What is thrown, falls. If it can accelerate, it won’t fall. With enough acceleration, it will become a satellite. Accelerating further still can escape a planet.
Speed is an essential element for the Circs, who revolve around the gas giant Fat Beach Ball. Were they ever to lose it, they would immediately need to do everything in their power to regain it.
“We’re about to start our orbital burn! We’ll spend a little under four minutes at 3g, so hang tight for juuuust a little bit!”
A woman’s cheerful voice greeted the occupants of the control pits the instant they were brought into the Insolvent’s equipment room. Almost immediately, the main engine roared to life, and the wallop of acceleration was felt even inside the pits.
“Woah! Ow, wait–”—“Terra-sannn...”—“I’m sorry! I’ll get off you right now!”
The two landed at the bottom of the bubble-shaped control pit. Terra had fallen directly onto Diode, and clumsily tried to prop herself up on hands and knees. She mustered all of her strength to roll sideways and somehow managed to lay herself face up beside the small girl.
“Die-san, are you okay?”
“I’m good. You’re light.”
“No way...”
The girl looked at Terra and chuckled. Terra wanted to turn away, but they were both pressed so hard against the floor they couldn’t move. All she could do was blush.
Terra was far from light. If she were to put it in terms of plants—which her reference books said were used for measurements—she was a full watermelon taller than her crop’s average and three times their mass. If another ten seconds had passed without extricating herself from Diode, her ballooning to forty melons in weight would have definitely crushed the delicate girl. The crush risk was there, as the buoyant biofluid gel which filled the pit’s interior to prevent that situation was already drained.
So, Diode telling Terra she wasn’t heavy at all was more a show of her own fortitude. Terra closed her eyes and endured both the penetrating stare and the strong gravity.
The ship with the strange name, the Insolvent, didn't belong to Terra or anyone she knew. It belonged to the Jack-of-All-Trades clan. Insolvent was an aging helium extractor shaped like a crushed, flattened pipe. Its crew had completed their upper atmosphere operations and were preparing to make their return but happened to be the closest to Terra and Diode when their distress signal went out. They set an intercept course for rescue. Once the rocket ascending from the bottom of that cloudy sea reached the top of its parabola, the Insolvent was in position to engulf just the pits.
3g was hard on the body, but not hard enough to be lethal. As she continued to endure the force with a series of fast, shallow breaths, a feeling of relief spread through Terra’s chest. They were safe. By some miracle, they were coming back from a pursuit by an armed enemy, the destruction of their boat, and being swallowed by a 4000 atm abyss.
“Die-san—” Just as Terra began to speak, the woman on the speaker cut in.
“We’ll finish accelerating in ten... five... three... Done! Good work out there!” The overwhelming load vanished into thin air and their bodies began to float. They were in zero-g. They were following an elliptical trajectory which would likely carry them up to the Trades’ base ship.
“Ah, ah, are you all right? Are you still alive? We didn’t have time to check your vitals, so please respond.”
“We’re both alive! Thank you for saving us.” Terra shouted.
In response, she heard, “Oh, nice! This boat is a bit unique, so the living quarters over here aren’t connected to the equipment room you’re in. I’ll suit up and come help if you’re dying, of course, but if you’ve only got scratches please just deal with it until we arrive. There should be emergency rations and oxygen in storage. What will it be?”
Terra recalled her glimpse of the ship’s exterior. If she were to make her usual comparison to a creature from ancient times, then she would say it looked like a whale shark with a wide-open mouth. She could grasp its layout, too. The cockpit was in the head, and since they had been sucked into the boat, the equipment room must be down in its belly, packed in near its meal of compressed helium gas.
One of them needed care, though. “Excuse me, would it be possible for you to bring an internal scanner or some medicine for somatic dysfunction over here if you have them? One of us scored an eight on the General Imagination Concretization Exam and vomited when she decomped past her limit–”
“Wh—you’re going to bring that up here?!” Diode suddenly barreled in to shout, “I don’t need those, I’m good! We’re both doing great, please do not come over here!”
“Uhh, so, which is it?”
“Die-san–”
“It’s not necessary!” Diode shouted again. She signalled to Terra with her eyes, who went along with it despite her confusion.
“Ah... right! It’s fine, it looks like she’s feeling better now.”
“Is that so? Well then, tell me your names and the clan you’re from so I can file a rescue report, please.”
“Terra Intercontinental Endeavour, from the Endeavour clan.”
“Kanna Ishidōrō Gendō, from the Gendō clan.”
“All right, thank you. I’m Prizebag Backyard Build Jack-of-All-Trades, inhaler for the Insolvent. Captain Tiewood is still working, so you’re stuck talking to me. Terra-san...? Terra-san from the Endeavour...?”
Her words stopped for a moment. There were some signs she was talking to someone over there, and after a moment, she asked, “You mean the 58K Terra-san and Kanna-san? You just called her Die-san too, right?”
“‘58K’?”
“Weren’t those the names of that pair of fisherwomen who hauled up a 58,000 tonne bachi orca? Diode-san and Terra-san, I mean. If you’re the real deal, that would be awesome... I mean, you two are the real deal, right?”
