May poked into another room. She had left the alterations room behind awhile ago, but it turned out to not be the only workroom on the floor. There had been a few others on the first floor of this suspicious building. She had also found a weird break room, a cafeteria, and she had even found the medical ward. They had a few beds for workers to rest on, and were well equipped. It made sense to have one nearby, in case of an accident as well.
As for the breakroom, the floor was very soft and padded. It had a number of cushions scattered about to serve as seating. There were a few shelves, and drawers against the one wall, but she hadn’t looked in them. At the time she found it, there was only a single Neku in there. She wasn’t doing much but lying there on a cushion looking a bit flushed and exhausted. The weirdest part was the smell.
She had since moved on from the first floor, and was now exploring the second. Naturally, she was maintaining her cloak. The second floor had more workrooms up here, not all of them were in use though. Some were currently empty, standing ready to be used when needed. This latest room she had found turned out to be a bathroom. She had found a few scattered around the building.
After a quick glance around, she slipped back out. So far she hadn’t heard or seen anything to answer her questions. There was nothing she had seen to explain why they were altering items, but she was not yet ready to give up on answers.
She turned a corner, and made her way down the hall. Suddenly she heard something. It was coming from ahead. So May picked up her pace. The sounds grew louder, resolving into a familiar mix of sounds. She had a feeling about what she was going to see.
She reached an open door, and she was greeted with the sight of two Neku workers grinding against each other. Their heated bodies moaned in pleasure. They were sprawled on the floor of what looked to be an office. The terminals were still active, while they were embroiled in bringing each other to the heights of passion.
May watched for a moment, as they continued to grind their genitals against each other. While the girl on top was also fondling the girl below. It took a moment, but she noticed that the girl below was using the tip of her finger to scratch at their pussies as they rubbed back and forth. Then suddenly she stopped and arched her back while fluid gushed from below, as the girl on top tugged at her nipple.
May blinked. The sight gave her an idea about why the breakroom she saw earlier was the way it was. She stopped watching and turned to one of the active terminals.
Approaching them, she looked them over. Only to find little of interest. It turned out to be nothing more than a schedule. It was a schedule for when certain boxes were to be retrieved for alterations. On the next terminal, she found a workroom rotation schedule.
It didn’t seem that she was going to find answers in this room. So she ignored the lovemaking pair and slipped out of the room. Planning to keep looking.
Searching the area, she found several offices around her. It seemed that most of the terminals were not active at the moment. Those that were only had inconsequential stuff that dealt with running the place. She did find a few documents in one office detailing instructions on new boxes to be altered, and how their contents were to be altered. A nearby terminal had someone’s half worked out schedule for that showing on screen, but the worker had not been around at the time.
As the hours were growing late, she finally made her way out of the facility. She had decided that it wasn’t going to shed much more light on what they were doing. The place had brought as many questions as it answered. Unfortunately to really know what they were doing was going to require more than simply observing.
Making her way past the other fence she checked the time, and realized that she was later than she thought she would be. Kiru should be about done with her shift around now, and she was going to be late getting back to the apartment unless she hurried. Cursing in her mind she hurried along.
Qei stepped out onto the street feeling good. At the moment Kiru was the only one who had a job in the city to worry about, but that might change soon. Her interview had run long, but she thought it went well.
Even if it didn’t, it was not going to be a huge loss. It wasn’t much of a job really. The local grocer was apparently hiring and she had applied for a cashier position. There were a few other applicants as well that they were considering. The job would be part time just like Kiru’s, just different hours. It would also pay better, and she knew some people liked to talk to the clerks.
She knew it was a stretch but maybe she would hear something interesting while she was there. Even if she didn’t, they could use the credits. Sure Megumi could add some credits to their account if they really needed that, but Qei knew that was not something to rely on.
Unfortunately, their spy work did not put food on the table because of that. It was just a problem they had to deal with, but they did need to blend in. Having jobs would help with that.
Glancing at the clock, she noted it was best to head back to the apartment. Kiru would be getting off soon, and then they would be sharing their days. Feeling good about her day, she headed off towards the apartment.
