Anno Domini — Year 3000

Interstellar travel—the Guāngguànhuán Drive enables escape the Solar System

Anno Domini — Year 4001

The Galactive Interactive is founded. The number of planets with a population exceeding one billion (Gigas) increases to twelve. Industrial Secretary of the Pan-planetary Minister Assembly, Xīng Zhúlóng, declares that the Astro Duodenum calendar is to replace the Anno Domini calendar. (Rumor has it he stuttered as he attempted to say ‘Astro Duodecimal.’ Every planetary representative denies that was the case.)

Astro Duodenum — Years 4001~8000

The Galactive Interactive massively expands. The number of Gigas increases to 15. The total human population is 40,000,000,000.

Astro Duodenum — Year 8526

The Gendo emigration fleet arrives at a new solar system. They name themselves the Circs. The Circ calendar begins.

Prologue

Circ calendar — Year 18

(Astro Duodenum 8544)

The tensiometer graph monitoring the 8000-meter fishing line suddenly spiked.

“Hit!”

From the gloomy control deck of the Insidious, a spacecraft littered with various retrofitted devices, the voice of a young gunner nervously rang out. The captain calmly responded, “Is it a stationary tornado?”

“Doesn’t match.”

“Is it an accretion of suspended bake particles? Or maybe it’s reeling in our own trash?”

“Doesn’t match, the tension pattern of that sorta false positive’s completely different,” Itar, the young gunner, responded, briefly stopping to search and compare previous graph records. “In tornadoes, the tension undulates periodically, and dust clouds produce a long, soft tug. But this one shot right up, and then kept oscillating weakly. If I had to guess, it's debris or something from an ejector, but whatever it is has a weird pattern…”

Smiling, he then turned around.

“No data—but that much was obvious already.”

“Quiet!” A voice asserted itself before the ten or so crewmembers could grow any more excited. “What’s obvious is the fishing's already started. Time for our real work to begin. We're reeling it in no matter what!”

The voice belonged to Gendo Magiri, the soon-to-be 40-year-old captain. Her red lips moved as she played with wavy black hair hanging over her forehead. She looked over her trusted subordinates, eyes glistening with excitement.

“All crew! Prepare to fish!”

That order echoed from one corner of the ship to the other for the first time ever while the winged ship sliced through the vast brick-colored sky on four powerful rockets.

“Let’s do this!”  “This one's ours!”  “Don’t mess this up.”

With Magiri’s words, the crew members all faced back to their devices. Magiri's subordinate, Officer Sivi Endeavour, kept watch over her from the back corner of the captain's seat. She had conflicting feelings. Captain Magiri was best suited to firing up the crew, so seeing her rein things in felt incredibly wrong—especially when long ago, someone else had been a perfect fit for the job of maintaining order and quiet. Ten years had already passed since that person vanished, but the hole they left never seemed to have been filled...

That thought in mind, she looked at the window-shaped screen displaying the ship's exterior. Of course, there was nothing to remember them by out there, much less evoke their memory.

Not a single mountain or tower jutted from that sea of clouds. There were no forests, rivers, or islands; not even an ocean. Only ammonia clouds, pure white and crystalline, graced the vast hydrogen sky; below it, a drifting layer of ash-like bake shrouded a mix of acetylene, hydrazine, sulfide and phosphine that yawned into an abyss more than 20,000 km deep.

Fat Beach Ball was a gas giant, and its horizontal stripes and enormous vortices were reminiscent of Jupiter, another planet from another time. The ship traversed its northern hemisphere, staying 30 kilometers above the 1 ATM level. However, referencing sea level to that was only for the sake of convenience—it wasn't the ship's point of departure.

It hadn’t ascended from below but descended from space.

The Insidious had been remodeled for that purpose. For the last 15 years the many dual-function ships constructed in orbit scooped up bake, the raw material for so many essentials, and hauled it in with purpose-made equipment. However, the once plentiful particles of suspended bake had substantially thinned out. The fleet now often found itself in the red.

There hadn't been any glimpse of hope until two years ago, when a ‘fish’ was sighted swimming through FBB's atmosphere. It was unprecedented for a gas giant, but the sight hadn't been a mere optical illusion or strange cloud—it was certainly a solid body. With that certainty came the determination to hunt down the fish and discover its true nature.

The sighting led the hundreds of ships orbiting the planet to join forces, everyone desiring the resources which would allow the population of Circs—now 500,000—to survive.

The fleet made a grave miscalculation while it was still en route to the planet eighteen years earlier. Gas giants in a star system usually have many satellites, but that certainly hadn't been the case with FBB—not a single metallic or rocky moon orbited it. That left the fleet stranded with only a limited supply of the most essential materials to maintain it.

Their recycling efforts, alongside developments following the discovery of bake, a burnt-looking powdery substance, had kept them afloat. Still, it was impossible to halt aging. Their ships and equipment continued to deteriorate over time, and their supplies would only sustain the population for another year or two before it became a crisis if things continued in that direction.

It was then, when doom seemed inevitable, that the fish was sighted.

If they managed to catch that fish, it would supply far more resources, far more efficiently, than dozens of hours of scooping bake could ever provide. So, the best way to go about it...?

Fishing. A hook and line on a reel.

Despite 6500 years removed from Earth, human culture continued to pass down fishing.

The Insidious was not a remodeled bake-collecting ship. It was a battleship, one that was crucial for the fleet. Still, equipped with four high-thrust engines and massive collapsible wings, it made for a powerful dual-use ship. Its rear cargo bay housed a purpose-built drum for their fishing line, along with a hopper to hold their catch. The line was made of carbon and its hook was forged using their small reserve of precious titanium.

There had been some debate over what to use as bait but they ultimately settled on making a boilie from bake. The self-proclaimed (and formerly wealthy) fishing enthusiast Xīnxīng argued it was proper practice to use live bait while in fishing grounds. Not that the point mattered much when, without an ounce of doubt, there were neither earthworms nor ragworms at FBB. It hadn't caused much of an issue.

Then the last question: who would cast the reel?

“The tension massively increased! It's at 65 kilonewtons!”

It was the gunner of the former battleship Insidious, Itar, seated at the reel's operation panel. In lieu of a main gun it now had various fishing tools, and while the tools had changed the shared sentiment was that Itar's job of vanquishing foes had not. He was putting his reel operation skills to the test in front of the full bridge crew.

“67, 68, 73, 69...!”

“So, our target must weigh around 7 tonnes. Pretty big, huh? Did it figure out what's happening and start struggling?”

“Yeah, seems like it.”

“This one's a bit slow to react, eh?”

“That's to be expected, y'know. I doubt any fish on this planet has ever been caught like this before.”

“Aha, does this mean that we’re this planet's first fishermen?”

“Are we going down in history...?”

“That's only if we come back alive—now focus! Verify the status of all parts!” Magiri's voice sounded in the bridge, then reverberated through speakers across the ship. “Rear bay, how's the tension on the rod?! The reel's temperature?! Preparations for the hopper?!”

“The stress on the rod suspension is at 40% of design.”

“The reel's motor temperature is at 349K, within normal range. 7981 meters of dragline's been pulled, with our expected margin at 2000 meters.”

“All clear, the hopper is on stand-by!”

“Reel and hopper, worst-case, you have the option to dump our catch. Main engine! Wings!”

“Wing 1, 2 and 4 thrusters are working nominally. Wing 3 bake filter is currently flushing... Flushing complete, no abnormalities!”

“No foil abnormalities.”

“Bulge Dome! Can you see it?”

“We can't, the bake’s too thick.” Unlike the lively voices of the rear, port and starboard workers, the voice from the worker in the aft port observation dome was subdued. “We’ll continue pointing the 150mm scope at the line, but we don't have visuals beyond the 5000 mark. As soon as we sight it, we'll report back immediately.”

“All right, got i–”

“Wait, something's showing up!” Not even a second later, another report from the Bulge Dome interrupted Magiri. “It’s finally visible, the bake’s cleared out! Set the range to 7800 and turn to channel 3,” the worker said hurriedly, and almost as an afterthought added, “Woah, it's ugly!”

The real-time transmission from the 150mm refractor pointing out below the dome on Insidious' lower decks incited the same reaction from the bridge crew.

“Ew, gross” “Fugly.” “That's an interesting shape.” “What is that...”

Displayed on the screen was a long and thin torso with multiple thin spiky protrusions spread across its surface, zigzagging clumsily. Whatever it was looked like a black fish no less than 4 meters long.

“Eda, do you think that this is an alien li–” Magiri, noticing her mistake, quickly cut her sentence short and covered her mouth. The others averted their gaze, as if it didn't concern them.“I mean, Papa Henri. Could this possibly be an alien life form? The real deal?”

At Magiri's prompting, the elder Black scientist hacked a cough and looked at the display, unfazed. “If that's the case, then it’s great news! Its symmetry is quite broken, but creatures like that aren’t unheard of out there. Many species of crab and shellfish have pincers very different in size from one other, and there are also the eji from Solma System's north, which are well-known for being completely asymmetric animals. I can identify what seem to be a tail and torso—ah, the head too! Those little dents on the sides of its head might be sensory organs, and since it was capable of taking our bait, we can assume it has a mouth. So, if it's capable of excreting... that would make it an animal, one surprisingly similar to something from Earth. But of course, we can only be sure after we catch it—until then, it's only a possibility.”

“Mhm, understood, thank you. Let's give it a name! What should it be, everyone?”

Magiri looked around as her team stared up absently. Then they all began shouting.

“Twisty rascal! It's like a bratty kid twisting and flailing around!" “It's got fins, it's got spikes...thin stickleback?” “How about jīwǔkōng?” “Besshu.” “Arête brûlée is perfect, isn't it? Don't you think it looks like a failed attempt at roasting a fish?”

“Wait, what did you just say? Radenvijaya.” Magiri called on the shipwright, a young boy whose stare was fixed on the display. He was quiet and soft-spoken. Even during at critical moments, he was the type to stay silent until prompted, often carrying out his duties wordlessly. The others, aware of his taciturn personality, fell quiet.

"Besshu." Repeating himself, the boy turned around wearing a thoughtful expression. "Because it's a fish, and because it's vague. Shadows, inscrutability, nebulous, a faint existence. Those are all vague. So, if we combine the two, vague... vei... bei... and fish... fisshu... we get besshu."

“Besshu, huh? Rolls right off the tongue. 'Vague fish' also kinda sounds like 'bake fish'...good, isn't it? Everyone?” Magiri looked around and everyone nodded as if to say ‘not bad’. Someone spoke up again with “Arête brûlée...”, but before the disagreement could take root, there was a loud thud and the bridge violently shook. Magiri tumbled from the captain's seat, but Sivi, lurking behind her, quickly caught the older woman's body with the help of her high-g suit's actuator before she could get hurt.

“What?”

“The tension's at 350 kilonewtons!”

The bridge fell dead silent. Then, Papa Henri shouted, “35 tonnes? What happened?!”

“If you've got the time to name it, then you’ve also got the time to look down!!” Itar shouted, and the team turned their eyes back to the display without reply. To their surprise, something else was pulling at the body of the hooked besshu. Its lower half was engulfed by another solid body five times larger. The besshu wasn't alone. Below it, multiple shadows could be seen swarming in the bake.

“Are they eating each other?!” “This is bad, one of them is 20 meters long!” “That couldn't possibly fit in the rear bay, could it?” “No, the catcher is absolutely going to break if we attempt to bring it–”

The big besshu turned and violently yanked the reel line, rocking the entire ship. Itar, breaking out in a cold sweat, shouted, “400 kilonewtons! The reel's near its limit! If it gets over 500 kilonewtons it'll go flying! Captain, what should we do?”

"Shall we offload it?” asked Papa Henri, arm positioned and ready to press the two emergency disposal buttons. Before he could do so, Magiri shook her head.

“Itar, how many kilonewtons can the bay structure handle?”

“If we're talking about the main frame then... probably 1200 kilonewtons for a static load. While we enforce a 60-tonne maximum limit, our safety factor is at least double that.”

“Hmm. So we can trust the fishing line of a large-scale ship like this to handle 200 tonnes. Alright, pilot, line us up with our prey! Rear bay! Use two—no, six of the main hull support wires to reinforce the line!”

“Won't fixing the line in place tangle it?” Itar shouted in surprise.

In response, Magiri flashed a confident smile. “Mhm, but it's not going to break, yeah? We're dragging it with us.”

“You want to drag it to exhaustion?! For how long?!”

Gendo Magiri later became a mythical early Circ leader, and her incredible response a saying. “Until we're down to the last ship, of course. Do we have a reason to give up and die at this planet without a fight?”

Holding a lunch basket on one arm, a woman in plain clothes—tunic, culotte and boots for ease of movement, hair in a loose braid—entered the thicket with confident steps on leaf-littered undergrowth.

Sivi Endeavour stopped at a small sunny spot. Ivy wrapped the crumbling ruins of a tall, almost elegant, stone rampart that formed a dead end in front and left of her. It radiated the mood of a bygone era. Parked just in front of that dead end was a decaying covered wagon, its frame canted on broken spoke wheels. A single horse grazed on the many wildflowers growing around the wagon.

Sivi called out to the little corner that resembled a secret spot on the outskirts of a forest. “Magiri, have you already taken a look at our first report?”

Silence responded, as though the place was empty. Sivi walked to the back of the covered wagon and gave the horse a gentle pat on the back as she passed, which caused it to quickly trot away. Peeking inside, she found the woman she was searching for looking out through the wagon's opening, wrapped in an old blanket.

The task of visiting Magiri here was always a bit hard on Sivi's heart. Not that Magiri’s behavior was unreasonable or unearned, which was why Sivi tried not to pay much mind to it. She set the lunch basket on the wagon bed, turned around, and before waiting simply asked, “Would you like some?”