Reflexively overjoyed, Terra was already replying, “Ah, ye–” when Diode suddenly burst into tears and startled her with a loud, “WAAAHHH!”
“D-die-san?”
“Onee-chan, it was scary! It was so scary! Onee-chan! Our boat broke up and we fell into the dark cloud! And we spun and spun and got separated while the rain was coming down around us! I was so scared! So, so scared! Onee-chan, me and the boat... we were so deeeep... it was so, so daaarrrkkk... Onee-chaaaaan!!! I thought we were gonna dieeeeee, WAAAHHHH!”
“Die-san, calm down! It’s okay. We’re safe now, okay?” Terra took her by the shoulders to try calming her, but Diode continued to scream and tear at her hair. At 18, she was already an adult, but when a small woman like her cried, it really made her seem like a scared younger sister. “Die-san, we’re safe now, so...” As a last resort, she gave Diode a tight hug and spoke to the woman on the other side of the intercom with the girl’s face buried in her chest. “I’m sorry about that, Pri-san. We aren’t injured, but–”
“Mngaaaaah, *hic*, *hic*, Onee... Onee-channn...”
“Got it! It’s better if I gave you some time right now! Now then, if you’ll excuse me!” The communication was over, just like that.
“What’s wrong...?” The clear attempt to disengage and avoid dealing with something difficult left Terra with a miffed smile. She kept petting the girl’s damp back, but Diode abruptly pushed herself off of Terra and twirled away from recoil. “Die-san?!”
“Shh...” Diode raised an index finger to her lips. With the same finger, she then fidgeted with the minicell implant on the back of her left hand and cut the connection to all channels. “Phew,” she sighed, and covered her face with a hand. “I’m beat...”
“Huh? Wait, that was all an act?!”
“Yes, obviously?” Diode combed her silver hair with annoyance. “Did you think I would suddenly lose my composure like that?”
“Being able to suddenly put on an act like that makes no sense, so I think it’s normal to believe you did.” Terra turned away and started sulking too. Yet, she remembered something before she could get angry. “That is true, though. This is you we’re talking about. If anyone could pull a stunt like that, you would.”
“It’s not really a matter of my personality, though... It’s because you’re a good-natured person, Terra-san.”
“I am?”
Diode turned around, continuing to comb through her wet hair with her fingers as she said, “This is the Trades we’re talking about, you know? Or is it that you don’t know what the Jack-of-All-Trades are really like? There’s no way you can’t, right?”
“Isn’t it like their name says? I hear they’re very kind people who can sell you a variety of things not found anywhere else...”
“Are you the kind of person who fully believes truth-in-advertising?” Diode rolled her eyes, then looked at Terra with pity.
“It’s not true?” Terra asked.
Diode took her shoulders and shook her head. “Please listen closely. The Trades are the biggest cheapskates you’ll find in the Circs. When they say they’ll sell anything, they mean pay up or they won’t do a single thing for you. They’ll rip out your organs or pluck your ass hairs if they think they’ll make money.”
“Ass... what?”
“I told you a few times about when they arrested me and how I had to bribe them to escape, didn’t I? They did in fact falsely accuse me back then, but I had no other option but to pay them off. They just had to change the course and timetable for a huge harvesting ship to rescue us. If that’s all they do, we can manage the fee, but what do you think will happen if they realize we’re the fishers capable of netting a fifty-eight kiloton bachi?”
“Wha-What will–”
“They’ll ask us to pay for anything and everything! Overtime expenses, hazard pay, emergency care, and all kinds of communication expenses! They weren’t offering us medicine out of the kindness in their hearts, they were trying to tack on an extra service fee, okay? The fact they ran away after a little bit of screaming was proof!”
“Ah, so that’s how they are?”
“Yes, so make sure to stay vigilant! We took a big loss this time!”
“It made me happy, though.”
“Huh?” Diode blinked in surprise at Terra, who was shyly smiling.
“I was just really happy to have the opportunity to talk about you as a twister and went along with her without thinking.”
“I-” The previously talkative Diode suddenly froze like her brain had bugged out. She slowly looked away before she quietly continued, “...don’t think it’s good to... lower your guard so quickly, if that’s why...”
“Really?”
“Yes.” She nodded but then took it back after a moment. “No. I guess... we could say doing that sort of thing is just who you are...”
The two fell into an awkward silence, but Terra didn’t find it unpleasant. She quietly put a hand in Diode’s sticky hair and asked, “Can I fix your hair a bit?”
With that, the two finally started to transition from victims to survivors.
The Insolvent’s equipment room didn’t have a shower, let alone running water. It did, however, have an emergency locker containing portable toilets, pemmican, and dozens of water bottles. Depending on the state of their ship in an emergency, it could allow the crew to survive for a few days. The water was for drinking, and Diode was certain the crew would demand money from them if they drank it. After taking a peek around the corner of the room, she suggested they use it to clean up. It was a bold and brash plan, but Terra signed off on it.