After the bulk of the patrons had left, Kiru found herself polishing a table by the entrance as the evening was coming to a close. There were only a handful of people left eating, and it would not be long before closing. She had made some good tips as well during the busy hour, and heard something that piqued her interest. It seemed a new ‘fertility’ clinic was opening on the north side of the city. A few of the patrons were discussing it. Trying to decide if they wanted to check it out or not. Remembering what happened in her own past. Kiru wondered if it was really a fertility clinic, or something else. It seemed to her it was more likely to be something other than what the locals thought, with some other nefarious purpose being served.
Suddenly the entry door chimed. Someone was coming in. She didn’t glance at the door as it wasn’t her job to greet the patrons, but a moment later she was wishing she had. As she was suddenly caught quite off guard by a familiar voice. One that didn’t belong to any of her friends.
“I thought I sensed you in here. So you're my shadow.”
That wasn’t a question but a statement. Kiru looked up feeling a lump in her stomach to see that very same Iniri that she had followed the first day, and had been with earlier today. Alarms rang in her head. This wasn’t good. This was not good at all.
Maybe if she had looked up she would have had a chance to disappear, but now that was no longer an option. “Um,.. yes?!” she squeaked.
“So you can speak. I didn’t realize you were a Neku though.” she paused and looked her over. “Although clearly not an ordinary one. So what are you doing waiting tables?”
“My uh, job?” she replied still not quite certain about what was going on.
The Iniri girl slipped into a chair, and gestured at the chair opposite with a tentacle. While using a second to flag over one of her coworkers. Understanding the gesture she sat.
Her coworker arrived a moment later, and the Iniri said, “We would like two of the chef’s special.”
Her coworker, acting as if nothing was strange about that, said ‘Certainly, and would you like anything to drink?”
The Iniri replied, “Just water.”
She nodded and went off to do as requested. Then the Iniri girl turned back to her, and said, “I figure we might as well have this conversation over a meal.”
She didn’t know what to say so said nothing. The Iniri shrugged, “Anyway we haven’t been properly introduced now have we? I am Qelu, and you are?”
Kiru wasn’t sure what she would have expected to happen after being found like this, but a casual conversation was certainly not it. “Kiru,” she replied quietly.
Qelu smiled, “Kiru, eh?” Lovely name for a shy beauty like you. I am still wondering what you are doing here waiting tables. Someone like you could have surely found better employment elsewhere?”
Kiru was quiet for a moment not quite sure what to say, and then after a moment she let out a breath. “Well, um. I only recently arrived in the city. This was the best I could find on short notice.”
“I see, interesting,” she replied just as their food arrived. A plate of fried fish served atop pasta with a red sauce. Her coworker placed a plate down in front of each of them, and a glass of water.
Qelu thanked the waitress, who left to deal with one of the other customers here at this hour. Kiru actually was honestly hungry, but she hesitated to actually touch the plate. Qelu immediately started by mixing her pasta and sauce. Moving the fish to the side. Then she said, “If you are worried about who is paying, don’t. I am. Consider it a treat, if you will.”
She blinked, “You are paying? I don’t see a credit chit with you though?”
Qelu giggled, “I have one,” she replied and produced it from seemingly nowhere.
“I see,” she replied, and finally touched her offered food.
The two ate in silence for a few moments before the Iniri girl, Qelu, spoke up. “You mentioned you are new to the city, but you do seem to get around. Find me interesting or something?” As she said that she moved in a way that seemed cute.
Kiru didn’t say anything, but Qelu must have noted something as she said, “I’ll take that as a yes. Anyway, you aren’t like the other Neku I have met. Most I can read like an open book, but you not so much. Any idea why that is?”
Kiru frowned, “Not going to drag me off to the clinic to find out?”
Qelu giggled, “That would be boring. Nah, I’m sure I could figure it out on my own.”
Kiru took a bite, and after a moment she shrugged. “Maybe.”
Qelu stretched a little, “Anyway it’s actually kind of nice to find someone I can’t read. Those inspections as I said can also get quite boring.”
“Yeah, I saw, some of them did seem similar.” Then with a bit of worry creeping into her tone from here, she wondered, “So uh, what happens now?”
Qelu frowned, “Hm?”
“Your kind normally make my kind forget our encounters with you...” she elaborated.
“Oh that.” she replied. “Yeah that is true of normal Neku, but we both know you aren’t normal.”
Now Kiru really didn’t know what to think about this encounter. Before she could really consider a response or figure out where this was going, Qelu said, “Stand up, and take those off. I want to see you.”
She blinked, “Um, uh?”
