Gravity Fluctuation (18)
"Did you hear about that?"
"That a distress call came in? Yeah, I heard. Isn't that why things are so chaotic right now?"
Engineers were chatting as they worked on the main engine to be used for the Albatross. It was just small talk to help them momentarily forget the grueling work, but such scenes could be seen all over the temporary base.
As if it had been prearranged, they all discussed a common subject: a distress call sent from an unidentified vessel to random coordinates. That was the current hot topic.
"That's also why we have to get this hunk of junk running faster than planned."
Kyle, the unofficial representative of the engineers, knocked on the main engine. Thanks to continuous polishing, replacement and repair of worn precision parts, the main engine from the scrapped vessel now looked quite presentable.
It would have to undergo several tests to be even somewhat reliable, but soon it would be mounted on the Albatross. It was because lots of time and manpower had been poured into it.
But that wasn't the main point. What had people buzzing was one intercepted transmission caught by the communications equipment brought from town.
Rumors really do spread fast. There weren't that many people to begin with, so there was no one who didn't know about the intercepted communication.
"It's really noisy."
I muttered as I watched the engineers voicing their opinions. Celestia, who was making the rounds with me, responded.
"It's understandable. They say it could be people from outside of Titan."
To put it bluntly, it was just an urgent distress call from an unknown identity. The communication equipment had been running continuously, but its range had only recently been expanded to the maximum.
With a wider range, a transmission barely caught on the edge could have been a trap set by the pureblood supremacists. At least, that's what we thought—until Licorice double-checked the identification code and widened her eyes.
According to Licorice, the vessel's identification code used a distinctive format not utilized within SSTC's territory. This implied that a ship active somewhere outside Saturn's domain had crash-landed on Titan.
"Outside Titan, huh..."
A vessel that crash-landed on Titan for some reason. Why did it fall here? Titan was currently under lockdown. All sorts of military satellites prevented anything from leaving Titan.
But then, what about the reverse? Would the satellites react if something tried to break in instead of out?
No one—not even Licorice—could give a definitive answer to that. Only those who established the satellite blockade would know the answer, since it depended on their configuration.
It could have been that the unidentified vessel, while passing through Titan's orbit, was attacked by an external force and forced to enter the atmosphere. Or perhaps it intentionally tried to infiltrate Titan and was sucked in by gravity after being attacked by the satellites.
"Hyun-woo, what do you want to do? Rescue? Or ignore it?"
"What does my opinion matter? Other people's thoughts are more important."
"I just want to know what you think."
Celestia chided me softly, saying I shouldn't say that after everything I'd done.
"Hmm... If circumstances allow, we should go rescue them."
"Even though we don't know who they are?"
"We can figure that out after the rescue."
I didn't think they'd be worse than the pureblood supremacists, but if it came down to good or evil, I figured they were more likely to be evil. After all, the orchestrated terrorist acts by the pureblood supremacist group must have severely deteriorated law and order in the planetary system, which was enough to attract pirate bands from the fringes.
Conversely, it was possible they were sent by the Earth government. But if that were true, their identification code wouldn't have been ambiguous from the start.
Both Licorice and I assumed the Earth government wouldn't send reinforcements to such remote places. This was a terrorist act a century in the making.
With so many incidents, everywhere with people must have been affected. They must be too busy dealing with outbreaks in their own territory to spare any forces elsewhere.
"Celestia, there's no chance it's Myosotis, is there?"
"No."
"... That's pretty firm."
"Ah, I'm sorry... I just meant, I believe they're holding their position. They're probably waiting in a nearby orbit for my signal. They know rushing in isn't the answer."
Honestly, I was a bit disappointed. Even if I didn't know exactly where they were, wouldn't it be nice if they could just smash through the blockade satellites, drop in suddenly, and rescue us?
'Well, our location is the problem.'
After all, we hadn't been sitting in the same spot from the very beginning. Even if they broke through, if we weren't at that location, it would just be a waste.
In the off chance—really a one-in-a-million chance—we could've run into the Myosotis guards.
But hoping for such luck was unreasonable with our limited resources. Charging blindly wasn't an option. If the skies had stayed quiet up till now, there had to be a reason.
