Another Perspective

Alright. Kafka went inside... four and a half months ago? The break happened four months ago, right while Mansfield State Prison was stopped over at San Sophie City.

Correct.

Of course, any earlier, and we'd have to go a year back.

After all, as a nomadic prison, it'd only visit cities on the periphery once every few months to restock and take in new inmates. The rest of the time, it stopped in the middle of the barrens.

Four months to plot a jailbreak. Can't say that's short, but I can't say it's that long either.

Hm? Wait, actually, that gives me a question.

By the rules you gave, it should be my turn to ask.

Ahahah, right, yeah. Go ahead, then.

...Before that, Mayer, could I ask you to make something for us to eat?

Huh? Yeah, sure. But I don't know if I can use the kitchen in here, so.

You can use it! I thought this chat'd probably take ages, so I actually prepped a whole bunch of ingredients.

Can you cook, Ms. Mayer?

Sure I can cook. I'm a solo workshop. If I couldn't make grub, I woulda starved to death forever ago.

I mean, Rhine Lab and Rhodes Island both have cafeterias, but sometimes it's just a pain in the ass to walk over, y'know?

You keep talking. I'll go make you some eats.

Make sure you examine those ingredients, right? I don't wanna get accused of fiddling with your food here.

Ayo~

You are so... hospitable.

Keheh. I told you! I came to chat with you.

Can't dodge me. Why'd you get Mayer out of the picture?

...Because I still haven't told her that Energy are behind HydeBro.

...What?

Wait, don't tell me you didn't plot this together?

No. I wouldn't tell her in the first place. She only came with me to procure equipment.

So that's how it is. I see, 'cause Energy and Engineering walk pretty close. You wouldn't wanna sour her outlook.

But given she wasn't your partner-in-crime, would you run that much risk telling her?

...I don't need you to remind me.

Set it aside. What I want to know is: During all of this, what was Energy's position like?

They were backing HydeBro, but had nothing to do with the business itself.

It was HydeBro who tapped Energy's resources to cook up their assassination plot.

I see, then.

Alright. My turn to ask, then—

As far as I know, Anthony's accomplices in the jailbreak included the prison's original mortician, Ms. Domma, but also a woman by the name of Robin.

What bugs me about that is, by my intel, Robin should've been one of the assassins sent to take Anthony out.

But going by your version of the events, you seem to have just one helper, and that's Ms. Kafka.

Could it be Robin wasn't your doing?

...It appears you have no idea how the jailbreak went, Director Muelsyse.

I said that already.

On top of that, you've gotten one thing wrong. I had no immediate knowledge that this assassination would take place.

Whuh?

If I had any awareness of it beforehand, I wouldn't have had Kafka infiltrate the prison alone.

It was far too dangerous for her. And under those circumstances, what she could accomplish was very limited.

Wait, you're not telling me you only got Anthony?! He's your only lead?!

I am. I only realized in the past half year that Anthony was not incarcerated in the same prison as the rest of his family. Following that, I arranged for Kafka to make her way in.

My thought process at the time was: If she could meet him and help him break out of jail, perfect. If she couldn't, then oh well.

...And then you managed to bump straight into the whole assassination.

Oh, the pieces are fitting... This makes so much actual sense.

But... are you sure you should've told me about this?

If you'd kept me going like you were gonna stop the assassination, I'd have been way more impressed, you know.

I'm no expert at that sort of thing, Director Muelsyse.

I see. At first, I thought we were alike, but looking at it now, it's Ms. Mayer. That's who you're like. You're the same sort of person.

But you have the research you love, and you don't care about much else. So there's gotta be some reason you were forced to care about this.

......

And that reason, I'm guessing, is the 'Diαbolic Crisis,' right?

......

That and this are unrelated matters, Director Muelsyse.

If you came to talk about Ifrit, then our conversation ends here.

Sorry, sorry. Should've kept my mouth shut. It's okay, I've only heard things about it. I don't even know what happened.

As a token of apology, I'll give you a free question.

...You needn't.

Oh?

What I require isn't your apology. I require you to never bring it up again. That will do.

Got it. Then let's just continue where we left off.

...Remember, as far as I'm concerned, this assassination was completely unaccounted for. I didn't imagine HydeBro would do things that way.

Well. That goes to show you don't have a full grasp on Energy's MO.

Anthony's a hidden danger. Imagine some entity that can't allow any hidden danger or uncontrollable elements. Imagine they find out they've left a little loose end...

That's the end of the Bros.

So they've spent a couple years weaving this hit together. Making it real. Burying an imprisoned Anthony six feet under.

...To cover up their evil, they cannot help but do more evil.

It makes me retch.

But there are some things that can't be walked back, huh?

Back to the assassin, by the way. If that woman, Robin, wasn't backed by you, then that only leaves one possibility.

Robin's an assassin who went turncoat midway. Right?

Right.

So, could I trouble you to switch angles? I'm a little curious about this assassin lady and her prisonly actions.

Given she and Anthony escaped together, I'm sure you've verified her status and experiences yourself?

Robin... was, true enough, initially one assassin dispatched to the prison to take Anthony out.

Around the time Kafka recalled that clash between the prisoners, she hadn't been in there for too long.