Blue Archive - M.O.T.H.E.R. (Volume 1)

16

Outside the S.C.H.A.L.E. tower, it was possible to see the wake that the sun leaves behind before it sets completely. Inside, Sensei was sitting in his cubicle thinking about what he would do next. He was already aware of everything that had happened. The question was, how should he proceed? What should he do? The doubt of whether or not it was possible to create a cure against those bacteria and restore the halo of those affected was mortifying him. The main office had gone dark again. The only person there was Sensei. He had asked Arona to distract Nodoka with some task in another area of the building. The cell phone rang. The highest authority of S.C.H.A.L.E. didn't feel like answering it. The screen on the desk lit up. He saw Himari's face.

''Sensei, it's rude to keep a beautiful lady like me waiting.''

''I'm sorry...''

Sensei didn't even look at the screen. He was abstracted.

''Sensei?'' She let out a sigh. ''Could you at least pretend to be a little interested?''

''I don't feel like talking... Can we save what you need for tomorrow?''

''Mm... I don't think you want to leave this for another moment... Sensei, I'm sure... During your investigation you saw and heard things that have upset, discouraged and terrified you... But thanks to your efforts, what could have been a catastrophe, is already on its way to a solution.''

''...''

''I'm not just saying that because they are already working on a cure and the root of the problem has been found. I'm saying it because there is something else that can be done to help those girls who are about to fall into coma and those who have already fallen.''

''I don't understand what you mean,'' Sensei's interest had awakened, ''aren't they dying...?''

''Saya together with Utaha have discovered that the girls' energy has been being transferred elsewhere. As it is depleted, the affected ones fall into something like a coma. They do not die, as a symbiotic quality of the bacteria keeps them alive. I think you know that these microorganisms have the quality of reserving energy. If an infected one were to run out of energy entirely, it would die because the body has no way of sustaining the basic functions of the body and if the body is lifeless, they cannot get any benefit from it, so the countermeasure that the germ has created is to share the energy that they have been reserving while they find a new body to transfer to.''

Sensei's eyes shone full of hope. Himari smiled to see that the sensei she knew was back.

''So, the solution here is to interrupt that energy transfer you talked about... And wait, how specifically are they being robbed of energy?''

''Nope. Interrupting the transfer could be counterproductive...''

''So...?''

''What we need is for it to be reversed. The girls are too weak. They don't have enough strength or energy to recover on their own, that's without taking into account the damage the microbes are doing to them. About your second question, thanks to Saya's instructions, Chihiro and Kotama have found several spots in Kivotos where the halo energy has been attracting, however, that ''attractor'' is very weak. It cannot harm anyone with stable health.''

''Those areas in Kivotos are the problem?''

''No. Do you remember that in the encrypted report you were given there were coordinates? Those coordinates are for a power plant 3126 km east of Kivotos. The power is being rerouted to that location.''

''I see... Listen...'' He clenched his fists, ''and what if that place where the energy is arriving is just a conversion point to be sent to another place...?

''I have been working on hacking that plant and there is a strong possibility that it is as you say... However, I have also been able to find that that place has storage areas... The security of that plant is very compartmentalized. I have only been able to do a general hack and trying to go deeper into it would take me quite some time... Sensei, I guess he felt unsatisfied not being able to do something more for them.''

''You are absolutely right...''

''Now, you know what else needs to be done. I will pass on to you all the information I can get from the power plant that has been harming our girls. The rest, I leave in your hands.''

The mission was to break into the isolated power plant east of Kivotos and before disabling it, the power that had been stolen had to be reversed. From the information shared by Himari, the plant had three levels and very tight security. The job rather than requiring brute force, needed skill and stealth.