A small bird perched on a branch of an elm tree chirped. It was real, not a hologram or robot, and so was the tree it perched on. Horseflies loudly buzzed around canola flowers. The horse running to the nearby spring was artificial though, and so to were the glowing rays of light. The system's G star, Mother Beach Ball, was 680,000,000 km away, and its distant light didn't carry much warmth. However, it was undeniable that this ship’s space was a splendid recreation of Earth's surface.

The Circ ships orbiting the gas giant were generally poor, so they couldn't gift their leaders with an official residence. The freight ship Idaho, which used centrifugal force to simulate gravity, contained the little garden as a gift instead. Only the leaders of the 24 codenamed Circ ships were permitted entry, along with Magiri's trusted bridge crew—Sivi and the others.

Magiri wasn't just the captain of her own ship, she was Great Chief Magiri, admiral of the entire Circ fleet. Recently, she’d offered to captain a fishing boat again and was strangely eager about it. She'd been vetoed, but not because she wasn't capable. Quite the opposite—she was too capable.

At the start of the Circ Calendar (CC), mistakes by the people in charge caused ships to sink into cloudy hell left and right. Many believed the Circs would have already met with certain demise much earlier if two women, talented and charismatic, hadn't replaced the leadership instead of allowing things to run their course.

In CC 3 the two, Gendo Magiri and Prof. Lucid—known as The Vesperian Sailor and The Exceptional Eda—were colleagues. Although they worked on bake collection, their innovation of coverting bake into raw materials made them massively popular. That allowed them to, spontaneously and unconstitutionally, overthrow the old leadership. They were responsible for bringing progress and order to the Circ fleet.

In the 15 years since, Magiri had not only been the type of leader to govern kindly and cheerfully, but she’d also been strong. She was unwavering in times of suffering and always pulled the 500,000 Circs through those times with her. She continued to display leadership and advance their civilization even after Prof. Lucid's passing in CC 8, save for a short mourning period. Her charisma was unmatched.

That was why even the few surviving leaders of the old guard didn't just agree it was best for her to remain somewhere safe, they insisted on it. Somewhere safe, exactly like this little corner and its wagon. However, while she quietly kept put for the moment, she hadn't forgotten those boundless brick-colored skies. If something happened and she recognized the opportunity, who knew if she'd force her way out and once again descend to the planet's atmosphere.

Sivi Endeavour worked for Magiri, someone she not only deeply admired—but someone she admired. That was why she had both personal and professional reasons to stop Magiri from venturing out, but more than anyone else, she knew how essential it was to Magiri. That was why, no matter how painful she found it, there was nothing Sivi could do to stop her.

Maintaining her calm, Sivi began pouring liquid from a bottle. The noise caught Magiri's attention, who curiously asked what it was. Back still turned, Sivi replied, “Just some coffee-like.”

“‘Like’? It's fake?”

“Produced with a molecular printer. Compositionally, there shouldn’t be any difference from the real thing. It's a prototype developed by Moshi clan's cultivation crafters.”

“The real thing's not this bitter! Wait, is this bitter because it’s real? Hmm... if that's how it is then I want some printed sugar and milk too.”

“I’ll be sure to pass on your high praise, Magiri.”

Magiri then sat on the corner of the wagon frame. She was only dressed in a bra and panties, and her hair was a mess. She brought the coffee cup to her sleepy face to take a sip, then picked up a sandwich from the basket and stuffed her cheeks. Every now and then she'd say, “Sorry about this” and Sivi would respond with “It's okay.” A distance of 15 centimeters separated the two.

“Y'know, Vi, I keep telling you that you don't have to stick around a gloomy auntie like me. You’re quite popular, and I'm sure you've got so many better options out there.”

“I'm here on my own accord.”

“Hmm.”

“I'm not trying to replace the professor.”

“That's a lie, and you know it.”

“Sorry.”

“Hm, well.” Magiri exhaled, the smell of coffe on her breath. “Honestly, you've been a great help. Who knows when I'll stumble!”

“Glad to be of service. I'll look forward to it.”

Ten years like this. The two feeling every one of the 15 centimeters between them.

“My bad, I've only been giving off mixed signals. I'm just tired. I thought I’d try to depend on others more, but it's no use. Everyone coming to me all at once is too much to handle.”

“Yeah, I get you.”

“I think you're the only one who does, hah.” She wiped her right eye with the back of her hand and stretched, straightening her back. Then turning around, she asked “So, putting this slightly too sincere conversation aside, what were you asking about?”

“I asked if you had already taken a look at our initial report. Papa Henri and Radenvijaya finished their autopsy and compositional analysis of the besshu we captured. So, we need to discuss what comes next–” Sivi eagerly answered Magiri, as if that conversation hadn’t happened. The two were accustomed to this sudden shift in the mood between them.

It was afternoon, two days after the four hour and thirty-minute besshu fishing operation in FBB's atmosphere. “Aah, okay, okay, I'll take a look at the draft now.” she said, pulling on a shirt and pants inside the covered wagon before returning with a scale in hand. Sivi similarly produced an information board from her sleeve and began reading the report.

“The besshu's body is primarily composed of carbon, silicon, germanium—so elements in the carbon family—and a previously unknown lithium isotope, which together account for 80% of the body–”

“What do you mean an unknown lithium isotope?!”

“Well, it's unknown, so we can't really explain it yet... The besshu was capable of flight thanks to its light composition. We also identified nitrogen, oxygen, chlorine, sulfur, phosphorus, iron, zinc and, of course, atmospheric components—hydrogen and helium. In other words, it's not edible, but it can be used as an ore. A very good one at that.”

“I'm gonna cry. We finally discover an alien life form and instead of learning its eating habits or mating dances or whatever, our only choice is first figuring out how to put it to use. Makes me feel too much like a groundskeeper...”

Sivi gave an in-depth lecture about the creatures they’d named besshu. She gave more details about their very unusual composition, along with a structural comparison between fish on Earth and FBB. She also said a bit more about the previously mentioned unknown isotope and how it might diverge from everything known about alkali metals. She then answered the questions Magiri, who had skipped the briefing to sleep, had on points regarding the report ranging from crucial to abysmally stupid. By the end, Magiri was up to speed on the state of knowledge regarding besshu.

They also noticed common points in composition between the besshu they’d fished up, the bake collected thus far, observations made of the planet's atmosphere, and rocks they referred to as 'ejectors' that were spewed up from a lower layer in the atmosphere. It had led them to the theory that a solid structure lurked in FBB’s depths, something a gas giant wasn’t supposed to have. Chances were that another celestial body had sunk into its depths...

“Another body? There's no way to prove that, right? It's quite romantic.”

“We do have a mountain's worth of records of icy comet impacts, though.”

“That may be, but that's basically saying that those comets carried life with them, yeah? So romantic.”

“Please leave the romance for later, I also have a mountain’s worth of other things to think about...”

Since the fishing trip hadn’t turned a profit, Radenvijaya had suggested they try trawling with a large tunnel net next time. They'd greatly improve their take while reducing resource expenditure if they managed to catch a full school of fish with it, but managing the gigantic net meant they’d need a ship with an incredibly powerful engine. Needless to say, there was an argument over who would provide the necessary equipment.

Although Sivi tried to keep their conversation moving along, Magiri hung up on this point. She started by asking, “A powerful engine? Have they tried using besshu powder as fuel?” Further disconnecting from the matter at hand, she started musing that besshu could support a new industry and ordered an investigation so as not to let the opportunity pass. At any rate, she had clearly lost focus.

Sivi had no other choice but to continue the conversation with Magiri in that state. “Oh yeah, it was Papa Henri who said this, but apparently the besshu have strange properties.”

“I mean, at this point, is there anything about them that isn’t strange?”

“Well, yeah, but this time it was really strange. After they finished dissecting the besshu, Papa decided to study why it had taken that particular shape. He started an analysis to compare besshu to Earth's fish. He put the besshu's fin on his desk display and was looking through photos of various Earth fish so he could compare their silhouettes and skeletons.”

“Uh huh.”

“So, when he came back from a short trip to the bathroom, there was a goldfish on his desk.”

“...What?” Magiri clearly hadn't been paying much attention before, but that left her mouth hanging open in surprise. “A goldfish? The one from the Anno Domini era?”

“It survived well past the Anno Domini era—it still thrives in the lakes of a planet in Pollux-4. It's the same kind of goldfish you see in fishtanks.”

“Why?”

“I don't know, but it was most definitely a goldfish on his desk.”

“...The besshu's corpse turned into a goldfish?!”

“Seems like it. And also, I guess it didn't really die.” Sivi shrugged. “As far as we can tell, they aren't really like any living organism we know of. They might have an indeterminate form. It does have an identifiable head, torso and tail. Segments and sensory organs, too. Although Papa Henri's assessment back on the ship seemed plausible, he might have been wrong. His words, not mine.”

“Indeterminate form...?”

“It's exactly what it sounds like: there's no fixed form. It's something that can take any shape it wants. There were organisms with indeterminate forms back on Earth, like amoebas or even legendary animals like the cat. There also were others that changed shape significantly over their life cycle—eels, slime molds, rhinoceros beetles— those changed as necessary for a growth stage. So besshu might be doing the same...”

“Huuuh...” Magiri nodded, absently stared into the air, and then asked, “The forms changed as necessary...?”

“Mhm.”

“Then, why did the besshu back at the lab choose that form... What made it think it needed to become a goldfish?”

“Eh? That's...” Sivi was perplexed. “I don't know, but I also don't think they can know what form is best for them. But... the need to change into a goldfish...”

“There wasn’t one, was there?” Magiri's eyes turned to her only for a moment, but Sivi glimpsed a spark in them she didn't think she would ever see again. “The same goes for the atmosphere of a gas giant. There's no advantage to being a fish there. It would have been way more practical to take the shape of something more apt for it... like a condor, a glider, or if it had to be big, a pteranodon. Those all would have been much better choices, no?”

“Well, you're probably right.”

Sivi nodded, and Magiri suddenly hopped off the wagon. “Yeah, this was a really interesting chat. Thanks for telling me, Sivi.”

“Magiri? Where are you going?”

“Just over there for a bit.”

With that, Magiri left the room. Shortly afterwards, Sivi learned she had disembarked without permission for the first time in ten years.

Sivi Endeavour had a clear memory of her first solo descent 10 years earlier. Shuttles routinely descended from the ships orbiting FBB to collect hydrogen from its atmosphere, and Sivi, then 19, was undergoing shuttle pilot training. It was a process that would have normally taken 700 days had an emergency not caused her to graduate much sooner. That emergency marked her first solo descent.

Her job had been to retrieve a runaway Captain Gendo Magiri. The search was kept under wraps, but she'd been the first of the 30 search pilots to find Magiri. Now, just as she had back then, Sivi was flying along the very edge of Left Eyeball, a massive anticyclonic storm located on the fringes of Fat Beach Ball's north tropics.

“Magiri, do you hear me?!” Sivi shouted into her rescue radio. “Endeavour speaking. There are another 300 ships coming. I can see you clearly on radar, and 10% of the fleet is fully equipped for capture. You know those ships can endure up to 50 atm. There's no way out! You’re definitely getting caught! Please just come back!”

She wasn't lying about the 300 spacecraft. It was an emergency for the Circs as a whole, and they were treating it as such. They still needed Magiri to lead them, especially now that they were arguing over how to catch more besshu.

Still, Sivi had a feeling that persuasion was the only thing that would work. The only thing that could reasonably be called a threat, the ships equipped for capture, had pilots who hadn't flunked out as civilians. They were perfectly capable of reliably catching besshu... but they couldn't catch Great Chief Magiri, and Sivi knew it.

No, if Magiri's reason for doing this is the same as back then, we should focus on appealing to—An unexpected reply interrupted Sivi's thoughts as she rushed to Magiri. “Why do you think the besshu take the form of fish?”

“Eh?”

Sivi reacted almost in the same dumbfounded way that Magiri had when she first heard about the besshu changing shape, but after a short pause, she gave a proper response. “And what does that have to do with what you're doing now?”

“Don't you think someone might be making them take that form?”

“And who would that be?”

“Someone who loved the fish from Earth. Someone who knew more about them than anyone else, who always had a fish fact ready, who carried around fish charms and reference books. Someone who, out of the blue, suffered an accident and fell deep into the lower layers–”

“Magiri!” Sivi Endeavour shouted. “It's pointless! Please stop! You don't have a single picogram of need to consider those things!”

“Eda.”

Sivi suddenly had a clear picture of Magiri's reaction, or rather, the unbalanced nature of it.

Professor Dryeda de la Lucid had been an obsessive researcher, a first-rate xenobiologist. She carried herself like she had the most pride in the universe. Eda's figure was on the smaller side, and her layered pixie cut, glasses, and white labcoat lent her appearance a dashing quality. She was practically the embodiment of class and devotion. Eda had been on observation duty in the planet's middle layer when their pressure-resistant ship malfunctioned. The resulting situation was like something out of a Philippa Foot trolley problem.

There hadn't been much time to make a choice, so she chose to sacrifice herself and allow the two male crew members, who had a girlfriend, wife, and children waiting for them, to return safely. Alone inside the malfunctioning hull, she detached it and sank into the depths. All the while, she maintained a perfectly calm demeanor.

The 27-year-old woman's parting words were, “Ah...it's fine, it's fine. I really wanted to see what's down there anyway!”

For Magiri, it had been the loss of her perfect partner.

Nobody (not Sivi, not any other woman)—nothing (not the 10 years since, not the providence of outer space) could ever possibly replace that loss, and the 500,000 living there knew it. They knew it, because in the absence of a miracle they had gambled everything on the continued sanity of a captain who, other than her loss, was flawless. The result of that gamble was being dealt, and the outcome was a bottomless pit of despair.

