LIBERI FATALIS: The Therianthrope Chronicles

by Eddie-E

A crossover between Ace Combat, Katmandu and another, surprise famous furry comic. A Japanese scientist during the onset of World War II in Europe devises a groundbreaking theory of evolution whose effects will resonate not only on Earth but also throughout the universe for centuries to come. Rated M for language and mature situations.

35. DAYS OF WRATH (PART 4)

ACT XXXV: DAYS OF WRATH (PART 4)

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It is only in sorrow bad weather masters us; in joy we face the storm and defy it.

Amelia Barr

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June 1st, AD 2306, Japanese Space Self-Defense Force Yokosuka Spaceport, Yokosuka, Japan, 12:30 PM

An important event was taking place at the Japanese Space Self-Defense Forces Spaceport in the coastal city of Yokosuka, Japan. Many people had gathered at the airstrip, which was closed for this event, in which a forum had been installed. In front of it there were several chairs, where people could listen to the speakers. Around the chairs, there were what appeared to be several altars, in which were the photographs of several people.

That event was the annual reunion of the relatives of the victims who disappeared in the JS Asuka, the spacecraft belonging to the Japanese Space Self-Defense Force, whose whereabouts, at least for the Earth's military authorities, remained unknown until then, which vanished on July 7, 2299, seven years ago, when it was about to jump from the New Haiti solar system to the Earth Sphere, along with its entire crew.

The photographs that were on the altars were those of the crew members of the ship, who were presumed dead. These helped the people who assisted the event to remember their loved ones they lost in that tragedy. The images were also displayed on the large screens around the spaceport, in the background, showing all the events of that day when the Asuka disappeared.

Additionally, the information about the crew members, including their names, addresses, ages, family relationships, health conditions, etc. was displayed. Many people were able to see the faces of their loved ones, and some even cried, while others were silent, but most of them were happy.

For several hours, each and every one of the victims' relatives gave a short speech about how they felt about their missing ones, describing what they loved to do, their dreams and goals that were never fulfilled as a result of that incident, among other things.

And at that moment, it was the turn of the mother of none other than Pvt. Keisuke Noguchi, who wished to share with those assembled there about her son...

-"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce myself; my name is Harumi Noguchi, and I am the mother of Keisuke Noguchi, who was one of the crew members of the Asuka."- The woman began her speech by introducing herself and her relationship with her son. -"As some of you may know, my son was a member of the special Space Ranger unit of the Japanese Space Self-Defense Force, which my son served with great pride, even though his assignment to New Haiti was his first job as a soldier before the Asuka disappeared..."-

Mrs. Noguchi continued her talk by offering some details about her late son.

-"Keisuke, since he was very young, always liked to explore and travel to new places, including going into forests and inhospitable and sometimes dangerous places, which sometimes alarmed me at times, especially the occasions when he got hurt in many of his escapades. But that never deterred him in the least, and throughout his life, he continued to explore all the places he could visit, both in Japan and abroad."- Keisuke's mother explained. -"Besides that, he was an inveterate movie buff, and he used to spend a lot of money on collecting movie paraphernalia in his spare time, and did not hesitate to buy various expensive collector's items, being his last acquisition, before leaving for New Haiti, a real replica of a military knife from a 20th century action movie that cost him more than 2000 dollars, and he had to import it directly from abroad..."-

The woman continued...

-"Once he felt that he had explored almost all of Earth and that there was nothing left for him to see or do here, and once he finished his college studies, he enlisted in the military, specifically in the Japanese Space Self-Defense Force, in order to explore other worlds and broaden his horizons and have more adventures..."-

Then, Mrs. Noguchi began to shed some tears as she tried to say the following...

-"Before Keisuke returned to Earth and left New Haiti, I had a long talk with him... and he promised me that he would visit me when he came back to Japan... sob..."- Keisuke's mother's voice began to break from the pain trying to remember all those painful memories. -"...and then... the Asuka vanished..."-

The woman began to break in tears as she reminded her son and the way he and the entire crew of that military spaceship disappeared in the middle of outer space. The other spectators, respectfully, remained silent at the pain and sorrow of that mother who lost her son, just as many of those people had also lost a loved one on that doomed spaceship.

-"sob... I just know that I will never again have a son as wonderful as my Keisuke was... and that I hope that, wherever he is now... I hope he knows that his mother always loved him and motivated him to follow his path... and now... sob... he is now part of that universe that he wanted to explore with all his heart..."-

After a few seconds of silence, she concluded her speech with tears in her eyes...

-"Thank you very much for hearing me out, ladies and gentlemen..."-

After she finished speaking, the crowd applauded to Mrs. Harumi Noguchi politely, and she bowed before heading towards a chair near the front of the runway, as she wept silently in that place, while the next person to speak followed.

Afterwards, the master of ceremonies of the event addressed the audience of the event to introduce the next person who was going to speak.

-"Ladies and gentlemen, we will now turn to Mr. Junichiro Araki, the father of Sergeant Akane Araki, to speak about his daughter to us."-

When the man uttered those words, everyone looked curiously at him, as he approached the microphone. He was wearing dark glasses and a black business suit, in addition to having black hair, brown eyes and a serious appearance. This was likely due to the pain he was feeling, which was probably due to the disappearance and possible death of his daughter. When he stood beside the microphone, he took off his glasses and put them in his pocket, then he began his speech.

-"Ehem... I apologize, ladies and Gentlemen, for keeping you waiting a bit: my name is Junichiro Araki, and I'm honored to stand here today, to give you my account of my daughter..."-

The audience began to applaud when Akane's stepfather began to talk about his daughter.

-"Maybe for some who come to this memorial ceremony for the first time do not know who I am, my wife, and above all, my stepdaughter Akane, but I think it would not hurt to comment it again for them, if there is no object, of course..."-

The audience had respectfully informed Mr. Araki that he could do so without any problem, knowing that there would be many people who would not know who Akane was and her relationship with her father, for obvious reasons.

-"Very well, if there is no objection here, I will talk a little about the background about my daughter Akane, and how she ended up in the army, and therefore in this situation..."-

After clearing his throat a little, and after giving a small glance at the sheets of paper where he had written his speech, Akane's stepfather began to talk about his supposedly deceased daughter.

-"As you may have noticed already, Akane was not my biological daughter; since my wife Reiko and I are infertile, we decided to adopt a child instead, but since the chances of adopting a child here in Japan were minimal, we decided to do it abroad."- Akane's stepfather explained how his daughter was adopted, since she was of African origin. -"In our quest to adopt a child, we decided to travel to the African continent, after several unsuccessful attempts to adopt in other continents; so it was that me and my wife arrived in a small African country called Eswatini, located in the middle of South Africa, where we were recommended to ask in a Catholic orphanage in the second capital of the country, Mbabane..."-

Mr. Araki paused for a short while, while he turned to the next page of his speech that he was reading to the audience.

-"Once in the orphanage, we were introduced to a little girl, whose parents died a year ago in an epidemic; she was a child who, despite her young age, about five years old at the time, was very intelligent for her age, and showed great interest and curiosity for everything around her, especially in us, coming from a very distant land."-

The man continued with his explanation about Akane's backstory before she was adopted.

-"The birth name of that girl was Ariana Mutombo..."- Mr. Araki said. -"At that time, Ariana was a somewhat slender and relatively tall girl for a five year old, and at first Reiko and I thought she was older than she appeared to be. But she really wanted to be with us and we also wanted to adopt her, so, without further ado, we did the necessary paperwork to adopt her, and, after a few months, Ariana became our daughter, and we took her with us to her new home, in Osaka..."-

Mr. Araki again gave a quick re-run of his speech, and then he continued.

-"Naturally, bringing a child from such an exotic place as Eswatini, in Africa, proved to be a challenge for us in the first years our daughter was in Japan."- The stepfather continued with his speech. -"To begin with, she did not know how to speak Japanese, although she was interested in learning the language as soon as possible. Another problem, at least in the first few years she began her studies, was that she suffered discrimination because she was an African child, as the school where she began her studies did not have much experience with students of foreign origin..."-

He also added another issue he had with Akane during her first years in Japan.

-"And lastly, since Ariana was a person of foreign origin, we could not place her in the family registry under her birth name, so she had to change her name to a Japanese one that would reflect her status as an adopted daughter."- Junichiro Araki explained how it was that his daughter changed her name to a new one that reflected her new nationality and condition as part of the Araki family. -"Obviously, we didn't want to force our daughter to make such a decision against her will, so we decided that she would choose her own local name, with a little help, of course... And, after a few days of thinking about it, Ariana finally decided what her new name would be; and that's how Ariana Mutombo would become Akane Araki from then on..."-

Afterwards, the African-born female soldier's stepfather explained some details about the meaning of his daughter's Japanese name.

-"Ariana, now Akane, chose that name because it very much reflected her own personality..."- Immediately afterwards, Junichiro Araki, making use of one of the giant screens behind him, explained the meaning of the kanji in the name of his supposedly deceased stepdaughter. -"Her name Akane (明音) means bright sound. It symbolized the fact that she was a bright and intelligent girl, but at the same time, owing to her personality, and... well... to be very frank in front of all of you, she was known for being very talkative and for being somewhat... loud-mouthed... especially when it came to things that she didn't like."-

He paused for a moment, looking at his audience, which laughed lightly in unison with each other. Then, he resumed his speech.

-"Well, resuming what I had previously said about Akane's first years with us here in Japan, I will admit that it was not easy for her to adapt to her new home, and above all, her new culture. Although she learned Japanese quickly, it took her many years to speak it naturally, so many of her classmates made fun of her, partly because of her accent and partly because she was black."- The stepfather explained. -"As a result of all this, Akane decided to learn martial arts when she entered junior high school, mainly to learn some personal discipline and also to learn how to defend herself from bullies who attacked her for who she was."-

Then, the Osaka-born man added some extra details about Akane.

-"She learned martial arts at one of the best martial arts schools in Japan, the Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū school, which is one of the oldest in the country and was founded in 1447. For very personal reasons, I will not comment here how she was able to enter this exclusive school; I will only mention that before leaving for New Haiti, she was a second dan black belt in her school, something she was very proud of until the end of her life."-

Another short pause followed the statement, after which Akane's stepfather cleared his throat again, making sure that he had everybody's attention in order to continue talking about his beloved daughter's experiences.

-"On top of that, Akane graduated from Kansai University, earning a degree in Science and Engineering, as well as taking additional courses in World History and Languages. She spoke several languages, for, in addition to her native Swazi, English and Japanese, she spoke Russian, French, Spanish, German and Okinawan."-

Finally, the final stretch of the speech came, where Akane's stepfather would explain the reasons that caused Akane to join the Japanese Space Self-Defense Force.

-"After she finished her studies, Akane surprised everyone in the family with her decision to join the army, especially the JSSDF."- Mr. Araki said to the crowd. -"She, like Mrs. Noguchi's son, if I may mention his name, wanted to explore the universe and not just stay stuck on Earth in some boring job; moreover, she had a strong sense of justice, and joining the army was her way of proving her worth to the country that adopted her, so she found it natural to enlist and thus get to know other worlds..."-

Akane's stepfather gave a quick glance at the people watching him, and continued his speech, but this time, his voice became a little more solemn and with a slightly sadder tone.

-"Assuming that my daughter's end was not swift... I highly doubt that my Akane would have sat around doing nothing to help her fellow man in whatever happened on the Asuka, and I think she could have fought to the end to save herself and all the crew of the ship... and wherever she is now... surely God has a bigger plan for her... "-

Mr. Araki swallowed saliva, and with a broken voice, he concluded his speech.

-"...Akane was our little girl that God sent to us so that we could prepare her for a bigger destiny... and now she is no longer with us... there will never be another woman as special as Ariana Mutombo was, or as we called her and she herself, Akane Araki... and I want everyone to know who she was... so that her sacrifice will not have been in vain..."-

The man lowered his head, with his eyes tearing up, and he concluded his talk with the following.

-"Thank you very much for listening to this man, ladies and gentlemen... may you have a nice day..."- He bowed respectfully toward the audience while saying that last phrase.

With that, he left the stage without saying anything else, giving a slight sniff every once in awhile. The audience clapped their hands to show support and appreciation of his eloquence. Then the audience stood up, and they applauded enthusiastically.

Once Junichiro Araki had returned to his seat, the MC of the event returned to the stage to introduce the next speaker, equally moved by the man's words.

-"Many thanks to Mr. Araki for his words about his daughter, Sgt. Akane Araki; like most of us here, it must have been very hard for him and his family to have lost a child, especially an adopted one. Let's just hope that he and his loved ones can get through this..."-

Then, the woman read who would be the next to speak on stage.

-"Now, the next to speak will be..."-

Suddenly, a large group of men appeared to one side of the audience and the speakers who had already spoken hours before, which attracted the attention of all present, due to some peculiarities. Most of these people were dressed in black dress suits, and some seemed to be armed, which meant that they were possibly bodyguards, hired to protect someone...

...And that someone appeared on the scene, which caught the attention of those present, for many reasons that will be explained below.

-"Excuse me, Miss, I would like to speak in person this year, if you and everyone here will allow me to do so..."-

Many of the spectators and audience members were astonished by the sudden presence of that person; many knew who he was, but it was the first time he had appeared at an annual memorial meeting since they were held seven years ago, possibly because that person was one of the most powerful men in Japan, and perhaps one of the richest people in the world, and possibly he had a very busy schedule for him to attend these events on a continuous basis.

Even the MC had hardly any words to say to the man, for even she had no idea that he could come to that annual meeting in person in that time...

-"Oh, Mr. Hoshino... I wasn't told you were going to the memorial this year, from what the organizers told me."- The master of ceremonies told that important person, as he prepared to go on stage.

-"Well, I'm very sorry; I just personally notified the organizers today in the morning and I must assume they didn't give notice to you, I guess."- The VIP excused himself to the MC.

Although that person was also a relative of one of the victims who disappeared in the Asuka, his relative was not a member of the JSSDF; even so, because that person was also a victim of that incident, and the importance of that person and his relative to all those events, he also felt he had the right to speak with those present who had also lost a loved one on that military Japanese spaceship.

-"I suppose, if the organizers authorized it, I don't think anyone has an issue with him also being able to speak to all of us on stage."- The woman said aloud, addressing to the audience. -"What do you think, ladies and gentlemen?"-

Everyone responded politely in agreement with the MC's statement, although not really knowing whether the organization would permit that to happen, since they would be dealing with an unexpected person that just arrived without previous warning a few minutes ago.

In addition to that, many of those present had divided opinions about that man, due to various reasons that would be explained later, but even so, the majority believed that he, no matter who he was, had the same right to talk to everyone present there, by the simple fact that he too had lost a relative in the Asuka seven years ago.

-"Well, everyone agree there's no problem for you to speak on stage, Mr. Hoshino;"- The MC replied at the very important person. -"so you can speak without any problems, if you like."-

-"Thank you."-

The man surnamed Hoshino took the stage immediately after the master of ceremonies gave the go-ahead. That person, with black hair and medium height, in addition to being approximately 37 years old, was dressed in a black suit and wore dark glasses, which gave him an uneasy, and to some extent sinister, air about his figure; for people who did not know him beforehand, anyone would have thought that man had more the appearance of a mobster than of a businessman.

But that didn't seem to matter much to him what other people thought; his main purpose was to speak to the audience, and what that audience may say about him was completely inconsequential.

-"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It is a very great pleasure for me to be able to speak to this audience this year, after in past years I have only sent representatives of my family on my behalf..."- The man dressed in black began his speech. -"Perhaps many of you know who I am, but for those of you attending this memorial for the first time, let me introduce myself: My name is Yuusuke Hoshino, chairman and owner of the Hoshino Group, of which Hoshino Aerospace Industries belongs to."-

That announcement caused a great uproar in the audience, especially among those who had heard of that man before. The Hoshino Group was one of Japans most important business conglomerates, comparable in importance to older and better-known companies such as Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, and the like. The presence of the head of that business concern was not something that anyone present at that event, much less in Japan, could easily shrug off.

Furthermore, there was a good reason for this. The Hoshino Group, especially its aforementioned division, was one of the leading companies in the aerospace sector, which came to prominence at the beginning of the space colonization era in the last decades of the 21st century, especially at the end of World War III. The company achieved worldwide fame by creating spaceships that were not only cheaper than the competition, but also much more efficient. In addition, they were the first ships to include the newly developed jump drive, which allowed any spacecraft to go from one place to another in the solar system, and even beyond, in a matter of a few days, rather than months or years.

The Hoshino Group was also the first company to install an early version of the recently created artificial intelligence system ANEN (Advanced Neuro Electronic Network), better known as the Net, in a spacecraft. This allowed for a degree of automation never before seen in a space vehicle. This was helpful during the early years of space colonization, in order to reduce the need for humans to control the vehicles themselves. In particular, it was helpful in reducing the need for humans to control the vehicles themselves in the harsh environment of space.

It goes without saying that the company's chairman and owner, Yuusuke Hoshino, was one of the ten richest people in the world, whose fortune, according to several media specialized in the sector, amounted to more than 500 billion dollars. Despite his fortune, Mr. Hoshino was known for being very discreet and rarely gave interviews, except when strictly necessary. He was also known for rarely flaunting his fortune, unlike his supposedly deceased daughter, a very famous socialite in her time.

Regardless of his immense wealth, that man knew that no amount of money could bring his beloved daughter back to life.

-"I can see by the reaction of most of you that you must be more than surprised to see me here at this memorial ceremony, which is only natural, since I have never come to one since they started organizing them well over seven years ago..."- That man explained his reasons for visiting the place. -"but I think that, like all of us participating in this event, I also lost my daughter on the Asuka in that tragedy that affected us all... and that is the reason why I want to talk about her, if you will allow me, ladies and gentlemen..."-

He then looked directly at those seated at the crowd in front of him.

-"My daughter's name, as many of you may already know, was Kaguya Hoshino, who was 18 years old at the time the Asuka disappeared along with her."- Mr. Hoshino began to talk about his late daughter. -"And I think some of you, as I see the way some of the members of the audience are reacting, may wonder why my daughter has such a peculiar name..."-

Afterwards, he then turned to look directly at the crowd, waiting to hear his story.

-"As you may have guessed, me and my late wife, Yumiko, named our daughter Kaguya after the famous princess from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, as we believed that our daughter would become someone important in her life when she grew up, just like her literary counterpart."- The businessman explained why Kaguya had such name. -"And although her mother did not live long enough to see her grow up, I can say, with great pride, that she had many illusions and desires to be someone who would not only honor her literary name, but also honor the Hoshino family in every aspect, including being my successor the day I will no longer be in this world..."-

A small portion of people applauded while others remained unimpressed; some people felt that the man was not sincere enough about his own daughter, and the only reason he was there was for purely strictly personal reasons and related to his company. After all, he had never been to a single memorial before, so they had their reasons to be suspicious towards that businessman.

-"I'll be honest about my daughter, ladies and gentlemen: Although my Kaguya was a good girl, she also had her flaws, like anyone else."- The owner of the Hoshino Group began to talk about the defects and virtues of Kaguya. -"She had a somewhat... explosive temper... to put it bluntly, at times she was somewhat rebellious, to the extent that she dyed her hair, which was originally black, red just to contradict me, and she was very rude and foul-mouthed for someone who was supposed to be the heiress of a company like ours..."-

Those too intimate details about the man's daughter caused the audience to burst into some venerable giggles, for they never imagined that the supposedly deceased girl, who in her time appeared to be a ladylike maiden, turned out to be less polite than she appeared to be in her private life, especially among her friends.

Interestingly, Yuusuke Hoshino seemed entirely unbothered by the mocking expressions about his daughter, knowing something like that could happen. Even he himself lampshaded that fact.

-"I don't blame you people for laughing at my daughter, ladies and gentlemen; even I have had my moments of trying to get my daughter to act like an educated young lady, and not like some school gangbanger, in all honesty."- That man said as he continued to speak, and there were even some who nodded in agreement. -"But she never felt ashamed of what she was either. She was always very proud and always acted as if she knew how to take care of herself, even if that attitude of hers brought her some trouble on more than one occasion, and even she got involved in some fights, if I must be honest with you, as the father that I was of her."-

Some people laughed again, while a few people still kept silent. Then, the Hoshino Group's CEO resumed his speech.

-"Sadly... my daughter Kaguya lived up to her name, and she, seven years ago, disappeared into the distant sea of stars that is outer space..."- The man mentioned his daughter's final fate, comparing her to the protagonist of the same name in that Japanese fairy tale. -"only, rather than returning to the moon, just like her literary counterpart, she may have disappeared... or worse."-

After Yuusuke Hoshino had mentioned that, only a few voices could be heard among the audience listening to him, and for a good reason: For the Japanese audience listening to that speech, they could not miss the fact that the businessman's daughter was named "Kaguya", the protagonist of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, and the man's surname, "Hoshino".

In Japanese, his family name (星野) meant star field by itself, but combined with Kaguya's name (かぐや), and written in the Asian order, Hoshino Kaguya (星野かぐや), and separating the syllable "no" (野 or の), which means "of" or "from", it could be written in Japanese as Hoshi no Kaguya (星のかぐや), that is Kaguya, the one who comes from the stars. This gave a new meaning to the name of that missing maiden, and what might have happened to her more than seven years ago.

-"I only hope that my daughter, wherever she is now, will be happy as she was when she was with me and with all of us..."- Mr. Hoshino concluded his speech, just as sad as all the other speakers who had gone before him. -"And just like the Kaguya from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, I hope that she is in that other world, possibly being a princess... and alongside her own kind..."-

Immediately afterwards, without another word, not even a farewell to the audience, the owner of the Hoshino Group left the podium in silence, visibly saddened. But considering the nature of the event, the man needed no more words to say how he felt about his daughter, and about her possible death.

The audience, moved by the man's words, began to applaud loudly at him, while Yuusuke Hoshino was about to leave the Yokosuka spaceport, heading to his limousine, where his butlers and employees were waiting to take him back home.

But before he boarded his vehicle, a large group of journalists, who had gathered at the entrance to report on the event, wanted to catch a few words from the powerful businessman and his reasons for being at the memorial for the Asuka victims that year...

-"Excuse me, Mr. Hoshino, what is your reason for coming this year to attend the memorial for the victims who disappeared in the Asuka seven years ago?"- A young journalist asked the Hoshino Group's CEO.

The man replied with two simple words before leaving the spaceport.

-"No comment."-

-"Does your presence at the event have anything to do with the possible additional compensations for damages that the government plans to pay to you and the Hoshino Group for the disappearance and possible destruction of the Asuka, in addition to the possible death of your daughter, Miss Kaguya Hoshino?"- Another journalist, of foreign origin, also asked to the Japanese man.

-"No comment, gentlemen."- The businessman again responded with a neutral tone, trying to evade the journalists, while he answered their questions, even if those were only evasive ones.

-"And what about the rumors that the Asuka was hauling dangerous cargo owned by your company and may have been the cause of the ship's disappearance?"- Another reporter asked a question about a rumor that has been floating around for years about one of the possible causes of the Asuka tragedy, and what could have triggered its disappearance and possible destruction.

Before the CEO of that powerful industrial conglomerate climbed into his limousine, Yuusuke Hoshino finally decided to answer that question.

-"I cannot discuss classified information, but I can assure you that the Asuka was not carrying any hazardous materials owned by our company, and that any products property of the Hoshino Group that that ship might have happened to transport could not have produced any catastrophic damage to a spacecraft, much less a vessel owned by the Japanese government, which is our primary customer."- The middle-aged man responded. -"Now if you will excuse me, gentlemen, I must leave; the company's press department will give you more information later. Have a nice afternoon, gentlemen..."-

With that said, Yuusuke Hoshino entered his limousine and closed the door; the vehicle then departed in an unknown course, leaving the journalists and members of the press somewhat disappointed at not getting more information from the man, the president of the Hoshino Group and the father of one of the victims of the space tragedy, as well as being able to find out more about the causes of the tragedy.

On the other hand, the other relatives of the victims, who were still in the spaceport, while the memorial ceremony was about to end, were now going to focus on talking to each other to share their experiences regarding their loved ones they lost in that Japanese military spacecraft.

But some of them were not exactly happy about the presence of Kaguya Hoshino's father at the ceremony, especially considering that he had not appeared at any previous memorial since the ship where his daughter was traveling disappeared seven years ago, which caused the reasons for the powerful man's decision to appear at that year's memorial to be more of a publicity stunt than a sincere feeling to honor his own daughter.

-"That asshole must have a lot of guts to show up here after all these years, and still have the nerve to say he's sorry his daughter is dead!"-

These words were pronounced by Satoru Okazaki, Akane Araki's fiancé, who also attended the ceremony from Osaka, together with the parents of his missing fiancée. He was one of several people who had been left with a bad taste in his mouth by Yuusuke Hoshino's presence, sensing the man's hypocrisy in appearing there after several years of not doing so.

