Episode 146

"Is this really Mr. Taro’s place...?"

Sophia stepped into the Rising Sun Office, her eyes darting around the suspiciously tidy space. Back in the real world, Taro lived like a professional slob, so this level of organization was frankly alarming. Her suspicion that they had the wrong man reached a fever pitch.

"No, this is... actually, never mind. This way."

The hooded man in the lead, still hauling Rammy, glanced back before making a beeline for a door at the rear of the office.

"Taro's company?" the youngest brother asked, his voice trembling as he gripped his eldest brother’s hand.

"Yes, that's right," Sophia whispered back. She pressed an index finger to her lips, signaling him to keep the noise down. "Let’s go. Our ship is waiting."

She hurried after the hooded man. He reached a keypad next to the door and punched in a code with practiced, fluid movements. A heavy, industrial thud echoed through the room. For a door that looked like it had been bought on clearance at a hardware store, the sound was absurdly high-tech.

"Six individuals entering. Deactivating Sentry Guns to Yellow."

As the man spoke, the doorknob retracted into the frame, and the door slid downward into the floor. This was particularly impressive given that the door was quite clearly designed to be a hinged one.

How? Is this for security?

Sophia’s anxiety spiked. Exactly how much money did someone have to burn to make a door behave like that? What on earth were they guarding that required this level of overkill?

"Don't stop, no matter what. Just keep walking and you'll be fine," the man urged.

Sophia gave a silent, frantic nod. Beyond the door lay a long, narrow corridor that—based on the building’s actual exterior—should have been sticking out into the middle of the street. The office was supposed to be tiny. This was physics-defying nonsense.

"……It’s okay. We’re fine," she muttered, trying to convince herself as much as the brother squeezing her hand.

They must have marched for fifty meters. The walls were lined with bulky, mean-looking turrets. Sophia scurried past them, her heart doing drum solos in her chest. She vaguely remembered from manga and novels that Sentry Guns were the kind of things that turned people into Swiss cheese automatically.

"…E-excuse me!"

She skidded to a halt and called out to the man’s back. The presence of these obscenely expensive weapons had finally convinced her: this was definitely a case of mistaken identity. One of those guns probably cost more than she could earn in three lifetimes. This wasn't just another neighborhood; this was a whole different world.

"I believe I told you not to stop. We can chat inside, Miss Sophia."

Sophia shrieked as the voice came from directly behind her. She spun around to find the man who had been leading them just a second ago now standing behind her, casually resting a hand on the barrel of one of the wall-mounted guns. Terrified by the apparent teleportation, she bolted toward the inner door. "Y-yes, sir!"

Wait, did he just say my name?

As she reached for the handle of the final door, she realized the man carrying Rammy had definitely used her name. Maybe it wasn't a mistake? Or was there another Sophia with three brothers and a sister named Rammy?

A tiny spark of relief flickered in her chest.

That spark was promptly extinguished by a firehose of chaos the moment she threw the door open.

[NOTIFYING HEADQUARTERS: MULTIPLE ENEMY SIGNATURES IN AREA 5-4-5]

"Hey! What’s the status on the chip disposal? Did anyone actually check?"

[W-12: MODERATE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT. RETREAT IMMEDIATELY]

"Downgrade the defense level for that sector! We’re scuttling the whole zone!"

"What the hell is going on with the refugee guidance?! We’ve got idiots swarming the wrong piers!"

The room was massive. It was packed with hulking machinery and a small army of people. In the center floated a ten-meter-wide hologram, a glowing map of the Wyoming Star System surrounded by a cloud of ship icons. There were thousands of them, all flickering and updating in real-time.

"Fleet has successfully defended Area 5-2-4. The enemy is pulling back."

An operator’s cool voice cut through the noise, followed by a scattered cheer from the staff. Sophia’s gaze followed the commotion to the walls, which were covered in dozens of massive screens showing live combat from deep space. Flashes of light, rolling explosions, and swarms of Fighters tangling with the WIND. Enormous Warships were lined up in perfect formation, vomiting endless Beams of light at the enemy.

"Sophia……"

Rammy sounded like she was about to dissolve into tears. Sophia forced her stiff neck to turn and saw Rammy on the floor, receiving medical treatment from a woman. Rammy’s eyes were glassy—not from the pain, but from pure, unadulterated terror. Sophia felt it too. Mistake or not, they had been dragged into something world-shattering. They were definitely seeing things that got people "disappeared."

"…U-um. I think... I’m in the wrong place. This is a mistake... I haven't seen anything! I swear!"

Sophia dropped to the floor, pulling her brothers close with trembling hands.

