gown, and his arm and leg braces were visible, but he walked almost normally.
“Ha,” Soren said, smiling. “I’m jealous. The day you were attacked, you looked worse than I did. And now you’re practically fully healed. Want a drink?”
“Thank you, but no.” Tyler Lynn’s voice stayed polite. “I just came from Barnett’s place. We must have missed each other.”
“Barnett?” Soren lifted an eyebrow. “That surprises me. You two hardly speak.”
“We ran into each other,” Tyler Lynn said with a faint smile. “I stopped by for a moment. Did you need me for something?”
“Yes,” Soren said, and his smile vanished. “Terrible news came in this morning. I assume you’ve heard: Graham was captured by those tin-can beasts.”
“I heard from Ogen,” Tyler Lynn said. “Don’t worry. It said it’ll trade Cole to get the general back.”
“That news makes me sick,” Soren said, forcing a bitter laugh. “Of Edean’s four smartest minds, two have already committed treason. Hard to believe. You and Barnett aren’t thinking of defecting too, are you?”
“You’re joking,” Tyler Lynn said. “My loyalty to Plando is absolute.”
“Good.”
“So you summoned me just for that?” Tyler Lynn asked.
“Yes,” Soren said. “Tell me—do you think Blin will agree to the exchange?”
“I think… probably,” Tyler Lynn said.
“I’m not so sure,” Soren said. “Graham is a massive bargaining chip. Cole’s value is already limited. Those tin-can bastards could demand far more—hand over Ogen, hand over Edean, or even force a surrender.”
“You wouldn’t agree to that,” Tyler Lynn said carefully. “…Right?”
“I warned him before he left,” Soren said slowly. “I said: let Ogen handle it. It can manage. But our great general wouldn’t listen. He was too obsessed with quick glory, too eager to seize credit. He insisted on leading the battle himself.”
Soren’s eyes narrowed. “Now that things have come to this, we can’t let them lead us around by the nose. Ogen’s ability rivals Phantom Forge and Julian—and you two work together seamlessly. We still have the advantage in numbers…”
“You mean…” Tyler Lynn said.
“We need to be ready to lose Graham,” Soren said.
He rolled his electric wheelchair to the liquor cabinet, poured two glasses of his most prized wine, and offered one to Tyler Lynn.
“And I want you to be ready to replace him.”