“Goooood morning, Terra-san and Die-san! It’s already ten, that’s pretty late, huh?! I won’t come in, but pleeeaaase get up! You have a lot of things to do!”
“Alright, we get it, give us 15 minutes please!”
“Bwah?!” Terra woke up hugging her pillow, caught between Pri’s shouting and banging on the door and the reply shouted back at her. The unfamiliar ceiling was lit with daytime lighting.
“Good morning, Terra-san,” Diode said, appearing at her side.
For a brief moment, Terra was dumbstruck. She’d never thought much of it when she was the one who gave wake-up greetings, but this was the first time one was directed at her, and in her own room no less—not just that, Diode was already fully dressed. Her outfit was an olive jacket over a perfectly fit, partially airtight work suit, a pencil skirt, tights, and a marine-style beret atop her silver hair. It wasn’t a gorgeous deck dress, but it was still a shapely, functional look that would pass as an operations worker in any port.
Terra, on the other hand, was only dressed in a blanket.
“G-good morning... You got ready quick.”
“Good morning, Terra-san. You were sound asleep, huh?” Diode flashed her a satisfied smile and gestured towards the shower room. “Now, please get dressed. I left the clothing pattern on the printer for you, so if you don’t mind, you can use it too.”
“Would you mind turning around?”
“Not a problem, you’ve already shown me plenty.”
Diode maintained her unbothered expression and turned her back to Terra, who then rolled the blanket into a ball and threw it at her before scrambling to the shower room.
Fifteen minutes wasn't nearly enough, but taking the shower in speed mode and using the settings Diode left on the printer somehow allowed her to get ready. When she got out, the girl was waiting, ready to check her from the bottom up like a couturier.
“Could you stand over there? Turn sideways, now face forward. Okay, all good. I made sure the sleeves, collar, and hemlines would look adorable.”
“Having fun?”
“Sure am. I finally got to mess with you in the morning.”
Diode whirled around Terra. They had never seen one another at this time of day before. Terra huffed, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Even though she wanted to spend the next forty minutes leisurely, she had forty seconds to prepare herself before going out to the corridor. Pri was waiting for them there, nearly out of patience.
“Okay, look, you’re 80 minutes late. Please pay attention to your notifications.”
“I didn’t get any.”
“Me either.”
“Seriously? Oh, that was the Gendō's doing.”
Minicells for Gendō women had extremely restricted functionality, but once Pri realized the issue, she set something on her own minicell and tapped the back of her hand against the pair’s own hands. The pleasant chime of a restriction being lifted played.
“Should be all good now.”
“That means the restrictions are gone, right?”
“Oh, mine was restricted too...?” Although Diode was cheerful, Terra stood beside her, tilting her head a little.
“Let’s get on with it!” Pri called, and started walking off in a hurry.
“Diode-san, you’ll be coming to the Safety Assurance Department. They’d like to hear all you know about what a core Gendō clan member is up to. And you, Terra-san, could you report to the Fishing Center?”
“Huh, we’re splitting up?”
“That’s right, but you can meet up again in the evening. Though, if you two had gotten up earlier, you could have finished before afternoon tea instead!”
Although Pri pointed out every little thing, the two kept looking at one another instead. When she turned around to see the two lagging behind her, Pri smiled.
“Ahh, are you anxious? You two can leave your minicells connected with each other, then.”
“Right...”
“You still don’t feel like trusting us? Hmm, about that...”
There was a lot to be uncertain about; their situation was too fluid. After brooding on it for a little bit, Terra spoke up.
“You Trades are all about business deals, right. If we cooperate with you and work here, then are we going to make money?”
“Hm? Err... Well, you’ll be paid for the things you do, yeah. Though I’m certain you’ll rack up far more expenses than profit.”
Pri gave a vague answer, but Terra nodded.
“While we stay here and use the amenities you have on offer, we’ll be taking on debt, right? I understand that, and what’s important is that we have a record of that exchange.”
“Records?”
“Mhm. Lending and renting create records, right? So, shouldn’t that be done for every transaction from now on? If each one has a record attached, then I can really trust you.”
“Haha! I get it, so that’s what you mean.”
Pri nodded, interested, and waved one hand. The moment she did, Terra and Diode had the same number appear on their minicells.
“So long as this number exists, we’ve got good reason to take great care of you. Nice thinking, I approve!”
“Y-yeah...”
Terra knew why the negative number was huge, but the sight of it still made her face stiffen.
“Terra-san...” Although Diode stood beside Terra while she made that decision unilaterally, her voice sounded doubtful. “Are you really going along with that without a second thought? I think they could falsify the value as much as they want if they feel like it later.”
