Epilogue
Epilogue
OUR PARTY DIDN’T DEPLETE our resources enough to delay us. The food and drinks had mostly been from Elma’s and Mimi’s personal stashes. Still, our little feast had proven to be a tiring affair. When I got up the next morning, the girls were still asleep, so I went right to training, bathing, and enjoying some coffee while I scoured for information.
I wasn’t searching for info on our next destination, though; I was digging for intel on the bioterrorist attack. It seemed those pale monsters really were made from the cultured meat plant’s life-forms. Genetic manipulation had caused their aggressive behavior and protected them from the fail-safe that should have killed them the moment they left the plant.
A group calling themselves the Association for the Protection of Artificial Life, or APAL, stepped up and took credit for the attack. The imperial government already had their sights set on destroying the organization. They were like some twisted version of an animal rights group, bent on using any means necessary—including violence—to protect the rights and lives of artificial life-forms created by humans for things like food production. I definitely didn’t want to get entangled with them.
Inagawa Technologies sent me a reward for protecting the hospital and researchers, along with a fancy and suspiciously heavy fruit basket. They even hid a bit of Rare Metal beneath the treats. Either way, I wasn’t going to sue them. It just seemed like a pain, y’know?
“Good morning, Master Hiro.”
“Mornin’.”
I’d just finished reading an article on the whole incident when Mimi and Elma entered the cafeteria.
“Morning, girls. How about we have some breakfast and get going?”
Elma rolled her eyes. “Think we’ll be interrupted again?”
“I can’t imagine Lieutenant Commander Serena will come around again today,” I said.
Mimi tried to smile sweetly, but there was an edge to her grin. It seemed her image of Serena as a troublemaker was solidified now.
“It’ll be fine,” I assured them. “It’s not like we’re in a hurry anyway. One or two days’ delay isn’t a big deal.” It would increase our docking costs, but considering we had over 17,000,000 Ener (1.7 billion Japanese yen), that wouldn’t really make a dent in our funds. “Hey, let’s eat! What does the Steel Chef have in store for us today?”
Elma rubbed her belly. “I need a big meal.”
“I’m fine with something light,” Mimi said. “Mornings don’t get the belly rumbling for me.”
Even on the morning of our departure, we enjoyed a comfortable and lively breakfast together as usual.
***
“Mimi, launch request,” I said.
We jetted off toward the Cierra System the moment we finished breakfast. Serena’s Pirate Hunting Unit was prowling this system, leaving few morsels for us to clean up. It was time to move on to greener pastures.
“Understood!”
“Keep doing what you do, Elma.”
“Gotcha, boss. I’ll take care of the subsystems.”
With the ship’s status green all around, Mimi announced our exit. “We’ve received permission to launch.”
“Awesome. Let’s go,” I said.
We released our docking from the hangar bay, brought in the landing gear, and slowly shuttled out of the colony. It paid to be cautious when leaving such a crowded and busy place. One little accident could result in a fortune in repairs to my ship, the other ship, and the colony itself, not to mention reparations. I wasn’t looking to go bankrupt.
“Um, it seems we’ll be third out of the gate,” Mimi informed me. “After that yellow container ship right there.”
“Aye-aye.” High-traffic colonies like this had to manage queues of ships in order to prevent disasters. Being just third in line actually meant this was a quiet day around here.
“We’re next,” Mimi told me.
“I’ll drive nice and careful until we’re out of the colony.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’d hate to be stuck in an accident in front of the gate,” Elma said with a thousand-yard stare, presumably haunted by such an incident.
I reduced my shields to minimal output to avoid interfering with other ships, but that meant a collision would be even more dangerous. Before long, the yellow ship ahead of us made its escape. It was our turn.
“All right. We’re good to go, Master Hiro.”
“Got it.”
I proceeded cautiously, passing through the airtight shield that divided the colony from outer space. The barrier allowed ships through but not air or air pressure, a truly miraculous invention of this universe.
Finally, we passed through the shield and entered the wide-open expanse of space. I raised the generator output to maximum, and we left the colony behind.
“Mimi, ready navigation.”
“Yes, sir. Routing now.” With a few taps on her console, Mimi fed me the information I needed to navigate to our destination.
“Begin charging faster-than-light drive.”
“Understood,” Elma said. “FTL countdown incoming. Five, four, three, two, one. Activating FTL drive.”
Boom! A familiar bang thundered through the space around us as stars soared past our windows.
“Our destination is the Pamoni System, about four hyperlane exits away from the Cierra System,” I announced. “Okay, Elma, start charging hyperdrive!”
“Charging hyperdrive.”
“Successfully connected to hyperlane,” Mimi told us.
“Counting down,” Elma said. “Five, four, three, two, one… Hyperdrive activated.”
Space warped, the starlight melting into streaks. A torrent of stars roared around us as the kaleidoscopic colors of hyperspace whirled.
“Well, we oughta be able to take things easy for a while,” I said.
The autopilot could steer us through hyperspace. It was especially helpful for long journeys, though it was always a good idea to have someone around in case of emergencies, or so Elma told me.
In Stella Online, hyperdrive journeys happened in a blink. I mean, how crappy would the game be if you had to wait hours to travel? It was a simple matter of activating hyperdrive, jumping into a lane, and bam! You’re there.
“What should we do about keeping watch?” I asked.
“Erm, do we actually need to?” Mimi cocked her head in puzzlement, as if she’d been wondering about it for a while.
“I dunno. I did it because Elma told me to, but I can’t actually explain why we’d need to. Really, I’m not sure about it myself. There are functions to correct autopilot when it starts malfunctioning, and we can set an alarm if we need to.” I looked over to Elma.
She nodded. “Yeah, that was a lie.”
“Huh?” Mimi gasped.
“For real?” I said.
“I mean, since we’re left with nothing to do for so long…y’know? It’s nice to have time alone together sometimes.” Elma averted her eyes in embarrassment. Oh, I see. That’s why she insisted on someone keeping watch. Sneaky, Elma.
“Okay. No keeping watch from now on, then?”
“Er, hold on a sec.”
“We just need to work together, right?” I said. “There’s no reason to set up pointless shifts and mess up people’s sleep. Sounds silly to me.”
“Y-yeah, maybe, but…”
“Come on. What’s wrong with us being a little degenerate?”
“Are you serious?” Elma glared at me.
Hey, what can I say? I was a simple man, and this was every simple man’s fantasy. It wouldn’t actually change much. We were already crammed together on this tiny ship for hundreds of hours. Plus, what else was there to do during hyperdrive? We couldn’t get network reception to carry out research. This was pure leisure time: videos, games, e-books, training, eating, bathing, et cetera. Overall, it was horribly boring. But with two or more consenting adults around, well, there might be a nicer way to pass the time, if you know what I mean. I could see why people of the past had had so many kids.
“Okay, girls, job’s done. As captain, I declare that you’re free to do as you please.”
“Understood,” Mimi said.
“Ugh,” Elma groaned. “Are you for real right now?”
“Hey, c’mon,” I said. “It’s a long trip, so let’s take it easy. Mimi, do you have any sights you want to see in the Cierra System?”
“Yes, absolutely!”
“Then let’s take a look in the cafeteria,” I said. “I’d love to know more about that resort galaxy. Elma, let’s go.”
“H-hey, hold up! Stop pushing me!”
I dragged Elma along into the cafeteria, determined that we would all kick back and relax for the first time since we’d entered the unfortunate Arein System. Good riddance.