Chapter Two: Mystery
Kiyone tried several more times to reach the Yagami before she gave up.
Eventually, she halted and looked out one of the windows onto the barren surface. It dawned on her that they all alone in a very dangerous place. Mentally she primed her assault armor for activation, just in case.
At least she wasn't unprepared. "I was afraid this would happen. We couldn't make contact with you at all."
"You couldn't?" asked Tenchi. "Then why you'd come down here?"
"Somebody has to respond to distress calls," said Kiyone, having an idea. "Can you show me your transmission equipment?"
Tenchi nodded. "Oh, right. Follow me to the communications array."
Tenchi led Kiyone through the low-ceilinged areas. As they did, Kiyone saw a number of blue jumpsuits. Each one was lying on the ground as if the people had vanished out of them. It was eerie, and Kiyone did not like it.
Through one window, Kiyone saw a series of crops stretching out beneath a greenhouse. They were set up in very long lines. "What do you grow here?"
"Potatoes and turnips, mostly," said Tenchi. "Crops that have a high yield with little waste. Space is at a premium, though I heard the previous Ares Installation was a lot less pleasant. One of the guys here survived it."
"But I thought there were no survivors on any of the Ares facilities," said Kiyone.
"Well, yes," said Tenchi. "No one survived the disasters. But people often get rotated out after a few months. Sometimes people got sick, or starving giving in to the stress, and had to leave. Usually, they got recruited as experts." He passed the door to the atrium and went to another. Drawing out a card, he slashed it through a reader. When it didn't work the first time, it tried again. This time there was a blink, and it opened.
"Why do you have access to that?" asked Kiyone.
Tenchi rubbed the back of his head. "I uh... I don't.
"But I did find authorization cards to let me into it in my officer's clothes. We do have the means to go to other areas in an emergency."
Kiyone nodded. "Okay, lead on."
They went up a winding staircase that led higher and higher. Eventually, they came to the top of a small room. Kiyone realized they were in the tower she'd seen before, though it seemed smaller on the inside. The windows were covered in metal plates, but pressing a few buttons, Tenchi opened them. The light shone in and revealed clothes.
"Why haven't you cleaned up any of the clones?" asked Kiyone.
"I uh... well, I don't want to tamper with evidence," said Tenchi. "There were rules about this kind of occurrence. Something to do with experiments in the Research and Development section. I've never been there, though, so I can't tell you what it is."
Kiyone nodded and checked the system. She'd used Earthling systems before, so she managed to figure it out soon enough. One thing Earthlings were good at was user-friendly systems. Eventually, she opened a channel to orbiting vessels. "Mihoshi, come in Mihoshi. This is Kiyone; I've found our evacuee."
Silence.
"Mihoshi?" asked Kiyone, more worried.
Tenchi paused. "...This doesn't make sense. There are atmospheric disturbances that could shut the system down. But none of those happens.""
"It happened with us too," said Kiyone. "But not when you sent your message. It was just after we received it."
"That is... really weird," said Tenchi. "Maybe something went wrong with the system."
Kiyone had an idea and drew out her assault armor. It was now miniaturized into something to hold. "Hang on a sec."
"What are you doing?" asked Tenchi.
"The assault armor has a communications system," said Kiyone. "Maybe if we rig it up to work with your systems, we can boost the signal." Activating it, she formed the assault armor in front of her. Drawing out some wires, she connected it.
"Do you think that'll work?" asked Tenchi. "This system was not designed to work with GP tech."
"Yeah, I know," said Kiyone. "But GP tech doesn't have to be designed to work with anything. Normal technology is compatible with everything else. It's based on psychic power, so compatibility isn't usually a problem.
"If anything causes the problem, it's the character of the machine in question."
"What do you mean?" asked Tenchi.
Kiyone made the alterations trying to connect the two systems. The psychic power of the assault armor was now boosting the signal of the device. "Well... sometimes computer systems have been used for stuff that is... evil. When that happens, it leaves a sort of psychic mark on the device. Connecting to it can cause problems.
"Earthlings probably noticed it too.
"Sometimes, when something really awful happens in a place, you sort of feel it."
"Yeah, like um... like a place where someone died?" asked Tenchi.
"Right, same principle," said Kiyone. "Our technology is based on emotion and will, not on physical matter. So, we should be able to connect."
Kiyone activated the assault armor.
As she did, the entire system began to hum. The device shuddered as energy was transferred by wire. Kiyone paused, seeing weird readings going up with a strange energy type. Was it possible there was psychic energy in the console already?
Suddenly, the assault armor sparked and broke. Energies flowed out of, black, and lashed against Kiyone. She felt something pull on her and then fell back. A moment later, the assault armor shattered.
"Kiyone, are you alright?" asked Tenchi.
"...Yes, yes, I'm fine, but..." said Kiyone, disconnected the system. Checking the readings, she saw the console was all screwed up. "Damn it. The entire interface on the assault armor is all screwed up. I can't make anything work."
Reluctantly, she shut it down.
"You okay?" asked Tenchi.
"Yeah," said Kiyone. "But this system is hostile to us. Something wants us trapped down here."