“If that's the case, so what?”

Magiri plunged directly into a whirling crimson cloud of red phosphorus and methane.

“What if 10 years ago, Eda instructed them to take that form?” Her voice was scarily clear, and Sivi was stabbed with a pang of self-condemnation. “That was the only time she could have done that, right?”

Sivi then upped the booster's throttle with a hand that was shivering feverishly. Now going full bore and scraping the limits of where one could return, the very least she might accomplish was a double suicide.

“Don’t you get it? Don’t you see it? Just imagine. Eda might have been alive. For a few minutes, a few hours, a few days—or maybe even…?”

“Impossible! Magiri, that can’t...!”

“What if she just didn't come back?”

Beyond the point where FBB's atmospheric pressure exceeds 100 bars, past the thousand-kilometer depth mark, humanity has yet to succeed at any of their attempts at retrieval, manned or unmanned. The Circs lived right above a realm of the dead. Within that giant, tempestuous planet was a shore the dead departed from, never to return.

But what if that's not entirely true?

“Then me... and her... after 10 years–”

Screaming with frustration and envy, Sivi Endeavour pushed on the throttle again, but at the same time–

The radar's screen flickered and the line of communication cut out.

On the horizon of that fathomless sea of clouds, deep blue shadows breached.

1

The gas giant’s scenery was never still. Tall, pure white clouds of crystal ammonia and a low deck of rusty clouds churned and dissipated like a muddy sea in constant flux. But certain types of clouds maintained their shapes for a good while, in spite of their ephemeral nature.

Animals, human faces, food, dresses... Terra Tell-Tale's imagination constantly found inspiration. Today's scene was a spot-billed duck family. Forty-kilometer-tall altostratus pillars were neatly lined up, their tops projecting like beaks. The mother was a particularly large one, and one, two, three, four... twelve ducklings followed her.

Besshu sparkled on the fourth duckling’s back.

Terra shouted, “Besshu! I saw besshu! About 300 kilometers from us, Diode-san!”

“Where?”

“On the back of the fourth spot-billed duck daughter!”

“Spot-billed duck?”

“Ah! It was an animal from the A.D era! Endemic to Earth! A bird to be exact—um, well, the kind doesn’t matter much. I saw it in one of the images imported from the Dàxúnniǎo... Ah, that’s it! It looks just like the Dàxúnniǎo!”

“I don’t understand. Mark it, please,” her partner responded bluntly.

Terra’s shoulders sagged in disappointment. Ah, I did it again. She constantly irritated others with her incomprehensible tales. It happened all the time, but it never stopped making her feel bad. That behavior had earned her the unpleasant nickname of Terra Tell-Tale.

This was their first time together, and Terra's current partner was very unusual compared to her previous matches. Acquaintances kept giving her weird glances back at port, and despite making it clear she wasn’t playing around, but going out to fish, she couldn’t help but feel like she was doing something wrong. That was why she really wanted this trip to go well, but...

She stared ahead, dejected, when she suddenly snapped to attention. The pillar clouds seemed off; they were too neatly spaced. Are pillar clouds supposed to be that close to each other…?

While Terra was deep in thought, her partner called out, puzzled. “Hey, the marker… Is something wrong, Terra-san?” Suddenly returning to her senses, Terra turned to the cockpit below, towards the woman she had paired up with.

Diode (or at least, that's how she’d introduced herself) was young, closer to late adolescent than woman. Keeping with tradition, she had dressed for her job as a fisherman. Her deck dress was a silver and black skinsuit that accentuated her body's contours; slits exposed the pale skin of her thin upper arms and inner thighs. Terra had a clear outline of her small chest and butt. A lace headcover adorned the silver hair that fell to her shoulders and obscured her thin, composed eyebrows. Her eyelashes were so thick they could cast a shadow.

She was stunning, dressed that boldly. When the two first met to board the ship that morning, Terra's confidence was crushed by the sight of Diode. She felt her own Victorian-style gown was too unfashionable in comparison. Even now, Terra was enchanted as she watched from the rear pit. She clumsily responded to Diode’s query.

“Ah, yes, yes! I’m marking it now!” She pointed her long index finger towards their objective, aiming the guide laser directly at it.

The schooling fish came into sight. They swam effervescently, separating and rejoining, deep blue sparkles reflecting from their bodies. The two fishers were still too far away to tease out individual fish, but Terra carefully observed the school.

First discovered by Great Chief C.B Endeavour back in CC 18, the unique swimming creatures the Circs called besshu had become an indispensable resource. While even after 285 years they still didn’t fully grasp those creatures’ workings, the state of affairs massively differed from those early days in several ways. One such way owed itself to the Circs’ continuous observations, which over the years had produced a vast knowledge of besshu species and their distribution.

Looking at the besshu in the distance, Diode nodded. “Those are... Anchovies, probably?”

Terra and Diode could see each other, but physically speaking, their pits were in different parts of the boat. It was a safety measure that allowed any problems to be cut off at their source before trouble spread to both people. The ship gave the impression the two were in the same room through a visual link between the front and back, which allowed Diode to watch Terra point at their target.

The ship had no windows—in fact, it was completely devoid of anything. It didn't have a bridge, hatch, captain’s quarters, dining room, telescope, or even the assortment of crates one usually expected to find strewn around a spaceship's interior. Those had all gradually disappeared over 300 years until only the two pits remained. From controls to information, everything necessary had relocated there.

The ship’s interior displayed the sights and sounds of the gas giant around Terra with an accuracy that made it indistinguishable from the real deal outside. Trajectory, fuselage, weather and interior status panels floated in four separate corners, positioned so as to not obstruct one’s line of sight. Two instances of the panels were present, one displayed in the interior gel and another directly through the brain. There was no way to tell them apart, nor was there a need to.

For the Circs, interacting with those VUI panels was as easy as turning a doorknob. They were controlled through gestures and eye motions, making piloting a ship as simple as that. In other words, they could do anything they needed with only a light tap, and this setup allowed just the two of them to pilot the boat.

Thanks to her large chest, Terra had to drag the VUI upwards to bring it into view before restlessly poking around the panels with all ten fingers. She entered details about the state of the school and its movement, as well as their own, and paused for a moment before elaborating on a two-part tactical fishing plan and sending the file to the front pit.

“Our strategy!” Terra wouldn't describe herself as a capable decomper at all, but still, she always made sure to do everything necessary to fulfill her duties. “Schooling upstream and towards the top of the pillar clouds makes them look like anchovies, so if we work under that belief... Since anchovies can't move much upwind, the way to go about catching them is with a downstream beam trawl so they go straight into the net's mouth. At least, I think that's the usual approach.”

“Wait, why are you talking about them like…” Diode's alto voice faltered with doubt. “They look like anchovies? So, they aren't actually anchovies? I thought something was off too, but...”

“They aren't anchovies,” Terra affirmed. “Or more like, those aren't pillar clouds, so the fish can't be anchovies.”

“Huh?” For the first time, Diode’s dark blue eyes opened wide in surprise. “What? Those aren't pillar clouds?”

“If we observe the clouds edge-on, they do happen to look like pillars, but that's just a matter of the perspective. If we got closer, they’d probably look more like this–” Terra opened up the second part of the tactical plan and rotated it to show a schematic side view of the clouds. “They're fin-form clouds. Those aren't pillars going upwind, I'm certain that they're forming sheets instead!”

“Fin-form clouds?!” Diode shouted, looking back and forth between the plan and scenery to compare. She stared firmly, then nodded. “You're right, those are fin-form clouds... I’m impressed you noticed.”

“Yeah! Their rhythm was kinda weird!”

“Rhythm?”

Diode swiftly turned to Terra, who nodded. “Yes, the rhythm. The 13 clouds were aligned like ton-ton-ton-ton, but pillar clouds are Kármán vortices so they should have been aligned like tan-ton-tan-ton instead. The biggest one shouldn't be getting smoother...”

“Tan-ton-tan.” Diode repeated, voice flat.

Terra waved her hand, flustered, and started talking again. “Sorry, I'll stop. Um, what I'm saying is, since those are fin-form clouds, then anchovies aren't our quarry. Instead, it's a type that looks like it's moving vertically when you see the school edge-on. So, I mean, they're the type of prey that schools like a long curtai—Uwawaah!” The ship rapidly accelerated before Terra could finish, causing her to lurch backwards. Confused, she asked, “Umm! Do you mind if I ask?!”

“About what?”

“The fish species!”

“It's a long curtain school,” Diode stated bluntly, as if to ask whether there was any need to think about it. “That means it's a thin, rope-like school that crests and crashes before it flattens out again—they can't be anything but surfers.”

Terra remained quiet. She thought they were surfers, too. Actually, they could be one of three possible species, but it wasn't difficult to infer the correct answer.

“And since those are surfers,” Diode continued, “They migrate much faster than the anchovies. So, even though it looks like they're staying put, in reality they're either coming straight at us or getting further away.”

“The latter, I think! They're getting harder and harder to see!”

“Yeah.” Diode's response was short, but she sounded satisfied, feeling like a challenge had finally come. “They say a net in pursuit is much like a bald head, so what are we doing about it?”

The saying meant ‘You are at a disadvantage chasing a school of fish’. A net should be waiting where the fish were going. Their positioning was the exact opposite of that. It was awful.

“Chasing while towing a net is out of the question, but they’ll scatter if we try getting ahead of them.”

With air resistance substantially reducing the ship's speed as the net deployed, it would be easy for the school to escape. Taking another route to set up an ambush could also fail, as there was a good chance the fish would scatter the moment they noticed the approaching threat.

“We’ve got no choice but to trawl from below and toss our lines up quickly. We could get two hai with a single line, and we should be able to do that three times.”

“That might work too, but–” Terra interjected, licking her lips before continuing. “Could you fly straight ahead at full speed, just below the school? I'd like to deploy a purse seine.”

Diode's eyes widened, almost toddler-like. “A purse seine.”

“Yes.”

“To catch migratory fish.”

“Yes.”

“But the school’s going to scatter.”

“It'll be fine!”

“Heh, alright, go ahead.” Diode easily accepted the foolish-sounding proposal, but Terra sought further approval in spite of her increasing confidence.

“Until I say otherwise, you have to keep going like this. When the catch comes we'll get 10 hai all at once, is that okay...?”

“You sure you’re not an idiot? It's fine, do what you want.”

Diode's response was rude, and blatantly so, but now that Terra was certain she could continue with her proposal she was so happy she started trembling.

“Fuhehe, heh, I'm doing it then. Hehe.”

It really was an absurd idea. Gill nets or drift nets were usually deployed for surfers, and anyone else would dismiss a claim of being able to net 10 hai as nonsense. If Terra had suggested that to any of her previous partners, she was certain they would have been dumbfounded. Netting surfers with a purse seine was something absolutely no one else would have thought up, but they were about to do just that.

Their ship then left the planet's thin stratosphere, cutting down through the fifty-kilometer-thick tropopause before finally piercing into the troposphere. In front of them were the neatly aligned fin-form clouds.

The gas giant Fat Beach Ball has an impressive diameter of 140,000 kilometers and an impressively dense atmosphere to match. It is so dense the winds and storms of the compressed gas orb are in a different dimension from outer space altogether. The clouds in its atmosphere consist of harmless water, deathly poisonous hydrazine, ammonia, dusty sulfur and red phosphorus, all swirling on unbreathable hydrogen and helium winds at nightmarish speeds of 400 km/h. A careless descent into the planet would sand down control surfaces and clog the intakes of a typical tin can interstellar or planetary ship. Residing deep in the atmosphere is a sea of supercritical hydrogen: the terminal point. It was a point from which no one had ever returned, where only a 4000-atm hell existed.

The early Circs, afraid of that hell and still in the early stages of developing their convertible wing technology, navigated at safe speeds in small ships that weighed no more than 1000 tonnes. Flying like that was barely living at all. It was hard not to pity them.

Modern Circs sailed the skies with pillar boats.

Pillar boats changed shapes; this was the biggest difference from the past. They had a flat shape while generating solar power in outer space, assumed a shape similar to a parasol mushroom during inertial naviagtion through the debris strike zone, and took on a bullet-like aerodynamic shape when entering the atmosphere. Their length and mass surpassed 100 meters and 20,000 tonnes, respectively, and the most powerful of them reached almost 50,000 tonnes.

The boats were almost entirely made of All Mass Convertible (AMC) Clay. Even middle cruise-school students knew about AMC Clay. They knew about it even if they slept through class because AMC Clay was always present in one form or another. The particulars might go in one ear and out the other, but its most important aspect was deeply etched into their brains:

Molding the clay was the decomper's role.

Now fifty kilometers from the school, Terra closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She relaxed and floated in the biofluid gel, placing her arms in front of her chest like she was handling a potter's wheel. Decompression—Expand the imagination and draw a clear picture. Widen, stretch, knit the boat around yourself like another limb, shaping and manipulating it freely.

“Ten seconds to contact!” Diode shouted. An advanced imaging system projected stimuli directly into their visual cortex, giving them a 360º field of vision with overlapping multifrequency images. The school was now clearly visible.

Besshu had diverse morphologies. Some were spindle-shaped, others looked like blades, ropes, bags, or even nets. Their quarry was the blade sort, silver in color and resembling butter knives—a tell-tale sign they were surfers. Their tails faced the pillar boat as they made their escape at top speed.

They couldn’t count the exact number of fish. Just from the side alone they saw around two hundred, but there could be one thousand or even two thousand deeper within the school.

“Five, four, three, two, one—contact!”

The pair caught up to the fish. The school was so close overhead their blade shape created the impression the pair was about to get their bangs trimmed. That was only an illusion, of course, since they made sure to keep the school 100 meters away— But is that really the case? Are the fish really not scraping the pillar boat's hull?

