Episode 101

Taro just shook his head as Alan prattled on about the Empire’s bottomless pit of corruption. He didn't get it.

"Is it possible it’s just a few bad apples? Like that guard?" Taro asked. "I’ve dealt with Dean’s subordinates before, and those guys were as sharp as they come."

He thought back to when he’d delivered the Railguns. Those soldiers had been the picture of military discipline. They hadn’t looked corrupt at all. In fact, they’d flat-out refused to accept any money or gifts beyond the tea and snacks provided in the meeting room. They wouldn't even take a small tip offered as a thank-you after the deal was done.

"Dean’s unit is... well, an outlier," Alan admitted. "You could say it’s one of the few decent military organizations left. That’s mostly because they’re a fairly independent branch, and more importantly, because Dean himself is a massive clean-freak."

With a dismissive wave, Alan added, "Let's move."

Taro shot a look at Phantom, practically begging for a second opinion, but the man just gave a helpless shrug.

"Are you for real? No, wait. If the whole system is that rotten, then a lot of things don't add up. Dingo was one thing, but wasn't Enzio messing with the EAP and Alpha specifically because they wanted to keep the Empire from intervening?"

Alan gave a knowing nod. "A bit of ambition here, a whim there. Any motive will do, really. There’s always someone looking to play the hero and 'resolve the situation.' What looks like a trivial skirmish to the Imperial Military can be a death sentence for anyone on the receiving end. Enzio and Dingo are terrified of that. If the current Enzio military actually had the spine for a real fight, they might hold their ground for a while, but that’s purely academic. If the Empire actually moved its forces in earnest, the Alliance would vanish overnight. There wouldn’t even be enough battles to count on one hand."

Alan spoke as if he were stating the most obvious fact in the universe. Phantom chimed in from behind him.

"And that is exactly why the Empire avoids large-scale deployments. The ripple effects are too great. Though, looking at the state of the military today, that’s clearly only part of the reason. The truth is, they’ve simply spent a thousand years stuck in their own ways and don't know how to stop. If this were happening inside Imperial Territory, it might be a different story. But unfortunately, we’re out here in the middle of deep space."

Phantom wore a cynical, twisted little smile. Taro chewed on that for a second before letting out a long, heavy sigh.

"For real...?" Taro muttered. "So you’re saying it’s like this: they get money and prestige just for sitting on their asses, so they figure, 'Why bother trekking out to the sticks to get shot at?' They’re basically high-level NEETs with god-tier weapons. That’s the ultimate form of being a total deadbeat! Use it! Use that power for something!"

Taro sounded genuinely appalled. Alan let out a booming laugh. Even Phantom joined in, their laughter echoing loudly against the cold iron walls of the corridor.

"You have a way with words, Teiro! Yeah, that’s exactly it. Aside from the few poor souls trapped in a routine, there isn't a single decent person left in the service. That’s the same reason I quit. I got sick of being surrounded by a bunch of over-armed NEETs."

Alan spat the words out even as he laughed. Taro responded with what felt like his hundredth sigh of the day. He decided right then and there that the military was a lost cause. Taro had plenty of technical military knowledge stored in his head, but it didn't give him a window into the current state of their morale or discipline. In that regard, Alan and Phantom were the experts.

Technically, he still had the option of asking Dean for help, but the man had said he was in Intelligence. When it came to actual front-line firepower, Taro wasn't going to hold his breath.

"Let’s just go back... what a total waste of time. Well, maybe not total. At least we know the military is trash now. That’s worth something, I guess."

Trying to console himself, Taro began a slow, dejected trudge back toward the High-speed Ship docked in the bay.

"I see... how... disappointing," Marl said, her voice dropping into a dark, somber tone after hearing the report. "Things are getting so serious out here, I was actually starting to get my hopes up."

"Tell me about it," Taro agreed. "I get that the network being down is a pain, but failing to act just because it’s a 'bother'? That’s just pathetic. Oh—found another one. That makes it 8 to 15, right? Man, this is a tough match."

Taro pointed to a new anomaly buried in the wall of data on his scan results.

The Plum II was currently working with a fleet of other vessels, performing Minesweeping Operations at the boundary between EAP and Enzio—the projected warp destination for the Floating Fortress. The mines were built with Stealth Processing, making them nearly invisible to standard scans and almost impossible to distinguish from space debris. But unlike debris, if you accidentally hit one with an Incineration Beam, the results were explosive. In the vacuum of space, a simple explosion wasn't a huge threat, but these things were packed with submunitions—which also exploded!!—that would come screaming toward the ship like shrapnel.

