25th Shot: First Contact
Seeing Suika talked to a boar as if it's a human was entertaining and clearly reflected her genuine kindness to any living being. The little girl didn't hesitate to explained the situation in a short version to the said boar which, amazingly, seemed to completely understood every word.
Thank goodness they were already at the right place at the right time–by right meaning their adrenaline was instantly kicking and they still have some energy to spend in order to bolt towards a certain direction Shinko had pointed out. Francois and Suika were standing near the river, on the rocky part only a few steps away from the first contact of water. If someone were to wash an animal carcass after hunts, then this place was more than suitable–the flow of water is perfect to wash all the mud and blood away in just a few dips.
The prestigious butler was already strapping down the boar onto the table, missing even a few seconds could lead them to devastation because Francois might've butchered it for their long-lasting food supply. If that happened, they could kiss their only hope in finding Sagara Oil Field goodbye.
Francois, being a person who needs perfection in every aspect, unknowingly gave them some advantage from his unexpected delay in preparation. So, naturally, any form of oddity in or on the ingredients would be questioned–such as the peculiar scent of oil wafting from the boar.
"Suika wants you to take everyone there. To the place you played in the mud," the little girl remarked, trying to make her sentence as clear and as simple as possible for the boar. "To where the black jewel, to where the oil is!"
Understanding her words, the animal huffed and proceed to ran into a certain direction–a signal for them to followed it. And with that, their short break was cut off with another running spree–this time, they didn't have time to feel tired because adrenaline was kicking in from the excitement of finally discovering their most prized resource.
"Shit, you tamed it so freakin' quickly!" Chrome exclaimed between his breaths as they ran through the bushes and lush greeneries.
"Thank you, Sagara!" Suika cheered, in glee because the boar immediately took an understanding at her request.
"Sagara?" Kohaku questioned after hearing the unfamiliar name. "You named that boar?"
"It's food, you know." Senku commented, kind of reminding the possibilities of it being cooked as their preserved meal soon after they get their hands on the location. That sorts of attachment would be quite… burdening (Senku has less capabilities in describing it the more humane way), this sudden turn out event was only a short delay of what's coming.
"To become friends, Suika first has to give it a name!" It makes sense in some strange way because calling it 'boar' every time sounded quite uncomfortable in repetition.
Their conversation stopped abruptly and went forgotten quickly as they were now more focused in not losing sight of the mammal. It almost caught them off guard from how fast it's running, literally speeding and nearly left them in the dust–if somehow they were distracted just for a few seconds, then it would be gone for good to the lines of thick trees.
Senku knew his stamina wasn't the best, below average he realized–could be seen when he began to slightly fell out of his pace even though adrenaline still running in his bloodstream. Not to mention, they have been running all around all day so it's impossible to say they're in a tip top shape. The scientist huffed, craning his neck to look up the trees.
"That boar is fast," He informed, making sure his voice distinct from the flurries of footsteps and rustling of foliage they barged in through. The more he ran, the more his feet refuse to compromise–sooner or later he would be out of fuel and the boar didn't seem to led them to anywhere near the destination yet. "Make sure you don't lose it, huntress!"
"Rest assure, Senku-san." Said scientist almost missed the reply being masked by all the ruckus circling around him, but he knew he didn't need to say anything else because blurs of beige and pink already bolted between the branches up ahead. Shinko took a head start, almost quite literally leaving a trail of dust behind the ones running upon the ground–which served as an immediate reminder that she's indeed fast.
The scientist never bothered himself with the details, and it's supposed to be extremely apparent now that he recalled different previous events involved–her experiencing the first light being lit after 3,700 years, the walk (jump was more likely) from their ship-building site to the village in just mere 16 to 18 hours, her constant report even throughout the search on the ground. Damn huntress is fast, probably following Kohaku closely–people who showed up and tangled in Senku's life always been far from normal he lost count.
"Just up ahead!" His short thoughts were broken by Shinko's muffled call not far from where they're running. The information became an unexpected shot of energy, magically pushing them to run even faster which he didn't think possible considering they were low on energy.
In just a short time, black color showed up in Senku's line of sight, sending his heartbeat roaring against his eardrums.
The abnormal color was extremely out of place–circled by greeneries and gathered in a single open space. Sharp scent of gasoline invading his senses, something modern-time people wouldn't ever dream to miss–and kept getting stronger as their distance shortened. It brought nostalgia in a strange way after getting used to the scent of smoke and coal when it's what they constantly use as fuel–in this still-primitive stone world, there are only logs, sticks, and dried plants to keep fire running.
Sagara finally stopped, diving head first to the nearest puddle–having the greatest time and bliss in rolling around into the black liquid with thick consistency. When it stopped, then it also signaled that their journey was ended.
Fatigue lingering heavy in his bones were forgotten in an instant, Senku eagerly kneeled down and his eyes inspecting nearest the puddle to his feet–ruby red eyes hungrily drinking what's in his sight. There's no way he wouldn't recognize this inky substance mirroring his figure upon its surface, there's no way that his eyes and knowledge wronged him because it's what brought them to this very day of advanced speed in building back modern civilization.
Months passed and it finally brought them to this very moment, the exact moment they've been waiting and hoping between accumulating signals of distress, frustration, and giving up.
"This is the spot!" Kohaku was already confirming what she had seen from the aerial photograph in her hand–the unerasable black smudge she and Shinko noticed from staring at it closely. Her eyes shone in pure delight. "The very one Shinko and I found on the aerial photography! The mysterious black puddle!"
Once Senku successfully fishing out a petri dish from one of his leather satchels, Shinko was ready with a sample–scooping a little of the mud using a small shovel. Dumping the content on the glass container by his cue, the scientist then placed it on the nearest dry and flat surface he could find.
