As the men waited for Axel, he found himself struggling to decide which direction to take. Suddenly, four doors swung open, revealing figures clad in identical silvery armor, the same beautiful face and sporting the same hairstyle. However, their expressions varied widely. One exuded an infectious cheerfulness that seemed to make flowers bloom around her. Another wore an annoyed, pouty expression reminiscent of a spoiled child. A third radiated a motherly warmth, almost saintlike in her demeanor. The last had a disturbing, deranged look, her body shaking as she scanned the surroundings, as if being hunted by someone.
"Line up in front of me, no more than shoulder-width apart," Axel ordered as the four of them gathered around him, awaiting his command. He had anticipated this scenario and had already devised a plan to handle it.
The four figures reacted in unison. The cheerful one beamed, the haughty one snorted in disdain, the saintlike smiled slightly and the shy one shifted awkwardly. Observing their varied reactions made it difficult for Axel to discern which one was genuine and which was a facade. The four Jeannes, recognizing his struggle, displayed another round of differing responses.
"Strip right now if you're willing to die for France," he commanded in a cold tone.
As if synchronized, the four began to remove their armor, layer by layer, until they stood naked before him. Axel hesitated for a moment, momentarily taken aback by the unexpected turn of events. He instinctively adopted a lecherous demeanor. The cheerful Jeanne, sensing an opportunity, lunged towards him, but he quickly halted her.
This caused a flicker of sadness in her bright eyes, while the haughty Jeanne flaunted her assets with a smug grin. The shy one covered her body with her hands, and the motherly figure adopted a prayerful stance, her hands clasped before her. Axel, now sweating profusely, realized that this was the hardest, most bizarre, and mind-boggling task he had ever faced.
He felt as though he was losing his mind. Glancing at the system timer, he saw that he had just over an hour left, which made it clear that he needed to come up with a plan quickly. He instructed the women to place their armor about five meters away and to return to their positions. Despite the gravity of the situation, Axel found it challenging to keep his thoughts from wandering into inappropriate territory as he looked at the young women before him. Taking a deep breath, he reminded himself that the fate of humanity rested in his hands.
"I will perform an operation on the side of your abdomen. It will be excruciating, but it is necessary for the sake of humanity. Anyone who does not wish to comply will have their heads severed immediately," he declared, recalling the regular checks he had performed with the men as he took a firm stance.
The women nodded in agreement, recognizing the seriousness of his tone. Axel began with the cheerful one. As he punctured her side, she winced in pain but held her ground. He carefully examined her vital organs, but he was unsure of the extent of what arcane magic could affect, so he refrained from making any hasty conclusions as this one seemed to have organs that of a human.
He proceeded to perform the same procedure on the other three women. He checked their hearts, lungs, stomachs, intestines, and kidneys, even probing their reproductive organs through the incision. The shy one, overwhelmed by the pain, offered to become his wife before fainting. The other three quickly rallied to wake her up, concerned for her well-being.
The results stunned Axel, he couldn't believe it, but all the women had almost identical sizes, inside and out. For a moment, he wondered if he was simply in a coma, overwhelmed by the stress of his breakup with Elise. Time was slipping away, and he needed to defuse the situation. Unable to come up with a better idea, he asked them to dance and sing, even making them attempt splits. Axel knew he wasn't wasting time, he had witnessed numerous criminals being interrogated, but this was his first time conducting an interrogation himself. He figured that once the women grew tired, he would eventually get the answers he sought.
As he mimicked the interrogation tactics of his former teammates, he encouraged them to play tag while asking random questions. "What's your favorite color? Who is your favorite king? Who slayed Goliath from the scriptures?" It felt like searching for a needle in a haystack. Then, out of the blue, his mind jolted as if struck by lightning. He suddenly remembered that the void codes were used by the system to facilitate communication among operatives. Since she had overheard the information before, he realized that exploiting this knowledge might be the key to breaking the deadlock.
He then looked at the pieces of All Cloak given by Tamaki, it might be an accident or coincidence, but he got about five pieces in his hands. He created three as a blindfold and one as a tent, he then put on another tent for where they will conduct the interrogation.
