Chapter 20 - Huntly Mine (part 9)
Dinner is also served in the hotel, and to be honest, the hotel continues to prove its exceptionally amazing food quality despite a third rate hotel. And by amazing...
- This dish looks good. Yuusha, you must try it. - Mirai lets out a happy voice, as she clicks on a dish on the digital menu.
Within a few seconds, the dish appears on the centre of the table, hot and fresh out of the oven. A classic baked vegetable dish.
- I thought you cannot taste?
- Gustatory sensor system. I just install one before we went onto the trip. I know that it will be a waste if I cannot try out new food when I travel, that's why. However, they would still be combusted and become my energy in the end anyway. - Mirai casually speaks, as she uses a fork to take a piece of the dish and puts it in her mouth.
Mirai lets out a happy noise, as she enjoys the deliciousness of human food that she has probably not tasted for some time. Definitely a scene for the eye.
I scroll down the menu of the hotel, which actually just contains around twenty dishes or less, including appetisers and desserts. After doing so probably fifteen to twenty times, thinking which dish would be a bang for the buck, I click on the steak. In a few seconds, a dish of beef steak served with mashed potato appears on the centre of the table, and I slowly try to enjoy it.
- Are you having something in your mind? - Mirai asks me.
- Not quite. - I answer half-heartedly, while cutting a piece of steak and putting it into my mouth.
Obviously, my brain is currently functioning at maximum power now. Things are slowly unveiling, but so do the questions and doubts. Of course, I would be happy sharing a meal with Mirai, but just for now, I am not in the mood to even exchange talks.
Even with that, at least I am delighted because someone is actually having concerns for me. I finish the food, which is decent but not too good, maybe because I am not in the right mood. After that, I go back to my room first, leaving Mirai with her reveries of the food that she has long not tasted.
The satellite has scanned the underground factory facility completely and sent a detailed holographic map of the place to the tablet. I open it.
As expected, the layout is built such that factories of the same function are built next to each other, and the conveyor belt system are connected to link between different factories in a group and different groups. With the statistical report from Albert, I grab some paper and a pen in the hotel room and perform some calculations.
First, the anomalous factories are in which group? The number of factories stated in the report differs from what the satellite image and my spectacle footage shows, so I just subtract them. Only one factory is anomalous. Then, efficiency calculations. Combining with the performance per factory, linking in performances and other statistics, the most probable chance is that the anomalous factory is in the chemical mixing group. It makes sense, since the Intruders will extract and process them first hand.
I take an image of the paper, store the image in the archive, crush the paper and throw away.
Next, where is the factory? Now, the linking between factories comes in handy. An elimination process will come in handy, by assessing the links between each factory to see if they fit. There are around fifteen chemical mixing factories, and there is literally no way to make it through except using brute force. I manually check each factory using the holographic map and the spectacle footage, then form a linking matrix. With fifteen columns corresponding to fifteen factories, I just make sure that I got all of the entries correct, then let the tablet do the calculations. Even with its tremendous practicality in real-life situations, manually solving a matrix is a pain in the ass.
After five minutes, the matrix has been solved. I look at the final result with a smile on my face.
The calculations result in exactly one anomaly in column 6, which means the sixth factory that I inspect. The result says that it is missing a link. With that, I highlight the coordinate of the factory on the map.
Mirai also happens to return just in time.
- You leave the dining hall quite early. Although you have answered it already, but are there any matters? - She approaches and sit down next to me.
- Yes, I finally manage to pin down the exact location of the Intruder's factory. - I shout happily, right before I realise I should not make a ruckus.
I hand the tablet to Mirai, which shows the map of the underground facility, along with my calculations and evidence from the statistical report. Mirai looks at it for a while, taking exactly the same time as the tablet to process the calculations. After that, she nods in agreement.
- You could have told me this sooner. It is not like I would reject when you need a helping hand. I even thought you are under the weather, and rush to come here. - Mirai says, while her eyes are still glued to the screen which is running chains of numbers.
- Well, I still hold a grudge on you this morning when you just order me to go investigate the stuff by myself. So, I want to make you feel like you are not actually contributing...
- But does this just make my job easier...
- La, la, la, I cannot hear anything. Let's go sleep, I am physically and mentally exhausted now.
I just realise that my idea this morning has backfired, and now, I am covering both of my ears with my hands, pretending that I do not hear a thing.
- Serious... - Mirai lets out a sigh of relief, then I feel a smile from her, before she also goes to bed and clap two times. The lights are turned off, and we actually go to sleep.
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The Counter-Extraterrestrial Association has made a leap with the footages recorded with their comrades' lives on the island, and quickly proceeds to the next phase, which is to gather more concrete evidences. The lucky incidents that help them unravel the hidden secrets of some alien species, which lurk in the shadows and only commit occasional mistakes, are now coming like a multi-carriage train, one after another, and today is no exception.
Lieutenant Colonel sits in front of the screen in his office, his left hand holding a piece of burnt cigarette, his left hand grabbing firmly on the mouse, moving the cursor on the screen which is showing the world map. Right at the moment, a voice message is relayed to him.
- Lieutenant Colonel, this is squadron 192 from the Europe-Asia division. Anomaly detected at latitude 80 degrees north, 59 degrees east, in one of the island clusters in Russia. Please send instruction to investigate.
Another smile on his face. The cursor scrolls towards a small island on the provided coordinates. After a click, satellites around the Arctic region all point towards the island. Chains of numbers and codes are rapidly sent to the New York headquarter, then a topographical map appears on the screen.
Lieutenant Colonel drags the mouse cursor to a point on the screen and zooms in. Something there looks very intriguing. Unlike the other expeditions, there are evidences that point towards a fact that is even more shocking than the mere existence of that alien species.
Immediately, Lieutenant Colonel reaches his telecommunication device and he relays a message.
- Prepare a plane for me. I will be there in person. Mobilise all squadrons in the Russia and North Europe region from latitude 80 to 85 North. We will raid the island.
After the message relay, he slams the device onto the table, making a creaking sound. He stands up, goes to the fridge in the room and takes out a can of beer. He drinks all of them in one shot, then throws away the empty, flatly crushed can.
Yes. It cannot be a more revolutionary leap to his whole career. There are traces of a third party involving in the incident.