"But please, at least take my brothers! They’re little! They don't understand what they’re looking at! Just save them!"

She threw herself into a full prostration before the hooded man, practically trying to shove her brothers toward him. She had promised herself she wouldn't cry, but tears were already making little dark spots on the cold iron floor.

"Hmm? Up you get, Miss Sophia. You’re a guest here."

"But I’m telling you, I’m not—"

I’m not the Sophia you’re looking for! she tried to sob out. The man under the hood made a face like he’d just swallowed a lemon and pulled a small terminal from his cloak.

"Sophia, Rammy, Ain, Zwei, and Drei. What are the odds of five siblings having those exact names by accident?"

He shoved the terminal in front of her face. There it was. Her name, spelled perfectly.

"Standard doctrine suggests a pursuit, but what are your orders, Mr. Teiro?"

The operator’s voice rang out again. The hooded man snapped his attention toward the main screen. Sophia looked up too, and her jaw hit the floor.

"Nn—nah, let's pass. It’d be a total disaster if we walked into a Luring Ambush. Just focus on getting the fleet reorganized and grouped up, pronto."

There, projected on the massive screen, was Taro. He was dressed in a sleek, top-of-the-line spacesuit that probably cost more than a planet. The officers in the room saluted in unison, and Taro gave a casual wave back.

"Mr. Taro...?" Sophia managed to croak out.

On the screen, Taro cocked an eyebrow. "Hmm?" Then his eyes went wide. "Sophia?! Holy crap, you made it! Phantom, you’re the man! Good job!"

Taro clutched his chest with a look of genuine relief. The hooded man—Phantom, apparently—replied dryly, "She actually made it here on her own."

"Seriously? That’s badass... You’re safe now, Sophia. You’ll be heading out on a High-speed Ship with Phantom. I know you’re probably confused as hell, but save the questions for later."

Taro finished his sentence with the world’s most awkward wink. Sophia was indeed confused as hell, but one thing was certain: this was definitely her Taro. He just happened to be running a galactic war.

"By the way, quick question—can you get a hold of your Salvager buddies? Or do you have their contact info?"

"Y-yes. But only their personal terminals. For the company stuff, the Foreman usually handles—"

"Perfect! That’s plenty! Send it over right now!"

Taro clapped his hands together like a kid on Christmas. Sophia hesitated, her common sense screaming at her. Was it really okay to just hand over everyone’s private data like this?

"Oh, right. Don't worry. I just need them to help save some refugees. Any Salvager worth their salt can fly a ship, right? Right now, I’ve got plenty of boats, but I’m fresh out of pilots."

Taro gave her a reassuring grin, having clearly read her mind.

"More ships... than people?" Sophia tilted her head. That made zero sense. Weren't the evacuation ships supposed to be completely full?

"Doesn't make sense, huh? Hahaha, yeah, I get it. I'll explain the crazy details later."

Taro sounded calm, but his fingers were drumming a frantic rhythm on the armrest of his chair. He was in a massive rush.

"……I understand. Um, okay..."

She looked away from Taro toward another monitor showing a bird’s-eye view of the refugee clusters. Thousands of people, faces twisted in despair and terror, were bottlenecked at the piers. The young, the old, the injured—some were collapsed on the ground, others were being stepped over. Sophia shivered. That could have been her family.

"I’ve sent the info... Um, Mr. Taro? I can pilot a ship too. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Rammy gasped beside her, but Sophia kept her eyes locked on the monitor. She was safe, but the guilt of being the only lucky one was starting to sting. Some of those people out there were her neighbors.

"Hmm, tell you what—I’ll take you up on that. There’s a High-speed Moving Lane that’ll take you straight to the port. Meet me at Pier 6."

Taro pulled up a map of the docks. Sophia blinked. Pier 6? She’d only ever heard of five piers existing. Still, she forced her shaking legs to stand.

"I have to go for a bit. Be good for me, okay?" Sophia said, patting her brothers on the head. She turned to Phantom and bowed deeply. "Please look after them."

"You’ve got guts," the man said with a faint smirk. He and the medic gathered the siblings close. "Your big sister is going off to save the world... come on, let’s see her off properly."

The hooded man took one of the brothers' hands, aligned the fingers, and tapped them to his forehead. Sophia realized it was the new salute used by the mega-corp currently running the Alliance. Everyone else in the command center was doing it, too.

"I’ll escort you part of the way," a woman said, stepping forward. "Don't worry about your siblings. We'll protect them with our lives."

Sophia took one last look back at her family, then broke into a run, following the woman into the fray.