Chapter 139

Taro liked to consider himself an optimist, but even he wasn't completely unprepared for the worst. However, life has a funny way of taking your lowest expectations and dragging them through the dirt just to see how much more you can take.

"This is... well. I guess this is that 'extreme downsizing' trend everyone's talking about," Taro muttered, a pained, twitchy smile plastered across his face.

He stood in a room in the Todd Company Dormitory staring at a bed—though "bed" was an insult to the word. It was little more than a couple of metal rods jutting out of the wall with wires strung between them, suspending a piece of fabric like a makeshift hammock.

"Doesn't the guy on top just, you know, die if he falls out?"

"You’re being... dramatic," Sophia said with a strained chuckle. "If you’re that worried, Taro-san, we can put you on one of the bottom ones."

The hammock-beds were stacked four-high and four-across on a single wall. The top tier was high enough to induce vertigo. A rickety ladder was bolted to the side, presumably for the brave souls who slept in the rafters.

"I’d appreciate that. Not to brag, but I have the absolute worst sleeping posture in the galaxy."

Taro flashed a grin at the girl.

Is she really only a year or so apart from Marl? he wondered, studying her.

Marl had a womanly figure and a face that radiated confidence; Sophia was a gaunt, waifish thing who spent most of her time staring at her own feet. She was pretty, sure, but in a way that could easily be mistaken for a young boy—or rather, she had a face that looked like it might eventually become beautiful if it ever saw a decent meal.

"Rent and taxes are based on floor space, so I hear all the dorms are like this. Not that I’ve ever actually seen another one," Rammy piped up. She was sitting on one of the beds above Taro’s head, swinging her legs back and forth. Like Sophia, she was skin and bones, but her bright personality made her seem much more like a hyperactive child.

"I-I see... So the residential areas are that tapped out, huh? This is bad. Really bad. There’s no way we can host the Development Group here."

The Development Group could live on their ships if they had to, but the stations acting as their logistics hubs were another story. From toilet paper to torpedoes, the merchants and workers needed a place to nest. At this rate, the station would pop like a balloon the moment the population spiked.

"We’ll have to haul in some modular reinforcement blocks... or maybe just merge the stations entirely?"

If he consolidated the countless tiny space stations scattered across the Frontier into larger hubs, the management overhead would plummet. Plus, scaling up was just basic math. A Life Support System for a station of size ten didn't need to be ten times larger than one for a station of size one. The bigger the station, the better the efficiency.

"I think that’s a great idea, but maybe don't go too overboard or people will start hating you... More importantly, do I really have to stay here? Can’t I just stay on the Plum?"

Marl was currently tugging on Taro’s sleeve with a look of pure desperation, her own face twitching in a mirror of his.

"We’re in this together, Marl-tan," Taro whispered back. "Besides, you’re the one who said you never wanted to walk here again. Depending on how things go, we might be commuting between here and the Plum every day."

The trek from the station’s docks to the dorm had taken a literal hour. The main corridor, which was supposed to be a High-speed Moving Lane, had been overtaken by a sprawling shantytown of homeless people. By the time Taro and Marl had arrived, they were both spent. The path was a vertical and horizontal nightmare of ladders and stairs that Taro had already lost count of.

"Ugh, fine! I shouldn't have been so quick to agree to your crazy ideas... I'll stay. But only at night! During the day, I have work for Raijin... I mean, the company. I’ll set up a workspace in the Commercial District."

"Roger that. Let's do... Oh, sorry. My bad. It’s rude to whisper in front of people."

Taro scratched his head, noticing Sophia watching them with a worried expression. She muttered a quick "It's fine," and bolted out of the room like she’d forgotten the stove was on.

"Wow, she really doesn't like you, does she?" Marl teased.

"Hey, why is it just me? Oh—thanks."

Sophia had returned as quickly as she’d left, handing Taro a metal cup. He knocked back the chilled liquid in one go. Beside him, Marl watched him with narrowed eyes, clearly waiting to see if he’d keel over before she took a sip.

"...Whoa. This is actually amazing. What is this? Some kind of tea?"

Taro had fully expected to be served battery acid or recycled sweat. The taste was a shock to the system.

"It’s Rice Tea," Sophia said, looking relieved. "We can’t get our hands on black tea or coffee."

Marl, intrigued by Taro’s reaction, took a drink and nodded in satisfaction.

Rice Tea... well, of course. If barley tea exists, why wouldn't rice tea? Taro felt a momentary pang of shame. As a Japanese man, how did I let this concept escape me?

As Taro had a minor existential crisis over his heritage, Sophia tilted her head, looking confused. She gave a hesitant "Umm," and gestured toward the hallway.

"It’s not big enough to get lost in, so I don't think you'll have much trouble. Oh, but we don't have a bath, so you'll have to use the Public Bath nearby."

