Reid's actions left all three people in the room utterly stunned. From the mont they were placed under house arrest, they had anxiously awaited Reid's rescue. But no one expected him to burst in with such exaggerated theatrics, as if he'd lost his mind.
For a mont, none of them knew how to react. Fortunately, the two soldiers on duty outside silently closed the door—otherwise, Reid wouldn't have known how to continue his act.
Seeing that none of the three inside were playing along, Reid could no longer keep up his solo performance. With a bored expression, he said,
"After I went to all the trouble of acting like a villain abducting innocent won, Murrue, Bargiruel—you two couldn't even humor
a little?"
Murrue and Bargiruel were montarily speechless. It was Mu who smoothly changed the subject:
"Alright, Reid. Enough joking. What's the situation now? How much longer do we have to stay locked up?"
Reid naturally had to explain the next steps of the plan—otherwise, Murrue and Bargiruel wouldn't know how to cooperate. He handed them two bags and said,
"Ange bought these for you when she was picking up won's essentials at the fortress. I don't know which is whose, so check the sizes yourselves."
As soon as he finished, Murrue and Bargiruel glanced inside the bags and blushed slightly—they contained bras, panties, and sanitary pads. And Reid had indeed mixed them up. Anyone with eyes could tell Murrue's size was obviously larger. So the two silently swapped bags, only to find the sizes matched their asurents perfectly.
Seeing this, Reid swiftly steered the conversation back to business—lingering on this topic any longer might earn him a beating.
"The situation outside isn't too bad. Gerard Garcia's attention is temporarily fixated on the souvenirs I brought from Heliopolis. For now, he shouldn't be thinking about forcibly cracking the Strike. However, the Archangel's data must have been completely leaked. Strangely, he doesn't seem too interested in the warship's specs."
Once Reid got serious, Murrue and Bargiruel had no choice but to temporarily set aside their questions about how he knew their exact asurents.
Yes, even though Ange was the one who had actually made the purchases—Reid hadn't been involved at all—both won assud he had instructed Princess Angelise to buy them. After all, how could a woman possibly guess another's asurents without even asking? The princess wasn't a professional fashion designer. So the sizes had to have been estimated by Reid, a man.
Honestly, Reid was unfairly shouldering the bla. Ange could instantly discern a woman's figure because Arzenal, where she had previously lived, was an all-female environnt. Among won, comparing body proportions was practically a reflex, which was how Ange had honed her legendary "veteran's eye"—the ability to instantly gauge a woman's asurents. Even Reid didn't have that skill.
But Reid was stuck with this misunderstanding—there was no chance to explain.
Once the conversation turned serious, Bargiruel imdiately panicked. She said urgently,
"What?! The Archangel's data was leaked?! Damn it, Reid—didn't you just say you were taking us out of here? Let's go! We need to break out of this fortress now!"
Reid sighed and firmly pressed Bargiruel back down before she could stand. eting her eyes, he said seriously,
"Bargiruel, don't be impulsive. There are two Nelson-class battleships blocking the Archangel's path right now. Even if you disregard any alliance friendship and fire the Positron Cannon, the wreckage would still trap the Archangel in the port. And if the fortress activates its lightwave shield, the Archangel wouldn't be able to get out at all. You're not seriously thinking of having the Archangel single-handedly suppress the entire fortress, are you?"
At Reid's words, Bargiruel hesitated for a mont, left speechless, and then sat back down with visible frustration.
anwhile, Murrue looked thoughtfully at Reid and asked with a smile,
"In that case, Reid, what's your plan? You ntioned taking
and Bargiruel out earlier. You must have a purpose, right?"
Reid nodded, addressing the clearly calr Murrue,
"Of course. I've had my people reassembling the Mobile Suit I picked up in Heliopolis. According to the cockpit data, this unit is called the Heretic. It incorporates a lot of G Project technology. The unit should be ready by tomorrow, and I'll have Mu test-pilot it. That way, he can get out too.
"Moreover, if procedures haven't changed, supply ships will arrive at Artemis Fortress in the next two days. As far as I know, Gerard Garcia hasn't provided the Archangel with any supplies. So we'll have to secure our own provisions. And when those ships co in, the port will have to be cleared—that's our best chance to break out.
