The office was half full by the time Captain Aziz entered it. Colonel Marie’s workspace was a comfortable one, sheltered from the extreme heat and cold that loved to ravage World’s End at random timings. It was large, and a giant, well-made table with chairs took up a great deal of space inside. Marie’s office was clearly intended to double as a briefing room too. As for the owner in question, she was seated at the head of the table, her eyes closed in what looked like a quick round of mediation.

Her calming demeanour worked well, to say the least. Most of Thunderbolt’s commanders were also emulating her behaviour, which resulted in a room of more than ten people being as quiet as an abandoned village.

The colonel’s eyes flicked open as Delta Company’s commanders entered the room. “Everyone’s present. Excellent. Now, other than Delta’s commanders, I believe that everyone else here must have felt some sense of oddness after that…speech by the Human God earlier, no?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Lieutenant Augustus, do you want to explain what was so odd?” Marie asked, nodding her head at Charlie Company’s commander.

“My pleasure, ma’am.” Augustus cleared his throat, his auburn hair quivering as he turned to place the others. “The other people around me — like me, they were beastfolk — had changed their tune quickly. The Second Extermination was, by and large, reasoned away as something necessary, and that the Human God had done no wrong in ordering it.”

“Exactly,” said Colonel Marie. “Such is the general sentiment amongst those who watched the proceedings. I found it odd at that time, but Captain Aziz reminded me of something. The Constellation Scorpio had claimed that the Human God had interfered with his mind, to make the near-annihilation of the beastfolk into something he wasn’t averse to.”

Aziz could almost see little suns of understanding rise from behind their heads, as the men and women present began to comprehend the reason behind Marie’s choice of words.

“You mean—”

“That’s unbelievable! How can such a thing—”

“This is preposterous! For our countrymen to have their will bent in such a manner…that’s no great god!”

Captain Aziz and Colonel Marie exchanged looks, and the latter nodded. The uproar died down as the colonel rapped on her table, sending unpleasantly loud knocks throughout the room. “Ladies, gentlemen, mind your words. Be careful of where you speak those words out loud. You might bring a disaster beyond mortal comprehension upon yourself and those around you.”

“Morality and rights aside,” said the captain, “we first need to deal with the issue of Delta Company.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to the group of five people, but before anyone could say anything, Captain Aziz continued on with his words. “It is evident that unlike the rest of us, Delta has had their minds subtly adjusted by the Human God. The absence of anger and hate towards the perpetrator of the Second Extermination is odd, in and of itself, after all.”

“Correct,” said Colonel Marie. “I had intended to sieve out the reasons behind why some of us were affected, and the others weren’t, but the results presented in front of us are rather…conclusive. Commanders, what did Alpha, Beta and Charlie Companies have in common that Delta didn’t?”

There was a moment of silence.

“Delta didn’t escort the diplomats,” someone said.

“Correct,” said the colonel. “I suspect that those who entered Liamar’s Divine Kingdom are more resistant to the Human God’s attempts at altering our mindsets, and I believe that if we were to contact the diplomats who went there with us, we would find that they would have experienced the same thing as us.”

She tapped her finger on her table. “But if stepping into a Divine Kingdom is a requirement, we can be sure of a few things. First, we are decisively the minority in how we view the current state of affairs. And you know what happens to minorities that are too mouthy. Second, Delta Company may be ostracised by the other companies. I do not want to see that happening. And most importantly…events that we view to be unpleasant may happen all around us in the foreseeable future. Did you get all that?”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Good.” Her lips thinned. “Therefore, make sure to tell your men to be more tolerant of differences in this trying period. Schnee, Eloise…make sure your subordinates mind their words too, as well as for yourself and your platoon commanders.”

The two officers saluted. “Yes, ma’am.”

“I’ll try to get Delta into the next escort mission, if possible. I’m not sure if it’ll work, but this is our best bet,” said the colonel. “Does anyone here want to add anything else?”

Colonel Marie waited for a few moments, and then nodded to herself. “Very well. Relay my words to your men, and make sure that they understand the issues plaguing our nation right now. Dismissed.”

The sounds of people getting up and leaving the room permeated the air for a few seconds, and before long, Marie’s office was once again empty.

“What do you think about my hypothesis?” Marie asked.

“I had the same one as you, colonel,” Aziz replied.

“Marie will do. I’ve said this lots of times, Aziz.” The colonel shook her head. “And you aren’t all that consistent with your terms of address either.”

“Well, there’s Marie, and then there’s Colonel Marie,” replied the captain. “I get confused whenever you swap masks. You still had that commander vibe going on when they left, so I got scared.”

“Scared? You?” The colonel covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. “You, the vice-commander of Thunderbolt Battalion, scared? You have got to be kidding me.”

“I’m just an average person,” the captain replied irritably. “Go ahead, continue laughing. I’ll wait until you’re done.”

“Now, why would I do that?”

Someone knocked on the closed door politely, cutting short Aziz’s answer. The captain rolled his eyes and strode to the door, opening it to reveal a stocky little fella.

“You need something?”

“The State Council is requesting the presence of the Chief of Air, Marie de Francois.”

The colonel paused. “Right. I forgot that I actually had that post.”

“How does that even happen? Chief of Air Force!” Aziz asked. “And I didn’t know you had a last name.”

“It just does, okay?” Marie answered irritably. “And as for the name part, the State Council just tacked it onto my name to give me more legitimacy, whatever THAT means. I’ll make sure you get one too.”

“Hey!”

“Feel my wrath, oh captain.” She tidied her clothes, and then glanced thoughtfully at Aziz. “Yep, you should go along too.”

“What?”

“Just in case Pauline decides to start talking about odd stuff again.”

Before the captain could protest, the colonel grabbed the back of his neck and started pulling him to the door. Aziz didn’t dare to resist, and as the duo left the room, the captain could only hook the door shut with his foot, closing it with a bang.