"Well... that's not good," said Tenchi. "So what do we do now?"
Kiyone drew out her gun and checked mentally to see that it still worked. The psychic beam was working perfectly. "Well, Mihoshi should tell the GP about this soon enough. When that happens, we should be rescued. I hope."
"And what do you want to do in the meantime?" asked Tenchi.
Was that some kind of invitation? Probably not. "...I have no real idea.
"I guess we could find a more secure location. But if whatever did this wanted us hurt, it probably could have done it already.
"I'm going to have to make a report about this.
"This is not normal for Earth tech. No offense, but your computers should not be capable of overriding GP tech."
"Well, there are some logs in the computer systems here," said Tenchi. "I haven't really checked them."
"Why not?" asked Kiyone.
"It's against the rules," said Tenchi. "I could get in trouble just for calling you for help. Looking at things I'm not cleared for isn't on my to-do list."
"You're not even curious?" asked Kiyone, surprised.
"Not really," said Tenchi. "I mostly just prefer to do my chores and fade into the background."
Kiyone nodded and checked the console. "Fine then, let me see if I can access the consoles." It was working perfectly from the looks of things, and she ended up finding her way to the logs quickly. "...Let me see here.
"I've found some logs. Most of it fairly standard stuff, reports about supplies and spare parts arriving. But here's the most recent one;" Kiyone read it silently. "'Finished processing the equipment and supplies for the system as a whole. A lot of sensor equipment, some of it very sophisticated. I have no idea what the Commander wants all this stuff for. Usually, they give us some idea of what the stuff is for, but not this time.
"Everything has been close-lipped about the past few shipments. One of the boys noticed some custom equipment. Didn't fit into any schematics we have on hand. Looked like something out of one of those sci-fi books, pre-contact.
"My guess is that this thing is either gonna be the triumph of the century or get us all killed. I can't help but think about how all the other facilities became uninhabitable. Nobody lets us go to those places, and they don't do anything with it. Every day I look at them rotting.
"Why didn't they just rebuild them?
"Either way, that's not in my paygrade. Just hope it works out.
"Oh, and authorization for Experiment A2B4 is granted. Transmitted it to the research sector, and the guy who heard it seemed like I'd given him a death sentence. I'm going to drink hard tonight. Might never get another chance.
"Dock Officer out.'"
"Well, that's ominous," said Kiyone allowed. "I'm going to have to investigate this, Tenchi."
"Are you sure?" asked Tenchi. "My superiors-"
"Your superior might be breaking the law," said Kiyone. "Emperor Azusa gave very specific limitations on what you could and couldn't do here. This operation was supposed to practicing terraforming and long-term space operation. Instead, they've been doing... something.
"And whatever it is may have gotten hundreds of people killed."
"Good point," conceded Tenchi.
"Who would have access to the Research and Development center?" asked Kiyone.
"Well, my card only gets us to the adjacent parts of the facilities," said Tenchi. "That means the docks and the Factory section. We'll have to go through there to get to Research and Development."
Tenchi led her away, with Kiyone stopping only to retrieve her assault armor. Repairing that would be expensive. As they walked, Kiyone scanned their corners with her gun ready. Not that anyone appeared to claim credit for what happened here. It was somewhat disappointing, Kiyone had wanted some real action. Tenchi, on the other hand, seemed... composed somehow.
It was composed in a way Kiyone had never seen an Earthling. A sort of detachment from outside events. Not in a bad way. "...So, did you lose any friends?"
"No," admitted Tenchi. "I pretty much keep to myself. Most of the people picked for this job are the kind who can go a long time in isolation."
"I see why," said Kiyone. "Sorry for your loss."
"Yeah, well, I've had nothing to do but think about it," said Tenchi. "So I've sort of come to terms."
They got into another area. This place was a series of assembly lines with all kinds of machinery and tools. Kiyone looked around and saw a place where an overseer would sit. "So what do you make in the factory?"
"Mostly spare parts and machinery," said Tenchi. "The Mars colony expanded into mining and manufacturing. We're still not self-sufficient, but we're hoping to become so. Or at least, we were."
All of the clothes on the ground were red jumpsuits instead of blue. Regulation, Kiyone guessed. "You do realize that Jurai tech could turn this place into a paradise in days, don't you? This seems a lot of work for nothing." And so many had died because of it.
That's not the point," said Tenchi. "We want to create our own paradise, learn to terraform on our own. If we don't, what's the point of having it?"
"That's a pretty profound basis for this kind of operation," said Kiyone. Then again, Jurai had done operations for less. But nobody had died in those.
"My grandfather taught me that nothing worth having is worth getting for free," said Tenchi.
Kiyone was about to reply when she saw something. A box with a lot of GP blasters inside it. "...Wait a minute."
"What is it?" asked Tenchi.
"These are... weapons," said Kiyone, drawing one out. But it felt different; there was no psychic field. There was a place where you fitted a clip. "They look like a similar model of weapon to my pistol. And this one, this one is a Galaxy Police pistol. They shouldn't even have these; they aren't authorized."
"Well then, what's it doing here?" asked Tenchi.
