"Long time no see."
"…Long time no see."
Watching the two people standing face to face in front of him — who, apart from their clothing, were practically each other's mirror image — exchange that single opening line and then do absolutely nothing else —
"So what's the situation here? Why are these two just locked in a staring contest?"
Geno asked Twiggy in a quiet undertone, since she was off to one side enjoying the show. Twiggy's answer caught Geno a little off guard.
"Neither of these two is the type that's any good at expressing emotion. One overthinks everything, the other underthinks everything. So basically, after the opening line, there's no follow-up."
"Oh, I see…"
Geno had to admit — there was a reason these two had ended up so close.
But why was it that, apart from the very first number and the very last number, the personalities of all the in-between numbered sisters were a complete mixed bag?
"I get the logic — but if I may ask: why does this still have to happen on my couch?"
Belle stared at the whole bunch of people who were clearly treating her place as their own, and the veins on her forehead instantly bulged.
These people had absolutely no sense of personal space!
"Sorry, manager — the truth is, the reason we came over this time is that we have a favor to ask of you guys. Charon—"
"Just call me Trigger. That name… was only borrowed…"
Trigger seemed to recall some less than pleasant memories. Her mood dipped, and even the indicator light beneath her eyepatch dimmed to blue.
"Sorry, Trigger. So — what do you need from us?"
Trigger had actually known the Proxy siblings for many years.
While the two sides hadn't kept in particularly close contact over those years, they certainly couldn't be called strangers either.
"It's like this — when we were heading back into the city center, Number 11 said that to get to see her sister sooner, she wanted to take a shortcut…"
"Ack — I didn't say anything like that!"
Number 11, who had been deep in a contest with Anby of 'whoever blinks first loses,' instantly panicked.
She hurriedly denied Trigger's words — but Anby had already heard them loud and clear.
A look entered Anby's eyes — three parts shock, three parts gratification, three parts joy, and one part milk-and-sugar-added sweetness — leaving Number 11 utterly mortified.
"Harin, you—"
"Don't call me by that name. I'm not that close to you. Traitor!"
"I—"
"Alright! Let's let Trigger finish what she was saying first!"
Seeing things about to spiral into yet another standoff between the dear sisters, Geno really couldn't take any more of the two of them locking eyes with that level of sibling-intensity, and quickly dragged the topic back on course.
"Then let me continue. Anyway — to take that shortcut, Number 11 and I cut through the Hollow, and there we picked up an odd signal…"
Time rewound to three days earlier. At that point, Number 11 and Trigger — both currently inside the Crete Hollow — were walking along, following Carrot's guidance.
But just as they were passing through a stretch of open ground, something unexpected happened.
"Bee-beep-bzzt!"
"Hm? A communicator? But — isn't this place a Hollow? How can there be any signal?"
As everyone knew, Hollows had the property of cutting off all signals. Apart from Phaethon, which possessed the unique HDD system capable of bridging signals between the inside and outside of a Hollow, even the Defense Force had only managed to establish a means of communication strictly within the interior of a Hollow.
The communicator Trigger was carrying was exactly that kind of thing.
She lifted the communicator up with a puzzled look, then pressed the switch to try and pick up the signal on the other end.
[Mole, Mole! Come in if you copy!]
[This is Mouse, sir. I've already lifted the Defense Force's latest intel, including the city-wide defense map for the leadership-election period~~]
Hearing this earth-shattering exchange come out of the communicator, Number 11 was about to explode on the spot — only for Trigger to clap a hand over her mouth.
'Let them finish.'
This was the message Trigger conveyed to Number 11 by mouthing the words.
[Excellent. Your contribution this time is significant. The organization will remember what you have given for us.]
[I will absolutely live up to my mission! But… sir, when do I get to return to my unit?]
[Er, hold on a little longer. The timing isn't quite ripe yet.]
[Wait some more?! We originally agreed I'd be undercover for three years — but then three years became three more years, and three years became three more years again! At this rate I'm about to claw my way into upper management! Boss!]
[Wouldn't that be even better?]
[???????]
Hsss — beep-crackle.
At that point the communicator fell silent and gave no further sound.
But both Number 11 and Trigger were wearing distinctly grim looks at the conversation that had just come through.
This was a communicator for Defense Force use only — and as for this particular channel, while it had been retired long ago, as a veteran of more than a decade Trigger's communicator still kept that channel on file.
From just those few simple lines, the two of them came to a swift judgment.
"There's a mole inside the Defense Force."
"Mm."
"I'm going to go cut him down."
"Get back here!"
Trigger grabbed hold of Number 11, who in full charge-mode was already about to plunge into the depths of the Hollow, and gently coaxed her back.
"Do you even know where the person is?"
Number 11 shook her head.
"Then — do you know who they are?"
Number 11 shook her head again.
"You don't know a single thing — and you were going to go off and cut them down anyway."
Trigger pressed a palm to her forehead. Although the time she'd spent with Number 11 wasn't very long — barely a year and change — this country-bumpkin girl's temperament had left a deep impression on her.
The perfect soldier: speak once and mean it, strict with herself, follow orders to the letter.
But the moment you let her actually use her own head, who knew what bizarre tangent she'd wander off onto.
"So what do we do now?"
The two of them were currently on leave, and weren't carrying any specialized equipment.
On top of that, with no idea yet of the other party's identity, trying to find them based on a single recording was no different from looking for a needle in a haystack.
"We need help — a powerhouse who can move freely through the Hollow without restriction."
So spoke Trigger. Although Number 11 didn't understand, out of trust in her comrade-in-arms, she chose to believe in Trigger.
And what came afterward — was the scene Geno had walked in on.
"So — we're the helpers you were talking about?"
A look of dawning realization crossed Belle's face as she turned to look at Trigger. She honestly hadn't imagined that she and her brother carried that much weight in Trigger's eyes.
"Of course. As the legendary Proxy Phaethon of the Inter-Knot, I'd say there's nobody who knows the Hollow intel scene better than the two of you."
"That's all well and good to say, but even so — what we can actually do is just judge the rough location of the other party from the signal frequency you picked up. As for their identity, and whatever danger might be involved — all of that is completely unpredictable."
Hearing Belle's slightly Versailles-flavored humblebrag of a statement, Geno gave her a great big eye-roll on the spot.
'Just' that? That was literally a lifetime's work for the average Proxy!
Even the investigators at the Hollow Investigator Association couldn't pull off something that impressive.
Trigger, for her part, took Belle's answer with an optimistic attitude.
"That's enough. As for the rest — leave it to me and Number 11. We'll get in touch with the garrison stationed at Hollow Zero, and do our best to obtain their cooperation. As for the mole's identity…"
"Leave that to me. I've got a few connections of my own."
Twiggy, who had been quietly off to the side, opened her little mouth — and the moment she did, she gave everyone a reassuring sense of certainty.
"When did you build up that kind of connections? How is it I didn't know?"
Geno scratched his head, looking at the perfectly calm Twiggy in deep puzzlement. How was it that he'd only been away on one business trip, and come back to find his wife had become this much more impressive?
____
👻🔥+40 ch: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Homelander: Founding the Hero Association
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