After her lunch with Mira, Beth returned to her apartment. The place was not anything special—living room, kitchenette, bathroom, a small bedroom—but it was reasonably comfortable and it was home. In one corner of the room was a holographic comm suite. Of course, her surroundings did not matter much, because Beth was the happiest she had been in a long time. She had greatly enjoyed the chance to talk mech strategy and design philosophy with Mira over lunch, as well their conversation during the shoot for the public service announcement. Maybe later she would feel more conflicted, but for now everything was good.<br/><br/>Seeing as how she had some free time, Beth decided to follow through on her earlier decision to look into Jareth Herman and his mystery weapon. She called MBF Pilot Affairs, and immediately an unusual ordeal set in—each time she even mentioned Jareth’s name, her call was soon bounced to a different department with an awkward excuse. Was she being paranoid, or were all these people under instructions not to discuss the subject?<br/><br/>Thirty-five minutes later her mood had gone from chipper to foul, and she spoke with strained politeness—which for Beth was about as nasty as she generally got. “Please, if you can’t help me, could you transfer me to your boss? I really feel this issue is important, and I need to talk to someone who can say something about it.”<br/><br/>“Hold please.”<br/><br/><em>What is with these people?</em><br/><br/>Even though she had been speaking by holographic comm up until this point, she now received an audio only reply. “Jack MacDonald, VP of Mech Benchmarks and Safety. What can I do for you, Ms. Raines?”<br/><br/><em>Finally.</em>“Mr. MacDonald, I’m calling because it’s come to my attention that the MW<em>Eberhart,</em>piloted by Jareth Herman, is equipped with a sonic weapon that attacks pilots directly. I would like to know why such a weapon was ruled in, and why none of the other pilots in the MBF were consulted or even warned about this unprecedented decision.”<br/><br/>There was a pause. “The Mech Battle Federation will not confirm or deny any statements regarding Mr. Herman at this time. Good day, Ms. Raines.”<br/><br/>“What? Hello?!”<em>He just hung up on me!</em>Beth gripped the armrest of the chair as she looked to the empty holographic display. Who else was there for her to talk to?<br/><br/>Finally she remembered Jess Redhart, the manager for Pilot Registration and Statistics. When Beth had dropped out last season with a month to go, she had been very understanding.<em>It’s worth a shot.</em><br/><br/>Beth activated the holocomm, and shortly thereafter Jess’s image appeared and greeted her.<br/><br/>“Ms. Redhart, it's Beth Raines. I’m so sorry to bother you like this,” Beth began, “but I’m not sure if anyone else can help me. I was talking with Mira Malrain about her first match, and she told me that she was attacked by a painful sonic weapon which completely disoriented her within her cockpit. I believe her, and I’ve heard amateur pilots who faced Jareth Herman and his mech make similar claims. I just spent forty minutes trying to get answers from the MBF as to why they would allow such a weapon, and I really think I’m being deliberately stonewalled.” She paused and sighed. “Have you heard anything about this? I’m at my wit’s end.”