Ayerscarpe/File

## Profile

Bodyguard to the Catastrophe Messenger Leonhardt, coming with him to Rhodes Island. He brings his experience in escorting, investigation, guerilla warfare, and infiltration under complex conditions.
He enters the battlefield with an unconventional weapon purchased from Rim Billiton's black market and can provide a variety of short and medium-range attacks for his squad, exterminating enemies as his only means of protecting important targets.

## Clinical Analysis

*Have at least 25% Trust with Ayerscarpe to view this file.*
Imaging tests reveal clear, normal outlines of internal organs, and no abnormal shadows have been detected. Originium granules have not been detected in the circulatory system and there is no sign of infection. At this time, this operator is believed to be uninfected.

**[Cell-Originium Assimilation] 0%**
Only scars and abdominal markings are visible, with no signs of infection.

**[Blood Originium-Crystal Density] 0.07u/L**
Remnants of Originium are visible on organs but at very low concentrations.

"That golden-haired Cautus must have provided this guy with a bit of his own protective Arts. Otherwise, he would've turned into ash long ago given the kind of work environments mentioned in his file."
—A not very polite Medic

"Abdominal area feels pretty good on palpation."
—Medic's addendum

## Archive Files

Archive File 1
Before joining Rhodes Island, Ayerscarpe was the bodyguard to Leonhardt, a Catastrophe Messenger. His main job was to protect Leonhardt from harm during his investigations and assessments of Catastrophes. Combined with Leonhardt's cleverness, the duo rarely run into sticky situations. Most of the time, Ayerscarpe only needs to accompany him on walks, help carry equipment, or listen to his friend's incessantly prattling about what he thinks is cool — at least until the moment when a crisis comes and he is required to perform his duties.
There are many ways for a bodyguard to protect his target. Some people prefer using defensive measures to mitigate the damage, others are good at arranging traps to deter an enemy's attack. However, Ayerscarpe's preferred method of defense is to eradicate the enemies. Though he is a man of few words, his ferocious attacks indeed confirm his status as an operator who believes that the best defense is a good offense.

Archive File 2
Ayerscarpe's chosen method of defense is extremely risky and does not conform to the logic of ordinary people. However, the operator himself is well-suited for carrying out his duties in this manner. In addition to having excellent combat skills and rapid reaction times, part of this operator's success is owed to the special weapon that he carries.
There has been no official name given to this weapon as of yet, and the nicknames that the operator himself has chosen, such as "my baby," or "nice guy," have no reference value whatsoever. Due to the operating mode of the weapon itself, we've temporarily named it "RT-01."
Since there is no weapon or even weapon class similar to RT-01 within our scope of knowledge, we believe that this is an experimental weapon. According to Ayerscape, this weapon was purchased from Rim Billiton's black market. Rim Billiton has developed many small-scale private mining companies due to its robust mining industry. The turnover and conglomeration rate among these companies are high, which indirectly promotes the black market. Many resources will circulate here before eventually reaching the hands of private individuals, organizations, or even foreign forces. Because Ayerscarpe overcame great difficulties to acquire this weapon, and the weapon itself boasts excellent performance, he is extremely fond of RT-01. When asked to describe any deficiencies, he'll only point out that it "produces some slight noise from time to time."
The operator in charge of weapon inspections said he didn't hear anything, but Ayerscarpe insists that he hears it loud and clear.

Archive File 3
Ayerscarpe and Leonhardt have been friends since childhood, and the two also divide labor amongst each other very cleanly. Leonhardt takes on jobs that require negotiation or involve minerals, and Ayerscarpe takes on tasks that require superior athleticism or uncovering things that can't be discovered by others. Don't be fooled by the fact that he often exchanges harsh words with his old friend and will never let him maintain an image of self-respectability in public — if something was ever to happen to Leonhardt, Ayerscarpe would be the first to rush over. When Leonhardt became a Catastrophe Messenger, Ayerscarpe volunteered to become Leonhardt's private bodyguard. Since Ayerscarpe acquired his unique set of weapons, it would be more profitable to take on jobs of his own rather than protecting the Catastrophe Messenger, but Ayerscarpe stubbornly insists on remaining his friend's bodyguard, while also making it clear that the other party needs to pay up. All in all, Leonhard, not wealthy in the first place, ended up allocating most of his salary to Ayerscarpe, ending up in an even tighter financial situation as a result.
Although we didn't know how Ayerscarpe controlled these funds before, we were able to investigate the flow of funds between the two after he became an operator, and the results were mind-blowing.
Leonhardt's concept of managing money is rather laissez-faire. While he is good at making money, he's also good at spending it. After joining Rhodes Island, his shopping list grew longer than ever due to stable living arrangements and a higher salary. With the exception of work-related tools such as dune buggies, Leonhardt's growing stash is generally less than practical, but is undeniably filled with trendy and interesting things. Most of these items simply reflect his personal taste, but others are for gifting to young operators who he deems to "not be cool enough," and he often offers these gifts in a way that is hard to refuse. His consumption habits have sometimes been problematic, leading to him being unable to pay the bills sometimes. As for the one who had been covering him? None other than Ayerscarpe.
Ayerscarpe's lifestyle has always been very frugal. Other than spending money on necessary living expenses and salted edamame, Ayerscarpe has been saving his money, and he basically returns the "payment" he received from serving as Leonhardt's bodyguard to his friend at the right time. He knows that Leonhardt doesn't know how to save money, and he knows that sooner or later, he wouldn't be able to purchase something that he actually needed. At that time, he'll use that money to buy things for his friend and send it over to him. Even now when there is no direct financial connection between the two, he still often draws from his savings to fill in the gap for Leonhardt. Of course, he also knows that Leonhardt will repay him in due time. This is the mutual understanding formed after many years of cooperation, and demonstrates the trust between the two friends.

