Although the man in the brown suit before him looked almost identical to Char, Xiaochuan quickly realized the issue once he came to his senses: Char had already died back in UC0093, and the dead do not return to life.
Thus, there could only be one answer: the man before him was a clone of Char released by the Zeon remnants!
At this moment, Xiaochuan felt like an absolute genius, having completely seen through to the heart of the matter.
But a new problem surfaced. Facing a Mafty that had seemingly allied with those resurgent "Zeon remnants" who had previously turned Anaheim upside down, it remained an unknown whether the Board of Directors would increase their aid to Mafty or not.
Upon thinking of this, Xiaochuan temporarily left the two in the current meeting area and rushed out to contact the Board.
After all, Hathaway's time was limited. If Hathaway stayed out all night and failed to return to the Federation Forces base guest house, it would inevitably tip Bright Noa off that something was wrong.
In the end, the RX-105 project and a whole mess of other illicit programs might be caught red-handed by the Federation and uprooted entirely.
Some things are understood by everyone in silence, but once they are brought out into the open, they have to be weighed on the scales of justice.
However, for the time being, neither Char nor Hathaway had the luxury to worry about Secretary Xiaochuan's progress or the results of his discussion with the Board.
-----------------------------------
"What's happened?"
Hathaway looked at Char, who was frowning deeply. "You... don't look well. Do you need to rest?"
"No... it's just that I've had a faint headache ever since arriving at the Moon."
Char sighed, raising his right hand to rub his temples to slightly alleviate the pain. "I didn't expect it to keep getting worse like this."
"I just need a moment to recover..."
Char sat on the sofa, taking deep breaths continuously. But inexplicably, he felt as if he could hear faint, indistinct, and noisy voices inside his head. Following them was a steadily intensifying sense of pain.
In the next second, as if reaching a limit—like a taut harp string snapping—Char felt the pain in his brain vanish instantly.
In a daze, a red aurora, carrying various blurred and dreamlike colors, surged toward Char like an oncoming tide.
Char instinctively wanted to raise his hands in resistance, but his body felt an inexplicable sense of heaviness.
As the torrent of the red aurora crashed into him, Char felt his body becoming lighter and lighter, until he was floating in mid-air.
"This is..."
Char spoke instinctively, only to find that his voice produced a certain echo within this aurora.
Where exactly is this place?
Char couldn't help but feel a sense of doubt, yet there was a strange, inexplicable familiarity to it.
But in the next moment, as if sensing something, Char looked in a specific direction.
It was a swan—pure white and beautiful. It fluttered its wings, constantly drawing closer to Char as if returning to its nest.
"That feeling is..."
Char's eyes widened, his blue pupils trembling slightly.
"There's no mistake... that feeling is..."
In a trance, the white swan transformed into a young girl with black hair and brown skin wearing a pale yellow dress. Like a bird returning to its nest, she flew toward Char.
"Lalah!"
Char couldn't help but cry out her name loudly.
He finally understood; the feeling here was exactly the same as the state he had entered back then, when he witnessed Lalah being killed by Amuro.
"Char..."
The girl's voice was faint, yet it struck directly at Char's heart.
"Lalah, what on earth is happening?! Are you still alive?!"
Char shouted, reaching out toward the girl named Lalah with every ounce of strength in his body, only to find that the distance between them remained eternally fixed.
"Lalah, come to my side!"
But Lalah said nothing. She remained floating in that same position, her emerald eyes watching Char with a profound sadness.
Scene after scene flew out from behind Lalah, crashing toward Char.
The One Year War, the Gryps Conflict, the First Neo Zeon War... one after another, the wars surrounding UC history unfolded before Char's eyes.
"What exactly do you want me to do?!"
Char, who—aside from the One Year War—had only seen these conflicts in text and video records, couldn't help but widen his eyes. "Answer me, Lalah!"
"Humanity... Newtypes... the future..."
Faintly, Char heard these words from Lalah's voice.
Was this Lalah's prayer?
To carve out a future for humanity and Newtypes in this gradually decaying world?
Or was she saying she wanted him to do something else entirely?
'Dammit, if only my Newtype abilities were just a little bit stronger... just a little more, and I could hear clearly what Lalah is saying!'
But just as Char gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in frustration, a powerful suction originating from behind appeared.
Seeing the distance between himself and Lalah growing further, Char reached out toward her once more.
"Don't leave me! Lalah!"
Hearing Char's unwilling roar, Lalah simply smiled.
"Eternal life in the Psycho-frame world is truly a painful thing."
Though she knew that with Char's current Newtype level, he wouldn't be able to hear her words from such a distance, Lalah still looked tenderly at the retreating Char, who was shrinking as if about to vanish from the Psycho-space. "Please let me continue to watch over you—you, who are so young, so full of drive and vitality..."
"Ha... ha..."
Suddenly, the red aurora vanished. The conference room reappeared before his eyes; Char's consciousness had broken away from the Psycho-space and returned to the real world.
Like a drowning man finally breaking the surface of the sea, Char suddenly bolted upright from his leaning position against the chair.
He gasped for air instinctively, the cold sweat seeping from his body drenching his shirt.
"What happened?"
Hathaway's voice carried a sense of confusion.
"What... just happened to me?"
Char opened his mouth, instinctively wanting to recount what he had seen and heard in the Psycho-space, but after a careful second thought, he decided to keep it hidden for now.
"You suddenly fell asleep just now, and then your whole body started shaking and breaking out in a frantic cold sweat."
Hathaway raised his wrist to check the time on his watch. "You were out for about three minutes."
"I see... I fell asleep..."
With a slightly trembling hand, Char picked up a water glass from the side and took a sip of the ice water to calm himself down.
Char loosened his tie a bit, feeling his cold sweat being dried by the air conditioning. The icy breeze helped his chaotic thoughts begin to settle back into tranquility.
'The matter regarding Lalah... I must investigate it thoroughly once I return.'
But for now, he had to squeeze more MS aid out of Anaheim's mouth.
Hathaway didn't know what Char was thinking, only that an inexplicable sense of urgency had suddenly radiated from the man.
The two sat quietly in the reception room, waiting for the Anaheim accountant, Xiaochuan, who had left not long ago.
Perhaps due to Hathaway's schedule, Anaheim did not spend the entire day haggling this time.
"Ah, sorry to keep you waiting, Hathaway, and this... Mr. Char?"
When Xiaochuan pushed open the door and entered the room, it was as if Char being attacked by a space ghostess had never happened.
"...I am Damien."
Char put his sunglasses back on, preventing anyone from seeing his eyes, which were weary from the sudden contact with Lalah.
Having the various UC conflicts shoved directly into his brain by Lalah just now had left him exhausted, but facing Anaheim now, Char could not afford to show any fatigue.
"Right, Mr. Damien."
Xiaochuan smiled at the sunglass-clad Char as he relayed the conclusion of the meeting. "After a heated and rapid discussion by the Anaheim Board of Directors, the decision has been made to increase investment and aid toward Mafty."
"We look forward to both of your heroic performances on the battlefield."
...................