Lighting a match stick, he didn't hesitate to bring it down to the sample–the black substance ignited instantly, forming rather vicious flame licking and feeding of both from it and oxygen; and rendered Kohaku, Chrome, along with Suika in both disbelief and amazement.
"The black muddy water! Even though it's water, it can burn!?" Suika gasped, eyes never leaving the still roaring flame dancing on the petri dish.
Kohaku immediately has her eyes on Senku, face supporting eagerness with a question on tow. "With this power, you'll be able to power a boat!?"
"Yeah, at last! Here in the new world, humanity has acquired the king of all resources. We've acquired energy!" A big declaration and it's not an empty statement–they truly found it, the energy crucial almost at every aspect during their past civilization and the ultimate resource which could produce other resources with the right process.
Senku could feel his cheeks began to strain from the excited grin still plastered on his face–of course he couldn't help it, not when he finally had the current main goal of this long journey of tracking, mapping, and observing on his palm. Upon his plan and command, it's free to use as he pleases.
At last, indeed. They've been searching tirelessly for this very spot, the place which brought them a step closer to one of their big goals; the journey towards the other side of the globe. They had overcome one of the biggest hurdles there is.
Finally! The word kept circling his head, drowning his mind in waves of euphoria and he soaked in it as much as he could. He and his team deserved it more than anything, to bask in this historical moment.
"Now, can we take a break? I think I'm gonna die."
Chrome's voice, sounded more likely to a pleading, acted as an unexpected douse of cold water pouring over burning stove–peeling them off their very last drop of energy in an instant. The adrenaline swimming in their bloodstream was depleted, leaving them with sore muscles, out of breath, and dripping in sweat.
Five of them slumped to the ground in tired huffs and groans from how their knees finally gave up–although the brunette, Kohaku, and Suika still had a spare of energy excitedly discuss about what the crude oil can do and possibilities of invention that will be build revolving around it.
The scientist dragged himself towards the nearest tree, using all of his will as limited reserve energy–the only thing that ran his body currently was might. His limbs truly felt like soggy noodles–all limp and lifeless, his bones felt like concrete under his own skin. It's a miracle he still had the ability to walk and not crawled on the ground like some disfigured worm wiggling from scorching heat. On tow, Ukyo and Shinko trailed after him–suffering similar fate of dropping dead, leaning against the closest tree bark.
Especially, Senku noted, the said huntress who slumped forward, back bended until her face almost met her knees (her legs were stretched on the ground and Senku questioned on why didn't she strain any muscle because he surely would). Swallowing heavily and licking her lips to add moisture, she croaked. "I don't think I can jump on trees for the next few days…"
"Heh, nice knowing you're still human unlike the big oaf." The scientist rasped, already feeling his soul slowly but surely leaving him–physical activities are never Senku's forte exactly how knowledge is never Taiju's field. But of course, they had their own flaws and advantages–while Taiju's never-ending stamina makes up for what he lacked, same goes with Senku's advanced and extensive knowledge about different aspects of science.
At least, the sky's rather merciful–the sun wasn't that eagerly shining and wasn't on its mission to bake them crisp, the trees shielded and provided comfortable cool shade to rest under. Not moving an inch for at least an hour would be a great way to slowly gather some energy in order to return to the village in one piece.
"Here, have some water first or you'll get dehydrated." Ukyo exhaled slowly, nudging a bottle of water towards Shinko from his spot which was beside her–them with their usual sitting arrangement, really close with shoulders almost touching.
Without further ado, Shinko accepted the offering and replenished herself with the cool drink. She probably downed the whole thing dry and honestly, Senku could relate because he reached for his own and drank it empty in one go.
Finishing her share, Shinko sighed in content and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand–Senku noticed how Ukyo's shoulders shook slightly from his chuckles watching said young woman getting herself comfortable. Chrome was right on the money with how disgustingly domestic they are–if cavities were to happen every time people witness this kind of interaction real life, then Senku needed to play the role as dentist with endless patients on the list.
"I feel alive again. After all the running, water tastes like heaven." The young woman breathed, closing her eyes in order enjoy some breeze that passed by. After sprinting the whole time, their body bound to feel as if it was cooked inside out. "How about your drink, Ukyo-san?"
For now, they still had decency to not actually draping against each other–having skin-to-skin contact would make everything feel like a furnace. However, much to Senku's distaste, both had in them to act as newly wed couple as they always do (whether they even realized it or not) and he sort of understood said torture Chrome mentioned frequently–the magnificent ability to render someone as background characters immensely you would want to flee from the scene.
Different case for the girls, they definitely drank this sight hungrily and rooting for it in high spirits (especially Yuzuriha and Minami–Senku caught them talked over this once and it's the only thing they spoke of the whole day in the end).
"It's fine, I have some spare. After this, we definitely need a well-deserved bath." The ex-sonarman commented, fanning himself using his yellow hat to cool down. He wiped another line of sweat from his forehead, his once dry and tidy white hair now flattened down from the precipitation and heat. "I feel sticky and disgusting."
Lord, bath sounds extremely seducing even if it's just dumping their whole body into water without soap–at least they could wash the stickiness and grime away and finally changed into dry and clean clothes, the scientist almost groaned at the thought. If Senku somehow fell asleep and dreamt about bath, he wouldn't wonder why the hell he even had it in the first place.
"…So, I'm guessing we're going to build an oil mine soon enough?" Shinko questioned in a quieter tone. When Senku gave her a glance, she already made herself comfortable by laying her head down on Ukyo's thigh whilst the said young man played with strands of her pink-colored hair.
