“That’s the SAF exactly,” replied Major Booker with a nod of his head. “But while it may be special among humans, there are plenty of animal species that live their lives in this way. Seen from that point of view, you could say that most people are the special ones and we’re the normal ones.”
Rei caught Captain Foss’s glance and, feeling as though she was criticizing him, spoke up.
“I don’t know if it’s normal or not, but human beings are capable of living on their own. It’s just that a life like that can be difficult. After all, we humans were basically programmed to live in groups from the start.”
“By whom, I wonder,” said Lieutenant Katsuragi. “At the very least, it wasn’t the JAM. The JAM seem to understand the character of the SAF. The way they talked, it was like they expect life to be like that. It was almost as if they had scattered the seeds of life across the earth.”
“It’s possible that they did,” said Major Booker. “But I doubt they came to Earth to harvest it. Not to observe either. They invaded Earth seeking something that they could use. It’s possible that the JAM systematically modified the earth in order to make it suitable for themselves. But instead of organic life, what if it they had been attempting to grow computer networks? What we consider artificial information systems. Maybe what happened was the JAM set up an operation to create them automatically, but when they came here expecting them to be completed, they realized it had been contaminated by an unforeseen glitch called ‘humanity’ and didn’t know how to deal with it.”
“I got the feeling that the JAM just didn’t quite understand the human speech they were using,” Rei replied. “I wouldn’t take them at their word.”
“But I was thinking,” said Lieutenant Katsuragi. “The JAM can understand the personality of the SAF but don’t understand why you won’t ally yourselves with them.”
“That’s right, I agree. What about it?”
“I know there’s another group aside from the SAF who’s like that. So I was wondering, why didn’t the JAM contact them as well? They can’t not know about them. That’s when it hit me: the JAM didn’t contact them because they can understand them.”
“There’s a group like that in the FAF?” Rei asked. “Other than the SAF?”
“Yeah, the combat unit of the FAF central intelligence department: the FAF Intelligence Forces,” Katsuragi said. “The group led by Colonel Rombert. I think that guy’s a JAM. I have no basis for it, just a gut instinct.”
“I get you,” Rei said after a moment’s consideration. “It makes a lot of sense when I think about it. That’s probably why I could have potentially been assigned to the Intelligence Forces instead of the SAF. If they’re working for the JAM, then it makes sense that the JAM would have no questions about them.”
Major Booker stared at Lieutenant Katsuragi, then silently took a swig of his beer.
“A double agent,” said Captain Foss. “Someone inside the FAF who knows its counterintelligence activities would certainly be an invaluable resource to the JAM.”
“Jack, what do you think about this?”
Major Booker gulped down his beer, then sighed and spoke.
“Keep your voices down. The room may be bugged. Except it’s too late now, isn’t it? Well, Colonel Rombert must have known we’d be on guard for this. Of course the SAF was aware of that possibility. Rombert is the absolute last person we’d want to be a JAM duplicate, as far as we’re concerned.”
“Did the JAM have a chance to replace him?” Rei asked. “You must have checked that out.”
“I think that, if the JAM really wanted to, they could swap in a duplicate at any time. Besides, he doesn’t have to be a duplicate. It wouldn’t be so strange for a human to decide to help the JAM if he gets what he wants in return. There’s the question of how he made contact with them, but the possibility may be high that he has.”
“Long story short, the SAF suspects that Colonel Rombert is a cat’s paw for the JAM,” Rei said.
“Exactly. The fact is that, right now, we’ve received orders from Colonel Rombert to place you both in the newly formed retraining unit. That pretty much clinched our suspicions of him.”
“Retraining unit? When was that established?”
“I was told yesterday, during a meeting with General Laitume. It’s a confirmed fact. Colonel Rombert’s in charge of it,” Major Booker said.
“They’re trying to separate me from Yukikaze?”
“I’m afraid that Colonel Rombert may destroy her,” said Lieutenant Katsuragi. “The JAM are sick and tired of her. Absolutely.”
“You said no, of course, right, Major?”
“Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“It’ll be hard to ignore these orders,” the major explained. “It’d be hard even for General Laitume to do it. The existence of JAM duplicates has thrown the FAF into an existential crisis. Doubtless, Colonel Rombert is fanning the flames. But if he’s a JAM, what would his motive be for doing that?”
“God damn, it’s a brilliant way to do this.” Rei sighed. “The colonel’s found a legitimate way to obtain information on the SAF. If he’s a JAM, he could take over the SAF and then use it to carry out the JAM’s ends. Isn’t that a clear enough motive? If you follow these orders, the SAF will be destroyed. Jack, you don’t want to recognize them, do you?”
Booker answered with a silence that was broken by Lieutenant Katsuragi saying that he was thirsty too.
“You can have my drink if you want,” said Captain Foss.
He took a sip from the beer she held out to him, then sounded determined when he spoke.
“I’m going,” he said. “You can say that Captain Fukai is too badly injured to be moved, but I want to have a word with Colonel Rombert.”
“It’s General Cooley’s decision, and a difficult one. But we don’t have much time. General Cooley has to make it as soon as possible,” said Major Booker. “At any rate, the intelligence you two brought back is beyond anything we expected. It’s requiring us to completely rethink the meaning of our war with the JAM. Compared to that, this thing with Colonel Rombert is just a trivial problem.”
“Are you saying there’s no point in fighting anymore?” asked Rei. “Is the SAF abandoning its war against the JAM?”
“Captain Foss, tell them your prediction.”
“Yes, Major Booker,” Captain Foss said, formality creeping back into her voice. “With the additional data that Yukikaze brought back, I can make a report on the results of my profacting of the JAM. In a nutshell, the JAM desire competitive coexistence with the SAF. I haven’t formally submitted my report to General Cooley yet, but—”
“What do you mean by competitive coexistence?” Rei said.
“A relationship wherein we shut up and let the JAM get the jump on us. It would change the relationship to one similar to where we compete for a common food source, sometimes working with the JAM and at other times competing against them. That seems to be how the JAM conceptualize us. It’s clear that if we abandon our war with them, we won’t be able to compete and will ultimately be consumed by them.”
“That’s practically the same as what we have now. Nothing would change.”
“That wouldn’t be true for the FAF and the people of Earth,” Captain Foss continued. “I predict that, since the JAM will have completed their information gathering from the humans here on Faery, the probability is high that they’ll decide that the war here is no longer necessary and initiate a full-scale invasion of their main target: Earth.”