The two fell into silence, and time seemed to cool and stretch on for a while.
Finally, Lacus's soft laughter broke the slightly chilly atmosphere between them.
"I understand."
"However, I cannot make decisions regarding the trap you mentioned."
This was only natural, as Lacus was only a few years old and naturally could not have her own power.
Fred, hearing her words that seemed to hint at some idea, did not interrupt Lacus.
He simply waited quietly for her to continue.
"..."
"..."
After another moment of mutual silence, Lacus let out a light, amused hum.
She had thought Fred would be anxious.
It seemed she had been mistaken.
But upon further thought, Fred truly wasn't the type to get easily flustered.
"If Brother Fred can complete the research on that ZIC-01P, and with my persuasion, Father will certainly consider your proposal."
Lacus spoke sincerely, and her words were indeed very reasonable.
The ZIC-01P was, in fact, the Laurasia-class.
However, aside from Fred, probably no one knew it was called the Laurasia-class.
After all, it was still just a battleship existing only in data models.
It only had a code name: ZIC-01P.
Here, ZIC stood for "ZAFT Integrated Carrier," the ZAFT Integrated Carrier Project.
The 01 indicated it was the first project, and P stood for "Prototype."
Simply and crudely combined, it became ZIC-01P.
As for Fred, he was already very close to completing the research on the ZIC-01P.
"Alright."
Thinking of this, Fred agreed without hesitation.
This research was something he was determined to achieve anyway; persuading Siegel was merely an added benefit.
"Pleasure working with you."
Hearing Fred's flat yet exceptionally confident tone on the other end of the call, Lacus's eyes brightened slightly.
She had previously heard that this research had hit a bottleneck, but it didn't seem to be the case now.
"Yes, pleasure working with you."
Fred laughed, understanding the trust implied in Lacus's words.
And trust was mutual—Fred also needed to trust her.
For Fred, this was actually quite simple.
After all, he already knew Lacus was a staunch ally, someone who could be vouched for without needing a prophet to step in.
He had always trusted Lacus deeply.
At the very least, she wouldn't betray him.
Unless it came to a matter of the world's survival and his inevitable death, it would remain that way.
And only through their cooperation could he proceed with his later plans.
Of course, Lacus's trust might seem sudden, but it actually had many prerequisites and foundations.
The two had met many times before, and there were factors like Imanla and several other spies she had placed on his side.
Finally, combined with Lacus's own abilities and over a year of observation, he had ultimately earned her trust.
This outcome might seem abrupt, but it was actually the result of the two sides continuously adjusting and adapting over the past year.
Lacus had no intention of chatting with him about everyday matters either. After finishing the business at hand, she simply hung up the phone.
Looking at the now-busy signal on the communication screen, Fred felt not only a sense of relief but also a hint of tension rising within him.
Perhaps before long, he would be confronting Creuset.
Facing such a major antagonist, it would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous.
But Creuset was also a hurdle he had to overcome.
He couldn't possibly leave the action against Creuset to someone else.
Direct confrontation was, of course, out of the question, but with the advantage of numbers, there wasn't much to worry about.
After all, Creuset was a boss, but he wasn't an invincible existence.
He was human—a single shot to a vital point would kill him.
In a way, this was Fred acting on behalf of justice.
As for things like the will of the world that might appear in time-travel novels, he hadn't seen any sign of it so far.
And if he truly believed in the existence of a world's will, he might as well give up on saving his sister.
Whether for the sake of his family, the world, or the countless people who would be doomed by Creuset's schemes, he had to take action.
With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Fred soon calmed down.
For now, the first priority was to complete the Laurasia research.
That was the foundation of everything—both his future and theirs.
Military balance was essential.
On the other end of the communication, Lacus, having set down the terminal device, was now deep in thought as she looked over Creuset's information.
The details before her were far more comprehensive than what she had sent to Fred.
Yet Fred seemed to know even more than she did.
When he mentioned that Mendel might be attacked, his tone didn't sound like he was lying at all.
She still didn't know whether Blue Cosmos truly intended to attack Mendel, but it sounded like a very real possibility.
As for the research being conducted by GARMR&D Company in Mendel, her information still had many gaps.
Much of it pointed toward something beyond Coordinators, but the data was incomplete in many places, leaving her confused.
It probably wasn't as simple as overcoming fertility issues.
"I'll have to wait for Fred's research to proceed smoothly," Lacus thought to herself.
Just as this thought crossed her mind, a knock on the door broke the quiet atmosphere of the room.
"Miss Lacus, it's time for your vocal lesson."
"Alright, I'm coming."
With that, Lacus hopped down from the chair at the desk, which was a bit too large for her.
Those matters were still too complex for her at the moment.
And now, she had her own responsibilities to attend to.
Just as Fred and her mentor had said, for the sake of peace, she too had things she must accomplish.
...
With the matter of Creuset now somewhat clarified, Fred soon set it aside for the time being.
He threw himself wholeheartedly into his research.
Although he was quite confident in this project, he couldn't afford to relax until the very end.
If anything went wrong, everything in his plans would be delayed—something Fred was unwilling to accept.
During Fred's earnest and diligent efforts, time passed by as the space colony orbited Earth, marking a full week.
Seven days in a week brought little change to the global situation.
However, for scientific research where every second counts, it was more than enough time to achieve something.
Early in the morning, under the glow of countless stars and space colonies, Fred once again arrived at the familiar interior of Jachin Due via shuttlecraft.
This place was already very familiar to Fred.
Yet, within the brightly lit port, the number of people gathered now was noticeably larger than before.
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