Qelu frowned, “Please? Stand and take those off?”
Kiru sighed, still a bit confused, but she stood anyway. Not sure where this was about to go, and began to take them off. She blushed. It just didn’t seem right to be naked here. She set the waitress uniform aside neatly on the stool. Qelu stood and looked her over.
After a moment she walked around her before coming back to the front. “Yeah I thought so. You said earlier that this was the best job you could find on short notice. Why don’t you work for me? I could use someone that I can actually talk to during these inspections, and it will pay better than this shitty job. You won’t have to wear any stupid clothing either. So it will be a much better job all around.”
Kiru froze...
Why don't you work for me?
Uh, think about it? There are upsides...
There's a saying: keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I can't think of a finer example.
Fine example indeed. Best part both parties can benefit!
@JCountry In my opinion, their race violated several treaties by using the Niku as a third party and launching an attack against a more advanced race, the Dragon, and they can be punished with the annihilation of their race and the removal of their specie from the sector.
It could also take possession of the Niku race as a race under the Soleanos and Dragons protectorate, which is legally a direct aggression against two predecessor races, which legally allows the eradication of the invasive race.
other option they can also be punished for causing war between primitive species.
@Dreckons
As to the most recent Neku misadventure involving a dragon. The dragons don't care, and certainly wouldn't fault either the Iniri or Neku for that, as they prefer to keep things.... Ambiguous where the Younger races are concerned as it basically gives dragons the freedom to do as they please. Which generally doesn't mean good things for the younger races should a dragon be so inclined.
Besides which, it's a safe bet that particular fight was a certain dragon "accidentally" (on purpose) deciding to set up a nest exactly where a large Neku armada had been assembled at the time. That the system in question was a strategically important choke point for a Neku offensive against the Erali which also boasted several habitable worlds which hadn't been settled yet certainly "never" would have crossed the mind of that particular dragon.
As to something else you kind of stumbled into...
Chapters 61 and 62 on Patreon offer a significant tease on those things
Errr... what? That Kiru bit is totally dumb, please retcon. Now she's been identified the entire infiltration must be assumed compromised and they must assume any information they gather from this point on is fake or at least doctored.
Qelu only has to communicate with her people, if she doesn't currently have an open communication line like wearing a wire, and the whole organisation will know they've been infiltrated. They must surely have measures and protocols in place to deal with infiltration after they infiltrated and took control over Neku society. This isn't a chance to gather any real intel, it's a chance for the naive and barely trained Kiru to make mistakes and give out intel while learning nothing they can trust in return. She's also totally let Qelu set the pace and control the situation, without the competence to do so on purpose to drop Qelu's guard.
The only possible way it could have turned out okay is if Kiru somehow mimicked a normal Neku enough to convince Qelu she was mistaken or the spy she sensed had copied this person's mental imprint or something. Even cloaking and running away as soon as she heard Qelu's voice wouldn't have worked - this is a high-tech society being completely monitored and controlled by a malicious organisation, so Kiru's appearance and residence will be recorded along with the appearances of her close companions.
Maybe there's a chance that killing Qelu in a way that isn't immediately and obviously a result of Kiru's actions (like shooting her) could work out, at least in the short-term, assuming she isn't in live communication with her people at this very moment.
At any rate, sticking around at this point is just dumb. Qelu has successfully thrown Kiru off balance and now Kiru has apparently mentally frozen. Getting back in control without even further compromising any more attempts at infiltration will be nearly impossible for Kiru, she's just putting herself and the other two at greater and greater risk every second she remains. Just cut the losses and get out of that city before you f*ck up even more, girl.
Making a couple of assumptions there...
@JCountry well, yes, I am. Based on everything you've written in the chapters so far, because I don't have access to your notes and thoughts about the rest of the story.
@Ultrabenosaurus True, you don't have access to those.
@JCountry my guess is a play along while the others go to ground and an extraction team is prepared. Then when confirmation that only one is aware they extract her. If all are aware they all E&E.
@MajorMagers I love theories, keep them coming
@JCountry ok then. They just found a 5th column in the alien organization. Rebellious citizens about to take it to the man. Maybe because she is stronger than the others and they keep their own people controlled as well.
@MajorMagers Interesting
You're making a lot of assumptions about the Iniri and how they operate there. And in some cases, fleeing is the worst option, as that likely will guarantee that it gets reported up the chain of command. While "playing along" has risks, they're ones they have every reason to believe that can be managed.