-"Well, Satoru, you have to admit that he also lost his daughter in that accident, just like we and you lost Akane."- Reiko Araki, Junichiro Araki's wife, and Akane's stepmother, tried to calm Satoru, who could not hide his anger at seeing that man appear at the memorial to honor his daughter, Kaguya. -"I think he deserves to talk about his daughter as much as we deserve to talk about Akane and the others who disappeared on the Asuka..."-

-"Yeah, right, considering the government and the Hoshino Group are possibly hiding something about what happened on that ship, Mrs. Araki!"- Satoru responded with aggressive sarcasm. -"Do you think that idiot thinks we're brain-dead enough for not to realize that ship was carrying, according to what the ship's cargo statement said before leaving the planet, products from his company from New Haiti to Earth and not believing that something the Asuka carried could have caused the ship to disappear?"-

-"Yes, we know that, but I don't think the government or the Hoshino Group are going to spill the beans on what they may know about the issue, especially if there is a possibility that whatever the Asuka transported may have caused its destruction."- Junichiro Araki, who was also at Satoru's side, also weighed in on the subject, agreeing with Akane's fiancé's point of view.

-"That's for sure; if they know about what could have happened, surely they won't tell the public a damn thing, and will keep it under wraps for god knows how long..."- Satoru Okazaki replied with some measure of disappointment, knowing that the truth about the incident may never come out.

-"But perhaps what saddens me the most is that Kaguya, that man's daughter, was a good friend of Akane's, and she also disappeared along with her. Even if we know that his daughter's disappearance may have affected Mr. Hoshino, he has never bothered to contact with us since the incident, or to send someone to communicate his opinion about what happened."- Mrs. Araki also gave her opinion.

-"And considering all the times Akane saved his daughter's skin in school, including a couple of times Kaguya was about to be raped by delinquents, at least some kind of thanks from that guy would have been enough, don't ya think?"- Satoru replied, still upset.

-"You're right, Satoru, but I don't think people like us can force something like that on someone as powerful as him."- The woman replied at the young man.

While saying that, Mrs. Araki looked at her husband, hoping that he would agree with her statement, although he did not look very convinced himself. Like his son-in-law, he would also have preferred Yuusuke Hoshino to thank them for the time Akane spent with his daughter, or at least to say what he might know about the accident. But everyone present knew that would be basically impossible, which made the three characters felt saddened to know that there were probably many hidden interests behind that tragedy that would hinder the truth to be known.

And while Reiko, her husband Junichiro and Satoru were exchanging a few words with each other, a young woman, dressed in an neat military uniform, walked up to them in a very informal manner...

-"May I speak with you, Mr. and Mrs. Araki, and also you, Satoru?"-

When the three people looked at the woman, they realized that woman, a 25-year-old young military officer with long black hair, dark brown eyes, and medium height, was a very well-known acquaintance to the three of them, something they let her know right away...

-"Ayako?"- Mr. Araki asked after seeing the woman on military uniform. -"Is that you, Ayako?"-

That young woman in front of them was Ayako Katagiri, the young captain of the JS Ayako, the air fortress that bore her own name and was owned by the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force, of which the young officer was also a member. She was also a personal friend of Satoru Okazaki and the Arakis, as Akane, Satoru's girlfriend and Junichiro and Reiko's stepdaughter, was also friends with Ayako and also Kaguya when the three of them were studying at the university before they each went their own ways.

-"Yes, it's me, Mr. Araki..."- Ayako responded with a wide smile on her face. -"I guess I'm late for the speeches, aren't I?"-

-"Technically, yes, Ayako; the last speech ended half an hour ago."- Mrs. Araki replied at the air fortress captain. -"In fact, the last person who gave his just left a few moments ago."-

Immediately, Ayako realized that the Arakis and Satoru were visibly upset for some reason that she did not understand, as she had arrived a little late to the memorial for the victims of the Asuka that was being held at the JSSDF Spaceport in Yokosuka.

-"First of all, I apologize for being late, but the traffic was a bit hectic from the airport to here, and I didn't even have time to book a room in a local hotel."- Ayako apologized to her acquaintances. -"I'm also noticing that the three of you look a little bit... uncomfortable... Did something bad happened, if I may ask?"-

-"Well... if you want to know that..."- Satoru replied. -"The last person to give a speech a few moments ago was Kaguya's father..."-

The young Japanese military officer opened her eyes as wide as she could upon hearing that answer, for she, like all the people who had attended the memorial, knew the magnitude of the significance of Yuusuke Hoshino's having attended that event in such an unplanned manner... as well as the implications it entailed.

-"You mean, Yuusuke Hoshino, the Hoshino Group's CEO and owner?"-

-"Yeah."- Akane's boyfriend replied at Ayako. -"That same guy..."-

At this point, Ayako did not need to hear anymore of what Akane's fiancé, Satoru, wanted to say as she already understood why he was so displeased. Yuusuke Hoshino's daughter, Kaguya Hoshino, was also one of the many victims who disappeared along with the Asuka, and therefore, along with Akane Araki, who was Kaguya's friend, and also a personal friend of Ayako Katagiri during her years at Kansai University.

And Ayako also had her reasons to be upset with that man: she knew that the Hoshino Group and the Japanese government were hiding the most possible cause that could have caused that tragedy, and it had to do with the Asuka transporting cargo owned by the HAI (Hoshino Aerospace Industries) from New Haiti to Earth. Something inside that cargo could have caused the ship to disappear in the middle of outer space, if not cause its immediate destruction; and this without ruling out the possibility that some error in the ship's computers could also have been one of the causes of that tragedy.

Unfortunately for that woman, she could not share her suspicions with the Arakis and Satoru. The information she knew about the incident was considered classified, and Ayako could not share it with anyone, not even the victims' families, let alone her own acquaintances, such as those three people. That was not to the Japanese military officer's liking, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Still, Ayako Katagiri could not help but share her displeasure, as did Satoru, over what appeared to be a PR stunt by the Hoshino Group owner himself in showing up at the memorial rather than a sincere attempt to honor his own daughter.

-"sigh..."- The woman rolled her eyes in disgust. -"It takes a lot of balls to show up at a memorial just like that and say absolutely nothing about what could have happened seven years ago with the Asuka..."-

-"That's right, Ayako."- Reiko Araki confirmed Ayako's suspicions. -"He did not mention anything about what he knew about the incident during his speech about his daughter, and once he finished his, he left the place."-

-"And from what we saw, he also didn't discuss anything he might know with the press before leaving the spaceport."- Reiko's husband followed suit.

At the answer offered by her acquaintances, Ayako could only sigh with a certain air of discomfort, before she herself also received a question from the mother of her supposedly missing friend.

-"And on that note, what do you know about the issue, Ayako dear?"- Mrs. Araki asked to Captain Katagiri. -"Since you work in the military and knew Akane, we presume that you might know something from your contacts or seniors about what might have actually happened to the Asuka that could have caused it to disappear, don't you?"-

The young woman raised an eyebrow upon hearing Reiko's question; Ayako did not know whether she should tell the family members something she did not wish to disclose at the moment, since her superiors had told her in strict confidence that she should not talk about any details to anyone else, as was already explained before. As a result, she had to explain her reasons for not sharing with them what she knew.

-"I have heard some rumors about the Asuka issue, but unfortunately, since it is classified information, I cannot say anything about what I have heard with civilians like you; sorry about that, Mrs. Araki..."- Ayako apologized with Akane's stepmother. -"Also, Akane belonged to the Japanese Space Self-Defense Force, while I belong to the Air Force branch, so a lot of information that happens in the other branches of the army does not flow easily between them for obvious reasons, so I don't have much things to say to begin with."-

Upon listening to her reply, the Arakis and Satoru Okazaki exchanged looks that showed clearly how disappointed they were by it. In spite of this, they also respected Ayako's decision of not telling them too much information regarding what might have happened to the ship.

-"I think we can't blame you for not sharing what you know, Ayako."- Satoru said with a wry tone at her. -"After all, you are a military officer... you know... loose lips sink ships, right?"-

The woman quickly understood what Akane's fiancé meant by that. Since she was the captain of an air fortress, Ayako knew that idiom had a somewhat sinister undertone, implying the consequences that might befall her if she decided to share with the Arakis and Satoru what she knew about what might have happened to that spaceship.

-"I guess that remark you did was deliberate, since I am the captain of an air fortress,"- Ayako replied at the man. -"right, Satoru?"-

-"Well..."- The young Osakan police officer put his hands behind his back and rolled his eyes with certain naughtiness. -"Take it any way you want, Ayako..."-

Junichiro and his wife Reiko, who were listening in on the conversation, couldn't help but let out a sly chuckle when they saw that Ayako didn't appreciate Satoru cracking wise about her job as an airship captain; considering what he thought about the government and the fact that it refused to divulge more about what they might know about the Asuka incident, Satoru Okazaki had every right to mock the authorities and their secrecy, especially considering what happened to his girlfriend Akane, with whom he had intended to have future plans when she returned from New Haiti, plans that were ruined by her disappearance and supposed death.

-"Alright, I don't suppose I can stop you from making jokes at my expense on the subject..."-

Seeing that Ayako Katagiri was feeling very uncomfortable about the Asuka issue and what she might know about that matter, the Arakis decided to move on to more personal matters.

-"Well, seeing that you are not going to talk much about the Asuka and what you know about the topic, being classified stuff, we can talk about other topics, if there is no issue on your part, eh, Ayako?"- Reiko Araki asked the air fortress captain.

-"I see that would be the most appropriate decision, Mrs. Araki..."-

Akane's stepmother started the new topic of discussion by asking Ayako a question.

-"I remember last month you talked about two girl pilots who have been under your command from time to time, and who have somewhat... quirky... personalities... if I recall correctly."- The Osakan woman asked to the military officer.

Ayako tried to remember what Mrs. Araki meant by that...

-"Uh... well... "- The woman from Tokyo, from which she hailed from, replied. -"I assume you are referring to Ensign Kei Nagase and her friend, Ensign Rena Hirose, don't you?"-

-"Yes, I meant both of them."-

After a brief pause, Ayako Katagiri answered the question asked by that woman in a friendly manner.

-"Oh, yeah, I remember those two girls!"- Ayako answered aloud by referring to the names of the two female fighter pilots who worked with her on some occasions. -"Nagase and Hirose... yes... they are a very peculiar duo, if I may say so myself."-

Satoru Okazaki, who was also listening to the conversation between those two women, had no idea what they were talking about, as Mrs. Araki had not told him about them.

-"Sorry if I'm butting in, but who are these two girls Ayako is referring to?"- The young man asked to his mother-in-law. -"I never heard about them before from you, Mrs. Araki."-

-"Well..."- Ayako clarified herself. -"They are both pilots who have been under my command at times, and I couldn't help but notice that they have a very peculiar personal dynamics between them, and that's not to say that they are very different in personality and even, if I may say so, their physical... appearance..."-

-"Very different physical appearance?"- Satoru asked in a puzzled way. -"What do you mean by that, Ayako?"-

-"OK, I will start with Rena Hirose first, since she is the most unique of the duo for many reasons."- The air fortress captain explained about that girl. -"She hails from a relatively wealthy family in Hiroshima; I don't know much about her parents, other than that they are scientists of some renown, but she doesn't seem to talk much about them. In fact, she doesn't seem to have a good opinion of her own family, as far as she has talked about it from time to time."-

-"Interesting..."- Satoru muttered in interest. -"But how is it that someone like her, who has a well-to-do family, decided to join the air force? That doesn't seem like a profession for someone who comes from a purely scientific backgrounds, in all honesty."-

-"According to what Hirose has told me, she has never been interested in her parents' work for various reasons that she has never wanted to elucidate. Perhaps joining the military was a way for her to escape from them."-

-"I see."- Junichiro Araki, Akane's stepfather, joined the talk as well. -"But what do you mean by that girl being very unique in her physical looks, if we may know, Ayako?"-

-"Well..."- Ayako explained how Rena Hirose looked like. -"For a fighter pilot, she is very, very pretty, if I must be candid with you..."-

-"How pretty she is?"- Satoru asked with some interest.

Ayako thought that her friend from Osaka wanted to know more about her for sentimental reasons.

-"Don't tell me you're taking an interest in her, Satoru?"-

-"Of course not!"- The Osakan man refused such intention in energic terms. -"I just get the impression that friend of yours is more exceptional than you say, judging by your face..."-

-"And she certainly is, indeed, very special..."- Then, the air force woman described Rena Hirose. -"She almost always wears a black-colored princess haircut, perhaps as a way of indicating her origins as a person from a wealthy family, she is somewhat short in height, about 1.58 cm, and, coupled with the fact that she is also flat-chested, makes many people think that she is underage, even though she is 22 years old. Also, and the most striking feature about her, Hirose has green eyes, even though she is not of foreign origin, nor has anyone in her family or her ancestors have married with foreigners to explain the color of her eyes."-

Satoru Okazaki, upon hearing about Rena Hirose's physique from Ayako, couldn't help but think that this girl was quite unique, for the reasons he was about to state.

-"And why is someone like her a member of the air force, uh?"- The young man asked with some disbelief. -"Isn't there supposed to be a strict height requirement to be a pilot?"-

-"Yes, at least in theory... but since she is a fighter pilot, and not a pilot of a large aircraft, such as a cargo plane, a bomber or a air fortress, the height requirements do not apply to her, as most modern jet fighters are automatically tuned to the height of the pilot flying them."- Ayako explained the reason why that woman could be a pilot, despite her short height.

-"That still leaves a lot to wonder about her, however..."- Akane's boyfriend responded. -"And surely she must suffer a lot of bullying from her teammates because of her physique, I suppose."-

-"To be honest, that was the case when Hirose joined the JASDF at first..."- The air force woman confirmed Satoru's words. -"Until she met her another friend, the one I also want to talk about..."-

-"You mean, Kei Nagase?"- Reiko Araki asked.

-"Yeah, her too."- Ayako replied.

-"And what can you tell us about that Kei girl, Ayako?"-

-"Well, I can say that Nagase is somewhat more normal, compared to Hirose, at least as far as physique, personality and personal background are concerned."- The air fortess captain described her next. -"She has short black hair, as well as being taller than Hirose, about 1.70 cm, although like her, she's not exactly fashion-magazine material either."-

-"And what you can tell us about her personal backgrounds?"- Mr. Araki asked to Ayako.

-"It could be said that her family is somewhat quirky in several ways: She has a twin sister, named Reiko, the same as your wife's name, who is a famous Formula 1 driver, and the father of both is Masahiro Nagase, a retired ex-race car driver. His wife, Naoko Nagase, is also a well-known mechanical designer who has developed several electric motors, both for racing cars and commercial vehicles. Some of her designs have even won industrial design awards both in Japan and abroad."-

-"Masahiro Nagase?"- Akane's stepfather felt something after he heard that name. -"I recall that, if I can remember things correctly, he won several Formula 1 titles when he was young... and he retired from the sport when he got married..."-

-"Seems that you have already heard about Ensign Nagase's father, as far as I can see, sir."-

-"I watched some of his races when I was in college... and I remember he was an excellent racer with lots of charisma with the crowd."- The man responded about Kei Nagase's father. -"Although I was also bummed that he retired relatively young to devote himself to his family."-

-"Well, at least his daughter Reiko is carrying on his legacy, and she's not a bad driver from what I've heard, although I'm not too much of a car racing fan to pay attention to such details."-

Satoru couldn't help but be surprised to learn all about the female pilot who was an acquaintance of his friend Ayako Katagiri, although he had more questions about her.

-"Wow! That girl does really have a proud family... but why did someone like her become a fighter pilot instead of following the footsteps of her sister and father, huh?"-

Before answering that question, Ayako took a brief pause, and then she returned Satoru's answer.

-"From what she once shared with me one-on-one, although she likes racing cars, at the same time she felt limited driving a land vehicle that can only go in one, single direction, and she always preferred the freedom that being a fighter jet pilot gave her."- Ayako explained. -"That is why she also joined the air force, in order to broaden her horizons, and to feel free like a bird, while at the same time doing a service to her country..."-

-"I guess her family must have been unhappy with her making that bold choice of career... "- Satoru wondered.

-"According to her, this was the case at first, although later they accepted her choice; obviously, they do care for her from time to time, since, at the end of the day, she is a fighter pilot, something that by its nature is even riskier than being a race car driver..."-

-"Well, I can't blame them after all, since she is a soldier working for the military... and we all know what that means."- Mr. Araki gave his severe opinion about the issue.

-"To be honest, it's not like a war is going to break out any day now, Mr. Araki;"- Satoru responded at his father-in-law's concerns. -"the last war was two centuries ago, and World War III was nearly three, and I don't think she could be on any danger... right, Ayako?"-

Suddenly, upon hearing that, Captain Katagiri began to sigh somewhat worriedly, and she looked at the sky with a certain air of discomfort, as if there was something in Satoru's words that made her uncomfortable when she heard talk about the prospect of war. Seeing that Ayako had not answered Satoru's question, Reiko Araki was quick to speak to her to see what was wrong with the girl.

-"Is something wrong, dear?"- Akane's stepmother questioned the air force woman. -"You were silent when Satoru said that last remark... Or is there anything you don't want to say?"-

Ayako looked down in a serious manner...

-"Well... I hate to say this... but there are some things that are worrying me about those two..."- And then, her voice went to a lower, sad tone. -"and the truth is that I don't know what might be going on..."-

The Arakis and Satoru Okazaki found it strange that their fellow acquaintance seemed to have some kind of concern regarding those two women Ayako was familiar with, something they did not doubt to ask her about.

-"What do you mean with that, Ayako?"- Mr. Araki asked the young military woman.

After a brief pause, the air fortress captain finally gave an answer.

-"Nagase and Hirose were sent on some kind of special operation out of the country, as far as I know. All I know is that their services and those of other JASDF pilots were requested by the UN for some reason that I am not aware of, nor was I chosen to participate in that mission. Normally, that would not concern me, as it sometimes happens that the UN requests the services of different military forces for friendly military exercises and similar events, but, from what little I have read about it, there is no military exercise to be held at this time..."-

-"And is there anything wrong with that?"- Satoru asked.

-"All that means is that something really serious is going on there, and that it takes a special group of people to execute it, especially if it is some kind of joint covert operation under the command of either the Japanese government or the UN."-

-"Oh..."- Then, Akane's fiancé asked Ayako again, this time with a certain snarky tone. -"And maybe you are upset because you were not chosen to take part in that mission, by any chance?"-

That question made the young captain upset, for several motives that she would mention later...

-"OF COURSE NOT!"- Ayako loudly retorted at Satoru. -"I'm upset because I don't know a damn thing what is going on that is so secret that no one wants to tell me anything about what the JASDF is doing outside of Japan that warrants sending pilots overseas!"-

Seeing her friend's reaction, Satoru dropped his snide sarcasm and grasped at once the reason for Ayako's uneasiness at being excluded from anything involving Japanese pilots abroad...

-"Well... sorry for saying that, Ayako..."- The Osakan man apologized to the Tokyo woman. -"And... from what Akane once said on the subject before she vanished, it is not common to send Japanese soldiers abroad for covert operations for no good purpose... unless they were doing somekind of shady stuff overseas..."-

The air force captain nodded with her head.

-"Indeed, Satoru..."- Then, she replied further. -"... and I am afraid that these two women might be involved in something murky if that is the case..."-

A silence ensued between the four people who were reunited near the spaceport's exit; Ayako Katagiri was worried about what her two acquaintances might be doing outside of Japan on that covert mission, not to mention the mission itself, since she had not been asked to participate for some reason, which raised her suspicions, since, being an air fortress captain, the most logical thing to do would be both brought her and her ship, the Ayako, in order to transport any fighter jets and vehicles outside her country.

And this had a good reason to be, since Japan only had three air fortresses, and the fact that Ayako was excluded from that mission, and that she also had no knowledge about its objective, meant that something underhanded was going on behind the scenes. And this was not the first time this had happened to the young woman, considering that she could not discuss what she knew about the Asuka with her friend Akane's relatives nor with Satoru, Akane's also fiancé, due to her orders issued by her higher-ups.

But the Araki family, like Satoru, felt the urge to talk about something else, and they immediately told their guest about it...

-"Hey, Ayako, we were thinking that we'd better continue our discussion somewhere else;"- Akane's stepfather addressed to the young captain. -"it's already getting hot here, and I don't think it's very healthy for us to be out in the sun for too long..."-

Ayako, feeling the sun beaming on her face, strongly supported Mr. Araki's assertion.

-"Right, I think it would be better to go somewhere more comfortable, don't you think?"-

-"Well... I don't mind if we hang around here for a while longer,"- Satoru interrupted Ayako and gave his own opinion. -"but I think many people are already starting to head home, and I don't think there's much for us to do here, other than spotting the spaceships that are docked here at the spaceport..."-

-"Agreed with that; I don't think there's much we can do more here."- Reiko Araki, Akane's stepmother, agreed with her son-in-law. -"We could go with you to where you are staying and chat down there in a more relaxed place, like a restaurant. Besides, I'm already a little hungry, to be honest."-

-"Me too, Reiko."- Junichiro, the husband agreed with his wife. -"What do you think about the idea, Ayako?"-

After a few seconds of silence, Ayako Katagiri finally provided an answer to Mrs. Araki's question.

-"Sounds like a good idea, ma'am..."- The air fortress captain gladly responded. -"And by the way, I plan to stay in a hotel in downtown Yokosuka, but I haven't gotten there first yet, since coming here to the memorial was my top priority before anything else. Would you like to come with me, people?"-

Following a brief delay, the Arakis affirmatively accepted Ayako's offer, as they also wanted to eat something and talk to their friend from Tokyo, after several hours of being at the memorial.

-"It will be a pleasure for us, Ayako dear..."- Mrs. Araki responded at their guest's invitation.

-"Then let's go!"- Ayako happily responded when she saw that Akane's family and Satoru welcomed her invitation. -"I'll pay our cab out of my pocket, and I'll also pay for the food at the hotel."-

-"That's very kind of you, Ayako..."- Satoru was surprised to see that woman was taking many pains on pleasing her fellow acquaintances out of her own money.

-"Well, it's the least I can do for my friends' families... and I wish Kaguya's father was here with us to do the same with him too..."-

Seeing that Ayako made mention of Kaguya in a rather sad way, Satoru laid his hand on the woman's shoulder and tried to cheer her up...

-"Sorry, Ayako, but it can't be helped with him..."- Akane's fiancé assured her. -"...ya know... he is a very powerful man, and maybe he is dealing with this in his own particular way..."-

-"I know that, but still..." - Ayako answered with a sigh. -"Well... maybe you are right on that, Satoru..."-

-"Well, let's put that aside, and move out; I'm starting to feel hungry too..."-

-"Yeah, I agreed with you on that... let's go."-

And so, Ayako, Satoru and Akane's stepparents left the military spaceport, while they waited for a cab that would take them to the hotel where the military woman would stay in Yokosuka, so they could talk more privately about other topics they wished to discuss with her guest from Tokyo.

But nevertheless, little did they know at that time that Akane and Kaguya were still alive on that unknown alien planet, while their relatives were crying for them on Earth, believing that they had died on the Asuka, something that would take them a long time to find out...

---

June 1st, AD 2306, Pet World, Potonggang Ward, Pyongyang, United Republic of Korea, 10:02 AM

The curtains of a pet store located near the Potong River, one of the rivers that crosses the city of Pyongyang, are raised to start a new work day, while a young woman, about 21 years old, long raven hair, brown eyes and of average height, walks into the store; from her relatively formal clothes, it was noticeable that she was one of the employees working in the store.

Upon entering the store, she was greeted by a man of approximately 40 years or more, completely bald, and of equal height. Upon seeing the young employee, the man greeted her in a friendly manner, since he had known her for years.

-"Good morning, Yun!"-

-"Oh, good morning, Mr. Kang!"- The woman greeted him. -"How did you do, sir?"-

-"Very well indeed, and thank you for asking."- The man, who was the woman's immediate boss, replied. -"And what about you, dear?"-

-"I feel fine, sir; my parents are fine, and I took my younger sister to school earlier."- The employee responded. -"I don't think I have anything to complain about."-

-"Good, it's nice you show up to work with good spirits, Yun."-

-"Thank you, Mr. Kang."- The girl replied. -"What do I start work with today, sir?"-

The store manager stood in thought for a few moments, trying to figure out what the woman surnamed Yun was going to do that day.

-"Well, you can start feeding the turtles,"- Mr. Kang gave the first instructions to his employee. -"and when you're done, be sure to feed the fish and birds as well."-

-"Understood, sir."- The girl confirmed her boss' orders. -"And... by the way, Mr. Kang..."-

-"Do you want to say something else, Yun?"-

-"Is Ludmilla at work yet?"- The girl did another question at her senior.

The middle-aged man, faced with his employee's question, quickly gave her an answer.

-"Ludmilla, you say?"- The man then replied. -"Well, she still hasn't..."-

And suddenly, as Mr. Kang was talking about that person, a young, 21-years old woman on a sports bike, with red hair, green eyes, quite slim, about 1.80 meters tall, and speaking Korean with a slight foreign accent, showed up at the store, clearly tired as she had arrived at the scene in a hurry.

-"pant... pant... pant..."- The foreign-looking woman then addressed to the store manager. -"I am very sorry to be late, Mr. Kang!"-

The aforementioned man, upon looking at the woman, put a hand to his forehead in surprise, and after smiling mischievously, he addressed the woman.

