novelraw Chapter 190
Chapter 190
Chapter 190
On a planet once inhabited by Aguaries, an investigation was underway, and Viper, now officially a Federation citizen, joined the expedition aboard the Tortoise.
"Oh, Doctor Saito is with the Captain too?"
"You too, Viper? But your outfit... I feel like I've seen it somewhere before."
Viper and one of the investigators, Doctor Gorou Saitou, hit it off because they both had a connection to Kait.
Lately, Viper had been feeling a bit embarrassed that Earthlings knew about Galactic Viper. He tried to change the subject before anyone brought it up.
"The Aguaries were involved with the Captain too, right? I wanted to join since I heard jobs related to them paid well."
"Oh? You didn't join?"
"Yeah. I was still in the post-reconstruction observation period. Plus, our ship is an external one, so it doesn't quite meet Federation standards."
"So you were sold off to Divin too, huh?"
Doctor Saito's expression turned stern. Viper furrowed his brow and nodded. He was grateful that Kait had ultimately resolved everything. Still, the unpleasant feeling of being treated as merchandise wasn't easy to shake.
Viper looked toward the Tortoise. His partner, who was cheerfully checking the hull, noticed his gaze and waved.
He gave a small wave back.
"Her too?"
"Yeah. We've been together since we were sold off."
"I see. It's good to see you trust each other."
With a warm smile, Doctor Saito walked away from Viper. No one asked where he was going. After all, he was one of the central figures of this expedition.
"Sorry, Doctor. I took up your time."
"Don't worry about it. It's rare to talk with someone from the same hometown."
Hometown. Back on Earth, the two of them had been from different countries and statuses. They definitely hadn't been from the same hometown. But out in space, the meaning of that word had changed.
Speaking of which, how is Earth doing now? He'd heard that Terapolapaneshio had taken the lead in environmental restoration.
Watching Doctor Saito walk away, Viper found himself recalling the room he had lived in back on Earth.
***
His hometown crumbling more and more with each passing day.
Viper still didn't know what had caused civilization to collapse. But the fact remained—Earth had walked the path of ruin. At the very least, the room he had lived in back when he was George Gilliam no longer existed.
Lying on the Tortoise's sofa, he stared blankly at the ceiling. This space now felt far more like home than his old room ever did. Things really do change, he thought, holding his right hand up to the light.
"What's wrong, George? Is your right hand acting up?"
"No, it's not that. Liz, do you ever think back to our time on Earth?"
"That's out of nowhere. Not really. Life was a lot tougher back then."
Liz had grown up in what you'd call the slums. Even when she was sold off, she hadn't seemed too shocked. Apparently, life in space was just that much better.
If he'd stayed on Earth, he probably never would have met Liz. It was precisely because they were sold off that he met the love of his life. He didn't feel any gratitude toward Divin, but he did believe in fate.
"Come to think of it, you were talking to an Earthling earlier, right? Feeling a bit nostalgic?"
"Maybe. I wonder how the Aguaries feel. Their home world was destroyed too, after all."
"I doubt they care."
"You think so?"
"Home is where you feel it is. For me, home isn't Earth—it's here."
The Tortoise was home. So, she'd been thinking the same thing as him.
Truth is, he could have switched ships during the reconstruction. The Tortoise, while as durable as any Federation ship, was still considered outdated by their standards. They'd even offered to arrange a better one, but Viper had refused.
It was a comrade that had protected them all this time. Abandoning it for performance reasons went against Viper's beliefs.
When he said that, the Federation's machine intelligence laughed and said, 'Just like Kait, the Third-Rank Citizen (Enec Lagif).' Hearing that Kait's Queen Bee had Earth-made parts somehow made him really happy.
"So this is home. Same for me."
"I know."
Their current goal was to upgrade the Tortoise to match the latest Federation standards. Honestly, buying a new ship would be far cheaper—a steep challenge.
But Viper and Liz were enjoying that challenge more than anything.
***
The ruined planet Aguaries. It used to go by another name, but after the incident known as the Aguaries Event, it came to be called this.
It's destroyed. No exaggeration—this planet is truly finished. The ground is nothing but eroded sand and rocks. Not even building remnants remain. Until the Aguaries Event, the Federation hadn't even known that life once existed here.
"Some underground facilities survived, right?"
"There's a chance, supposedly. I mean, if any life adapted to living underground survived... but I think that's probably wishful thinking."
Currently, several members of the expedition team were aboard the Tortoise. One of them was Doctor Saito. Having someone familiar around was a huge relief for Viper.
Apparently, Doctor Saito's specialty was biology. It was said that billions of years had passed since Aguaries perished. The chances of life having survived through generations were nearly zero, but not quite. That's why he was called in, he said with a smile—but Viper knew that wasn't the only reason.
This doctor was brilliant. At the very least, brilliant enough to be chosen as a core member of the expedition. Viper, who had lived a shady life before joining the Federation, considered himself pretty well-informed on internal gossip.
Overall, the Federation citizens held a low opinion of Earthlings. Because Kait had such an exceptional reputation, people formed strange preconceptions about the entire species. Still, even accounting for that, their reputation remained poor.
The wealth gained from selling the data Kait had stored inside Emotion. Without that, all Earthlings would undoubtedly have become Low-Rank Citizens (Zaza Amza). The fact that they'd managed to secure the status of Tenth-Rank Citizens (Godobre A) meant they were receiving quite the preferential treatment.
Among these poorly regarded Earthlings, Doctor Saito was a rare exception—someone with a good reputation. Viper had heard rumors that he was 'exceptional—for an Earthling.' Aside from Kait, fewer than five Earthlings were known by name among Federation citizens in a positive light, and he was one of them.
"Hey, girl. That patch of ground looks interesting. I'm going down to check it out, so wait here, okay?"
"Got it, boss."
In private, they called each other by their real names, but at work, they stuck to their old nicknames.
Federation-made modifications were truly impressive. For one, the accuracy of their psychic power had greatly improved. And thanks to the micro-machines, they could function normally even in atmospheres that were toxic to Earthlings.
Wearing a barely-there protective suit, Viper stepped onto the surface of the ruined planet Aguaries.
"This is it... Looks like a shelter."
Heavy steel plates, seemingly put in place to block external contact.
Brushing away the piled sand and stones, he exposed the steel plates.
Massive steel plates, large enough for heavy machinery to pass through. Maybe they had escaped erosion by being buried early. Still, the mechanisms didn't look like they'd move.
"I wonder what's down there."
A frantic transmission came in from the Tortoise. While distant voices of excited expedition members buzzed in his ears, he sat down on a conveniently sized rock.
Gazing at the weathered surface, Viper began to hallucinate buildings and nature like those once found on Earth.
Just what lay beneath this place? What had survived? He wasn't as excited as the expedition team, but he was starting to look forward to it too.