Chapter 294 - 295: Kira: Go for It, Inori! (Bonus - for 100 Power Stones)

Chapter 294: Chapter 295: Kira: Go for It, Inori! (Bonus Chapter for 100 Power Stones)

"I’m against it! That girl’s odds of survival are very low. What’s more, while we’re searching, the chances of running into ZAFT are high."

While Cagalli and Athrun were "surviving in space," over here Murrue, Mu, and Natarle were discussing the matter of a rescue.

Both Mu and Murrue were in favor of a rescue, but Natarle argued that since the Astray hadn’t broken apart in the explosion, Cagalli’s odds of survival weren’t low either.

But if she spent too long in this field of wreckage, that was another story.

"Murrue-san!"

Kira forced her way into the three’s meeting.

"Kira?"

"Please, let me go find Cagalli-san!"

That cheerful Cagalli who had once so warmly called her "little sister."

Kira couldn’t just abandon her.

Inori, meanwhile, silently followed along behind Kira.

"Calm down, kid." Mu sighed.

"But I... it’s all my fault..."

"It’s ZAFT’s fault," Murrue said. "And besides—we will absolutely not abandon Cagalli!"

"But the survival odds..." Natarle frowned.

"The P.A.R.A. protective suit Cagalli-san is wearing is a deep-space suit; it can survive long-term in a vacuum. An explosion of that magnitude wouldn’t have much effect on the P.A.R.A. suit," Inori said. "Based on Cagalli-san’s earlier supply data, the high-energy nutrient supplements can sustain her for a month."

"A month, huh?"

Mu stroked his chin, thinking.

"But the ZAFT situation isn’t good. And more than that—Cagalli can hold out for a month, but our Archangel herself would have trouble lasting even a week."

Natarle was playing the villain.

Her objection was quite practical: the Archangel was nearly at her limit. As things stood, Cagalli might well outlive them.

"Eh?"

Kira’s eyes went wide.

—Even this ship’s situation was that dire?

Natarle sighed. "It’s my failing. Our original supplies were just barely enough, but after taking on the refugees, they’re now stretched thin."

For all her calculations, Natarle had never anticipated finding a shipful of refugees in this Debris Belt.

"..." Kira instinctively took a step back.

The refugees.

That’s right—those refugees were the ones she had insisted on bringing aboard.

If not for her, this situation wouldn’t have arisen.

But if she hadn’t, Flay would have died... and besides, when she’d heard that little girl wake from her faint and cry out to her, saying words like "thank you, big sister," Kira had felt in her heart that being able to save them was truly a wonderful thing.

"Ensign Badgiruel, you did nothing wrong. None of us could have foreseen an accident like this."

Murrue felt Natarle wasn’t at fault.

And Murrue knew that Natarle really was all sharp words and a soft heart.

"But what on earth am I supposed to do?"

Kira crouched down, helplessly hugging her own legs.

The Strike was still undergoing repairs and adjustments; there was nothing Kira could do right now.

"Kira—do you want to save everyone?" Inori walked up in front of Kira.

"Inori?" Kira stared blankly at her.

"Kira. Do you want to save everyone?"

Inori asked again.

"Yes."

Kira nodded firmly.

"I can help you, Kira." Inori said.

Kira’s eyes lit up. "Inori... what do I do?"

"The Black Monolith can be used as an automated production factory. I can manufacture Fyu-Neru space probes to conduct an all-directional search of the Debris Belt." Inori made no effort to hide this from the others. "But per the protocol, unlocking the automated factory’s unrestricted production function requires the master’s authorization. And I’ll need the Archangel to supply raw materials."

"Hey, hey, hey... Black Monolith... don’t tell me that’s the legendary Black Monolith?"

After the Bloody Valentine tragedy, a flash-in-the-pan piece of mysterious intelligence had once surfaced, claiming that among the ruins of the colony satellite Mendel at L4 there might exist a world-ending weapon rivaling a nuclear bomb—a "Black Monolith."

That rumor had blown up at the time, but afterward more and more people came to their senses—Mendel was in the biology business; it had nothing to do with weapons.

Say they’d produced an Ultimate Coordinator, sure—but a super-weapon was a bit of a stretch.

So in the end, the whole thing became something like an urban legend.

Still, the Earth Alliance of that time really had discussed the matter.

—Because Mendel had, in effect, been an institution dedicated to producing Coordinators; though it had been abandoned after a Blue Cosmos terror attack, they’d still worried whether the place really did hold some mysterious weapon.

And Mu happened to know a little about it, because back then he had very nearly been chosen as one of the operation’s executors.

But the whole affair had later fizzled out—the higher-ups had probably decided the rumor was too idiotic.

Murrue knew a little about the Black Monolith too.

But the channel through which she’d learned wasn’t the Earth Alliance’s side—it was at Heliopolis.

Heliopolis had once been attacked by a rampaging GINN, yet there was no trace of a human aboard that GINN, which gave rise to an "AI" hypothesis.

But since ZAFT didn’t seem to have made any strides in that area, another guess at the time held that the GINN had been hijacked by an AI.

And the physical body of the AI that had hijacked the GINN was very likely the Black Monolith—because, according to a later investigation, Heliopolis had found that the ship had come from L4, which was not a battlefield.

Then the situation was obvious.

This ZAFT warship had very likely gone for the legendary "Black Monolith"—the technology might even have come from within it.

But whether it was Mu or Murrue, they, like everyone else, had thought it was very likely just a farce.

A rumor was a rumor; take it seriously and you’d already lost.

But as it looked now, where there’s smoke, there may well be fire.

"...That’s it—if that’s the case, then the reason Inori-san could produce a battle suit like that is also because of... the Black Monolith?" Murrue looked at Inori.

"Murrue-san."

Kira stood up; she’d finally regained some of her spirit.

"I’ll use my own means to find Cagalli-san. It won’t affect the Archangel."

Having said that, Kira turned to look at Inori.

And Inori continued, "Next is a mandatory disclosure obligation: unlocking this authority carries a certain degree of danger. Unlocking the hIE’s self-production capability may bring about unpredictable changes."

"Is it different from the Fyu-Neru before?" Kira asked.

"Those were stage apparatus, outside the scope of the agreement; that authorization was completed when you became my manager, Kira."

"...I’ll bear all the responsibility. Is that right?"

"Yes—because I cannot bear responsibility."

As though completing some kind of ritual, Kira closed her eyes, then opened them again.

"Inori... do it."

"Understood."

Inori nodded.

"Authorization acquired."

"Fyu-Neru space probes—mass production commencing."

Both the Lacia card and the Fatima card required a "master" and "authorization."

And now, the first key that could be called "crucial" was in hand.