The day of the investigation arrived.
But right off the bat, we had a problem.
Before we headed out, Kevin tried to scout the interior with a drone.
I lost count after the tenth attempt.
He maneuvered a ground-based drone—one of those rover types equipped with a robot arm—toward the house.
"Approaching the structure. Opening the door... and signal's lost. Figures."
The feed cut out instantly.
Even the GPS, synced with the orbital satellites, went dead.
The drone was gone.
Surveillance cameras in orbit captured the same thing every time: the drone simply vanished into thin air.
It was the same story every time.
Normally, a drone going missing under such suspicious circumstances would be enough to justify glassing the entire area with orbital missiles.
But after exactly two hours, the drone would always reappear outside the property line.
When we recovered them, there were no signs of tampering.
The only thing wrong was that the batteries were completely drained.
Even the smaller models are rated for twenty-four hours of continuous operation, though...
It was an eerie phenomenon, but strangely, it didn't feel malicious.
Which, honestly, made it even creepier!
Wifey was torn.
The last thing she wanted was to send me in, only for me to be found two hours later as a dried-up mummy.
Manned exploration would also deal a heavy blow to morale if anything happened.
As a compromise, we settled on a plan where I would head to the surface and lead the manned exploration personally while commanding the scene.
I suppose it's a viable option, if it's an option at all.
With no enemies in sight, we touched down on the planet via transport craft.
Eddie, myself, and the usual suspects deployed in our humanoid fighters.
The ground troops also constructed a temporary base and strung up barbed wire, just in case.
You might think, "Why barbed wire?", but it turns out barbed wire is the most effective deterrent against the crabs.
Mines might not finish them off, but the wire entangles their legs, buying us time to deal with them.
A triumph of human spite.
With the base established and our fighters on standby nearby, Kevin sent another drone in.
This time, we had spotters watching with every sensor we had.
We were determined to capture exactly how it disappeared on high-definition video.
Well, we’d brought along the specialists for this in the first place, but in a situation this volatile, anything could happen.
I didn't know most of these guys' names or faces, but I still didn't want them ending up as crab bait.
The drone approached.
The sight of that solitary house surrounded by high-tech fences and rows of barbed wire was utterly surreal.
Kevin ignored the absurdity and sent the drone in.
The moment the robot arm brushed the door...
"It's gone!"
The drone blinked out of existence.
"Two-hour wait, as scheduled," I announced.
The base was temporary but had high airtightness.
You couldn't survive out there without a life support system.
Just because we had combat suits didn't make the wait comfortable.
Those things are a nightmare during downtime—you can't scratch an itch, it gets humid, and you start feeling claustrophobic.
Besides, we had no idea if this mission would take days.
We kept the group small: a handful of elites and a team of experts.
Our assistants were all graduate students—perfect for working to the bone.
As it turned out, the atmosphere wasn't toxic, just extremely thin.
Orbital scans hadn't picked up any water, either.
It was a barren wasteland through and through.
We waited the two hours.
Three people, including Kevin, kept watch as observers.
I watched along with them.
It wasn't particularly interesting footage, so I gradually started getting drowsy.
I had to stay awake with a heavy dose of caffeine from my coffee.
Suddenly, the house's door creaked open, and the drone came tumbling out.
"Kevin, what’s the feed look like?"
"Nothing but a bright light. I can't see a thing."
What was it, I wondered?
Hmm...
"I'm going to go pick it up."
"Wait, don't!"
"My gut is telling me to go."
"Veronica-chan! Leo says he’s going in! He says it’s his intuition!"
Ah, he ratted me out without a moment's delay.
"Intuition, is it? Fine... Lord Groom, do not step foot inside that house!"
"Yees."
I headed outside in my combat suit and helmet.
Eddie accompanied me as my bodyguard, though for some reason, he insisted on prodding me with the barrel of his rifle.
"Keep moving, Major!"
"Quit poking my ass!"
As usual, my rear was in danger.
Kevin's drone was lying right in front of the house.
I reached out for it—
"Hey, Leo!"
Huh?
Before I could blink, I was standing in the middle of a spacious room.
Wait... did I just warp?
The Empire lacked the technology to teleport someone that cleanly without any prior setup.
If the Zorks had this, they’d be miles ahead of us technologically.
If that were the case, the war would be even more disastrous than it already was.
That couldn't be it.
On the other hand, if it was a hallucination, Eddie would probably be punching me in the face to snap me out of it by now.
Furthermore, if some entity with technology beyond the Empire's wanted me dead, they could have turned me into diced steak before I even felt a hint of bloodlust.
That didn't seem to be the case either.
What was the goal?
I walked toward the center of the room.
It wasn't as if there was anything in particular I wanted to see.
I wondered what it was.
The moment I thought that, a naked woman appeared.
I stayed calm. Experience had taught me not to rule out the possibility of her being a female-type Zork.
For all I knew, her true form was some gross old man.
The woman was sitting on a sofa.
And then, her voice echoed directly in my mind.
Please, do not attack. Jester, I have come to talk.
"Who are you?"
I am she who was once the Zork Mother. Former Commander-in-Chief of the Galactic Republic Army, Aoi Friedman.
...Talk about a heavy hitter.
Keep it together, Leo. Keep it together.
"Major Leo Kamishiro of the Galactic Empire. Also known as the Grand Duke."
"The Empire's strongest Esper... the Peace Warrior, I presume?"
"I don't know about all that. Everyone just calls me Jester."
"I see. Jester, how much do you know about the Republic?"
"Just that the Empire kicked you guys out."
Aoi smiled.
"Very well. Let us begin there..."
She was acting like we were equals, even though I didn't exactly have a choice in the matter.
I’d listen to her story—but while I did, I’d be looking for a way out.