The two happened to be in the middle of crossing the shopping district’s main street when it happened.
“Ah! Look, Terra-san, there’s a synthetic aroma store over there.”
“Wha, Die-san?”
Diode swerved when she saw the perfumery across the street. Terra, in her white and orange dress, hurried after the girl in shorts and a blue-black bustier as she disappeared into the crowd.
Suddenly, everything went dark. It was so dark, it would have been easier for Terra to believe something had suddenly covered her eyes. She stood in place, disoriented, but someone bumped into her from the side, which in turn caused her to stagger and bump arms with someone. Just as she started to apologize on reflex, confused and alarmed voices began filling the air. It was a little slow in coming, but Terra also began to feel afraid.
—What’s happening? Is something wrong with my eyes? Did the lights break? The air leak alarm didn’t go off, but should I act like it was supposed to?
Still, she didn’t know where to find the closest mask storage and shelter sites, and she also wanted to collect Diode before she went—then somewhere in the commotion, a small point of white light from someone’s hand reminded everyone of their minicells’ auxiliary functions. Her surroundings began to light up, so Terra turned hers on too.
Terra waved above the crowd in the direction she thought Diode went.
“Die-saaan!”
A low silhouette scurried out and flung itself around her skirt. Terra was relieved.
“Die-san, are you okay? That startled me, and–”
“I’m fine, but let’s move over there first.”
Terra felt the girl hastily take her hand and, despite her confusion, allowed Diode to lead her to the street’s shoulder. Once they had their backs to a building, Diode finally sighed in relief.
Terra asked, “What’s wrong? You seem like you’re in a hurry.”
“Even the shelter emergency lights are out.”
Once Diode pointed it out, Terra looked up and down the street and noticed the same thing. The green square lights she had gotten used to seeing were gone. It was strange that the signs to the pressurized shelters—first and foremost, the most reliable thing in an emergency—had disappeared.
They could hear loud, upset voices around them. By the sounds of it, someone who was trying to run away from the area had collided with someone who was trying to get their bearings. A growing cloud of anxiety loomed over everyone. The two heard a scream nearby. Nodding to one another, they ran in the direction it came from. The two came across a woman who had collapsed in a flower bed and helped her up. She seemed uninjured, having simply panicked in the dark without her minicell light.
“It’ll be okay. Let’s stick together.”
The row of shops had barricaded their entrances to protect their products, and the two had a feeling it would be rather dangerous to go in the alleys. They had no choice but to hug the building walls while they brought the woman along with them.
“What do you think happened?” Terra asked.
Diode wordlessly scanned their surroundings half a step away from them. When Terra realized the girl was doing it as a show of courage, she silently took over and put her height to work diligently keeping watch.
Bursting with the enthusiasm of traders, Table of Johor was a base ship named after a small islet on an ancient planet. The two would later find out over 70% of its habitable space had actually been impacted by the blackout.
After a short while, the scenery flashed back into view. It looked like nothing had ever happened to the messy townscape of shops and stalls under the ceiling lights, now that they worked again. People looked at one another in relief before going back to their days. The woman who had been curled up at their feet regained her composure, thanked them, and left.
“Looks like she’s fine now.”
Terra felt relieved herself. That was when her minicell began to ring. Taking the call, she replied, “Hello, Intercontinental speaking. Mhm, she’s with me. We’re both fine—what? At the government office?”
It had been a brief conversation. Terra turned to Diode. “Pri-san has something important to discuss.”
“She has an annoying problem of some sort for us, doesn’t she?”
“We can’t be sure of that ye–”
“Trust me, it can’t be anything good.”
Indeed, it wasn’t.
⠀
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
⠀
Dearest brethren who circle the dense, beautiful clouds of this unconquerable world, we, the Gendō of Fuyō, wish it to be known that the hour of our liberation is at hand.
