“Now, you see,” the major said to her, “I’d like you to analyze the personality of this new man. If the file they sent isn’t enough, figure something out. I especially want you to find out if he’ll be able to work with the SAF in general and Rei in particular. Take Colonel Rombert’s expectations into account as well. Since he’s about to take up his post here, I’d like you to give this matter your continuous attention.”
“Yes, Major. In other words, you want me to try profacting this man,” she replied.
“I’m not that familiar with your field’s terminology, but I think so. I thought it was called profiling, though.”
“Profiling techniques were never widely accepted in the fields of psychology and psychiatry. Since the term was also broadly interpreted and used arbitrarily by the general public, it fell into disfavor in the scientific world. Profacting is a method used to analyze the load intensity of the mind and body in order to theoretically predict a subject’s behavior or psychology.”
“It’s your specialty. I want you to analyze him the same way you did Rei.”
“Understood, sir. I suppose we’ll need to analyze Colonel Rombert’s psychology as well.”
“Just be prudent and don’t be too obvious about it. I know you can do this.”
“I’ll try to live up to your expectations, Major.”
“Good to hear. Ask for Captain Fukai’s opinion in your analysis. He knows more about Colonel Rombert and the relationship between the SAF and the Intelligence Forces than you do.”
“You want me to help with this too?” Rei asked.
“Right,” the major said. “You’ll do this together. This is a question that concerns your continued existence, Rei. The results of his psych analysis will be helpful in that regard.”
“Roger,” Rei said, nodding. “It’ll be nice, but don’t you think you’re going a little overboard with all this? It doesn’t matter who they send to us. If he’s useless in combat, we throw him out, that’s all. You used to say that was all that matters.”
“But it’s better to know the trouble spots beforehand, right?” said Captain Foss. “You can’t be too careful.”
“That’s especially true for this new guy,” Major Booker added. “It may seem like I’m overdoing things here, but I don’t think it’s a waste of time, so it’s okay.”
Major Booker rubbed the back of his head with his palm, taking some time to let the mood change before he continued.
“I’ve been thinking about trying a direct exchange of information with the JAM. I want Yukikaze and Captain Fukai to carry it out.”
“Will the enemy go along with it?” asked Captain Foss. “Make contact? With the JAM? We don’t know anything about them. It’s too dangerous!”
“Which is why I’m working on the plan,” Major Booker said. “If we just do it all of a sudden, it won’t work. After thirty years of fighting them, we still know nothing of the JAM. I’ve decided that it’s time for the SAF to initiate its own strategy regarding them. The tactical reconnaissance we’ve been conducting up till now hasn’t been getting us anywhere, and coming up with tactical plans to forestall losing will never let us win. What we want is a strategy that will lead to victory. General Cooley agrees with me, so beginning with all of the data we’ve collected on the JAM thus far, I want to begin reconstructing a portrait of them. In other words, Captain Foss, I want you to do that profacting thing you mentioned. On the JAM. I want a psychobehavioral analysis of them.”
“But the JAM aren’t human,” Rei protested.
“I know that. I also know that only humans can do this job. The question we’re trying to answer in this case is this: what is the true nature of the JAM? I want to know what they’re after. I also want to know what their goal, their ultimate goal, is in all of this. Besides that, why are they sending these human duplicates to infiltrate us? I think it’s because they want to know more about us, but I want some theoretical backing to that supposition.”
“The JAM’s ultimate goal?” asked Captain Foss. “That’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? They want to invade Earth and conquer it. Are you saying that’s not what they’re after?”
“While it may be true that the JAM invaded Earth before and are still trying to gain a foothold, the idea that they’re trying to conquer the planet is just our subjective impression as humans. Or rather than our impression, it’s your impression. The SAF doesn’t see it that way. At the very least, General Cooley and I don’t think so.”
“You’re right,” Rei added. “I don’t think the JAM’s objective is simply to conquer Earth. If they were just trying to invade, they could have pulled that off without us humans knowing it. They still could. They may already have.”
“I agree. It’s as though the JAM never expected humanity to try and stop their invasion, and their actions toward us since then seem to support that. That still holds true, but their behavior is changing. They’re changing their strategy because they now seem to have realized that achieving their objective is going to require dealing with us humans first. If they’re adopting a new strategy, then we can’t afford to ignore it. We’re about to see a major turn in the course of the war, which means we can’t keep fighting it the way we’ve been. We’ve got to come up with a countermeasure, and fast! Is that clear, Foss?” Major Booker said, chiding the young doctor.
“You have to understand that conquering Earth and conquering human society are two entirely different things. Homo sapiens isn’t the only species on Earth. To an outsider observing us, humanity may not appear to be its rulers. I’ve said over and over, that’s just human prejudice talking. You might even call it human conceit. Someone could just as easily say that plants rule the earth, or the oceans, or possibly that our computers do. The JAM certainly behave as though they see things that way. What I want from you in your role as a specialist is to analyze what the JAM have done so far and then figure out what they’re thinking and how they plan to seize Earth. Add Captain Fukai’s experience to the data and then go to it.”
“I’m not a specialist in analyzing JAM behavior and psychology!” Captain Foss insisted.
“Nobody’s a specialist in that,” Rei said. “No human at least. Yukikaze and the computers probably know more about that than we do.”
“We can’t go on saying that!” Major Booker shot back. “First of all, there’s a problem in our not being able to take pride in being the ones who know the most about the JAM. There are probably lots of civilians outside of the FAF who also have an interest in this. Some among them may be doing analysis that’s even more pertinent than what the SAF is doing.”
“Yeah,” said Rei. “Like Lynn Jackson.”
“People like her who think outside the box are a dying breed. Yeah, I was also thinking of her while I was talking just now.”
“Lynn Jackson? You mean the world-famous journalist?” asked Edith.
“Right,” replied Major Booker. “She’s been covering the JAM and the FAF for a long time now. It’s her life’s work. We owe her a lot, especially Rei here.”
“Really?” replied Captain Foss. “I read her book and found it fascinating. That’s what first gave me the idea of joining the FAF.”
“I wonder what Lynn would say if she heard that,” Major Booker said. “Well, the younger generation is definitely growing up. You’ve put yourself a lot closer to living JAM than she has. It’s an undeveloped field, and you’ve got a chance to pioneer it. That’ll become a real feather in your cap, one that may even outdo what Lynn’s working on.”