Without giving weight to any of those worries, Terra began her work. Two otter boards detached from the hull's left and right sides and flew into the distance in the blink of an eye as they caught the supersonic airstream. They were tied to them were strong ropes which spun a net as they spooled out. That was the way the decomper wove the net. Their nets weren't stowed inside the boat, they were sourced on-site directly from the pillar boat's hull. They were made when needed, their spinning and weaving happening so incredibly fast it was easy to miss. The finished net spread behind the pink pillar boat like fine, pure white lace.

Sea spray spread above them like wings. The long curtain school of besshu, surprised by the pillar boat blowing past them, darted left and right. The scene around them looked like a blade was slicing through the school, or better yet, like a zipper was opening.

Terra was deep in a state of decompression, grinning at the spectacle. She heard her partner speaking to herself.

“The boat's too light... We haven’t caught anything yet?”

It was true, they still hadn't caught anything. The net was still growing and unfurling. It wasn't a routine surfer trawl at all: Terra was devising a purse seine, and no one had tried it before.

At any rate, she was almost done.

“The net is complete, please perform an Immelmann turn on my signal. Ten, nine, eight...”

“Now I get it.” It was Diode's turn to lick her lips. Her job as a twister had finally started.

“Three, two, one, now! Ompf!” The besshu violently rushed down towards them. Diode snorted. The hauling always started once the decomper finished laying the net, leaving the situation under the twister’s total control.

The pillar boat ascended and rolled until it was back to its original orientation. An incredibly strong line trailed behind it. Now located above the net, the previously scattered surfers all fled towards a net that was spread like an enormous rectangular clearing. In effect, the net had been entirely filled with fish who had willingly shoved their heads in. The otter boards attached to the net's four corners neatly joined, tying it shut.

All of that mass took its toll on the pillar boat. The thermonuclear engine in its stern poured out light. Coming down from her decompression state, Terra began to worry about the gigantic catch.

“I-is it going to be okay? This is heavy...”

“It can deal with 10 hai. I've heard of hauls this big before.”

Fish squirmed in the incredibly swollen net beneath the boat. The engine's aft jet propulsion was loud, bright, and constant as it flew through the vast sea of radiant red and yellow clouds that stretched beyond view. The AMC Clay, functioning as both structure and fuel, was being ravenously consumed. The twister set out an unheard-of eighteen nozzles.

If one or two hai was the minimum catch size, then ten hai was the maximum—meaning that the ship could handle a catch equal to its size. Diode calculated that at 2g, their jets would chew through 35,000 tonnes just to maintain their current altitude.

The eighteen nozzles were distributed on the boat's bilge and stern for thrust efficiency, their placement optimized by a system of simultaneous equations. The netted fish moved in a frenzy, whirling like a semifluid, requiring a high-cycle control system. In the cockpit, a great war of calculation was definitely raging in Diode's thoughts as numbers clashed with one another on a battlefield. It was a job outside of Terra's visually oriented wheelhouse. It wasn't just Terra, not many Circs could handle it easily. There were few men who could, and women were even rarer.

Seated and surrounded by a virtual swarm of throttle panels shaped like folding fans, Diode’s fingers skillfully moved with a rhythm akin to a tap dancer clicking their heels or a pianist playing a lighthearted polka. It was a neither Terra nor her friends—no one—had ever seen. A woman twister.

Even so, it wasn’t like Diode didn't feel the mental strain of adjusting the thrust to correct a push or pull of a millimeter on that 10,000-tonne weight. That strain manifested as a twitch in the corner of her mouth. An unbelievable statement came from her silhouette. “We're putting out 10 giganewtons. Terra-san, do you understand what you just did?”

“Eh?”

“How many hai do you think we caught?”

Terra didn’t need numbers to know they had a huge haul. Her wide net had completely shattered their expectations. “11 hai, maybe 12–”

“18 hai, Terra Tell-Tale-san.” Diode's pupils, which had fixated on Terra, were moist and shimmering like they had been coated with an oil slick. “You’re the best!” Then she lifted her thumb and made a throat-slitting motion.

“Whyyyyy?!”

The line cut when it received the command to discard the catch, and the net fell away. The sudden loss of weight sent the boat flying as Terra's scream echoed into the distance.

The Circs, who migrated from the Galactive Interactive to Fat Beach Ball 303 years ago, lived on.

There had originally been 24 clans, but not all survived. The Axis, Beijin, Connecticut, Frick, Moshi, Sirius, Ural and Zulu clans had disappeared, and only 16 clans remained, those being the Drone&Dongle, Endeavour, Gendō, Hebrew, Itar, Jack-of-All-Trades, Keelung, Lilicia, Nuer, O’Bannon, Pollux, QOT, Radenvijaya, Tegu, Virtue and Xīnxīng. Each clan built their own gigantic base ship and orbited FBB separately, 6000 km up. In the current Circ Calendar (CC) Year 303, or Year 8829 in the Astro Duodenum (A.D) reckoning, their population numbered 304,900.

Long ago, back in the early days, the Circs had settled on organizing themselves from A to Z, considering only the first letter of their leaders' names. Their reasons for doing so were lost to time, and the connection between the clan names and their leaders' identities had faded. However, maintaining the clan system played a large role in preserving their diverse cultures, with the 16 base ships each populated with around 20,000 Circs.

There were the religious Hebrew, the conservation-obsessed Pollux, the argument-loving QOT... but not all clans had that strong identity. Those whose values had grown fuzzy over time, like the Itar, Endeavour and JT, weren't very strict about what fell in and out of cultural fashion.

There were clans that had collapsed and clans that hadbeen through hard times. Thankfully, in their 300 year history, not a single clan had splintered, but conversely, nothing consequential enough to spur development and prosperity had happened either. The fleet's most significant—and final—innovation had been the use of AMC Clay to build pillar boats. After their industrial system was completed, the Circs began slowly sliding down the hill of stagnation.

The star Mother Beach Ball provided for a stable existence from past to present, its constant light borne on the 680,000,000 kilometers between it and the Circs. Its light had shone from the beginning of history and was set to keep shining until the end of time. The fleet remained its own constant in that star's dim light, forever circling a gigantic white and mahogany ball.

However, the people living there didn't necessarily want to circle forever. And the reason they lived in orbit to begin with? They didn't necessarily know.

2

Terra Intercontinental Endeavor was a 24-year-old woman. On this day, she had gone out to fish with another woman and discarded an astonishing catch of 315,000 tonnes—a catch certain to bring them a fortune. It had been a strange experience, one that was out of the ordinary for her. Only three days earlier she was fishing with men, not women. In the end, she was a catch that had been thrown away.

“Oba-samaaa…!”

World’s End Board was a family-style beer hall in the Endeavours’ base ship, Idaho. Many families enjoyed dinner at its rows of fine wooden tables. The antique bar counter was adorned with militia-themed carvings; at it, changeover crews and surface run sailors on their way home from work tipped back their heads and downed their pints.

A tall woman staggered into the amiable atmosphere. She wasn't just trivially tall, she eclipsed both the front waiter and bartender. She wasn't lanky, either. Her chest and hips had a build to match her stature, and the way they preserved an overall balance between size and slenderness made her height ridiculously impressive.

It wasn't just her impressive height that stood out. Her appearance did too. The Endeavours in the family beer hall were wearing rough, unfashionable rural and casual wear mostly made of thick cotton or leather. In contrast, the young woman wore a social dress and white bodice that was decorated in lively spring green laces and frills. Her straw-blonde hair was fixed up with a small floral ornament. Despite that, it was hard to say she looked elegant, given the large suitcases she carried in each hand. She wore enough makeup to be mistaken for a supermodel, but it had gotten a bit messy.

She had arrived from a party but looked like the sole survivor of a platoon.

“Terra-chaaan! Over here! What’s with that look, don’t tell me…” A married woman got up from a round table to greet her. It was her aunt, Mora Intercontinental. Even though she was 20% smaller than Terra, she had double the age, vitality, and ability to pamper others.

Whimpering “Aah, oba-sama…” Terra finally arrived at the table and —slam—fell flat onto it, waving a white handkerchief. “I’m sorry, I’m moving back in...! This was our last formal ball, and we broke it off. I’m really, really sorry.”

“Straight from the ball? Wow, you got this far and it still fell through...” Mora took an exaggerated look at the ceiling. A pitiful sigh came from the seat beside her.

After Terra lost her parents, Mora had taken her in. Terra was only 18 when they passed away in a sightseeing ship accident. As a result, she didn't have the same close relationship with Mora as with the parents who had raised her from a young age. Still, marriage was an important milestone in Terra's life, so she wasn't going to refuse help from Mora and her husband.

The marriage interview had been for her clan's sake.

“My, my, rest now, you gave it your all. So, if you wouldn’t mind telling me, what went wrong?” Mora asked Terra as she seated herself. Her husband, Rubal, passed Terra’s order to the waiter. “I thought the Secretarius family’s third son Elephas was a good match, but there were things you didn’t like about him, weren't there? Did he step on your foot during the dance?”

“Thanks for the concern,” Terra lifted her face and looked at her aunt, dark green eyes drowning in exhaustion. “But I didn’t turn him down, he turned me down. Ah, he didn't step on my foot though.”

Her shoulders tightened apologetically, and she began to explain. “Yesterday we went out for a net throwing trial, and I didn’t meet his standards. We followed the usual approach a few times, but none of our attempts went well. I thought that we just needed to keep trying until we got it, but at the party he said ‘your nets are too complicated for me’...”

“Oh my, if only he had been a more skilled twister...”

“No, no, he wasn’t bad at all.” Terra said while she removed her hair ornaments and lace sash. Now dressed more casually, she mixed in a sigh as she said, “It was my fault... I made a tunnel net with, um... eight arms.”

“Eight arms for a tunnel net? That’s a lot. Why?” Rubal Minuteman asked from the side. He was Mora’s husband and Terra’s uncle-in-law. He had already put away two pints, and his boorish, unshaven face had a ruddy glow. His appearance gave the impression he worked as a water miner or in an outer-boat factory, but in reality, he held a rather dull job as a clerk for the Council of Elders. Much like his wife, he valued justice and had a virtuous mind, and his only real problem was that he didn’t have much of an imagination.

Upon hearing her husband’s question, Mora pompously shook her head. Terra answered with a forced smile.

“Well, I guess it was something I came up with myself… Since the besshu were going to go this way, and also that way, naturally I changed the net to compensate.”

“Usually, no one would think twice about it and just trawl with a typical two-arm tunnel net, yeah?”

“Yeah, haha...”

Rubal’s blue eyes blinked in astonishment. While he didn’t mean badly by it, Terra could only force a smile in response.

It was up to Mora to save the situation. “Not thinking is... difficult for this girl. There's no reason why she's like this, all you can say is she's just that kind of girl. It’s not like anyone can cast a net just because they’re a woman.”

“That so, Terra?” Rubal asked Terra, who nodded.

“How do I put this… It’s like Oba-sama said. It’s true I’m bad with nets but, it's not because I can’t make them. I go way overboard instead...”

 “You have trouble reining in the fine details?”

“Well, I guess you could say it’s something like that.” In proper agreement, Terra nodded.

“Let’s go back to our conversation!” said Mora. “I'd like to understand your tastes a little better. So! How about it? If you give me the okay, I could be of assistance again, don't you agree?”

“I won't say no, but isn’t the Bow Awow already over...?”

“Hmm, that might be true, but it may help with the next candidate. Don’t you think some details would be useful? I really don’t know your type...”

“Do I have to spell out what I like for this to work? Honestly, I just want a twister so I can sail my boat!” Terra said with a gentle smile, but it had the opposite effect.

She had hurt her aunt, who replied, “My, that may be, but...” and awkwardly averted her eyes. “We can arrange something! As much as we can to meet your expectations—also, although I'm already quite certain, I just want to make sure... but you haven't had any issues with their looks this whole time, hmm?”

“Well, I guess not.”

“Let’s start there, then. What did you like?”

“Looks, huh...” Truthfully, Terra didn’t think that she had a type for men at all. She couldn’t just say it that bluntly though, so she had no other choice other than to say what she didn’t like. “I think they were a bit too tall.”

“Eh?”

“Your choices so far have all been taller than me... so you picked them for their height, didn't you, Oba-sama?”

“Yes, I did but... hmm... huh, wait, you don’t...?”

“If I had a choice, then it’s fine if they’re not that big... That's how I feel.”

“Huh…?! Really?”

Surprised, Mora looked at Terra, whose younger face was fifteen centimeters above hers. Terra opened her arms with a wistful smile. Almost two meters separated the tips of her left and right fingers. “As you can see, I don't need anyone to protect me, don’t you think?”

Her aunt and uncle looked at each other and nodded.

“Now that you mention it...” “You’re right.”

Although the Endeavour clan was more permissive than other clans, it still had its old-fashioned customs, like the expectation for men to lead women. Mora’s upbringing led to the natural assumption that Terra required a companion befitting her height.

“Oh no, I messed up. My judgment was way off...!”

“That’s because you’re too headstrong sometimes.”

“Didn't you say you had no issue with him since he was a Secretarius?”

“That was just common-sense speaking. I thought that you understood Terra better.”

“So you signed off on him because you don't understand Terra, huh?”

“Uh, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry! Oji-sama, Oba-sama, it’s all my fault. I’m sorry.” Terra timidly interrupted their stare-down and the two immediately started smiling again.

“No, no, you didn’t do anything wrong, Terra. It’s that man's fault for not accepting you!”

“That’s right, you didn’t do anything wrong. We haven't complained before, have we?”

“Yes, yes, thank you...” She hadn't been sure that would help settle their argument, but it worked somehow. Now deep into her own thoughts, she sighed. Why is marriage like this? Is this struggle really absolutely necessary? Of course, she understood it was all for the sake of preserving the Circs, but...

