Chapter 1: A Researcher Who Doesn’t Want to Drive a Gundam Is Not a Good Capitalist
"Good morning, Dr. Lingus." (PS: The MC is called Adrien Lingus and his nickname is Ade, not some wrong translation. Thanks.)
"Good morning, director."
Adrien Lingus, dressed in a white coat, strides to his office amid greetings from colleagues. His messy hair shows that he didn't comb his hair in the morning and that he is a bachelor.
Since he was promoted to director of MS Research Institute of the Military Industry Department of Anaheim Electronic Industry's Lunar Headquarters last year, some people have began to call him director, while others are still calling him doctor. Some of the latter regard Dr. Lingus as a researcher rather than a technocrat, while others "speculate" that he would like to be called director. In their opinion, would Adrian, a scientific research talent, like people to praise his academic level rather than his professional title? But Ade didn't really care. He didn't make a sound, just nodded casually in response to everyone's greeting, and then went into his office.
This office belongs to Ade alone. Although he is already the director, he still insists that he doesn't need a secretary. The office is a good reflection of his personal style - there is only one sofa that is enough to lie on. Apart from desks, chairs, computers and other office appliances, nothing else is here. As for the sofa… it is the director's privilege. In such a place a small willfulness is also harmless, right?
Ade starts the computer, opens the engineering software, and makes a cup of coffee for himself while loading the design drawings. What appears on the screen is Zeta Gundam's mobile skeleton design, which was now his main project. Unlike the Rx-78-2, which is also deformable to some extent, the Earth Federation, which placed the order, required that the airframe should be changed into a fighter plane instead of the original combination. This puts forward high requirements for the most basic activity skeleton of MS. First of all, the skeleton should be precise enough to allow MS to complete such complex deformation; at the same time, the skeleton should be strong enough to support the tossing and turning of this big guy with a weight of more than 20 tons - you know, such deformation may occur repeatedly in high-intensity battles.
In addition to the difficulty of design, Zeta's price is different from that of the previous RX series. It's like plastic toys that can deform are often more expensive to sell. Of course, they are more likely to break down if you toss them about all day. The Earth Federation is different from P.L.A.N.T. (Productive Location Alliance on Nexus Technology), which is a budget minded and bargaining company. But the Zeta Gundam can't be easily broken. Anaheim's brand can't be tarnished by his own hands.
After nearly a month of precise calculation and repeated attempts, the basic structure of the mobile skeleton has been determined a few days ago. Now Ade is carrying out the final fine-tuning work. If it goes well, we should be able to produce results today? In this way, tomorrow's shareholders' meeting I can also increase some voice. Thinking of this, Ade's mood change a little better, quietly hummed the song "Todokanai Koi".
Yes, another identity of Ade is a shareholder of Anaheim Electronics, holding 3% of the real shares of Anaheim Electronics. With Queen Diana holding 51% of the shares, the 3% is not a small number. Although his colleagues don't know, they are actually working for Ade to some extent. Of course, Ade is also working for himself and paying himself at the same time.
Then again, what's the point of the transformation to airplanes? In the weightless universe environment, as long as there is power, there is no difference between an aircraft, a tank or a color TV refrigerator. All this is meaningful only in the atmosphere. So the scenario Zeta Gundam envisions is likely to be a long-distance attack in the atmosphere. After the aircraft quickly approaches the strategic target, it transforms into the MS form to provide combat effectiveness. After completing the strategic task, it becomes the aircraft again to quickly withdraw or rush to the next mission location. So the imaginary enemy of the Earth Federation is on the ground? Anyway, I'm on the absolutely safe moon. It doesn't matter who the Earth Federation wants to fight.
When people are focusing, time always passes quickly. Ade naturally missed lunch and skillfully took out a bottle of nutriment from the drawer and drank it. This is one of the reasons why he and his colleagues can't get along well - Ade never has lunch with them. He drinks nutrient bottles every day. It's not surprising that he missed the most important time of chatting with colleagues every day, so he still hasn't made close friends.
By the time Ade realized, it's more than three o'clock in the afternoon. After more than half a day's efforts, the design work of the movable skeleton has been basically completed. From the simulation results of the stress analysis, there are no mistakes. The remaining problems can only be found in the actual test. Ade sent the design drawings to the workshop and asked them to try to make a model first, so that the Zeta Gundam's design would come to an end.
Then Ade checked his to-do list, and the biosensors was at the top.
This is another requirement of the Earth Federation in the order, which requires Zeta Gundam to maximize the use of the telepathic power of the "New Type", so the research on biosensors is set up. However, at present, the project is barely maintained by the written information provided by Captain Amuro Ray, and the progress can be described as a turtle climbing. After all, there are no New Types in Anaheim, and everyone knows nothing about telepathy. It is better to say that there is still progress in this case, which has reflected Anaheim's leading technology level in the industry.
Ade attempted to borrow Amuro from the Federation government twice, but Amuro didn't respond. So he let his subordinate, Lucette Audevie deal with it. The last time he cared about it was last week. I'd like to ask about the progress and wash the coffee cup, Ade thought and picked up the glass, getting up to go downstairs to Audevie's office.