Senku did what any functionally, sane person would do when facing this kind of situation–deliberately ignored the blatant display of affection.
However, he answered the question nonetheless–just with less looking. Senku snorted from the rhetorical question and grinned. "It doesn't even count as a question, huntress. To get the kind of oil we need, first we have to get the industry running. Get excited, people!"
The Sagara Oil Fields have been discovered!
.
.
3,700 years wasn't a short time–it's not fleeting unlike one day or a week or even a month, and it's not in a flash when you have to count millions to billions of second in order to get a precise number, date, and season. Wishing that nothing's changed after the ridiculous amount of time passed is unthinkable–changes will come whether we wish for it or not and all we could do is adapt to it to the very best because it's the only way to survive.
The world they once take an understanding to is gone, reduced to a beautiful memory and something people took for granted now that they have lost it. Some things they have known from modern time was rendered useless and they were forced back to square one. Currently, trying to re-learn and re-build everything, including re-discovering their own homeland which has changed so much is the only thing they could do to keep moving forward–another reason it took quite a long time to locate the Sagara Oil Field in the first place. However, with diligence and hard work of their teams, they finally grasped the milestone–everything was paid off the sweetest way and now they could at least let their shoulders unwind a bit.
Shinko had tears of relief especially when they moved on from the phase of walking extra mile to locate the crude oil field–call her emotional or even overreacting, her legs seemed to detached itself (and it would be if she needed to walk another mile) therefore she deserved to enjoy this rewarding time the fullest. For the time being, she and the survey team were free from lengths of journey outside the village and building-site–having to stay is a blessing as she began to miss the others.
Even though they still had work, and it would keep going because they have a long way to go for the preparations, it's better as it's done in a single place to another alternatively–traveling between the building-site and the village was easier by the hot air balloon. Shinko relished the feeling of staying longer than just a few hours as much as she could.
Okay, stop with all the internal monologue because she still had work to do and it wouldn't be done by slacking off.
Huffing, Shinko began to roll the barrel underneath her palm carefully to its designated place which was rows of the same object piled onto one another in a more secluded place near the oil mine. Just as Senku planned, they managed to build several oil-well houses not far from the field including its necessary components. The Gorilla Team (Shinko swore she could hear Kohaku's screech of fury from the outrageous name) definitely done a splendid job in inhumane speed. How they managed to build a house in a day was beyond Shinko's sane mind of comprehension.
Wasting no time, crude oil was processed immediately inside the houses with detailed science principles she didn't have any grasp on (Senku did enthusiastically explained as if it was the easiest thing in existence while she assisted him and Shinko found her brain smoked in the middle of the express course). Fortunately, she at least understood that the steps he applied gave them a good quality of petroleum–the main reason why they had several barrels ready to use as it kept flowing without any hindrance.
They finally acquired oil!
"You did it Sagara!" She could hear Suika's gleeful cheers and hearing her especially enthusiastic because of Sagara's discovery was enough to make Shinko's chest filled with warmth and fondness. The little girl is, without a doubt, a breath of fresh air for them.
However, soon enough the bright celebrating atmosphere shifted into a gloomier one after realization dawned upon her. It probably slipped her mind for a little while from the euphoria of finding what they've been searching for so long–and now, she needed to face the upcoming harsh truth. Petting the boar who's confused by her gesture, Suika muttered sadly, "But Francois is going to turn him into food… Right…?"
She didn't have it in her look at saddened Suika.
"What are you going to do, Senku-san?" Shinko questioned after finishing her spare of work, wiping her hands with a cloth to get rid of the stain of oil and dirt. Standing beside the scientist, she noticed how he wordlessly watched Suika's interaction with Sagara–supporting a knowing look, softened on the edges.
And the young woman let her shoulders loosened, understanding that an answer wasn't needed because his expression already spoke a clear explanation.
Senku scoffed harmlessly, maybe noticing the nagging sensation courtesy of her stare. "Why are you asking me, huntress? Asked the one behind the wheel for food preparation and processing." And of course, said person he mentioned was none other than Francois themselves coincidentally already standing nearby–they always have a certain knacked to show up the most convenient time. "Francois! Let me hear your opinion as our master chef. Should we eat this boar?"
They didn't immediately answer–delaying their reply seemingly on purpose after studying Senku's intention. Understanding the underlying interpretation, the professional butler gave them a simple smile before turning away to return to their more urgent matters at hand–leaving them to their own devices once again. "No. It's unsuitable for eating as it reeks of oil. The scent is too deeply permeated into its flesh."
"You heard them. You can let it go or take it home with you. Whatever you want." Senku snickered as he watched the moments when Suika's eyes became slightly tearful from the news as she reached out to hug Sagara tightly–the boar seemed to understand whatever's going on because it snuggled against the little girl in return.
"I'm so happy! Now, we can be friends!" She exclaimed, accompanied by Chalk's excited barks.
"Isn't it great, Suika-chan?" Shinko commented with a smile, the happiness completely erased the once rather gloomy atmosphere hanging. Her eyes then move to focused on Senku's figure–said scientist who noticed underlying mirth and amusement behind her smile rolled his eyes in return. Shinko's smile shifted into a familiar wide, annoying grin in Senku's point of view.
"Stop with the creepy grin, huntress." He remarked, his tone was dripping in familiarity mix of light sarcasm and his signature 'it's obvious'–Senku's way of talking which pictured his personality perfectly, an extremely blunt young man who never sugarcoated nor beating around the bush with his words.
Folding his arms upon his chest with a sigh, he continued. "You've got to reward the people that achieve good results to keep their morale up."
Shinko found herself humming in faux understanding, shrugging her shoulders as she did. "Is that so, Senku-san?"
