"No! Big brother is already amazing! Containing the war to a certain area, otherwise..."
Thinking of how many innocent people would die if those Neutron Jammers were spread across the globe, Kira felt a chill run down his spine.
They had only assumed that ZAFT didn't want to escalate things, never imagining that it was actually their own brother's balancing act behind the scenes.
That was incredible to the point of being explosive.
"But brother, why did you come this time?"
"And the disguise?"
Finally, hearing Kira hit the crucial point, Fred took a deep breath, his expression turning serious.
Seeing his brother's demeanor and the atmosphere in the room, Kira felt a growing sense of unease and tension.
"ORB and the Atlantic Federation are collaborating on developing the latest MS. Their research results are currently inside the Dawn Organization right here."
"..."
A short statement, but the impact on Kira was immense.
He didn't even react for a long time.
But that was only natural.
Learning that neutral ORB was developing MS alongside the Atlantic Federation—not just Kira, but anyone from ORB would probably have the same reaction.
In fact, Kira's reaction was already relatively calm.
A staunch ORB supporter might outright deny it, saying it was impossible and so on.
"Is this true?"
Finally, after processing all this information in his mind, Kira spoke.
He was deeply conflicted.
On one hand, he wanted to believe ORB wasn't that kind of nation; on the other, he trusted his brother.
Seeing Kira's half-doubting expression, Fred directly produced evidence, placing the documents along with some photos in front of Kira.
"These are facilities inside the Dawn Organization. You should recognize them, Kira."
"Mm..."
Kira responded, quickly picking up the documents and flipping through them rapidly.
The further he read, the worse the young man's expression became.
After finishing the documents, Kira had to believe it even if he didn't want to.
He was interning at the Dawn Organization besides attending school. Though he couldn't access the inner areas, he was familiar with the basic layout.
It was definitely the Dawn Organization.
And the photos showed no signs of tampering.
Of course, the chain of evidence wasn't entirely complete.
ORB would have plenty of ways to deny it if they wanted to.
But combined with his brother's words, ORB was essentially confirmed in Kira's mind.
"Brother, are you going to catch them in the act?"
Kira realized and asked.
"Exactly."
"Isn't that really dangerous?!?!"
"Their internal security is no joke!"
He was interning at the Dawn Organization and knew how tight the security was.
"Do you need my help...?"
Kira said this with a hint of fear and nervousness.
"No need."
Fred didn't mind Kira's attitude. After all, Kira had just learned all this and still believed him, even offering to help—that was already a pleasant surprise.
With so much happening at once, anyone would feel lost.
"But this place isn't safe anymore. Want to come to PLANT with us for a visit before heading home?"
"Huh?"
Kira, who had been discussing serious matters, was stunned by this.
Weren't they just talking about danger and intelligence?
His brother hadn't come all this way just to ask for his help, had he?
Why had it suddenly turned into an invitation for him to go to PLANT for a visit?
But before he could even process this, Fred seemed to read his thoughts and continued speaking.
"You don't need to help with anything. Just hide and wait for us when the time comes."
"The main reason I came to find you is that I was worried you might run into danger at the Dawn Organization."
"Besides, it's been a long time since we've seen each other. Come over and we can catch up."
"Athrun and Flay will be there too."
In Fred's view, even if he brought Kira back and just had him sit around doing nothing, that would still be better than letting him be used by others here.
It would be impossible to claim there was no personal motive behind this.
The reason for this decision, aside from brotherly concern and protection, was that Kira's abilities were truly exceptional.
If ORB actually managed to exploit him, that would be a real problem.
So why not keep him close instead?
At least that way, he could still ask for Kira's opinion, rather than having him research some system as part of a transactional arrangement.
As for ORB, after their operation succeeded this time, they'd be too busy scrambling to cover their own backsides.
They wouldn't have time to deal with Kira for a while at least.
"This..." Kira said on the other end, genuinely tempted this time.
After hesitating for a moment, he continued, "But what about my parents..."
"You can just tell them about it afterward. It's not like you're never coming back."
"They can come visit too, you know."
"Visit... but isn't there still a war going on?" Kira said.
"The Atlantic Federation no longer has any Mass Drivers available to use. Combined with the Moon being pinned down and worn out by ZAFT, they can't fight their way to PLANT's home turf anymore."
Fred wasn't just trying to placate Kira on this point. At this stage of the war, the Atlantic Federation had already fallen into a passive position.
Though it was only passive in space. As for Earth, ZAFT couldn't swallow it up anytime soon.
After all, there were too many Blue Cosmos members on Atlantic Federation home soil.
Without the advantage of proper intelligence and Mobile Suit superiority, it would indeed be very difficult to effectively strike at Blue Cosmos's upper echelons.
That was also the Atlantic Federation's source of confidence.
But that confidence would soon disappear, he believed.
And facing his brother's confident demeanor, trust welled up in Kira's heart, and he nodded along.
It did seem to be true.
But would ORB be upset...
"ORB won't do anything." Knowing what he was thinking, Fred had already spoken.
What he'd said earlier about them being too busy was only one aspect.
Even if that Lion found out, he wouldn't go so far as to directly make things difficult for Kira's parents.
Saving face was one thing, but another was that doing so would likely offend Kira beyond repair, which would backfire.
That Lion wasn't so short-sighted.
"Alright then!"
With all his hesitation persuaded away by Fred, Kira agreed as well.
He really hadn't seen Athrun and the others in a long time, and Flay...
"But what about my friends..."
"We'll grab what we need and leave. It won't affect ordinary people."
Just as he'd said, if with the advantage of foresight and his own planning, he still ended up blowing up the space colony like in the original scenario, then he'd have lived his life for nothing.
And Heliopolis surviving was the best outcome.
Otherwise, if this place really was destroyed, they'd be at a moral disadvantage as well.
It was very likely that this well-prepared confrontation would just be brushed off by the other side.
He not only intended to take the Mobile Suit but also to bring ORB's reputation into ruin.
"Alright!"
Without overthinking it, Kira, hearing that his brother had long been prepared, had no objections whatsoever.