Pouring out nine water bottles in a 1g environment would simply cause a major flood, but in zero-g, water forms a sphere instead. They immersed one another's hair in an orb of water, scrubbed, then scooped it into the portable toilets with their hands so it could soak up. Once finished, they pushed the toilets somewhere out of sight. The hair washing worked better than they expected. Taking a seat beside one another in front of a vent, they felt refreshed and like they had regained some measure of dignity. Their hair fluttered in the draft as they opened the tenth bottle of water and shared it.
“A toast to Die-san’s incredible luck, and to our coming back alive!” Terra made a loud gulp as she took a swig.
“To my luck? But what about yours?”
“Well, I was the one being rescued.”
“A toast to Terra-san’s inspiration and existence, and to our coming back alive...” Diode took a loud gulp of her own. “L-like that?” Finished with the formal toast she was prompted to give in response, she said, “About how things will be from now on–” She removed her headdress and spun it around her fingertip. “There are two things we absolutely need to talk about.”
“Don’t you mean three?”
“Three? Well, let’s start with the matter of the Gendō trackers.”
“Ah, right. Didn’t you say their ship got away safely? It’s weird that it did, though.”
“It infuriates me, but yes, I think so. Those guys were already speeding up for atmospheric escape when you fell.”
“So, they’ll be back?”
“Yes, they will. We gave our names in the rescue report just now, so definitely.”
“We didn’t get rid of them that easily then, huh?”
“We didn’t, so that means we need to think carefully about our next steps. The second thing we need to talk about is the ‘horse’.”
“Yes, the horse. Of course.”
“The horse,” Diode repeated. Terra had blurted out the curious word while they were still deep within the sea of clouds. “What did you mean by that? It’s not like you to say something trivial at a time like that.”
“There’s an escape ship that will let us leave the planet.”
“What?”
“There’s an escape ship that will let us leave the planet.”
“What?” Diode frowned deeply after the repeated exchange, then asked, “Really?”
Terra smiled and nodded, “Really. It can take us to the Galactive Interactive, and it’s back at my clan’s ship.”
“Isn’t that huge...?!” Wide-eyed, Diode took Terra by the shoulders and started shaking her. “Please, tell me everything you know. If you’re right, doesn’t that make the Gendō trackers a total non-issue? Come on, Terra-san, come on! Tell me!”
“Ah, ahh, don’t shake me. Hold on a second, please. Let’s talk about the third matter first!”
“Is there really a third matter?”
“There is, and it’s the most important one.”
“More important than an escape ship?”
“That’s right, and that matter is: what are we now?!”
“We?” Diode’s hands suddenly stopped moving. Her mouth contorted into a grimace and she muttered, “Did you change your mind after you were saved?”
“What? How cruel. Do you really think I’m the kind of person who would do something like that, Die-san?!” Terra pressed her advantage, taking hold of Diode’s shoulders.
“Uh, no...” Diode turned her head and mumbled, “Then, what did you mean?”
Terra swallowed her spit and began to explain herself. “We became something beneath the clouds.”
“Right.”
“And that something changes how our relationship was before. At least, I think so. I believe you think so, too.”
“Right.”
“That change made me incredibly happy!”
“...Right.” Diode continued to keep her head turned, refusing eye contact with Terra. However, Terra was almost certain a faint red tinted her pale cheeks.
Terra took a deep breath, and then cornered the small girl with her large body, “So what should I do, then?”
“What, uh...?”
“I... don’t know anything, really,” Terra said, eyes sparkling. “To begin with, this is the first time I’ve properly gotten together with anyone like this. I imagined all kinds of things about what it would be like, but now that it’s actually happening, there are a lot of things that worry me. When I did marriage interviews, I would pretty myself up to go out and meet them, then go back to my room to rest. But we’re already living together, right? So how will our living space and bed work now? Are we supposed to do everything together? And if we do, how are we supposed to meet each other in the morning? Do we get up and wash our faces and get changed before we tell each other good morning?”
“Wai, wai, wai, wai, wait a sec, Terra-san!” Diode's stutter sounded like a weird bird call. She started to squirm, and once she was free from Terra’s point-blank confinement, she shakily fled to a side wall. Resting against it, she sighed in relief. “Your sense of distance...”
“Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to wind myself up like that. But I want to be able to get in sync with you, so what should I do?” Terra started to feel a tinge of worry. “Wait, don’t tell me, you want to keep sleeping in a different room? That’s... that’s...”
“Can’t we save this talk for later?”
“No, right now is good.”—Be firm, Terra!—“We put up with a lot to get to this point, and we’ll have to go back to putting up with a lot more from now on, probably. I believe we’re going to be running around, getting mad, investigating things, and struggling, but we have a few hours. That’s why we need to do this now. I have a lot I want to talk to you about!”
“...” A whole 30 seconds passed in silence before Diode took a long look at Terra. “Terra-san.”
“Y-yes!” Terra replied with the best smile she could manage.
“Ghk,” Diode choked before she turned away again and said quietly, “Turn around.”
“Huh?”
