? "Well, I guess that's to be expected..."
After a long discussion the majority was still against splitting off from the Resistance. The reason is simple; a lot of them still have family and loved ones living in the settlements near the headquarters.
As there is no hope left for humanity many of them wanted to go spend what time they have left with those they care about.
That said, there were quite a few who decided to stay behind, mostly because the only ones they knew were those in the forty sixth base.
"So? Is it true?" Alice asked, sitting in the other sofa facing Sam. "Can you really create Valkyries."
"Yes and no." Sam replied, his eyes locked on the screen of a tablet as his fingers slid and taped on its surface.
"You're kidding, right?"
The way he spoke when facing the rest of the base made it seem like he's confident of his abilities, however now he's giving her that kind of answer.
"To put it simply, we dont have the materials needed to create that many." Sam said, still focused on the device in his hand. "At most I can make two or three, but that wouldn't make any difference. It won't do even if we somehow make a hundred."
The Ragnarok Heralds alone couldn't decimate most of them with ease, then there are the Nephilim who had no trouble defeating fully equipped Valkyries.
"So you really plan on making something stronger? I don't want to doubt your abilities but..."
No matter how much she tried, Alice couldn't bring herself to believe Sam's claim. If Odin's ultimate creation is unable to defeat the Nephilim then how does a relatively unknown scientist plan on doing it?
"Actually I don't really know if I can." Sam replied without hesitation.
Alice wasn't the only one giving him a baffled look. Zero Three who had remained silent so far was in shock as well by the lack of emotion in the way he said it.
Seeing the two remaining frozen for a while Sam let out a sigh.
"Listen, I'm working on it, alright? There are no guarantees, but that doesn't really matter since we're gonna die anyways."
The truth is it's impossible for him to come up with something in the time they have left. He's been trying to do so for more than a month now ever since the big battle with little to no advancements.
And that's alright. After all the point of the declaration he made wasn't to reassure the soldiers or to convince them to support him.
'Any time now...'
Just as that thought ran through his head, a loud beeping sound filled the commander office. Startled, Alice nervously ran toward her desk and opened her laptop.
"Huh? Why's father calling?"
"Well since someone has leaked the news that I can make Valkyries to them, obviously." Sam replied. "Go on, answer him."
Though she was still confused, Alice sat down, fixed her appearance and answered the call. Her father's face appeared on the screen and from his expression she could tell that he wasn't in a good mood.
"General Schneider." Alice said, swallowing audibly.
"Where is he?" Wolf said, his appearance quickly distorting.
"Father?"
"The boy! That damn Sanderson! Where is he!!?"
It was her first time seding the old man lose his temper like that. Alice glanced over at Sam, her eyes wide open. Letting out a sigh, Sam placed his tablet aside and walked over to the desk, motioning for the white haired commander to get up.
Once he took her place, Sam looked over at the screen and smiled.
"Long time no see, general."
"Sanderson, What is the meaning of this?" Wolf asked, his brows tightly knitted.
"Now, what could it be that you're referring to?"
The way Sam acted seemed to infuriate the general even more, which was his aim, of course. After glaring at him for a very long minute, Wolf's expression suddenly relaxed as he let out a very long sigh.
"You read the book, didn't you?" Asked the old man.
"Yes." Sam replied.
The staring contest continued and he tension grew along with it.
"Listen, Sam, there is a lot that you don't know." Wolf finally spoke.
"Obviously." Sam replied. "How about we start with what you stole from those Nephilim?"
Though she tried to keep her emotions under control, hearing the question Sam had just made caused the commander beside him to grow pale.
"Sam... that's not something for you to know."
Though he didn't really like it, Sam had anticipated such an answer.
'Well, now we know he knows something, at the very least'
"Father..."
As Sam rubbed the bridge of his nose trying to think, Alice spoke all of a sudden. Her tightly clenched fists were shaking and she's clearly trying to remain calm, however no one would blame her if she lost it.
"Father, what is going on?" Alice asked, looking up and facing the man on the screen. "Is it really true? Are you really a part of it?"
The old man stared back at her and offered no answer. His eyes shifted back to Sam and his silence continued. It was as if he was waiting for him to speak once more.
Knowing the old man wasn't planning on disclosing anything, Sam sighed once more.
"General. Your actions have brought death and destruction upon the entire human race. I think you owe us an explanation at the very least."
Still no reply. After a couple of seconds, the old man closed his eyes. It looked like he didn't plan on saying anything so Sam was about to prob him again, however before he could the old man spoke.
"I made a mistake. A really big one." As those words left his mouth, Wolf's complexion distorted gradually as the color of his face changed. "I should've been more careful, but I let the bastard play me."
Thinking he was about to reveal some important information, everyone remained silent and listened very carefully. Opening his eyes, Wolf looked at Sam, then at Alice.
"Sam, the blue prints you found are fake."
"... what?"
It took him a moment for his mind to process what the old man had just told him, and when he did blood drained from Sam's face.
"To be more accurate, most of what's written in the Valkyrie file is inaccurate."
Every word that reached him seemed to increase the confusion. Sam stared at the old man in disbelief, his eyes then turned to a glare as he smirked in an attempt to calm down.
"So am I right to assume that you have failed to recreate one?" Sam said.
"Even if you somehow succeed in creating the shell by following the blue prints in the Freyja file, it's impossible to create a real Valkyrie. The base program of the AI mentioned in the Valkyrie file you found is fake. The re-"
Without a warning, the feed was suddenly cut.
"Huh? What's going on?"
Only when Alice asked that question did Sam come to his senses. He quickly checked the signal and saw that it was cut. The Resistance communication network has been cut.
"
"Damn it!!!" Sam cursed, slamming his fist on the desk.
"S-Sam... what's... going on?"
Though he heard her voice, Sam was already too deep into his thoughts to offer a reply.
'The blue prints are fake? The base AI? Huh? But I swear it looked... huh?'
When he read through the blue prints nothing seemed the least bit suspicious. Of it really is fake then it should've been easy for him to notice and yet...
Getting up, Sam quickly went to leave the commander's office, Three following right behind him with an anxious look.
"Sam!" Alice called, but once again her voice failed to reach him.
~a—?~
"Your majesty, I know they're just humans but..."
Under the skies of eastern Europe, two small figures floated in the air.
The of them had the appearance of a mature women with a voluptuous body and long purple hair. The other one was smaller, a girl with blue skin she wasn't afraid to show the world.
"I've had a change of heart." Hela spoke, her voice completely lacking any enthusiasm. "They're humans, it's not like they can do anything with the time you've given them."
At the moment, the two Nephilim were flying over the headquarters of the only military organization left in world, the force that managed to push against the basic drones the humans had dubbed as Calamities.
It should've been impossible for the enemy to bef this close without anyone noticing, but there they're, proving once again how hopeless the situation humanity was in right now.
"Let's make this quick." Hela said, raising one of her hands.
Purple squares flickered into existence one after the other, gathering together to form a solid shape. In just a few seconds a gigantic spear formed in the sky, its shadow falling on the Resistance headquarters below.
"It's time to come out, my dear dear father."
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