I was led to a Zork ruin.
Because I'd been told to come with as few people as possible, I suspected an assassination attempt, but that didn't seem to be their intent.
Still, I was nervous, so I brought Eddie and Melissa along.
Claire, Tatiana, and Kevin stayed behind; if they got injured, our back-end operations would fall apart. I left Ren to serve as their guard.
Piggett was guarding my wifey, so I figured she'd be fine.
Raven-kun insisted, "I will accompany you even if it costs me my life," so he made the cut. His loyalty was a bit heavy...
I also brought a scholar—specifically, the Graduate Student Senior.
He had been hospitalized with a parasite infection, but he recovered just in time. Since this was a biological survey, I couldn't leave out an expert.
And so, we set off.
We traveled on a Latarnia transport ship. I wondered if that was really okay. Go ahead, show me the interior. I’m filming everything, so I’m basically stealing your technology, you know?
Wait, it's not a problem? Our tech levels are about the same? If you say so.
The ruin Zork had discovered was on a planet located at the midpoint between the Ogre God Nation and Latarnia—a territory belonging to neither. While Latarnia and the Ogre God Nation didn't share a border, the extinct Proone had shared borders with both. Currently, the Empire—a nation friendly to both—occupied that former Proone territory.
Perhaps because of that, both countries used it as a safe travel route. Without lifting a finger, the Empire was raking in various forms of income, such as transit fees and trade mediation commissions. Well, we were [relentlessly] maintaining security through pirate extermination and the like, so I suppose we earned it.
The planet was located a short distance toward the Ogre God Nation from our current position. It was a Nameless Planet.
Apparently, it had once been home to inhabitants and native life, but the Proone had devoured everything until they were wiped out. Since then, it had become a Dead Planet. With the animals gone, the ordinary plants followed. As animal carcasses vanished from the surface and organic matter decreased, the very soil had disappeared. It had become a planet of sand.
Currently, fungi were proliferating in massive quantities. Apparently, it wasn't exactly fungi, but the explanation was too technical for me to grasp. The atmosphere was thick with toxins; it was an environment where survival was impossible without a Combat Suit.
Those Proone... they never did anything good.
The transport craft touched down on the surface, and we stepped outside in fully equipped Combat Suits.
"Whoa, it's pitch black! Flashlight, get the flashlight!"
I clicked on the lights. As a result of the extreme environmental collapse, the sand had been lightened by weathering and was constantly whipped up by the wind. It felt like standing in a permanent sandstorm. Sunlight was blocked out, leaving the world in perpetual shadow. Between the darkness and the sand, visibility was abysmal.
Not even moss grew on the surface anymore. It was no longer a planet where people could live. Seeing this made me realize just how bad the Proone were at the business of living. Humans are bad enough, but the Proone were likely creatures even more incapable of coexisting with other life forms. Saying they should have just been peaceful herbivores was a matter of hindsight, though.
Even after running multiple simulations since then, there had been no way to save the Proone from extinction. By the time we arrived, they were already finished. Self-reflection is important, but overthinking it isn't healthy. This was simply the legacy the Proone had left behind.
"The ruin is this way."
The ruin sat abandoned. At a glance, it looked like a pyramid or perhaps an ancient burial mound. Regardless, it looked like some kind of tomb.
The interior was decorated in a style entirely different from Proone culture. I couldn't say for sure because of the thick layers of sand, but the aesthetic didn't match Latarnia or the Ogre God Nation either. I filmed the murals and the patterns on the walls.
There was something written that looked like text. Possibly ideograms.
Latarnia uses Phonetic Characters. The Ogre God Nation uses a combination of Ideograms and Phonetic Characters. Most Battle Dome Member Nations had lost their original cultures and adopted the Ogre God Nation language. As for the Empire, we use Japanese—a mix of Ideograms and Phonetic Characters. Finding a place that used only Ideograms was rare in this region.
"Those are believed to be the scriptures of the civilization that once thrived on this planet," the Ambassador explained personally.
I took photos with my camera and immediately transferred them to the battleship. It was much easier to handle raw photos than to extract frames from real-time video later.
"What do you mean by 'scriptures'?"
When I asked, the Latarnia Ambassador's face clouded over. It wasn't his usual cold sweat; his complexion turned the sickly shade of someone facing a grim reality.
"'Evolution to all living things. Civilization to all living things.' This is the philosophy that has long troubled us."
"Does that mean there's a god-like entity involved...?"
"Yes. We refer to them as the Zen God Race for convenience. They are beings that appear before life forms and whimsically bestow evolution and technology. The chance of encountering them is low; they aren't beings you can find just by looking for them."
"Whimsically?"
"Yes. Those who receive their gifts often mistake them for gods... but according to our analysis, the purpose of the Zen God Race is simply 'play.' They scatter technology through various means—sometimes through ruins like this, and sometimes by bestowing it directly."
"Has there been any contact with Latarnia?"
"None on record. However, they may have contacted us so far in the past that the records no longer exist. Since we never viewed Zork as a viable negotiation partner, we only recently discovered the technology contained within this ruin."
As usual, Latarnia was incredibly cold toward anyone who didn't keep their promises!
"Why are you showing this to us?"
"I would be honored if you accepted this as a token of our sincerity. We are simply glad to finally have someone we can negotiate with on equal terms. If possible, we wish to build a lasting friendship with the Galactic Empire."
Wait, so this was basically Zork's Birthplace!?
Originally, Zork had been defeated by the Empire and exiled into deep space. Back then, they were still humanoid types like One-oh-one, Aoi-san, or the Steward. But in this galaxy where they ended up, the initial conditions were geared entirely toward violence. That's why they had evolved into Crab-chans.
But in truth, the real test was negotiation skills. The very ability Zork had discarded for the sake of evolution was the exact skill required to 'win' the game...
Zork-chan... her luck was just too miserable. I was actually starting to feel sorry for her.
In that regard, our Empire might have an Emperor, but the rule was loose and leaned toward liberalism. Freedom of thought was recognized. There were only loose restrictions to maintain social order. You wouldn't even be arrested for preaching that the Duke Association was the only righteous path—though you'd probably get fired from your job.
At the very least, the Empire didn't meddle in every little thing. Was the only thing the Empire actually cracked down on my wifey's vulgar insults? People were free to insult me as much as they liked.
Ultimately, the Empire was a free society compared to Zork's. Because of that, there was a diversity of specialized abilities; it was a system where someone would always be able to adapt, no matter how the game changed. Everyone, my wifey included, was a gear in the social machine. With enough gears, someone would eventually click perfectly into place. That was why we were able to solve the Proone problem through biology. Even with Latarnia this time, they were only friendly because we were a free society.
Perhaps that's what 'good luck' really meant.
"Lord Leo, I give you this advice from the bottom of my heart... It would be best not to involve yourselves with the ruins of the Zen Holy Nation, nor with the race itself even if you make direct contact. Latarnia never considered Zork a threat. However, we view the Empire as an equal and a formidable negotiation partner; we believe you would be a terrifying threat if you became our enemy. It would be a tragedy if your culture were lost to 'evolution.'"
He was praising me quite a bit. It probably wasn't just lip service, either. Our values were generally aligned, after all.
"I'll keep that in mind."
We shook hands. Seeing Zork's strategic failure was painful, but it was a valuable lesson. Now, I just had to send the records off for analysis.
In all likelihood, the Ghouls were born from similar technology. Well, I'd just toss that problem to the scholars. That wasn't my job.
For now, I'd focus on the Ghoul crisis.