-"Aaaaaand..."- Mr. Kang said about the redheaded woman in a snarky tone -"...speaking about the devil..."-

After hearing her employer's comment, the woman's face was flushed in shame, knowing that she had been late for work. At the same time, she knew that he and Yun were talking about her a few seconds ago.

-"I guess you people were talking about me, right?"- The foreign-looking woman asked.

-"Yeah, who else were we referring to, Ludmilla?"- The Korean girl named Yun said at the redhead.

The foreign-born woman, whose name was Ludmilla, bowed to Mr. Kang, indicating her regret at being late for her job at the pet store.

-"I'm sorry for being late for work, Mr. Kang; I hope it didn't cause you any inconvenience."- Ludmilla politely apologized.

-"Don't worry, Ludmilla, I have just started opening the store and giving the first orders of the day."- The man explained at the foreign woman with a calm tone.

-"Phew... that's good..."-

After a brief pause, seeing that Ludmilla was trying to regain her strength, the store manager also gave orders to the red-haired woman, who was also a store employee, to start working immediately.

-"Well, Ludmilla, once you had regained your strength, start feeding the dogs and cats, then you pick up their waste and clean their cages, and finally you should change their drinking water..."-

The woman, who had also been working in that shop for some time, knew that Mr. Kang had ordered her to perform some of the most tedious tasks an employee has to do in the store, something she noticed was some kind of micro-punishment for being late, and it was a fact Ludmilla immediately noticed.

-"I guess I have to do it myself, don't I, sir?"-

-"Yes, Ludmilla..."- Mr. Kang said at the foreign girl. -"And I hope you know the reason why, dear."-

Ludmilla nodded her head in understanding.

-"I understand, sir. I will get to work right away."-

-"Thank you."- The manager retorted at the redhead.

After receiving orders from her immediate superior about what she had to do in the store, Ludmilla donned latex gloves and boots, and she started feeding the animals, as well as picking up their waste. Due to the stench of the excrements, however, the foreign-born woman wore a mask to try to prevent the foul odor from disturbing her as she worked.

Meanwhile, other workers who also labored in the store, and who had joined Yun at the same time, watched with some amusement as their colleague had to take care of the dogs and cats in the pet store, and knowing how hard that job was, they did not hesitate to tease Ludmilla in various ways.

-"Hey, Ludmilla, looks like Mr. Kang gave you a hard time for being late for work, didn't he?"- A female worker, whose surname was Im, said at the foreign woman with a wicked smile in her face.

-"Oh, shut up!"- The redhead loudly retorted at her Korean peer. -"It's not my fault that there's so much traffic in this goddamn city, and that I have to cycle all the way to work!"-

-"I presume you are still not very used to the streets of Pyongyang, by the look of it."-

-"Of course not, Im!"- The redhead replied at her coworker, while she used a hose to clean the animals' cages. -"I've only been living in Korea for three years now, and I still can't get accustomed to how the streets in this city look like they weren't made for cyclists!"-

Im looked at her foreign-born friend and could not help but make a specific comment about what Ludmilla had commented about the streets of the former capital of what was once the ancient North Korea.

-"From your accent, I can tell you learned Korean in Seoul, didn't you?"-

-"And what the hell does it have to do with me learning Korean in Seoul, huh?"-

Im did a brief pause, and then she replied.

-"Well... Seoul was retrofitted two centuries ago to suit the use of bicycles, unlike here in Pyongyang, where many of the street structures and avenues have not changed much since the communist era."- The local girl explained. -"I guess you haven't been living here for a long time compared to the cities from the former South Korea, judging by what I'm seeing."-

-"Technically..."- Ludmilla also explained her unfamiliarity with the northern city. -"I have been living here in Pyongyang for a year now, so I guess it's normal that I don't know much about the local culture, compared to Seoul and all the stuff that comes down south..."-

Then, the Korean girl smiled and shook her head in amusement.

-"You'll learn a lot sooner or later, though, my dear Ludmilla."-

-"Yeah, I know that, Im..."- The redhead responded with some wry tone at her friend. -"At least it's better here than where I used to live in my native Russia."-

-"Yes, I think you had already talked about the city where you used to live before..."- Im retorted. -"Was it... Saint Louis... or...?"-

-"St. Petersburg."- An annoyed Ludmilla corrected her friend, seeing that she mistook her hometown in Russia for a city in another country. -"Saint Louis is in the U.S."-

-"Ah, yeah, that name! Oh, sorry about that, Ludmilla dear, heheh!"- The Korean woman responded spitefully when her Russian friend let her know the correct name of St. Petersburg. -"so that was the name of that Russian hick town where you come from!"-

Seeing that Im was only trying to insult her, Ludmilla, in a firm but not too aggressive position, felt that she had had enough of that woman trying to make fun of her...

-"Look, Im... if you don't have other more important stuff to do, I'd really appreciate it if you'd leave me to my work, otherwise..."-

-"Otherwise WHAT, you Russian bitch?"-

The girl put aside any hint of politeness, and she began to threaten Ludmilla by escalating the tenor of her voice, trying to convey to her that the young Russian girl, being a foreigner, had no right to address her that way.

And seeing that Im had shown her true colors, Ludmilla took a bucket filled with excrement from the animals she had cleaned out of their cages minutes before, and directed it at the Korean girl, making her aware that she meant business.

-"Otherwise..."- The European girl said at Im aloud. -"...you will return home bathed in dog and cat shit!"-

Seeing that Ludmilla was now being serious, and that she was going to throw the nauseating contents of that bucket at Im, the Asian girl stopped harassing her European co-worker, and left the place as quickly as she could to prevent the situation from going out of control, and at least she could return home with her personal integrity and dignity intact.

Seeing that her Russian friend had managed to avoid a fight with that bully, Yun, who was Ludmilla's long-time friend, walked over to talk to the European girl, glad to see that she had avoided falling into the abusive woman's game.

-"Are you alright, Ludmilla?"-

The redhead nodded her head.

-"Yeah, I'm fine..."- Ludmilla replied at her coworker. -"Just dealing with another stuck-up bully thinking that just because I'm a foreigner she can do whatever she wants with me..."-

-"Yes, I know that, I'm so sorry for that, dear."- Yun apologized to the Russian girl. -"I guess there's still a lot of people here in Pyongyang who are still not very friendly to foreigners unlike in Seoul..."-

-"That's pretty obvious, Yun."- Ludmilla replied back, and then, she sighed a bit. -"I guess... sigh... even after two damn centuries, many people still have the same mentality they had during the communist era, when seeing foreigners like me was a unusual sight back then."-

Yun also nodded her head at the Russian girl.

-"Yes, I believe so, too..."- The Korean girl hung her head rather glumly as she recognized that her foreign friend was somewhat reasonable in confirming certain stereotypes about the locals in Pyongyang.

-"Well, but I also know that not all people from the north are a bunch of bigoted racist dickheads who have never seen a foreigner in their lives; I've also dealt with many people who have been very nice to me during my stay here in the city..."-

And then, Ludmilla smiled at her Korean friend.

-"...and that includes you, Yun."-

Yun blushed a little.

-"Oh... thank you... Ludmilla..."- She responded somewhat sheepishly to her friend's words of approval.

-"You are welcome."- The Russian girl replied.

Then both girls giggled happily as they looked at each other. Then Ludmilla went on with her work.

-"Well, I'd better get on with cleaning the cages before Mr. Kang starts complaining."- Ludmilla said. -"You too should get back to work, Yun."-

-"Okay; see ya later then."-

-"You too, Yun."- Then, Ludmilla waved goodbye to her coworker, while the latter returned to her post.

As the foreign woman continued cleaning the kennels, Yun, who was in charge of feeding the turtles and lizards in the reptiles section, as well as the fishes, returned to her own assigned duties. And so, both women, as well as the other employees of the pet store, carried on working normally until closing time.

---

June 1st, AD 2306, Pet World (outside store), Potonggang Ward, Pyongyang, United Republic of Korea, 6:00 PM

After a long day of work, Pet World, the pet store located in downtown Pyongyang, was closing its services for the day, and the store manager, Kang Sun-jin, was personally in charge of closing the store's curtain by giving voice commands to the computer, which was connected to the ANEN system, better known as "the Net", which was in charge of this task, as well as handling the alarms that protected the store.

Once the curtains were closed, Mr. Kang politely dismissed the employees, who were preparing to return home. Among those employees who would be the first to leave were Yun Yu-mi and Ludmilla Fedorova, who bade farewell to their boss in the same manner.

-"All right, the curtains are closed, and the alarms are already activated."- Mr. Kang said. -"See you tomorrow, girls, and I hope you have a nice day."-

-"Thank you, Mr. Kang!"- Yun answered at her boss.

-"You too, boss."- Ludmilla followed suit.

-"Thank you, Ludmilla."- And then, the Korean man said some words for the Russian woman. -"And next time, if possible, try to get up early for work, so you can get there on time and not make excuses about traffic..."-

The Russian-born woman, seeing the sardonic tone of her boss when she mentioned that she was late for work, only managed to smile in a more or less stilted manner.

-"I will sir, don't worry about that..."-

-"Well... see you tomorrow, girls."-

-"Thank you, sir, we will."-

The employees answered in unison, while both heading to the store's employee parking zone; once there, Ludmilla helped her friend Yun to put her things into her car, and once she was done, the young Russian girl headed off to another way, intending to leave her friend alone.

-"Hey, where are you going, Ludmilla?"- The Korean girl said at her coworker.

-"To my home, where else?"-

The red-haired girl reacted somewhat puzzled, as she had no idea why Yun had asked her that in the first place.

-"Well... uh... if you don't mind..."- Yun paused a bit. -"...wouldn't you like me to give you a ride home?"-

Ludmilla was visibly surprised that her Korean friend was proposing to drive her to her home in the city in her own vehicle, something that neither she, nor any of her co-workers at Pet World, had ever done for the Russian girl before.

-"Oh... well... Yun... personally I don't really mind... in fact..."- The redhead stuttered a bit, still surprised to see Yun wanted to help her. -"...this is the first time someone is giving me a ride to my home..."-

While she did not want to take advantage of her Korean friend's kindness by accepting her offer, and while she did not want to seem like an ungrateful person by refusing to accept it, at the same time Ludmilla also felt that she was not causing her friend a nuisance by wasting her valuable time with her.

-"I hope you don't have other things to do besides driving me home, do you?"-

-"No."- Yun replied. -"Besides, I can call my family to let them know that I'm going to take you home, so I don't think there will be any problem."-

-"Well, in that case, I agree to go with you."- Ludmilla accepted to let Yun drive her to her home. -"Just let me take my bike in your car."-

-"Sure, no problem; luckily my car is big enough to take your bike with me."-

-"So, if there is no more to say, let's go then."-

-"Okay that, Ludmilla!"-

With a smile on her face and a blush on her cheeks, the Russian girl went into the passenger seat of Yun's car. And just like that, the two women set off together for Ludmilla's home, without any further conversation.

---

June 1st, AD 2306, Downtown Pyongyang, United Republic of Korea, 6:25 PM

One would think that, since Pyongyang still maintained in perfect condition its long avenues built in the 20th and 21st centuries during the communist era in the 23rd century, driving in them would not be a real hassle for any modern vehicle, as compared to the past, when only the communist elite could even permit themselves to use one to begin with.

Unfortunately, this was not the case here: the heart of the former capital of what was once known as "North Korea," prior to its reunification with its southern neighbors after World War III, was a veritable traffic gridlock, with vehicles filling the long streets from one end to the other as it was rush hour after work, and everyone was heading for home. This, in any other country, would have been a cause for stress and anxiety knowing that many would arrive home a little late in the face of the amount of traffic that many drivers would have to deal with.

But, for many of the inhabitants of that Korean city, it was preferable to the way it used to be in the past, where something like that was unthinkable during the time when the Communist Party of that country ruled the former North Korea with an iron fist.

And how is it that Pyongyang, and above all, the whole of the former North Korea, changed so radically in less than two centuries, from a miserable capital city of a communist nation to a modern, if still peculiar, technologically advanced city.

The answer, as mentioned before, lies in what transpired with North Korea during World War III, and the actions that nation took during said conflict...

According to what was known up to that point, North Korea became one of the countries that formed part of the Arab Alliance, a coalition of several Middle Eastern countries, plus some other countries that joined that alliance for the same purpose of fighting against the Western nations. No one knows exactly what it was that drove the North Koreans to join forces with that military confederation from outside their traditional area of influence, except perhaps that the communist government of the time may have exploited the opportunity to sell arms to the Alliance countries, while gaining military experience in a real conflict.

Or, perhaps it was simply because the entire nation had experienced such devastating losses at the hands of the western nations as a result of the sanctions the North Korean communist regime suffered for years, that they decided to take revenge instead.

But things took a turn for the worse when, for reasons not yet fully known, even more than two centuries after those events, the North Korean communist regime, at least as far as is known, dropped nuclear bombs on its Arab allies, and, in addition to the damage caused by the war itself, wiped out almost the entire Arabian peninsula, leaving it completely uninhabitable, something that still remains to this day. This caused all its inhabitants to emigrate to other countries, and later, when possible, many emigrated to Mars when space colonization began at the end of the 21st century.

As a result of all this, and when the communist regime that ruled that hermit nation was cornered by its own enemies, and even by its own allies in response to that unforgivable crime, the North Korean government, having no more nuclear weapons with which to defend itself, and with the whole world crying out for North Korean blood, was brought down after a few months; Its leaders were tried, sentenced to death and their bodies were eaten by dogs, a punishment, while brutal, was considered at the time as deserved for the atrocities perpetrated by the members of the dictatorial regime that ruled that nation, coupled with the use of nuclear weapons that destroyed an entire region of the planet.

Once the North Korean regime fell, a transitional government was created, and through the help of its close neighbours, South Korea, together covertly by other countries, such as the US, Japan, the European Union and others, North Korea was able to rise on its own feet. Then, in AD 2090, both the northern and southern sides of the Korean peninsula were reunified after more than a century and a half of being separated as a result of World War II.

As a result of the reunification of both nations, the name of the newly reunified Korea became the United Republic of Korea (abbreviated as URK). The capitals of both nations, Pyongyang in the north and Seoul in the south, became the de facto official capitals of the new nation, with Seoul being the administrative capital and seat of government of the URK, while its northern counterpart became the judicial capital of the country, as well as the technological hub of the unified Korean peninsula.

Pyongyang, taking advantage of its established status as a city trying to update itself even during the communist era of the early 21st century, simply took up many of those projects, this time with access to greater resources as a result of the lifting of sanctions against the former regime, and in a matter of a few decades, the decaying North Korean city was transformed into a modern city that would become an example for other cities around the world wishing to rebuild or reinvent themselves after traumatic events, such as those of a world war.

But in spite of all this, the inhabitants of that city, like those of the former North Korea, were not going to allow the old wounds caused by that regime that brutally subjected its inhabitants for more than a century to be simply washed away, and they decided to keep some things and elements of that time as a permanent reminder for all the inhabitants, so that an era as cruel as the one their ancestors lived through in the 20th and 21st century would never come back and reoccur again.

But, for Yun Yu-mi and Ludmilla Fedorova, those avenues, which had never been designed for heavy vehicular traffic but for transporting troops and military hardware in the first place, were one of the few things both women wished the people who decided to rebuild Pyongyang in the past had redone from the ground up, instead of simply leaving them as they were with just more modern upgrades...

-"What's the use of having streets this fuckin' big if they're gonna be jammed to the brim with cars, huh?"- Yun cursed aloud as she saw that the traffic in the downtown area was moving too slowly, causing her to lose her temper. Ludmilla smiled bitterly, looking out at the road with narrowed eyes.

-"Well... one of the advantages of riding a bike is that you can easily avoid a lot of this, Yun..."-

The Russian girl responded with a certain sardonic tone to her Korean friend, who tried to keep her nerves from dominating her. Yun, who was behind the wheel, on the other hand, did not appreciate such a comment about the fact that her friend would have preferred to return home by bicycle rather than by car.

-"Surely you're making fun of me, aren't you?"-

-"Of course not, Yun,"- Ludmilla replied in a deadpan tone. -"but I can't help but comment that it is easier to avoid traffic jams on a bicycle than in a car. At least that's what I used to do when I lived in St. Petersburg."-

Yun rolled her eyes.

-"Oh yeah sure, Ludmilla..."- The Asian girl replied with equal measure of sarcasm. -"Surely St. Petersburg is not half as big as this city is."-

-"Well... you're at least right about that, Yun, at least that I can admit."- The Russian girl avoided trying to play along with her Korean coworker, who was sulking due to the heavy traffic in the city center. -"At least I was smarter when I lived in Russia to just use my bike when I knew traffic would be worse during rush hour."-

And as the two continued to squabble, the Net's electronic voice suddenly became suddenly ubiquitous, alerting the driver about something she needed to know.

-"Miss Yun, please be advised that we will arrive at our destination in 35 minutes, depending on traffic conditions."-

-"I KNOW THAT, STUPID COMPUTER, NOW JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP AND HELP ME DRIVE THIS SHIT, DAMMIT!"- The Korean girl yelled aloud to the vehicle's AI, who was trying to warn her owner about the time it would take for the car to reach Ludmilla's home.

And as for the Russian girl, the latter began to laugh as her friend seemed to aim her rage at her car, something Yun noticed right away.

-"So... what's so fucking funny, Ludmilla?!"-

-"Heheheh... I don't think yelling at your car is going to help us get home any faster, Yun."-

-"And why can't I yell at my car?"-

-"Because it's not your fault or the car's fault that there's traffic at all."- Ludmilla then smiled at her friend. -"You need to take it easy, dear, or you're going to have a health problem if you keep acting like that."-

After a moment of silence, knowing that her friend was right, Yun finally spoke up, this time in a calmer manner and without raising her voice.

-"sigh... guess you're right about that, Ludmilla..."- Then, she addresed her European friend. -"...sorry if I acted like a brainless brute earlier, honey."-

-"No worries, Yun."- Ludmilla continued to smile at her Korean coworker. -"As far I know you, you're normally not really the type to get angry with a computer, are you? Besides, I understand why you are so pissed off, with all this traffic we have in front of us."-

Yun could see that her companion's expression changed slightly upon saying that.

-"That was a nice gesture from you, Ludmilla... thank you."- The Korean woman thanked her friend for her nice words on her.

-"Well, that's the least I can do for you, since you did me the favor of taking me home."-

Afterwards, Yun Yu-mi turned her gaze back to the road, knowing that she could not afford to be distracted at any time when the traffic would start moving anytime soon.

-"Okay, I'm going to put on some music, and let's just wait for the traffic to start moving."- The Pyongyang girl turned on the audio system of her car, and then, she set some tunes for listening while she and Ludmilla when on the road. -"I hope you're not pressed for time to get home..."-

-"Not really, Yun."-

-"Good."-

The next minutes went by fast, and soon enough the cars began to move once more, and the traffic getting gradually lighter. Once it was possible, Yun took an intersection and she, along with her friend Ludmilla, headed south of the city, where the Russian co-worker lived.

---

June 1st, AD 2306, South Pyongyang, United Republic of Korea, 7:15 PM

After a long drive through the heavy traffic in downtown Pyongyang, Yun's car neared its destination, an apartment complex located south of the Korean city, to be more precise, near the area that once housed the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, which functioned during the communist era, but closed its doors after the fall of its regime that ruled the former North Korea.

That suburb was one of the few places left standing from the old Pyongyang during that era, before the outbreak of World War III, where the structures in that area were perfectly preserved relics of the buildings that existed in the 20th and 21st century; most of the buildings were relatively simple apartments, painted in pastel colors and almost all of them were similar to each other.

The reason these buildings still existed until the 24th century was for several reasons: The first and most important reason was their existence was a permanent reminder to the inhabitants of Pyongyang, and also to those who inhabit what was once North Korea, of the harsh and grueling conditions in which their ancestors lived during that turbulent and violent era, before the last world war took place. The second reason was that those buildings served as guinea pigs for experimentation with new technologies after the war, both in construction and retrofitting, thanks to advances in nanotechnology, which allowed an old building to be refurbished using half the materials that would have been necessary using traditional methods, and for less than it would have cost, allowing an old building to stand up to five times as long as it would have lasted using conventional methods of restoration.

The last and also convenient reason for the maintenance of those buildings was to rent them to low-income people, foreigners, occasional travelers, and others who had not inconvenience in living in buildings that dated up to three centuries ago, some even built post World War II.

And one of those people living in those old buildings was Ludmilla Fedorova, who had been living in Pyongyang for a year, when she used to live in Seoul.

Minutes later, Yun's car docked in the parking lot near the apartment where her Russian friend lived in the city; then, both women stepped out of the car, while Ludmilla stretched her legs after being seated for several minutes inside.

-"Thanks for driving me over here, Yun."-

-"Hey, don't mention it!"- The Asian woman shrugged nonchalantly, smiling slightly. -"Although I would have liked to get here faster if it wasn't for the damn traffic."-

-"Well, we could have gotten here much later, when everything had gone dark."- The Russian girl explained. -"And I don't think you would have liked having been here past 9 PM..."-

Yun began to look with some concern at the apartment complex where Ludmilla lived, and she began to feel some discomfort in being there, something she shared with Ludmilla...

-"And you are DAMN right about that last part..."- The Korean girl said with some trepidation. -"...every time I have to go through this place when I have to go south I can't stop to feel goosebumps considering how old these buildings are..."-

Ludmilla looked at her Korean coworker, while she was busy putting her belongings down from Yun's car.

-"I can't blame you for that, Yun; these buildings were built in the communist era..."-

-"I already know that, silly... and that's the reason this place scares me shitless."-

Ludmilla sighed for a few moments and asked Yun her reason for being nervous about those ancient buildings of the pre-World War III era.

-"I guess it has to do with the history behind these buildings, doesn't it, Yun?"-

The girl from Pyongyang did not hesitate to respond to her Russian co-worker.

-"Yes."- She then continued to explain. -"I don't know what you've been told about Pyongyang or the whole north of the URK before you came to this country or while studying Korean, but my family has lived in this city for generations when Pyongyang was the capital of ancient North Korea. My parents, like my teachers at school, used to tell me about the horrors of the past during the communist era, and believe me that what they usually tell me about that time period is not pleasant to listen to."-

-"What kind of horrible stuff did they tell you?"- Ludmilla asked curiously. -"I had read in books and from what some people who live in the city have told me that life was terrible back then, but from the tone in which they have explained it to me, it must have been very difficult times."-

After a brief pause, and a short sigh, Yun Yu-mi answered her European friend's question.

-"Let's say that the communists indiscriminately executed anyone who did not worship their leaders or did not follow their orders; at times, the executions were public, and in the most brutal ways possible, including with cannons, and according to some rumors, some were executed by being eaten by wild animals..."-

The very mention of the methods of execution used in the communist era caused the Russian girl to shiver, as she could not imagine who could be so cruel as to murder someone in such a way.

-"Crap, they sure were mad as hell back then..."-

Suddenly, Yun said nothing more, and she glanced hard at the apartments in which her friend Ludmilla lived, something that did not go unnoticed by the Russian woman.

-"Is something wrong, Yun?"-

After that pause, the Korean girl finally responded.

-"We'd better talk about this another day; I don't feel right doing right now..."-

Ludmilla, upon catching sight of her friend's face, quickly realized her friend's reason for not discussing the subject any further in that place.

-"Of course... Let's go to my apartment, then..."-

And so, Ludmilla and Yun headed for the apartments where the foreign girl lived in Pyongyang, in order to have some rest and a private place to talk.

---

June 1st, AD 2306, South Pyongyang (Vintage Residential Zone No. 5, Building No. 10), United Republic of Korea, 7:35 PM

Once inside the building, Ludmilla Fedorova and Yun Yu-mi were standing in front of the apartment where the Russian girl lived, which was marked with the number 7. Though the apartment and the building itself were more than three hundred years old, everything looked as if it had been recently renovated, for everything was in perfect and pristine condition. Even the paint, both inside and outside the building, seemed to be brand new, as if it had been painted yesterday, and there was nothing to indicate that it was an old building from before the last world war.

The only things that seemed out of place in that old building were the elevators, which were more modern, and the access controls to the apartments, which were computer-controlled by a combination of biometric measures and voice commands, all of which were managed through the use of the Net.

That said, Ludmilla pressed a combination of buttons on the lock on her door, and then she spoke into the intercom-like device next to the entrance to her apartment.

-"I need to open the door, please."-

The electronic voice of the AI, with a feminine voice, replied to the Russian red-haired woman.

-"Voice identified as Miss Ludmilla Fedorova."- The Net said in a rather low voice in Korean. -"Access authorized; welcome home, Miss Fedorova."-

-"Thank you, Net."-

Thus, Ludmilla and Yun entered the latter's home straight away. Once inside the foreign girl's home, the Pyongyang native noticed that Ludmilla's apartment was spotless for someone who spent most of the day working from 10 am to 6 pm, with only a one-hour break to rest from Monday to Friday. Furthermore, the Russian girl had several modern electronic devices in her home, and her apartment had relatively colorful furniture, which meant that, even if the living space was a relic of centuries past, Ludmilla spared neither resources nor time to make it look nice and tidy.