The technology and capabilities gap is simply too large. The only Iniri advantage at present is the Iniri can psychicly sense the bionoids even when stealthed in some limited circumstances, which is meaningless in an armed confrontation.
@notaid only one so far is documented to have the ability to sense them in stealth.
Running at this point makes a statement of hostility. Playing along while a huge risk, shows compliance.
When they leave there would likely be tests of loyalty of some such arranged by the Inari government if they are the ones putting this meeting together. Most likely they hit her with a stunner and bag her up for study as an anomaly they can't control.
If there is no government backing for the meeting then there could be tests but it would be much less likely for a bag and tag to happen. The longer that they are in contact the more risk both parties will accumulate. Flip side is the infiltration team can bag and tag once a schedule is formed for the new boss and they know a time she can be away for a few days.
As she has been almost outed at this point she needs to find out if the government knows or not. If they do all of them with a simple search will be compromised, best course is to get out of dodge. 3 people do not fight a planet.
@MajorMagers you're forgetting about Megumi in orbit. The three of them can fight an entire planet.
Even in the event that the Iniri did somehow get the drop on the three of them, there is nowhere the Iniri are likely to be able to take them that Megumi cannot track. If Megumi can find them, Megumi can rescue them. So it all comes back to Megumi, who can likely take on their entire solar system and walk away without a scratch to the paint on her ship. It isn't even a contest. Yes, stealth is her preferred option here, but fleeing just means they have to immediately go to another far less stealthy plan in any case.
@notaid you're forgetting the point is to figure out what has been done to the Neku and rescue them, not fight the entire planet which at this point seems to still be 99% Neku.
@notaid accidents can happen and so reducing risk on a stealth op is pretty important. Who knows if the Inari use some sort of nural scrambling weapons and maybe all three of them are unrecoverable due to brain damage. We don't know and neither does the infiltration team so they have to plan for it. If the big guns have to be brought in before mission completion then they have failed. Technically they have already as at least one has had their cover blown. It is all down to how the Inari girl reacted and how they deal with her now that she knows.
@MajorMagers Honestly, a failure in stealth would only mean a forced switch into plan b
@JCountry plan b in a stealth op is E&E because you are probably dead. Unknown number of enemy combatants, Unknown capabilities, far behind enemy lines, total fighting force three people. Even escape would be hard at this point if the government knows.
She will have to play along and spread false information like not being related to the other two. This will only work if the government doesn't know and the Inari is naive. (Auto correct says Inari lol silly phone)
If the government does know there would be fixers fixing before she leaves the building because someone immune to mind manipulation would be scary to a society that uses that for control. An inherently hostile element to a mind controlling government.
The exceptions I can think of would be the government is doing this for the good of the mind controlled people. (Yeah right) we can probably very accurately guess that they are not benevolent as they took a peaceful people and made them go to war. Also slavery is typically bad. The other exception would be they found a 5th column in the Inari people willing to use them to bring their own government down.
Of course we are applying real life to fantasy :)
@MajorMagers We are. Which brings to mind the other factors. Kiru, May, and Qei are not the only boots on the ground, they merely make up one cell or an unspecified number. In addition, Megumi is in orbit and she is a battleship with a fair number of toys at her disposal. Including drones, and knowledge of mind control herself. So Plan B need not be an E and E for her
@MajorMagers you're conflating multiple types of espionage and spycraft.
If we were talking about a SEAL team operating somewhere they're not supposed to be at, then E&E would be the priority. Except the SEAL's are dealing with "near peer" operations and the prospect of very limited outside support. Not applicable to the case here. There is no "near peer" to Megumi operating in the area, and while Megumi would prefer to not get noticed by the Iniri, she also doesn't need to care about "plausible deniability" either.
The you have the intelligence gathering operations outside of military forces. In those cases, things shift more to exploring what the limits, capabilities, and reactions of the opposing force are to different scenarios. If you're in the position to believe you safely keep your operatives in play and wait to see what plays out, you do so, as that is more information.
You're also grossly overplaying the idea that escalation would immediately result in Megumi having to fight "the entire planet." In order to extract them should the need arise, especially as a potential first hostile contact scenario.