“Turn around and please stay turned around. I don’t want you to see my face.”
“But I...”
“No ‘buts’. That’s my condition for this. I have things I can’t do, too.”
“...Okay.” Although Terra thought the request was a little weird, she faced the wall. As soon as she did, she felt a tight embrace against her back.
“...too.”
“Sorry?”
“I’m happy, too.”
“Die-sa–”
“STAY turned around. You do understand what those words mean, right?!” Diode yelled as she was whipped around. Terra faced back to the wall, and from her embrace, Diode continued, “The living space, the bed, whatever else... We can put that off until we’ve come back unharmed. The real question is when we’ll be able to return. No, our real question is where we’ll even return to. Personally, I don’t care where we end up as long as I’m with you. Whether it’s a rundown apartment or leaving FBB, I’m okay with it. But you have your amazing house, your job, and your friends, family, and clan, don’t you?”
“But I’ve thrown those away multiple times, haven’t I? Moving back in is a tradition for me.”
“Yes, but even if you move to another clan, you can always come back two years later. We won’t be able to come back that often if we manage to make it to the GI, though.”
“...Yeah, that would be impossible, for sure. Forget ‘that often’, we probably wouldn’t be able to come back for the rest of our lives.”
“Exactly. And on the other hand, if we leave, there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to survive. Are you still okay with that?”
“Weren’t you completely at peace with a double suicide?”
“That was just following the flow of our situation to its logical conclusion. This time, it will be something we do entirely of our own accord.”
“My answer is still the same. Whether it’s suffering or happiness, I want to experience it with you.”
“...Yeah, me too.”
“Waah!”
“Cool it, I’m still not finished. Let’s go somewhere we can make a living together. There has to be a base ship, another celestial body near FBB, or a place in the GI we can actually do that. Actually, finding one will take a long time, so let’s you and I skip to the point. We both want to go to the GI, right?”
“Yes!”
“But let’s keep ourselves in check.”
“What? Why?!”
“Haven’t you noticed that we have absolutely no information?!” Her arms squeezed tightly around Terra’s neck. “What do you know about the Galactive Interactive? What kind of place do you think it is?”
“A 4000-light-year-wide crescent moon in the Milky Way. A realm with all sorts of people coming and going. It’s somewhere with creatures that don’t exist here, landscapes we’ve never seen before, jobs we’ve never done before, and a place we can feast on food we’ve never had before! And there’s no Council of Elders to coerce us! It’s a universe of hopes and dreams!”
“Isn’t that just you daydreaming at full throttle and creating a convenient fantasy world?! If we go, you can be sure the GI won’t be a limitless frontier where anything can come true! If it really were a paradise, the Circs wouldn’t have come here.”
“Uguguh.” It was tough, but Terra had to agree. “Now that you mention it... Our ancestors probably came to the Mother Beach Ball system because they thought life would be better here.”
“And sadly, this turned out to be a world of hardships and the plans those women put together for it didn’t work out. No metallic resources, surviving off fish we can’t make sense of. If anything else, if we make our way to the GI, we absolutely can’t count on there being a safety net.”
“At least we’d have something if there’s metal.”
“I’m just saying we need to find out what we can while we’re still here, not that we absolutely can’t go to the GI. We finally have options, and now that we do, we should discuss which ones will be best for us.”
“...That’s true! Die-san, you’re so smart!”
“Aren’t you just getting dumber?”
“Ehehehe, I got so happy I ended up overlooking a bunch of things.”
“Please think more carefully about those things. I don’t want to watch you die in a gutter. Let’s gather some information before we decide our next steps, is that all right?”
“...Okay.”
“So, we might not know what we’re going to do when we get there, but we are twister and decomper. We might lose our home or our families, but I want to keep flying the boat together with you at the very least. If I had to pick between you and the boat, the choice would kill me. But if I can choose both, that’s what I want. Do you understand?”
“I get you! If I had to choose between you and decomping... Die-san or decomping... Ugh...”
“It’s great that you’re worried about that. So, let’s take our control pits with us if we can. We can rebuild our pillar boat as long as there’s clay. Or is this escape ship you mention big enough for us to fit a whole pillar boat inside?”
“Dunno. I don’t know all that much about it yet, except that I’m pretty sure it exists. In case you’re wondering why, Great Chief Magiri’s partner, Professor Dryeda de la Lucid, hid it as a safety net.”
“When did you find that out?”
“After you passed out and I went to scoop you up from the sea of clouds.”
“...Of everything that's happened so far, that's the hardest to believe. But the fact is I made that mistake, and we still managed to come back alive. So, I don’t really have any choice but to believe you.”
“That’s right. When we get back to Idaho, there’s a simple step we can take to verify the reality of it. Until then, let’s half-expect it.”
“Honestly, I’m going to feel really depressed if that turns out to be a lie.”
“It’s okay, the feeling will be mutual. And if it turns out it was a lie, let’s move to a base ship where it’ll be easier for us to live in one way or another, or look for a job that will allow us to live on an independent ship like Rock-san does, okay?”