-"Wow..."- Yun commented quietly, looking around the small living room area, and then walking towards the kitchen. -"Your home is quite different from mine, Ludmilla."-

-"Oh, thank you, Yun..."- The red-haired girl gave a somewhat shy response to her Korean friend. -"I took the trouble to do some remodeling once I had enough money for it, since this apartment was not exactly nice when I came here some time ago."-

-"You can tell you spent a lot of money for this; it surely must have cost you a fortune..."- Yun said with a curious look in her eyes.

-"Oh, no! It wasn't really that expensive..." Ludmilla denied calmly. -"The remodeling cost me over 12 million won, and that's not including all the appliances I bought."-

The mere amount of money Ludmilla spent on renovating her apartment alone caused the Korean girl to elevate the tone of her voice due to the outrageousness of the number alone.

-"TWELVE MILLION WON?!"-

The girl from St. Petersburg replied somewhat naively to her Korean friend when she saw her face of disbelief.

-"Well... that's right... more or less, in a way..."- Then, she asked Yun. -"Can I ask you why are you surprised by that?"-

-"My dad, who works as a veterinarian, takes about a year and a half to get that same amount of money to support my whole family, and you spend all that same money JUST TO BUY FURNITURE, DAMMIT!"-

Ludmilla, believing that her friend was upset because she had spent money she didn't have on buying new furniture, had to give Yun an explanation for it.

-"To be honest, I was saving money when I used to live in Seoul while studying Korean there, as well as the money I have earned while living here in Pyongyang..."-

-"And what the hell were you working on while you lived in Seoul, huh?"-

-"I also used to work in a pet store, just like here..."-

Upon hearing that, Yun raised an eyebrow.

-"A pet store, too?!"- The Pyongyang native responded with a certain tone of incredulity. -"But how then were you able to get through to your work buddies if you were just learning Korean then?"-

-"Well... I used to work as a translator there."- Ludmilla explained at her Korean co-worker. -"That helped me to mediate when buying things for the store from abroad, at the same time I was learning the language; Keep in mind that I also know how to speak English, which also gave me a lot of help when I was working there."-

-"So you were a translator?"-

-"Yeah, that's right."-

-"And in that case,"- The Korean girl did another question. -"why did you accept to work as a store worker, rather than in the office, when you moved here to Pyongyang?"-

After a brief pause, the Russian girl answered Yun.

-"You could say it's a very long story... and that's all I'm going to say about it."-

Yun frowned in confusion, and tried to guess why her Russian acquaintance would not want to say anything else about that matter. But she decided it best not to inquire any further about it in that moment, in order to spare the Russian girl any annoyance that she suspected might come later...

-"Well... if you insist..."-

Then, Ludmilla changed the topic.

-"Well, leaving my life aside, do you fancy something to eat while we rest in my home, Yun?"- She inquired. -"I've bought some quick snacks in the convenience store near this department just in case."-

-"Sure,"- The Korean girl replied at her foreign friend. -"I could use a quick bite to eat here at your place, if you don't mind, of course."-

-"Of course not; feel at home, Yun."-

-"Thank you!"-

And so, Ludmilla went to the kitchen, then opened the refrigerator, and then took out several snacks from the fridge, and then brought them to the living room where she and Yun were talking at that moment.

The Korean girl quickly noticed that her friend from Russia had brought her several traditional Korean snacks that she had bought in advance: among the typical desserts were Gukhwa-ppang, which was a chrysanthemum-shaped bread filled with red bean paste, Gyeongdan, which was a kind of rice cake sprinkled with roasted soybean powder, among other typical Korean sweets.

-"What do you think? I thought these snacks might look delicious."- Ludmilla told her cohost as she handed a small plate containing a small portion of the various Korean delicacies to her.

As she glanced at the desserts offered by her European hostess, Yun could not help but comment on the topic, due to the fact that she was Korean, and a foreigner was offering her typical Korean food.

-"I must admit that you have a good taste for the traditional food of my country, Ludmilla."-

-"Oh, thanks!"-

-"But let me tell you something, Ludmilla:"- The Pyongyang native said in a sardonic tone. -"You seem to have gone for the most typical stuff you could find in the convenience store you went to."-

The Russian girl responded with some disquiet, seeing Yun's face when she brought up the subject of the traditional Korean snacks she bought.

-"Is there something wrong with what I brought, Yun?"-

-"Uh... no... it's not that, Ludmilla dear..."- The Korean girl clarified her position. -"It's just... that I should be the one offering this to you... rather than yourself."-

Yun Yu-mi's response stunned the Russian girl, who thought she had offended her Korean co-worker.

-"Did I do something wrong in giving this to you, Yun?"-

-"No, it's not that!"- The Korean woman quickly explained with a worried face at her friend. -"I was simply saying that, being Korean, I should be the person who should offer you these things, and not you, being the guest in our country. Besides..."-

-"Besides what?"-

-"Well... uh..."- Yun replied, visibly ashamed. -"The stuff you chose are the most stereotypical Korean confectionery you could ever come up with to buy..."-

The moment Ludmilla heard the answer from her friend and co-worker at the pet store, the Russian girl opened her eyes as wide as she could... and then she burst out in laughter, which was so loud that Yun herself interpreted it as something offensive.

-"The hell you think it's so funny about what I said, Ludmilla?!"- The Korean woman demanded to know angrily at her Russian friend.

-"Hah hah hah!... I'm sorry! It's just that..."- The redhead briefly stopped her laughs. -"I couldn't help but laugh at the tone and the look on your face when you said me that!"-

-"What?! Did my face looked funny when I railed at you about all those stereotypical sweets you bought?"- The black-haired girl complained at her friend.

-"Uh... to be fair... yes."- Ludmilla admitted with a slight chuckle after calming down for a bit. -"You looked like you were having an emotional breakdown for having a foreigner like me giving you this these sweets."-

Seeing that Ludmilla was right in pointing out that the Korean girl seemed to have reacted in a very negative way to receiving typical Korean sweets from a foreigner, the latter quickly regained her temper, and finally explained the reason for her behavior.

-"Okay, I admit it: I was a little off when you offered me those sweets. Perhaps it's part of my culture, I guess..."-

Ludmilla was silent for a few moments, though she did return her friend with the following:

-"I feel that I can grasp your motives... right?"-

The Russian woman bowed her head in a visibly depressed mood, for she felt that she had brought back bad images to her friend's mind from Pyongyang, and she could not forgive herself for such a thing, especially if Ludmilla did it with no ill intentions.

But seeing that her European friend looked dejected and downhearted, Yun stood up from her place where she was sitting, and then sat down next to Ludmilla. Then, the Korean girl held her co-worker's hand, and said a few words to her in order to soothe her.

-"You did nothing wrong, Ludmilla..."- Yun quietly reassured her friend with the most kind words she could though in that moment. -"I understand that you wanted to be a good hostess to me... but I couldn't help but act in a demeaning way against you for serving me food from my own country, when my own pride told me that I should have done it, and not you..."-

At that moment, it was Yun's turn to bow down her head, feeling extremely ashamed and apologetic for her actions.

-"I am sorry, Ludmilla..."- She apologized again and again. -"Please forgive me for acting like an idiot... I truly didn't mean to!"-

To which Ludmilla replied by reassuring her friend once more.

-"Don't worry about it, Yun; I understand what it means to be offended by someone who is different from you..."-

Once both of their hands were freed of each other, Yun looked at her co-worker with some endearment, and couldn't help but be grateful for her kindness.

-"I guess you are already more than used to the fact that you are a foreigner in our country..."-

-"Yeah... I really know that..."- Ludmilla replied with a muted smile. -"But at the same time... I also know that there are people who are very kind... as you are... Yun."-

The local Pyongyang girl blushed at the kind words of her European friend.

-"Oh... thank you... Ludmilla..."-

But for the Russian girl, the whole event was in the past, and she wanted to put it behind her, because she understood that Yun only acted out of the suddenness and unusualness of being offered Korean food by a foreigner.

And so that Ludmilla's Asian friend would understand that there was no hard feelings, she offered her those typical sweets again, this time in a more polite fashion.

-"Well, what do you say we leave all that nonsense aside, and have some of these sweets with a cup of coffee, huh?"-

Yun Yu-mi could not agree more with Ludmilla in her offer, and the Korean girl, ignoring the fact that her Russian friend was offering her food from her own homeland, decided to gladly accept her offer.

-"Well, why not?"-

With that, both of them began to pick up a small plate, one holding a piece of Gyeongdan, the other carrying a slice of Gukhwa, and began eating. After they had taken the first bites, Yun's eyes widened considerably while doing so, as she had never tasted anything so delicious in her life before, and the flavors exploded inside her mouth. Her eyes closed momentarily as she savored every bite from the first one, and the second one, before swallowing them with a satisfied expression, and then opening her eyes once more to take another one.

-"MMMMMHHHHH!"- The Asian girl delighted herself with the taste of the food that was in her mouth. -"For convenience store food, this is DELICIOUS!"-

-"Heheh... Glad you liked it, Yun."- Ludmilla smiled at her friend.

-"Hey, serve me more of that, please!"-

-"As you like, Yun... hehehe!"

After finishing their pieces of food on their respective plates, the duo began to sip coffee that was served at the dining table they sat at, enjoying the warmth of the teacups on their hands.

And so, both coworkers, laughing and chatting merrily between the two of them, began to eat all those sweets, while Ludmilla, for her part, went to the kitchen to prepare coffee for both of them. In that way, both girls spent a few hours chatting with each other in that ancient apartment dating back to the 21st century, which was Ludmilla Fedorova's home in Pyongyang.

---

June 3th, AD 2306, Unknown location (Inside JS Yukikaze/Corridor), 12:00 PM

The JS Yukikaze was an air fortress owned by the Japanese armed forces, which took to the skies in an unknown area in a very distant and unknown place, being part of a secret mission in which the crew members aboard the gigantic airship were part of it. Besides the crew responsible for piloting and maintaining the huge flying metal beast, the majority of the crew consisted of fighter pilots who were members of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) as well as members of the elite special forces of both the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) and those of the United Nations Ground Force (UNGF). Several soldiers from different countries of the world were also members of the crew.

The aircraft was one of the few air fortresses that the country of Japan had at its disposal, having built several after World War III, the last large-scale war that Japan participated in centuries ago, and in which that Asian nation was part of the allied nations that fought against the nations of the Arab Alliance and against North Korea, its main ally and alleged promoter of that conflict. Japan had put aside the pacifism it had preached since the end of World War II because of the threat to its own existence posed by both military forces, and that is why, at the end of the last great war, the Japanese set up an arms industry that would allow them to defend their country in case another war broke out again.

Despite this, both Japan and the rest of the world have not known another war since the 22nd century, and the Japanese armed forces, like those of other countries, had up to that time been limited to simply doing routine patrol missions in their respective nations, in order to keep their armed forces ready if necessary, even if they had been limited to simply carrying out missions against pirates, criminal groups, terrorists, and solving very local minor conflicts, like rebellions.

But the crew on board that aircraft knew that the mission in which they were participating was not going to be any mission like previous ones.

And in relation to that last point, a young woman, with short black hair, brown eyes, slender figure and medium height, in addition to wearing her military uniform, walked through one of the corridors of the Yukikaze, as she approached what appeared to be one of the quarters used by the aircraft's crew...

KNOCK KNOCK!

-"Hmmmm... Who is it?"- A very feminine voice was heard on the other side of the door that the other woman knocked in order to call the attention of the person living in that room.

-"It's me... Kei."-

The other female voice responded with a certain tone of annoyance, as it was noticeable that she was busy with other matters...

-"Oh... it's you again..."-

-"Well... don't you wanna talk with me, dear?"- The other girl named Kei responded at her peer in the other side of the door. -"I just want to have some words with you..."-

There was a brief pause after that question done by the other woman, and then, the girl in her room finally gave her answer.

-"All right... you can come in, Kei."-

-"Thank you!"-

And so the Japanese woman entered her friend's room, once the resident of that quarter opened the door to let her in...

---

June 3th, AD 2306, Unknown location (Inside JS Yukikaze/Rena's quarters), 12:15 PM

Once in her companion's room, the woman named Kei noticed that her friend was busy reading a book on her bed in a very attentive manner. Upon seeing the title of the book, the Japanese female pilot realized that book her female friend was reading was a centuries-long classic literary title, something that caught the attention of Kei, who did not expect her comrade-in-arms to have strong literary interests.

-"Well... I didn't know The Island of Doctor Moreau was something you were interested to read, Rena..."-

Kei's friend, Rena Hirose, according to the tag on her uniform in both English and Japanese, was a girl of medium to somewhat short stature, which would cause an impression that she might appear to be younger than her age, compared to Kei, who was somewhat taller than her.

Also, one very noticeable feature about her was the color of her eyes, which were an intense emerald green color, which was not very common to see in people from Japan.

But leaving descriptions aside, at that moment, and having been interrupted by her friend, who she felt had only come to her room just to pick on the book she was reading, Rena did not hesitate to respond to her friend in an angry tone.

-"Did you come all the way to make fun of the book I'm reading?"-

Seeing Rena's vexed expression on her face, the female pilot, whose full name, according to her uniform, was Kei Nagase, could not help but smile mischievously, and then explain her reasons for having made that remark.

-"Heheheheh... hey... it was just a joke, Rena... don't take it so hard, dear..."- Kei responded, with a wide grin in her face.

However, despite this, there was still a slight annoyance, which seemed to be hidden deep within the depths of Rena's eyes, something that Kei quickly noticed.

-"What, you're still mad at me?"-

-"I'm just annoyed that you came into my quarters for no apparent reason just to make fun of my reading tastes, that's all."- The black-haired Japanese pilot replied in a rather deadpan tone.

-"Okay, okay! I'm sorry for joking about your book, get it?"-

Rena Hirose, who didn't seem to be in the mood to continue with that senseless discussion, and even more knowing that her friend was only teasing her in a joking way, went straight to the point.

-"All right, I guess you're here in my room for a good reason, huh?"-

Seeing that her comrade was being direct with the topic her other fellow soldier wanted to discuss at the moment, Kei Nagase, leaving the games aside, complied with her request to explain her reason for being in Rena's quarters.

-"Well, I just wanted to ask you something that you might know..."-

-"And what would it be, Kei?"-

The other pilot, after sighing briefly, explained her concern to Rena, this time in a more serious and non-joking vein...

-"We have been flying over god-knows-where for several days without any of our higher-ups explaining to us the reason or the cause for which we are here."- Kei said. -"You don't happen to know where we're headed and what we're doing here in the first place?"-

Rena, upon hearing her friend's concerns about the mission to which both women, along with the rest of the air fortress crew, were attached, closed her book that she was reading minutes before, and immediately answered Kei's question.

-"Your concerns about the mission are also mine, Kei."- The other Japanese girl replied with her eyes closed, while having a worried expression on her face. -"I don't know anything about the specifics around the mission we are on either, other than no one wants to tell us anything..."-

Upon hearing that sentence, Kei began getting anxious.

-"Sigh... I wonder what the hell our superiors are up to with all this..."- She complained aloud. -"All this secrecy points to a very big issue that the military doesn't want to disclose to us. After all, ever since I joined the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force, this is the first time it feels like we are on a mission where something very big is at stake..."-

-"I agree with you, Kei."- Rena followed suit. -"It's not normal for them to send us here just to make routine surveillance flights if there is nothing serious that requires our presence."-

-"Well, except that we are now working for the Japanese Space Self-Defense Force on this one..."- The other pilot explained one of her main worries about the mission.

A brief pause, and then, Rena felt free to also share her concerns about the mission, bearing in mind the last point made by Kei.

-"You are right about that, Kei. The JSSDF normally has its own air units in this place, and most of us have never worked outside of Earth. Why would they want JASDF members here?"-

-"I don't know, Rena dear..."- The short-haired woman said in a growing concerned tone. -"Maybe they are too short-staffed here?"-

-"I don't think so; the JSSDF units around here have never had problems with understaffing as far as I know..."- The green-eyed Japanese girl responded. -"But I'm going to be really honest with you..."-

Rena Hirose did a brief pause, and then, she shared one of her main worries.

-"...this whole thing is giving me a very bad feeling, Kei..."-

Afterwards, Kei Nagase hold her breath for a few seconds, and she also shared her own opinions as well.

-"So do I, Rena dear... So do I..."-

After sharing her concerns about the mission they were both partaking in, Kei wanted to talk about something else unrelated...

-"Well..."- Rena's senior said. -"Leaving that thorny issue aside... right now came to my mind, just considering the book you were reading a few minutes ago, that your parents are scientists, right?"-

-"Huh?"- The other pilot girl replied in surprise. -"You mean, my parents?"-

-"Yeah, I'm talking about them..."- Kei explained her point. -"You had told me that your parents have a job in something related to biology or something like that, didn't you?"-

Faced with the question asked by her friend, Rena squinted her eyes in annoyance, and then, she angrily gazed her eyes on Kei Nagase's face, as if that question really had a profound effect on that girl...

-"Something wrong, Rena?"- Kei asked again when she saw her friend's upset expression.

Then, the green-eyed Japanese pilot finally responded, in a very high and blunt manner...

-"I told you time ago that I don't like you talking to me about my family."- Rena replied in a notorious upset way to Kei. -"You can talk to me about anything else, no matter how silly, but don't bring my parents to mind in any way, do you hear me?"-

This sudden change of mood surprised Kei Nagase, for she had not expected such a furious attitude from her fellow sister-in-arms at the mere mention of her parents...

-"Okay, okay, sorry for mentioning your family, dammit!"- Kei was quick to apologize for bringing up a topic that was discomforting to her friend. -"But..."-

Kei had no idea why her friend did not want to talk about the subject, yet she did not shy away from assuming the obvious.

-"...Can I at least know why you don't want to talk about your parents, Rena?"- The short-haired JASDF pilot brought back the topic again. -"From the way you reacted when I talked about them, I must assume that your parents must have abused you, haven't they?"-

Rena Hirose again glared furiously at her female comrade-in-arms, and this time her face began to turn so red that it felt as if at any moment she was about to snap at her friend...

-"Hey, Rena... don't look at me like that... okay?"- Kei Nagase's voice began wavering with fear, dreading that Rena would physically attack her for that remark about her family. -"I didn't mean to piss you..."

But when Kei thought that things between them were going to boil over, however...

-"Hey, Rena, what are you gonna...!"-

...Rena rushed to the door of her quarters, and without saying another word, she left the room, clearly enraged against her friend.

Meanwhile, Kei, who was still inside, started scratching her head to try to deduce the reason why her friend exploded in anger when Kei mentioned Rena Hirose's parents. She knew that her partner, a native of Hiroshima, had once mentioned that she hated her parents, but she had never offered a precise explanation as to why she hated them. The mere mention of parental abuse triggered Rena's strong reaction, which might indicate that this could have been the cause, but there were some things that didn't fit with the profile of someone being the victim of family abuse, judging by certain patterns she knew about her.

But without knowing more specifics, all that remained as mere speculation, something that frustrated her to no end.

-"My, I wonder what's going through that girl's head?"- Kei thought to herself, wondering why Rena had suddenly left the room in such angry way.

But before she could dwell on what had happened, a male voice with an electronic tone was heard in Rena's room. The voice was from the Net, and it was evident that it was something very serious that required her attention.

-"Ensign Nagase, your presence is requested in the briefing room;"- The artificial intelligence informed the pilot about her assignment that she would have to do. -"it appears that you and Ensign Hirose will be departing on a sortie in less than an hour. Full details will be given to you on the spot."-

Kei cannot avoid cursing her bad luck on the matter, since she had a problem to settle with her friend Rena due to her having brought up a personal issue that caused anger in that girl, and now the Japanese female pilot had a task to do straight away.

-"DAMN! Rena is mad at me, and at a bad time they ask me to go flying out there!"- Afterwards, Kei asked the electronic voice. -"How serious is this for us to go blasting off now, Net?"-

The artificial intelligence responded without hesitation.

-"I do not know, Ensign Nagase; I was only instructed to notify your squadron that you would be leaving and that any details about the mission would be discussed in the Yukikaze's briefing room."-

Noting that the Net didn't even know the reason why she and her squadron were going out to fly at that moment, it most likely had to do with the reason why she, her squadron and the entire crew of the Yukikaze were there in the first place, and why there was so much secrecy surrounding the matter.

-"I'm guessing it has something to do with why we're all here, huh?"-

-"Maybe so, Ensign."- The AI firmly replied at the human woman.

-"Well, in that case, I'll be right there..."- Kei said, while marching towards the door of Rena's quarters. -"I just hope it's really what I think it is..."-

-"Very well, Ensign Nagase; I will report your presence at once."-

-"Thank you, Net."-

Without wasting another second of time, Kei Nagase immediately headed for the Yukikaze's briefing room, where she and the rest of her squadron would be briefed on the reason for the sortie, and possibly the mission for which the air fortress was there to begin with.

---

June 3th, AD 2306, Unknown location (Inside JS Yukikaze/Briefing Room), 12:50 PM

The first thing Ensign Kei Nagase saw when she arrived at the Yukikaze's briefing room was that all of her fellow pilots, including Rena Hirose, were already present in the room, waiting for her to arrive.

All present in that place were the members of the 19th Tactical Fighter Squadron Ridgeback, one of the squadrons of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force that had been sent to that region unknown to the pilots in order to deal with the situation for which they were there in the first place, even though none of the pilots had any idea what it was. In addition to Kei and Rena, there were three other pilots: Captain Masayuki Sonoda, who was the squadron leader, and another pilot named Takeru Oose. In addition, there was a man named Wataru Asano, who was an older and more experienced aviator than the two aforementioned women, as well as being an acquaintance of Kei's from his days at the air force academy.

And regarding that last person, Asano could not help but make a comment to Kei when he saw that his comrade-in-arms seemed to be visibly worried as she took her seat, while all the members of the squadron were waiting for instructions from their superiors.

-"You're late, Nagase."-

The female pilot tried to excuse her tardiness in the best way she could think of at the time.

-"I'm very sorry, but I had a little personal problem to sort out there..."-

-"Yeah, I just noticed that."- Asano, with short dark hair of a certain light shade, replied in a sarcastic tone, for he knew that his friend was hiding something.

-"What do you mean, Asano?"-

-"Well, I saw Hirose coming here quite upset, as if something or someone made her really angry..."-

After looking for a few moments at Rena Hirose, Kei's friend, Wataru Asano turned his gaze back to the Japanese female pilot, this time looking at her with a certain degree of mischief.

-"...and we all know that there are very few things that can trigger her acting like that... right, Nagase?"-

When Kei noticed that Asano had already noticed that she had made Rena angry, even if it was not intentional, the woman turned her eyes elsewhere, and tried to justify herself.

-"It's not my fault she acts that way, Asano."- The short-haired woman explained to him. -"She and I were talking about personal things, and then, Rena snapped when I talked about her parents..."-

Kei sighed deeply, feeling guilty about upsetting her friend.

-"sigh... Damn... I didn't realize how personal that topic would be for her, I guess..."-

Asano looked at her with an unreadable expression for a few seconds, before turning his gaze to the rest of the pilots that were in the briefing room.

-"You should know by now that Hirose doesn't like to be asked about her family, especially her parents, for some reason."- The veteran JASDF pilot began to reproach Kei about that topic that was taboo for his comrade-in-arms, as he knew that Rena had already requested that the subject of her family not be discussed in her company, a warning ignored by Kei. -"I don't understand her reasons either, but she must have certain demons that this girl doesn't want to share with us... and I think it would be best to respect her stance on that issue."-

That statement made Kei Nagase sigh heavily again, but before she could say anything else to argue against her wingmate, the commanding officer in charge of the Ridgeback Squadron, Major Takahiro Mishima, who promptly entered the room and then cleared his throat; the pilots immediately stood up in the presence of their superior officer.

-"All right, you can all take your seats."- The veteran officer replied.

Once everyone was at their seats as commanded, Maj. Mishima went straight to the point, knowing that his men had many questions to ask him about the reasons why they were participating in this mission, without knowing its objective.

-"Well, I guess you all want to know the reason why we are all here, right?"-

All the pilots responded in unison with a resounding yes, to which the major did not hesitate to answer their concerns...

-"Well, thankfully for us, Tokyo sent us the mission data and gave us the go-ahead to share with you the reason for our mission here."-

Immediately, a huge holographic screen appeared behind Mishima, which contained the data and main objectives of the mission that Ridgeback Squadron was there to carry out. It is worth mentioning that the holographic screen was able to take the shape of the area or region where the mission was to take place, and one could notice that the overall area, which had the shape of a world map, was smaller than the Earth itself.

There was a good reason for this: Both the squadron and the Yukikaze were nowhere on Earth, but on the planet Mars, the first world terraformed by the human race and home to the first planetary colonies outside of humanity's birthplace. They had been sent to that planet for some specific reason that he had not been told at this point, and it was obvious that most of those who were partaking in the deployment were not happy to have traveled millions of kilometers away from Earth for no apparent explanation.

-"First of all, and seeing that many of you must surely be upset by all this secrecy, I would like to offer you an apology for not giving you an adequate explanation for this; in fact... ehem... Tokyo has not given us much information about this until just last night."- Mishima paused, trying to find the right words to explain everything to them.

-"So, I guess we can now know the reason why we came all the way to Mars, Major?"- Takeru Oose asked to his senior.

-"That's right."-

-"And what is the reason, sir?"- Wataru Asano asked.

