Ch 2: A Eureka Moment

By: Danny Pic

Hey there! Ok, so this is my second story with Hitalia, and it's a bit of an already-been-done story.

Yeah, this is another "space race" fic. But instead of simply being a race into space, this one is a fanfic with a difference. I'll let you check it out for yourself.
Also, keep in mind that this was still the beginning of the space race. So, as a result, nobody really knows much about the other planets.

Alright! Thanks everyone who reviewed for your tips. It really helped out! So, uh…truthfully, I didn't really know what to do for this chapter; I just needed a filler to set up the next chapter, where we'll introduce Russia's plot!

I don't own Hetalia: Axis Powers. Nor do I own Canada...or Object "D".
…Enjoy!

A loud slamming noise made the peacefully-sleeping Canada jolt awake and groggily get out of bed. He found the culprit to be his brother, America, fuming with rage. Canada didn't even have to ask; his brother began spouting off on his own.

"I can't believe him!" America growled, heading into the kitchen to fix him some food. "The nerve of that guy! He has the nerve to tell me how we should go about exploring!" He grabbed some cooking supplies, slamming things around as he vented. "I can't – Russia is such a…GAH! I'm so angry, I can't even talk straight! How can he just disregard my facts? He didn't look at Mars with a telescope – I did that! He didn't see the canals – I did! Who among the two of us has had more experience with UFO's?"

Canada began to say, "You–"

"– ME! So what in Earth or beyond makes him so smart and all-knowing?"

America sighed, and sat down on the couch with a burger in his hand, and took a bite. Mouth full of meat and cheese, he quietly added, "And even after I was nice enough to share those rocket blueprints…"

Canada grabbed a soda, and sat down next to his brother. "Don't worry so much," he said, putting a hand on America's shoulder. "It's just a small disagreement. I'm sure it'll work out in the end between you two!"

America sighed. "And what's worse," he said, "I don't have the first clue about space. How am I supposed to know how to make a rocket that works in a place with no air?"

Canada stared blankly, "You're not even listening to me, are you?"

America didn't reply, but continued to eat his burger. Canada groaned; apparently, talking to his brother wouldn't help him.
America finished his burger, and flopped onto the couch. Canada looked to his brother and sighed. He grabbed something and handed it to America, who recognized it as a magazine about UFO's. What caught his attention was the ship on the cover.

America stared at the magazine, as if it were an ancient artifact…or a triple cheeseburger with bacon and eggs. "THAT'S IT!" he yelled, shooting off the couch. "Before I send anything up, I have to have a recovery system!"
He grabbed his jacket, and raced out the door. Canada smiled, glad that America had at least listened to something he did…

- - Meanwhile, in the USSR - -

Russia groaned at the paper in front of him. "What will I do?" he asked out loud to nobody; "It has to be useful in some way…"

Russia had immediately begun planning what to do for the race. He had come home angry with America's childish behavior, and was eager to prove the truth behind his knowledge. (The three Baltic States avoided questioning about it; they knew what Russia could be like when he was angry.)
He decided, instead of putting it off, he would immediately begin designing. Unfortunately, one small mistake had set back his timely start. America hadn't specified what he meant by "first one in space", and so Russia had to do a little guesswork. He came to a logical conclusion, and decided to go with the safe option of sending up a machine to orbit the planet – an "artificial moon", if you will. But he didn't know what this satellite of his would do, aside from be the first man-made object to be sent up in Earth-orbit.

This leads us to the present, where Russia is attempting to design an orbiter to send up.

Nearby, the three Baltic States watched from afar, worried for their superior. They knew he was taking this seriously, but they were somewhat fearful of getting yelled at, or worse. Finally, Estonia got the courage to enter the room and approach the frustrated nation at the desk. He walked up to Russia, and asked, "S-Sir? Is there something I could help you with?"

"Yes," Russia replied sadly, "you could tell me what would be best use for artificial moon."

"A…a what, sir?"

Russia turned to face Estonia and answered. "I am currently trying to design special machine which will orbit Earth, but I can't decide what artificial moon will do. There are so many possibilities for this, that I can't decide which one would be best to go with. There are many possible functions that satellite could perform…but which one?"

Estonia thought a moment, and signaled for the other nations to come over. "Perhaps," he began, "you could use it for ocean studies?"

"It's a possibility," Russia replied, "but how would it work?"

Estonia nodded; it would be difficult to study the ocean from miles above the atmosphere, especially with the technology they had.

"Spying on Americans?" Lithuania suggested.

"No, no," Russia said, waving his hand in denial. "We shouldn't bring war to space; it is last place that isn't tainted by hate."

"What about atmospheric studies?"

Everyone turned in surprise towards Latvia, who was blushing furiously at being the center of attention. Russia looked in amazement and shock; "What was that, Latvia?" he asked.

Latvia turned pale suddenly, and stuttered, "W-well, I-I figure that w-we could study the outer atmosphere, s-since we don't have any other way to know about there…s-sir!"

Russia stared in disbelief at the small nation; then, out of the blue, he got up and hugged Latvia, causing him to yelp from surprise. "It's perfect plan!" Russia said happily. He then suddenly set Latvia down, and returned to the desk. "Atmospheric studies! Brilliant! We might as well be first to know about outer atmosphere, since we'll be first nation on Earth to send machines to space!"

The Baltic States gathered around Russia, as he began drawing out a rough schematic of his cone-shaped artificial moon.
Lithuania jumped up, and interjected, "Oh! Oh! We could add a radio dish onto it! We could see if there are any interesting signals from outer space!"
"That could be true," Estonia commented. "The Sun could be secretly radiating radio waves, as well as light and heat."
Russia nodded, and added a radio dish onto the satellite. "Keep going!" he said. "This is good!"

"Oh! Uh…How about a radio transmitter! That way, not only can we receive radio from space, but the moon could also send us back data!"
"That's a given, Latvia."
"Oh…sorry..."

"But," interrupted Russia, "it is important to remember to add that onto spacecraft!"

"Oh! What about…"

And the three excited nations began to create what Russia would call Object D. Object D would grow to become an automatic scientific laboratory in space, with twelve instruments specifically intended to study the pressure and composition of the Earth's outer atmosphere, as well as cosmic rays near the planet. It would be about 3.57 meters long, and weigh over 1,327 kilograms.

But little did they know that something on the horizon would threaten to bring the project to the ground…

a_

So, how's part deux? Yeah, I know this isn't as exciting, but I needed a filler. The rough draft didn't even include Russia's designing of Object D – which, between us, would actually become known as Sputnik 3.

So next, Russia encounters a big problem, and ends up having to make an important change to his plan…

Yeah…read and review! And thanks for the help!