Turning Point (8)
After part of the ice peak surrounding the observation post collapsed, we quickly launched the shuttle, wary that the situation might turn dangerous.
Fortunately, only the area where the beam of light struck broke away; it didn't lead to a total collapse. Thanks to that, we could watch the spectacle of the shining beam with some peace of mind.
— Can you see it from there?
"... If you mean the rippling, yes, I can see it."
— It's not just a simple ripple. It's a very, very large-scale disturbance.
Licorice let out an admiring exclamation and, unable to contain her excitement, sent us a photo taken by Albatross's external camera. Celestia and I swallowed dryly—almost in perfect sync.
The photo captured the precise moment when the wave spread out in a ripple where the light touched. It was immediately obvious why Licorice had stressed the sheer scale of this disturbance.
Like a stone thrown into calm water, space itself trembled, and the area affected by it was steadily increasing. I couldn't help but wonder how they had managed to conceal a region of this size.
We had also noticed the disturbance, but not as clearly. Of course, that was because we were watching from afar.
— Truly, this is an unexpected gain. To acquire Archive information in a place like this... and not just a clue, but precise location data.
"What are we going to do?"
— What do you mean, what are we going to do? We're already airborne, so we should return to Albatross for now. Griffin is busy with resource extraction, so let's leave them out and move by ourselves first.
This time, I didn't bother asking further; the answer was obvious. If you found a clue, you had to make use of it. I nodded.
"Got it. We'll head there now."
With the mission complete, the shuttle turned and headed for Albatross at high altitude. Canna, having received a brief report of the situation, wore a thoughtful expression at the controls.
She turned her attention to us and spoke.
"Lately, I feel like I've been stuck inside a barrel."
"A barrel?"
"Yes. I thought that barrel was all there was to the world. But it wasn't. Obviously."
Canna exhaled quietly. I could somewhat guess the feeling she had; I'd been feeling something similar myself.
In the tumult of tangled emotions, anxiety and nervousness claimed the biggest share.
How much more was out there that I didn't know?
How much more did I need to understand?
Was it okay to stop here?
Wasn't it enough that I had learned this much?
I couldn't make a clear decision because I didn't know where the line was. Even if I sought advice after realizing this and got an answer, it was hard to fully trust it—the anxiety from such unknowns gnawed at the mind.
Canna had seen and experienced more than me—as a soldier, she'd seen a wider world. Yet even she was shaken by the turbulent changes after what Blue Crystal had caused.
A plan prepared by the pureblood supremacist organization for a hundred years, the Earth government's protocol, technology so advanced it was hard to believe even after seeing it, the black-box Archives present on every satellite and planet, the suspicious records of the Pilgrims.
And the root of all these calamities—something enormous, probably slumbering here.
Each of these was something to raise every ounce of one's vigilance against. If I were the only survivor on the icy moon Titan, I probably wouldn't have escaped the residential area or the Heaven mining base, let alone made it this far.
It was only because there were people to support me when I was ready to collapse that I got here. I'd never forgotten that, not even for a second.
So, it was okay. You're not alone—there are people who support each other. I meant to say that in a hopeful tone, had Celestia not cut in first with a snort.
"That just means you're physically comfortable."
"...?"
"Hyun-woo, why are you looking at me like that? I'm right, aren't I? Of course, it's only human to get lost in such thoughts. But Canna, you're at the controls right now. Even if things seem quiet and you feel a bit relaxed, you can't let your mind slip too."
"I—I haven't lost focus...!"
Canna protested frantically. She explained that she'd only been distracted for a moment, but was otherwise carrying out her duties faithfully; she could even prove it.
Celestia didn't so much as blink; instead, she shook her head.
"I saw it all. For just a moment there, you drifted into thought, and the shuttle began to tilt, so you grabbed the controls again in a hurry."
"...."
Canna fell silent, as if she'd been caught out. Shoulders drooped at Celestia's continued words. Unlike our first meeting, where she'd hissed at me like a cat and kept her guard up, she now showed a range of emotions.
"Just look at Kyle. He has the most to complain about, but see how he's holding up? I think you and he are quite alike, canna. To be more precise, you're the same type. You're a soldier—you know that if your body is pushed hard enough, you don't think about anything. I think I can help with that. I'll tell Eric, and you two form a team. Got it?"
"Yes...."
"Hm... Do you *really* get it?"
Celestia frowned at the lackluster answer.
"Yes!"
Canna snapped to attention in a practiced military fashion. Seeing that, I thought of Kyle. Whenever he merely saw Celestia, he immediately became alert, as if forcibly freed from exhaustion.
'Kyle, just what kind of life have you led?'
It was at that moment I realized how he'd been able to endure the grueling routine up until now. For him, that was everyday life—being ground down day after day.
Celestia winked, saying that every person needed a different handling. I gave a sheepish smile. Noticing, Celestia stuck out her lower lip and muttered.
"I wasn't teasing or anything—it was real help. Canna's been paying attention to Eric lately."
"Eric? Why?"
"You remember Eric was a soldier himself? I guess they must have met back then. It doesn't look like they were just passing acquaintances, but I don't know the details."
"Ah..."
From what I'd seen, it seemed like they'd clashed more than a few times. I stifled any snide comments. I'd noticed something between them, after all. Since I seemed accepting, Celestia fortunately let it drop.
For various reasons, we rode in silence as the shuttle docked at Albatross's storage bay.