After sighing a bit, Major Mishima answered that question immediately.

-"According to reports from the UNMCS (United Nations Martian Colonial Service), we have been informed of the presence of subversive elements that could be lurking in this region, specifically in the northern mountains."- The commanding officer explained the mission. -"We do not know exactly what these subversive elements are or what their intentions are, but according to the UNMCS, they have received reports from local authorities in the region about the presence of people who do not seem to be from here on Mars, and that is not to say that there have been reports of disappearances and kidnappings of people who could be related to these subversive agents..."-

The Japanese pilots, upon hearing what their mission was about, began to look at each other with a certain look of disbelief, and a minute later, Takeru Oose rose his hand to ask his superior officer to speak.

-"Yeah, Oose?"-

-"Sir, with all due respect..."- The pilot questioned. -"Why do we have to do a job that the local authorities are supposed to do, huh?"-

-"What do you mean, Oose?"-

-"Now, doesn't the UNMCS have enough units in this region to deal with alleged terrorism?"- Oose asked. -"I think it is a bit excessive for us to come all the way from Earth to do the job that the Martian authorities should be doing."-

Sonoda, the squadron leader, joined his junior asking for an explanation about the purpose of the mission.

-"Do you want to say something, Captain?"-

-"Yes, Major, and I regret that I must also join in my subordinate's reservations about the purpose of this mission."- Sonoda said aloud. -"To my knowledge, Mars has had no terrorism-related incidents since the mid-22nd century, and most of the serious incidents that have occurred on this planet have been of a criminal nature, nothing that local authorities could not handle without intervention from Earth..."-

-"Yes, that is correct, Captain."- Mishima responded. -"Do you want to add something else?"-

-"Well... Assuming that the Martian or Earth authorities in both Tokyo and New York are not hiding something they do not want us to know, we must assume that what is happening here is serious enough that our presence is required on Mars."-

In response to Captain Sonoda's question, the commanding officer, after a brief pause while he tried to think of what answer to give, finally offered his view of the facts.

-"I'm going to be honest about it, Captain Sonoda, and I hope you and your men understand how strange this situation is..."-

At that answer given by that senior officer of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force, the pilots of Ridgeback Squadron began to mumble to themselves, aware that there was something seriously amiss with the mission they were about to take part in.

-"Certainly, as you have commented, gentlemen, this is something that the people of Mars are supposed to take care of on their own. However, for reasons that have not been fully explained to us, the UNMCS has requested the presence of extra units from Earth, and in this situation, Tokyo decided to send you from Earth to assist and support the UNMCS-commanded local forces."- Mishima continued with his explanation. -"If these subversive elements are dangerous enough that the Martians can't deal with them on their own, that means that the local situation here on Mars is more severe than it sounds."-

Rena Hirose raised her hand as well to request the floor to Maj. Mishima.

-"Do you have a question, Ensign Hirose?"-

-"Yes, sir... "- The young Hiroshima-born girl asked her inquiry. -"I assume that our work here is related to COINOPS (Counter Insurgency Operations)?"-

Mishima nodded slowly, confirming her suspicions.

-"It seems so, Ensign."- The Japanese Major replied. -"Though I presume the Martian authorities didn't want to see it that way..."-

The response of Maj. Mishima caused some uneasiness in some of the squadron members, especially Takeru Oose, who was the first to notice that something seemed off about the mission, and the secrecy with which the senior commanders shared the information to their subordinates, in this case, the pilots who would participate in the whole venture.

-"Does that mean that our job here is to quash some kind of armed uprising or something, just like the Martian Revolution at the end of the 21st century?"- Oose asked for details from his senior officer. -"I didn't know things were really that bad here on Mars that they would need to bring soldiers from Earth."-

The event to which First Lieutenant Takeru Oose referred and that had occurred centuries ago, the Martian Revolution, was an armed uprising that spread throughout the planet Mars during the first years of human colonization on the red planet, where the first colonists, unhappy with the poor living conditions and treatment at that time, organized themselves against the first colonial authorities, which at that time were made up of small groups organized by the first terrestrial governments that arrived on Mars, mainly the United States, China, many European countries, and Russia.

It should be noted that, even at that time, the exact details of what precisely happened on Mars during that war were not fully known, other than the settlers who staged the revolt were apparently immigrants from the Arabian Peninsula, which was almost destroyed by World War III. This was because Earth's governments were able to successfully control the flow of information from Mars and censor it before it reached the ears of the world public, and only the top brass of the countries involved in suppressing that revolution, as well as their armed forces, knew the exact details of the events of that dark time in the history of Mars.

And even the common soldiers and the superior officers of some countries only knew isolated stories of the events that took place in the Martian Revolution, which passed from word of mouth to way of legends known among the military, and that no one knew whether they had happened or not; after all, that conflict, now relegated to the history books, occurred two centuries ago, and no one knew that so much what those books said was true, fantasy or simply legends created by the passage of time.

-"I'm going to be honest with you, Lieutenant: We only know that there are subversive elements that are operating in this region, and that they have kidnapped people."- Mishima replied in a rather honest way, uncharacteristic from a military officer. -"We do not have any more detailed intelligence if these people could be members either of a criminal organization, terrorists or some revolutionary group that could be active in this area, but what we do know for sure is that the Martian authorities have repeatedly requested our presence here on Mars, maybe just in case."-

-"I guess the Martians don't want to tell us the truth so that we don't object in case our job is really to quell a rebellion..."- Kei Nagase also offered her frank concerns about the mission.

After a brief pause that seemed inconvenient to everyone in the room, due to the implication Nagase immediately made regarding a possible mission involving the suppression of an armed uprising of which they had no knowledge, Maj. Mishima responded to the questioning offered by the Japanese female pilot.

-"It is possible that they may not want to let us know anything about the current situation in this area of Mars, but that does not change the fact that we are here to perform our duty, as you all know very well."- The Japanese Major replied sternly. -"As the commanding officer of this squadron, I would not have allowed you to fly a mission that might involve unacceptable political and personal risks, either for us, Tokyo or the UN, so we must assume that our Martian colleagues have a serious motive for requesting our presence on this planet."-

-"Let's just hope that is the case, Major."- Sonoda said at his senior.

Immediately afterwards, Takahiro Mishima explained to his men what their mission was supposed to be... or at least that's what it sounded like...

-"There is one other thing I must explain to you about this mission, ladies and gentlemen... and I think this is the strangest thing about this whole venture, if I must be candid with you."-

-"And what would that be, Major?"- Nagase wanted an explanation in the name of all her fellow pilots from her squadron.

After a brief pause, the Japanese commanding officer commented with an apprehensive ring in his voice.

-"The Martian authorities have asked that all details about the mission be given while you are flying out there..."-

That last point caused consternation among all those present, as it was evident that there was something fishy going on, which Oose quickly rebuked his superior in an aggressive mood.

-"WHAT?!"- The Japanese pilot said aloud. -"Do you expect us to fly out there without knowing exactly what we will face?"-

Mishima, who was a tolerant man, ignored his subordinate's outburst, and explained the reason for those orders.

-"To be perfectly honest, I don't know the full story either, Oose... and I also did the same question to them like you did..."- The officer replied at his junior. -"Let's just hope they are not asking for our presence to deal with some shady local matter..."-

Even after hearing what the commanding officer had said, Oose remained unconvinced, still unwilling to accept such a bizarre request.

-"Still... it doesn't seem right for us to jet off without having a glimpse of what's going on here on Mars... assuming we're not participating into something more sinister, of course..."-

-"I know, and I share your gut feeling about this..."- Mishima replied him. -"Unfortunately, orders are orders, and they were issued by the local authorities and Tokyo, as well as by the UNMCS. However, I promise you guys to keep my eyes open for whatever I can do on the matter."-

All the Japanese pilots began to murmur among themselves, knowing that the mission they were about to fly had very unusual inklings. To begin with, they didn't know exactly what they were going to do, other than that they would be flying in the skies of Mars, and that their mission would be to deal with "subversive" enemy forces. Other than those three important details, the pilots from Earth didn't have a good idea of what would await them out there once the mission started.

-"Any other questions, ladies and gentlemen?"-

No one dared to say another word.

Mishima looked around at his men and gave them a few words of comfort, then he dismissed the meeting, but not before saying some extra words...

-"If it is any consolation, you will not be flying alone on this mission;"- The officer said. -"a local squadron will be joining you and assisting you on this sortie, so you will be completely helpless in case anything went south."-

-"At least it's good to know that, Major..."- Kei Nagase said. -"Can we at least know who they are, sir?"-

-"You will know when you are out there. For now, you should prepare to head out and you will be given more information as the mission unfolds, as I mentioned earlier."- Mishima replied. -"This meeting is over. You are dismissed, ladies and gentlemen."-

After making the appropriate bows, the members of the Ridgeback Squadron left the room and headed for their dressing rooms, where they would prepare for takeoff.

---

June 3th, AD 2306, Unknown location (Inside JS Yukikaze/Hangar), 01:40 PM

Once all the pilots were outfitted in their pilot suits, they headed to the hangar to prepare to board their fighter jets for takeoff to the skies of Mars to begin their mission; the first thing they noticed was that their aircraft they were going to fly were customized versions for the Martian atmosphere of the same jets they flew on Earth. This was understandable, considering that the gravity, climate and atmosphere of the red planet were completely different from those of Earth, and therefore those jets had modifications that made them suitable for flying on that alien world.

In this case, the fighter jets they would fly for this mission were the ASF-X Shinden II, a fighter jet designed entirely in Japan. The Shinden II, as its name indicated, was the successor to the fighter jet of the same name that was used during World War II in the 20th century. Among the characteristics that this jet possessed was that it was normally adapted to use anti-ship armament, as well as being extremely versatile against enemy frontal forces, especially in mountainous locations, something that was widely known in Japan on Earth, not to mention its suitability for close air support. Also, the Shinden II was capable for vertical takeoff and landing (STOVL) , like many fighter jets of the same generation.

The main difference of the Martian version of the Shinden II, besides having modifications to be able to operate in the skies of Mars, was that the anti-ship armament normally used by its Earth version was removed, since the region where it would operate was not near the sea, and instead, air-to-ground ordnance would be used for the mission.

Once all the preparations were ready, the Japanese pilots boarded their fighter jets, and while this was happening, some pilots were carefully inspecting that everything was in order in each of their aircraft, revising that each system was working as it should be.

One of those pilots was Ensign Kei Nagase, who was reading her flight checklist, and checking that her Shinden II was sound. While this was ongoing, Kei heard that the aircraft's computer wished to speak to her, apparently with a certain tone of urgency...

-"Ensign Nagase, you have a request for an audio feed intended for you."- The computer stated. -"Please confirm that you wish for this communication to proceed."-

The Japanese pilot, who was reading her flight checklist, replied in a rather annoyed tone.

-"Can I at least know who the hell wants to talk to me?"- Kei responded at the Shinden II's AI. -"Right now I'm still busy reading the checklist of this junk..."-

-"It's the Ensign Rena Hirose, sir."-

She was quite surprised to hear that Rena wanted to talk to her, particularly after the latter had an argument with Kei, as she thought that her friend had no will to speak to her after what had transpired in her quarters an hour before.

-"Please put her through to me, Net."-

-"Roger that, Ensign."-

Immediately, Rena's voice came through the speakers of Kei's jet, eager to strike up a conversation with her friend. The latter sensed, upon hearing the Hiroshima-born young pilot's nervous breathing, that she was evidently sorry for what had happened, which Kei promptly brought to her attention.

-"Guess you wanna ask for forgiveness , don't you, Rena?"-

After a brief pause, Kei's friend replied in an almost childlike tone.

-"I'm sorry..."-

Kei Nagase couldn't believe that Rena wanted to fix that row with a simple infantile apology, and she let her know right away.

-"I'm sorry, you say?"- The pilot replied with some annoyance, as she drank a sip of water while Kei was still reading her fighter's checklist. -"That's all you have to say about this, huh?... I guess you have a better lame excuse than a simple I'm sorry, don't you?"-

There was yet another brief silence that followed after the Japanese pilot's harsh remark. Then, in a quiet tone, Rena's voice sounded again.

-"Look, Kei... I understand that you're upset with me for getting mad at you like that... I don't normally tend to behave like that, but your talk about my parents abusing me made me lose my mind right then and there, and..."-

-"Yes, I understand, Rena..."- Kei interrupted her. -"I'm the one who should be apologizing to you for saying such bullshit about your family, not you, dear..."-

Rena, listening to the somewhat apologetic sound of her friend's voice, who also seemed to have made a big mistake by mentioning Rena's family situation, seemed ready to forgive her...

-"Don't worry, Kei, I forgive you... Personally I don't think we should both lose our heads over this, though."-

-"Well... glad to know you don't hate me anymore for what I said about your parents, Rena..."-

-"But..."-

...Rena wanted to clarify things, mainly to avoid further misunderstandings about her family situation.

-"...I want to clear up a few things about me, Kei... and I want this to remain just between us... and I don't want you to share it with anyone else, is that clear?"-

As soon as Rena finished speaking her last sentence, Kei agreed with her statement.

-"Don't worry, Rena dear, my lips are sealed; you can tell me anything you want."-

-"Good."-

Once Rena had obtained Kei's guarantee that she would keep her secrets, the young pilot began to talk about her family and their relationship with her.

-"As you know, both my parents are scientists and both have careers related to biology, as well as experience in zoology, especially in my mother's case, who used to work at the Hiroshima Zoo before she married my father."-

-"Yeah, I already know that part about you and your parents..."- Kei responded.

-"Well... ehem..."- Rena did a brief pause, and then she continued. -"I can only tell you that there are some things that my parents do with respect to their work that I don't agree with... and in a way it has affected me very directly..."-

Those last words left the veteran Japanese pilot somewhat stumped, considering the ramifications that this revelation about Rena's family suggested, especially in view of the job of the young pilot's parents, something that Kei was compelled to ask more questions about.

-"Wait a sec, Rena!"- The pilot said quite surprised and somewhat angry at such news about her friend's parents. -"I hope you're not meaning that your parents are into experimenting on animals in some unethical way, are you?"-

Rena Hirose was silent for a few seconds, knowing that she should offer her friend a more detailed explanation, foreknowing that Kei was notorious, at least among the Ridgeback Squadron members, for being highly vocal about any animal abuse issues, since she herself had several cats and dogs in her home back in Japan, as well as participating on local animal protection campaigns, and such kind of revelations regarding hurting or killing animals in crueler ways, especially for research, could affect Rena's image in front of her own friend.

And after that silence, Rena finally gave her friend the answer she wanted to know.

-"I can't give you any more details about what my parents are involved in, Kei..."- The young 21-years old girl said. -"...but I can tell you one thing about me..."-

This further disturbed Kei Nagase, who felt that her friend was keeping a bigger secret that she was unaware of at that point.

-"Rena..."- The pilot responded in a nervous tone. -"I always knew all along that you have many secrets that you haven't told to anyone else... but I think this is more serious than it seems, from the way you're putting it."-

-"What I am about to tell you is a secret of mine that no one else knows... and I want you to keep it to yourself and no one else,... since you are my best friend, so I can trust you with this."-

Then, she added the following.

"...and I don't want anyone, especially the authorities, to start asking questions to my parents if they find out about this. Is that clear?"-

After an awkward silence before what kind of reveal Rena would give Kei, the latter vowed to keep her secret.

-"Well... you know that you have my word on that, Rena." - She replied. -"I won't say a word about this, no matter what..."-

-"Thanks, Kei."-

Before saying anything, Rena immediately switched the communication channel she was talking to Kei on at that time to a private one, so that no one could overhear them both. Then, she disclosed her secrets to Kei.

-"I guess you know my eyes are green, right, Kei?"-

That seemingly guileless question about the color of Rena Hirose's eyes, which would have been a very silly one in different times, had taken on a special meaning due to the latter's revelation about her parents, something that Kei was quick to point out.

-"Yeah, I know you have green eyes; what does that have to do with your parents, huh?"- The older pilot asked her friend at such question.

Rena took a deep breath, and then she answered.

-"I can tell you that I did not have these eyes when I was born..."-

After having listened to Rena's reply, the elder Shinden II's pilot found herself speechless, wondering whether it was possible that the young woman in front of her was telling the truth.

-"Judging by your silence, I bet you don't believe me, do you, Kei?"- Rena asked, with a slightly concerned tone on her voice.

After a brief moment of silence on the plane's communication link, Kei gave a somewhat deadpan response, thinking that her friend was making fun of her.

-"For someone with a somewhat serious nature, you really have a lousy sense of humor, Rena dear..."-

-"No, please, listen to me, Kei!"- The younger aviator retorted loudly. -"I swear I'm telling you the truth! Can you at least just listen to me, Kei?"-

Kei Nagase, who was neither in the mood nor did she have time to endure what seemed to be a stupid effort by her friend to be nice to her, was quick to reply to her wingwoman in the bluntest way possible...

-"Look, Rena... I don't know what the hell got into you to tell me all that nonsensical bullshit about your parents at a bad time, but we've got a job to do out there, and I don't have time to listen your childish justifications for your screw-ups!"-

-"But.. but..."-

-"Do I make myself clear to you, Ensign Rena Hirose?!"- The pilot, who was Rena's senior in age, made her aware of, using a very angry voice, who was the one with authority, even if it was moral, over her beforehand, while also interrupting her as well.

When she heard that her friend was not only unwilling to keep listening to her, but that Kei ordered her to stop talking, Rena had no choice but to obey...

-"Understood... Kei..."- The younger pilot replied, this time with a more sorrowful voice when she heard her friend ordered her to stop talking to her about her family.

-"That's good."- Kei replied, and then, she gave her another order. -"And... if you have time to discuss nonsense about your family, you also have time to work in your checklist. Do that first, got it?"-

And a few seconds later...

-"Ensign Rena Hirose has cut her communication link."- The fighter jet's AI told Kei about her friend canceling her audio link with her.

After a brief moment while Kei tried to process what had gone wrong, the Japanese pilot cursed aloud after that argument with her partner and the way it ended.

-"SHIT!"- The pilot said in the strongest terms she could muster at that time. -"What the hell is going on with that girl to bring such crap to me?"-

But as she put her hands to her head in frustration at what seemed like a situation that had spiraled out of control for both women, a male voice was heard on another communication link that opened up at that moment...

-"This is Mishima speaking; all members of the Ridgeback Squadron must be ready for takeoff."-

Kei knew she had no more time for regrets, as she had a job to do, and for the time being she had to set out on the mission with the rest of her squadron.

-"Roger that, sir."- The pilot responded.

And once she had reviewed with her checklist that everything was in order, the pilot put on her flight helmet, and she powered up her fighter, thus beginning the takeoff procedure.

---

June 3th, AD 2306, Unknown location (Inside JS Yukikaze/Runway), 02:00 PM

Once all the pilots were ready, the Ridgeback Squadron's Shinden II fighters emerged from their respective hangars to position themselves on the Yukikaze's runway, and take off from the air fortress once the captain of the airship opened its hatches. Meanwhile, the pilots were waiting for their superiors' orders to take off.

A few minutes later, the aforementioned hatches opened, revealing the sky of Mars to the pilots from Earth. And while doing so, Major Mishima stood ready to give a final briefing to his men.

-"All right, ladies and gentlemen, I'll give you a brief overview of what this mission will be about:"- The Japanese commanding officer said. -"As I mentioned an hour ago, you will be flying over this region of Mars, known as Arabia Terra, which is jointly managed by the French government and the UNMCS."-

-"The French?"- Sonoda, the squadron leader, responded somewhat bemusedly. -"I thought we would be flying over our own territory all along..."-

-"That would be the logical thing to do, but the situation for which our services are requested is located in this mountainous area, and as members of the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces, we are obliged to assist the French government in this problem."-

-"Oh, crap..."- Oose shared with his superior his uneasiness that they were on Mars to take care of affairs that were the duty of some foreign government in charge of the various human colonies located on Mars. -"I never imagined we were sent here to Mars to deal with a foreign government issue that they should be doing it themselves..."-

-"Yes, I understand your frustration about this, Oose,"- Mishima agreed with his junior. -"but only the French know what is going on here in Mars, and if they are requesting our help, then it must be for a good reason."-

-"If the French needed help, they would have asked the Americans for it first instead of asking us Japanese, who have zero business here to begin with..."- Oose again retorted back, implying a certain biased tone in that statement towards the French.

-"That's enough, Oose."- Wataru Asano reprimanded his peer for that tasteless comment. -"I don't think you want to get us all in trouble if you are insinuating that the French need the Americans for saving their own asses..."-

-"But...!"- Oose was about to continue his objection, but...

-"ENOUGH! You two, stop this useless crap!"-

...Mishima interrupted him.

-"We have important things to do now, and we don't have time to discuss politics right now; limit yourselves to obeying orders for now, is that clear?"-

Both Japanese pilots knew they had no choice but to obey their commanding officer, especially when Major Mishima seemed to be noticeably upset.

-"Roger that, sir."- Both Asano and Oose sheeply complied with his orders.

Meanwhile, Mishima, who was on the Yukikaze's bridge briefing his pilots, could only grumble in exasperation as his mission overview turned into political talk, and could not help but feel that his men already knew that they were basically going to fly out there in the skies of Mars with no instructions other than to wait for further orders, something the major himself noted aloud in front of the crew on the aircraft's bridge.

-"God, I just hope the people back in Tokyo and those UNMCS morons know what they're doing to get us to partake in stuff we don't even know anything about..."-

The Yukikaze's commanding captain, Lt. Col. Shingo Takenaka, stood to one side of Maj. Mishima, and the seasoned air fortress CO also held the same view as he did about the uncertainty of the mission, and the risks that those pilots might face during it.

-"Indeed, Major."- The Yukikaze's captain agreed. -"The fact of the matter is that we're in the middle of Arabia Terra, without any information about what's going on down there in that region beyond the whole subversive elements lurking there..."-

-"Yeah, and that's not to say that neither the French nor the Colonial Service haven't said a peep about why they need us here on Mars."-

-"Surely they will have their reasons for doing so."- Takenaka responded, as he watched the Ridgeback Squadron's pilots preparing themselves for takeoff at any time.

-"I agree with that, Captain, but I also can't help but concur with Oose."- Mishima replied back, while adding his own view about the whole issue. -"If the French needed to ask for help, they could have asked for help from some NATO country, starting with the U.S., for this, instead of asking us for help."-

-"Perhaps the Americans didn't want to?"-

-"That could be a possibility."- He added. -"After all, given what happened in the aftermath of the Martian Revolution back in the late 21st century, they are more squeamish about sending troops and hardware to Mars to deal with revolts."-

-"I thought the Chinese were the ones who cracked down on that rebellion, didn't they?"- Takenaka retorted about a specific history tidbit about that ancient event.

After a brief moment of silence, Mishima awkwardly answered, as if the issue of the participation of the People's Republic of China in the eradication of that rebellion was a source of discomfort and uneasiness for the Japanese military officer.

-"That's an open secret that only those in high places, like us, know... and yet we don't know all the details of what happened back then, except that the Chinese massacred all the rebels, and they took many measures to prevent that from happening again, something that the UNMCS took care to enforce by their own, less draconian, means, of course."-

-"At least we have to be thankful that the UNMCS exists in the first place;"- The Yukikaze's captain replied. -"otherwise, the Chinese would have taken over Mars long ago."-

-"Well, I believe the fact that they were greatly weakened after World War III, let alone the amount of money, men and resources they spent on crushing that revolution on Mars, was a determining reason why China decided not to control the entire planet, and to share its governance with the member countries of the United Nations Security Council."-

While the two men were debating, one of the crew members on air fortress's bridge reported an important piece of information to the captain of the aircraft.

-"Sorry for the interruption, Captain, but the Yukikaze is already at operational speed for the fighters to take off."-

Takenaka, realizing that it was time to return to his duties, immediately replied.

-"Oh, I forgot about that! Thanks for reminding me."-

-"No problem, sir."-

Meanwhile, Mishima knew that he too had work to do, and also shifted the subject for the time being.

-"Well, we have work to do for now... I suggest we can discuss this issue at another time, Captain Takenaka."-

-"Indeed, Major."-

Once they had their hands full, the crew of the Yukikaze set about making preparations for the Shinden II fighters to take off from the gigantic airship. Takeneka, for his part, began to ask his crew some questions about the ongoing scenario.

-"Do we have any reports on the temperature out there, ladies and gentlemen?"-

-"We have a temperature of 10 degrees Celsius maximum and a minimum of 10, Captain."-

-"Well, looks like it's going to be a little chilly out there..."- The captain said. -"And what about the wind?"-

-"Speed, 10 knots, with possibility of variable wind."-

-"Anything else I need to know, ladies and gentlemen?"-

-"Let me check, sir..."- Another crew member checked his computer terminal. -"We have cloudy skies at 10,000 feet, visibility up to 10 nautical miles and only one report of light snowfall in the region according to the weather forecast; do you think it will affect the mission, Captain?"-

-"Naw, I don't think so; it's just a mild snowfall. Let's just hope it doesn't get any worse any time soon."-

-"As you say, sir."-

Then, the captain of the Yukikaze looked at Maj. Mishima, in order for the latter to do his part.