He then called the shy one first, as she was the last one he had conducted the test on earlier. As he called to her, her face turned pale as if she were going to the slaughterhouse.
She then said, "I… I… I'm still a virgin, brave warrior, please be gentle with me." Hearing this, Axel only looked at her coldly, then he spoke.
"What codes did you hear from the enemy?"
"I… I… I heard them saying they will contaminate France with a plague. They plan to bring the plague to all of Europe first, then spread it in the lands across the seas and the oceans. I… I also heard they plan to conquer the Cassiopeia star system, moving the frontlines in our sea of stars. I am not sure what this meant. Sob. Sob. Sob."
"Don't cry, nobody will hurt you here. Who did you hear it from?"
"Sniff… Sniff… I… It was told to me by Saint Michael, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, and Saint Margaret of Antioch."
Hearing all the questions answered correctly, along with vital information about the invasion in the sea of stars, he sized her up and down. Seeing this, she hid her face in her knees and stayed quiet. She then led her back to the other tent, afterward, he accompanied another lady into the second tent. It was the cheerful Jeanne. Seeing her beaming smile, he then started to ask the same set of questions.
"What codes did you hear from the enemy?"
"Uncle, I heard that the big meanie lizards and the yucky-looking worms are planning something really nasty. They want to put gooey bumps on the people. They said they will go to the ocean and also put it on the fishy, they also said they plan to use this to win in the big game. I also heard they plan to activate one of their baddie hideouts in Juniper, I think? Oh! It was Jupiter! I don't know what that is. Uncle, is this true?"
"Young lady, just answer my questions. Who did you hear it from?"
"It was the kind Guardian Angel Michael, the gentle big sister Saint Catherine, and strong big sister Saint Margaret."
Hearing her vague answers, he knew this one seemed childish, but it seemed to have additional information that they also planned to infect marine life as well as a facility in Jupiter. Thinking about it, he decided to report this to mission control once he finished the mission. Then he called the haughty one. She snorted coldly at him, as if he were too stupid to be there. Seeing this, she couldn't help but recall Phoenix having the same expression every time he called her.
"What codes did you hear from the enemy?"
"Humph! I heard the plan to kill all of mankind in this operation. If you don't understand, then go away!"
"I understand that. Continue."
"I heard the worms carry the virus inside the lizards, and they plan to do this in all of France. Then they will do that in other lands across the ocean and the sea. I also heard they plan to burn me at some stake. Humph! I even heard them say that they plan to have this became a Front Line, it was a loud voice saying go big or go home. I will rip those bastards if they dare harm the people!"
"Young lady, no need for additional comments. Who did you hear it from?"
"I heard it from a broken-hearted Michael, a mischief-loving Catherine, and pouty, hot-tempered Margaret. Any other questions? I'm starting to feel cold without clothes on, you know. Humph!"
"Wait a while longer. It will be done soon," he said to this grumpy Jeanne.
Lastly, he called the saintlike Jeanne. She appeared to be anticipating the questions, and without any hesitation, she followed Axel to the other tent while the other ladies waited in the other tent, still blindfolded.
"What codes did you hear from the enemy?"
"I heard it was a ploy to destroy mankind in all of creation. They plan to infest our bodies with their kind through a disease called the Black Plague. This is but the initial phase, the second phase is that once we have cured the plague, it will still remain in our bodies. But once everyone thinks it is over, a century or a millennia from now, it will erupt like a great flood and kill us all."
Hearing this, Axel felt a shiver run down his spine. He didn't know that the plan would span thousands of years in the making, so he paused for a moment to compose himself, making a mental note that these beings are almost unfathomable, creating thousands of steps ahead to reach a goal of full eradication of mankind.
"Who did you hear it from?"
"It was told to me by Saint Michael, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, and Saint Margaret of Antioch."
With a minute left for him to use his system, now Axel was left with a grappling question, who among them was the impostors and who was the real savior of mankind?
[Mission Duration: 00:49:52 – Currently Ongoing]
[France Time – 23:40]