“That's the part you have a problem with? We were rolling around as helplessly as an orca haul all last night, so I think if they wanted to attack us, they would have already done it a long time ago. Which they haven’t, right?”
“I mean, I guess.”
“Anyway, unless we can find someone else to depend on, we’re not able to do a thing. So, for now, wouldn’t you agree we should start by making allies?”
“Well, yeah, but...”
“Die-san...” Terra brought her face close to Diode’s and nodded. “I know. We can talk about that part later, okay?”
Diode’s eyes widened slightly, then gave Terra an okay and a nod. Pri, walking a few steps ahead, stopped where the corridor split and turned around.
“You get everything sorted? Then Diode-san, you’ll be coming with me, and Terra-san, you’ll be going over there. Make sure to follow the directions on your minicell.”
“Sure.” “Later then.”
They raised their hands and went their separate ways, keeping their backs to one another until they reached a corner. They each noticed the other looking back at them and smiled.
She wasn’t tossed in a cell and kept under the watch of an alert man, nor was she dragged into a cold interrogation room and boxed in with metallic walls—much to Diode’s surprise, her interrogation was actually taking place in a sidewalk café. After reaching a roadside in the middle of a stall market district styled after a trading post, where Trades’ commonfolk freely came and went, she shook hands with the man who headed the Safety Assurance Department and a woman who was an investigator. After the two introduced themselves as Stanley and Saucer respectively, Diode sat down across the table from them with Pri.
“Diode-san, we may have summoned you here, but as you are only a citizen rescued from an accidental pillar boat explosion, we have no authority to forcibly detain you. In addition, as you are still considered a member of the Gendō clan, you have the right to refuse divulging any information which may disadvantage your own clan. Is this acceptable to you?”
“Am I really allowed to flee into the streets or keep silent from now until six?”
“If that is what you really choose, then yes, there is nothing we would do; however, we would prefer you did not if at all possible. We would appreciate your describing any details you feel you may share after becoming familiarized with our investigation,” Stanley said with a wry smile.
Diode hesitated. Although she blatantly received the harsh treatment last time she was here, this time they were noticeably obliging and upfront. She wondered if they were trying to win her over, and in that case, she couldn’t drop her guard.
“...There are a few things I’d like to know first. Is that okay, Pri-san?”
Diode looked to her side, and the inspector nodded towards the man opposite them.
“I can’t talk, but he can.”
“Then, please tell me what you know. I’ll talk after.”
“All right. What would you like to know about?”
“Pretty much everything, but first...” Diode tried to force things along. “How dangerous is Chief Nurude’s plan to use the decompers?”
The investigator loudly jolted her chair in surprise, and Diode was just as startled by the noise.
The man, concealing his emotions, said, “Of course, how much do you happen to already know about it?”
With his upfront response, Diode began to consider that maybe they really weren’t hiding anything from her.
“I don’t know anything of significance. And on that note, I’m only now finding out that was what you’re investigating. Sorry, that was a fluke.”
“I see...”
“Pri-san mentioned yesterday that we were brought here to protect Terra-san from a kidnapping, and I also remembered that the Clan Chief is very interested in her. Since his daughter’s a freak, I thought he might be one too.”
“A freak? What kind of freak?”
“Sorry, please ignore that, it’s not relevant.”
The two gave Diode puzzled looks. Diode gave them a small wave of the hand and continued her line of questioning.
“Him being a freak can’t be it, so, perhaps the decompers have other practical uses beyond fishing, and that’s what he wants to use them for?”
“Correct.” The man leaned forward. “This is an extremely grave matter which does not stop with the Gendō; it places the Circs as a whole at risk. In fact, it’s likely that damage has already been done.”
“...Damage?”
“Yes, damage. However, we still are not certain of what that might be, hence ‘likely’—Saucer.”
After his eyes turned to the investigator, she gently cleared her throat and said, “I’ll explain. Thus far, we have uncovered three suspicious incidents. The first was seventeen months ago, when during the twelfth month of CC 302 the entirety of the Keelung clan base ship experienced communications interference for six minutes. The second occurred during the eighth month of CC 303 at the Itar clan base ship. There were three accidents which involved misused obstruction purging explosives, although these were small-scale. The third occurred during the twelfth month of the same year, this time at the Drone&Dongle clan. Their base ship’s main thruster activation emulator completed four cycles while unstaffed. The cause of the first two incidents remained unknown until the third, when the D&D reopened the other clans’ investigations and identified the causes using their expertise in base ship systems.”
“When the Bow Awow began that month, they reported on the incident. They stated that the incidents fit with evidence of system cracking and unauthorized command access, likely by the Gendō,” Stanley said, taking over the conversation.
The more Diode heard, the wider her eyes grew, “Wait, what you’re saying makes it sound like Nurude is one-sidedly terrorizing the other clans.”
