[Insert a Hitchcock reference here]

[a_louse]

Birds.

[The desk Roger is sitting on is full of clutter, as usual. Among that clutter, there are photos - pictures of enemy units taken during the latest battle, as well as photos of all kinds of birds, usually in the wild. Some of the photos are marked by someone who apparently was looking for similarities between them.
Roger grabs his head, shaking it slightly, then pours himself a shot of whiskey.]

If I wasn't there, I'd think it's a joke. But it isn't - we barely managed to stop them from causing a massacre. What other creatures have a secret society dedicated to fighting humanity? Will dogs be next? Lizards?

[Roger takes the shot and his frown deepens.]

...This whiskey is pretty bad.

[Truly, the 1% of mecha are affected by the supply shortages as well.]

Comments

[a_louse]

Of course not. Most of them are not even intelligent. And even among the intelligent ones there are probably defectors, like our cats.

The problem is that we can't tell which ones are which.

[star_of_sad]

One year ago I wouldn't even imagine I'd be having a talk like this.

But they attacked inside their combat machines and not on foot... wing. That rules out a stealth attack at least.

I hope.

[a_louse]

Of course. I doubt they will attack without the help of their robots - and even if they do, what can a pigeon do to a human?

But there's another problem. Spying.

[star_of_sad]

[Setsuko imagines security measures in the form of shooting every bird on sight.]

Let's... not get too paranoid, now.

[a_louse]

Paranoia never serves anyone, but neither does ignoring known dangers. We just have to keep an eye out for birds acting suspiciously, not just people.

If we managed to catch a spy, it'd be quite helpful, don't you think?

[star_of_sad]

How would you judge if a bird is acting suspiciously, mr Roger?

[a_louse]

Acting in very different way than their species usually does would do the trick. Unfortunately, I'm not an ornithologist.

...I'll give the commander a call to see what he thinks about hiring one.