Lucette Audevie, as a systems engineer in the MS Development Department of Anaheim, has been working for several years. She is good-looking and has strong ability. She has also participated in the core research and development of GP Gundam series. It seems that she has many admirers in the Research Institute. The only drawback is that her character is a little bad. It can even be called arrogant and dictatorial. Last year, she made a wrong decision in the Star Incident, and finally she was seriously injured and nearly died. After that, it seems that she understood something and had changed her personality. Her style has become more low-key, and her speech has become more tactful, and she has more friends and admirers.
At that time, the company planned to expel her. In view of her great change of character and her excellent ability, Ade spoke to the company to keep her and let her still be an MS system engineer. After that, Audevie was very grateful to him, and he often gave her something to do out of his trust in her ability.
Outside Audevie's office, he heard her and another female colleague's voice.
"Someone on the Internet said that Shiro died in the end? There's even a picture. Wow, it says "シロー·ァマダ(Shirō Amada)" on the death list!"
"Come on! Shirō Amada and Aina are very loving. The screenwriter should never make a tragedy! As long as he can give them a happy end, I'll buy two copies of the movies! "
"Tonight is the finale. We can send the screenwriter blades tomorrow. When I get off work, I'll buy some."
"Don't - ah, hello, director!" Audevie looks at Ade entering the office, blushing and embarrassed. The other female colleague turned around and banged on the computer, pretending that she was suddenly very busy. It's such a feeling that the boss caught the staff chatting during working hours. Ade understands it, but now his position as a director doesn't allow him to turn a blind eye to it.
"I can hear it at the door. Your voice is too loud!" Ade nodded a little, then said, "Is there any progress on Captain Amuro Ray?"
"The Earth just replied to the email yesterday." Audevie quietly relieved, "They still don't want Captain Ray to leave the Earth. They say that if we send someone over, they will cooperate with us. But when it comes to asking Captain Ray to come to the moon, they begin to make bureaucratic remarks."
"What's the use of going to Earth? If we want to have a breakthrough, there must be NT's personal cooperation!" Although Audevie's answer was expected by Ade, it didn't make him happy. He couldn't help complaining. "What's the point of the Federation raising Amuro like a pig? NT is not an infectious disease, does that mean that New Type is not a natural person? Wait and see. Sooner or later, Blue Cosmos will go to assassinate Amuro."
"If they won't give me Amuro, should I go to PLANT to find Char Aznable? I'd like to have Ple. Why don't you give me Glemy as well?"
The director will often say some strange words, and most of the time, he will come up with something others can't understand, such as now. Audevie knows Amuro and Char, because they were famous New Types awakened in the One Year War, and now they are both big names. The director always called them by their first names and looked very familiar with them. Where comes the name "Glemy"? It seems to be a person of ZAFT? She can't remember. And who is Ple? Why does the director want this person? Is this Ple more attractive to the director than Captain Ray? However, years of working experience tells her that as long as she doesn't reply at this time, the director will soon return to normal.
"I'm afraid it's meaningless to continue to negotiate. It's not a problem you can solve at your level." Ade did not live up to Audevie's expectations, and quickly returned to the main topic, "Continue to do your business, and I'll fight for the support of the senior management. By the way, how about the recruitment of Gundam test drivers? "
"Some people have submitted their resumes, but none of them meet your requirements. They are enough to deal with ordinary MS, but Zeta Gundam? They certainly can't handle it. I'm afraid good pilots are monopolized by the Federation and ZAFT, and her majesty, Queen Diana has no spare pilots for us. "
"It's still a while before Zeta Gundam's test drive. Look for pilots again. It's better to be short than to be extravagant. If you can't find any, I'll do it myself, just like before. " In the early days of GP series development, Anaheim didn't have enough test pilots, so Ade had to do tests himself. In fact, Ade really likes the feeling of driving Gundam. It's just that the test pilot drives the product. If he becomes addicted to it, it will be very sad. After all, he has to sell it in the end. "It's a pity we don't get double pay."
In vain, Ade cleans the cup and goes back to his office. Today's work has been completed, and there is nothing to be prepared for tomorrow's shareholders' meeting. 'It's only four o'clock now, and it's not good to leave the company at this time. What can I do?' Ade decided to relax. After all, he is the director of the Institute. He has the right to relax.
Ade locks the office door, takes off his shoes, lies lazily on his big sofa, and then turns on his music player - his office is soundproof, so it can't be heard outside. With the accompaniment, Lacus' gentle voice gradually filled the whole space.
This is the latest single "In the Field of Hope" released by Lacus the day before yesterday. The pre-order before the release has already broken the record of single sales in history, and within 24 hours after the release, the number of downloads of the digital version is twice that of the pre-order. Ade contributed a digital pre-order. As for the song itself, it's a matter of course for a top Diva like Lacus to reach the top of the music charts.
According to the analysis of online industry insiders, Lacus is at the peak of her career, and the next single will continue to have absolutely strong sales. As long as she doesn't leave the entertainment circle for a day, the rest will never have a chance to suppress her. Ade thinks that it's completely understandable. Whether it's the Earth or PLANT, for people who have experienced the One Year War and know what pain is, such healing music can bring infinite comfort to people, and it's not too much to call it spiritual opium.
But for Ade, who has not experienced the war personally and is just a spectator, Lacus' songs can also bring infinite emotion, but they are for totally different reasons. Ade looks at the empty ceiling, and his thoughts gradually relax with the singing of Lacus…