Ukyo, who approached and standing beside her did the same thing with the additional pulling down his hat. Mirroring her gesture and inviting himself into the convo, he added. "But is that really the reason you did it?"
"Huh? What other reason would I have?" Senku replied as if it was the most obvious thing around, as if they didn't know him at all–and somehow it sounded more defensive than it's supposed to.
"You're really kind, Senku-san. Has anyone mentioned that?" Shinko decided to tone down her teasing, choosing to really expressed her thoughts into words.
Even though he lets his tongue loose and unfiltered words flow, the young man was far from cruel nor heartless. He knew when to acted like it and knew when not to–everything seemed to came natural from him, straightforward and true. Maybe that's the reason people put their trust blindly to Senku aside from his magnificent inventions and plans on his belt. To Shinko, the scientist is probably one of the most empathetic persons among them–never undermined someone's effort, taking their feelings into account, and always found something to boost their morale up behind the 'necessary' façade he wore consistently.
No one is more suitable leading them to rebuild humanity other than him.
Shinko loves honesty and as always, her honesty to him was met with an undisclosed disgusted look thrown instantly after the words left her mouth.
Sputtering from the utmost sincerity, she had an incurring series of laughter until her stomach and knees gave up on her. Leaning onto Ukyo for support, the ex-sonarman indulged her childish antics–wrapping an arm around her waist, shaking his head helplessly as he watched her keep giggling under her palm.
"Stop talking crap." The scientist deadpanned and nothing is more amusing than seeing his reaction and uptake towards emotional and sentimental words–which he frequently showing distaste of. Senku has been the one to have particular and noticeable disliking on this kind of things.
"You're having too much fun with this, Shinko." Ukyo remarked, still holding onto the giggling young woman as she had her fun.
"So, Senku-san, how many more barrels we need? Because I think," Shinko glanced briefly at the said objects lining up neatly. "We definitely have more than enough samples."
A barrel's content is at least around 42 gallons–quite a number on its own and now they have more, it's an enormous supply waiting to be tested. The main goal was fuel and without a doubt, Senku already knew they ways to get it with a higher quality–that and maybe several other useful goods along the way. The scientist wouldn't miss this golden moment.
Chuckling in amusement, Senku finally remarked, "There's no such thing as enough when it involves oil! Everything can be used and once we make and build everything fuel-based, there's no stopping the flow."
He's not wrong–oil and other goods derived from it worked like magic, that's why once industrial era started everything was fast as lightning. Hence the reason why oil received great honorary titles such as 'king of resources' and 'black jewel'. The world suddenly revolves faster when oil involved.
Ukyo hummed in understanding. "I guess we're really going to distill all of these."
"Do we need to make another air pump? According to my memory if you want to do some distilling, we need a working and constant source of heat." Shinko commented, quite worry about the possibility of another resource they have to make.
"No worries about that," Senku cackled manically–the kind of cackle which made both Ukyo and Shinko automatically moved a few steps back knowing that it's a sign that the scientist is up to something. "We're focusing on Fractional Distillation in Crude Distillation Unit! To get gasoline we need at least 120 degrees and 270 for diesel fuels, if we need anything more, we just need to up the heating! Higher than 650 degrees, we'll get bitumen asphalt-"
The point is, they didn't need to worry too much after all and just leave it to Senku.
.
.
After he deemed the oil mining was enough for the day, Senku announced that it was time to move on to a greater phase of their plan–testing the product to use. The main reason they turned Shizuoka upside down for oil was to use it as a more refined fuel than coal, which is why a test is a must to ensure it's suitable as the ship's fuel. Two barrels were brought to the Kingdom of Science main area via the hot air balloon and Senku was more than eager to make use of it.
To be honest, Shinko was always think positively about anything Senku managed to build from scratch (except the industrial bread from before, but she refused to remember the horrible incident) and without a doubt the others had the exact same opinion–whatever Senku's project, either big or small, it definitely passed with flying colors sometimes only need a little fix and it's done.
Which now led them towards an extremely familiar vehicle from modern time floating innocently on the body of water.
Hands on his waist, the scientist was knee deep into the river and already wearing a live vest–standing right beside said vehicle in a nonchalant way unlike the rest of them who almost had their brain rewired. "And right now, to the oil test."
Shinko laughed nervously at the sight from her position standing on the drier side. How Senku managed to build it overnight passed her mind. "I didn't think I would see this in the stone world."
"This…is…a motorboat, isn't it!?" Leave it to Gen to express their disbelief in the most correct way–sometimes Shinko thought his eyes would pop out of its socket from the constant strain it has every time he was struck by lightning or having an early cardiac arrest from Senku's revelation.
"Oh, what's that? You wanted to hear more about the engine, not the boat?" and said scientist seemed to forgot that everyone has less capabilities to understand science and not a young prodigy unlike him. "It's a stirling engine. We made a stirling refrigeration unit to freeze Tsukasa, right? By moving the pistons, we were able to create a difference in the temperature. And then, if you just put it in reverse, the difference of the temperature moves the pistons and-"
"Ummm, no, I wasn't asking about the engine…" Gen muttered quietly, probably not expecting Senku's sudden science lecture–and most of all, the quite rare upbeat of his tone whilst doing so.
"So, with this boat, we can finally do it!?" It looked like Ryusui was finally catching up with Senku's excitement seeing as he's their captain for the voyage. "Can we go out to the sea!?"
Senku chuckled in amusement before replying, "Depending on the quality of Mr. Sagara's Oil Field materials." He already made himself comfortable on the driver's seat of the boat, watching as Gen's shaky hands finding courage to pour gasoline into the boat's fuel chamber.
