"It's actually them!"
"This really is... drawing the worst possible lot."
...
As they watched the golden figures in the projection, Murrue and the others felt an inexplicable chill run down their spines. They were shocked to notice that Yang Hui and his companions' expressions had turned extremely grim, even showing traces of fear.
"What exactly are these things?" Murrue asked.
"They're called festum. They're silicon-based lifeforms from another dimension, existing between 'being and nothingness.'"
"Festum..."
"From another dimension..."
"Existing between being and nothingness..."
Even without knowing their specific abilities, this brief introduction alone was enough to terrify Murrue and the others.
"What can they do? Is it some kind of advanced technology we don't understand?" Murrue pressed.
"Advanced technology? Heh, I suppose you could call it that—if creating wormholes with bare hands counts as advanced technology."
"What!?"
Murrue and the others jumped to their feet in shock. Though none present were professional scientists, they all recognized the term "wormhole"—also known as an Einstein-Rosen bridge or space-time tunnel—a hypothetical passage connecting two separate points in space-time.
For the current Gundam SEED world, wormholes remained purely theoretical concepts. Their very existence hadn't been proven, let alone the idea of creating them with bare hands.
"Never mind, you'd better see for yourselves." Yang Hui admitted that wormhole technology was too advanced for even his partial understanding. Instead, he pulled up some records stored in Prometheus Fortress, letting them witness firsthand why resistance might be futile.
As the footage played, their jaws dropped. It truly was hand-created wormholes—no, the festum didn't even use hands. Just a dark glow from part of their bodies, and spherical wormholes would swallow their enemies whole.
Note: swallowed, not destroyed. Like something had taken a bite out of them, with everything above the missing section simply vanishing to who-knows-where.
The spherical wormholes appeared without any warning. One moment the festum glowed darkly, the next enemies were being consumed—too sudden to even dodge.
"And this isn't even the most terrifying thing about festum," Yang Hui said gravely.
"That's not the worst!?"
"Correct. The most horrifying aspect is assimilation."
"Assimilation?"
"Festum operate as a hive mind with collective consciousness—the one is all, and all are one. Assimilation transforms enemies into their kind while stealing their hearts. It manifests as mental interference, typically through questions. During combat, if you suddenly hear a voice asking 'Are you there?', that's the start of assimilation. Any response—and I mean any—triggers the phenomenon."
"This..."
"And that's just one method. Others include physical contact with their Mobile Suits, mind interference and inducement, forced assimilation, and more."
"Although it hasn't been completely assimilated and is treatable... we currently don't have the corresponding treatment methods. Moreover... we still lack defensive technology against wormhole attacks..."
Yang Hui also wore a troubled expression. He truly hadn't expected to encounter enemies of festum caliber in just the third world. In the early stages of the Fafner in the Azure world, there were no means of resistance either. Once assimilation began, it was essentially a death sentence, and there was no defense against wormhole attacks—only evasion was possible.
It wasn't until Makabe Akane—or rather, Mjolnir, who had assimilated Makabe Akane—delivered a wealth of technology to Tatsumiyajima that they gained the scientific means to treat assimilation and defend against spherical wormholes.
Yang Hui knew festum had different factions, including those that sought communication and coexistence with humans. But... the mission had made it abundantly clear—the enemy was hostile, leaving no room for dialogue or coexistence. He didn't dare hope that a peaceful faction of festum would come offering aid.
"Damn it!" Mu slammed his fist heavily on the table. "Are we just supposed to wait for death!?"
"Calm down, Mu! There's still a chance. The hidden festum is currently in a dormant state. Our top priority is to locate and destroy it before it exposes this world's coordinates."
"Wait, Yang Hui—how did you know they were in this world?" Athrun suddenly asked.
"..." Yang Hui didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked at Kira.
Kira's heart skipped a beat under that gaze. Connecting it with the distant explosions from the Marshall Islands defense line, a terrible suspicion formed in his mind.
"You all know Mentor Malchio, right?"
"It can't be him!"
"...Malchio Rector. His real name is Orwell Navia—the second prince of the Kingdom of Scandinavia, who mysteriously disappeared fifty years ago. He's also the younger brother of the current king, Olf Navia. He was assimilated."
"What!?"
"How is that possible? If he was assimilated, why haven't we been affected after years of contact with him?" Lacus asked. Among those present, Kira and Lacus had interacted with Mentor Malchio the most—along with Kira's adoptive parents, Athrun's mother, Flay, and her unborn child. Yet none of them had experienced any discomfort or mental erosion.
"At the first sign of assimilation, he fled the Kingdom of Scandinavia and concealed his identity. For decades, he resisted the erosion through sheer willpower... until today. He could hold on no longer, and I had no choice but to eliminate him completely." Yang Hui spoke regretfully. Anyone who could suppress assimilation for decades through willpower alone deserved his respect.
"So that's why you ordered all forces to cut communications—to prevent the spread of assimilation!" Sumeragi realized, connecting it to the earlier complete communications blackout around the Marshall Islands. Now it all made sense.
"We must sever the connection. Once assimilation begins to spread, the consequences will be catastrophic." Yang Hui shook his head. Drawing from the Arctic battle tactics of Fafner in the Azure, he implemented complete radio silence across all units—no one could contact anyone else. This way, if anyone heard voices questioning them, they'd know it had to be festum.
"What should we do now?" Natarle Badgiruel asked Yang Hui. Setting aside the truth about Prometheus Fortress and Yang Hui's group, if the festum situation wasn't handled properly, it would lead to global annihilation. If the world ended, none of those other matters would matter anymore.
"Most of LOGOS's secret research facilities and hidden bases have been uncovered. The remaining ones are under urgent investigation. Durandal from PLANT is our collaborator—he needs two months to prepare. That gives us enough time to locate every last stronghold. We can't afford to miss a single one, especially where that festum is hidden within the palace. We must find out."
"Don't worry. No matter where it's hiding, I'll track it down," Creuset assured. He now understood the gravity of the situation. If Yang Hui's mission failed, the world's destruction meant nothing to him—but being unable to follow Yang Hui and witness countless new horizons was an unacceptable outcome.
"The last piece is the widespread deployment of the Quasi-GN Drives. Let's hope we're not too late."
(End of Chapter)