"If we just find the code to lift the communications blockade at the archive, they'll join—or rather, rescue us right away. Please believe me on this."
Since Celestia assured me Myosotis wouldn't run away, I simply believed her.
"I believe you."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. There's no reason not to."
We were all just trying to survive together. There was no reason not to trust her. Nothing to lose.
"So the key now is when the Albatross will be ready to take off. If we can at least fly, going somewhere else becomes an option."
"Well, about that..."
Our eyes drifted to Kyle, who was working hard in the distance. The rest of us, except for the engineers, had mostly finished our tasks and could finally catch our breath, but not them.
They seemed to be bearing the burden with a sense of responsibility, as if the fate of everyone rested on their shoulders. But there was a limit to that, too.
If they really burned out, they might not get back up for a long while. The sweetness of "doing nothing" could become addicting.
'Can't let that happen.'
At least until we escaped from here, Kyle needed to keep going. For once, I thought I could understand how mining supervisors felt. The pain of tearing flesh and shaving bones. That's how I felt.
Maybe Kyle picked up on my encouragement, because he shivered as if with a chill. He scanned the area until he spotted me; at that exact moment, his face twisted in dismay, as if he'd seen something he never wanted to see.
'That's harsh.'
Sure, I'd made him work a lot, but it was all for everyone's sake. Besides, I wasn't just helping with words; I'd fetched materials when they needed resources, and gotten a slew of robots when they needed personnel. Surely that should count for something.
Watching between Kyle and me, Celestia gave an awkward smile, then grabbed me and steered me in a different direction, bringing up a new subject to change the mood.
"You heard about the pureblood supremacist recon shuttle that passed nearby, right?"
"Yeah. I heard we managed not to get spotted, thankfully."
"With the camouflage curtain deployed, our location hasn't been discovered. But it's only a matter of time."
"That's true."
Since the Albatross's weapons had already been installed, the only internal issue was the main engine. With that soon to be resolved, we would have to decide what to do next.
Thinking of that reminded me of something I'd overheard in passing.
"Celestia, there was a recent gravity fluctuation, right? And it was really strong?"
"Uh... Yes, that's what I heard. Why?"
"I don't know much about these things, so please don't laugh, but I was wondering: if the gravity had been focused directly downward, could something in orbit have crashed onto the surface? ... Like, say, the vessel that sent the distress signal?"
I waited for her answer, half-expecting my speculation might actually be plausible.
"... Pfft."
Celestia quickly clapped a hand over her mouth, but I definitely heard it. She had laughed at me. I was deeply wounded.
"You said you wouldn't laugh at me."
"I-I wasn't laughing at you, it's just, you're so cute that I couldn't help but smile...!"
"I was being serious."
"I know, but... Pfft."
Now she was outright laughing. She didn't seem inclined to even try to hold back. Her laughter was so bright and innocent it was impossible to be angry. It just left me feeling a bit empty. That was all.
I heaved a sigh and let my shoulders droop, while Celestia struggled to stop herself from laughing. It took her a while to finally answer my question.
"Hyun-woo, seriously, don't get the wrong idea. I wasn't laughing at you."
"You did though. You said you wouldn't, but you did."
"I'm sorry about that. Anyway, what you said isn't entirely impossible."
Celestia changed the subject so awkwardly anyone could see through it. I was annoyed, but still curious, so I grudgingly played along.
"That kind of thing has actually happened. There was once some abnormal phenomenon inside a planet that caused a sudden gravity increase, making a small cargo shuttle crash-land."
"Oh?"
"But for that to happen... The gravity would have to be unimaginably strong. Since you called it a ship, it'd have to be at least medium-sized. If a vessel like that was dragged down by a gravity fluctuation so intense, the whole area would be devastated."
"Oh."
"Even if the effect was localized, the aftershock would easily trigger a massive earthquake. But we haven't seen any evidence of that. Even at a distance, if there'd been a quake, we'd have noticed it here."
"..."
Now I understood why Celestia had laughed. I scratched my cheek out of embarrassment, and Celestia giggled at me. Ever since we had escaped the underground lab together, I felt much closer to her now.
