Reboot: Mechanic

Mary observed Theobold's reaction carefully. 

It was clear that he was deeply troubled by the information she had provided and the apparent incompetence or possible deception of his own soldiers. 

She couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for him, understanding the weight of his responsibility. There was nothing worse than having your trusted aides fail you terribly. 

When Theobold asked if she could replicate her process on the computer in the command center, Mary nodded. 

Although it might seem like a simple task, Mary understood Theobold's implication of such a request.

If Mary finished replicating her process, but the result showed otherwise, then there was only one explanation for this. Either her computer was rigged or it was Theobold's, but the answer should be quite obvious that it was definitely going to be Theobold.

After all, Mary's information could easily be verified by simply going to the specific place, and Theobold doubted Mary would be foolish enough to deceive him. 

Not to mention, there was no reason for Mary to do such a thing when she never planned on coming to the frontline anyway until he specifically requested them. 

As Mary started replicating the process, the situation wasn't looking good. 

With a heavy heart, Mary stopped her typing and turned to Theobold, shaking her head. 

"So it's indeed rigged huh," Theobold muttered softly, seemingly disappointed. 

Mary nodded her head. 

"The process is the same, but for some reason, when I attempt to locate some magicule density area, the result gives me void, which shouldn't happen. Even if it's not the precise location of mine, there should still be some result of magicule density in the surrounding area." She then explained her findings. 

On the surface, the computers seemed to be functioning flawlessly and didn't seem to be rigged in any sort of way. However, once you decided to be extremely specific, that was when flaws started showing up.

"Commander Theobold, with all due respect, you should start thinking about who in your team has high computer knowledge in terms of coding and hacking. Only someone with a high knowledge of these things could disguise the computers." Mary said calmly. 

"I understand, thanks for the concern," Theobold said with a heavy sigh. He might still be disappointed and disheartened by the result, but he was quick to regain his composure.

His years of experience as a military commander were not for show. If he can't even maintain his composure despite such a finding, then he might as well leave the military. 

Mary didn't bother to say anymore when it was clear that Theobold was unwilling to have a conversation. 

Now that he discovered there was such a leakage in his so-called military team, Theobold needed to find the rat as soon as possible. 

Otherwise, who knows how much more information they would miss or how much damage they would receive? 

"Anyway, I appreciate the information you have sent me, lest I'll still be kept in the dark and unable to figure out how a Gilaso variant managed to evolve into such a frightening being." Theobold thanked her. 

Mary shook her head in response. 

"It's what I should do for someone that can maintain such a kind heart and principles in this day and age, Commander Theobold. Not many people can be like you, so I'm sure this tiny setback won't do much to you." She smiled slightly and said, sincerely praising Theobold. 

With that said, Mary bid farewell, letting Theobold cool down alone. After all, she understood he probably wanted to be alone temporarily despite sounding and looking calm.

As Mary exited the command center, Theobold's expression darkened completely. 

"A traitor in my military team… how unexpected." Theobold clenched his fist and muttered. 

He was definitely going to find the culprit for this mess, but aside from that, he needed to feign ignorance of the matter. 

After all, if Theobold exposed the matter, then the culprit would be alerted, staying extremely low. 

However, if Theobold kept silent about the matter, then the culprit might still believe they were slick and that he was kept in the dark, allowing Theobold a chance to figure out who it was. 

'Hmph, once I pinpoint the culprit, then they're going to get it for risking my soldiers' lives and others as well.' Theobold vowed silently. 

While Theobold was already thinking of a method to salvage the situation, Mary had subsequently walked back to the Iron Sentinel, except she saw someone standing by the door again.

"Seriously, what do you want, Vanessa?" Mary twitched her brows, crossed her arms, and asked. 

Ignoring her tone, Vanessa stepped forward and informed, "I've decided to follow your suggestion, but it's not working much." 

"How is it not working?" Mary raised an eyebrow and asked in confusion. Leaking such information would have caused a storm, especially to those people who are always looking at fortune. They couldn't stay still once they obtained the news. 

"The leak isn't attracting much attention..." Vanessa trailed off, almost as if she was embarrassed to continue with her sentence, prompting Mary's suspicion.

"Speak! What kind of 'leak' did you spread?" Mary changed her tone and demanded an answer. 

A few seconds later, Vanessa had no choice but to speak the truth about how she messed up. And apparently, all she did was leak bits of the information regarding the strange energy.

However, that wasn't even the main point. It was the fact that she leaked it to a group of unconcerned people, and the information didn't provide enough bait to lure anyone in.

"My goodness, just how badly can you screw up one simple task?" Mary wanted to facepalm when Vanessa managed to fail so miserably. It was as if she had never interacted with the real world and how it worked.

"I already know I screwed up, so didn't I come back to you for help? It's clear that you know a surefire way to spread the leak, so why don't you do it." Vanessa clicked her tongue and said.

"Why would I do it when it doesn't benefit me in any way?" Mary rolled her eyes. Still, she knew this hopeless woman would definitely go to Theobold soon for help if she refused to help.