"Is it okay to just pour it in…? Seriously…?" Said mentalist wasn't lying about not wanting to possibly ruin the vehicle even though he didn't have to worry about such thing.
"You can switch with me, Gen-san." Taking a pity especially looking at Gen's trembling hands and his complexion turned few shades lighter, Shinko volunteered to do the deed instead–and the young man with dual hair color was more than happy to let her took the wheel. Shrugging her footwear, the young woman dipped her feet into the shallow water without hesitation and approached the boat.
The flask in her hand had quite a weight although not too much to strain her wrist. Body made of glass displayed its content clearly–yellowish liquid filling it to the brim. Placing the tube into the fuel chamber opening, Shinko studied the fast rate of the liquid flown and just in a few seconds, she found herself with an empty flask. Of course a flask was far from sufficient to make the vehicle to function properly, but just several trips of refilling it with the content from the barrel was enough.
"Let me fill it again from the barrel, Shinko-chan~" Despite being extremely reluctant to fill the vehicle, Gen still offered to refill the flask, something Shinko was grateful for since she didn't have to walk back and forth from the river to the barrel–she just needed to wait for Gen returning and bringing along a full flask. He seemed happy to do so.
"Thank you, Gen-san." Handing over the empty flask, the young woman thanked the dual-haired mentalist–who immediately skipped towards the barrel while humming an unfamiliar tune.
Currently, Shinko's quite interested on the possible future passengers of the motorboat–seeing as they were only four seats, it means limited only limited people could be carried. Senku's already in by default, especially knowing this is his project in the first place. Ryusui undoubtedly having the most ambition onboard–he's a man of the sea even before the petrification and as their captain, he should be involved to evaluate anything regarding sailing.
Chrome would want to be a part also–the stone-world scientist never missed any chance to try anything new and this counted as one of them, he's practically curiosity on legs. Fifty-fifty for Gen–the mentalist is the most laid-back one, he would go if he's asked but there's also possibilities him rejecting the idea. He's an unpredictable man. So far, only three fixed passengers, the last one could be anyone or even none at all.
Ukyo could be a candidate considering he's an expert at things surrounding the sea–years of experience in marine is under his belt, being used to naval operations as easy as switching his palm. He probably had more history with the sea than any of them, including Ryusui, considering being in marine revolved around the body of water itself. Senku wouldn't miss a crucial knowledge such as this, and Ukyo might as well already in the list without him even knowing.
"Shinko, you're boring holes to my soul," said ex-marine chuckled in amusement, which snapped Shinko out of her reverie–she didn't even realize staring at Ukyo, who stood not far away with her shoes in hand, so blatantly he had to point it out. However, they already passed the at-arms-length phase so neither of them feeling flustered–Shinko didn't shy away from Ukyo's gaze and Ukyo boldly challenge her by looking straight in the eye.
Humming in return, she straightened her back and stood upright. "Are you going to join Senku-san and the others on the first drive to the sea?"
Ukyo shrugged his shoulders lightly–approaching closer, who's sitting on the riverbank, he decided to fold his legs and took a seat beside her. "Probably if Senku asked. I'm about to ask you the same thing."
"Why would Senku-san want me on board?" Shinko frowned at the idea–it didn't fit anywhere in their current situation. "It's impossible to have enemies other than storms and waves at the sea."
She had no capabilities or advantages on water surface, the only thing she had is her sight–which is rather useless when they didn't have anything particular to look up to. Foes don't exist currently, and as far as everyone knew, Japan is the only populated place on earth–with a little number at that. The number of residents couldn't increase without revival fluid, something they lacked of since the Miracle Cave has been destroyed.
"It's always an honor to have a beautiful lady on board!" Ryusui's boisterous yet signature exclamation almost pierced a hole into Shinko's eardrums. Accompanied by firm and gentle hold on her hand, the said young man showed none other than eagerness which is genuine. "There's always a room for you!"
Shinko laughed nervously, not knowing how to react even though she's getting used by the captain's antics. "Maybe the term seat is more likely."
"Whatever my lady said!"
"And it's better if you kneeled on the ground rather than the water, Ryusui. You'll catch a cold." Ukyo's the one who added–literally pointing out that the taller man shouldn't be submerged into the body of water and could be doing whatever he wanted to do on dryland instead.
"Thank you for the wait, my lady~"
Thankfully, Gen's timing is always perfect and immaculate–immediately distracting them from the hustle and moved forward to another topic instead. Understanding that she had an on-going job to be done, Ryusui removed his hold and back to whatever thing he needed to discuss with Senku–leaving Shinko to her own devices voluntarily. It's a great relief knowing she didn't know how to reject nor dismiss the young captain.
"Why thank you, kind sir." Gen grinned at the reply, probably understanding she had two things to thank him for. The flask placed on her palm, she continued her work in filling the fuel chamber.
"That's the love potion!" Taiju exclaimed so suddenly whilst approaching them–bringing along heavy weights they needed. Everyone's attention was stolen in an instant–definitely not from his usual booming voice, instead it's the particular thing which is out of place he mentioned so confidently. "You find someone you like, Senku!?"
Shinko blinked slowly in confusion, trying to comprehend that indeed Taiju yelled love potion and it wasn't just her imagination.
"Love potion?" Thankfully, it's not only her. It applied to every person who's in the area and Chrome graciously repeated their inner thoughts out loud.
"What are you talking about, Taiju-chan?" Gen added.
Taiju kept sniffing the air even after he declared so, and the only thing that smelled so strong around was the fuel. It wasn't that hard to piece everything together in one's mind. The love potion Taiju referred to is the fuel–and it led Shinko to perplexion.