"Of course, execution won't be that simple. First, we need to develop a virus capable of disrupting Artemis Fortress's lightwave shield system to prevent us from being trapped inside. Also, we must finalize the Natural OS for the Heretic today. The OS in that unit is a ss—I've seen it. I'll need to debug it using other versions.
"So, I need manpower. That's why I'm taking you two out. For one thing, Murrue, you're quite accomplished in engineering and programming, aren't you?"
Hearing this, Murrue and Second Lieutenant Natarle understood and agreed to cooperate with Reid's plan. But Mu wasn't having it. He interjected,
"Hey, Reid, hold on. If you need help, shouldn't I be included too? If you're writing an OS for , shouldn't I be there? I know how to adjust unit paraters—why leave
behind?"
Reid didn't lie in response. He stated bluntly,
"Because the reason I used to get Captain Murrue and Second Lieutenant Natarle out wasn't for program developnt. If I'd used that excuse, Gerard Garcia would've insisted I bring Artemis Fortress's engineers along. Their team is far more specialized than these two, and I couldn't refuse under that pretext.
"So, I simply told him I fancied Murrue and Natarle and wanted to take them out for a night of fun. That's how I got clearance.
"Oh, and Murrue, Natarle—once we're out, act the part. Best to curse
loudly and follow
with a look of anger and resentnt."
Mu was left speechless by Reid's audacious sche.
Murrue took it in stride—acting wasn't a big deal to her.
But Natarle nearly lost her composure. Trembling slightly, she stamred,
"Reid... Out of all the excuses you could have used, you chose this one... A night of debauchery... And with two won... That's just perverted. Doesn't Princess Angelise keep you in check?"
Faced with this question, Reid simply shrugged and replied,
"I told Ange about it, and she threw
out of the room. So, I've already taken my beating. Bargiruel, you wouldn't want
to waste all my effort now, would you? Relax, I don't have the guts to actually do anything to you two. Besides, you and Murrue aren't exactly helpless little bunnies. I rember you got an A in hand-to-hand combat at the officer's academy—plenty of male officers couldn't even take you in a fight."
Bargiruel, seeing Reid's "like it or not, you're cooperating" attitude, instantly flared up. And wait—was that supposed to be a complint? It sounded more like he was calling her violent. Violent enough to scare n off.
So she slamd her hands on the table and stood up, shouting,
"What I an is, what about mine and Captain Murrue's reputations?! How are we supposed to face people after this?!"
Reid looked at the furious Bargiruel with an expression that said, Why are you so worked up? Then, half-jokingly, he explained,
"Worried about your reputation? Co on, hardly anyone in this fortress even knows who you are. If any rumors spread, it'd have to be Mu who started them. How about this—after we escape, we silence him for good?"
Everyone knew Reid was joking, and Mu couldn't even be bothered to retort. Bargiruel was so angry she could only stamr, "Y-you—you—" without forming a complete sentence.
At this point, Murrue spoke up in Reid's defense. Her goal was clear—as long as Reid didn't take the act too far, she was willing to play along with his plan. After all, it was obviously more reliable than their original idea of fighting their way out of the fortress aboard the Archangel. (The original plan was pretty ridiculous—after taking out a few guards, the three of them just waltzed back to the Archangel like they didn't run into any other resistance. That was impossible. A direct breakout would've led to a full-on firefight. The Blitz could infiltrate, and the Mobile Armors could sortie—what did the base security have to do with it?)
"Bargiruel, Reid's right. He wouldn't spread rumors himself—it wouldn't do him any good to be linked to us like that. The situation is awkward, but if it ans getting the Archangel and the Strike back to the Atlantic Federation... If it's just acting, I don't mind."
With Murrue's agreent, Bargiruel could hardly argue further. Any more objections would just make her seem overly fussy. So she reluctantly muttered,
"Fine... But I don't know how to act..."
Hearing this, Reid grinned and said,
"That's easy."
Then he stood up, walked over to one side, and motioned for Murrue to co closer. He whispered sothing in her ear.