"...I don't know, Tenchi. But this is very, very illegal," said Kiyone.
"I don't even see why they'd want to build these," said Tenchi, fitting what looked like a power pack into the gun. "Earthlings can't even use this kind of weapon-" And then he pulled the trigger and fired it against the wall. A beam of yellow light shot out and hit the wall. "It worked?"
"That shouldn't be possible," said Kiyone before taking it and firing it. It worked, but there was no psychic pull. "They've built working GP blasters."
"Is that really a bad thing?" asked Tenchi. "I mean, we are sort of behind in terms of weaponry. We can't even join the GP police."
"You still wouldn't be able to. No Earthling in history has ever passed the physical," said Kiyone. "The highest-ranking Earthling managed to get a gold star for effort."
"Oh, you mean Mark?" asked Tenchi.
"You know him?" asked Kiyone, putting the gun down.
"Oh yeah, we went to school together before Jurai appeared," said Tenchi. "He was sort of a perfectionist and was not happy he washed out. He actually recommended I take this job.
"I didn't really have much better to do, so here I am."
Kiyone shifted and moved into the overseer's office, checking for a card. "...Tenchi, did you feel anything odd at all when you found everyone gone."
"Well, I did have a serious headache and nausea for a bit, but... well, finding everyone gone made me forget all about that," said Tenchi.
Kiyone was beginning to think that Tenchi Masaki was not actually an Earthling. There were instances of Juraians visiting Earth before first contact. "Let's just find the card and move on."
"Hang on, there might be some logs here in the mainframe," said Tenchi.
Kiyone nodded. "Good point." She checked the computer. "Let's see what we can find here."
"Weapons development underway. Managed to tone down the psychic requirements for a GP blaster. Adding a secondary power source to it offsets it. But even the strongest human psychics were completely drained after shooting it." she read out loud. "Command tells me that we're about to perform another experiment. Apparently, it should increase our understanding of Ultra Energy Matter. I hope I'm not around when they do it. One of the guys fired it once too often and just... vanished.
"I'm starting to think the experiment might have something to do with why they keep rebuilding Mars. I think the government is pushing its luck. Jurai is only letting us do this because it dropped the suicide rate by fifty percent.
"I guess it's better to kill yourself advancing humanity. Better than killing yourself because there's nothing left to do."
"Well, that's dark," said Tenchi.
"Ultra Energy Matter?" asked Kiyone. "Why would they be working with that? It's one of the most volatile substances in history."
"What is it?" asked Tenchi.
"Well, Ultra Energy Matter is sort of like... potential energy," said Kiyone. "It can become anything and provide immense amounts of power. This despite having no consciousness. It's also one of the few resources Jurai can't manufacture from scratch.
"How could Earth have gotten it? We have to take the excess energy from divine creations like Jurai Trees and form them together. Earth doesn't have any divine powers, other than places Jurai vessels crashed."
"Well, you got me," said Tenchi. "But I think I found the card. Let's see what's beyond."
The Research and Development complex was...
Bleak.
Most of the lights were flickering. A variety of strange machines were lying broken. And at the center, Kiyone saw a device. It was a long one, looking sort of like a Moebius strip of metal, over a foundation. Around it was a structure of translucent material that was shattered. Liquid had filled up the lower inches.
Kiyone could feel the power in this place. "Well, this is..."
"This is way worse than anywhere else I've seen," said Tenchi. "Everywhere else I looked, there was no physical damage or anything."
"That pool of liquid..." said Kiyone. "Don't touch it. Actually, stay out of here, Tenchi."
"What, why?" asked Tenchi.
"You're an Earthling," said Kiyone. "You're more vulnerable to things I could just shrug off. I need to look at this place myself. My suit should protect me in addition to my physical durability.
"Head back to the communications relay, okay."
Tenchi nodded and left.
Kiyone quickly hurried to find a console. It was near the machine. "This machine... is this what they were talking about? It looks pretty different from the other devices.
"I'd better take some pictures."
Drawing out her personal camera, she took a number of photos. She made a mental note to photograph everything else too. She'd been lax.
"Now I just need to find some records or logs," said Kiyone.
And, at last, she found the console.
"The experiment is proceeding well. One of the machines broke down the last time we did it and had to be replaced. Even so, we've succeeded in harvesting a large amount of Ultra Energy Matter. By our standards anyway.
"Even so, Tokimi's dimension is chaotic. Every time we open a rift, we get... feelings. Some of the men had to be hospitalized and shipped back to Earth last time. But, it's either keep doing the experiments or give up.
"No way are we going to let human history end like this.
"Tomorrow, we'll do the world breaching experiment. As usual, we run a pretty good chance of being vaporized by the psychic backlash. The last two or three facilities ended up like this. But, as long as the results are observed, the next team of scientists can do better. And heck, maybe we'll get a stable portal to Tokimi's domain this time.
"We'll break out the beer tonight. Tomorrow may be our last."
Tokimi's dimension?
The Earthlings were trying to access the dimension of the three, Cousin Goddesses? That was insane. "This is...
"I've got to get this to the Galaxy Police."
Kiyone hurried out. And as she did, she thought this investigation might just save her career.