The young man then continued with the same enthusiasm. "That day in the Science Room, you made me one didn't you!? To give me courage to confess my love to Yuzuriha-!"
Now, Shinko spiraling into an existential crisis because first; Taiju was going to confess to Yuzuriha!? He's really intending to do that!? And second; Senku gave him gasoline disguised as love potion!?
That was two completely wrong scenarios in one line.
"It was the last thing you did that day, before we all got turned to stone."
It didn't take long for the scientist to laugh manically, sputtering at first before it turned into a full-blown rather hysterical laughs and cackles. "I did say that, didn't I!? I told you it was a 'love potion'! And you still believed me even now, ya blockhead! That was gasoline!"
"What!? Really!?"
He's clearly having his blast deceiving Taiju–however, the most concerning would be how Taiju still believed him all this time. Maybe he continued to do so if not for Senku's revelation, his trust on the scientist is amazing and quite disturbing at the same time.
"If someone like you, with absolutely no bias says that they smell the same," Toning down his laughs, now there resurfaced his quite serious and confident tone. He then chuckled in amusement. "Kukuku, then without a doubt these Sagara Oil Fields are just like what I made the day from the plastic bottle cap. A carbon count of 5-12, super high-quality gasoline!"
Ryusui harrumphed, "In other words, the final thing you made, Senku, in the former world your act of science was to make gasoline. And now, here in this new world, at last we have arrived at that point. From here on out, we push beyond that and move forward!"
A sign as a beginning for their oil testing. Soon after, the designated passengers were on board already wearing their own life-vest and the engine roared to life. Gen's unexpectedly being dragged into was probably the highlight of the trip–he undoubtedly preferred dryland than wide open sea.
"Well then, be careful on your trip. Both going from and back to the village." Shinko remarked, throwing them a smile. She finished her spare job of filling the motorboat with fuel, now she would wait for new assignment to come especially after the test.
One thing she wished for them was luck and careful for their short endeavor–even though it wouldn't take long, it's still considered as a trial and anything could happen along the way.
"Tell us if anything happens, okay?" Her sentence was finished by Ukyo, who's still standing by her side–in the end, he didn't join and he looked far from disappointed about it. Shinko took a relief in his reaction, because it's been quite a while since Ukyo departed from the sea when during modern humanity he's practically dived into it and resurfaced only at certain times. She thought he might miss the feeling.
"Ha? Whaddya talkin' about?" Senku drawled and looked at the two of them incredulously, as if they suddenly cursed and became fishes. Pregnant silence soon followed before being broken by said people he referred to.
"Huh?" Ukyo and Shinko unhelpfully replied at the same time.
And there it showed, the scientist's infamous scheming face–the very thing Kohaku and Chrome reminded them to be aware of because he's undoubtedly up to no good if that face appears in your line of sight. They also did mention something about running for your life once you've seen it, unfortunately both Ukyo and Shinko didn't have such luck nor preparation to do so.
Senku announced with a maniacal grin and Shinko imagined their death sentence. "You're coming with us, Ukyo, Huntress!"
"HUH!?"
Not even waiting for the two to fully comprehend, Gen and Senku sprang into action–the mentalist grasped Ukyo's hand while Senku's hand latched onto Shinko's wrist. At the same time, the engine roared to life–sudden jolt of energy pulled the two off the riverbank with almost no restrain.
Quite a dangerous act, fortunately Ukyo and Shinko was already squeezed into the limited space left in the motorboat before their view turned to flurry of colors–the speed wasn't something to laugh at if somehow they're still dangling.
"HAHAHAAH!" Ryusui cackled, his smugness and satisfaction were clear and thick–he didn't even mind to take a seat, accepting all the harsh wind thrown at him. "With that gasoline, we finally soar beyond our Japan to the unknown new world of humanity! To the great oceans with our ship of science!"
Shinko clutched the boat's ledge for dear life, her heartbeat thumping painfully against her eardrums even from the loud noises of the engine and rushing of water below when the vehicle cut through the surface. Not for long, the fresh forest air was replaced with windy and salty sea air–thick greeneries changed into wide-open space all in blue color. In an instant, they were racing fast to the deeper waters and leaving the land into nothing but a speck of dust in view.
"WHOAAA!" It surely excited Chrome to no end–this was probably the most far he's ever been to the sea or even more. "Shit! In no time, the land has completely disappeared!"
"The horizon is only a few kilometers away, after all!" Ryusui replied with the same enthusiasm.
"This is the first time I'm seeing only ocean around," Chrome commented–now that they're main objection driving quite far away was fulfilled, Senku finally decreased their speed. Thankfully, the waters were calm with no threats of rain or even huge waves–it's a sunny day with a great weather. "It's kind of lonely. Like we're the only ones in the world."
"I could relate to that, Chrome-san." At last, Shinko had the courage to let go of the ledge and shifted so she could sit more comfortably rather than being stiff as a log. Sighing, she pressed a hand onto her chest–feeling her heart slowly calming down and not trying to break through her ribcage. "The ocean is enormous, it easily makes us feel extremely small."
It's true–no matter how you look, no matter which direction you craned your neck, all you see is water and accompanied by that was steady and constant sound of waves and splashes. Other than, that probably screeches of seagulls or different species of birds. Ocean is a huge, indefinite open-space so wide it rendered you with turbulence of insignificance along with helpless feeling of being devoured to the bones. As much as it's the home of beauty beyond words, it also held the same amount of danger beneath and on the surface alike.
"Yeah," Ukyo agreed, he's definitely faring well than Shinko. "Even though the earth is 70% water is something we knew as a fact."