After listening, Murrue gave him a look that clearly said, You're sothing else, then turned to Bargiruel and said,
"Bargiruel, stand next to . I'll teach you."
Bargiruel, suspecting nothing, stepped right up beside her.
Then, in the blink of an eye, Murrue delivered a sharp smack to Bargiruel's backside—hard enough to make her jump with a yelp.
Flushing bright red, Bargiruel glared at Murrue and demanded,
"Captain Ramius! What was that for?!"
Murrue simply pointed at Reid and said,
"Don't look at . Reid told
to do it. Said it'd have the best effect."
Bargiruel instantly believed her. Teeth clenched, she turned to Reid and growled under her breath—
"Reid Isaac!!!"
Reid thought Murrue definitely had so personal feelings behind that slap—he hadn't asked her to make it that loud. But considering how Bargiruel had left Murrue speechless several tis since leaving Heliopolis, it was understandable she'd take a small revenge here.
Given that Murrue had just helped him persuade Bargiruel, Reid decided to take the bla. He said directly:
"Yes, Bargiruel, that's the expression—hold it right there."
Then he stepped forward and lightly wrapped his left arm around her waist despite her furious glare. Extending his right hand, he said:
"Murrue, play along."
Murrue felt she might have agreed too hastily, but there was no turning back now. Fortunately, Reid didn't actually pull them close, maintaining a dance-like distance with plenty of space between them, so both Murrue and Bargiruel managed to endure it.
Thus, under Mu's jaw-dropping stare (his mouth wide enough to fit an ostrich egg), Reid walked out of the detention room with both captains in tow.
The guards outside pretended not to see anything, keeping their eyes fixed straight ahead as they continued watching over Mu.
Thankfully, Reid didn't maintain the position for long. Gerard Garcia had arranged a room nearby for the three of them—after all, he'd promised to "cover" for Reid and couldn't risk them being seen by unnecessary personnel during a long walk.
However, upon entering Gerard Garcia's arranged room, the pink lighting, pink bedsheets, semi-transparent bathroom, and the adult toys placed conspicuously on the bed made even Reid struggle to keep a straight face. Murrue and Bargiruel radiated killing intent from either side.
Fortunately, the three military laptops Reid had asked Jocuri to deliver earlier were already placed on the room's large desk, giving him at least so room to explain.
Reid quickly released the two won on the verge of explosion and strode to the computers. He pulled out a universal OS program disk for the Ground Gundam (retrieved from the system) and pretended to take it from his pocket before inserting it into a laptop.
Then he said to Murrue and Bargiruel:
"Ladies, don't just stand at the door. None of this decor was my request—it's all Gerard Garcia's twisted taste. Nothing to do with . Ti is short. Boot up the computers, and I'll sync the relevant programs to you."
With that, Murrue and Bargiruel reluctantly downgraded Reid's sentence from execution to probation and walked over to open the laptops.
Soon, Reid synchronized the Ground Gundam's OS (including docuntation) and the cockpit OS from the Green Astray to both of them.
Seeing the clean, standard Earth Alliance Forces military interface and legitimate Mobile Suit OS files, Murrue and Bargiruel eased up slightly and began studying the frawork and docuntation.
While they were occupied, Reid took out a cara and adjusted its angle toward himself.
Murrue, being a professional developer, could follow the OS docuntation easily enough to spare attention for Reid's actions. She asked curiously:
"Reid, what are you doing? Setting up the cara to record our developnt process?"
Without looking up, Reid replied:
"Of course not, this thing saved my life. I'm about to use it to video call Ange and livestream the whole thing to prove I really didn't do anything wrong. Believe , I'm even more afraid than you guys of Ange misunderstanding..."
Before he could finish speaking, Reid and Ange's call connected. Through the cara, Ange's first sight was this room filled with an ambiguous atmosphere, and she imdiately roared:
"Reid! Where exactly have you taken Captain Murrue and Vice Captain Bargiruel?!"
Reid quickly turned the cara to show Ange what Murrue and Bargiruel were doing, then explained:
"Ange, I didn't arrange or decorate this room. This was Gerard Garcia's doing - he's just that kind of unserious person, there's nothing I can do about it."
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