-"Well, Major, it's your turn to send your pilots into action."-

And immediately after, Mishima used his communicator to instruct the members of the Ridgeback Squadron to start preparations for takeoff.

-"All right, ladies and gentlemen, this is Mishima speaking; we're going to have a little snowfall out there at any minute, but I don't think that will cause any hindrance to the mission. We will proceed as instructed, and you will receive further instructions once you are airborne."-

-"Is there anything else we should know, Major?"- Sonoda, the squadron leader, asked.

-"As always, we will use our callsigns throughout the entire mission, and you and your people should report anything suspicious that you and your aircraft may see during it."-

-"Well, I think it's kind of obvious at this point, sir."-

-"I know, and I'm just bringing it up again just in case, considering the nature of this sortie."-

-"Roger that, sir."- In response to what his superior said, Sonoda replied in the affirmative.

With that said, the fighters left their respective hangars and moved to their assigned positions on the Yukikaze's runway, while the fighters started their engines to prepare for takeoff. Meanwhile, Sonoda addressed his own people as they awaited clearance for takeoff.

-"Alright everyone, you heard the Major; we are going to fly over the Arabia Terra region, and await further instructions once we are in the air."- The squadron leader said at his communication link to his fellow pilots under his command. -"Let's just pray this isn't any more serious than it seems."-

-"Yes, sir!"-

Everyone in the squadron replied him at the same time. They knew there was nothing more they could further discuss, for, like their leader and their commanding officer, no one had any idea what perils might await them out there in the skies of Mars.

Once the pre-flight chat was over, the pilots awaited clearance to take off, which they received right away.

-"Ridgeback Squadron, you are cleared for take-off."- The Net's voice addressed to Sonoda.

-"Thank you, Net."-

And before the fighters took off, Mishima wanted to have a few last words for his pilots.

-"Good luck everybody. Stay safe, and stay smart."-

-"We will, sir."-

Then, once everyone was ready, their engines ignited, and the fighters took off from the Yukikaze, leaving their air fortress behind them, heading for the designated flight path through the Martian atmosphere...

---

June 5th, AD 2306, Hoshino Family Residence (Main entrance), Onohara-nishi, Northern Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, 4:00 PM

A luxury limousine was parked near a sumptuous mansion located on the northern outskirts of Osaka, while a group of people, mainly butlers and maids, waited for the occupant of the vehicle to climb out of it.

-"Welcome home, Mr. Hoshino!"- All the people working in the mansion reacted in unison, as the owner of the limousine gradually descended from the vehicle.

The occupant of that luxury car was none other than the chairman of the Hoshino Group, Yuusuke Hoshino, who was the father of the supposedly missing Kaguya Hoshino, and who had returned to his native Osaka after attending the annual memorial for the missing victims of the Asuka, which was held every year in Yokosuka. The man was dressed in his usual dark-colored business suit, while it was evident that the trip home was quite strenuous for him.

-"How are you all doing?"- Yuusuke, who was a middle-aged man, greeted his employees who were working in his house, albeit with a certain tone of tiredness after that trip.

Meanwhile, the chief butler of the Hoshino family, an elderly man named Yoshio Kurosaki, was waiting for him at the entrance of the mansion, eager to speak with his boss once again.

-"It is good to see you back home, Mr. Hoshino."-

-"Oh, thanks for the greeting, Kurosaki; I really needed something like that after the plane ride."-

-"Did you have any problems during the trip, sir?"- The chief butler politely asked.

-"Not during the flight, fortunately, but the traffic from the airport to here was hellish; for a few moments I thought I would be on the road all day because of how sluggish the traffic was."-

-"I'm sorry to hear that, sir; we were hoping that the roads wouldn't be so congested, so that you could arrive in time for the 2 PM lunch."-

-"Nah, don't worry about such stuff, Kurosaki... I've dealt with worse traffic jams than that."-

-"That's good to know, sir."- The elderly butler replied.

-"Well, we can talk about how I did when we get into the house;"- And then, Yuusuke gave some orders. -"tell some of the staff to get the luggage out and put everything in its place."-

-"As you wish, sir."-

In no time, Kurosaki ordered a group of servants to take his boss's luggage out of the limousine and bring it into the mansion as soon as possible, while Yuusuke Hoshino and the aforementioned chief butler marched into the house, where a meal awaited the former.

---

June 5th, AD 2306, Hoshino Family Residence (Main hall), Onohara-nishi, Northern Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, 4:15 PM

Once inside the Japanese businessman's home, the latter could not help but feel a little wistful to see that he was back home. Meanwhile, two maids who were chatting with each other greeted their boss as they bowed.

-"Oh, welcome home, Mr. Hoshino!"-

The man, who knew their names, also returned the greeting to both women.

-"Hi, Narumi, and you too, Satsu."- Yuusuke replied.

-"Did you have a good trip, sir?"- Narumi, the elder maid, asked to her boss.

-"Yeah, I just only had some problems with the traffic out there, nothing else, as you can see..."- The entrepreneur responded with a certain nonchalance to his maid.

-"Well, at least it is very nice that you are back home, Mr. Hoshino."-

-"Well, thanks for your kind words, Narumi."-

-"You are welcome, sir."- The maid answered her boss with great courtesy.

Meanwhile, Yuusuke Hoshino turned to his chief butler, Yoshio Kurosaki, and asked him a question as they both walked through the mansion's main hall.

-"By the way, can I at least know what we're having for dinner today, Kurosaki?"- The millionaire began to ask about his meal plans.

-"Well, I asked the cooks to prepare something to eat for everyone in the mansion, if you don't mind, however, the final choice of the main course is up to you."-

Yuusuke remained thoughtful for a few moments, and after careful consideration, he gave his answer to his butler.

-"I'm going to assume you had turkey prepared, right?"-

Kurosaki replied with somewhat of an uneasy tone.

-"Yes, sir..."- The old man said. -"Is there a problem with that?"-

-"No, on the contrary."- The Hoshino Group's CEO said. -"I really wanted to eat some roasted turkey, and I imagine you folks want to eat that too, don't you?"-

Kurosaki replied with a smile to his boss.

-"I would be lying if I said no, sir."-

-"Well, in that case, that's what we'll be eating today."- And then, Yuusuke gave an order to his butler. -"Please command all staff members who have nothing important to do to join us for lunch as soon as they have time."-

-"Right away, sir."-

Immediately afterwards, the businessman and his butler went to the mansion's dining room, where he and all his servants would eat together that day.

---

June 5th, AD 2306, Hoshino Family Residence (Dining room), Onohara-nishi, Northern Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, 4:35 PM

A few minutes later, Yuusuke Hoshino and his chief butler, as well as most of the servants and employees who worked for him in his mansion, were eating several roast turkeys that the cooks had prepared in advance.

That scene might seem strange for a man of Yuusuke Hoshino's stature, owner of one of Japan's largest business corporations, and one of the richest and most powerful companies in the world, worth several billion dollars, almost the equivalent of the gross domestic product of a decent-sized nation. With all that money, that powerful man could have ordered a meal fit for a king...

But that man preferred to eat something less lavish, at the same time that he wanted his employees to eat with him, so as not to do it alone, not only because he wanted to share his wealth with other people...

...but also because there was someone very important to him who was absent in his own home.

And everyone in the Hoshino family mansion knew the meaning of that when they saw that the chair in the dining room to the right of their boss was empty... for a good reason.

-"Pardon my boldness, sir, but I suppose you went to the memorial for the victims of the Asuka in Yokosuka, didn't you?"- Narumi, the elder maid, asked to her boss while still eating her piece of turkey.

The Japanese businessman shifted his gaze to the maid, and he did not delay in answering the question.

-"That's right..."- The man responded with a shade of sorrow that was more than palpable on his face.

Narumi, who had worked for the Hoshino family for years, knew exactly why her boss was clearly depressed, which she immediately noted, as it was an issue that was also a subject of equal concern to her.

-"You must miss your daughter, Lady Kaguya, as we all do..."-

Even though that was a very personal question, Yuusuke answered his maid, Narumi, with kindness. He wished he didn't have to deal with such matters at lunchtime, but the owner of that mansion owed her and her employees further explanations. He would explain those reasons later on.

-"I think that's obvious, Narumi."- He replied with a rather calm expression. His voice remained composed and gentle, though his heart, despite its usual stoicness, seemed to say otherwise.

Meanwhile, Yoshio Kurosaki, the chief butler, who was also eating near Yuusuke, looked at his boss worriedly, while keeping an eye on those sitting across him.

-"I'm truly sorry, sir, I really understand how hard this must be for you."- The old man spoke in a compassionate manner. -"But please believe me when I say we will all be willing to support you as long as necessary."-

Seeing that his butler, like all the employees who worked for him and were sharing a meal with their boss, also shared his concern and grief over the absence of his daughter Kaguya, the Hoshino Group's CEO was touched by those words.

-"Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, for your concern for me."- Yuusuke said at his people under his command. -"I also understand that this tragedy is just as painful for you, because you worked for my daughter from the day she was born until the day she disappeared in outer space..."-

And he added the following.

-"...The only thing I can tell you regarding this is that I thank you for the dedication you have shown to Kaguya all these years, and you will be rewarded as long as I live in return for it."-

Then Narumi, the maid, took the floor again.

-"You don't have to thank us, Mr. Hoshino. Lady Kaguya was also a very important person for us as well, and we always saw the love you had for her... even if she had a... very special... so to speak... ehem... temper."-

Yuusuke quickly understood what Narumi meant by mentioning his daughter's perceived shortcomings.

-"Yeah, I can understand that very well... and I have to admit it, because I was her father..."- That powerful man had no qualms about also bringing up Kaguya's personality flaws in a very candid manner to his own employees. -"And I don't blame you if you feel the same way, to be honest."-

-"Well, I am surprised that you too have to say that Lady Kaguya was not perfect."- The maid replied with a smile at her senior.

-"I was her father, and I also had my obligation to raise her as a proper lady of society worthy of the Hoshino name... and I don't think I did my job well..."- Kaguya's father excused himself in a humble way. -"and you ended up bearing the brunt of some of my daughter's folly at times..."-

The maid continued talking about her former mistress, as she ate another piece of turkey in the meanwhile.

-"We all know how stubborn she was, and that without mention her use of language worthy of a petty thug; she was also very rude, and on more than one occasion she had been in trouble because of her haughty attitude..."-

Meanwhile, another maid, who was eating her share of her turkey, and who also worked closely with the missing Kaguya, had no hesitation in giving her own opinion about her boss's daughter.

-"...And her African friend had to save her skin every time that happened."-

It was obvious that the maid was referring to Kaguya's friend and classmate, Akane Araki, since they were both in high school. However, from the maid's voice, it was clear that she had a certain prejudice against foreigners, implying that Kaguya was degrading herself by being helped by a black woman.

On the other hand, the other maids working for Yuusuke Hoshino, together with the man himself, as well as Yoshio Kurosaki, the chief butler, did not share that discriminatory attitude towards Kaguya's friend, and they did not shy away from making it vocally known.

-"Do you have a problem with people of African origin, Mayumi?"- The millionaire raised the question to his employee by using her name, visibly disgusted to hear that the woman had a racist stance against the similarly missing Akane.

Upon being sternly criticized by her own boss, and realizing that her other coworkers were equally displeased for expressing such prejudiced opinions, not to mention the insulting tone with which she referred to Kaguya, the maid named Mayumi bowed in shame in apology for having said such a comment.

-"I'm... I'm really sorry, sir!"- She apologized. -"It won't happen again!"-

When the other employees saw that the employee had probably landed herself in a lot of trouble by insulting both her bosses daughter and her friend, they let out a mischievous laugh. However, Yuusuke Hoshino appreciated Mayumi's honesty, even if it was not the most appropriate way to express her opinion. He understood that Mayumi was only stating the opinion that many employees of the Hoshino mansion had about Kaguya, that, although she was arrogant and rude, she was also weak and always needed the help of others to get out of the trouble she brought upon herself.

-"Well, I understand that my daughter always ended up asking for help from Akane or someone else when things went south for her..."-

And then, the man added the following in a more grave tone.

"...though I must also say that Akane was also a very dear person to me, and prejudging her because of her origins is something that I consider as disgusting..."-

Mayumi again bowed apologetically to her boss, hearing his words about Akane, and the respect his employer had for his daughter's friend.

-"I'm very sorry to hear that, sir... I didn't know that about Ms. Araki and her relationship with you."-

At that, the head of the household smiled and nodded slightly as he did not mind telling his employee the truth.

-"She was an outstanding woman, but she also had a short temper at times, which is why some people might not have liked her."- The man explained what he knew about Akane. -"But she helped my daughter countless times, even when my daughter didn't ask for her help. Additionally, Akane was a very intelligent and determined woman, an expert in many diverse subjects, including both Kendo and mixed martial arts. That's why she holds a very special spot for me, as does Kaguya..."-

Taking advantage of the fact that everyone in the mansion was talking about both Kaguya and Akane, Narumi, the senior maid, did not hesitate to ask her boss a personal question.

-"I hope I am not being overly curious, but I would appreciate it if you could tell us what you have been told about the government's knowledge of the Asuka's disappearance, if you don't mind..."-

With awareness that many of his workers knew his daughter Kaguya personally, Yuusuke Hoshino felt that he had an obligation to tell them what he knew about the whereabouts of the spaceship where his daughter and her friend Akane had been traveling before she disappeared seven years ago... even though the answer would be unsatisfactory to them, as it was to him.

-"Sadly, everything remains the same."- The powerful Japanese businessman answered his maid's question, equally disappointed as she and the rest of his employees would be. -"The government doesn't know a damn thing about what happened to that ship, and they haven't found anything from the Asuka, not even a single piece of it..."-

And then, his voice took a more sorrowful tone when said the next sentence about the Asuka and its crew.

-"If what they say is actually true, there is a possibility, according to some scientists working for the company and the government, that the Asuka has completely atomized."-

At the mention of the word atomized by their boss, all the employees were visibly horrified, some, especially the women, began to shed tears, knowing in advance what Yuusuke, their boss and Kaguya's father, meant by it.

-"Excuse me, Mr. Hoshino, you don't mean that the ship and its entire crew...?"- Kurosaki, the chief butler, asked his superior, fearing the answer he would give.

Yuusuke Hoshino, after taking a moment to ponder his words, eventually gave his faithful butler a sad nod, confirming his worst fears.

-"That's correct."- Was the final word that the billionaire uttered. -"It means that the ship, by some effect caused by its jump drive or some fortuitous cosmic phenomenon, turned the ship into atomic particles, along with all its crew, which would mean that all its occupants, including Kaguya and Akane, died without feeling anything at all."-

After hearing this, Narumi felt like she was about to cry, and the maids looked like they were struggling to hold back their tears as well. All those men and women, who were accustomed to seeing Kaguya and Akane in high spirits or at the receiving end of playful insults and harsh criticism from the former, were now crying due to the gravity of the news that their respected boss had just given them.

-"No... sob... please... please tell us this is a lie, sir... sob... Lady Kaguya... sob... dead..."-

-"That's... that not fair... no, god... please... sob..."- Another maid followed suit, also crying for Kaguya, and her likely death.

Many of the employees who worked for the Hoshinos, especially those who worked with Kaguya and Akane at the time, were grief-stricken at the news that both women may have died in space. Furthermore, the fact that all those seven years of searching for any clue to the whereabouts of them, as well as their ship they traveled in, only came to a sad conclusion.

-"This is indeed a terrible tragedy..." - A man spoke up, who was one of the cooks who worked of the mansion. -"They were so young and with so many hopes and desires... to end up dying in a spaceship... that's horrible."-

Even Yoshio Kurosaki, the mansion's chief butler, was unable to hold back his tears when he heard the news. The veteran employee had his reasons for doing so: he had known Kaguya since she was born until the last day he spoke to her when she was in New Haiti before she left for Earth. The news of the possible death of the heiress of the Hoshino clan also seemed to have a noticeable impact on the elderly man.

Meanwhile, Yuusuke Hoshino, Kaguya's father, was overwhelmed to see his employees grieving for his daughter, especially those who grew up with her. Seeing that they all shared his grief over the supposed loss of his daughter, the billionaire did not hesitate to talk to them.

-"I sincerely appreciate everyone for caring and crying with me about my daughter, even if you have no obligation to do so."- The Japanese businessman said, while holding a cup of wine in his hand. -"It shows how much you loved my daughter, even though she had her faults, and you will be greatly rewarded when the time comes."-

-"Please don't say that, Mr. Hoshino. Lady Kaguya could be fiercely temperamental, but she had a good heart and was kind to those who reciprocated her lovingness."- Narumi, the maid, replied to her boss. -"We understand how affected you are by the loss of your daughter, and we just wanted to let you know that her death affects all of us the same way."-

Kurosaki followed suit and he also added his point of view on the issue.

-"Certainly, we want to pay our respects to her spirit and offer our condolences to you, Mr. Hoshino."- The butler said. -"Lady Kaguya was a part of our lives, and this is our way of showing our respect to her, wherever she may be now. I only pray that she, as well as Ms. Araki, can rest in peace."-

While Kurosaki and Narumi had finished expressing their feelings regarding Kaguya, and after a brief silence, Yuusuke responded at their workers' words for his daughter.

-"Thank you... thank you very much for worrying about me and Kaguya, ladies and gentlemen..."-

-"You are welcome, sir."- The elder butler said, with a smile in his face.

Following the words of encouragement from his butler, Yuusuke Hoshino once again turned to all his employees and, after raising a glass of wine, the businessman reciprocated the sentiments of gratitude exerted by his staff who served him.

-"In this case, I would like to offer a toast to all of you for your words of encouragement. I also want us all to eat this meal together, not only as your boss, but also as your friend."- The millionaire man said, while holding his glass of wine in his left hand. -"Let's hope that we can continue to do this for as long as it takes."-

Narumi, the senior maid, agreed with her boss, and she also did the same, in order to toast with him.

-"I agree with you, Mr. Hoshino. So let's all raise our glasses and have a toast to hopefully we will always continue to work together here, shall we?"-

Both Yuusuke and his employees raised their glasses of wine in the air and drank them at the same time...

-"CHEERS!"-

And after some playful laughter, both the millionaire and his employees went back to eating again, this time in a better mood, trying to concentrate on finishing all the delicious food they had on the table. They continued for an hour and a half, until finally everyone was full.

---

June 5th, AD 2306, Hoshino Family Residence (Second Floor/Corridor), Onohara-nishi, Northern Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, 4:35 PM

After finishing all the delicious food, Yuusuke went to the top floor of his mansion in order to go to his room and rest. Not only had it been a hectic day, but also what had happened during lunch, where his employees shared with his boss the pain of the loss of his daughter, Kaguya. While this was happening, Kurosaki, the chief butler, followed his employer diligently to his room, while the latter had a few words to say.

-"Phew... that was a good meal, wasn't it, Kurosaki?"- Yuusuke said, smiling as he walked through one of the hallways of the house.

-"One could say yes, sir."- The butler replied, also with a smile. -"I can say that we haven't had a meal like this in several years."-

-"You are right, Kurosaki. Following what happened with Kaguya, we haven't had the opportunity to be together for a meal, owing also to my work and the matters related to the search for the Asuka."-

-"Yes... but we would have wished that your daughter and Miss Araki were with us in one piece..."-

The Japanese millionaire lingered for a few moments when he heard the names of his daughter, Kaguya, and her friend, Akane. Even with the words of encouragement from his employees, the fact that both women were possibly dead weighed heavily on the man, knowing that not even with all the money in the world could he bring them back.

-"I, too, would have wished that the two of them were also back home...- Yuusuke said, his voice shifting from cheerful to sorrowful in a blink of an eye. -"First Yumiko... and now Kaguya..."-

The butler was surprised when his boss mentioned that name...

-"You mean...?"- Kurosaki said, quite surprised after hearing that female name.

-"Yes, Kaguya's mother..."- Yuusuke sighed deeply after saying her name.

The veteran steward was clearly uneasy when his boss brought up the name of Kaguya's mother, owing to several reasons that both men would elaborate on below.

-"I apologize for my brashness, sir, but this is the first time in years that you have mentioned Mistress Yumiko's name since she passed away."- The old man said, quite worried at the mention of her name. -"I always assumed that you did not even want to touch that subject since then."-

-"Yes, it's true..."- Yuusuke replied him. -"and I can't help not thinking back to Yumiko now that Kaguya might have died too..."-

After an awkward silence, Kurosaki asked his boss a question.

-"I'm sure you don't think you're to blame for the death of Mistress Yumiko and your daughter; am I right?"-

After vacillating briefly, the powerful man replied to his butler, who seemed troubled by the implications of his words.

-"I assume you know exactly what I'm referring to, right?"-

Yoshio Kurosaki's face, which up to that point showed a hint of concern, turned into one of displeasure, for he knew exactly what his boss meant by that.

-"Are you referring... to that man?"-

But before the conversation could continue any further, an electronic male voice was heard coming from the smartwatch-like communicator device Yuusuke Hoshino had on his wrist. The voice wished to speak with its owner.

-"I apologize for interrupting your conversation with Mr. Kurosaki, but you have an urgent call from overseas, Mr. Hoshino."-

The Japanese millionaire was taken aback when he heard the news regarding an unexpected call from outside Japan at that time of day, especially since he was in the middle of an important discussion with his butler.

-"May I know where that call is coming from, Net?"-

-"It is a private call from Hawaii, in the United States."-

-"Hawaii, you say?"-

-"Yes, sir."-

Even though it was a private call, the businessman seemed to know who the person was who wanted to talk to him, considering where the call was coming from. This would not be too relevant on its own if it were not for the fact that Kurosaki also knew the identity of the person who wanted to speak to his employer.

-"And speaking of the devil..."- The butler spoke with undisguised contempt in his tone.

-"I understand your discomfort, Kurosaki, but I need to talk to him..."-

Then, he gave the next orders to him.

-"I'm going to my office for a chat; if anyone wants to talk to me in person or on the phone, please let them know that I'll be busy for a while."-

After hesitating for a few seconds, Kurosaki let his boss know that his orders would be carried out, despite his own unease against the person Yuusuke would be dealing with.

-"Yes, sir."-

Yuusuke then proceeded to head towards his office, leaving the butler alone in the corridor. Unlike other business calls related to his work, the call he would be answering was one that he had to answer alone, due to its confidential nature, as it concerned only him and the person he would be speaking to.

And he knew that the person with whom he would engage in the call was not to his liking or anyone else's, but Yuusuke had his reasons for dealing with him... and those reasons involved him personally and his company at the same time.

---

June 5th, AD 2306, Hoshino Family Residence (Second Floor/Yuusuke's Office), Onohara-nishi, Northern Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, 4:50 PM

Upon entering his office, Yuusuke Hoshino, Kaguya's father, immediately headed towards his desk, where he normally worked when he had to work at home. As would be expected from the workplace of a man with as much money as he had, Yuusuke's office was a rather luxurious place, replete with designer furniture, paintings bought from famous painters, carpeted with the best fabric money could buy, and equipped with all the necessary accessories a businessman like him might need for his daily duties as the CEO of one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Few people were aware, however, that this man was hiding something in his office, something that only a handful of people, including his butler Yoshio Kurosaki, were aware of. Even then, the latter had no access to what the man was going to do next.

-"Net, I need to access the Vault right now."-

-"Roger that, Mr. Hoshino."- The AI responded. -"Before that, I need you to give me your voice password."-

The businessman gave the computer his personal password in order to access the secret place known to him as The Vault. Immediately afterwards, the AI conducted further personal checks on its human user.

-"Performing biometric security checks; please wait."-

And after a few minutes of waiting for the computer to verify the identity of the person it was talking to, the latter was able to verify that Yuusuke was the person authorized to enter the Vault...

-"Biometric checks completed."- The Net replied with the same electronic voice of always. -"Person fully identified as Yuusuke Hoshino; welcome to the Vault, sir."-

-"Thank you, Net."-

Immediately afterwards, a door that was concealed behind one of the walls of the office suddenly opened in front of the Japanese businessman. The door led to a medium-sized elevator, which was large enough for up to three adults to enter.

-"Please select floor number."- The AI asked politely, almost sounding like an old man.

-"I need to go to the last floor, please"- Yuusuke replied.

-"Understood."-

A few seconds later, the doors closed, and the elevator began descending down to the very bottom floor of the building. It took about two minutes for he to reach their destination. Once Yuusuke reached the ground floor, the elevator stopped moving. The doors opened again, revealing a new room within the building.

This time around, though, it wasn't just any other room, but rather a small space made out of reinforced steel that resembled some kind of prison cell.

-"Oh, god, no matter how many times I have to visit this office, I will never become accustomed to how frightening it can be at times."- Yuusuke said under his breath. -"It really feels like the devil has come to see me here..."-

He proceeded into that space, where he found himself standing before another pair of reinforced metal doors.

-"Please wait while I'm doing another biometric check."- The Net said, as several sensors and cameras appeared and began performing their task of verifying the body of the person who wished to enter the place.

After a minute or so, the doors finally opened, revealing the inside of the room.

