Chapter 129

◇◆◇ (Abigail's point of view)

The administrative offices of the Fort are located in the central section of the city. The tallest building among them is called the Headquarters Building, where the administrative agencies and the military HQ headquarters were.

Abigail's current room is on the upper floor of the headquarters building at Fort 88. It was a small room that was used as an interview room for senior officers. The clam colors of the furniture and furnishings were magnificent, and in the middle of the room was a chair, on which she was seated.

Outside the window, skyscrapers stood side by side, and through the narrow gap between them, she could see the sky and part of the outer wall of the fort. Perhaps it was because of the thick wall of the room, despite the busy public transportation on the ground and in the air, the interior was quiet and still.

Facing Abigail in her chair, across the long, elegantly furnished table, sat a young woman in a suit, a well-dressed older woman, and a fearless-looking middle age man.

The young woman's name is Claudia. A mid-cut brunette with an attractive face, she is a young senior secretary here at Fort 88.

Next to her is a woman with thick makeup and wrinkles beginning to show in the corners of her eyes. This is Secretary-General Yasmin.

Finally, a white-haired man with a generous smile on his face.

Although he was beginning to age, there was an uncommonly strong feeling of fortitude oozing from him. He is Lieutenant General Penrose, He is the hero who has commanded Fort 88 for many years, stopping at the front lines to fight the aliens.

The entire Fort city is considered to be an army. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

Therefore, the head of the Self-Government organization, is a <Major General> dispatched from the central, while the head of internal affairs is a person chosen from among the senators elected from within the Fort. On the other hand, the head of internal affairs is a person selected from among the senators elected from within the fort. This is called the Secretary-General, and the Senior Secretary is his assistant.

After her return to Fort 88, Abigail took advantage of the doctor's advice that she needed to recuperate and be under observation for a while, and avoided being questioned by the local government by refusing them.

About half a month later, the doctor reported that she had recovered mentally and physically to some extent. Soon after, she received a summons in the form of a personal request survey.

Would she stay in the Fort, return to the central, or move somewhere else? Some random official from the Fort's local government would probably come out and ask her these questions. Abigail was naturally planning to continue her investigation in this city for a while, so she was going to request to stay.

The problem was that there was a possibility that she would be prevented to do so. The question was, how should she respond?

What awaited her when she arrived at the office, thinking about this, was the unexpected two-top.

Abigail felt her palms sweat with nervousness.

Thus began a face-to-face meeting with Lieutenant General Penrose and Secretary General Yasmin. Penrose asked and Abigail answered. When Yasmin interrupted with small talk, a small laugh broke out, icluding Claudia.

At first glance, the atmosphere was calm and relaxed, but Abigail could sense that she was in a dangerous position.

The conversation began with the origin of Abigail's affiliation, her duties at the time, and the time of her disappearance. Claudia said that she would ask her about her time as a prisoner of war and how she escaped later, so the conversation turned shifted to about her future.

"So, you have no intention of returning to the central?"

Lieutenant General Penrose asked in a thick voice.

"Yes."

Abigail answered without hesitation.

This is not only the Fort city, but also the military base Stronghold, It was supposed to be commanded by a "Major General". However, Fort 88 is headed by a Lieutenant General, which is one rank higher.

The reason was Penrose's promotion. Penrose was promoted to Lieutenant General a few years ago for his excellent war record in preventing alien attacks for many years. It was no exaggeration to say that Fort 88 was now a dominant force in the surrounding area, one head above the surrounding cities.

Normally, the profits generated by the economic activities of the forts are siphoned off to the central and redistributed to the other forts and Stronghold in the form of a budget, but Fort 88 has been Self-Government since Penrose was promoted to lieutenant general.

It has its own city planning, its own weapons research and development, its own military, its own budget, and its own authority.

Fort is a military. Every end of the citizenry is under the military. Beyond the binding power of the ordinances enacted by the council, Penrose, in the name of command and authority, can control the actions of the residents down to their babies. Now, his influence has grown to the point where he can overrule any request from the central.

The cold light behind the soft eyes of a man with such immense power in his hands was piercing Abigail.

Abigail is not a member of Fort 88, nor she was currently a member of the military or a central government official. She's just a civilian. It's unlikely that she will be immediately detained by Penrose's command, but that's just the start. If this man wanted to, he could crush Abigail's existence at any time as if he were putting out a cigarette.

"I see......."

Penrose folded his hands and leaned his back to backrest.

"But ...... I'm surprised you made it out alive. In the entire history of the war for a hundred years, I have never heard of a prisoner of war returning alive. It seems that there are no injuries that would cause any permanent damage. There was also no brain damage. Abigail, what kind of treatment were you given over there? Are the other prisoners safe?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I was held in a cell with no windows, so I don't know how the other POWs were treated or their conditions. Also, my memory of my captivity is hazy and vague. I may have been under some kind of spell.