The hostile contact team/group would likely involve only dozens of people should they believe the problem is "just 3 people." From there, you have Megumi send a combat team in with a stealth craft, go shock-and-are against that small group threatening that intelligence cell, and pull them out under stealth. All the Iniri would learn in that scenario is that their capture team was incapacitated/killed in virtually no time flat, and that whomever those spies belonged to has a clear technological edge over them.
It isn't like they'd be deploying their version of the 10th Infantry Division to capture three people, with the rest of the global defense force on high alert to provide support if called upon. (And ignores the practical matter of their ability to provide "timely response" as chance are the stealth shuttle(s) could initiate an attack and pull out before a ready response team could even finish boarding their alert craft to travel to where they're needed.) Those would be things they'd be placing under "lessons learned" for future encounters, not their first encounter.
Being a race of psionics, their initial tendency is to likely believe the stealth ability observed to date is a psionic one in nature given the lack of obvious technology use, and the three individuals involved being related plays very well to that option. That they're also apparently Neku also tends to rule out their being likely to suspect that they're spies for another more advanced power. That this is also the Neku Homeworld, and that the Iniri seem well established there likely plays into the next factor, they're probably using their own tech to augment the Neku defenses, as they failed to detect Megumi's arrival in system, they have no reason to be on alert for outsiders, so no need to push any kind of alarm/urgency down to the lower ranks.
This means there is a strong chance that most Iniri encountering what has been shown so far is likely to write it off as "unique mutations" that have occurred, possibly as a result of what they've been doing, which granted those Neku a rather unique ability. So rather than alarm, the response would be curiosity, at least until they become aware of more people demonstrating comparable traits... and so long as they think they can personally manage the group that is showing such traits, there would be little reason to push the information up the chain with any urgency, and said chain, once aware, is also likely to only show passing curiosity about the matter--so long as it remains isolated. Now the science types would undoubtedly be highly interested, but that becomes a matter of how well the Iniri Administrative back-end works, but given Megumi was unable to even detect their presence, that suggests they're not keeping extensive networked databases lying around. Meaning such information is likely to move very slowly, assuming the mid-tier supervisors bother to relay the information at all.
@notaid mostly I agree but at the same time you are forgetting some stuff.
They have a planet or more full of hostages. It is bad to be a hostage. The crew has to keep this in mind and would be one of the reasons that the stealth approach is the correct one.
How much sensitive data alone could be deleted once they know that their computer systems could have been compromised? How much Intel could be fed to megumi? At the point of the Inari government knowing the team exists all Intel becomes suspect.
Data would be gathered on behavior of known team members to run analysis on other suspected infiltrators potentially outing all the teams.
The moment that megumi shows up, all combatants go to high alert and contingency plans start rolling due to a ship getting to where it should not have. At this point no one knows if the contingency plan is nuke every thing. Remember they are at war. They do have all the plans if the are advanced enough to get to space.
Seal is strike op stuff even recon is get in, task, get out. This is more spy stuff. Long term, no support, live like the locals, hope we don't have a problem because nukes could be tossed around if you mess up. Undercover cops in cartels.
No support because as soon as a team disappears the satellite watching it is going to make automated reports about them vanishing. So no stealth shuttle strike teams taking down the other strike team. Would be just as bad as megumi showing up over the city. Worse if the satellite showed all good but the team was gone. Shows that the systems are hacked.
@MajorMagers That presumes peer-level control for both sides. In this case, Megumi is superior vastly superior. Let's presume for whatever reason a strike team is deployed. Numbers are going to be small, and information would not be widespread on the issue. Its entirely possible for a well-placed stealth team to neutralize the strike team, and perform short-term memory wipes. In any case, this is an opportunity with manageable risks.
@JCountry if it were any of them but Kiru, I could probably agree with the "manageable risks" take. But what we've seen of Kiru is, quite frankly, disappointing and I was already suspect of Megumi deeming her ready for this kind of mission. Kiru has been hesitant at best for most of her non-physical training and we've been shown several occurrences of her failing to look up or learn what is basic knowledge to her classmates, after rejecting the memory upload. Her mental state has been all over the place due to what she's been through, understandably, but she really hasn't properly recovered - for a people so keen on mental states and techniques like the Soleans, Megumi has really dropped the ball with Kiru.
She's clearly not ready for this kind of infiltration mission, as she's totally lost control the instant she heard Qelu's voice and hasn't even slightly regained control of her faculties, never mind the situation, the entire time since. This isn't a manageable risk, it's already an embarrassing and obvious failure.