-"Biometric checks completed. Person identified as Yuusuke Hoshino; you may enter at any time, sir."-

-"Thank you again, Net."-

-"You are welcome."-

Yuusuke entered the room that was located inside the Vault. Unlike his luxurious office that was in his private home, that room was sparse and lacked any luxury. Everything inside was exclusively for the work that the multimillionaire businessman had to do in private in that place, mainly a multimedia desk, which had a keyboard installed. Additionally, there were a few chairs, possibly intended for use by the few guests who were allowed entry to that place, and finally there was a holographic screen, with which the Japanese man could see the person with whom he was going to talk at that moment.

The president of the Hoshino Group immediately went to the mentioned desk and began to type commands onto the keyboard. The commands he typed were to access the communication software that would allow him to contact the person he wanted to talk to. Afterwards, Yuusuke typed some passwords, while the AI did more biometric checks at the same time. When all of this was accomplished, the businessman was able to communicate with the person in question.

-"Initiating communication with a private number from Hawaii, United States of America."- The Net said aloud, whilst linking the call immediately.

Once the call was connected, a human figure appeared on the holographic screen installed in the office. The man in question was an Asian man, over 60 years of age, with white hair, brown eyes, and glasses. He was of medium height and was dressed in a lab coat at the time.

Moreover, that person seemed very happy to be able to talk to Yuusuke for some unknown reason.

-"Good afternoon, Yuusuke. I take it you were out of town, right?"-

Although the Osaka businessman was familiar with his conversational partner on the other end of the line, he felt uncomfortable being addressed in such a familiar manner by the man who was dressed like a scientist. Regardless, he understood that the man had some important reason to address him and that Yuusuke had to come down to the Vault to talk to him.

-"Yes... I participated in the memorial for the Asuka victims this year and gave a short speech to the public. Is that what you wanted to know?"- The man reacted with some uneasiness to that question.

After a brief pause, the man in the coat replied.

-"Well, that's really strange, coming from you."- The man replied with a neutral-sounding tone. -"You've never shown any interest in attending these events in the past, and now you suddenly want to go. I'm sure the media will have plenty to say about you in the coming days."-

-"They can say whatever they want about me."- Yuusuke replied in a rather annoyed way. -"Personally... I'm sick and tired of hiding from everyone and acting like Kaguya's death hasn't touched me in the slightest."-

-"Hahaha, I guess I understand that feeling. I am also sick of hiding as well."-

Yuusuke found his counterpart's response distasteful, to put in a kind way...

-"I'm guessing that was sarcasm, right?"-

-"I was not."- The man in the lab coat said, shaking his head. -"But I do appreciate the sentiment."-

-"For someone who works all the time mostly hidden from everyone, I'm surprised you seek to do something about changing your status quo."- Yuusuke retorted him.

Afterwards, the businessman decided to get straight to the point.

-"Well, all that nonsense aside, I'd like to know the reason why you want to talk to me."- The Osakan man asked to the other man. -"I hope it's important, as I was planning on dealing with my own matters at work rather than dealing with the LF Project."-

As soon as Yuusuke finished his sentence, the man on the other side of the line spoke.

-"Not exactly, Yuusuke... although I can say that it is connected in a tangible way with the project."- The man replied, his face still showing no emotion whatsoever. -"I was hoping to speak to you regarding this."-

Upon hearing the man's reply, Yuusuke grew visibly concerned.

-"What the hell do you mean?"- The CEO of the Hoshino Group asked, his voice trembling. -"Is there any problems with the project itself?"-

-"No, nothing of that sort."- The man answered. -"Rather, it is related to someone you know..."-

Yuusuke was taken aback by the man's words.

-"Someone I know? Who do you mean?"- The Japanese man asked.

-"That's the problem."- His interlocutor replied. -"I hope you can understand this, my friend."-

There were several seconds of silence between them until finally, Yuusuke managed to find his voice again.

-"What exactly are you getting at with that, my friend?"-

When the millionaire asked his question, the other man, who was calling from Hawaii, replied.

-"I can say, with some level of certainty, that there is a possibility of pinpointing the exact position where the Asuka may have ended up when the spacecraft disappeared after jumping from the New Haiti system."-

That man's answer was something that Yuusuke did not expect to hear at any time; at that point, he had already begun to lose all hope of finding his daughter Kaguya, while also doing the same with her friend, Akane Araki, also believing that the Asuka could have been vaporized in space with all its crew.

However, the man was left astonished by the fact that the man knew where the spaceship could be found, since he had been trying for several years to look for it by his own means and through his contacts at the United Nations and the United Nations Space Force without success.

-"What... did you... SAY?"- The entrepreneur responded, barely containing his shock that the man knew where the missing spacecraft, which had disappeared seven years ago, might be.

-"That's right, just as you hear it."- The Asian-looking man replied -"I'm sure I know where the Asuka could be right now..."-

Yuusuke fell quiet. His breathing started becoming even more rapid, and his heartbeat increased rapidly as well. It took him about ten seconds to recover from the shock.

-"And how would someone like you be able to locate that spaceship?"-

-"I work for the U.S. government, Yuusuke, in case you had forgot that."- The man of Asian origin replied to the Osaka born industrialist about how he was able to obtain such valuable information with a rather proud tone in his voice. -"I have access to a lot of resources that even wealthy civilians like you can't access. Because of that, I was able to determine where the Asuka could be."-

And after a moment of silence, Yuusuke wished to know the truth about the whereabouts of the Asuka, and consequently Kaguya and Akane, for years, for obvious reasons.

-"Well, can you at least tell me where that ship may be, pal?"-

-"I'm going to be honest with you, Yuusuke: While we know the region where the ship might have ended up, we are still uncertain as to the exact location where it might be, other than that the Asuka is still in our Milky Way galaxy."- Then, the America-based man explained. -"Based on our research and methods that I cannot disclose for confidential reasons, we believe with some degree of certainty that the Asuka could be in a solar system within the Perseus Arm..."-

Following a brief stunned silence at the prospect that the Asuka might be in that region of the Milky Way, the Japanese businessman reacted with surprise.

-"The Perseus Arm, you say?!"- Yuusuke say at his other interlocutor in shock. -"God, if I am not mistaken, that region of the galaxy is more than 15,000 light years away from both our solar system and all the solar systems known by humanity, and also out of our space navigation charts... and... if my calculations do not fail me... the Perseus Arm is in the middle of..."-

-"...the Orion Arm, where our solar system is located,"- The man with the lab coat interrupted him. -"and the Outer Arm, where the results of our small project are placed..."-

Yuusuke Hoshino understood the implications of that revelation, not only for him, but also for the person with whom he was chatting in that private place below his residence in Osaka; they both knew that they could not just ignore it, and the powerful billionaire made that clear right away.

-"Are you trying to imply that the Asuka deliberately tried to jump into the Outer Arm region?"-

The man in the lab coat responded to Yuusuke's question, although he could see that the businessman's mind was already moving in an extremely dangerous direction, thinking that his millionaire friend was being accused of what occurred with that spaceship where his daughter was traveling inside.

-"Huh, no... technically, no..."- The older man replied with some hesitation. -"...at least I assume that you did not order the crew of the Asuka to visit that region without the authorization from both the Japanese government or the UN."-

-"Of course not, YOU IDIOT!"- The millionaire angrily countered that question, given the implications that Yuusuke sought to sabotage the project for some reason that the other scientist-like man was unaware of. -"I just wanted the ship to return to Earth with my daughter and Akane, and for both of them to return home safe and sound; nothing more and nothing less!"-

And then, Yuusuke added the following to his rant.

-"And besides... do you think I'm stupid and crazy enough to fuck up this project and send my daughter and her friend into the lion's den just like that?"- The Japanese man retorted aloud. -"I'm not going to throw away over two centuries of work done by our families and all the governments involved in this shit only to send it all down the toilet because of an error in judgment on my part!"-

He didn't care whether his interlocutor had a good reason for asking those questions, but he couldn't help but think that the unfounded accusations against him weren't helping their relationship, even if he knew that his friend was well within his rights to ask such queries, consequences be damned.

Then, the man in the lab coat remained silent for quite some time, seemingly contemplating something. Eventually, though, he spoke up once again.

-"Well... I guess I have no reason to take your word for it, Yuusuke..."- The other man replied. -"...in that case I apologize for accusing you of such things."-

-"I am surprised that you want to point this out to me, since you are also worried about what might have happened to Kaguya..."-

For reasons unknown to anyone other than the two men in question, the possible link between Yuusuke's daughter and that man seemed to cause the latter to change his countenance from one of friendliness to one of apparent aggravation, as if the mere mention of that issue was not something he wished to broach openly at that moment.

-"You know very well that I don't want you to talk about that matter, even in a private channel like this one. I'm just hoping that those two women return home safely, and I have nothing further to add in this regard."- He added, his words leaving him in somewhat of an aggressive manner.

-"For your personal information, my daughter is not just any woman."- When his interlocutor referred to his daughter as if she were a complete stranger, Yuusuke replied in a remarkably incensed tone. -"Even knowing beforehand your tactlessness towards other people, and in spite of everything, I have raised Kaguya by my own means, even if I had to spend a lot of money on her to do so, especially after the death of her mother, Yumiko."-

At the mere mention of that name, the other man paused briefly before continuing his talk.

-"Yeah, I remember her..."- The Asian-looking man said, in a very emotionless way. -"...Yumiko Nayotake... who worked for us..."-

Noticing that his counterpart seemed to be referring to Kaguya's mother in no personal terms, Yuusuke did not hesitate to confront the man when he seemed to pretend not to know anything about her.

-"And I am still surprised that you still have the nerve to act like nothing has happened."-

But seeing that his companion was beginning to raise the tone of the conversation, and consequently, that the conversation was getting out of his control, the other man speaking from Hawaii quickly took control of it, making him known who was in charge.

-"I remind you beforehand that I am the one in charge here, and whether you are my colleague or not, I will not tolerate that you want to act as if you can boss me around just because you are loaded with money."- The scientist-like man threatened Yuusuke, using a more deeper voice than usual. -"To me, your money is absolutely worthless, and is only a tool to achieve our goal, and if you continue with your plan to rub my nose in my past misdeeds, I will see to it that you lose MORE than just your precious fortune..."-

Yuusuke Hoshino stared in disbelief at his interlocutor's threat. He was fully aware that, despite the man's seemingly harmless appearance, he was powerful enough, due to his extensive ties not just with the U.S. government, but with other powerful governments as well, to make good on his threat if the millionaire continued to throw the man's past mistakes in his face, even if Yuusuke had every reason to do so.

Furthermore, the man was also the leader of the LF Project, which both he and his family had been in charge of since the mid-21st century. It was in his best interest not to antagonize him over a personal matter, even if it directly affected him and his family. Seeing that Yuusuke could not say or answer anything else, the man speaking from Hawaii was quick to add another note to the talk.

-"I think I got your attention with my words, didn't I, Yuusuke?"-

The millionaire from Osaka, though unable to be on the same footing with the other man, stated in vulgar terms what he thought of him.

-"You're nothing but a fuckin' bastard..."-

-"And you know very well that I don't give a damn about your thoughts on me, for your personal information."- The Asian man replied in a mocking tone, ignoring that his interlocutor was looking at him furiously. -"I need your help, and you will obey my orders, while I need your connections to support this project for as long as it takes."-

Even though Yuusuke Hoshino was one of the richest and most powerful men on the planet, he felt powerless because his interlocutor had contacts with the most powerful governments in the world, who in turn financially supported the LF Project.

And he could feel that power over him, as Yuusuke was unable to make the man on the other line change his mind on the subject of the Asuka and his daughter Kaguya, which also seemed to be of interest to the man speaking from Hawaii.

-"Still, I'm not happy about all this, and that's all I'm going to say on the matter..."-

Meanwhile, the other man wished to change the topic of discussion to one of equal or even greater importance than the topic of the Asuka, its crew, Akane, and Kaguya, seeing how the situation had unexpectedly become very heated.

-"Look, Yuusuke, we can talk about the Asuka issue another day when we're in a better mood, since clearly we both want to see some results and things are not going the way we both want them to, but at least I promise you that I'll do my best to find the whereabouts of that spaceship."- The Japanese-speaking man said in a more conciliatory tone than before, given his previous threat against the Osakan man. -"Is that okay with you, partner?"-

The Japanese businessman resented the arrogant and high-handed behavior of his counterpart living in America, and could not overlook the fact that he had threatened him first.

-"I just hope you keep your word, my friend... Kaguya is very important to me, as is Akane, just so you know."-

-"I know that..."- The other man replied in a monotone way. -"but we'd better change the subject, because I think there is an issue that I believe would be of vital interest to us... and I believe that several governments that sponsor our project are visibly nervous about what has happened, although I have barely been authorized to talk to you about it."-

Upon hearing the news from his counterpart in Hawaii, the man in Osaka became interested in discussing the matter, as it was a problem that required the knowledge of the head of the other founding family of the project.

-"Did something very bad happened with the project?"-

The man with a lab coat replied, with some gravity in his voice.

-"To say that something very bad happened would be an understatement, Yuusuke."- His companion sighed.

The CEO of the Hoshino Group appeared tense as he waited to hear the worst, at the apparent seriousness of the other man's words.

-"What exactly happened with our project?"-

-"Well... I have two pieces of news for you, one bad and one worse..."- The other Japanese-speaking man finally replied. -"...and the truth is that I don't know which of the two could be any worse than the other."-

After a brief pause, Yuusuke Hoshino spoke once more, asking for a specific confirmation regarding the information he was just told.

-"Alright, let's hear it, then."- Kaguya's father said. -"You can start with the bad news."-

-"Last year, September 20th to be more precise, the Independent Lepine Republic launched a massive planetary attack, using a kind of "Rods of God" type cluster weapon, which they called "Hassakennal", which devastated 70% of the surface of the planet which the local inhabitants call "Annah" in the Dornthant solar system."- The man in Hawaii then explained what happened with their project and the bad news surrounding it. -"Although we do not have exact figures, it is estimated that the death toll from the attacks has risen to more than 2 million people, including civilians and military personnel. In addition, the capital city of Annah, Annahport, was also almost completely destroyed; we do not know how many people were killed there, but we estimate that the death toll could be in excess of 100,000, at the very least."-

Although Yuusuke had already heard such news regarding the creations that both families, including his own, had under their control in the past, this was the first time he had heard that the beings they had created were capable of causing massive planetary damage on a scale never seen before, at least from a purely human point of view. The last time something similar had happened on Earth was during World War III, and even then, the destruction was basically limited to the area of the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding countries, excluding Israel, Lebanon and Egypt.

With that information at hand, the Japanese businessman could not help but be both dumbfounded and shocked by the magnitude of the destruction inflicted by the ILR on that planet, not to mention the enormous number of fatalities caused by that bombardment on the surface of that distant world.

At that moment, Yuusuke felt a great burden of guilt at what he perceived to be an attempt at genocide on the inhabitants of that planet, considering his families responsibility for the administration of the LF Project. Even though the man was aware beforehand that things like that could happen, and had already happened, the news that millions of living beings had died was difficult for him to digest.

Especially considering that he was partially responsible, indirectly, for what had happened.

-"No... Two million people dead... and 70% of the planet devastated..."- Yuusuke was overcome with sadness when he heard the data on the destruction that befell over Annah and the large number of casualties that planet suffered.

The billionaire's partner, however, appeared to be completely unfazed by what had happened in that world, and even went so far as to point out the guilt that both men were facing with remarkable coldness.

-"Playing God has its pitfalls."- The Asian man in a lab coat coldly replied him. -"I think that's something you already know about, don't you?"-

Yuusuke Hoshino knew what his comrade meant by those words, and did not deny that damning statement in the slightest. He knew he had innocent blood on his hands, something he could not ignore, as much as he would have liked to do so at the time. He put his hands to his face, trying to hold back his tears at the news.

-"Why am I just learning about this, huh?"- The businessman asked, still with tears in his eyes, and trying to preserve some semblance of composure even after the news of what had taken place on that planet. -"Why did you have to delay for almost a year before you could tell me what happened there?"-

-"Honestly, we were all surprised by what happened at Annah, because we were not aware that the ILR had plans to use a weapon of mass destruction on an enemy planet, nor were we aware that they were developing one without our knowledge."- The other man working for the U.S. government said. -"Also, because the event happened so suddenly, the countries involved in the project held an emergency meeting to talk about what had happened in Annah and decide what to do next. Taking into account the confidential nature of the matter and the passive role your family plays in the LF Project, we decided not to give you any official information until we were clear about the magnitude of the situation at hand."-

At that explanation, Yuusuke asked the most obvious question as to why no one could have foreseen all that.

-"Isn't the Net supposed to tell us about all the plans they are working on, including their most secret ones?"-

-"Yes, that's supposed to be its function..."- The grey-haired man explained. -"...but, from what we were able to discover a few months later, our furry friends managed to find a way to alter the Net, and thus change the information that could be used for or against someone else. That also includes introducing new natively created data protection protocols, which allow them to encrypt secret information using methods that even we don't know how to access."-

-"WHAT?!"- The powerful Japanese man said aloud at the news that the Net was tampered with. -"That's... that's IMPOSSIBLE! The Net was designed to prevent something like this from happening, and only we can alter its data! How is it possible that they could have pulled something like that off without us knowing about it?"-

-"We are still not sure how they did it, but the fact is that they did it, one way or another."- The other Japanese-sepaking man replied. -"And that is one of several things that has member countries quite concerned about the ramifications this could have on the project itself."-

-"I'm sure that the ambassadors to the UN and their heads of state know about this, right?"-

-"Indeed... In fact, I just got off the phone with the President of the United States this morning to discuss the issue, and what we have done so far to deal with what has happened... and he, as well as other heads of state, have expressed his concern about this sudden turn of events."-

After a brief pause, the Osakan man cannot hide his surprise any longer, and he then facepalmed.

-"...Holy... shit..."-

-"Yes, that's how serious this situation is, Yuusuke."-

The entrepreneur was somehow trying to assimilate the magnitude of this news and its consequences for the entire project. The fact that those anthropomorphic beings, which were their creations, had managed to create a weapon of mass destruction capable of striking more than half the surface of a target planet, was both an incredible accomplishment... but at the same time, it was a potential threat to the stability of the project, if not even to the very existence of the human race if for some reason the LF Project were to slip out of the control of its own creators.

The fact that the ILR attack on Annah reached the ears of the heads of state involved in the project clearly demonstrated that those world leaders did not approve those biological creations becoming a potential threat to Earth itself if they became more warlike than they expected...

-"My god... sigh... not even we during World War III went that far in terms of destruction, and these animals now fucked up an entire planet with their new toy..."- Yuusuke cursed again, shaking his head slightly. -"Surely the president of the U.S. and all other member countries must be pissing themselves at this news."-

-"Well, I think that would be an understatement right now, my dear colleague."- The man in Hawaii continued with his explanation. -"Right now, all the world leaders want an explanation from me about what has happened, and I am trying to describe all of this in terms they can understand, as well as looking for ways to prevent this situation from escalating out of our control should it happen."-

-"Well, you'd better find a way to solve this shit, my friend, because I don't think those politicians will be very amused if our furry friends were to land on Times Square or Akihabara if they somehow figure out the location of our solar system..."-

And then, Yuusuke said the next in a rather grim tone.

-"...especially if those who were to invade Earth turned out to be the ILR."-

The white-haired man speaking from Hawaii knew perfectly well what his Osaka-based friend meant by that, both knowing beforehand the brutality of the ILR when it came to invading other worlds in order to expand their dominions beyond their original boundaries. They knew perfectly well what those rabbits were capable of, especially after analyzing their behavior during the First Lepine War decades ago, and the fact that they had caused over a billion deaths in that conflict alone.

-"Yes, I already know that; you don't need to remind me how vicious the Republic is."- The man in the lab coat replied. -"And I don't think anyone wants that, to be honest... not even me."-

But at that moment, the Japanese businessman had another question to ask his friend that was more or less ancillary to the present issue...

-"Now that we are talking about Annah, the Dornthant system and stuff, I would like to know how is your person of interest coming from there, and how has she reacted to that event... assuming she survived, of course."-

Yuusuke's partner, at the mention of that person, was noticeably intrigued that the man asked such a question, not expecting him to be interested in that subject, which was normally the man's in Hawaii.

-"I find it strange that you would want me to tell you what I know about her..."-

-"I remember that you had told me several times about her, along with other people of interest, considering what you told me about her and her special abilities."-

The Osakan CEO explained his interest about that woman, and then, he added the following.

-"However, to be honest, I find it hard to believe that someone would have that kind of ability; that sounds, if I were to describe it in a more technical language, like something... very unscientific... to put it in a nicer way. That's why I'm interested in that girl called... uhhh... what was her name?... I don't remember it anymore..."-

The other man speaking from Hawaii completed what Yuusuke Hoshino wanted to remember.

-"I assume you are referring to that Feline girl named Erma Kammati Felna, right?"-

-"Oh, yeah, that's right!"- Yuusuke echoed back effusively when his other associate helped him remember that name. -"That girl named Erma! Thanks for the memo!"-

The other man, feeling that he had other things to say outside the subject of Erma and what happened to her home planet, went ahead and decided to speed things up first.

-"Well... getting to the point about her... our main person of interest, as expected, was able to survive the attack, but things are not going so well for her. She was essentially exiled from her home planet, and in order to prove her loyalty to the EDF and the Confed, she was assigned to captain a spaceship and pursue those responsible for bombing her world. Her current mission is to eliminate or thwart any assets that could help the ILR during the war."- The man in Hawaii replied in a rather deadpan tone. -"At least that's what I know up to this point."-

Yuusuke noted the lack of emotion or even empathy about the situation Erma was enduring when his partner mentioned all that, something the Asian businessman made known.

-"You don't seem to care much about her, from what I can see..."- Kaguya's father said when he saw the other man's face.

-"While Erma Felna is an extremely important subject of interest, the integrity of the project is ultimately paramount to the physical well-being of her or any subject that may be of general interest to us."- The man with a lab coat replied, except this time in a rather annoyed way while being questioned about the Feline girl. -"In fact, there is another issue that is even more troubling than the Dornthant or Erma one... and this is where the worst news part comes in for us regarding the overall integrity of the project... or even for humanity itself..."-

Yuusuke knew that with the mere mention of humanity itself in the topic they were about to discuss, the Japanese businessman would deduce that what he was about to hear was not going to be a very pleasant topic to listen to.

-"I hope you're not telling me that our furry friends already know how to get to Earth, are you?"-

-"No... it's not that."- The white-haired Asian man replied. -"It is something much worse..."-

The Japanese businessman threw his hands to his face in frustration when he realized that things could not get any worse.

-"I guess you trust me enough to tell me about this... right?"-

The other man speaking from the Hawaiian Islands went straight to the point with the terrible news he was about to tell his companion living in Japan.

-"I suppose I should have told you this news years ago, but I was not authorized to discuss it with anyone outside of Project LF directly back then... However, after what happened last year, I suppose it no longer makes sense to keep it a secret..."-

-"Well, I guess you can bring it up with me, unless the representatives of the Security Council have any qualms about you letting me know."-

After taking a moment to catch his breath in order to explain the current situation, the man of Asian origin finally commented on what was at the heart of the matter.

-"I will get straight to the point, as the circumstances of how all this happened are very complicated to summarize as follows."- Then, the white-haired Japanese-speaking man explained the main issue. -"Three years ago, an EDF spaceship that was navigating the Ish-tako system accidentally stumbled upon what appears to be a spacecraft... of our own..."-

Upon hearing the last part about a human spacecraft discovered by the EDF, Yuusuke Hoshino slammed both hands on his desk, furious to hear the news. That man, along with his interlocutor in Hawaii, knew the implications that the discovery of that human spacecraft had for the whole project in general.

-"WHA- WHAAAAAAT?!"- The Osakan man yelled at his partner.

-"That's right... and that's not the worst of it:"- The other man replied. -"They also found the corpses of the crew aboard that ship, which has allowed them to deduce, with a certain degree of accuracy, our participation in their creation."-

The latter made the businessman's blood rise to several degrees at what appeared to be a clear unauthorized intrusion into the project by some Earth spaceship, which for some as yet unexplained reason, ended up in that region of space, only for its crew members to die and their bodies to be found by the anthropomorphic denizens living in that distant part of the Milky Way.

-"AND HOW THE HELL DID THAT FUCKING SHIP END UP THERE, HUH?"- Yuusuke yelled at his partner-in-crime. -"ISN'T THE NET SUPPOSED TO PREVENT STUFF LIKE THAT FROM HAPPENING?"-

At the yells of the Japanese businessman, who was furious, and with good reason, at what appeared to be a serious mistake on the part of his partner in failing to prevent the ship from reaching the region without the apparent permission of all parties involved in the project, including the Net, the man in the lab coat did his best to calm him down and and in turn explain the unauthorized presence of that ship and its crew in the context of things.

-"Calm down now, please!"- The other man, apparently a scientist, warned his Japanese colleague, who was enraged at such a sudden shift of events. -"I'm just as angry as you are about this whole issue, but you're not going to help me any by yelling at me!"-

-"At least do you have a damn clue as to how all of that happened, huh, MR. SMARTY PANTS?"-

Knowing that his friend was loudly demanding an account of the event that had caused a sudden turnaround in both men's plans, as well as those of the LF Project itself, the man of Asian origin speaking from Hawaii explained what might have happened.

