Chapter 185: The Machines That Surpasses Gundam (Part 1)
At that moment, Nami's voice suddenly echoed inside Tolle's mind, saying, "Master, don't get the wrong idea! I didn't—really, I'm not lying! I only made a tiny little adjustment—that was just me treating her illness. Split personality disorder is a disease, you know. It needs treatment.
Heehee, don't worry. Lady Lady Une will be fine. Who knows, maybe she'll end up as a normal, ordinary person when it's over."
Tolle pressed his hand against his forehead. So it was confirmed—it really was Nami's doing. It seemed that even if Treize was dead, Lady Une wouldn't become a pure, flawless saint in the end.
From the sound of it, the two personalities were likely to merge. Well, that was better than having a dangerous ticking time bomb beside him. Whether saint or soldier, neither version of Lady Une fit well in his team anyway.
In the reception room, Saint Lady Une smiled as she introduced herself to Trowa. "Nice to meet you. My name is Lady Une."
Trowa immediately saluted her. Lady Une nodded and sat down on the sofa beside him, glancing at his training record.
"It seems you used to work with construction mobile suits, doing repair work on the outer walls of the colony satellites, correct? Your performance in the recent exercises surprised even the active OZ soldiers."
Trowa sat down calmly and replied, "I've always believed I have talent and aptitude for being a soldier. You mean I've been accepted, right?"
"Yes, that's right. Let's work together to promote peace throughout space."
"I only hope to use my own abilities to help the OZ Army achieve its goal of unifying the United Earth Sphere. That's why I think I'm the right person for OZ."
"Right for OZ?" Lady Une looked puzzled.
"I really admire OZ's approach—seeing everything harmful as something to be eliminated—and its ambition to dominate the entire universe. Some may call it despicable, but it suits me perfectly."
"Dominate? Despicable means?"
"Yeah. A place where cunning people can be acknowledged—that's OZ."
"No, that's not right." Saint Lady Une's expression suddenly grew distant. She clutched her head and screamed, "No! That's not right! That's not right!"
Tolle realized Saint Lady Une's personality was taking control again. This level of stimulation hadn't even triggered the soldier persona to appear.
He quickly stepped forward, wrapping his arms around the trembling Lady Une and gently patting her back to comfort her.
Hearing Lady Une's cries, the soldiers outside rushed in. Seeing her in a dazed state, they immediately asked, "Lieutenant Colonel Lady Une, are you all right? Do you need to rest?" Then they turned to Tolle and asked, "Lieutenant Colonel Darks, what happened to her?"
Tolle sighed and gave the soldiers a quick, subtle wink toward Lady Une before replying, "You know how it is—Lieutenant Colonel Lady Une's been a bit overworked lately. It's nothing serious. I'll take her to the lounge to rest for a bit; she'll be fine after that."
Supporting the pale Lady Une, Tolle was just about to lead her out when Trowa, confused, asked, "What's going on here?"
Nichol, furious, raised his gun and aimed it straight at Trowa's head. "Even if the Lieutenant Colonel was fooled by you, I won't be!" he snarled. Though he wanted to kill Trowa on the spot, out of respect for Lady Une, he restrained himself and continued coldly, "Trowa Barton, two hours from now you'll participate in the test of OZ's new model mobile suits. That's a direct order from the Lieutenant Colonel."
"But the Lieutenant Colonel just—"
"Don't underestimate Lieutenant Colonel Lady Une in uniform. She's already made her plans. Maybe she doesn't intend for someone suspicious like you to walk away alive."
After Tolle helped the shaken Saint Lady Une into the lounge, she sat before the vanity mirror, staring at the glasses resting there. She hesitated, unwilling to put them on to switch into her soldier persona, mumbling softly,
"I'm Lady Une… I belong to OZ… to Lord Treize… and to Lord Tolle…"
Watching her helpless state, Tolle sighed. When he heard her say she belonged to him, he stepped behind her, gently embracing her shoulders and speaking softly,
"Lady Une, you belong to both me and Treize—but also to yourself. OZ has nothing to do with that. The only reason we're helping OZ now is to help Treize realize his dream.
Once that dream is fulfilled, we'll have nothing more to do with OZ—or with this world.
Don't overthink it. Don't resist yourself. Both sides of you are part of who you are. If it's too hard to choose, then just become one."
Lady Une slowly put on her glasses, then turned to him with a gentle smile. "Lord Tolle, could you help me tie up my hair? I'm fine now."
Tolle looked into her eyes, recalling how her maid had done her hair before, and awkwardly began to imitate the motions.
Lady Une had returned to her soldier persona, though her gaze was softer than before. With a calm tone, she said, "Lieutenant Colonel Darks, let's head to the lunar base. Trowa still needs to take the test, and those two mobile suits are ready. You can also reap some benefits while we're there."
Meanwhile, Heero had secretly infiltrated the lunar base, only to discover that the five scientists were secretly cooperating with the OZ forces to develop two new mobile suits—machines whose combined performance surpassed even the five Gundams: Vayeate and Mercurius.
Soon after, Lady Une—now back in uniform—arrived at the lunar base with Tolle and Trowa aboard a shuttle.
The moment Tolle arrived, he had the neo DG cells infiltrate both suits and copy their data.
Lady Une looked at the two mobile suits with satisfaction and said to the five scientists, "You finished them even earlier than expected. Excellent."
Then she gestured toward the five recruits behind her, introducing them to the scientists. "These five have been chosen from among the colony citizens as candidate pilots. Trowa Barton is exceptionally skilled—the best among them. He can handle any mobile suit."
Dr. S immediately recognized Trowa upon his arrival, but both of them played it cool, showing no sign of familiarity.
Dr. J was the first to respond to Lady Une. "But these mobile suits aren't easy to pilot."
Vayeate
Rank: B+
Terrain Adaptability: Sea–Land B / Air–Space A
Weapons: Beam Cannon ×1
Special Equipment: Generator Unit ×1; Self-Destruct Device; MD System
———
Mercurius
Rank: B+
Terrain Adaptability: Sea C / Land B / Air–Space A
Weapons: Planet Defenser ×10; Beam Gun ×1; Destroyer Shield ×1 (beam saber mounted on the front)
Special Equipment: Self-Destruct Device; Electromagnetic Shield; MD System