She had several minor reasons of her own for wanting to get married, and one of them was the pillar boat she had inherited from her parents, which made her an owner-decomper. If she wanted to fly, it was necessary to marry a twister from another clan. However, since she was single and not already engaged to a man capable of becoming a twister, there wasn't any choice but to compromise and start searching for an eligible bachelor among the singles from other clans who were socializing while the base ships were convened.

While that was possible in theory, there weren’t actually that many men who fit the age and clan criteria. As a result, the search for a suitable partner within the 16 Circ clans had become a major hassle.

“Please don’t worry about it. It'll be my pleasure to set you up with a husband, I promise.”

Despite her promise, matchmaking was an undoubtedly difficult job, even for the childless Aunt Mora. Although correspondence could be exchanged and arrangements made in advance, face-to-face meetings were only possible during the month-long Bow Awow.

Naturally, Terra’s selling point was her unusual height. Larger builds weren't subject to marriage limitations, but since one could set their height preferences in the search network, most took one look at Terra and excluded the outlier from their results. Making matters worse was Terra's excessive imagination, which fueled her habit of devising odd tools like the eight-arm octopus-shaped tunnel net. It was a clear flaw to twisters, who desired a decomper that made nets following their orders. So all told, she felt incredibly guilty around her aunt and uncle.

The floundering atmosphere at the table was saved by the waiters, who had finally arrived. The scent of juicy, sizzling beef-like steak filled the air, steam rose from the soft mashed potato-like, and the cauliflower-like side dish was a vibrant green. They were only printed foods with extra cooking, but their flavors were the pride of the manager and rivaled their equivalents from the common era. All three were impressive Endeavour clan specialties.

“Oba-sama, the bill...”

“What are you talking about? Does anyone worry about their wallet right after they’ve returned from a trip? It’s fine, eat up!”

“That’s right! ‘Stuff your guts and squash what's bugging you’, cheers!”

“Ah, right, cheers!”

Repeating one of the clan’s popular idioms, the uncle made a toast. At the very least, Terra sincerely shared the sentiment, and pint glasses filled with beer-like met each other with a clink, yellow bubbles fizzing. The three ate and drank to their hearts' content, and once they had finally cleared their plates, returned to their talk.

“Well, that’s the thing, you know. We can handle things one way or another with food, and it's not like we're running out.”

“Mhm, that’s right. You're not the only one gathering resources. Even if your boat is grounded, the others will keep doing their best. There are other twisters and decompers.”

“Mora, that’s not... Ah well. At any rate, our clan’s got a bit of a surplus in storage, so no reason to worry about one or two grounded boats.”

Although they would have been better off not saying anything, Terra tried not to be bothered by it. They only intended to give me peace of mind. But no—if anything, they said it for their own peace of mind.

In its own way, Terra’s failed engagement was a serious situation. It wasn’t just a matter of happiness eluding Terra yet again. The Circs survived on besshu caught from the gas giant. They didn’t eat the besshu directly, but first processed it through recycling equipment they’d constructed. That equipment also processed the planet's unique AMC Clay for export to the Galactive Interactive. However, each clan possessed no more than ten fishing boats.

An individual pillar boat was perfectly capable of feeding 10% of the Endeavours, or a little less than 2000 people. However, since Terra was unmarried, her pillar boat was grounded and unavailable for fishing. It was constant dead weight moored at Idaho’s dock, to put it another way

Mora was correct when she said the other boats could cover it just fine. They could manage the burden as long as there were other fishermen, even if they retained a percentage of their catch for themselves. That said, the pillar boat had been grounded for six years following the death of Terra's parents, and she remained unmarried. It wasn't an emergency situation, but it wasn’t a pleasant one, either. The Council of Elders had already approached Terra three times to request she sell the pillar boat to them if she was going to let it sit idle.

Her aunt and uncle never touched on that subject. While they had their flaws as caretakers, they were fundamentally two very virtuous people. It made Terra feel incredibly guilty. She turned her face away, her body shriveling.

Through the beer hall’s side window, the planet was visible against space. Ah, the Left Eyeball is smiling today. Her attention was caught by one half of a duo of perpetual anticyclones, and it carried Terra’s thoughts away with it.

From orbit 6000 kilometers away, one couldn't observe the gas giant's full globe. Like a mural, its red and orange belts and white zones morphed into innumerable fractal swirls. The scene, which could be described as the pinnacle of beauty, was adorned with an overwhelming amount of detail.

Until she became an elementary cruise-school student, Terra watched the sight through a telescope until she fell asleep. In those ever-changing vortices, she saw faces, icons, and various animals. Hearing her parents tell twister and decomper stories about that cloudy world from her parents allowed her to believe she would descend there herself one day. However, these days Terra had another reason not to let go of her pillar boat.

As the Idaho spun, so did the scenery through the window. The striped planet glided towards the right, and from the left large cross-shaped wings extending from a pitch-black bird came into view. The tips of the cross were supposedly tied together by rotating rings, but those weren’t visible to the naked eye. Its center was short and stout, and running down its long, narrow body were portholes which blended into a beautiful rainbow gradient.

The window removed any sense of distance, creating the illusion that it was floating ten meters away. In reality the beast, measuring sixty kilometers end-to-end, was anchored one hundred kilometers away. Modern Circs didn't have the capacity to craft such a complex spaceship.

The Dàxúnniǎo was an interstellar trade ship from the Galactive Interactive. Among its passengers were dignitaries, some of whom might be better described as envoys from hell. It traveled from star to star within the 4000 light-year-wide domain of humanity, selling beautiful treasures and curiosities from distant systems like an ancient merchant caravan traversing the desert. Much like a pillar boat's cockpit, the Dàxúnniǎo was equipped with high-tech gear, allowing it to retrieve data from the local star system. It would depart once finished with the exchange, carrying local commodities and emigrants along with it. Letters sent by the emigrants arrived in a variety of scripts and formats, but their senders rarely returned—and if they did, it was often only briefly. As a result, some of the more suspicious folk claimed the emigrants had been victims of clone fraud or even human traffickers.

Terra fixed her gaze on the black ship. The Dàxúnniǎo and the pillar boats were both spacecraft, but beyond that basic comparison, they were totally different. A marvel of applied cosmology, the bird flew between stars at faster-than-light speeds by punching tunnels between gravitational equipotential surfaces using the Guāngguànhuán Drive. If the Dàxúnniǎo were to descend 3000 kilometers though, the gas giant’s atmospheric molecules would probably pluck it clean and turn it into a charred, crumbly chicken. Pillar boats couldn't burn in that environment. They could only travel 30 km/s, but the convecting exterior of heat-resistant AMC Clay allowed them to fly through the vast skies while glowing at a temperature of 3000°C.

That’s what Terra wanted to fly in, but she couldn’t fly alone. To do it, she absolutely required a partner—someone who would dress in gorgeous deckwear, someone with whom she could share a deep mutual trust, someone willing to look into the abyss with her and make an unwavering vow.

Who would that someone be? Would they be like that young man from the QOT clan, who despite being as tall as an antique bookshelf and having the width to match, lacked courage and only knew how to apologize?

“...Mm.”

Terra knit her brows and stopped moving her fork. She lost her appetite thinking about the single time she had boarded with him, but thankfully the memory didn't make her hurl outright. When it came to men, experiences like that had been the norm from a young age.

She wouldn't call having to put up with marriage trials her biggest anxiety, but the fact it was an unavoidable part of life still made it a deeply ingrained one. It was only natural there were experiences she would have to put up with in life, and there was nothing to be done about it.

Not being allowed to leave the table until she finished the vegi-like cubes she hated. Having no choice but to clean the blood leaking out of her panties without knowing how. Writing things in her free time, unaware she was the only one who did. Showing her off own fantastical drawings of imagined ecosystems to her entire class only to be met with disgust... Those were all experiences she had been forced to put up with, and that was just a fact of life.

That was why she felt there was nothing else to do except set about boarding with a total stranger for now—“Terraaa, youuu did it agaaaain, and— and—and here I wuz thinking it wush gonnaaa to go great this whole tiiiiime…”

“Wahya!”

At some point her aunt had emptied her fourth pint, and she drunkenly clung to Terra. Mora tapped Terra’s shoulders, sloppily massaged her arms and tightly hugged her belly before suddenly and forcefully lifting her breasts.

“Even though you haaaave... noooo flaws... and—and these vaaaaluable big parts…”

“Wai—sto-stop, Oba-sama! Oji-sama, do something!”

“Hahaha, it’s fine. Cute, ain’t she?”

Terra desperately tried to push her aunt off her while Rubal merely laughed. If she had to point to a flaw with her aunt, it was how she always got way, way too drunk. Her uncle would say that wasn’t a flaw at all, especially since all Mora ever did praise others effusively, but Terra considered that viewpoint a matter of spousal favouritism.

“This isn’t the time to be messing around. Get a grip, Oba-sama!” Terra’s resolve had hardened. Shaking her aunt’s shoulders, she raised her voice. “I’m going to try again. Is there anyone you can introduce me to? Actually, there’s no time left. Which clan should I hop over to and leave with, then...?” The moment Terra began voicing the thoughts she already knew were nonsensical, a determined voice barged in from beside the table.

“That marriage interview, could it wait?”

Terra sat her aunt back at the table and turned around. A small and slender doll was standing there. No—she resembled a doll, but she was a girl who looked to be about fifteen. Her silver hair was pressed under by a head cover, and she wore a silver-purple formal minidress with lace fringes. Terra saw legs as smooth as a candle. Blue eyes. A slightly oversized gray rucksack on her back made her look like a refugee. The girl’s skin and dress were sharp, cold and gorgeous; only her eyelids were tinged with a faint warmth. Her small chest rose and fell with heavy breaths.

In an unfashionable clan's beer hall, she stood out even among the younger men and women. Her aura was clearly different from its very foundation. There could be no mistaking that she was from another clan. Her origin wasn't the main issue at hand, though. It was the lack of time. Terra and the others could relax because they were home, but that definitely wasn't the case for someone from another clan.

Before the girl could continue, Rubal looked at the big clock and asked, “You’re from another clan, ain’t ya? It’s time for Purge, there's... twenty minutes left before the fleet disperses. You gonna be okay?” Even after 7000 years, analog clocks remained in use. Its hour hand was pointing almost straight up.

The Bow Awow only happened every two years. Sixteen base ships, which normally flew separately, aligned their orbits and docked together in something akin to a large congregational festival. While the permanent Council of Elders held general meeting, the youth would trade, fight, hold concerts, and dance with each other—but most importantly, they frantically sought a spouse. They were all serious about it, too, because the moment the clock struck midnight on the 30th day, it was time the ships to disperse at Purge.

After the ships dispersed, they returned to their separate orbits. The reason was simple: fishing ground distribution. If the entire fleet orbited in a single ring, they would overcrowd a small zone of the planet. The sensible action, then, was to equally space the clans around the planet by placing them in their own orbital inclinations.

Only ten minutes remained until the Star Horn loudly signaled the end of the festival and initiated the process of separating the docking clamps joining the sixteen base ships. By agreement, the ships would only reconvene after two years orbiting Fat Beach Ball’s 140,000 kilometer diameter by themselves. Once that happened, the girl would be unable to return to her own clan.

“It’s fine.”

It definitely wasn’t fine, but she spoke calmly and stepped forward to center herself in Terra’s sight. Then she stared at Terra, her gaze slowly falling from the top of her arranged hair to a stopping point at her chest, which her dress adorned as splendidly as the bow of a large boat. Terra suddenly caught a whiff of sweet botanical smoke, like a flower or bark being burnt.

“Are you Terra Intercontinental Endeavour-san?”

Getting called by her real name like that made Terra a little nervous. She nodded. Others found it way more convenient to engage with her as Terra Tell-Tale, so not being called that could be seen as respectful.

It's okay for us to talk if it's just for a bit.

“Y-yes... and you are?”

“I’m Diode, from the first letters of DIE-Over-Dose. Please call me that, if you would.”

“Die? Diode-san?”

“Correct.” She nodded and continued her rapidfire speech. “I’m 18 years old and my mother is called Rock. She’s the captain of the Sōfu-iwa, Tsunami Search-class. Its name isn't in the register because it didn’t join the Meteorological Observation Association, but it received a rescue medal at the Bow Awows in 290 and 299. It has search capabilities and can issue alerts on coordinates. I lived with my mother and watched her pilot a dual-use air and space ship for 15 years, so I can manage one. I also have 9500 hours of cruising experience.”

“Huh? Rock? Sofi?” Terra asked, bewildered. Diode’s introduction wasn’t just filled with details, it also shattered the rule of introducing yourself with your name first. Given the current situation though, there was something even more critical to get out of the way. “And what’s your clan? Your fami-”

“Terra Intercontinental Endeavour-san!” Diode raised her voice as much as possible and bent forward. “My apologies for being so sudden—it’s our first meeting, and I haven’t even properly introduced myself, but there’s something I’d like to request—would you allow me to fly your boat?”

“Huh?” “Eh?” “Uoh?”

Terra and Rubal’s eyes shot wide—even Mora, who was dead drunk and face-down on the table, cracked open her eyes.

In the span of three seconds, a volcano of ideas erupted within Terra’s mind. Her face turned incandescent to the very tip of her ears. Her eyes moved from the girl’s slender fingers and settled on her small, soft lips. That phrase, asked by a girl who had suddenly appeared from nowhere, normally had a very forward meaning.

“My boat? You want to fly, at night? You? You’re a girl right?!”

“Yes—ah.” Diode nodded, then quickly covered her mouth. Her cheeks turned a faint red, not nearly as deep as Terra’s, and she waved her hand saying, “It’s a misunderstanding! I’m sorry, I know I just blurted that out, but I didn’t mean like in a marriage. I meant it in the literal sense—please allow me to be the twister of your pillar boat.”

