"That was rough, wasn't it?" Axel said, breaking the silence.
"It couldn't be helped," Raji replied quietly. "It was an accident."
The funeral for Dr. Montoya was over, and now, at the Timeflow Institute, everyone was gathered around a spread of dishes brought to share. Dr. Montoya's death had been a traffic accident—a drive to clear his head gone wrong when, for some reason, he lost control and plunged into the sea.
"But with Uncle gone, what do we do now?" Fiona's voice trembled with worry as she spoke.
With Dr. Fel already passed and now their guardian, Dr. Montoya, gone too, it was no wonder Fiona felt anxious about the future, especially given their young ages.
"Yeah, it's tough," Axel admitted. "My superiors told me it'll be hard to keep funding the institute at the current level."
"What?" Raul's eyes widened. "Axel, isn't there something you can do?"
Axel shook his head. "If it were just up to me, I'd find a way, no question. But the funding we've provided so far? That was only possible because my boss, Vindel, pulled strings with the Federation. And even that was because Dr. Montoya's reputation carried weight."
The four young researchers—Raul, Fiona, Mizuho, and Raji—looked shaken by his words. Axel let out a sigh, feeling the weight of their disappointment.
"On the bright side, though, Vindel did have one proposal," he added.
At that, a flicker of hope sparked in Raul's eyes. "A proposal?"
Raji, speaking for the group, leaned forward. "What kind?"
"Here's the deal," Axel began. "Right now, your funding splits about seventy percent to Timeflow Engine research and thirty percent to developing a humanoid weapon powered by it. Vindel wants to shift that to forty-sixty, prioritizing the weapon's completion. Also, unconditional funding has a three-year cap. If you don't show results by then, there's a good chance the support gets cut."
Mizuho's voice was barely a whisper. "That's…"
Axel could tell the news hit her hard. For someone like Mizuho, who dreamed of building rescue machines rather than weapons, this was far from ideal.
"Sorry, but that's the best we could negotiate," Axel said firmly. "There's no better deal on the table."
Raji closed his eyes, deep in thought. After a moment, he opened them, his expression resolute. "Axel, there's something we'd like you to see." He glanced at Mizuho. "Is that okay?"
Mizuho nodded quietly, clearly understanding what Raji intended. Axel could guess, too—given the talk of funding and weapons, it had to be related to their project. A prototype seemed unlikely in such a short time, so perhaps a blueprint?
Raji stepped out briefly and returned with a data disk. "Axel, could you take a look at this?"
He inserted the disk into the room's computer, and a blueprint appeared on the monitor. It wasn't the Excellence Axel knew. Instead, it resembled a simplified Gespent—a mass-production model akin to a Gundam's GM unit.
"What's this?" Axel asked.
"It's a prototype design for a Timeflow Engine-equipped machine," Raji explained. "But as you can see, it's essentially a stripped-down version of the mass-production Gespent you gave us."
A mass-produced version of a mass-produced model? That was almost impressively unambitious. Axel wondered if his own decision to share the Gespent Mk-II blueprints had steered them in this direction. Instead of building the Excellence from scratch, they'd used the Gespent as a foundation and ended up with this.
"Vindel won't accept this as a deliverable," Axel said bluntly. "Lemon might find it amusing enough to want it, though."
Fiona perked up at the names. "Axel, who are Vindel and Lemon?"
"Oh, didn't I mention? Vindel's my boss—the one who's been pushing for your funding with the higher-ups. Lemon's our tech team lead. She's a genius when it comes to anything that catches her interest."
"Hmm," Fiona said, her tone curious. "Vindel sounds like a guy, but is Lemon a guy too?"
"Nope, she's a woman. Around my age, actually. Vindel's not much older than me, either."
Fiona's expression shifted to something complicated, almost conflicted. Axel found it odd—Raji or Mizuho getting competitive made sense, given their scientific ambitions, but Fiona was slated to be a test pilot. Why the rivalry?
