She waited in the darkness, talking to herself.
It was cold here, and although her strengthened physique made her abandon the discomfort caused by the drop in temperature, she could still feel it.
She didn't take off her sealing suit, one of the garment's extremely limited virtues being warmth.
Before leaving her post, she confirmed that her status on the member duty list was "sick."
This part of the plan was accomplished with ease.
Considering the environment on the middle deck she was currently in, it was not complicated to sneak into this place. She had waited until all the personnel on duty dispersed before letting a reconnaissance robot crawl out of her clothes and hack into the main communication system.
This way, it becomes much easier to stay on top of things.
During the hour-long trip, she kept clues on the two main missions, but it has to be said that Astral Knight was very well-covered and had little to follow.
What surprised her even more was that the White Temple actually appeared on the battlefield. She had clearly confirmed that they had left the airport.
Unless, they have hooked up with the Astral Knight beforehand.
As circumstances change, so must her plans, but not the mission given to her by Inquisitor Marcus.
So, the waiting began.
Half an hour later, she started talking to herself.
Question: "What are the chances of things going wrong with this plan?"
Answer: "High, many factors are unknown, and all results are approximate."
This is a fundamental skill in the Temple of Callidus, one of the first things preparatory students master.
Their faction has never been known for its direct combat effectiveness. In addition to being able to disguise, their most important weapons are brain power and analysis.
Likewise, as early as childhood, doubt and questioning are ingrained in their minds through training, first in responding to a mentor's questions and later in imagining others. A character's point of view/intellectual framework, a single person imitating this technique.
Eventually, this questioning/radical questioning technique becomes part of their basic consciousness.
Over time, this repeated self-questioning seeped into their subconscious structures, and most Callidus rarely consciously reviewed this technique, but Ariana began this behavior during the operation.
At first, she saw it as a way to clear her head and get her functions functioning properly.
After a while, she began to wonder if it was a consequence of acting without instructions, a compulsive instinct.
In the hidden tool compartment, she constantly changes roles between questioner and answerer, answering questions.
The questioner remained in her mind her mentor throughout the first ten years of her career as an Assassin.
In the memory, the image of his annoying wrinkled face throwing out challenges one after another while grinning is so clear.
Q: “What are the principles underlying the current final plan?”
Answer: "An Inquisitor shows importance to the current situation of the Astral Knights. This Inquisitor represents a change in the problem area, and there are opportunities hidden in the changes."
Q: “Describe your current goals.”
Answer: "The close connection between the Astral Knights and the vanished Soul Drinkers,"
Q: "Give the name and identity of the targeted individual."
Answer: "First Captain of the Soul Drinkers Chapter, Maximilian."
Q: “Outline the target’s current position, personality, abilities, relationships, and resources.”
Answer: "The demand information is unknown."
Suddenly she stopped, because in her consciousness, the face in the memory of her mentor was grinning, and it was not a pleasant expression.
Q: "Outline basic intelligence related to the target."
Answer: "The Soul Drinkers had a large-scale civil strife twenty years ago. The only interventionist at that time was the Astral Knights Chapter. After the war, some of the rebel Soul Drinkers joined the Red Pirates, and the remaining Soul Drinkers disappeared."
Q: “Speculate on the possible meaning of ‘disappear’ in relation to the problem area.”
Answer: "At that time, no one knew the details of the civil strife among the Soul Drinkers. The true situation of the civil strife was only known to the top management of the Astral Knights. After the civil strife among the Soul Drinkers, the number of Astral Knights showed an abnormal growth curve. Therefore, it can be judged that The World Knights illegally merged with the Soul Drinkers, and this analysis is 76% accurate."
Request: "Extend the body of analysis."
Answer: "Since the identity of the Soul Drinker cannot be read from inside the enemy, it cannot be truly confirmed that the Soul Drinker has joined the Astral Knights, and the number of Astral Knights is still at a relatively sparse stage, so it is difficult to compare with Huron. Extended analysis has an accuracy of 38 percent."
Soon, in her mind, her mentor's dry mouth turned into a smile like a knife mark.
Q: "How does this situation provide a termination solution for the designated target?"
She paused again.
A: "The intervention of the Home Office represents a change in the power structure, a wholesale change in the problem area."
The mentor in her memory just stared at her with a sense of victory and a mocking glint in her eyes.
"Answer to clarify."
She spoke, then stopped, feeling her own hesitation and trembling.
Doubt begets truth, another voice echoed in her head.
Failure is doomed to failure.
"Answer clarification: The Minotaur Chapter presents the opportunity to expand the problem space and potentially achieve execution of targets by manipulating asymmetric information among the enemy."
She paused. In the silence of the cubicle, she could hear the sound of her heart pumping blood.
Ariana saw the mentor in her memory leaning over and looking down at her. The light fell on the membranes implanted on the surface of his eyes, turning them into pure silver.
"inference."
He whispered in her voice:
"You're clinging to uncertainty."
"Response: Existence can—"
The words stuck in her throat.
“Judgment: You don’t see a clear path to outcome—Judgment: You don’t know what you’re doing—Judgment: You’re about to make a mistake.”
She blinked, suddenly aware again of the coldness of the cubicle.
"You're about to make a mistake."
Ariana said quietly to herself.
She remained motionless for a long time after that, staring into nothingness while counting the seconds.
Eventually, the chances of the patrol still being in the passage were reduced to zero.
The time has come.
She stretched her body, crossed the messy tools, and activated the prepared signal.
It was a broad-spectrum help signal, and there were dozens of such signals flooding Unbound Soul's communication network, coming from mechanical failures that could not be handled.
Only in this way can she attract all kinds of attention elsewhere, and have the opportunity to sneak into the armory and obtain the genetic identification code of the entire Astral Knights Chapter.
It was only in that place that she could obtain the most complete genetic identification code.
Ariana watched the transmission light flicker and considered starting the conversation again, but decided against it.
Just as she was slowly walking towards the predetermined direction as a communications soldier, she suddenly seemed to hear the sound of sharp claws scratching metal, but the sound seemed very light, as light as an illusion.
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