Sometimes, there were complicated emotions shining in her eyes when she looked at me—difficult to define, not necessarily bad. There was nothing wrong with growing closer, after all.
That was how I felt, staring blankly at the endless horizon. I felt someone's gaze—it was Celestia, looking at me rather than at the horizon.
She spoke, almost absently, like it was nothing special.
"Did you know? Hyun-woo, you remind me of my brother."
"... Me?"
"Yes."
Celestia ended it with a single word. She didn't explain what exactly she meant or what made her think that; she just turned away and gazed at what I had been looking at.
Now it was I who was watching Celestia, while she looked out at the horizon.
"I thought I'd been through everything, but it turns out I'm still immature. My emotions aren't easy to control. Sometimes, I just act on impulse."
"Well, we're not robots, so that's normal."
I didn't know exactly what she meant, but I replied as best I could.
"That's true, but... How should I put it... It feels like I'm experiencing growing pains, only late. My time had stopped. On the day the pureblood supremacists destroyed Myosotis in an instant. Why me? There hasn't been a single day I haven't asked myself that. I still haven't found the answer..."
This seemed like one of those occasions where responding lightly would be inappropriate. Sometimes you just have to listen.
"But it's not all bad. In fact, I'm grateful. It hurts, but if I can endure this, I can still grow—even now."
Watching Celestia, I realized I'd once thought she led a tough, unhappy life. But now, that felt like a terribly presumptuous thought.
She calls herself young and naive, but I saw it differently. Celestia had taken her first steps, or rather, broken out of her shell. She could endure pain and use it as a stepping stone for growth.
"Hyun-woo, remember when you told me about serendipity? Unexpected fortune that comes to those who are prepared. I wasn't prepared yet, but it still found me. It did, a long time ago, and I just didn't realize it."
Celestia looked back at me. With her gentle gaze, it felt as though she was silently saying I was that unexpected fortune—and that stirred up complicated feelings inside me.
As I hesitated, she smiled softly.
"Meeting everyone here was my stroke of luck. Don't you think?"
"Ah, yeah. Right."
I let out a sigh of relief inside. I almost misunderstood and died of embarrassment.
"Well, if I had to pick, you're the biggest reason. After all, you saved me, didn't you? If you hadn't snapped me out of my trance in the underground lab, I would've just turned to dust and disappeared without a trace."
For a moment, Celestia wore an expression that suggested she was recalling the past. Absent-mindedly touching her lips, her mood suddenly turned playful.
"The most memorable part was the waterway, though. I'd never been that close to anyone before. Not just once, but several times."
I let out an awkward cough. It was pointless to make excuses, like saying I was just carrying out a rescue mission or that I couldn't think of any other way.
But then I realized that keeping silent led to the same result. Celestia narrowed her eyes at me.
"What's with that reaction? Now that you've had your fill, you don't need me anymore?"
"No, what are you talking about? That's not—"
"I'm hurt..."
"No..."
I wanted to bolt right away, but if I did, WVE might turn into UEC. All I could do was flounder awkwardly.
***
Unseen by others, a beastkin was quietly watching Celestia and Lee Hyun-woo. The one with the fluffy fox tail, Nadia.
She had been wandering around with Carry to bring Hyun-woo a juice pack when she saw the two talking and laughing together, even tapping each other's arms as if excited about something.
The moment she saw them, she dove behind a container. She had no idea why—her body just moved on its own. Suddenly her heart was pounding.
Afraid she might be spotted if she came any closer, Nadia held her distance; as a result, she couldn't make out the conversation very well, only catching snippets from time to time.
Until this moment, Nadia had never begrudged the fact that her sensory focus wasn't as keen as most beastkin. But now she was unhappy about it. Still, she strained her ears as much as she could.
"Becoming adults... Back then, really..."
"I was really intense... back then too..."
Adults? Back then? Intense? What?
Nadia had no idea what direction the conversation was going. She did, however, sense something strange was going on. The tail that had started swaying gently at the sight of Hyun-woo was now thrashing indignantly through the air.
"Carry, what's going on here?"
「(ㅇࡇㅇ)?」
Carry looked at Nadia cluelessly, not the best partner for analysis. Nadia realized this, but didn't feel like asking anyone else either. For some reason, it just had to be this way.