"Actually, it’s 8 to 18, Teiro! Etta found three more!"

Etta held up three fingers, beaming with pride at her own brilliance. Taro threw his hands up in mock defeat and made a face.

"Wow, what a haul. You’ve gotta tell 'Teiro-chan' how you keep finding them like that."

Etta puffed out her tiny chest. "Ehehe! It’s easy, Teiro! You just look for where the colors are wrong. Space is blue, but those trash bits are black. If you have black dots on a giant canvas, they stand out right away, see?"

Etta explained with wide, sweeping gestures as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Taro just gave her a puzzled, wry smile. Is this what they call a genius?

No... that’s not it, Taro thought to himself. It’s not talent. She was designed this way.

The captain of the Mary Ann had called her a Biological Weapon. If she’d had this much natural talent to begin with, they wouldn’t have needed to experiment on her. It was only logical to assume her abilities were artificial. Phantom didn't like talking about the process, but he’d mentioned a low success rate—which meant there were countless "failures" left in the wake of her creation. Taro didn't want to imagine what happened to a person when a brain-tampering experiment went south. There was no way to spin that into a happy ending.

Science—or maybe just humanity in general—really screws things up sometimes, Taro mused. But 'space is blue'? How am I supposed to interpret that? Is she seeing the distribution of the stars?

He watched the girl, who was currently smiling and giggling without a care in the world.

She looked to be about fifteen, maybe? Even she didn't know her real age. You’d have to ask the Enzio Military to be sure. She seemed even younger than she looked because of her childish behavior and the fact that she was barely 140 centimeters tall. She was also dangerously thin, looking far from healthy.

Taro wondered if these were the permanent side effects of the Enhancement Process, but he had no way of knowing. Phantom had called her a rarity, and even the military knowledge he’d Overridden didn't cover this. Both the Enhanced Humans and the organizations that created them were clearly top-secret.

"Perhaps you should take her literally, Mr. Teiro."

Taro looked back at the voice, then shifted his gaze downward to find Koume rolling across the floor.

"Taking it 'literally' is a tall order, Koume. Space looks black to me, and I’m pretty sure it looks black to Marl, too."

Koume’s lamp flickered. "It is highly probable that Miss Etta can directly 'see' Electromagnetic Waves and Drive Particles. I have heard that if one views the universe through ultraviolet and infrared, it is quite colorful indeed. Though it would be difficult for a standard human to perceive it as such."

"Oh, I get it," Taro said, nodding. "So space really does look blue to her. I’m almost jealous, though I can't tell if that’s a gift or a curse. Hey, if I’m using BISHOP or something, does it look like there’s smoke coming out of my head?"

He vaguely remembered that BISHOP used Drive Particles for communication.

"I can see it!" Etta chirped. "It’s not smoke, though. It’s like red lines flying away. About this big!"

She pinched her thumb and index finger together, leaving a gap of about a centimeter. Taro looked over at Marl at the helm, trying to see if he could spot anything. Naturally, he saw nothing but the back of her head.

"Man, that’s basically being an esper. I’m definitely jealous. So... I assume there’s one coming out of me right now?"

Etta nodded enthusiastically. "Teiro’s is like THIS!"

She spread her arms as wide as they could possibly go.

"Gross! I’m a freak! It’s that thick?! That’s not a line, that’s a structural pillar!"

Taro shuddered, picturing a massive red beam erupting from his skull. From the pilot’s seat, he heard Marl let out a snicker.

"Well, you do process dozens of times more data than a normal person. It makes sense that your Communication Band would be massive. Imagining it... yeah, that’s a pretty 'special' look for you."

"Hey! What do you mean 'special'?! Wait, if it’s that thick, can you even see my face through—Etta? What’s wrong?"

Taro’s voice sharpened. Etta had suddenly collapsed, crouching on the floor, her face turning a sickly shade of pale. Taro hopped out of his seat and rushed to her side. Etta didn't move. She just stared into the void.

"So many..." Etta whispered, her voice trembling. "So many black things are gathering... they’re all coming here... so many. There’s so many, Teiro!"