In the year 8526 Astro Duodenum, five hundred thousand of the persecuted were herded to a single location and expelled to the Galactive Frontier, never to return. These people were provided with a resource-poor gas giant, where it was intended they would live out their days on meager rations. Their life of miserable deprivation stretched on for three years until the prisoners rose up and overthrew their wardens.
Those people were our ancestors. Those people were Circs before we called ourselves Circs.
The distress you are likely feeling is understandable. To think that shackles ever held our ancestors is outlandish. Nay, nonsense. We Gendō felt that same distress. Aghast, we too denied this shameful truth.
However, we ask you to reflect on these feelings. Is our shame the cruel living conditions forced upon us by tyrants? Is it not more shameful for our fear and powerlessness to allow their continued dominance? Our ancestors rose up, and by attaining self-sufficiency, they earned a glorious autonomy. Further, the precious resource they secured, our supply of clay, forces that tyrannical realm to recognize our existence.
That act is honorable, and it is made more honorable still by the truth that it was an ignoble, powerless people clawing their way free of a difficult situation by their own hands. However, can we truly say that act's glory endures for 300 years? That our honor is preserved to this day?
These are difficult questions. Honor is preserved through endless struggle. Under duress, we necessarily became accomplished fishers of besshu on this planet. We have kept our gazes fixed on the planet below—should we not turn our honorable struggle towards the heavens? Can we really say that our desires—a world of our own choosing, fishing for our own sake—are truly fulfilled? So, the time to acquire new worlds is now at hand—a star system for ourselves, by ourselves.
As I speak to you, a major outbreak of besshu plagues Zugspitze, the nearest star system to us. This is neither speculation nor fabrication; it is classified information we Gendō obtained during the last visit of the Dàxúnniǎo. The troubled people of the Galactive Interactive do not know how to rid themselves of besshu.
However, we have that knowledge, and that knowledge is our means of liberation. Now, through our own abilities, we are able to return to the lands from which we were long ago banished by our own will. We are capable of securing our true honor if we are capable of reeling in the creatures which run wild. We are capable of securing ourselves a star..
Naturally, excellent fishers are vital. We shall create a vanguard composed of the sixteen finest pairs of fishers among us. We shall identify them through the quarterly ranks, but should these individuals step forward on their own, it would earn them even more radiant acclamation.
We Gendō assume the responsibility of supporting these most essential sixteen pairs. To assuage your doubts— regarding your tasks, your destination, and most importantly, the means of your return to the Galactive Interactive—we stand prepared with helpful answers.
To those who have succinctly understood so far, we ask that you think of the Essential Element of Circs, the People Who Circle the Planet. That is, for things to move forward, momentum is essential. What provides that momentum to us are powerful engines and precise command—a precision made reality by carrying out orders without hesitation.
We believe you have the necessary talent and drive to achieve that momentum.
⠀
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
⠀
“That’s the full declaration we received from Fuyō during the urban district blackout... are you two able to make sense of it?” Pri observed the pair’s faces as she finished playing the recording.
“Not really...” “I hate that I did.” Terra and Diode glanced at one another with a vague smile and frown, respectively.
The Safety Assurance Department, situated inside Johor’s government offices, was frantic; the two were in the strategy room tucked away deep within. It was the first time Terra, Diode, and Pri had been there; they circled around a data table with the seemingly exhausted Stanley and Saucer.
“Hand over the fleet and obey our orders—that’s what Nurude was telling us.” Diode told Terra.
“What?! When did he say that?”
“At the end. Not that he said it explicitly, but he was saying it. He’s strong-arming us.”
“Ah, so that’s what he meant? So Clan Chief Nurude intended that blackout just now?”
Terra shifted her gaze to Stanley, the department head, who nodded.
“We—meaning the Safety Assurance Department and the Trades’ Council of Elders—believe that to be the case. The attack was carried out using both legal and illegal electronic data routing techniques. Moreover, Johor was not the only target. After some urgent dispatches to the other clans, we found that all fifteen of us were attacked simultaneously.”
“The entire fleet had a blackout...?”