There's simply no reality where you don't take serious measures after finding your secret empire-controlling psychic organisation infiltrated by operatives with sophisticated stealth abilities and practical immunity to your race's innate psychic abilities upon which your entire organisation is based. For such people, Kiru's existence would be deeply unsettling at the very least, if not down right horrifying and triggering a kneejerk fear / disgust response, kind of like the uncanny valley for us humans.
I honestly won't believe you when, inevitably, plot armour saves the day and Kiru miraculously doesn't give away important information and / or Qelu incompetently underestimates the situation and makes the totally dumbass mistake of not reporting things properly up the chain.
I'll keep reading because I like your work overall, but this arc - or at least this part of it - is just flat out inconsistent with the rest of the story and worldbuilding you've shown us so far.
@Ultrabenosaurus You forgot the other possibility, but its nice to hear feedback
@Ultrabenosaurus you are ascribing far more competence and capability upon the Iniri than has been shown in story. To the knowledge of the Iniri, they are the most powerful psionics in that Galaxy. (as the races there don't view Dragon's as an intelligent Elder or Ancient race, and they don't know about Megumi’s full capabilities)
As "the most powerful psionics" that leaves open the door to considerable hubris, especially when they don't actually hold that position. Most problems have a psionic solution for them, especially as it relates to mental manipulation.
As to the Neku Homeworld, it is evident they have(well, had) things well in hand there and part of what you are seeing is that the Neku Homeworld is considered to be an informal training ground for young Iniri with very lax "trainer supervision" in most places, at least where matters you're bringing up are concerned.
There isn't supposed to be any threats operating on the Neku Homeworld that would make such attentions necessary from the Iniri. You're trying to make the Iniri that Kiru encountered into battle hardened (counter-)intelligence types when the reality is that Qelu probably better conforms to being an Academy Cadet, and her immediate supervisors are presumably just higher ranking academy cadets for this comparison.
There is a reason for that, it's just going to be a long while before the story gets to it. Part of the reason should be pretty evident though if you think about it, they're trying to pacify not just one planet, but an entire empire as they're trying to do some other things as well. Can you say "overextended?"
@notaid I have no idea where 75% of your assertions come from; we certainly haven't been told any of that about the Iniri in the published chapters so far.
You also seem to be making massive assumptions about how this race and organisation think and operate, and how lax their opsec would be in one of the most important parts of their operation: control of the Neku homeworld. Unless controlling the Neku is a game to them, and not some grand plan they committed to.
Most problems have a psionic solution for them, especially as it relates to mental manipulation.
This is also part of my point: entities like Kiru and her "sisters" who are completely immune to innate and otherwise overwhelming mental abilities and are capable of almost totally concealing themselves would be a fundamental, existential threat to a race like the Iniri. It must trigger something akin to the uncanny valley or a stronger survival / disgust response, *now that Qelu knows it exists and has / should report to her superiors immediately* if she isn't the universe's biggest moron and / or a traitor to what the Iniri are doing.
There isn't supposed to be any threats operating on the Neku Homeworld that would make such attentions necessary from the Iniri.
I'm sorry, but what? How the hell did you come to that conclusion? There would be no threats, infiltration attempts, spies, specops attacks, etc., on the homeworld of an empire that is militaristic and antagonistic to their neighbours? They're literally driving intergalactic war and conquest via a literal puppet state, and you say they have no expectation of threat on that state's homeworld? Not even the Iniri homeworld, which I would understand given their controlling from the shadows shtick, but on the Neku homeworld? Really? This is basically the most critical location to their plans!
I'm not "trying to make the Iniri that Kiru encountered into battle hardened (counter-)intelligence types", merely give them the benefit of the doubt that they aren't fantastically incompetent and comically below the level of even a Scooby Doo villain.
@Ultrabenosaurus well he has had the benefit of extra information.
Of course they would expect a threat on the homeworld, but Kiru's presence comes from a completely unexpected direction. One they would not be on guard for. The ones looking for spies would not be looking in a random diner.
Also they are not completely immune, just really hard to read. And you are forgetting that they may also find them being so hard to read as a curiosity. Keep in mind, we are talking about an entire species, not an organization, and not a single being. You are going to see differing reactions from one individual to another. One person might be alarmed while another will be intrigued or even enamored by an oddity like this. people are not one-dimensional. Also I actually discussed this chapter and the following ones along with the plot points extensively to create something that feels real.
