“I see...”
In the Hourai Island command room, Jin nodded repeatedly.
“That cleared up a lot of the mysteries regarding the distribution of free ether.”
『Indeed. It was highly valuable information,』 Laojun agreed.
“By the way, that entity is presumably a magi-brain, but its processing power seems incredible.”
『Yes, My Lord. It likely possesses several times my own capacity.』
“As expected of the Progenitors, then.”
『Even so, we have only half a day left. I wonder what will occur.』
“We won’t know for sure until it actually happens.”
Waiting felt like an eternity. Jin did not spend the entire time simply sitting in the command room.
He had his meals, took a bath, and enjoyed some conversation with Elsa. Then, he contacted and summoned every member of the Jin Family.
October 3, 3458, 1:00 PM, Hourai Island Time.
Every member of the Jin Family, including Milowina, had gathered in the command room. They were staring at the images being transmitted in synchronization with Land 11’s eyes and listening to the audio he picked up.
On the command room’s magi-screen, the rapidly approaching long-period planet—Modenu—was shown in a massive close-up. Pengolta’s gas clouds were being pulled toward Modenu, distorting its shape.
“The scale is staggering.”
“To think we can watch this as it happens from the comfort of Hourai Island.”
“To have technology superior to Jin-kun’s... it’s terrifying.”
The ability to construct a virtual telescope in space and use it to transmit images—the technology of the Progenitors was truly eye-opening.
1:30 PM.
The distance between Modenu and the fifth planet, Pengolta, was shrinking at an incredible rate.
『My Lord, it appears Modenu’s orbit has shifted slightly.』
“What?!”
『It is likely due to Pengolta’s gravity. It is expected to approach Pengolta much closer than originally predicted.』
“Ngh...”
2:00 PM.
“Whoa!”
“Th-this is...!”
It became obvious to everyone watching that Modenu was on a direct collision course with Pengolta.
Deep underground on Onogoro Island, located on the exact opposite side of the planet from Hourai Island, Helente and Land 11 were watching the same footage.
〈This is no near-miss. It is a collision.〉
“Is such a thing even possible?”
〈The probability of two celestial bodies colliding in the vastness of space is near zero. However, it seems we must accept that it was not a complete zero.〉
“...Gravity is also a major factor, after all.”
Helente made a gesture as if laughing.
〈Indeed. You are correct. Due to its massive gravity, the fifth planet pulled Modenu in. This is the result.〉
On the screen, Modenu and Pengolta were about to collide at any moment.
〈It will not be a head-on collision, but rather a grazing impact. Even so, the outcome is completely unpredictable.〉
The situation was so dire that even Helente was forced to admit her uncertainty. This showed just how improbable this phenomenon was.
A collision between planets on a cosmic scale. To human eyes, it appeared to happen in slow motion, but in reality, the impact was occurring at speeds of hundreds of kilometers per second.
〈Immense lightning seems to be generating within the gas clouds.〉
Flashes of light were flickering so intensely they were clearly visible from the outside. Modenu plunged into Pengolta’s gas clouds and vanished from sight.
〈Given that trajectory, even if there is a solid core, it should only be a grazing collision.〉
It appeared that the majority of the impact was with Pengolta’s gas clouds. Then, Modenu reappeared.
“Oh!”
Even Land 11 couldn’t help but cry out. Modenu’s orbit had shifted diagonally upward relative to the orbital plane of the planets in the Celane System.
〈The collision has altered its orbit.〉
Then, in the next instant:
“Are those... fragments?!”
Rock masses of various sizes came flying out of the gas clouds. The smaller ones seemed to have been captured by Pengolta’s gravity.
〈Hmm. The smaller fragments may become new satellites.〉
“But what about the large ones?”
Looking at the receding Modenu, about a quarter of the planet was missing, giving it a jagged, misshapen appearance. Meanwhile, it was impossible to confirm how much of Pengolta’s core had been chipped away due to the thickness of the gas clouds.
〈It seems several of the large fragments... while maintaining most of Modenu’s original velocity, are proceeding on a trajectory close to the original one.〉
“Isn’t that a rather bad situation?”
〈Precisely. Given the size of those fragments, there is a high probability they will be captured by Ars’s gravity and fall to the surface.〉
“I thought so.”
Since there was nothing to compare them to, it was difficult to estimate their size, but among the fragments breaking free from Pengolta’s gravity, there were about twenty large ones and fifty medium ones. The smaller ones were countless.
〈Even the ‘small’ ones are likely no less than ten meters across. The large ones could be as much as ten kilometers in diameter.〉
If even ten percent of those hit Ars, it would be a global catastrophe. These weren’t merely drifting space dust; they possessed the kinetic energy of objects moving at hundreds of kilometers per second.
“What should we do?”
〈It will take about two days to calculate and confirm how many fragments will reach Ars.〉
“And the predicted arrival time?”
〈Taking into account the change in momentum at the time of impact and calculating roughly, it will be around October 15th.〉
“Less than half a month left... By the way, what kind of disaster are we looking at?”
〈Even the small fragments pose a threat to life on this planet. If several of the large ones fall, life will be extinguished.〉
There was once a nuclear bomb known as the Tsar Bomba. It was the largest hydrogen bomb in human history, developed by the former Soviet Union, with energy said to be 3,300 times that of the Hiroshima-type atomic bomb. By calculation, a fragment only about a meter across would possess kinetic energy exceeding that of the Tsar Bomba.
“What should we do?”
〈We must find a way to deal with every one of those fragments. That will be accompanied by staggering difficulties.〉
“Such as?”
〈First, we must travel into outer space, some 700 million kilometers away from here.〉
“And then?”
〈We must successfully intercept the fragments.〉
“And after that?”
〈We must possess the means to neutralize them. Unless all of this is finished before October 15th... then this planet is finished.〉