“How reckless. Ah... He was putting the Commodore Helm into operation, wasn’t he? So, the secret remote tampering with the undocking equipment, engine simulators, and those types of incidents in the other base ships... were those just test runs?”
“We suspect that is the case, yes.”
While Diode and Terra were surprised, they at least understood the situation. It hadn’t been an inexplicable disaster, but part of a situation they were already trying to stop.
“Nurude said some crazy things—how much of it do you think is true?” Diode asked. The question was met by a grimace from Stanley and Saucer.
“Determining the answer to that is precisely why you were summoned here. His claims—that our ancestors were expelled, of a besshu outbreak in the Zugspitze system, and the formation of a group of sixteen fishing pairs to catch them—sound like nonsense, nothing more. How, then, are we supposed to interpret his statement? Is it allegorical? A coded message? Or perhaps Mr. Nurude himself is addled?”
“Or is it the truth?” Diode said, her eyes staring up as if she was looking through him.
“That’s not possible,” Stanley immediately denied.
Diode then looked to Terra and said, “Show them.”
Terra took out the golden stone storage and handed it over to Saucer. She accepted it suspiciously and played it for the room. Once everyone saw the deportation plan, as hard to believe as it was, they were just as surprised as Terra and Diode had been.
“What even is this?” Pri said with a half-smile.
“It’s the thing my father, Ozuno Ishidōrō Gendō, gave to us,” Diode explained, emphasizing his full name.
“From Chief Ozuno...? Ah! That thing!”
“Hold on, there was no mention of your possessing something like this during our interview the other day.” Stanley said with an intense expression.
Diode remained composed, evading his accusation. “He told us the stone was merely a travel guide when he gave it to us. I thought he handed it over to keep it hidden at first, but it seems like it was really so it could be used in case something like this happened. My question is: do you think this is real?”
There was no need to ask. One glance was all it took to astonish Saucer, the technology expert. She connected the data table to the interclan net and began a document analysis. She swiftly verified that the crest, writing style, historical facts, and name register were all self-consistent.
“The names of the early Trades, knowledge of which should not exist outside this clan, appear on the register. It is almost certainly not a fabrication.”
“Which means Nurude-san’s speech was also the real deal, huh? Hahaha...” Pri laughed emptily. “So, he seriously wants to drag the other fifteen clans back to the Galactive Interactive...”
“More importantly, there is the matter of our history.” Stanley’s expression grew increasingly severe. “The fact that our ancestors were exiles is serious... The Elders in other clans will not be inclined to accept this at first, but if word gets out that it is true, it could set a spark to an already volatile situation. It may even give other clans a reason to side with the Gendō.”
“That is worrisome, but another thing also gives me concern,” Saucer said. “Clan Chief Nurude did not mention the blackout in his declaration. Our guess is that he attempted to activate the Helm, but to most, it simply looked like a circumstantial incident or an attack via an unknown vector. And as long as we are unsure of why the blackout occurred, we cannot speculate on the Helm’s operational limits. It may create the impression that the Gendō are an indisputably powerful clan. This situation is extremely bad.”
“It was also awful clever of him to hide what they’ll use to return to the GI. It’s currently impossible to return to the GI without a device that can navigate with a Guāngguànhuán Drive... But then, does that mean they have the real thing–”
Saucer interrupted Diode. “There is a legend—every clan has a version—that there was such a device stashed away in the oldest, deepest layers of the expanded base ships.”
The two locked eyes with one another following their exchange.
Stanley spoke gravely, as if giving voice to everyone. “Anyway... This situation, then, is of a scope beyond what the Safety Assurance Department is capable of handling itself. Now that we have reached this point, we are no longer able to resolve this peacefully. Our only option is for official cooperation between all clans to oppose the Gendō.”
“Um, may I ask something?”Everyone looked towards Terra as she shyly raised her hand. “No one brought it up, but what ended up happening with the thing where Nurude-san was gathering decompers?”
