Sorry, I didn't have the time to investigate. But I'm sure everything happens according to the normal turn sequence. ("Sure" means I have confidence in Meridian's design, not that I investigated it.)
Actually, I hoped Meridian would answer that
Anyway, another suggestion.
"Human Sonic Weapons Concept" article says "Unfortunately we cannot simply go behind their backs and copy the data from their computer due to the nature of the software and its tight binding to the architecture of the computing core." I find it somewhat hard to believe. If X-COM has already read the data, converting it to another format for another architecture is only a matter of man-hours. Even if they need this particular piece of hardware to do the computing, since they claim to understand the ideas better than the original researches, they should be able to reimplement the algorithms on any machine. They may not be as efficient, but time isn't a problem, since the competitors hit a dead end.
I suggest a different explanation. Either a piece of hardware they mistook for an ordinary computer actually contains a test bench too complex to copy quickly — maybe it's based off some alien design. Or it's a matter of power struggle — this group of military researchers don't like being one-upped by a new organization and they are backed by some Council members.
By the way, I've seen an IR spectrophotometer (or maybe an impedance spectroscope) with a built-in Sharp computer, which could be mistaken for a contemporary computer like Compaq Portable.
I suggest the following text (a few bytes shorter than the original):
"This computer case contains a test bench for top-secret military experiments related to sonic weaponry, as well as a computing core and a vast array of experimental data. However, the development is far from complete, and the military researchers seem to have hit a dead end. This morning a convincing representative of the military intelligence contacted us and asked to return the hardware.{NEWLINE}Commander, I believe they will not be able to realize this concept in the near future. Unfortunately, we cannot simply copy the data. We need this test bench to run some experiments of our own.{NEWLINE}I propose to refuse this transfer and complete the weapons ourselves. This will probably entail Council sanctions, though.{NEWLINE}In case we agree, the military offers a reward of {ALT}$ 5,000,000{ALT}. Given the unofficial nature of the deal, the money will be transferred in cash."
Maybe the research should give a "Sonic prototype test bench" item. Then the last two lines would be "I propose to refuse this transfer and study {ALT}Sonic prototype test bench{ALT} ourselves. This will probably entail Council sanctions, though.{NEWLINE}In case we agree to sell it, the military offers a reward of {ALT}$ 5,000,000{ALT}."
Unrelated question. When an enemy weapon is too big and covers the body, it's unclear if the body is stunned, bleeding or dead. Is it possible to do anything about it?