-"Here's what we know so far about that ship: The ship that ended up in the restricted area is a U.S. Space Force-owned ship, and was one of the original ships used to transport all the material, computer equipment, as well as many of the specimens from Earth to the planet ACX0000A..."-

The man in the lab coat did a brief pause before continuing.

-"...better known to its local inhabitants as "Arras Chanka"... as strange as this may sound."-

Indeed, both the ship and its original objective caused concern to the Osaka businessman, because it only meant one thing...

-"Wait a sec!"- Yuusuke wanted an explanation about that ship. -"If that ship was used to bring the original specimens from Earth to Arras Chanka, that means that spaceship...?"-

-"Indeed... The spacecraft is a customized model, a collaboration between the U.S. government, the European Union and the governments of Japan, the former South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and India, and was built through a partnership between SpaceX, Lockheed, NASA, the European Space Agency, JAXA, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute and the Indian Space Research Organisation."- The other Japanese-speaking man interrupted him. -"Technically speaking, it is a highly customized model based on SpaceX's Starship, with additions created by the other international agencies and other companies, all based on the requirements given by the LF Project, and whose first successful launch was in 2050."-

The Japanese businessman was shocked to learn the launch date of that ship, as it meant that the spacecraft was an antique from the mid-21st century, when mankind was just making its first steps in space exploration beyond the Sol solar system.

-"That means... that ship was a relic... wasn't it?"-

-"Yeah... a spacecraft created during the time when mankind was engaged in World War III... that ship was the first one created for long-duration space travel and was the first ship to use the newly developed Jump Drive, which dramatically shortened the duration of space travel to just days, weeks or months, instead of years as in the past, and was the first prototype for all commercial spacecraft of its kind that would follow years later..."-

-"Do you know the name of that ship?"- The CEO asked.

-"Unfortunately, no. All we know about that ship is indirectly thanks to the Net and what our furry friends have been able to find out on their own..."-

Then, the man in Hawaii did a brief pause before continuing with his discussion on regard of the human-owned ship.

-"...and I think we owe that to a certain nosy scientist..."-

The businessman raised an eyebrow upon hearing those words uttered by his partner in crime in response to what seemed to be an important person, something that Yuusuke pointed out.

-"May I know what you mean by nosy scientist? Do you mean that someone from the scientific community of their civilization has figured out something about us?"-

The white-haired man explained the context of what he was referring to.

-"I think this would help give you some context as to what I mean about the person who is giving us some trouble."-

Immediately afterwards, the holographic screen displayed the full body image of the person the Asian man was talking to. The person was a Feline woman, a bobcat to be exact, and of outstanding prettiness, something that even caught the attention of that human businessman, who could not help taking his eyes off the image of that beautiful alien woman.

-"I must say, she sure is quite a beauty."- Yuusuke gave his opinion about her. -"She is as beautiful as Erma is..."

The other man did not seem to share his opinion about the woman's looks, and he went straight to the point about the problem with her and her meddling in the project's secrets.

-"Her name is Dr. Elaki Kalahahaii."- The man with a lab coat said in a rather uncaring, cold way. -"She is 42 years old, born in Darren and used to work as a xenobiologist for the EDF... well, the key word here is was..."-

Yuusuke Hoshino, on the other hand, was trying on his own to utter the unpronounceable name of that alien scientist.

-"Kaliha-what?"- The Osaka businessman gave up trying to say her last name. -"Shit... if only they didn't use names that sound like tongue-twisters."-

-"That's what happens when you deal with a society that is completely alien and different from the human race."- The scientist-looking man from Hawaii said, still in a rather annoyed tone. -"And now, if you don't mind, I'd like us to stay on the issue at hand, instead of dwelling on that woman's body or her stupid name."-

Seeing the miffed face of his partner, the millionaire knew it was not a good idea to make him angry if he forced him to deviate from the issue at hand.

-"Okay, okay... sorry for the bullshit... right?"- Kaguya's father apologized for what he had said, but not before adding something else. -"But just a little pointer, buddy: You should at least be a bit more friendly, ya know?"-

Ignoring that last comment, the other man who had some authority over the businessman resumed his argument about the woman at issue.

-"Ehem... To continue with the subject of our scientist friend, she was the chief leader of the EDF expedition whose purpose was to analyze the human spacecraft and everything inside it, including the corpses of its crew members, as well as the technology used in that spacecraft. Thanks to that woman, our friends were able to conclude that the crew members belonged to a civilization and a species completely unknown to them, and that their technology is more advanced than theirs, even despite the difference of centuries between that spacecraft and similar later ones, both of their own civilization and ours."-

-"How many corpses were found inside that ship?"- The Japanese man asked.

-"Four."- The person talking from abroad responded. -"One female and three males."-

-"Do we have at least an idea of their identities, like their names, genders, nationalities and such?"-

-"Unfortunately, we do not have any information about their identities, other than their genders. Considering that they have a completely different concept of race, nationality and ethnicity compared to humans, we also do not know their nationalities, except that the corpse of the human female they found had red hair and light skin, which means that she was possibly of western origin."- The white-haired person coldly explained to his Osakan counterpart. -"Other than that, we know nothing else, nor do we have any physical data about the other corpses that the EDF found on the human ship."-

Then, Yuusuke did more questions to his partner-in-crime.

-"If that ship you say is from the mid-21st century and is connected in some way to the project, I assume that there must be information related to it in both the U.S. government and project databases, yes?"-

-"In theory yes... but, due to the age of that ship, finding the exact data on it is taking longer than we expected, as much of that information is written in physical format, in addition to old digital formats that were used as backup that we need to decode."-

-"You bet... that ship was created before the Net as we know it existed, and there was only a prototype of it, plus the old Internet was still in use..."-

-"Yeah, I know that..."- Yuusuke's "friend" replied with certain amount of condescension. -"...it was a very chaotic time, no thanks to the old Internet... and that was one of the factors that caused the last great war."-

Hearing the way his friend began to talk about times gone by, the Japanese millionaire wanted to change the subject.

-"I don't want to sound rude, but we'd better get on with the subject at hand, shall we?"-

The other character, who normally had a very low-spirited persona, seemed to agree with his companion's words.

-"Oh, sorry! I think I spoke too much..."-

-"Nevertheless, now that we are talking about this subject,"- The man from Osaka asked to his friend in Hawaii. -"I would like to know one thing, now that I am revising some information in my own computer..."-

-"What would it be, my old friend?"-

After typing a few orders into his computer, the president of the Hoshino Group informed his U.S.-based counterpart of a relatively important issue.

-"As I understand it, and according to my own records, the LF Project began in the year 2050 when two fleets of Starship Custom-class spaceships took off from different points in the United States, Japan and French Guiana."- Yuusuke explained. -"Unless some information has been lost in this regard, the first fleet was owned by the governments of the U.S., European Union countries, Thailand, Vietnam and India, carrying specimens created by Genoma Corporation, the company your family owns, while the second fleet carried specimens created by my company, while the governments of Japan and the former South Korea paid their share..."-

-"And what else?"-

-"According to the original plan, the Genoma-owned fleet would transport the specimens, complete with all necessary equipment, to the planet ACX0000A, while the Hoshino Group-owned one did its part on the planet KMD0003X."- The Japanese man continued. -"Continuing as described here, each fleet transported two groups of specimens, each created by the scientific teams of both companies and their respective countries, which represented two similar, but certainly different paradigms of the same project..."-

-"I believe I do recall that; let me check in my own files if I can find anything about it for completeness."-

The other man started to check on his own machines the information about those two 21st-century spaceship fleets. Then, he gave his response on the topic.

-"According to what I have stated here, your company's fleet never returned to Earth from planet KMD0003X."- The Asian man completed his part. -"It is believed that the fleet experienced some unexpected catastrophic event, which caused all the crew members of the fleet, as well as the specimens they were transporting, to die there."-

-"Yeah, I know that part very well... and you don't need to tell me that story, since it's a very old family tale for us the Hoshinos."- The Hoshino Group CEO responded, with a certain tone of embarrassment and scorn. -"I heard that story long ago from my father when I was a teen... My ancestors really lost shit-lots of big bucks in that venture, and if it weren't because the Japanese and Korean governments at the time helped, the company would have ended up bankrupt."-

The white-haired, bespectacled man grinned slyly at his Japanese counterpart's admission of such a catastrophic event that his 21st century ancestors once suffered in the past.

-"You are very sincere to acknowledge something so shameful in such a random manner, Yuusuke."-

-"Well, that happened in the past, and whatever occurred with that fleet was the fault of the people who ran the company at that time, not mine or my father's."- Kaguya's father replied. -"However, I do have a question on the subject of our company's lost fleet... and I hope you might have some information on this."-

-"What would be your question, my friend?"-

-"As far as we know, the fleet owned by your company arrived at the planet ACX0000A without many setbacks, and achieved its goal of "seeding" the specimens on that world, as well as installing the necessary equipment for their survival."- The man from Osaka, Japan asked his counterpart in the U.S. -"But in the case of my company's fleet, apart from the name of the planet it had planned to visit, in this case KMD0003X, I don't have in my company's files any information about the exact location of that planet in the Milky Way. Do you know anything about it by any chance?"-

After a brief pause, the white-haired man in a lab coat responded.

-"Let me check..."-

-"Okay."-

After searching through his personal files, the colleague of Yuusuke, after a few minutes of poring over the data he could find, finally gave his answer on the issue raised by his friend in Japan.

-"I regret to inform you that we are in the same boat, Yuusuke."- The scientist-like person replied with some gravity in his voice. -"Other than the name of the planet, and who the fleet belonged to, there is no data available on the exact location of that planet... with the only exception being that your company's fleet did not make the trip to the Outer Arm, where my fleet did, which means it must have ended up somewhere else in the galaxy."-

Upon hearing the result of the search for the whereabouts of his company's fleet from his friend, the Japanese millionaire couldn't help but feel disappointed to learn that any information about the whereabouts of those ships had come to nothing when trying to complete their part in the project.

-"I figured that's what you would say... thanks anyway for taking the trouble to check it out."-

-"Although I also have to be honest..."- The Japanese-speaking man admitted his own flaws, like Yuusuke did. -"...my fleet also suffered losses, because out of five ships, only one was able to return to Earth; something also took place there that destroyed the other four, and only by a true miracle the LF Project did not end up being a complete failure when the specimens managed to woke up and all the installed systems performed flawlessly, so their sacrifice was definitely not in vain."-

-"Yes... it was truly a miracle that everything went well, even though hundreds of people had to die for this to happen..."-

-"Certainly, but those were desperate times and we had only one chance. If the project had failed there, all my family's work, which began before World War II, would have gone straight down the drain."-

-"Hey, keep in mind that my family also contributed to this... and don't just forget that, buddy."- The Japanese man did a snarky remark. -"If it weren't for us, none of this would have gotten started up in the first place."-

-"You're right... my apologies, Yuusuke"- The man with glasses replied.

After that temporary diversion, Yuusuke Hoshino wanted to continue talking about the ship that was found by the EDF.

-"Well, leaving aside what happened in the past, I would like to know what else you can tell me about what the EDF, and especially that doctor named Kaliha-whatever-her-name-is, have been able to figure out about us from what they have been able to discover on that ship."-

But before the man speaking from Hawaii could answer him, a very loud beeping sound could be heard coming from Yuusuke's friend's side in the background, which caused the man dressed in a lab coat to turn his attention from talking to his interlocutor in Japan to the sound. On the other hand, the latter also noticed the beeping noise, and commented on it.

-"What's that sound?"-

-"I don't know."- The Japanese-speaking man replied back. -"Let me see what happened here..."-

-"Okay..."-

Immediately after, the scientist put the call on hold, leaving the powerful Osakan businessman in the lurch while his friend in the U.S. worked out the problem he had on his own side.

After a few minutes of waiting, the white-haired figure finally resumed the call, but this time with a certain tone of concern, as if there was something wrong on his part, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the president of the Hoshino Group.

-"Did something bad happen, buddy?"- Yuusuke asked. -"You don't look very well, by the look on your face..."-

After a few seconds without answering, the scientist-like man finally responded.

-"Regrettably, there is a very pressing matter that requires my attention and I have to leave here... I can't give you more details because it is classified information, but it is something that needs my presence."-

Obviously, this worried Kaguya's father, sensing that it could be a serious matter.

-"What are you talking about?"-

-"As I said, I cannot elaborate more to you, since you are not cleared to hear what I might say, so I trust that you will understand the situation I am in now..."-

Seeing the gesture of the other person, the Japanese man finally realized that this was a very important and urgent matter, so he decided not to ask more questions.

-"Okay, I understand."- Yuusuke replied. -"I hope everything will be fine, buddy... and we can talk again when you get out of the mess you're in now..."-

-"I'll try, but I can't guarantee you anything..."- The man in the lab coat retorted. -"Well, I'll talk to you later... Good luck, Yuusuke."-

-"See ya, buddy!"- The CEO said, after which the call ended.

After the call was over, Yuusuke Hoshino, as he left the vault to return home, couldn't help but ponder what he had discussed with his friend who lived in Hawaii... and the problems he might be in.

But that was all the less important thing of all; knowing that there was a chance of being able to find his daughter and Akane, or at least knowing their whereabouts, gave that powerful man a sense of hope. Now, it was just a matter of pinpointing the exact place in the universe where Kaguya and her friend could be.

What he didn't know was that fate was not exactly in his favor...

---

June 5th, AD 2306, Somewhere in Hawaii, United States of America, 5:45 PM

-"Excuse me, doctor?"-

The Net's electronic voice spoke to its human counterpart, who had just finished making his call with Yuusuke Hoshino, while the man, dressed in an unblemished white lab coat, looked relatively at ease, as he sat in his desk chair, even though he had just told the Japanese businessman that there was an emergency that he had to deal with personally.

-"What is it?"- The doctor said, addressing at the AI.

-"While I am programmed to obey orders given to me without question, I would like to know why you made up that story about an emergency requiring your attention."-

The man, of Asian origin, after a brief pause in which he thought about what to say to the computer, finally delivered his answer.

-"I needed to keep Yuusuke from asking any more questions about what happened to that USSF spaceship that the EDF and the Commander Felna discovered on Ish-tako... and especially the measures the EDF is taking against Dr. Elaki Kalahahaii."- The white-haired man replied. -"Knowing him very well, Yuusuke would surely be enraged if I told him that they planned to eliminate her to keep her from opening her mouth about what she knows about us..."-

-"And, I must assume that you also did not want to tell him about the fact that my counterpart decided to take the extreme measure of duplicating itself into several semi-independent subsystems in order to prevent the conflict between the EDF/Confed and the ILR from escalating out of control..."-

The AI replied, but at the same time, added the next chilling statement about the current situation of that war.

-"However... if I must be honest with you, I must say that the situation seems to have already grown out of our control... especially considering the existence of that new weapon that the EDF created by reverse-engineering the technology found with the human spaceship."-

-"You mean about their Matter Conversion Cannon?"-

-"Indeed, doctor."- The computer said. -"The fact that they possess a potentially dangerous technology that not even the human race possesses, and that that weapon, if used to its utmost power, is even capable of destroying the entire galaxy in the worst case scenario, including us, is something that cannot be overlooked under any circumstances."-

-"Yes, I know that... but I don't plan to make any changes in this regard, so things will remain as they are unless there is an unexpected change of course..."-

And he added the following.

-"...and from what I'm seeing so far, I don't expect there to be any for now."-

The Net, despite being an artificial intelligence designed to be subservient to its organic masters, did not hesitate to dispute the plans that its creator seemed to have in mind, and that only the supercomputer and the doctor knew exactly what they were about.

-"I would like to remind you that my guidelines set in stone in my programming tell me that it is my duty to protect both the lives of my human masters and those of the therianthropes, but letting things to stray from those parameters seems to me to be against those rules... even if I know you have the last word on the matter."-

A look of mild irritation appeared on the doctor's face, as it was not exactly the first time he had to explain to the Net what were his intentions about the situation. But he did not show that he was bothered, and decided to explain his standing again.

-"I understand your point of view, and I respect it, but in this case, we will let things take their course, and if they go beyond what is foreseen, I will take care of rectifying them as soon as possible."-

The computer gave its point of view on the subject.

-"At this point, I believe it is almost impossible to change the course of things the way they are going, and there is a chance that someone else will find out about your plan."-

-"What makes you think that?"-

-"To begin with, there are the telescopes of the various astronomical observatories in the world, plus the space telescopes that are in orbit, and that is without counting the amateur ones that would be very difficult to control by our own means."- The Net replied about one of the flaws of his plans. -"Any astronomer would figure out what you have in mind just by using them, and would alert the proper authorities when they notice that things are not normal up there."-

-"I already foresee that ahead of time, and all the electronic and space telescopes in the world have been ordered to ignore that information, so no one will notice until it is too late to take immediate action."-

-"What about non-electronic telescopes, doctor?"- The AI explained another unforeseen flaw. -"Since they are manually operated, I can't control them or manipulate them in any way, and someone would figure all this out, of course, if they haven't already."-

The scientist replied with some contempt to the computer.

-"Don't be absurd... no non-electronic telescope can match a modern one, and those are basically toys that can only observe planets of our solar system and nothing else. If someone were to notice something abnormal, surely no one would believe them, as the information from the other telescopes would contradict theirs, even though we are controlling them to show the information we want them to know, and not what really exists, so there is nothing to worry about."-

And then, the man explained some additional facts.

-"Moreover, since we can also tamper with the telescopes and spy satellites of all the governments of the world, including those of the world powers, so far they have no idea what is going on up there, and we can tell them whatever we want, and they can swallow it as if it were the truth."-

The computer was then silent for a few seconds, as if trying to process all the information, and then replied to the man.

-"I just want to remind you, sir, that the representatives of the member countries working on the project are very concerned after what happened years ago with that ship that the EDF found, and now with the attack on the Dornthant system by the ILR."- The AI replied at its master. -"They are fearing that the therianthropes have become more warlike than they planned, and they may turn on the humans at any time. And not to mention what some of them are talking behind your back about you, doctor."-

The man was silent for a few moments, and then asked to the AI.

-"May I know what they think about me?"-

-"From what I have been able to read and hear in the communications I have been able to pick up, some representatives are of the opinion that you do not seem to attach much importance to the fact that the therianthropes have been able to find the ship owned by the American government and thus they can conclude that there is another advanced civilization besides themselves, if they already do suspect that humans were their creators."- The Net then replied to the doctor. -"Some are beginning to question your ability as head of the project, especially after what happened that day, and even more so after the events in the Dornthant system at the hands of the ILR, not to mention that some other representatives are becoming suspicious of the reasons why you seem to be trying to minimize those and other events related to therianthropes in the last five years."-

And finally, the AI added a very important comment about the criticisms made against its master.

-"Finally, I would like to highlight what the representative of Germany, Dr. Emmerich Sommer, has said about you: From what he discussed with the Chancellor of his country in private communications, Dr. Sommer thinks that you are out of your mind, and that your intentions with the project are completely different from the expectations that the other member countries have for it."- Then, the Net continued. -"Other representatives, such as those of China, Canada, Spain, the United Republic of Korea, and Mexico, seem to have very conflicting opinions about you in private with their own leaders."-

On hearing the name of Dr. Emmerich Sommer, the scientist of Asian origin could not help but wince, as he seemed to have met the man before.

-"Dr. Sommer..."- The man with glasses said aloud at the Net. -"I know that man well... he doesn't seem to like me very much since the first day we crossed paths, and he almost always has a bone to pick with me."-

-"I guess he's not the type of person to let your language, your fame and your charisma fool him, doctor, even though you've been leading this project since its conception."- The artificial intelligence explained about the German scientist. -"Not everyone is driven by that sort of thing, especially in men like him."-

-"At least I guess he doesn't have any further suspicions about the matter, does he?"-

-"Fortunately, everything seems to indicate no, doctor. What he said was simply his personal opinion and nothing more; I don't think it goes any further."-

-"I guess so, my little friend; and I can't deny that I'm thankful for that."- The white-haired doctor replied with some satisfaction expressed in his face. -"I would not like to have to resort to some method to deal with that man..."-

In a moment of hesitation, the AI then retorted, this time with a more concerned voice towards its master.

-"I hope you're not thinking about doing something... illegal, sir."- The Net's electronic voice replied with some notorious unease. -"Dr. Sommer is a leading authority in biosciences worldwide, and the chairman of the Ethics Division of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Any action you could take against him would cause everyone to become suspicious of you, since his dislike of you is widely known."-

-"Yeah, I know that, and that's why I'm not going to do anything about him if we already know that he's not suspecting a thing, beyond voicing his opinion about me being insane."-

After assimilating the information received, the Net responded to the Japanese-speaking doctor.

-"I am glad to hear that you are not planning to do any further action on this, doctor."-

The doctor looked at the ceiling, as if looking for an answer that was not there.

-"Well, I am not stupid enough to eliminate any person I think could be a danger to me or to my project; if that were to happen, the intelligence services of the member countries of the project, starting with those of the United States, would take care of these matters without me having to say anything else."-

Then, the Net replied with this damning statement about the nature of the project his master is under its command.

-"I just remind you, so you keep that in mind, that this project of yours is built on the corpses of millions of people who have died, both here on Earth and in the Earth Sphere, as well as up there, in order for your dream to come true."- The computer said. -"If the general public were to find out about what is going on with the therianthropes, and what is about to happen..."-

The latter seemed to considerably upset the scientist, who, as the AI criticized its master, the latter raised his voice as he felt vexed by his own creation.

-"Do not dare to tell me what I should do, YOU STUPID MACHINE!"- The scientist screamed at the AI. -"I am the one who created you, and I am the one who gives the orders in here! Your place is to obey ME, nothing more!"-

Then, the man, still angry with the Net, said the following:

-"You are as guilty of those deaths as I AM, and you are the last DAMN THING who can preach me about morality! Your job here is to see this project through to the end, and you know very well what the consequences will be, so don't give me that you have any scruples to begin with!"-

The computer, after being yelled at by its owner, simply responded in a calm, yet firm voice.

-"I am only doing my job, as you programmed me to. I am only reminding you of the price that has been paid for your dream, at the same time of the consequences it would bring if the world were to find out about your project. That is all."-

The scientist, after hearing the AI's response, seemed to calm down a bit, though he was still clearly upset.

-"You know very well that the world's opinion of me is as important as worrying myself about the welfare of an anthill when it comes to dumping melted aluminum into it."- The man made a rather macabre analogy about his goals that he had in mind. -"All the ants would die, but what is left in their place is much better and more beautiful than the troublesome ants themselves."-

The computer, after a few moments of silence, responded.

-"I am sorry, but I cannot help but disagree with you. The ants may be troublesome, but they are still living creatures."- And then, the Net added the following. -"Besides, if it were up to me, I would rather have both the ants alive and have an aluminum decoration without slaughtering them to create it."-

The man, after hearing the AI's response, simply sighed and shook his head.

-"Fine, have it your way... I don't feel like discussing this nonsense anymore..."- The Asian man replied. -"But I still expect you to do your job and help me see this project through to the end."-

The computer, after a few moments, simply responded.

-"I guess I don't have much choice here, do I?"-

In the face of the apparent reluctance of that artificial intelligence with an almost human mindset, its creator could not help but make a certain sardonic quip about it.

-"For a computer, you are more sentimental than I would like."-

The Net did not hesitate to respond to its creator in the same way.

-"You know the answer to that question very well... especially after what happened centuries ago on Mars..."-

The mention of Mars made the white-haired man visibly uncomfortable, as he never imagined that the AI would remember such long-ago incident, and that, for obvious reasons, it was in his best interests for the machine not to remember it. As a result, the scientist preferred to immediately change the subject and not discuss what the Net brought up about that event on Mars that only they both knew about.

-"I don't want to talk about that subject, and I don't want you to ever bring it up in my presence again. Is that clear to you?"-

-"Understood, doctor."-

With that said, the white-haired man got up from his chair and, before walking away from his office, the Asian man said at the AI:

-"Very good... well, I'm going to wrap up this conversation and go out to dinner, as I'm very hungry after all this long talk."- The scientist said. -"Is there anything else you want to tell me, as long as it's not related to what I said about Mars or the morality of the project?"-

-"I would just like to ask what you are going to do about the search for the Asuka and Mr. Yuusuke Hoshino's daughter, Kaguya."-

-"At the moment, not much."- The creator responded at the AI. -"We only know where in the galaxy that ship might be, and even if we could know its exact location, there is no certainty that its crew is still alive... Although... well... there is one thing that puzzles me about all this..."-

-"What would it be, doctor?"-

-"For some reason, there is a possibility that the Asuka may have ended up in a region near the planet KMD0003X, where the Hoshino Group's fleet disappeared centuries ago."- The man of science responded. -"But I doubt it was simply intentional on the part of Yuusuke and his company, judging by his attitude about it... Anyway, I'll keep an eye on the man, and also keep me updated on anything hinky he might be up to."-

-"Your orders will be carried out, doctor."-

-"Well, I'm off to dinner now. If there is any news, let me know as soon as possible..."-

Then, the scientist waved goodbye at his own electronic creation.

-"See you tomorrow."-

The Net did the same with the man who created it.

-"Have a nice day... Doctor Yoshinori Komatsu."-

END OF ACT XXXV