“What happened with it? Well, as you just saw, that man has shown he can leave the entire fleet in total darkness, so the Helm is already in motion. Our investigation failed, and he achieved that goal somehow.” Pri shrugged with a wry smile.
“No, he didn’t.” Diode shook her head. “If he really did seize control of the whole fleet, he could’ve just shown us that he was in control. He could have just fired up the engines of all 15 base ships and started us underway, not stopped with a cheap trick like causing blackouts. And yet, he didn’t.”
“Yeah, and instead of that, he just said weird things, right? Like for each clan to present a pair of fishers. He talked about it in a way that made it sound like it was a big opportunity for the best fishers, but isn’t he really trying to get the most promising decompers gathered together?”
“Oh.”
Terra’s question surprised the three Trades.
“So he has yet to gather enough decompers?!”
“That’s right. Nurude still hasn’t seized total control.”
“He’s only managed to partially activate the Helm. So...” Terra nodded. She whispered into Diode’s ear, and with the girl’s approval, finished sharing her thought with the others. “Would it be possible for you to allow us to temporarily work as fishers for the Trades?”
“Please, go on,” Stanley said, interested.
Terra nodded. “Nurude-san is still looking for decompers. Instead of refusing or ignoring him, I think we should send in fakes while pretending to go along with him. They could infiltrate, investigate what’s happening from the inside... then find the Helm and destroy it.”
“I see. However, if we send you two, how do you plan to deal with the fact that you will be detained along with the boat?”
“That’s where we would like your clan’s help. Is it possible for you to loan us the names and faces of one of your fishing pairs? They won’t be able to ID us, and since we’d be aboard a malleable pillar boat and you can’t see its interior from the outside, we could probably avoid showing our actual faces right up until the very last minute. If we can enter the port, I think we can sneak in with a surprise attack or something. What do you think?!” Terra said enthusiastically.
It was the Trades’ turn to whisper among themselves before replying.
“...It is not a bad idea, but caution will be necessary if we are to go forward with it. We can ask trusted clans for their cooperation with the undercover plan, prepare a backup plan, and if it comes to it, a substitute. Additionally, we will train you to destroy the Helm when you come across it.”
“You’re telling me we have enough time for training?”
“That is the purpose of emergency training.” The smile Stanley made sent a faint chill down their spines.
“But really, you two made a very helpful suggestion,” Pri said, relieved. “But if you want our fishers to go along with this plan, they’re gonna need a detailed explanation of what’s happening first. Meaning, unless they clearly understand Mr. Nurude to be the scheming type, there’s a chance that they’ll trust his pretty-sounding words and get reeled in.”
Hearing that, Terra mumbled without thinking, “But did he really not say anything we can’t agree with even a little? Like the part about choosing our own star and fishing for our own sake?”
Everyone directed a disturbed gaze towards her, which made her blush.
Bitterly, Diode replied, “Terra-san, those were exactly the pretty words she was talking about. What are you going to do if you get hooked? Get it together! They were threatening us back at Fuyō, remember?”
“R-Right!”
Pri nodded at Diode and watched Terra shrink into herself. “His invitation really is trouble, huh...”
She and Saucer nodded to one another.
Stanley spoke. “Well then, we will move forward with the undercover operation, starting now. Terra-san and Diode-san, if the operation proves successful, we promise to recognize your case.”
“By case, you mean–” Terra was suddenly conscious of the girl beside her and reflexively stiffened. “You mean, us two fishing together?”
“Yes. The standard is that fishing is for married couples only. However, I believe we can make an exception and allow the two of you in particular to fish together even after you are married.”
After more than four seconds frozen solid, Terra smiled and said, “Thank you.” She didn’t need to ask to understand why the girl standing beside her was silent.
“...so that’s how I successfully managed to trick the Trades. I did pretty good, didn’t I?”
The pillar boat followed an elliptical orbit over FBB’s night side. Diode, who had been listening from the cockpit, screamed and looked down.
“...Die-san?”
“...Do I even need to dignify that with an answer?!”
“Woah!”