“Those aren’t plan Bs I would feel thrilled to go through with, though...”
“Ah, our conversation has gotten a bit off track. Uhh, something about taking our pillar boat to the GI, right? I think it’s best if we already assume that we won’t be able to.”
“That’s right. So, let’s take the control pits and get the clay once we’re there.”
“There’s AMC clay in the GI?”
“There is, we export the clay, so there has to be.”
“—Ah.”
“The Circs have trusted the Wǎngláiquān Fángjūn [Traffic Defense Guard] and their Dàxúnniǎo with the clay export for nearly 300 years now. We caught 128,000,000 tonnes in the last fiscal year. Of course, most of that was used up or went to waste, but we should be able to find enough if we’re just making a boat, don’t you think?”
“I do think you’re being optimistic, but if we can fly our pillar boat over there, we’ll probably be able to fish. Ah, but if there aren’t any fishing jobs, then I think there should be other ways to use it, right?”
“Right. Let’s look for clay, and then for what we need to do to acquire it. If it’s possible, we can start planning and work towar–”
“If we plan all of that, then all that’ll be left to depart, right? Ahh, that’s so exciting! It feels so incredibly real.”
“It is real. Our going to another planet and living our lives started the moment we messed up and almost died. That really did happen. All right, Terra-san. We’re not making this up, okay?”
“I’ll gladly say we aren’t! Let’s go, Die-san!”
Terra swung around, freed from her captivity, but Diode quickly backed away and, with the same stern expression as the educational AI from Terra’s student days when it handed her failed exams and informed her she was to take supplementary exams, said, "Now, let's talk about the trackers."
“Do we really need to talk about them?!”
“We do. I mean, it’s a problem that we need to deal with carefully. If we don’t, I’m afraid they’ll follow us to the GI.”
“But didn’t you just say the trackers were a total non-issue?!”
“I only said that because I got excited. Think about it. Nothing you said rules out the possibility that the Gendōs’ base ship Fuyō also has an escape ship, yes?”
“...”
“Right? So, if they do turn out to have one, I’m afraid they’ll use it. Please, try to think it through. Suppose we make it to the GI, and whether we’re struggling with money or work, or manage to live the easy life somewhere and take a short break, the possibility of an armed group ambushing us will always be hanging over our heads. Will you gladly take that chance?”
“I’d haaaaate that! I’d absolutely hate that!”
“You get it now? So, let’s get this sorted out properly.”
“Got it.” Terra sighed and let her head hang for a moment, then looked up and brushed the hair out of her face. “I guess there’s no other way... but let’s tackle everything we’ve been putting off talking about in one go. Die-san, why are they chasing you like this?”
Diode took a very deep breath and looked at the ceiling, “I thought it would come to this. Actually, since we managed to get this far, I should talk about it.”
“Does your father happen to be behind this?” The question was one Terra struggled to ask, but she asked it directly. “Gendō-san... that Gendō, right? He’s an important person, isn’t he? Is he so determined not to let go of his daughter that he’ll chase you without a second thought about his reputation?”
However, Diode shook her head with a wistful smile. “Please don’t worry about him. My father probably has nothing to do with this matter. He’s not the sort of person to do that.”
“So he’s a kind person?”
“It’s not a matter of character, but one of qualification. My father, Ozuno Ishidōrō Gendō, resigned from his post in the Council of Elders. He’s the kind of person who gets entirely absorbed in research. He had absolutely no interest in governing a clan. That’s why he gave up all of his privileges and lives like a hermit now. He couldn’t have been the one to send out those trackers.”
“So, your father lives like a hermit... then, you mean... Uh, maybe I shouldn’t ask.”
“You want to ask if my mother ran out of love for my father, instead of being abandoned by him, don’t you?” Diode asked with a level of directness Terra had been trying to avoid. “I’ll go ahead and say this: their passion or lack thereof didn’t put me through any kind of trouble. There’s nothing you need to worry about.”
“Ahh... Um, that’s...”
“I knew you’d get worried and give me that look, which is why I didn’t bring it up earlier.” Diode pressed her palm against Terra, insisting, “It’s not like it makes me feel lonely or that I hold a grudge against him. I’m simply not interested in seeing him, and I believe that’s a normal relationship to have with parents. Please let me be clear, we do occasionally catch up with one another.”
“Is that so? Okay then.”
Wouldn’t it be better to spend more time with your parents while they’re still—Terra kept those words to herself and simply nodded.
Moving back to the original topic, she asked, “So, uh, since your father isn’t the one commanding the trackers... any guess about what it could be about?”
“There’s no need to guess, because the only possible mastermind behind the formal recapture command is the Elder. The one trying to drag me back there is the current Elder, Nurude Keiwaku.”
“And what’s the reason?”
“No idea.” Terra carefully watched the girl’s face as she answered. Unsettled by Terra’s stare, Diode answered again, but more honestly. “When I first left, I thought it was because I was considered an important decomper or something to do with my breeding, but they’re too weirdly invested in me for that. They have put out recapture orders in the past and carried them out as promised during Bow Awows, but I’ve never heard of them going so far as to send an armed ship.”