Archive File 4
"We found a signal transmitter on Ayerscarpe's weapon, which has already been dismantled, that the operator had no knowledge of."
"The signal sent from the transmitter automatically searches for a valid port, performs a second transmission, before eliminating all traces until it reaches the target."
"Most countries' military-grade communications equipment does not have this level of technology."
"After cracking the transmission path of the launcher and simulating a transmission, we have reason to believe—"
"It's Rhine Lab. I can tell just from looking at it."
"The signal's final destination is a port located in Ursus."
"After being intercepted by a node halfway through, it modified the target port before immediately deleting the data. This is an old trick."
"Do you really think Ursus knows how to make a weapon like this?"
"A reloading blade-gun, a self-calibrating gun, automatic hover blades."
"Only Rhine Labs has the capacity to deliberately integrate these technologies into a single system."
"I see."
"So—"
"How did a Columbian experimental weapon end up in Rim Billiton, in the hands of a young man who has nothing to do with them?"
"......"
This whole situation has Rhine Lab's fingerprints all over it. Let me give you a hypothetical."
"Sure."
"On Terra, there will always be people with extraordinary talents."
"It is a joy to craft weapons for them."
"When these weapons are manufactured and their wielders seem to possess all the power in the world within their hands, buyers will arrive in droves to snag up these weapons."
"In the hands of ordinary people, these 'divine' weapons are not even as useful as a logging hatchet."
"As for what Rhine Labs did, I actually have an idea."
"They designed a 'divine weapon,' but realized that it is nothing but a hatchet."
"This thing?"
"This is a failed design."
"While the design seems well-integrated as a whole, the Originium undergoes serious leakage problems during conversion, and the accuracy of the hovering blades is unsatisfactory."
"If not in the hands of someone who has a hobby of getting electrocuted, this weapon is not usable at all."
"How do we deal with this then?"
"Deal with? There's no need for that. Saria couldn't see eye-to-eye about the way certain departments in Rhine Lab did things, but she wouldn't do anything about these weapon owners."
"Our biggest fear is that Rhine Lab will use the signal transmitter to take control of the device and do something unspeakable."
"Since we found out about it, it should be fine now that we've destroyed it."
"As for what Rhine Lab will do with the data they obtained, will they find another target to experiment upon, or will they create the hatchet that can slay a god?"
"So, what does this have to do with Rhodes Island?"

—Unknown time, Rhodes Island, unidentified surveillance recording

Promotion Record
Ayerscarpe is a very strange person.
Even though I know that we shouldn't be quick to judge others, he really is a strange person.
For example, take his habit of eating salted edamame.
I know some people who think food from the East is new and exotic and have a desire to try it, and sometimes they'll even really like it.
But I cannot understand his particular way of eating.
He eats them, shell and everything.
He just pops the entire pod into his mouth.
I didn't know either at first, and originally thought that was how you were supposed to eat them. I gave it a try, and thought that these were inedible, and decided that whoever came up with the idea of eating these things must've been crazy.
But then, someone told me to peel the pod.
Ayerscarpe even made a little box to take with him that is specifically for edamame, which he probably eats as a snack.
I can't possibly comprehend why.
Oh, right, there's one other thing.
The guy thinks he runs on electricity.
I'm serious.
I have no idea if his weapon electrocutes people, but when I see his ears tremble, I'm pretty sure there's some electricity involved.
What's more, he always goes around asking those electricity-based operators if he can bum some electricity from them.
I'm talking Greyy, that guy who fixes the electrical outlets, and Leizi.
He walked up to Leizi like a plank one day and asked, "is there some way for me to quickly increase the charge my body can carry?"
Is he stupid?!
I feel even worse for that little Victorian hairstylist. They already have to deal with getting shocked by static electricity all the time due to their Oripathy, but now there's this guy who's always asking, "Can you shock me real quick?"
Absolute maniac!

––A certain file manager's evaluation in the appendix