“They'll allow us to pair up even after we get married—who the hell asked them?! Why would we want a bunch of guys—guys who are so hopelessly focused on a primal urge to make money that they can’t help but think a woman is a gold-digger if she's out chasing other women instead of men—tell us how, when, and where we can fish WHEN WE COULD JUST GET MARRIED IN THE FIRST PLACE?! AM I WRONG?!”
The girl finished her long rant and turned to the rear pit where Terra, who only understood the last part, was frozen.
“Wha? Ah, ma... marry? You want to marry me...?”
“No, wait, that’s not—hey, listen, can we back up a little?”
“Huh? Oh, okay.”
Diode awkwardly looked away, her shoulders heaving with each breath. She suddenly turned around again and laid into Terra. “You also messed up earlier, Terra-san! Making a face like you were tempted by Nurude’s sales pitch, like you thought it was kinda nice sounding, almost made the Trades stop questioning the truth of it! That was close!”
Ah—she changed topics. Terra decided to apologize. “Yeah, you’re right! I’m so sorryyy!”
Diode blushed as she looked away again. In the back, Terra was also red as she tried not to smile.
The two wanted to go all-out with their deck dresses since it had been so long since they’d last boarded as a pair. But since they weren’t just fishing, but conducting a special mission, they couldn’t wear anything two ornate or flashy. Both had conceded to functionality, wearing body-hugging pressure suits and securing their long hair under covers, but they remained adamant on decorating them with elaborate color designs. Diode’s suit was colored to look like a planet at night, its dark surface illuminated here and there by orange city lights. Terra’s suit was colored to resemble an ocean world; its matte navy-blue body wreathed in white cirrus clouds. In addition, she sported inconspicuous viridian and dirt-brown metallic accessories that mimicked a mountain pattern on her cheeks, ankles, and the back of her hands. Their outfits were based on rocky planets Terra had never seen in person. In a calmer situation, their appearance would make them want to stare at one another in admiration, but sadly, it was neither the time, place, nor occasion. Terra continued to ruminate on their conversation from the other day.
“But earlier, don’t you think Stanley-san and the others tossed out the possibility of leaving the planet aside without thinking it over much? That’s kind of disappointing, isn’t it?”
“...Now that you mention it, maybe, but I don’t really care. I mean, do you really need to agree with Nurude to leave?”
“Well, I guess not.”
“Our reasons for leaving aren’t why he wants to leave.”
“Yeah, you’re right about that.” Although Terra finally nodded in agreement and her thinking took one step forward, she took another step back. “But is the Galactive Interactive really such an oppressive place for decompers? Because if it is, our future prospects...”
“Err, near the middle of his speech, Nurude said something about getting the Interactive to recognize us, right? And that’s why he wants us to go as fishers. Assuming that’s true, then wouldn’t that mean the reason why we’re able to go now is because the situation is different from how it was 300 years ago?”
“But you can’t explain it away like that, because then you’re conveniently ignoring the other things he said.””
“True...” Diode stopped to think for a moment before offering a compromise. “Should we add some questions to press that guy on into our plans in case we happen to stumble across him?”
“Yeah.” Terra nodded, then added, “...which means we can’t run away until we get this Helm uprising squared away, right?”
“That’s... Yeah, since if the worst happens and Nurude becomes Great Chief, he could come chasing us at full speed.”
“Ugh, that would suck...” Terra quickly shook her head. Suddenly, she was struck with an idea and tried to call her through the radio. “Hello, Eda-san? Insomnia, do you read me?”
Since the pillar boat had departed Table of Johor and was on the move, the communication routing was different. However, as she expected, there was no response. “No use, huh? Fuyō is probably locked down from the inside.”
“Well duh, they picked a fight by threatening to hack the whole fleet. Obviously they’re going to take precautions to prevent getting hacked themselves.”
“Meaning we can only get through if we’re somewhere line-of-sight for radio waves and optical... Die-san, let’s aim for the operations port in Fuyō’s shadow, if we can.”