“A twister?” Terra couldn't believe her ears. “Like I thought, you are a man, aren’t you?!”

“I told you, I’m a woman. I'm a woman and I can pilot.”

“Just... what do you mean?” Terra asked, confused.

Diode started to explain. “Yesterday, someone was netting apple prawns for marriage trials around the 60-degree belt. I saw it on the SearchView. They didn’t use the usual tunnel net, but an eight-arm one that unfurled the sixteen otter boards like petals. Usually, no one would dare cast an eight-arm net like that because it would end up in a tangle, but that person handled it splendidly. It was you, wasn’t it? The telop said that it was Terra from the Endeavour clan.”

It had to be the net of all things. The net was the reason why Terra had been dumped. She wanted to disappear. “You saw... that?”

“Yes, and when I peeked into the ball this evening and saw you, I came running.”

“Please, just go back.” Dejected, Terra averted her eyes. “Did you really need to go through all this trouble just to make fun of me? I know my nets are weird.”

“What? Make fun of you? Not at all!” Diode’s eyes and voice sparkled with enthusiasm. She edged even closer to Terra. “The prawns scatter in every direction instead of fleeing the from the boat in the same direction like big besshu. So, the more the net spreads out, the less risk you have of losing the whole catch. I thought the eight-armed net wasn’t a bad idea at all. What’s more, its radial symmetry was precise as a diagram. I’ve never seen such a beautiful net with that many arms, not even from the Sōfu-iwa. It was incredible.”

“It was... incredible?” Terra definitely wasn’t used to hearing that word, and it may have even been the first time it had been said about her. She shyly lifted her face. At that moment, Diode took tight hold of Terra’s hand.

“Hafue?!” Terra’s voice squeaked out. She wondered why Diode’s slender fingers were as cold as an icepop. She brought the refined features of her face close to Terra’s, near enough for Terra to peer deep into pupils shaded by silver eyelashes. Terra was seated, and at that height, Diode didn’t need to look up.

“Please pair up with me as a decomper, Terra-san. You need a twister, don't you?”

“But you're a girl, aren't you?!”

“That’s right, I’m a girl twister!” Diode was shouting nonsense on par with ‘a square star’, but she didn’t back down. “I have total confidence in my skill, I just don't have a boat. I don’t care about catches or profits at all—my only wish is to fly, really! Please!”

The tiny girl, so small her weight and height were only around one-half and two-thirds of Terra’s, respectively, courted the much larger woman with zero hesitation. Among the Circs, with their repressive social customs and etiquette, making such a laser-direct proposal was unheard of. At first, Terra was totally stunned. Her head felt empty, but she noticed she was enjoying herself in spite of everything.

“Diode-san the twister... whose mother is called Rock-san, right?”

“Yes.”

“My mother was named Nora Intercontinental. My was father Adon Runplotter. Both have already passed away. I'm a decomper whose engagement was broken off by someone in another clan today. That wasn't the first time, it was the fifth. Do you understand what that means...?”

“I didn't really understand it before, but now I get it. I’m completely fine with it.”

Should I return the grasp of the small hand holding mine? Should I let go?

Before Terra could decide, Aunt Mora, who had kept quiet to that point, suddenly sprang top. “Hold it right there! Why are you acting like you’re getting engaged, Terra?! You should marry a twister! A man!”

“Yeah, she should just jump over to another clan, shouldn't she?” Diode retorted with a faint grin. Pressing the back of her left hand, she brought out her minicell, the time glowing on its display. It was exactly 00:00.

—Whoooh…—

“Pah.” “Ah.” “The time…!”

The Star Horn signaled the Purge as it loudly echoed through the base ships of all sixteen clans.

“The next marriage interview won't be for two years.” The 148-cm tall girl puffed out her chest and closed her eyes. “But I can board starting tomorrow.”

As the girl firmly stood by her decision, Terra asked, “You cut off your own escape and made this request... Aren't you being a bit unfair?”

“Please don't worry about me. This is just to show that I'm serious. If you had refused, then..." She glanced at the ceiling, then smiled awkwardly. “Well, that would be that. I'd wash plates for two years and leave.”

“...Like I thought, that’s so unfair.”

With a troubled smile, Terra joined their hands again.

3

A giant loomed in the depths of night.

A dim glow arose from its direction, revealing the giant’s identity as a majestic cumulonimbus cloud ten times larger than its terrestrial counterparts. After a five-hour-long night, dawn had arrived on planet FBB.

The inaugural trawl with Diode was finished. Terra's pillar boat had its back to the morning sun, flying west almost as if trying to return to the night. It would soon be time for the egression jets.

FBB’s rotation period lasted 10 hours. The base ships and a mixed-use fleet orbited the planet at an altitude of 6000 kilometers, their inclined circular orbits taking 10 hours and 33 minutes to complete. To put it simply, they were nearly in geosynchronous orbit.

Terra could more or less picture the mechanics of a quasi-geosynchronous orbit, but if she were to try explaining to others, it would sound awfully vague. What she could say was that while the pillar boat descended into the atmosphere, the orbiting base ship continued traveling over the horizon. Ten hours later, it would approach them from the opposite direction as it completed an orbit. Its return opened a launch window they couldn't miss if they wanted to go back.

The pillar boat’s belly was a little swollen. It stored the besshu they'd netted, but it wasn’t the splendidly executed surfer catch from eight hours earlier. They had moved to another fishing ground afterwards and caught five and a half hai totaling 96,000 tonnes with a simple pillar trawl.

The average pillar boat catch was six hai, and seven hai was celebrated as a large catch. One hai equated to between 10,000 and 20,000 tonnes and accounting usually treated it as such. While five and half hai sounded close to six hai, it was still several thousand tonnes short. It wasn’t the worst catch, but it was an unremarkable one. And because their catch had been unremarkable, Terra found it unsatisfying.

“Whyyyy... why would you go that far...” Terra hugged her knees, occasionally complaining from the rear pit. “We caught so much, and yet...”

A 315,000-tonne catch was absolutely absurd. Everyone would have heaped praise on them for the massive profit they turned for the clan. It had been their chance to become heroes among twisters and decompers...

However, Diode didn’t respond to her.

“Please set up the guide-container properly. No, don’t guess. Give me the actual measurements. Use the full-element!”

After Diode threw out their first catch, she hadn't said anything about it beyond, "I’ll explain after we get back." From the moment they began hauling sweet mackerel, Diode focused solely on piloting.

Following Diode’s demand for the full-element, Terra ran her eyes across the sky. The future orbital position of the base ship was projected there as it approached from behind. If she wanted to take it easy, she could predict the location based on the trajectory. They could make small adjustments with the boating system if that put them on a collision course with the orbiting spaceship.

However, that wasn’t what Diode wanted. With no other choice, Terra requested the latest information from the navigation satellite. Navigation was the decomper's duty, even though she was terrible with numbers.

The full-element contained the orbital inclination, eccentricity, right ascension of the ascending node, argument of periapsis, mean motion, and mean anomaly of the Idaho’s orbit around the planet. Once acquired, they were projected onto the target-container.

“There, is that okay?”

“All good. Let’s get on course now.”

The impulse from the rear washed over them like the current of a mudflow. Over 200,000 tonnes began to accelerate enormously as the pillar boat worked to attain orbital velocity. As it did, the thrust reverberated like kicks to the side. The two bodies swayed in the biofluid buffering gel as g-force grew under the acceleration and the boat fired impulses from its route-correction thrusters.

“I wonder if this is good enough... Alright, phew! Now we’re on a rendezvous trajectory!”

The bow’s spiked nose cone pierced through the high-altitude air. In the cockpit, Dioded leaned on her backrest and quietly exhaled. Chin in hand, Terra studied her with deep curiosity from behind.

In the end, just what kind of person is she?

Diode’s piloting style was considerably different from the usual twister. Terra had been too absorbed in work to put her finger on it, especially since it was their first day together, but the one thing that had left an impression was how in Diode acted surprisingly ferocious one moment and bizarrely calm the next.

Speaking of, beginning from the first year of high cruise-school, twisters usually added the fundamentals of piloting a pillar boat to the curriculum on their own. Both men and women, across all sixteen clans, studied for the sake of becoming twisters and decompers. Diode should have received that education, too. However, since she had been raised in a Tsunami Search, her core curriculum might well be blowing on the wind. At any rate, Terra didn't know enough about her.

Diode disappeared immediately after the conclusion of their first meeting three days ago. The hadn't seen each other again until they met up that morning to go fishing. Terra extended an invtation for a breakfast chat but was borne away by Diode’s haste to get to the fishing grounds.

They left the boarding preparation room in complete silence. They also descended into the atmosphere in complete silence. It was only during a minimal exchange regarding the weather and fish species at theit destination that they found the surfers.

It had been a very, very murky opening act. On its own, Diode's overbearing proposal was already enough of an oddity, but Terra felt a new sense of astonishment when she saw the girl show up. That was when the fact she was really about to go fishing with another woman instead of a man started to sink in.

She wanted to at least talk it over but hadn’t been allowed to. Harboring those doubts and dissatisfactions, Terra muttered, “You’re going to operate it manually until we’ve returned, huh? Ah, was it a manual descent too?”

“Yes.”

“You're doing it because you feel like doing it?”

As far as the return home was concerned, the boat could handle that on its own. However, Diode shook her head. “We did lots of showy things, so we really don't have all that much of a propellant surplus left. I wanted to be more precise than the auto, so I did it with my own two hands.”

“Ah, is that so...”

“Let me turn that question around,” Diode asked, facing Terra. “What do you think about twisters who can't perform a manual descent or rendezvous?”

“Huh?” Terra was taken aback. “Uh, it’s a bit... too soon for me to say. You’re the first person I’ve ever seen do that manually, Diode-san.”

"We manually input everything into the spaceship's boating system from the moment we disembark for FBB to the moment we return, right?"

“Mhm” Terra nodded. “You don't depart without going through the periodic maintenance and pre-flight checklists, right...?”

“Well, there's your answer.”

“Even still, is there a reason for doing it all manually?”

Diode stared pointedly into Terra’s eyes. Why is this response so suffocating? I'm only asking the obvious, Terra thought. She averted her eyes in discomfort before Diode spoke emphatically. “I get that a lot of things don’t really make sense to you, but I’m a twister. There are things you won’t understand unless you’re a twister. Could you please be patient?”

“I can, but...” Terra was rather troubled.

Diode’s tone changed. “Terra-san.” She quickly spun her pit around. She brought her face level with Terra’s and leaned in, but it wasn’t her eyes that captured Terra’s attention. It was the dashing blade-shaped necktie wrapped around the base of her throat. “Am I bad at this?”

“Huh?”

“What did you think of my piloting, Terra-san? This is just my own opinion, but I think that it lives up to the standards in its own way.” Her eyes averted as if to say ‘Probably’. It was like she was seeking affirmation. Her extremely timid posture disoriented Terra.

“Uh, let me see...”

How should I reply to that...? Diode’s passionate, highly responsive piloting in flight was unlike anything she’d ever seen. Diode’s abilities were in an entirely different dimension from Terra's Fundamentals teachers and no less than five previous twisters. Terra really felt that way. So why's she sitting there with her lips clamped like a kid about to be scolded? What should I say here? Is there anything I should avoid?

Terra didn’t know, and because she didn’t know, she went with, “...It does meet the standards in its own way, I think. No, I wonder if it surpasses them...?” She thought Diode's piloting met the standard eight times over, but worried that would sound like a lie or exaggeration, tried to moderate her praise.

“Is that so?” Diode lightly pressed her chest in relief. “If that’s the case, then please have my apologies for everything.” She finished with a confident snort before shutting her mouth. It was that same overbearing attitude from back when she first proposed pairing up. Proud, but with hints she was expecting a rejection. Terra started getting a strange feeling when she noticed.

This girl... she’s different inside. When she was doing something that needed to be done, she did it with reckless, unyielding cool. It probably only looked that way from the outside. She was putting on a strong act. I think I had trouble getting things like that across to adults when I was around that age too.

“Ufu.”

“What?”

“Nothing, I get it. I'm leaving it to you, Diode-san.” After she said that, she mouthed ‘Diode-san’ again and corrected herself. “Die-san.”

“DIE?!”

“Do you mind if I call you that?”

The girl immediately raised an eyebrow, “That sounds like you’re just telling me to die, though.”

“It was that kind of ‘die’?!” Terra was surprised. Thinking back to when they first met, Diode had quickly mentioned the origin of her name. “I thought that it was the lovely kind of ‘die’, like short for ‘Diana’ or ‘diamond’... so is Die-san not okay?” She innocently brought her face closer as she spoke.

At that, the tip of Diode’s nose gently flushed. She quickly turned to face forward in the cockpit. “If you want to call me that, then fine. It’s only a name, after all,” she replied bluntly.

“Okay! Die-san.”

She didn’t respond again, and instead increased the boat’s acceleration by one level with a thump instead.

Over the span of the next thirty minutes, they transitioned from vast brick-colored skies into the starry darkness of outer space. As they neared the apex of their orbital trajectory, the gigantic disk of the Idaho steadily closed in from behind. Docking wasn't possible if the approach wasn't close enough, but getting too close posed a collision risk. A rendezvous distance of around 500 meters was considered ideal.

Although they had been aiming for that when they started accelerating through the atmosphere, it was still firing a missile at a target in the sky 6000 kilometers away. It wasn’t rare to require a final adjustment ten kilometers out. However, this time they achieved a close approach of 545 meters, adjustment-free. The accuracy was worthy of a yearly record. Terra squealed in admiration.

It was common practice to end fuel calculation the apoapsis just achieved a zero relative velocity rendezvous. The full journey had consumed 92,500 tonnes of propellant in total. Since their catch was 96,000 tonnes, they were slightly in the black with a profit of 3,500 tonnes.