“But Die-san, you’re beautiful. You don’t think some guy fell deeply in love with you and you just didn’t notice?”
“You’re gorgeous, and if we’re going by that logic, the trackers naturally would have been turned loose on you.”
“Nobody would send trackers after me, not when I’m this tall.”
“Then nobody would send them after me either, not when I’m this small.”
“I’d try to recapture you if it were me, though. You’d hear my footsteps come running to scoop you up again.”
“Let’s stop with that for now. They’ve taken the step of sending a ship, so they’re not playing around. They’re serious, and you know what they’re serious about? Marriage. If it’s marriage, though, men want a flawless decomper with good maternal potential. That’s why I don’t think it’s the Gendō men who—”
“Die-san?” Terra waved her hand in front of Diode’s face after she suddenly stopped talking.
“...I don’t think it’s the Gendō men who are that serious,” Diode said, more slowly. “The only one who would go this far...”
“So, you have an idea of who could be behind this?” Terra asked, enthusiastically latching onto Diode’s train of thought. “Do you think an outside clan requested it from the Gendō? Like the Pollux or the Trades, since you talked about them before?” As the words left her mouth, Terra suddenly felt anxious and looked around at the walls of the equipment room. “There aren’t any cameras here, are there?”
“Don’t worry, I checked a while ago. There was one, but we should be fine.” Diode pointed to a corner on the ceiling. Terra’s eyes followed, which led her to notice something wrapped in crumpled insulation sheets had been shoved into the corner. In a zero-g environment, it was common for trash and supplies to find their way into a corner, but the mass looked like it had been put there on purpose.
“Ah, nice.”
“One of the basics of living rough is protecting yourself from being watched.”
“So, it’s someone from the Trades then, right? Who do you think it might be?”
Terra kept throwing fastballs at Diode, who waved her hand to deny them and put a stop to her. “It’s not that. The Trades have nothing to do with this. Someone just came to mind for a moment, but that’s impossible in this situation, so it’s okay.”
“But could you give me some idea of who that is?”
“My ex, uh–” Diode looked away. “My ex-roommate. A girl named Meika.”
“A girl–” Before she could even put that information into context, Terra’s emotional reaction spilled from her mouth. “Did you use a condom with her?”
“Just WHAT are you asking, Terra-san?!?!?!”
Diode had shouted as if prompted by spinal reflex, but Terra was also shocked by her own question. “Ahh, no! Sorry! Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to!” Panicked, she waved her arms around and said, “Curiosity just got the better of me. You don’t have to respond, you really don’t!”
“You didn’t seem like the type to ask about that kind of thing, so that question hit really hard...” Blood rushed to Diode’s cheeks. She rubbed them and did a dry shake with her head. “Uhh, that girl didn’t send the trackers, that’s all. This conversation is over.”
“But that reaction means you do have a sense for whoever is behind this.” Terra rephrased herself, but in a different tone, “I mean, you said that she came to mind for a moment. Your... your, um.”
“Didn’t I say this conversation was over?” Diode’s piercing glare interrupted her.
“Guuh...” Terra winced and backed off. “Okay, understood... Sorry.”
The truth was that Terra had the feeling that Diode would answer her if she pressed again. She felt they at least had that level of connection between them now. Still, even if that connection was good for the moment, Terra was scared to push. Diode wasn’t a friendly or gentle person by nature and simply held onto her frustrations until she exploded. Massively. And if she was still frustrated after that, she would go off somewhere.
Just how deeply can I probe her for answers before I accidentally set off a landmine? Until she had a better handle on that, Terra didn’t dare step too far into the minefield.
Although Diode was acting frosty again, it looked like she was deep in thought about something. She started to mutter something as she stared at the floor. “...But...”
“Huh?”
“This is how I’m treating her.” She mimed putting something in a box, then looked at Terra. “Please know I don’t plan on her being part of my future.”
“Ah...” Looks like she wanted to be considerate. “...Okay.”
The two floated in a seated pose, facing each other. The Trades’ equipment room was a mess, but thankfully it had heating. Their soaked deck dresses had almost completely dried. One was a gold and dark green Victorian-style dress that transformed Terra’s presence from large to lovely, and the other was a black and silver skinsuit that stylishly emphasized Diode’s body lines. Those were their safe choices from the clothing they each had in rotation, and despite being used to seeing one another in those outfits, neither of them had tired of it.
Diode slid all five fingers inside of a flat, metallic case attached to her thigh. A kachack noise came from behind her. Terra thought it sounded like a gun being cocked, but then Diode brought her fingers, now coated in transparent resin, to Terra’s attention.
“This kind of place isn’t very hygienic, so let’s use this.”
“Huh?”
Diode floated closer to Terra and touched her arm. Under the shadow of eyelashes so thick they seemed heavy, her dark blue eyes smiled faintly.
“So, do you want to touch me?”
“Tou–”
“Only if you’re okay with it, of course.”
Terra didn’t reflexively scream and run away, but she did feel her heart take a single, huge leap. This is happening! She tried to control her breath and stay calm. “You want to... touch me, Die-san?”