“Got it. If we put Nurude in his place, we should be able to head there afterwards.”
Terra ran through the main plan and their personal objectives in her head—infiltrate Fuyō, destroy the Helm in Nurude’s possession, talk to Diode’s father Ozuno again, and finally, steal the Insomnia back and flee. They couldn’t forget the two control pits they were currently flying in during their escape, either. In order to accomplish that, their pillar boat was heading towards a designated orbit. It had all gotten quite complicated, so she sighed to let off steam.
“Terra-san!” Diode pointed below her. “Look, it’s a spaceship fleet!”
“...Wow!”
Points of light coming in from all directions—from the ahead, from below, from the sides, from an angle—were gathering in one place. No matter where the boats had come from, the times they entered the rendezvous orbit should have brought them here much closer together. And yet, as if they were trying to stay several hundred kilometers apart from each other, it seemed like everyone was arriving one-by-one in order to carefully take up formation.
Their formation was a huge inverted V composed of a dozen or so pillar boats. Behind them loomed FBB’s approaching day side; the sunlight passing through its depths glowed like a sea of burning cotton.
“We look like a flock of migratory birds...”
“Didn’t you say there’s a bird called the migratory bird?”
“Ahaha, there isn’t.”
“What?”
Although Diode tilted her head in confusion as usual, once Terra set a marker for their standby position, she slid the boat into the left side of the formation with extreme ease using just the pinky-sized fine correction jets. Their boat was the 16th in the formation, forming the tip of its left wing.
Just as she finished, the men put in an appearance as multiple transmission windows popped up inside the pit.
“Hey Salinzone, so you came too! You sure came dressed to the nines.” “How’s the wife?” “It’s already been half a year since the Bow Awow, huh? Shame we didn’t have the time to go out drinking back then.”
One of them wore an all-black, old-fashioned coat, another was clad in a radar suit with sensory inputs all over the body, and the last, long-hemmed dancewear with numerous beads and artificial seashells sewn all the way down to the ankle. Names displayed below the images of the men, in deck dress as fine as any in Terra and Diode’s wardrobe, identified them as belonging to the Hebrew, Drone&Dongle, and Keelung clans, respectively.
Diode gently cleared her throat, lowered her voice, and replied, “Yeah, I came too. The wife’s great and she’s as beautiful as ever. Let’s go out for those drinks once we’ve finished up here!”
“Srnk–”
Terra instantly covered her mouth as the girl shouted “Stop laughing!” without turning around. The shoulders not covered by her tight suit had a faint blush.
Of course, Diode didn’t respond as Diode, Gendō clan, but as a certain Salinzone, Trades clan, whose name she happened to be borrowing. Her voice and appearance were modified by the boating system and transmitted as a man’s image. Her planning hadn’t gotten as far as including conversational details, but it seemed like she’d hit the mark, given the boisterous response she received.
“Ooh, gotta go double to make up for lost time!”
Once the husbands finished their captains’ greetings, several more transmission windows popped up. This time it was the women—in other words, the decompers.
“Hiiii, Açaí! You look well. That bangle looks great!” “So you got the call too. We suddenly got dragged into this... The nanny already had her own obligations, too...” “My youngest started bawling when we were about to leave.” “What about your kids, Açaí? Did they listen to you and understand?”
“Umm...” Terra didn’t know how to answer. She was told Salinzone’s wife, Açaí, was a mother of two, but there hadn’t been a lot of time when she met the couple back on Table of Johor, so they weren’t able to talk much. She had zero knowledge of Açai’s children and her relationships with them. She did her best to imitate Açai’s tone. “S-somehow. He was in a good mood this time, so he didn’t cry.”
The women raised their eyebrows. “He didn’t cry...? Didn’t he already graduate middle school? Does he usually?” “He’s a mama’s boy, she must have pampered him.”