@JCountry I'm not trying to say there is no individuality among the Iniri or anything similar. I just don't see how the current situation makes any sense given the following assertions based on information from the published chapters so far, which seem like pretty obvious common sense IMO:
1) there are no Iniri civilians present, only those actively employed in a military operations to subvert and control the Neku into conquering / annihilating other races
2) controlling the Neku into conquering / annihilating other races may not be their ultimate goal but is critical to achieving the end goal, hence not also infiltrating the other race that woke up Megumi but instead having the Neku go out to annihilate them
3) the Iniri sent to the literal centre of this plan, the Neku homeworld, would be notably above basic training in order to ensure their loyalty and ability to not f*ck up and to be trusted with potentially sensitive information regarding the Iniri race and their plan, and have been instructed on basic opsec like what to do if infiltrated by competent spies
4) it's natural for such operatives to specifically be on guard for anything odd that might compromise the plan
5) a Neku capable of extreme stealth, extreme resistance to Iniri mental abilities, and a track record for infiltrating and spying on Iniri activities would be an oddity capable of compromising the plan to literally *subvert and control the entire Neku race*
6) letting such an oddity, known to have "sisters", go free after letting her know her identity is compromised is likely to instigate an escape at least, if not be an early trigger for whatever they were planning to instigate with their spying and infiltrating (from an Iniri operative / not-brain-dead member of a secret-plot-to-literally-mind-control-an-entire-species-into-galactic-war point of view)
7) when their operations are proven compromised, such as the aforementioned oddity with at least 2 known accomplices having infiltrated Iniri facilities and stalked Iniri operations, a competent organisation with more than 2 brain cells between all members would employ measures to neutralise the risk and disseminate misinformation to thwart other spies
8) Qelu isn't a traitor / apathetic to the Iniri's plan and / or totally absolutely stupid
If any of those assertions are wrong, as must be the case, then I can only assume I have drastically misunderstood the previous chapters, or the reality of the situation hasn't been explained / foreshadowed very well at all. I just don't see how an operation of that scale and scope would be staffed by untrained morons or civilians.
@JCountry
Keep in mind, we are talking about an entire species, not an organization, and not a single being.
Wait, so the Iniri on the Neku homeworld aren't people specifically trained / recruited for the job with a proper organisational structure in place to manage them and the overall plan, but literally the entire Iniri species just playing around?
@Ultrabenosaurus can't address most of those points because it is spoiler territory, even for the Patreons.
That said, the established material has hinted at something as well.
The Neku are not the "biggest fish" the Iniri have on their proverbial hook. There also are "reasons" why the Iniri are specifically interested in the Neku.
Not so clearly shown yet: The Iniri are also decades into their infiltration of the Neku Homeworld, which is why they've largely written off potential threats coming from a Neku. They have already "gone over" the planetary population in the past, and have control of the (known) entry/exit points for the Neku visiting that world.
@Ultrabenosaurus The Iniri live there just as much as the Neku do. Something that will become apparent over the next few chapters.
@JCountry man this particular thread has blown up for one on this site. Now I just have to wait a while and find out at your leisure what will happen.
@MajorMagers It has, alright. It really has. Which just goes to show how much interest the chapter created.
@Ultrabenosaurus coming back to this, there is a bit of a foreshadowing challenge here
as the matter of "how do you communicate that secretive takeover of the Neku government by another soecies has been underway for decades, and they've left no documentation trail that Megumi has been able to find/hack into as of yet" presents a rather big hurdle.
As currently Megumi and her operatives haven't found a way to discover how long this effort has been underway, so they don't know. (They cannot share the knowledge with the reader)
For that matter, most of the Iniri on the Neku Homeworld don't know either, but that's mostly because they don't care, they just know it has been going on since before they were born.
So yes, it ends up looking like retcons to cover sloppy writing, when the "sloppiness" was creating a setting where communicating what's going on cannot be fully communicated until after the fact. (And really, having Megumi hack the information up front nullifies most of the point of the infiltration mission as well)
@MajorMagers @JCountry
a restaurant, a spy and a mind controller and a bunch of innocent customers if there are salmon sandwiches on the menu this will be a cliche scene.
