"By the way, Professor."
Fred's voice interrupted Lenore's train of thought.
"I think we should add more stealth defense measures to Junius's peripheral defenses as well."
Fred spoke seriously.
This place currently served as his temporary headquarters, so stronger defenses were absolutely necessary.
Otherwise, if his research accelerated, it might also hasten the arrival of nuclear missiles.
"I've already submitted your previous proposal, but specific details like how to implement it and how much to add remain unresolved issues."
Lenore nodded.
"Or do you have some plan in mind?"
"Yes."
"..."
Lenore, who had only asked casually, was momentarily stunned.
Wait, he actually has one?
She had just been making conversation.
But Fred continued without pause.
"If the enemy attacks us, the most direct target would definitely be the central hub of the space colony—that's the most vulnerable point."
"We could add three radar defense arrays to form an interlocking system, expanding the search range while increasing response time."
"At the central hub, we could install three internal Vulcan cannons and twelve missile silos. Combined with the automatic defense system, that should be sufficient to defend against any incoming attacks."
Of course, this method would be useless against Requiem, but it would definitely be enough to handle a Mobius equipped with nuclear missiles.
Later, we could also add Neutron Jammer Cancellers to the central hub.
That would make it even more secure—making it nearly impossible to be nuclear bombed.
As for internal defense, if Blue Cosmos could destroy it from within, they probably wouldn't resort to nuclear bombing anyway.
By achieving perfect defense both internally and externally, we would be safe at least until Requiem is developed.
And by the time Requiem is completed, he likely wouldn't be here anymore.
Even if he were still here by then, he would have other methods to deal with the situation.
"This... I'm not sure if the central hub has that much space available."
Lenore said.
"I've reviewed some of the publicly available design schematics—there should be enough redundancy!"
Fred sent the more detailed design plans to Lenore's computer.
"For everyone's sake, we cannot afford any mishaps!"
"Alright..."
Seeing that Fred wasn't joking, Lenore also became serious.
"I'll submit this."
"Thank you."
Knowing that Lenore wouldn't make empty promises, Fred finally relaxed.
"Not at all, you make a valid point. Our safety isn't just about us individually."
Lenore sighed.
"It's remarkable that someone so young understands so much."
"Hehe."
In response to Lenore's words, Fred scratched his head and gave an embarrassed laugh before changing the subject.
...
"So this is the renovation plan."
"Yuri, what do you think?"
Siegel, who had also received the plan, looked at the somewhat unassuming scholar before him.
"All the specifications appear perfectly integrated. Are you certain Fred created this himself?"
Yuri Amalfi, the city representative of May City, wore an expression of amazement.
"Yes, while it's indeed surprising, we can't find any other possibility."
As a fellow researcher, Siegel naturally understood the significance of this matter. Seeing Yuri share his astonishment somewhat reassured him.
At least he was still normal.
The abnormal one was still that Fred.
He estimated Patrick must be equally shocked.
"Is that so..."
Yuri Amalfi pondered for a moment before looking up again.
"So why are you telling me this now? What are you planning?"
If it were just modifications, Siegel and Patrick could handle it themselves.
"How is Nicol's piano practice going lately? Perhaps he should learn some combat skills."
"And we happen to need a reliable person to supervise that maintenance work."
"...What?"
Yuri could somewhat understand the latter part.
Though it seemed wasteful for a city representative like himself to supervise modifications, given it concerned Julius's affairs, temporarily setting aside MS research to be cautious wasn't unreasonable.
But... his son was properly learning piano - what was this sudden talk about combat training?
Had his superior turned into a militarist too?
And why wasn't he sending Lacus to learn combat instead?
"Ahem."
Facing Yuri's puzzled gaze, Siegel cleared his throat and began explaining.
The explanation was simple:
The first part was about placing Nicol there to observe if Fred and the others were up to anything, especially since both Athrun and Yzak were children from Zala's side.
It would also help build rapport - Fred seemed like a principled man who valued relationships, so there'd be no harm done.
"That's roughly the situation."
After hearing Siegel's explanation, Yuri narrowed his eyes.
Couldn't Lacus accomplish the same thing?
Though he thought this, Yuri didn't voice it.
After all, sending the delicate Lacus into that group of boys wouldn't be appropriate.
If the singing Lacus turned into a combat expert, Siegel would probably break down crying.
"I need to ask Nicol's opinion."
Yuri replied firmly.
He cared about his son too.
That Yzak was also a colleague's child, and he'd heard about the boy's rather troublesome reputation.
While confident in his own son's excellence and ability to hold his own,
who knew if he might be negatively influenced?
If his quiet son ended up causing destruction daily like Yzak, he'd be devastated.
"Fine."
Siegel nodded without objection and continued:
"As for why we need you to supervise..."
Siegel's voice noticeably softened as he spoke.
In their private chamber, both men gradually grew more serious as the conversation continued.
...
[Local time this morning, the PLANT external cultural exchange center in the capital of the South American Union suffered a severe terrorist attack.]
[A civilian truck loaded with large quantities of explosives breached security barriers and detonated at the main entrance of the center, resulting in at least 14 deaths and over 60 injuries, including numerous civilians and staff members among the wounded.]
"The UN Secretary-General issued a statement today condemning the attack while particularly emphasizing 'avoiding baseless accusations that may exacerbate ethnic tensions before the investigation is completed,' calling on all parties to provide full cooperation to thoroughly investigate the truth."
"So far, no terrorist organization has responded to this incident."
"Damn Naturals!"
At the dining table, Yzak slammed his chopsticks forcefully onto the surface while reading the news.