Zeroth Directive

Archive II

Lappland and Texas bumped into each other in the Rhodes Island lounge. We have a rough understanding of the subtle relationship between the two operators—everyone can still remember why Lappland joined Rhodes Island in the first place, after all. After the collaboration between the Lungmen branch and Penguin Logistics ended, she suddenly cornered one of our operators, handing over her resume with a smile and—while resting her two strangely shaped blades on the operator's neck—asked: 'Is Texas your employee?' Afterwards, be it a deliberate provocation, inexplicable adulation, or vague investigation, it is no secret that she has always set her sights on Texas, and thus we have prevented them from meeting directly. However, one time Texas unexpectedly returned to the landship, and by the time we were aware and trying to prevent them from meeting, she had already run into Lappland who was drinking alcohol by herself in the break room. The operator who had rushed to 'get the situation under control' came back silently, and described what he saw with a confused look on his face: Lappland casually took a glass from the alcohol rack and poured a glass of amaretto whiskey, and Texas sat down, took the glass and drank it like it was just a normal day. Lappland nonchalantly asked Texas about her recent work as a special logistics consultant for Nuova Volsinii, and made a few casual jokes about city hall's attempt to promote the 'New Urban Management Act' to other Siracusan cities, to which Texas replied with a few words. After finishing her drink, Texas leisurely stood up and left, and they even wished each other well before going their separate ways! They seemed like nothing more than a pair of old friends who understood each other perfectly and had met up at an agreed time whilst going their respective ways. To be honest, we have no clue what exactly happened. We only know that they had met a few times during the Carnevale, so how did their relationship suddenly turn out like this? Have they resolved their differences and reconciled, or is this another tug-of-war, with a hidden turbulent undercurrent? Who knows? One day they might cross swords and stain the deck with blood. For a while after this, we continued to observe the two, who met up a few more times, but the general atmosphere was similar to that day in the break room. 'I'm tired. Tired of guessing what's going on between them. 'I don't care if those two have let go of their grievances or not, but at least they're no longer as tense as before, which saves us a lot of trouble.' —An HR Operator in charge of observation

Archive III

Famiglia Saluzzo traces its origins to the Siracusan Autonomous Region three centuries ago. Siracusans see the family as extremely robust, even turning a mistake made at an important point in history into a story of survival. In the late 1030s, when Signora Sicilia established the 'Guns and Order', there were many dissidents, Alberto's grandfather among them. During the most important revolution of modern Siracusan history, the head of Famiglia Saluzzo stood against Signora Sicilia, and this decision nearly spelled the end of the family. Several major opposition famiglie were practically liquidated overnight, and Famiglia Saluzzo too suffered the Signora's retaliation. To spare the rest of his famiglia from suffering, Alberto's grandfather ultimately ended his life in his own study, and the ancient family established during Lethanian rule that rose to prominence by selling bootleg liquor to Gaul almost collapsed entirely. Fortunately, Alberto's father painstakingly brought his family into the Grey Hall and they became one of the Dodici Famiglie, though the family's prestige and power had yet to recover from the prior shock. Alberto was born into and grew up in those circumstances, and took over the famiglia's future from his father's hands. —Excerpt from a special study on Siracusa conducted by a certain Columbian university We once asked Lappland about Famiglia Saluzzo's situation, but she was uninterested and kept yawning in response, so we eventually abandoned our questions. Based on information later provided by HR, we managed to make a rough analysis of what happened. Alberto did not at all trust the emotions and legacy between the generations of his family: his grandfather's mistake during Signora Sicillia's reforms had, after all, brought upon disastrous consequences, but he was also disgusted by his father's harsh denouncements of his grandfather, and this distrust was passed down and reflected in his attitude towards his daughter—He had an almost perverted desire to control her, equipping her with an elite education, but also throwing her into the barrens as a child for training, and even expelling her from the family because of her various transgressions. Of course, this analysis is meaningless, for it is difficult for us to attribute Lappland's current behavior solely to a 'failed education'. This would not explain her simultaneous 'politeness', 'aggressiveness', 'hunger for battle', and 'penchant for theatrics'. After observing her for a long time, she seems to have been 'born' mad, while her father and family's influence merely fanned the flames. 'Let's just settle Lappland's files as-is. There's no point analyzing a lunatic's personality.'

Archive IV

Lappland's return to Rhodes Island has provoked strong reactions in some of our Operators. In particular, Operator Lunacub who had just recently recovered from rather serious injuries suddenly began running down the landship corridors, excitedly shouting 'I finally saw Agnese again!' Or Operator Projekt Red who would on occasion suddenly tense up, muttering words like 'Grandma'. Meanwhile, Lappland would always just happen to be passing by, as if the one they were talking about were by her side. [Classified Log] Take good care of Red. The Signori dei Lupi's game is over, but this child has grown up in such unusual circumstances, and suffered so much deception and betrayal that will take a long time to deal with. I came up with many ways of stopping her from ending up like this, but still I failed in the end. Fighting with each other is natural for the Signori dei Lupi, and not every human who interacts with them can be as lucky as Lunacub, or Lappland... to naturally integrate into a wolf pack, even becoming their sovereign in the latter case. I hear she has made a deal with Emperor and Duck Lord while representing the wolf pack. Be it Emperor, Duck Lord, or the Signori dei Lupi, I have dealt with many beings like them. They are immortal, and most find a way to get along with humans and live on this land with their unique character. I've also met humans with unusual life experiences. Be it due to their ancestors' adventures or major Catastrophes, they possess powers or insights beyond human limits and are closer to the former. Lappland seems to have been born this way. She is obviously still young and her experiences aren't that out of the ordinary, but the boundaries on her are already blurred. She is embracing a certain kind of madness ordinary people will find difficult to comprehend, which is not a good thing... Continue watching over her, Doctor. Going back to our original topic, the Beast Aristocrats may phrase it differently, but it all comes down to the same thing: they felt uneasy. If even they feel threatened to the point of ignoring their respective traits so they might contact each other and figure out a countermeasure, then we must focus on what is causing their nervousness.

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Lappland the Decadenza

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