“Is that how it sounds to you?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what it sounds like. So, beyond that, what else is there?”
“It is possible that Clan Chief Nurude is testing a number of things which would allow him to seize control of the other base ships.”
“Seize control–” Diode faltered, a number of questions all springing to mind at once. She sorted through them and put them in order in her head. “Does he have the power to do that? And if he does, is it okay for him to have it? Couldn’t he be arrested?”
“That’s exactly what is difficult about this.” Stanley joined his fingers on the table. “Even if the systems make it possible, the Bow Awow will not stand for it. For that reason, he is indeed subject to punishment if he is successful in obtaining that power; however, it is impossible to obtain through the general-use fleet systems. The Circs do not have a Commodore Helm, with the exception of the period when every system is linked during the Bow Awow. Consequently, an official accusation against him is unable to be made.”
“So, basically—” Diode ground her teeth. “—something which shouldn’t exist actually does, and for there to be proof of a coup or criminal activity, you need to find the thing that shouldn't exist?”
“You’re a very sharp girl, aren’t you?” Stanley grinned.
Diode fell flat on the table. “This... this is turning out to be a huge bother. I wish I hadn’t found out about it...”
“It very much is bothersome, but this is not a problem which can be solved by running away—which is especially true for you two.”
“I understand, I was just venting,” she replied, but she didn’t really understand. She straightened up again. “I will put up with it and cooperate, though... So, what you want is to confirm whether that thing really exists?”
“For now, we are calling it the Helm,” Saucer said.
Stanley nodded. “However, the Helm is unrelated to the part that wooden ships which navigated on water had. But the point is, it is a lost tool coveted by Mr. Nurude. It may be a physical device, an intangible piece of software, or maybe a unique terminal, robot, password, codename... it could be anything. Did you happen to see or hear anything during your stay there?”
“A terminal... password?” That tugged on something in the recesses of her memory—meaningful words from several unwilling exchanges with Meika, words she had dismissively ignored as nonsense during her half-month stay in the Typhoon Palace. “Ugh... I might know something.”
“Really?! That being?”
“Sorry, I really don’t remember well, because I just wanted to get out of every conversation as quickly as possible. Since I’m not able to suddenly remember it offhand... could you give me some time? I can send a note if I remember anything.”
“Is that so...” Stanley leaned back, disappointed.
Another question appeared in Diode’s mind. “Now that I think about it, what does decomping have to do with all this, er... Saucer-san?”
She guessed that of the two, Saucer was the one handling the technical details and aimed her question there.
Saucer gave a small nod and replied, “We believe the Helm is operated through decomping.”
“So that’s why they’re after Terra-san...!” Now that everything was clear to her, Diode let out a long sigh. If everything was true, it would explain why Nurude caused the small incidents and why Terra was his target.
If he wanted to carry out his grand scheme, he was sure to need a great decomper.
Then, the biggest question of all came to mind. “If he’s going that far, then just what is Nurude aiming to do?”
Stanley calmly shook his head. “That’s exactly what we wanted to hear from you most—what is it that he wishes for?”
Meanwhile, the one Terra had business with rested in liquid helium at -270°C.
“The juvenile nishikigoi? It was brought here, then?”
“Pri said that it was an extra from rescuing you two.”
It wasn’t possible to see inside the large chamber, a cylinder almost 50 meters in diameter constructed from a considerable amount of precious glass and steel and which preserved things at extremely low temperatures. However, the attached control room displayed the results from various non-destructive internal scanning equipment.
Terra was in the decompression laboratory located at the tip of Table of Johor’s fourth leg. Following Pri’s directions, Terra headed towards the Fishing Center and through an adjacent research facility. She was now being shown the small nishikigoi she picked up with Diode while fleeing from Fuyō.
“So, why show me?”
“Because it’s your catch, of course!” The male researcher looked up at Terra and nodded for some reason. “None of our fishers have managed to bring in a nishikigoi; really, it’s a tough species. So, I assumed whoever caught it was a Big Deal—and lo and behold, that somebody is a straight-up giant!”
“Ah, uhh, well, if you say so...” As usual, the way Terra was being spoken to left her feeling slightly uncomfortable, but she brushed it off with a vague smile. It would also be more accurate to say she hadn’t caught the nishikigoi but picked it up.
“You didn’t catch it by fishing officially, but you’re allowed to sell it for resources. That said, at around 2000 tonnes, you wouldn’t make much money doing that. So, this is only a suggestion, but... how about dissecting it for data?”
Terra was taken aback by the suggestion. “Dissect?” She tilted her head. “Why?”
“To figure out where this besshu’s remarkable electromagnetic and particle radiation resistance comes from. You saw it too, didn’t you? The way it easily swims up through a plasma shower so intense enough to produce an aurora that fills the whole sky.”