I wonder if kiru can do the same as "AbysGate" and knock out everyone by putting salmon sandwiches in their mouths (reference to the arifureta novel and the extra chapters of the AbysGate saga in brittany)
Gran Capitulo.
@Dreckons Afraid there are no salmon sandwiches...
@JCountry sorry, but when you are a spy, and get yourself spotted.... the first thing to think is the worst. So yeah, what said ultranausor make full sense. Make the supposition make sense. Acte on them make sense.
Acte like the girly like she does? It's make no freaking sense at all
@Ombre37 It will as more information becomes available to the reader
@Ombre37 if you get spotted, you "hope for the best, but plan for the worst." Megumi has the worst case scenarios covered, it isn't even a contest.
Which leaves her operatives to try to carry out "hope for the best" and try to distract/divert attention away from themselves if possible. Or in the worst case, focus attention on them so other spies have more room to operate. (Part of the real-world spycraft game includes the use of spies known-to-be-known by the other side)
Any operator that panics is an operator that won't be long in the field.
@notaid Quite true! and in this scenario Kiru and Co are acting to attract attention
@Dreckons never read abys gate but did some of arifureta a long time ago.
@notaid what you say here is very fitting, as in this chapter it very much looks like all Kiru does is panic and react poorly.
Any operator that panics is an operator that won't be long in the field.
Even after all this time, I still stand by my original take and my assertion to Kiru's incompetence; and, thus, Megumi's incompetence in deeming her ready and mentally healed for this mission. This scene seems to have been written with the bias of knowing what comes next and (at least roughly) the overall flow of plot desired by the author. With the situation as it has been presented up to this point - both to us readers, and from the point of view of Kiru's infiltration team - I still disagree with JCountry's and notaid's assertions Kiru's actions and behaviour here is anything but abysmal, embarrassing, thoroughly incompetent, and nonsensical.
The only real excuse I can see for it would be Megumi intentionally sending an unready Kiru down with the expectation of her f*cking up like this to shake the Iniri tree and see what falls out.
Which leaves her operatives to try to carry out "hope for the best" and try to distract/divert attention away from themselves if possible. Or in the worst case, focus attention on them so other spies have more room to operate.
I wish I could believe this about Kiru, but I just can't. We haven't been shown anything close to this level of training, competency, or thought pattern from Kiru.
@Ultrabenosaurus i think she was sent down to be publicly viewable while trying her best to not be. She was ready to be sent as she was never really ment to be hidden permanently.
As a side objective it got her to discover for herself what is going on so she will have no doubts later.
@MajorMagers Its nice to see some people thinking, rather than simple shouting that it makes no sense.
Yes Kiru needed to be able see for herself what was going on. In addition, Megumi has no reason to worry for her safety. Furthermore, if she does attract attention she would serve to detract it from other cells.
@Ultrabenosaurus regardless of Kiru’s internal responses(which I think an operator in a comparable compromised situation might mirror), Megumi’s ability to get her out of trouble if it comes down to it should not be in doubt. Likewise, Kiru has a personal shield and weaponry on her person sufficient to take on a small army of Neku and Iniri on her own.
The worst thing that could happen to her is Megumi needing to reveal her presence. Otherwise it's just a question of how much personal embarrassment she can handle while shifting attention away from Megumi’s other activities.
@JCountry @notaid see these new comments Kiru being sent on purpose despite, or because of, her incompetence as an actual infiltrator make sense. Previously, you were trying to convince me and others with similar doubts that what happened is perfectly good, realistic, competent spycraft. Thank you for finally being honest.
@Ultrabenosaurus it isn't a change, see this from June:
If we were talking about a SEAL team operating somewhere they're not supposed to be at, then E&E would be the priority. Except the SEAL's are dealing with "near peer" operations and the prospect of very limited outside support. Not applicable to the case here. There is no "near peer" to Megumi operating in the area, and while Megumi would prefer to not get noticed by the Iniri, she also doesn't need to care about "plausible deniability" either.
and:
The you have the intelligence gathering operations outside of military forces. In those cases, things shift more to exploring what the limits, capabilities, and reactions of the opposing force are to different scenarios. If you're in the position to believe you (can) safely keep your operatives in play and wait to see what plays out, you do so, as that is more information.
Glad to see it did manage to get framed in a manner that allowed you agree with it for a change though.