In the end, Nadia decided she'd have to answer herself and kept watching Celestia. After a while, she instinctively understood the emotion on Celestia's face.
At first it seemed like a totally alien feeling, but also oddly familiar. After all, the expression and emotions flickering inside Celestia were the exact same ones Nadia felt every day whenever she thought about someone.
She only realized that after she started being teased—when others asked why she seemed so happy about those around her, or told her to look in the mirror or she'd be shocked. She only realized after looking in the mirror and seeing it in herself.
Right now, she didn't even need a mirror. Celestia's expression was Nadia's reflection. The emotion melting her heart, once frozen by a harsh winter—it was right there in Celestia's face.
Nadia called that feeling love.
She had seen many forms of love: spiritual, physical, one-sided, reciprocated, dark, sweet, violent, regretful, tragic—she knew countless kinds of love.
That's how she could be sure of her own feelings—and sense the fragment of emotion within Celestia, too. And Celestia, it seemed, also knew what the feeling was, even if she was trying to hide it.
'Why only now?'
From the first time Nadia saw Celestia, she realized something was off about her. That the feelings she was suppressing didn't actually point at someone nearby, but rather toward someone she missed.
That someone was Celestia's brother, Ian Myosotis. Nadia had once told Hyun-woo about this, only to be scolded in response.
Still, she never felt threatened by it. Who cared if dangerous feelings were aimed at a brother and not anyone else? Nadia thought it was fine as long as those feelings didn't turn toward Hyun-woo.
But now, that condition seemed like it was about to be broken. Or maybe it already had been.
"This isn't right, is it?"
For a moment, an image flashed through Nadia's mind—a future she had once imagined and planned for.
A small town on Earth with a well-developed natural environment. Outdoors, a calm, gentle wind brushed through, and surrounding plants scattered petals as if blessing the place.
The usually tranquil city was bustling on that day. People gathered in a sunny, lightly shaded outdoor setting, chatting noisily.
Most faces were familiar, even if not all. Licorice was there, Kyle was there, and plenty of others.
Amid an atmosphere of coordinated dress, a man and woman appeared. Nadia, in a white wedding dress, and Hyun-woo, handsome in a morning coat, walked side by side.
A wedding dress. Yes, today was their wedding day. Amid all the excited fuss around her, Nadia blushed shyly as she and Hyun-woo took center stage.
The MC's face was hard to picture, since she hadn't decided who they'd pick yet, but the ceremony went smoothly.
As the MC spoke, Nadia glanced back. Most people looked genuinely happy and were celebrating, but a few couldn't quite join in.
Licorice, for instance, was biting her handkerchief in frustration, trying to hide the jealousy that was plain for all to see. Her lingering affection was directed at Hyun-woo, while her anger—tinged with envy—was reserved for Nadia.
Nadia enjoyed even those looks. The generosity of a winner—jealous glances from losers were nothing but sweet nectar to her.
Savoring the victory, she returned her gaze to Hyun-woo and clung to his arm. It was such a happy day. She'd worked so hard for this, and now the time had come to reap her reward.
All that remained was the highlight of the ceremony: the kiss. It was just a fantasy, but felt more real than reality.
Just then, there was a commotion from the back. In the middle of the wedding, a disturbance broke out—it was impossible not to turn around.
Reluctantly, Nadia looked behind her. Celestia stood there, having pushed past several barriers. With what purpose, for what reason, and how? So many questions sprang up.
As all eyes turned toward her, Celestia confidently produced some sort of paperwork. She didn't know what it was.
A birth certificate? A pre-filed marriage registration? Whatever it was, it was something serious that could disrupt the wedding.
And Celestia shouted,
'This wedding is invalid!'
The guests gasped in shock. Chaos ensued, and the wedding ended in disaster.
"... That can't happen."
She heard the shattering sound of her plans for the future cracking. Jolted by the noise inside, Nadia involuntarily clenched her hand.
The juice pack she was holding burst at almost the exact same moment. As liquid trickled down her hand, the fierce shadow of her tail flickered in the air.
「(;° ロ°)」
Carry stared in horror at the now-mummified juice pack.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
「(;° ロ°)」