“Yeah, yeah! I did, it was incredible! It started to accelerate, rise, and then... BAM! We get sent flying off! All in one go! And meanwhile the plasma shower was intense enough to burn our hull to a crisp!’
“You got sent flying off?”
“Yes! Ah, I mean, sometimes we did, sometimes we didn’t.” Okay, I’m not lying. “Anyway, it’s an impressive besshu. But investigating the secret of its resistance...?” She remembered her conversation while fishing with Diode and shrugged. “That’s impossible, isn’t it? I heard nobody’s been able to figure it out before now because their insides melt right after death.”
“Indeed. Erm, Intercontinental-san, was it?” The researcher gave her a knowing smile and began fiddling with the scanner screen. “My clan has never caught a nishikigoi, but we have heard about its pace, er, by pace I don’t mean movement, but of decomposition. So, the moment we received a message from Pri informing us of her escape from Fuyō, we were already giving her instructions. She was to keep the besshu as cold as possible while bringing it back. Thankfully, the Insolvent is a helium extractor, so there was no lack of coolant.”
“Ah, so what you’re saying is this little one has been refrigerated since then?”
“That’s right, and here’s the result!” The researcher ostentatiously displayed a cross-sectional view of the besshu. “These are the ultrasound images and x-rays, look over here!”
He was pointing to the besshu’s tip, but Terra couldn’t tell what anything was.
“Looks like some sort of twisty shape... could it be an organ? Or brain tissue?”
“No idea!” Not even the researcher knew. “But even just one thing we don’t understand might turn a profit. As far as common besshu like sweet mackerel and trout go, they’re recognizable anywhere, no matter whether they’re frozen, rotten, or the imaging is bad. But this twisting organ in the nishikigoi isn’t common knowledge, and that might be key to its impenetrable secrets!”
“Woah... Then we’ll figure it out if we dissect it?”
“That’s right! This frozen sample is very valuable, since it’s the first one ever caught by any Circ. So, obviously, I hope you approve its dissection!”
“That’s fascinating!” Terra’s eyes twinkled and she leaned forward, but then made a stopping gesture. “Wait. I didn’t catch it alone, so I can’t make a decision without talking to my partner first.”
“Ah, your twister, right? I’m not opposed to your discussing it with him, but please make a decision as quickly as possible. Preferably today. Or better yet, right now!”
“Now’s a little complicated, she’s in the middle of something else at the moment.”
“She?” The researcher eyed Terra once again and raised his voice. “Oh, I had forgotten that you pair with another girl to fish. Do you turn a profit?”
“What?”
“Actually, you ranked third place with your hauls this quarter, so that was a pointless question to ask,” he said, slapping his forehead as if he’d only just remembered. “If she can make that much money, it’s only natural you’d pair up.”
“That’s not why...”
“Hm? Ah, you’re the one who makes the money? Why not pair up with someone you like, then?”
“I am paired with someone I like, though...?”
“That so? I see, so it’s a hobby for you, and you just happen to get good results. Hahaha, seems like you have a tough future ahead.”
Terra didn’t quite understand what he meant at first, but it turned out that he didn’t think she and Diode were a proper pair, after all. The situation would probably take a turn for the worse if she tried to push back against someone like him, and not really wanting trouble, she let it slide with a vague smile.
“Guess so, huh.”
The awkward silence was blasted away by the researcher’s booming voice. “That’s right! Now, regarding the analysis, it won’t be free. All of the data we collect will be turned into an offer.”
“Data...?” Terra asked in disappointment.
“Don’t make that face. Like I said, data has value. If published, it can be turned into an accomplishment or money, and you’d also certainly find a use for it.”
“Find a use how?”
“Fishing, of course! If we discover the secret of the nishikigoi’s power, then you might improve your catch next time you go out fishing, yes?”
“How would that improve our catch?”
“Well, that’s your job to figure out.”
“Ah, is that right...”
Terra was disappointed, but as she thought about it, she realized he was right. Coming up with the fishing plan and changing the pillar boat’s shape was the decomper’s job—the problem was that it was unlikely they’d ever have another chance to fish, and even if they did, they would turn it down.
...or maybe we wouldn’t? Would we really refuse? Terra remained deep in thought but eventually sent a minicell message to her partner.
“By the way, Intercontinental-san, there’s more I’d like to hear about, if you don’t mind?”
“Oh, sure. What kind of thing?”
“Fishing, of course, your nishikigoi fishing know-how! Tell me everything, in detail, because that’ll turn into money if there’s any new information!”
“It all comes back to money, huh...?” Even though Terra forced a smile, it didn’t feel bad to talk about her experiences.