“No. You’re going to touch me.” Diode made herself clear by pointing as she said that.
Without thinking, Terra asked, “But didn’t you want to touch me?”
“Of course I do, I’ve already been found out.” A red tongue briefly poked between her pale lips. “But this is your first time, and you’ve told me you’re not good with being touched. So, you definitely have things that are off-limits for me. That’s why the first thing I want to do is see what you’re okay with.”
“I—I don’t know anything about this stuff, though!”
“But didn’t you promise you’d give me a reward?”
“Buh.” That dull noise was Terra’s reaction to the sound of Diode taking the promise she made at the bottom of the clouds, drawing it like a sword, and thrusting it through her.
Diode grabbed Terra’s right hand and quickly spun around. Imitating her action from earlier, she led Terra’s fingers down to the case on her thigh. Terra felt her fingers sink into a viscous material. Copying Diode, she pulled them out from the side, which triggered a clean cutting noise. A thin but durable membrane covered her finger. “Um, is this...?”
“Yes, this is the thing you’ve been so looking forward to using.”
“S-so, that’s how it works. It’s on before you even expect it, woah...”
“Defeats the purpose if you start touching before you put it on, right?”
“Touching... where, exactly?”
“Anywhere is fine, as long as it’s you.” The girl leisurely spun once as she floated in front of Terra, her hair spreading like a rounded mountain foothill. “Nothing is off-limits for me. Do what you’d like—front or back, inside or outside.”
“Front? Back? ...Wha?”
Diode smiled so radiantly that ‘Like I said, you can do anything you want from now on’ might as well have been written on her face. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands at her chest like a devoted and pure maiden, completely defenseless before Terra. She now had to do anything she wanted with a bomb so adorable it was intimidating.
What counts as ‘anything’?
“...Guuuh.” Unsure of the answer, she reached for the girl's small shoulders, which fit perfectly into her palms, and started by hugging Diode to her chest. Diode relaxed her body, which seemed a little flushed, and Terra felt a sigh grace her neck. A familiar scent of bittersweet medicinal herbs filled the air. Terra felt her chest stir as her heartbeat accelerated.
When it came to providing what her partner had enthusiastically requested from her, Terra only had rudimentary knowledge about that sort of thing. The situation had thrown its weight into her lap before she could even come to terms with the request. Diode might have told me that she was okay with anything, but no way is she okay with anything. There definitely have to be things she’s not okay with. In all her 24 years, Terra had never gotten to this point. For starters, her life had been spent warding off touches as a target for them. So, when it came to touching others herself, she couldn’t think of anything beyond the basics.
You can’t make a bouquet from flowers you don’t have.
It wasn’t like she knew absolutely nothing, though. Terra started by stroking Diode’s arms and back while rubbing her cheek in Diode’s hair. It had gotten messy during their hurried rinsing, but her incredibly smooth hair obediently tidied itself as Terra untangled it. Dry hair usually accumulates static in zero-g due to the lack of grounding, which would cause it to splay like needles in every direction when combed. Weirdly, that wasn’t the case now. Terra wondered if it was because of the membrane wrapped around her fingers. It felt strangely slick, and it let the girl’s hair flow across her fingertips like water.
“...Mm,” Diode sighed contentedly. She lightly pressed deeper into Terra’s ample chest. If that was as far as she went, Terra didn’t feel like denying it to her, since she seemed to be enjoying herself there. Terra enjoyed her there too and guided her even closer. Once she finished fixing Diode’s hair, Terra continued to lovingly caress her back. The small figure she cradled in her arms was finding comfort in her warmth and firmness. She had no doubt about it.
Terra couldn’t go any further, though. She knew why, too. She wasn’t sure if now was okay to touch places she hadn’t touched before. She had a faint desire to go for it, to learn more about her incredibly nimble and charming companion.
However, when it came to Terra and common sense, she struggled with the boundary between things she should and shouldn’t do. If she had to describe the issue, she’d say that it was a line that was almost impossible for her to cross. She wanted to touch Diode, but her hand was frozen. It was almost weird how little she could move. Still, even if it was with difficulty, Terra managed to go at Diode from the neck up.
“Nom.”
“Aahn!”
A pale earlobe that resembled a namagashi peeked through the silver hair which parted around it. Terra took a gentle nibble, and Diode gasped.
“Mnn... Terra-sa... nnh.”
“Nm... mm... mnh.”
“T-that’s...!”
Diode’s ear felt nice against her lips. It struck Terra as odd that giving, not receiving, could feel this good. She cradled the back of Diode’s head, its pleasing curve in one hand, and peeled back the girl’s hair with the other to explore the intricacies of her ear’s soft, curving maze with her lips. The exhilarating sensation amplified the frenzy she felt growing in her chest. With all of her experience, Diode may have preferred something more stimulating, but Terra had something she needed to do first.