“A-Ah, um... he usually doesn’t, but I mean—”
“My apologies, ladies.” Diode showed no hesitation in interrupting. “Our fishing this time is different from normal, so my wife currently has a lot on her mind. Would you mind giving her some space to focus?”
“Oh my, is that so? See you then!” The women in the transmission windows waved and left.
Diode squinted and quickly glanced back at Terra. “Should I have laughed and enjoyed the spectacle instead?”
“N-No... Thanks for bailing me out...” This time Terra was the one turning red.
While they had that conversation, the other twisters continued to talk among themselves in the cockpit.
“Wouldn’t it have been better if we didn't have to meet like this...?”
“It's the only time we'll get our fuel reimbursed to meeet up, though.”
“For sure. If it was just us getting together, they wouldn’t have sent us out in pillar boats. This is the first time I’ve ever seen sixteen vessels in formation.”
“I’m even more fired up that they got us together to go fishing for such an honorable cause.”
The men were having a lively discussion—but, if they listened carefully, they could probably tell who was faking their enthusiasm and who wasn’t. The ones putting on an act were the fishers from clans that had promised to cooperate with the Trades. Terra, Diode, and six other pairs were working together to stop Nurude’s scheme.
“Die-san, do you think the other nine or so fell for Nurude-san’s plan?”
“Would nine people be that stupid? I don’t think so. That difference in attitude is probably here because they came to look into it first.”
“Yeah, you’re right...”
Now that Terra had that in mind, the lively conversation started to seem like an obvious act. Still, it wasn’t likely that there was anyone who would suddenly show blatant opposition to the Gendō. At least until the time came, they had to continue acting as friendly as possible.
Just how are the Gendō planning to treat the pairs they don’t want—As Terra thought about that, a new window opened on the transmission channel. It showed a black-haired, black-clothed, composed young man with a fair complexion.
“I would first like to express our deepest gratitude to all of you who have gathered here. I, Chūya Gennissē Jigō, am the one operating the lead vessel of this formation. While I am young, I am ranked third among Gendō fishers.”
“Jigō-san!” “...he’s Meika-san’s twister, isn’t he?!”
It meant those two were heading up the formation.
In front of the two nervous women and the other fourteen pairs, Chūya continued to speak with a preternatural calmness for a young man. “Under the ordered permission of our Clan Chief Nurude, I am responsible for choosing those suitable for our grand project. It is one of interstellar travel and fishing the besshu of another world, and as such, we cannot allow anyone but the most capable fishers to participate.”
“Hold up. We’re more than capable, we’re Keelung's best! The others here are just as talented. And we’re to be tested by Gendō’s third rank? Those are some interesting manners you have.”
“You have my sincerest apologies if I have offended you. However, would it not make you unworthy of your position atop the ranks of your clan if you are incapable of besting the third rank of ours?”
“What are you trying to...?”
Terra sensed the anger that was abruptly coming to a simmer in the radio communications and gulped. “He’s riling them up. He’s super bold for someone that scrawny.”
“He might have an innocent face, but the man's made of steel. I mean, there’s a reason he works as Meika’s twister.”
Die-san, is that praise I’m hearing...?—Terra held her tongue on that, but something suddenly came to mind. Meika had yet to say anything herself. Besshu fishing was indeed a male-dominated field, but the host’s decomper should have at least greeted them too. Why wouldn’t she...?
Terra tried to think about it, but the next statement from Chūya rendered the question trivial. “Your opponent is the nishikigoi—you will perform plasma-resistant, vertical fishing in pursuit of besshu that swim upstream in the polar auroras.”
“...Die-san!” Two emotions swelled inside Terra. There was the awful feeling of their first, fruitless effort. Then, rising from the constant, smoldering frustration was the desire to show Chūya and Meika up. The opportunity to do so had arrived unexpectedly soon.
Diode narrowed her eyes and smiled at the excited Terra. “That’s perfect, isn’t it? Let’s go get our revenge.”
The fishers aimed at the magnificent curtain in the sky which seemed to be greeting them, and finally, sixteen trails began streaking its way.