Since that was a good performance for a first outing, Terra pretty much forgot about the 310,000 tonnes they had discarded, satisfied—at least until they approached the catch inspection and receiving tower in Idaho’s core.

“What? Giving up your share? No, we can’t do that,” the Catch Duty Officer said over the video line. That was when the trouble started.

He wore a nametag with with ‘Bonus’ written on it. He had slightly swollen eyelids and sat with his back hunched. He looked at Diode’s face and asked, “Whose decomper are you?”

“I’m the twister.” Diode answered blankly. The response was incongruous, so naturally, the officer didn't follow.

“Twister? Where is he? Wait, this pillar boat belongs to the Intercontinentals. Where’s Terra-chan?”

Terra raised a hand in the rear pit. “Ah, I’m here. Good evening, Bonus-san.”

In the front pit, Diode repeated herself. “So, as I said, I’m the twister and Terra-san is the decomper.”

Naturally, as the boat's owner, Terra was acquainted with the duty officer. The job was supposed to operate in assembly line fashion, and Officer Bonus frowned when he realized how Diode's presence was a foreign part coming through. “This sort of thing's not going to fly, Terra-chan. A pair of women can’t be doing this. What, you went down with this girl? Woah, and you caught something? Oh boy, this is...”

“Excuse me, but we caught five and a half hai. It’s not much, but we did turn a profi–”

“No, this isn’t about the profit.” The worker closed the VUI plate on his hand and scratched his temple with a finger. “It’s fine you’re in the black—no, that's not quite fine either, but this is going to turn into a reciprocity system violation. Surely you took those lessons; they're in the curriculum, aren't they? Junior students take them.”

“Umm, did I? Maybe I didn’t take them?” Terra was almost certain she had, but she got the feeling she spent the lesson drawing imagined besshu species instead, thinking it had nothing to do with her. So, she pleaded ignorance.

“You did. You just forgot, didn't you? Alright, you’d better listen up.”

Still frowning, the officer's lecture went something like this: It was the norm for a twister and a decomper to be spouses. The vast majority of married couples were composed of men and women from different clans. They had to follow two directives.

The first directive was the preservation of genetic diversity, the so-called bloodline mixing. With the ships remaining separate for two years, the bloodlines would become inbred if a clan’s population of roughly 20,000 only married among themselves. As a result, the sixteen clans sought to bring in as much new blood as possible from the population of 300,000 whenever a Bow Awow was held.

The second directive was to guarantee societal stability. The so-called reciprocity system aimed to redistribute the clans’ earnings. Once the sixteen clans dispersed, their profits were what see them through the next two years of abundance or adversity. Catches were inevitably unequal, but that inequality could also spark conflict. As a result, the Circs shared their catch as much as possible. It was for that purpose that the men and women working the pillar boats each received half of the catch.

Although the catch was divided, there was no way to send the husband or wife’s half of the catch to their distantly orbiting home clan. Instead, the standard practice was to convert that half of the pillar boat’s earnings into the equivalent monetary value for accounting purposes. Then, during the Bow Awow year, the accounts were drawn from to settle a wide range of payments. The payment structure preserved stability, as that way, the sixteen clans all supported one another.

“I already knew that’s how it works...”

“That’s because you’re a marriage meeting veteran, Terra-chan.”

“You really didn't have to say that.” Terra scowled and Diode cut into the conversation.

“In that case, please report that I freely surrendered on my clan’s share. Record it all as the Endeavours’ catch. I don’t have an issue with it.”

“Erm, listen, I think you still don’t quite get how this works. You don’t have the right to do that, you know.” He spoke as if he were lecturing a clueless child.

“It would be nice if we could take it all for ourselves, but if we did that, your clan wouldn't get anything. We'd be stealing from them, in other words. What you say is irrelevant, because the catch is a matter of public record. That’s the rule. If we allowed individual discretion, there would definitely be a profliferation of accumulation conspiracies to rip off outsiders. It would destabilize our Circ society. That’s why there’s a strict mandate for us to split the catch equally between the two parties. That's a resolution from the Bow Awow.”

Profit distribution was the primary purpose for the Bow Awow to begin with. The clan suffering from the lowest profits held rights to the orbit predicted to be the most productive for the next two years. The Circs had only made it to Year 303 thanks to those discussions.

“That’s why I can’t allow you to give up on your share. Diode-san, you have the obligation to take half of the catch for transfer send on to your clan. Alright, your real name please.”

“Real name...”

“If you can’t give me your name, I can’t receive the fish.” The officer’s expression was composed, and he lifted his chin as if to add, ‘This is not a negotiation’. Diode hung her head and ground her teeth.

Terra anxiously watched the two, and making up her mind, brought her pit closer to the girl’s side. “You don’t have to do it.”

“...What?”

“It's okay if you don’t want to give your name no matter what. You have a reason, right?”

Diode absentmindedly opened her mouth. “That’s–” she replied. “If I don’t tell him, then we’ll have no choice but to throw it all out again...”

“Well, it’s fine,” Terra said, flapping a hand. “After all, it was only our first time, and a pair turning a profit on their first trip isn't really a thing. It was just practice. You know, practice! Just learning how we work together is good enough, isn't it?”

Terra was lying, it wasn’t good enough. The truth was she really, really, really wanted that catch, but she felt it was more important to stand up for Diode. She tried to finish her statement with a smile, but it was Diode's turn to bring her face closer.

“Why are you saying that? I thought there were a lot of things you wanted to know, Terra-san.”

“Huh?”

“You don't want to hear anything about me, now that you have the opportunity? Didn't you want to know where I came from or why I’m here? Here you are now, telling me it’s okay not to say anything... ”

Ah, she noticed. Terra was a bit moved. She stopped to think for a moment and then smirked. “You haven’t told me anything yet, so I'm frustrated Bonus-san will get to hear it first... You know?”

Diode's stiff expression loosened up when she heard that. She looked like she was about to laugh in relief. With that, she turned back to the duty officer. In a single breath she said, “My alias is Diode, real name Kanna Ishidōrō Gendō. Ishidōrō family from the Gendō clan. Do not report the name to Fuyō, please. There shouldn't be any objections to that.”

“Okay. Gendō clan, eh?” The blunt officer reopened the VUI on his hand and poked at the screen, then said “But the deposit information will be sent to the Gendō clan’s base ship immediately.”

“So, you were hiding your name.”

“I was, yes, but there wasn’t any deeper meaning behind it. You easily could have found it out by looking me up.”

“Ooh, so you’re from the Gendō clan, Die-san.” Terra was a little surprised. Of the sixteen modern clans, it mingled the least with the others and had a reputation for being mysterious.

“Does that mean that I can fish with Terra-san?” Diode glared at the officer.

He grunted with a pout. “Not if you aren’t spouses. I don’t make the rules.” He looked up again, clearly bothered. “Well, it's the fishing that's illegal. I'm not aware of restrictions on other activities. If you're just going down and back, then it doesn’t fall under Fishing's jurisdiction. That would be Cruising's jurisdiction.”

“No fishing?”

“It would be for personal use. Playing, if you will. And since you're not fishing, you’ll have to pay fees for things like satellite and docking. You’ll also have to buy medicine and the like at general pricin–”

“If it’s like that then there are–” Diode stopped mid-sentence and turned around with worry. Terra nodded gently.

“So it’s fine?”

“—no objections!”

“Please entrust the catch with the proper department. Okay, 96,000 tonnes of sweet mackerel accepted!” The duty officer’s face said ‘I dunno anything anymore’ as he quickly signed the VUI.

4

Within the gas giant’s atmosphere, gravity is over 2g. To use Terra as an example, she would weigh over 140 kilograms. While that wouldn’t kill her, it would feel extremely unpleasant. For that reason, the pillar boat pit interiors are constructed to fill with breathable biofluid gel, which provides a comfortable buoyancy for the twister and decomper.

There is no need to float around in gel once in orbit. The orbiting base ships, sailing along in zero-g, produce their own 1g force for the residential sectors via rotation. Crews returning from the planet crawl from the gel sopping wet, but don’t go into town like that. Part of the process at the arrival terminal is to change out of flashy deck dresses—strictly fishing-only—into simple casual wear.

Terra had docked her pillar boat with the others at the maintenance pier and entered the arrival terminal in good spirits. Why? Because when fishing ended in the black, it was customarily celebrated with a banquet—though conversely, when the fishing was in the red, it was instead soothed with a consolation party, of which there had been many. Every last one of Terra’s arranged marriage matches held the latter. As she took off her deck dress and entered the showers, she pondered over which restaurant she should invite Diode to. Eight minutes later, she emerged and rushed into the lobby with freshly washed hair, wearing an undyed blouse and skirt and carrying a bag.

“Die-san!”

Terra looked around for the girl. Thinking about it, she realized she hadn't mentioned a banquet to Diode, but got the feeling she would need to hurry even if she had. She didn't have a reason for it, but if pressed to explain, she would say it was both a matter of intuition and of precedent given Diode's sudden disappearance the day they met.

“Die-san, where are you!”

As she suspected, Diode wasn’t in the terminal’s lobby. After confirming Diode was finished in the showers, she hurriedly winked at the dual-purpose security and payment camera on the ceiling and jumped through the door.

Noisy chaos and a foul stench enveloped her. Their source was Sector-1 of the microgravity harbor ring road circling Idaho's central axis. The walls were covered in scattered graffiti, torn posters and stains from thrown drinks. The floor existed on another plane of filth entirely. Workers of all types came and went: manual laborers, engineers, station manager, airtightness-retention mechanics who maintained the 200-plus-year-old base ship hull, and the water miners and pilots who worked the icy moons.

Where Terra docked was known as the Fisherman's Wharf, but obviously, it lacked the typical stench of saltwater fish. Instead, the smell of food wafted from nearby restaurants—an open invitation to the whole crowd of workers headed home from work—and mixed with the aroma of spent biofluid gel seeping from the gutter.

Did she run away? Ah, no—found her. Terra's stature was an advantage in this situation; she was practically a watchtower. A small, silver-haired figure jammed into the moving crowd and began forcing her way through. However, she staggered every time the huge rucksack she’d worn earlier carelessly swung into passers-by.

“Die-san, wait!”

Terra’s loud shouts, coming from a tall person, made everyone turn around to look. Diode also turned in surprise, but—bam—her bag smacked the wall and sent her floating into the air with the recoil. Being close to the rotating ship's central axis, gravity was weak. Diode spun as she ascended, but she reflexively killed the rotation by grabbing the strap of the heavy pack she carried and ripping it off her back. As expected for a twister, the conservation of angular momentum was written into her spinal column.

It took longer than expected, but Terra finally caught up to her.

“Please wait!” She pulled Diode back to the railing on the wall. Self-defense was difficult in a low gravity setting, but a handrail made it a little easier. Finding herself trapped by Terra's long arm, Diode glued her back to the wall like a small bird reacting to a hand invading its nestbox.

“...You changed fast.”

“That’s because I was in a hurry. I came here to tell you about a custom for fishermen, Die-san—did you know we hold a banquet when we turn a profit?”

“Not really...”

“So it was worth the rush! I’m glad.”

“......” The girl averted her eyes. She had changed clothes too, exchanging her audacious deck dress for a casual long-sleeve shirt and pants. However, her hair was more damp in comparison, so as Terra suspected, she had left in a hurry.

If Diode had rushed off in disappointment, Terra didn’t want to be forceful with her. That didn’t really seem to be the case, though. People often have a look of fear in their eyes when they’re embarrassed or avoiding something uncomfortable, but Terra had a feeling that wasn’t the look she saw in Diode’s eyes.

“Let’s talk, and let’s do it over a meal.” She held out a hand. “About today, about everything up to now, and about from tomorrow on. What do you say?”

“I... was going to go back and sleep...”

“What? Are you kidding me?” Terra had the feeling that Diode's response should have made her angry, but what she actually felt was surprise. “Without even seeing each other off properly?”

“I’m sorry, you have my apologies for that. Good work today,” Diode said, shrinking somewhat. Exchanging pleasantries was totally inappropriate by this point.

Terra leaned over again. “Good work today! Now, let’s go.”

“Please forgive me...”

“Forgive you? Forgive you for what?”

“For any other... failures... on my part.”

‘Hm?’ Terra knit her eyebrows. Something wasn’t right.

“Just now... that was another one. I didn’t... meet up with you again. I didn’t know about... the custom of seeing you off.” Hanging her head, Diode’s tone quickly turned sour. “Even though I acted all high and mighty when I threw our catch away, our medical supplies still got cut... Even though I acted like some hot-shot pilot and said to let me deal with everything, I still kept arguing with you... Even though I used my alias, I clumsily exposed my real name...”

Is she blaming me for that? No... she's blaming herself.

Diode's shoulders began to tremble while she hung her head. “And to make it all worse, that trashy officer made fun of your marriage troubles and treated you like you were hopeless because I couldn't hold my own against him. Those were all so c-cruel, Terra-san. I couldn’t face you–”

“Woah woah, nononono!” Terra pulled out a handkerchief in panic and held the girl’s shoulder. “Please don’t cry! Let’s eat, okay?”

Diode nodded.

A half-dozen options for a classy restaurant vanished with Diode’s sobs. Terra knew there was only one restaurant for a time like this—the old, unsophisticated, but discerning family-style beer hall. They descended along the radial axis of the disk-shaped clan ship until they reached World’s End Board.

Terra took Diode to a secluded spot in the shadow of a huge support column. A window there provided an unobstructed view of space, which made it seem as if they really were on a diving board at the world’s end, ready to jump. She ordered only drinks for the moment, which the waiter printed and brought out in an instant. Instead of sitting across from the girl, Terra pulled up a seat at her side and encouraged her to drink something.