Lips just weren’t enough. The red of Terra’s tongue slid along the elaborate folds of Diode’s ears, which warmed as she navigated them. Terra could hardly breathe from excitement, and yet, she was aware her drool trickling into the ear canal would feel unpleasant, especially since Diode was already fidgeting strangely. So, Terra held her firmly in place and, without touching the middle of her ear, focused her attention on the perimeter of that adorable sculpture, slowly, carefully flicking he—
“T-Terra-san, stop.”
“Huh?”
“Please... wait...”
“...Die-san?” Terra whispered, five millimeters from her ear.
“Nnh,” Diode moaned as she arched backwards and trembled. “...Incredible.”
“Wha?”
“Holy shit, Terra-sannn...”
Terra had been neglecting Diode’s face. Turning her attention there, she saw it was beet-like red and so sweat-soaked it looked like she had just run four blocks downtown.
“Hah, hah,” she panted quickly. “Teasing me like that... Can’t believe you... you could do that... that...”
“Huh? Huh?” Terra was incredibly confused. “What did I do?”
“What... do you mean... ‘what did I do’?”
“No, seriously.”
“...Is this what it’s like when a clueless person goes on the offensive...?” Diode asked, her eyes glimmering in a mixture of fear and joy.
As always, Terra couldn’t quite grasp Diode’s meaning. She had the feeling Diode was more or less happy, but on the whole, it felt like she was being scolded for startling her. Feeling increasingly gloomy, she apologized. “I’m sorry, I guess I still can’t really touch you or get undressed yet. Um, but! Since you like doing it, Die-san, if you keep letting me try little by little, then eventually...”
“What?! But you were perfectly capable of doing it just now?!” Diode’s reply was accompanied with an expression of pure surprise.
Then once again, she nuzzled her face into Terra with a blissful expression. Terra was about to pick up where she left off, but something else had seized her attention. An itch deep in her chest just wouldn’t settle down. Her fingers, toes—other places radiated tingles.
This isn’t enough. I just need this feeling taken care of, I don’t care how.
“Die-san, um...”
“Yes?”
“There’s something I’d like you to do.”
“What is it?”
“Um, that. I mean. That. Do it to me, too. I don’t mean the ear–”
“Are you perhaps having a hard time saying you want to be touched too?”
“...!” The joyful look on Diode’s face had pierced straight into Terra’s real feelings. She was speechless, and—
They heard the quiet hiss of the airlock, and a figure dressed in a worker’s space suit entered the equipment room. “Excuuuse me, I couldn’t see you two on camera, so I dropped by to check up on you in person. Is everything okay?”
The two released from one another like an explosive bolt had just triggered, going left and right like a booster peeling away from a rocket.
Space Suit thought that seemed odd, so they repeated the question. “Is everything okay?”
“Ah, yes, um...”
“There are absolutely no anomalies,” Diode replied. She neatly composed herself and had barely a hint of sweat on her face. Terra felt jealous of that ability from the bottom of her heart.
Terra watched sadly as the insulation sheets coincidentally blocking the camera were safely stowed away by the crewmember who had introduced herself as Pri. She offered to allow them into the living quarters, since the crew was obligated to ensure the two were still alive, but as the conversation with her continued it became clear that would mean paying a passenger fee. The two turned down the request and explained the reality of the situation: they had just lost their boat and were flat broke.
“You’re skint? Those without money are gladly welcomed here.”
Brass hair loosely tied on two sides spilled out as Pri the inhaler latched the collapsible helmet to her collar. She had mahogany skin and looked around Terra’s age. She had an impressively cheerful grin that was missing a single canine. Her spacesuit was covered in pockets and scattered splashes of dirt. It wasn’t a slim and chic printer suit, so it seemed she didn’t care much for style or appeal.
“Having no money is the default state of humanity. It’s a state where people can find the resolve to do everything and become anything. That’s why those who are broke are supremely important.”
“Is that why this ship has that weird name? The Insolvent.”
“Ah, no, it’s had that sorta name for over 300 years now, but everyone liked it, so they let it be. Anyway, since you’ve lost your boat, wouldn’t you prefer to move over to our clan?”
The two looked at each other after receiving the sudden invitation. Diode pressed for more details. “Become anything? Then what about the one time I tried to become a twister over there? I got denied anyway.”
“What, a twister? But you’re a girl—ahh, you’re that sort of person? And you want to become a twister at our clan? That’s a biiit...”
“Then it’s no deal, I guess.” They managed to send Pri away, but appearance put an end to their flirting. They also couldn’t discuss their plans to investigate the Wǎngláiquān or their escape, as the conversation was a Circ faux pas at best and outright illegal at worst.
So, for the remaining time, they simply wrapped themselves in separate sheets of insulation and slept near one another. That was all they did, but Terra was content.
Four hours and thirty minutes later, the Insolvent arrived at the Jack-of-All-Trades base ship, Table of Johor. The moment it did, a representative from the local Gendō clan office who was laying in wait declared the establishment of a transfer agreement with the JT clan, granting custody of the clan’s woman Kanna Ishidōrō Gendō. And, exactly as per the agreement, she was handed over.
Terra was sent back home to Idaho.