"Aside from that, good to see you're alive, Shinko-chan~" Gen remarked, rather too cheerfully at that–which made said young woman's eye twitched in annoyance. He clearly enjoyed her suffering and didn't even bother to hide it.
Sighing in defeat, Shinko glanced over her shoulder to give him a weak glare. "I think my lifespan decreased by 10 years…"
A yellow-colored material was thrusted into her face a second later–she almost jumped by the unexpected action before reaching out for it slowly. Craning her neck up, she was met with Senku's gaze on her–ruby red eyes pointed to the life-vest. "Wear that first and complain later."
"Thank you, Senku-san." Shinko replied, smiling nervously in return. Slipping the guard over her head, she looped the belt around her waist–both material and the components were extremely similar to a modern life-vest, Senku was never one to neglect safety. Bright color could be easily spotted between amongst dark blue and there's even a signal flute. Once she finished buckling up, a hand settled on her shoulder. Looking over her shoulder for the second time, Shinko met Ukyo's gaze.
"Hey, you're okay?" He asked gently–warmth flooded into her heart, it's always the same thing he asked whenever there's a hint of uncomfortableness detected from her. That's all Ukyo has ever been; kind, selfless, and considerate. Others are always above him and he always puts himself second to everything–his previous request of alliance with Senku was an example.
Sometimes, Shinko wished he could be more selfish.
In return for his attentiveness, Shinko couldn't help but smiled–a little bit more relaxed than before. His hand already served as an assurance spoke more than a thousand words. Nodding, she replied, "I'm fine. Kind of in shock but I'll manage."
The ex-sonarman chuckled, gesturing Gen to switched places with him–the mentalist did so without much protest (in fact, he's quite eager with it) and now Ukyo was sitting right behind her. She noticed that he already wore his own vest. "It's alright though. The boat is sturdy and the weather is good. If anything will happen, Ryusui would probably know. We'll be fine."
She trusted him fully; when Ukyo said it would be fine, then it would.
"I think I've lost track of where we came from. Can we get back like this?" Chrome questioned in a shaky tone, there's cold sweat trailing down his temple as realization dawned on him that they could possibly be lost when everything looked the same no matter how and where you looked. "We'll be in the real ocean for several hundred times longer than this. The ocean is incredible!"
Ryusui scoffed. "Don't worry, we have a sextant!" He then announced, thrusting the said object to the air–since when did he bring that along?
"Didn't I say the accuracy on that is trash?" Gen tried to remind him that it's basically useless. On their case, it's definitely so–Senku mentioned that earth's axis was tilting since 3,700 years isn't a laughable number, they would need to build another pointer based on the stone world's condition. High percentage of accuracy was non-tolerable because their trip would be all or none at all.
"This has everyone's life on the line, and we've only got one shot at it." The said scientist commented. "We need 10 billion percent accuracy or nothing!"
"But how should we do that?" A question not easy to answer because all basic pointers are duds at this point–they couldn't rely on fundamentals from 3,700 years ago. Shinko frowned at the thoughts, feeling uneasiness creeping in. The same sinking feeling when you finally hit the wall. "We can't rely on compasses nor the stars anymore. Constellations surely shifted."
"I'm going to make GPS." Senku announced without a single hitch in his breath.
"G!?"
"P!?"
"S!?"
Shinko prayed that Ukyo, Ryusui, and Gen didn't suffer from cardiac arrest in sequence.
Of course, the scientist's ideas are always on thin line to madness, however he did have a crucial point this time–while they couldn't rely on north direction nor the stars to lit the way to their destination, without a doubt they could make use of electromagnetic waves to pin point locations. Electromagnetic wave is the only thing that never changed.
"How can we make GPS when there's no satellite, Senku-san?"
Gen snapped his gaze towards her in an instant, eyes widened in pure disbelief from her being extremely nonchalant. "How are you fine with this, Shinko-chan!? Didn't you hear what Senku-chan said before!? Another impossible craft!"
"Well, if Senku-san said he will make it, then he will." Said young woman stated. The scientist always holds onto his words, he's never been the one who had empty promises if it involved science. Aside from that, the inventions they had spoken volume–it could take some time, but Senku would make it work regardless.
Ukyo laughed nervously as a respond. "It's amazing how you're not losing your mind over this."
"What's a GPS anyway?" Chrome questioned, looking more perplexed than ever.
"It's an abbreviation for Global Positioning System, Chrome-san." Shinko began explaining–her hand gesturing to the sky to emphasize. "During our time, it could show us direction of places or even the location itself no matter how far it is. You can say it works like a bird-eye view from somewhere high up like the hot air balloon but far even higher and wider."
Senku chuckled in amusement. "Nice way to put it, huntress. It's in every cellphone and car navigation system. A device that can pinpoint your location using electromagnetic waves to manmade satellite."
Chrome, once again, tilted his head in confusion from another barrage of foreign words of the modern world. "Karnov e-gate shun? Sat a light?"
On the other side, Gen shrieked. "There's no way we can make satellites!"
"Of course no, that's why in place of those satellites, we're going to broadcast powerful radio waves using light house from land!" The scientist snickered accompanied with a hint of smugness underneath.
"Is that why we brought an antenna and the phone along?" Shinko asked, glancing to inspect the two biggest items on their trunk–it's quite bizarre appearance could immediately caught anyone's gaze not to mention one of them had striking copper color. Seconds after, Shinko could feel it; slight shift in the air which made her skin prickled–not visible but clearly something changed and she could sense it. Blinking slowly, she muttered, "Oh, the radio waves are on."
Senku snapped his finger. "Ten billion points for you, huntress! It's a check from the radio wave lighthouse! This is where we're going to depend on the ears of our sonarman, Ukyo."
