episode_0673
by admin
ECHO was an organization established to protect humanity from beings beyond human comprehension.
Over the years, ECHO has directly saved the world by isolating abnormal entities dozens of times.
Social chaos caused by abnormal entities, runaway behavior of affected humans, etc.
If we take into account indirect cases, the number would surely increase several times.
But even if it was an ECHO, it was impossible to protect humanity from all abnormal entities.
Basically, their existence was unknown to the general public, only to heads of government and a few essential associates.
If the public were to learn of the existence of the abnormal entity, there was a risk that society would become paralyzed by fear.
This means that the human and material resources available at ECHO are not infinite.
Of course, there had to be abnormal entities that couldn’t use their hands.
If your identity is revealed to a small number of people, you can cover it up by using money or an abnormal entity with the ability to change perception, but if it is revealed to an unspecified number of people, it becomes difficult to deal with.
In most cases where ECHO was unable to do anything, it was mainly Nadir-class abnormalities.
Things that are unlikely to be exploited or cause significant harm to society even if left alone.
If you were to control all abnormal entities, even if they were Nadirs, the amount of resources needed would increase exponentially, so it was an inevitable choice and focus.
ECHO’s policy was to give up control of some less dangerous anomalies in order to focus on the more dangerous ones.
However, among them, there were cases that ECHO could not isolate even though they had sufficient risk.
A very small number of abnormal entities that could threaten the extinction of humanity by simply attempting to isolate them.
Most of the anomalous entities that pose such a risk are, of course, given the Eidolon status.
A case where the organization’s budget, time, and manpower are eaten up like a bottomless pit without even being able to properly isolate them.
What Emily was talking about was one of those cases.
-… This is the first time that Researcher Emily has expressed her opinion so actively.
-That’s right. Normally, I only write and post analysis reports on abnormal phenomena.
-I understand, Researcher Emily. That’s because the power of the M3772-U2 entity that appeared this time is a special case.
-Honestly, assuming what the report says is true, M3772-U2 could be classified as upper Umbra-class, or lower Eidolon-class, no matter how conservative the criteria are. Maybe even higher.
-One of the humanoid abnormalities, even the abnormality that appeared in M3772 of the Aegis class, is of the Eidolon class…
“… … .”
Emily stood silently, watching ECHO’s senior managers actively exchange ideas with each other.
I just hope they take my opinion into consideration and make a wise decision.
Fortunately, their discussion didn’t last long.
No matter how bureaucratic their attitude may be, they ultimately agree with the goal that all members of ECHO share: to work for humanity.
– First of all, I think positively about establishing the cooperative relationship that the said abnormal entity initially proposed. The results of defeating eight abnormal entities, including the Blade Lord, and even disposing of their corpses cleanly are undeniable.
-That’s right.
-What I like most is that their goal is to return to their original world. Those who could be a danger just disappear of their own accord.
“Then… ”
-but.
A voice from the screen interrupted Emily.
It was a voice that decisively cut off any hope that her opinion would be accepted.
-We have already established regulations prohibiting contact between aberrant entities. I admit that M3772-U2 seems to have friendly feelings towards humans. As evidenced by the fact that he took the initiative to deal with the Blade Lord. However, the fact remains that he is still a humanoid aberrant entity.
-There’s no telling what might happen if you rashly bring it into contact with another abnormal entity.
-This is a separate matter from the favor he has for humans.
-Just like you can’t assign the job of an ammunition depot to a human holding a blazing torch, no matter how good he is at his job.
“But… I think we can somewhat put aside our concerns about such a risk.”
Emily said urgently.
“He has already made contact with the Mirage Mirror, the Blade Lord, and several other anomalous entities. However, the anomalous entities have not displayed any additional anomalous properties beyond their original anomalous properties due to his contact.”
– Just because there have been no problems so far, how can we guarantee that there won’t be any in the future? Researcher Emily knows better than anyone that the most dangerous thing about an abnormal entity is when we are confident that we have figured out its nature. The Blade Lord incident that happened this time was no different. The researchers at the facility rashly thought of using the Temporal Compass to deal with the Blade Lord, which led to trouble. Is there any guarantee that something similar won’t happen to M3772-U2?
“… … .”
-The damage would have been greater if the M3772-U2 hadn’t dealt with the Blade Lord…
“That’s the most important thing!”
Emily, who was speechless with undeniable concern, quickly answered.
There is only one possibility she can hold on to now.
Minho is likely to cooperate with ECHO in destroying the abnormal entity.
Minho, who didn’t know what would happen if the compass of time was destroyed, just retrieved it, would have questioned it if he found out, but Emily firmly believed it.
In a way, the opinion of the higher-ups that nothing should be certain about abnormal entities was correct.
But Emily now didn’t know that.
“Up until now, most of the abnormal entities that ECHO has directly destroyed were Nadir-class. Only a very small number were Aegis-class. However, he destroyed an Umbra-class abnormal entity in one breath. And he even disposed of the abnormal entity’s body without leaving a trace. It’s too bad to kick away a person like this who is offering cooperation first.”
-… … .
Emily’s argument also had some merit.
Site-07, which suffered from a severe manpower shortage due to this incident, has temporarily moved to the management of Site-13, a nearby facility.
That means two facilities will have to go into emergency operating mode for the time being.
In that situation, Minho’s presence, who could relieve the burden on the facility, could certainly be of great help.
Emily spent the next few hours convincing the managers.
And in the end, she was able to get the results she wanted.
I’m talking about the decision to accept Minho’s first offer.
And even access to the anomalies she wanted to contain, if not destroy.
‘at las…’
Although it was difficult to convince the managers, Emily’s eyes sparkled as she finally achieved her goal.
.
.
.
“Then, let’s make time go a little faster… !”
“Okay. Stay far away from me.”
“Yep…!”
Scarlett walked over and clung to the wall.
This was to avoid being influenced by the compass of time as much as possible.
What she’s doing now is a kind of experiment using the corpses of abnormal entities.
The purpose of this experiment was to determine the properties of the metal removed from the Blade Lord’s body.
I checked the metal piece soaked in the acidic liquid and then turned the compass of time.
Woof-
Then he placed the compass next to the piece of metal and approached Scarlett.
The further I got from the compass, the more I felt the flow of time return to normal.
“Wow, that’s really amazing… The time it takes to do an experiment has been shortened this much… ”
“It’s amazing. But it has side effects, so you shouldn’t touch it carelessly. If you do it wrong, you’ll end up a grandma.”
I was planning on keeping it in my inventory when I wasn’t going to use it anyway, but I warned Scarlett just in case.
The image of the researcher who had become a mummy was still vivid in my memory.
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