Abigail lied.

There was no way She could talk honestly.

If I confessed that I had been raped by the Butcher for more than six months, I would be sent to human experimentation. Tomorrow morning, I would be drugged with a lot of truth serum and transported somewhere.

What she feared most was pregnancy. Gevaudan had told her that the chances of a child being born between a Butcher and a human were very low, but it was definitely a possibility. If it happened, there would be no excuse.

But the doctor's test came back all clear.

I was lucky. Even though she had been ejaculated into so much.

Abigail's breathing became slightly erratic.

Abigail swallowed her spit and straightened up. Yasmin saw this and discreetly interjected.

"General, Claudia will take care of that later."

"Hmm......" Penrose said with a small nod, then opened his mouth as if remembering.

I'm sure you've heard of it. It was just a few days ago that the central intelligence department learned of your return to life and requested that you be handed over to them. They want to know more about your time in captivity and the details of your escape.

(Here it is ......)

What Abigail is most wary of, however, is not Penrose, but AASPINT.

No doubt, They will come to cover her mouth.

Once she's surrounded in the central, she'll be under house arrest at best, or die a suspicious death at worst.

When Abigail remained silent, Penrose continued, watching her face carefully.

"I don't mean to meddle, but if you return to the central, your future will be more stable. You've already advanced two ranks at once, so you won't have to go out in the field anymore once you return. Sooner rather than later--"

"The walls of Fort 89 may have just been broken now."

"......What?"

His voice was like a fierce tiger's.

Penrose's expression instantly turned grim as Abigail interrupted him.

"I still can't remember for sure, but I have a fragmented memory that there was some kind of major incident when I escaped from that city. I may have taken advantage of that confusion--"

I tell Penrose and Yasmin, who stare at me blindingly.

"I believe they were also taken me to another world once, the one they called Mifosis. It was in a carriage, so I can't say for sure ----"

Abigail broke off there for a moment. The next words need to be thought of clearly before spoken.

"If I could take my time to sort through my memories, I think my memory of the location of the gate will gradually return."

When Penrose heard this, he let out a chuckle. He looked amused.

Abigail played her cards. She wanted to show her worth.

This is a game. A dangerous game with her life on the line.

Penrose knows that she was an AASPINT. He knows she's been trained in counter-torture. He thinks that if her brain is intact, she should be able to remember everything. He suspects that Abigail is faking amnesia and is reluctant to give out any information. As an ex-AASPINT, it is her job to bring back information. You don't leak it to other organizations. It's only natural.

But Penrose wants that information as badly as he can get it. Faster than the central. And if possible, exclusively.

In addition to the internal information of the alien frontline cities, the location of the gates. If he can use this information to get Fort 89 back on his own, he will finally have the power to make an absolute decision. There is even a possibility that the Fort 89 that he recaptured will be under Penrose's command. If it came down to it, he would want to get information out of Abigail even if he had to torture her.

In particular, the location of the gate is a very important piece of information that humanity has not yet been able to accurately grasp. It holds unimaginable value.

Abigail's refusal to return to the central must have been a blessing in disguise for Penrose. He must have guessed it at that point. He must have guessed at that point that the natural proposal of handing her over to the central would become a bargaining card.

Penrose must have thought he had dropped the hook lightly. He would inform her of the fact that there was an extremely natural request for her extradition. It was supposed to be a light jab.

So Abigail quickly gave him the information he wanted. The message was to let him know that she wanted him to protect her here at the Fort and that the information she had would be useful.

The spies and special forces that had infiltrated Fort 89 had been wiped out by Gevaudan. Which parts of wall are broken and how? where is the gate? That information was now precious and known only to Abigail.

Penrose's astonishment certainly not small. He hadn't expected the former AASPINT to be so easily won over by negotiations. Or perhaps his reasoning had led him to the point of a feud between Abigail and AASPINT.

After a long silence, Penrose opened his mouth.

"............ Well, Abigail, you're a civilian now. You're already dead for the record. ...... Excuse me. Anyway, there is no particular obligation to report to the central." (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

Abigail was relieved. But her heart was still beating painfully in her ears.

I heard that you were a very good weapons researcher in the central, although you can't continue to work as an agent when you're this 'famous'. So, what do you think about working as a researcher at the R&D center here in Beehive? If you work for a while to get used to it and rest your body and mind, your memory will become clearer, right? I'll talk to November about it. Diabolic is also there. I'm sure you and he will get along just fine."

"Thank you, sir."

--The walls of the alien city are collapsing. The location of the gate is revealed.

The fish he saw on the surface of the water was a big one. It must have made Penrose want to catch Abigail and put her in the aquarium called Fort 88, no matter what.