"I think I know where this is going," said young man immediately moved without further ado–switching place with Senku, he received the big antenna being passed by Ryusui with Gen's help. "Shinko can you switch place with me? It's better if I'm on the edge rather than the middle, this will hit you and Chrome when I spin it."
"Of course, Ukyo-san." In the end, the seating plan changed into this; Ukyo was sitting in the front and Senku behind him, then Shinko on Ukyo's left side with Gen on the back, the last would be Chrome with Ryusui behind him. To sum it up; on the back row, from left to right would be Senku, Gen, and Ryusui while on the front row from left to right would be Ukyo, Shinko, and Chrome.
And ideal seating because Ukyo and Senku could communicate better as they were literally back to front. The rest of them wouldn't do much but keeping on a lookout, and Shinko being the one to handle the wheel meaning the scientist trusted her enough.
"Just kinda spin the antenna around however you feel like." Senku remarked. "With the direction and strength of the radio waves, we'll approximate our distance."
"How is it the last part feels like a huge analog chunk got tacked on?" Ukyo deadpanned whilst still spinning the antenna–kind of amusing to watch him become a homemade spinning antenna.
It's now her chance to be a tease. "Look at our analog man, the almighty Ukyo-sama."
His gaze immediately landed on her, full of displease–which only serves as a fuel because said young woman's grin getting wider. He grumbled underneath his breath, sounding more like a pout in Shinko's point of view. "Shut up, Shinko."
"Can you tell what our bearing is, seafarers?" The phone crackled alive and from it, Ruri's voice could be heard clearly. Kohaku mentioned that this would be the second time both Chrome and the priestess communicated via phone–the first ever would be when they first assembled it way before Stone Wars.
"Yeah, totally!" Chrome cheered, expecting another respond from the blonde young woman–which didn't go as he wished for because the phone went silent. Said scientist rose a brow in confusion. "Wait, is the signal lost? I didn't hear anything."
"I think not," Shinko scooted closer, trying to focus on the sound coming from their communicator–the crashing of waves could easily swallow up whatever sound coming out. "I hear murmurs, I think they're discussing about something."
"Hey, hey, Shinko-chan," Gen called out, waving his hand–ushering her to lend her ear. Whatever thing he came up, it's probably quite serious until he couldn't let other eavesdrop. Once she did as he told, the mentalist quickly whispered, "We've been getting Ruri-chan and Chrome-chan to confess for some time. This is one of the plans."
Oh? This was certainly news for her aside from Taiju and Yuzuriha's love story. She certainly needed to ask Kohaku about this, and seeing how Gen knew Chrome probably being indiscreet overtime while also being absolute obvious about it. Shinko giggled underneath her palm. "That's really cute."
"Chrome?" Ruri's voice could be heard again, and from the hesitance in her tone Shinko predicted she's really going to confess her feelings towards the mentioned scientist. It successfully keeping Shinko on her toes. "It seems like everyone-"
"WAAAGH!" Chrome yelped.
Fate was cruel enough to cut off the entire world-changing moment right before the climax. The buzzing and crackling white noise interrupting Ruri mid-sentence, it's quite loud and sudden it made Shinko jolted on her seat.
"Ahhh, right at the most important part," Gen lamented at the ruined moment. "The sound totally got wrecked with the noise."
For the second time, the air shifted.
However, it's nowhere like the previous one–it brought along looming threat and indescribable heaviness. Ukyo seemed to react the same, stopping his movement–he tensed almost instantly and breathed shakily, "That's not noise."
Ice crawled from the back of Shinko's neck and settled heavily in her bloodstream, her chest caved and she could feel her heart plunged into the pit of her stomach. Everything screamed bad news, alarms in their heard blaring loudly.
Tight grip suddenly coiled around her hand–Shinko almost bat it away in reflex, the contact caught her off guard. But, once she knew who it belonged to, it became an anchor to keep her steady between haze of panic and fright. Ukyo's hand moved swiftly in hers, intertwining their fingers and firmly holding. Shinko instinctively returned the grip, searching for comfort.
"How is this possible…? We suddenly got a massive radio wave transmission from somewhere." The ex-sonarman gulped heavily. "It's so saturated though. I can't tell the direction."
All of them were rendered wordless by the revelation.
"Is it plasma or something!?" Ryusui shouted.
"NO!" Senku instantly denied the idea. "This is no natural phenomenon, it's clearly intentional! They're broadcasting on the same exact frequency that we are. Which means that when we started generating those intensely powerful radio waves from the lighthouse someone, or something, noticed!"
"Someone or something!? What do you mean!?" Chrome demanded.
Shinko swallowed, feeling the dryness of her throat from the sea air. "Some people could've been revived and trying to communicate with us."
Senku nodded gravely. "The huntress is right. If there are other people that have been revived, perhaps they've already-"
Soon, the phone crackled to live again, filling the air with loud buzzing noises. This time it's different though–the buzzing was more coordinated, combination between the lengthy steady noise and cut off ones in a measurable interval. For modern people, they immediately recognized this form of wordless communication.
"What!?" Gen gasped in disbelief. "This is really-!"
"Morse Code!?" Shinko finished.
Undoubtedly, it is what being transmitted to them continuously without stopping nor with any signs of break.
"It's a message to us." Senku concluded.
"They're repeating the same message over and over and over." Gen squinted his eyes, trying to get a better grasp of translating whatever's being sent to them. "Err, it's a W, I think. H…"
Shinko's brain finally catching up and successfully comprehending the invisible message. The others were probably expecting the worse, she wouldn't judge them especially when she slowly turned to face them with face shades lighter than before along with gaze that screamed horror.
"It says 'WHY'."
"WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY-"
A sinister message was delivered to them.