They followed Sophia as she gave the grand tour of the shoebox.

"Water costs money, so please don't leave it running. This faucet is for the Purification Tank, and this one is from the Water Supply Facility. Also, take these, just in case."

In the cramped Kitchenette, Sophia pressed small pieces of metal into their hands.

"What’s this? A lucky charm?" Marl asked, squinting at the object.

"No... it’s a key. Wow, it’s been so long since I’ve seen a physical key that I didn't recognize it for a second," Taro said. It looked like something straight off Earth—a cylinder key with specific slits and grooves.

"Yes. Sometimes the BISHOP on the door glitches out, so we use these. You just stick it in the slit and turn it like this."

Sophia mimed the action in the air. Marl immediately started practicing the "turn" with a look of deadly seriousness that made Taro want to burst out laughing.

"Is this even safe? It looks like I could forge a copy in my sleep," Marl said, eyeing the metal suspiciously.

Sophia let out a tiny "Ahaha" and shook her head. "Nobody is going to rob this place."

"Even thieves have standards," Rammy added, appearing out of nowhere to snatch the tea right out of Taro’s hand. "Besides, the scary Foreman lives nearby. None of the neighbors are stupid enough to try anything."

"Rammy!!" Sophia yelled, but the girl just shrugged and vanished again.

"I’m still a little worried," Marl muttered, staring at the spot where Rammy had been.

"Yeah. I just hope she doesn't actually hate us."

"Is that what you're worried about? Taro, she just drank after you! Indirect kiss!"

"That’s what you're worried about?! What is wrong with you?!"

Marl just gave him a "who knows?" shrug.

After the tour, Taro thanked Sophia and headed back toward the docks. He had intended to stay the night, but if the BISHOP system was that unreliable, he needed to check in with the ship first. He couldn't risk being cut off in an emergency, and he had orders to issue.

"Yeah, yeah... exactly. Go with that. Just give it a real gwaah and then a huge dobaah. And that thing... the Alliance platform. Make it feel... I don't know, 'sluggish.' Heavy."

Taro was barking orders into his comms at General Manager Clark, using gestures that the man couldn't even see. He had no idea if he was making sense, but Clark was apparently a god-tier subordinate.

"Understood. Per your instructions, we will move the New-type Plum’s design in a bold, aggressive direction. Regarding the Alliance charter, we will maintain the previous administration's framework as a base while layering in progressive reforms. As you noted, rapid change often triggers systemic rejection. A wise move. Shall we set a floor for the Frontier development bids?"

"Uh, go with your gut. But don't let too many in. It’ll be a nightmare to herd them all."

"Understood. I shall coordinate with the Alliance Council to ensure the bidding is restricted to enterprises of a specific scale."

Clark bowed on the screen and vanished.

"Seriously, 'talented' doesn't cover it. If it weren't for him and Liza, this whole company would be a flaming wreck in a week..."

Taro pressed his hands together and offered a prayer to the blank screen. To anyone else, he looked like a lunatic worshipping a monitor, but to Taro, gratitude was a spiritual necessity.

"Praying won't fix the logistics, though... I wonder what Marl’s up to."

She’d gone to the warehouse an hour ago to "prep supplies" and hadn't been heard from since. Taro decided to check on her.

"If we bring a portable BISHOP, we can maintain a low-bandwidth uplink... What else? Medical kits, obviously. Personal defense... Do we have any sentry guns in stock?"

Taro peeked into the Plum II’s warehouse to find Marl muttering to herself like a mad scientist.

"Whoa, hey! Are you planning to turn burglars into Swiss cheese? It’s a dorm, not a fortress. A sentry gun? Those things shoot anything that moves!"

"And what’s your point?!" Marl snapped, waving the metal key in his face. Her eyes were wide and frantic. Taro realized then that she was actually stressed out of her mind. "I could 3D-print a duplicate of this in two minutes! Those girls think they have nothing worth stealing, but we do! The assassination risk alone is hovering at like, ten percent!"

"Well, when you put it that way... it is a bit breezy. Bella said she’d handle security, though. Want to go ask her for the plan?"

"Fine... let's do that. Maybe a formal security briefing will stop my heart from exploding," Marl pouted.

Taro sighed, wondering if he really should just let her stay on the ship.

"Pardon the intrusion, Miss Marl," Koume said, popping her head into the warehouse. "But if the security of the door is the issue, wouldn't it be simplest to just... repair or upgrade it yourself?"

Taro and Marl froze. They looked at Koume, then at each other.

"............Koume, you're a literal genius," Marl whispered. She immediately turned back to the shelves and started grabbing high-grade alloys and sensor components.

"I have to agree," Taro laughed. "Though I’m not sure 'just fix the door' qualifies as an act of divine inspiration."

"LALALA, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Marl shouted, covering her ears as she began her high-speed repairs.