"Things are going to get hectic. We've found Archive faster than planned."
"It's not confirmed yet, is it?"
"True, but it's pretty much a sure thing. If that's not an Archive inside that sort of energy field, that'd be a shock on its own."
Celestia shrugged, saying that either way, it was the sort of topic to cause a commotion. She naturally came over and alighted at my side.
"Hyun-woo!"
Nadia jumped up to greet me with barely restrained excitement. She glanced over me, then Carry, then, satisfied we were unharmed, breathed a sigh of relief.
「(ಠ ᎔ ಠ )」
Noticing the little spider robots trailing after Nadia like pets, Carry started a silent confrontation, arms folded and a sullen look on its face. Ignoring them, we made our way to the operations room, which doubled as the bridge.
Nadia didn't ask what had happened below. Apparently, Licorice had already circulated an analysis report, so everyone was aware of the situation.
Soon after, we entered the bridge. As expected, news that a path had opened to what we presumed was Archive had everyone on Albatross in high spirits—for once, it was good news after nothing but bad.
Of course, that didn't mean anyone had let down their guard. If anything, everyone seemed even more determined.
Perhaps we were the last to arrive. Licorice soon activated the central monitor. Every piece of information we'd gathered was organized on display.
"As you've all seen, an unidentified energy field has appeared. I think this field is both protecting and hiding Archive."
"It doesn't look like it's just some kind of invisibility effect—am I right?"
"It's just a guess, but probably so. It's not just concealing an area. It also performs the normal functions of an energy field."
An energy field, powered by huge amounts of energy, could block outside attacks or encircle places like residential areas to isolate certain elements. Unauthorized access could even kill an intruder attempting to force entry.
With a plasma-based rejective response, anything touching the field could be vaporized. Of course, this depended on how it was programmed; the strength could be adjusted.
"So, direct entry is impossible. We don't have weapons powerful enough to breach the field. But it's okay—I have an idea."
Licorice tapped the air. A hologram screen appeared with photos zoomed in.
"The beam from the third observation post, found by the relay team, isn't just a marker. It's a kind of key."
"A key?"
"Yes—the key to unlocking the powerful lock that is the energy field. See how the area the beam touches is rippling? Unlocking—No, 'neutralizing' is a better word."
Licorice showed us that the energy field's rejective responses were notably weakening where it had been activated at the observation post. She continued.
"But one isn't enough."
"So we need to find other observation posts—ones that can still act as signal beacons."
"Exactly. Judging by the degree of neutralization one post accomplishes, we'll need at least three active to safely enter. Two might be enough to get by, but unless we fully unlock the field, we'll have to cross it again on the way back. Griffin would be torn apart in mid-air. Albatross wouldn't last much longer either."
A simulation depicted both Albatross and Griffin exploding in midair, drawing gasps and grimaces from everyone. Some people shuddered; others patted the deck anxiously.
"Pretty brutal..."
"Lee Hyun-woo, is there any new reaction from that seedling? We only found those observation posts thanks to it, after all."
"I don't know if it doesn't want to help, or if it just doesn't know. I've asked it since earlier, but there's no response."
I pulled the ball with the seedling from my belt pouch. The little guy had hidden itself completely under the soil. If I had to pick the most capricious thing around, I'd choose this guy without hesitation.
"That's too bad. Anyway, I've deduced the likely locations of other posts based on the records. Assuming this area was once a plain, and the true Mithrim Montes is inside an energy field, that's my logic."
Licorice identified ten locations in total. It was more than expected, but the coordinates weren't far apart, forming something like a ring—so we could check them one at a time.
"In case of emergency, I've been drawing up plans for a forced-entry strategy. To make that work, we'd need to create armor that covers the entire ship."
"A one-use thing, right?"
"Right. Even if we wanted to use it again, it wouldn't be possible. We don't have the materials."
"I'll just die then."
Kyle laughed hollowly. He had already—no, even before now—reached a state of enlightenment.
"You can't die. Even if you do, I'll revive you to make something else. When we need something built, I'll bring you back."
"Gaaaaah...!"
Kyle twisted in agony, but Licorice reassured him, saying she didn't need him to build anything now. He barely recovered his senses—any closer, and he might have become something twisted, living in the netherworld.
"Kyle, you're done here. Go back to the storage bay. Get to work."
"... Isn't that a bit harsh?"
"What do you mean? I'm doing this for you."
"And how is that?"
"At least you don't have to hear new work assignments in real time."
"...."
Kyle opened his mouth, but no sound came out. In the end, he sighed deeply and headed for the storage bay, canna giving him a comrade-in-arms pat on the shoulder.
Watching him trudge away, I caught myself feeling sympathetic but resigned. I was startled to realize I preferred physical labor to mental strain.
In that, I was no different from Celestia. I must have picked it up from her... or maybe we'd always been alike.
"Oh, this is a report from Griffin—the aftershocks of the last gravity cannon blast are spreading underground..."
"We'll have to postpone that until after we check the observation posts and get to Archive. That way, we can use the comm relays to orbit and—"
"Is this the equipment you made for that?"
"Yep! Here's how we're going to use it—..."
The emergency meeting proceeded smoothly. In the meantime, there hadn't been a sudden attack by the pureblood supremacists. But that didn't mean there were no problems.
Roxy hadn't contacted us. No message saying he'd received the briefing and was returning, nor any excuse that he couldn't make it back because of trouble—no communication at all.
***
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