"Let's stay on track," Axel said, redirecting the conversation. "This design won't cut it. The Federation's already running trials for next-gen mainstay units. You know what that means, right?"
Raji nodded sharply. "The baseline is outperforming the Gespent Mk-II, isn't it?"
"Exactly. And to make things trickier, there's a Halloween Plan in the works to upgrade and refine the Gespent Mk-II. So your bar's even higher."
Raji frowned. "That raises the stakes."
"Yeah. So how about this—why not come up with a concept no other machine has? Something unique."
"Isn't the Timeflow Engine unique enough?" Raul interjected, clearly invested in their project.
"It's a big advantage, no doubt," Axel conceded. "But it's got limits, right? It can't generate energy above a certain threshold."
Raul nodded. "Mizuho mentioned something like that."
"For example," Axel continued, "my Ashsaver uses a large Timeflow Engine Dr. Montoya provided for testing. It's an older model, bulkier than modern power sources, so it couldn't fit in the Ashsaver's frame. Lemon solved that by making it external."
Mizuho and Fiona, who'd been whispering to each other, tuned back in at the mention of "external."
"External?" Mizuho asked. "Isn't that dangerous?"
"Normally, yeah," Axel said. "But Lemon flipped the problem. She armored the external Timeflow Engine and integrated it with extra boosters, a beam Gatling, and a linear railgun—turning it into a unified weapon system."
"That's incredible," Mizuho said, her eyes wide with admiration. Raji and Raul nodded in agreement, but Fiona's expression soured again, inexplicably.
"The point is, Lemon took a risky idea and made the machine stronger for it," Axel said. "You don't have to copy her, but don't be afraid to think outside the box. Your unique perspective is what matters."
Raji and Mizuho fell silent, clearly mulling over their project. Axel could tell Mizuho hadn't given up on her rescue machine dream, but for now, she seemed focused on the Excellence.
"Hey, Raji, Mizuho," Raul said suddenly, his voice eager. "Axel's story gave me an idea."
"What is it?" Raji asked.
"Your Ashsaver uses an older, bigger Timeflow Engine, right?" Raul said to Axel. "That's why it's external."
"Right. It's outdated but produces more stable energy than the smaller ones Dr. Montoya was working on."
"So, your machine uses both its original power source and the Timeflow Engine, right?"
Axel nodded, and Raul turned to Raji and Mizuho. "What if we designed our machine from the ground up to use both a conventional power source and the Timeflow Engine? The Timeflow Engine as the main power, with the other as a backup."
"Not bad," Axel said, genuinely impressed. "We considered that for my machine, but Lemon shot it down—said it wasn't much different from building a new one from scratch. For you guys, though, starting fresh, it's a solid idea."
Raul's idea sparked a memory—didn't the original Excellence use an auxiliary engine alongside the Timeflow Engine? Before Axel could dwell on it, Mizuho spoke up.
"I've been thinking about something," she said hesitantly. "What if we built the machine around a swappable cockpit? Like, you could swap out the entire frame."
Raji raised an eyebrow. "That's a great idea, but why didn't you mention it sooner?"
Mizuho looked sheepish. "It felt too out there. I thought it might get shot down."
"Well, it's a good thing you said it now, with Axel here," Raul said with a grin.
"Frame-swapping system, huh?" Axel said. "I like it. From a pilot's perspective, a machine that can adapt to underwater, air, ground, or space combat just by swapping frames is a dream. The Federation would eat it up, even ignoring the Timeflow Engine's cost issues."
The four of them visibly brightened, even Fiona, who'd shaken off her earlier mood.
"Just one thing," Axel added. "You'll need to cut the Timeflow Engine's costs. The frame-swapping system and the engine are big pluses, but if the costs balance out to zero, it's a wash."
Raji nodded thoughtfully. "That'll depend on our research moving forward."
With that, the Excellence project was finally taking shape. Axel couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt—his meddling might have delayed them. Talk about a small kindness turning into a big hassle.