“Here Die-san. We’ve got alcoholic, non-alcoholic, sweet and non-sweet. Are you okay with these? Do you have any allergies?”

“Um, wait please! I can’t, I just can’t!” Pressing the handkerchief to her face, more to hide than wipe it, Diode pushed Terra away. “Now's not a good time to eat and drink, I'm a mess!!”

“You’re right.” Terra quickly calmed herself and backed off. “The thread, did it snap? It’s been three days already.”

“Thread?”

“Your emotional thread. It's been pulled tight since day one, hasn’t it? You joined up with a clan you knew nothing about with just a rucksack to your name, talked your way into your first partnership, did some hardcore piloting to handle an impossible net, and just when you thought it was finally over the government official made all that effort worthless, right? One wrong move and your life's ruined. The thread snapping was inevitable, you know?”

Diode lowered the handkerchief, revealing an open-mouthed stare. Terra smiled. “From the face you're making, you’re thinking 'How does she know?', aren’t you? I get it, I've been on different ships with strangers a few times myself. It's really lonely, isn’t it?”

She thought of adding ‘I told you so’ but didn’t.

“Die-san, you’re still 18, aren’t you—you’re way more impressive than I am.”

“Fu…...Uuuuw” A red tint appeared on Diode’s porcelain face, then her eyes slammed shut as her refined features crumpled. Long eyelashes trembled. Expecting the dam to burst, Terra hugged her shoulder—but just before she began to wail, the girl clenched her jaw and fought it back. “Nghhhhh…!”

“Oh?”

She firmly held the soaked handkerchief to her face and violently wiped her eyes, stubbornly keeping her voice in. Terra admired the incredible show of willpower. Shudders ran up her slender back. Diode’s hair was cold, so Terra began to slowly caress her from the top of the head to below the shoulders, again and again. She remembered a time when she had been comforted like that, so she imitated the memory.

“Well, Die-san, a lot might have happened, but today was a success. We caught fish and didn’t have any accidents or fights. You don’t have to run, okay?”

“...Uughn.” While Terra stroked her back, Diode's small head slid closer and came to a stop right under Terra’s nose. A smoky sweet botanical smell wafted its way into Terra's brain. Without thinking, Terra threw her arms around the girl's shoulders and pulled her into a hug. At ease, Diode responded by sinking into her chest. She took a deep breath, then said, “Phew...”

They sat supporting each other’s weight, as if fused together, for a little more than ten seconds—then, timidly, Diode withdrew and opened some space between the two.

“Ah, uh... Sorry about this, Terra-san.”

“Huh? It’s okay.”

Terra put on a small smile, but her thoughts were kind of a mess. It's convenient how small Diode is, she’d thought before unwittingly leaning over. Wasn’t that a bit too familiar? She felt like it wasn't good thing to get so close so quickly to people she'd just met. She took a deep breath to clear her mind. What were we doing again—ah, right, our discussion.

About today, and what came before.

“Die-san, have you calmed down? Are you okay?”

“Y-yes...” Diode nodded awkwardly. A trace of red still clung to her face. She also seemed embarrassed by about what just happened.

“Die-san, if you don’t mind my asking, why are you trying this hard? What was your reason for doing this today?”

“Yes—it’s about time we talk about that. Properly.” Diode finally settled back into her seat, picked a ginger ale-like from the glasses on the table, and brought it to her lips. Terra also took one of the drinks brought out by the waiter, a wine-like. Diode took a few sips while she puzzled over her thoughts. Before long, she said, “Let’s start with my clan. So, as you found out a while ago, I'm a Gendō. Women there are forced into D-conversion. Did you know about that? D-conversion, I mean.”

“D-conversion?”

“Ah, so you don’t. It’s the decomper aptitude conversion. Women capable of boarding a vessel are practically non-existent, but they tell us if we do board, it has to be as a decomper. We're banned from becoming pilots.”

“There aren’t any woman twisters here with the Endeavours either, though.”

“Is that so? But do they force you to become a decomper?”

“They... don't force you do to that here. If women want to pilot ships they'll be told to fly a class like planetside comms or vacuum operations.”

“So women can board, as long as they’re those types of boats... I’d say that’s still okay. At any rate, the Gendō enforce D-conversion, even if you can’t decomp. The boating system can handle the usual net shapes, and in the worst case, even just knowing how to navigate is good enough...”

“That’s kinda... cruel, isn’t it?”

“Yes.“

“It's cruel in two ways.”

“Two ways?”

Just as Diode’s face lit up with curiosity, cheese-like, salad-like, salmon-like and beef-like were brought out. Offering them all to ‘Die’ while starting her second glass of wine-like, Terra began to reply.

“First, it's cruel to force people to do something they don’t want to do. And second, it’s disrespectful to the people who do it because they want to. I mean, a decomper is someone who transforms the net and boat by decompressing. That's the entire point of having a decomper. People who don't want to be twisters aren't put through the same remediation, are they?“ Finished, she smiled bitterly. “...Well, unless they’re a good-for-nothing decomper like me. So it’s disrespectful to decompers who can make proper, regular nets. Not someone like me.”

“Could you please stop that? Putting yourself down?”

“Ah, I’m sorry...” Prompted by Diode’s annoyed tone, Terra apologized. “Why are the Gendō so strict with women, anyway?”

“‘Women are the irrational gender’, is what they'd say,” Diode responded sullenly. “Women are mentally weak, so if they were at the helm and descended into FBB’s sea of clouds, they’d immediately panic and crash. What do you have to say to that, Terra-san?”

“What? Panic?!” Terra’s jaw dropped incredulously. “Gender’s got nothing to do with it, really. I'm being honest when I say your piloting was splendid today, Die-san.”

“Right? I thought so too. The Gendō believe that women are hopeless, though. So that's why 19 years ago, a woman who received the same treatment we do now decided she hated it there so much she needed to escape at any cost. She snuck off with the crew of an independent Tsunami Search ship.”

“19 years ago... Huh?” Terra grew confused for a moment. “Die-san, didn’t you say you were 18?”

“Ah, no, the woman who escaped was my mother. She was already pregnant by then, so I was born on the ship.”

“Ahh, so that’s how it is! The mother who raised you was called Rock-san, right, Die-san?”

“Yes. But that’s just an alias, of course.”

“She’s a great mother, isn’t she? Raising you to be as good a twister as you are.”

Diode reacted a bit strangely to that. Troubled, she knit her eyebrows, but her lips had a pleased, relaxed look in spite of that. “...Mother ran the Tsunami Search almost by herself. She wasn’t a pillar boat's twister, but she had talent when it came to dual-use ships.”

“Oh, um, could she be…?”

“No, you don’t have to worry about that—she’s still living tenaciously.”

“Ahh, I’m glad.” Hand on her chest, Terra let out a sigh of relief. “So, you trained on the ship with her until you were 15...?”

“Uhh, my mother broke it off with her husband when she first left. So–” For a moment, her eyes wandered about in the air for some reason, then she emphatically repeated herself. “SO—I’m not of much use to the Endeavour clan. If for any reason you wanted to pair up with a man with a clean background from somewhere else, Terra-san, you’d definitely receive assistance from the clan. That's not something I’m able to offer. That’s... my only flaw. I’m being transparent with you now.”

“Ahh. Oh, but I’m happy you’re being transparent, Die-san.” She had a feeling the conversation just jumped tracks a bit, but she grinned. “But well, I see you’re giving that some consideration, since marriage between two women isn’t a possibility.”

“...Yeah.” Diode slowly nodded in response.

Every time Terra learned something about Diode, a new question came to mind. Terra leveled her stare at her. So.. she lived with her mother in the Tsunami Search ... and the name implies she was on a ship sailing around FBB’s atmosphere to observe the weather and study besshu schools. That sounds a lot different from life on a base ship. What was that life like? 9500 hours of cruising time is indeed odd for an 18-year-old, but how did they make their money?

Curious, Terra's scanned the girl's profile. Diode blinked restlessly, as if being needled by it. Pushing her plate back, she asked, “Terra-san, are you going to eat too?”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Terra replied.

The light orange meat on the plate had been drizzled in olive-like oil and was served to be made into a roll. As she rolled it up and ate, Terra tilted her head to the side and wondered. Hm? Why did she cut our previous conversation short in the middle?

“The truth is,” the girl started again as Terra listened carefully. “I approached the Jack-of-All-Trades and the Pollux during this Bow Awow, too. I was trying to find somewhere that would let me fly as a twister.”

“Really?” Terra’s interest was piqued. “So, how did it go over there?”

“Back at the Trades’ I was arrested on suspicion of fraud. The Pollux diagnosed me with an emaciation disorder and ended up placing me in a pregnancy encouragement program.”

“Arrested?!” That word was astonishing enough for Terra, but the ones that followed caused her to jump out of her chair. “E-emaciation? Program? What are those?”

“The fraud charge was because they suspected my cruise logs were falsified. 9500 hours was too much. It was very difficult to prove my innocence.” Making a pained face, Diode continued, “In the pregnancy encouragement program, they put young women under all-day surveillance and give them as many calories as possible to maintain their health. It’s a public program to make the best bodies for producing children. Anyway, it seems the Pollux have a special interest in animal breeding.”

“Urgh…...” Terra got goosebumps of disgust. “You were like a goose being prepared for foie gras, weren’t you...”

“Fwah bra? Goops? I don’t really know what you're talking about, but well, I guess so.” Diode made a precise stab into a slice of duck-like with her fork but frowned and put it back on the plate. “They decided that my body looks like this because I have a disease. I didn’t even ask to be weighed to begin with.”

“A-are you okay? After that, uh, pregnancy encouragement...”

“Ahh, I escaped by pressing the air leak alarm, that cut off their pursuit. Personally, I felt that they weren’t treating me like a human.”

“I get it, I don’t think that’s the way to treat humans, either!” In strong agreement, Terra then regained her composure. “Ah, sorry... I think saying I get it is an exaggeration.”

“Exaggeration?”

“I haven’t been through anything as cruel as you have, Die-san. Coming back home like this was the price of my own mistakes.”

“Please stop, it wasn’t your fault. By that logic, then paying bribes to the Trades like a criminal as the price of mine.” She shot a glare at Terra, annoyed. Terra’s large frame withered.

“Sorry, I said too much just now.”

“I didn’t mean it like...” Diode trailed off mid-sentence, then sighed and shook her head. “Anyway, that’s how things went. Every time I tried to become a twister a hammer nailed me back down. Take today’s catch, for example.”

“Today's catch?”

“They would have used it against us. They’d ask, ‘why would you women overfish like that, are you not able to control yourselves?’ Well, no, in reality they haven’t said anything like that yet, but they definitely would, don’t you think? You saw how it went when we came back, and all we did was fish as a pair of women.”

“...True.”

“Well, that’s my answer to why I’m trying so hard. All I can do is give it my best.” Having said that, Diode picked up a glass of bubbling golden liquid and drained it in one gulp.

As she did, the top-quality boiled lobster-like finally arrived at the end of its long prep. Terra received it and divided it between them. Diode frowned, and holding the fork and the knife like she was repairing a circuit board, began fiddling with the white meat. She looked like she’d never eaten it before.

Watching her, Terra began to think, Aah, I get it now. Not only did Diode want to become a twister, but she had also failed to do so and was left with nowhere else to go when she washed up here. At several points along the way, she'd been forced to run away from her own blunders. Terra was not just sympathetic to Diode's circumstances; she also honestly admired that tenacity. That admiration was why she noticed the girl was tenaciously hiding something.

Right, if that’s what happened, then this all makes sense. Their earlier conversation felt subtly off, and although Diode stated she was being transparent, there was one point she hadn’t touched upon—and that point had to be, beyond any shadow of a doubt, the worst of it. Bad enough for her to avoid even mentioning it. It wasn't just something like with not receiving support from the clan, or even running afoul of the Trade and Pollux clans. It has to be something much worse, but what? What could be even more dangerous than the arrest she mentioned? Terra’s characteristic imagination finally arrived at a conclusion: It's not just something that involves her, it's something I could get caught up in, too.

“Um, Die-san.”

“Yes?”

“Your pursuers from Gendō clan... are they going to show up and start shooting?” The pale, beautiful girl choked on her lobster and turned blue. “Ah, I’m sorry! I wasn’t trying to startle you that badly. Here, drink some water...”

Terra gave her some water and pounded on her back. Managing to gulp it down one way or another, Diode made a nervous sound and looked at Terra.

“How did you know? Did you look into it?”

“Ah, so you really are being pursued?” Terra asked, surprised. “I just said something I dreamed up...”

“Dreamed up? What did you imagine–”

“Ah, no, Die-san, it just struck me as odd that you were hiding what happened after you turned 15, you know? So, I got the feeling that instead of being on the Tsunami Search, you were actually forced into D-conversion. You made it sound like it was something your mother went through, but really, it was you wasn’t it, Die-san?”

Terra looked into the air as she thought. “So, you must have returned to your base ship after you turned 15, I'd say. Then you were forced into D-conversion and marriage once you turned 18, and you hated it so much you jumped ship without permission. So if that’s the case–” She quickly returned her gaze to Diode.

“Your mother isn't being pursued, you are. Your pursuers are serious about coming after you, too, so you had to make absolutely sure they lost track of you during the Bow Awow's Purge. That’s how I imagined things went. Was I right?”

“Sort of, but how did you know that?!” Diode voice had risen to a near-shriek. Covering her face, she mumbled, “Grk. Tell-Tale Terra... So that’s what they meant...”

Terra resented that nickname but let it slide, just this once.

The waiter laid a plate in front of Diode, who was still covering her face. Terra’s guess at the sequence of events caused Diode to abruptly get up from the table, but Terra instantly caught her wrist and pulled her back.

“You don’t have to run.”

“Why?!”

“The Endeavour clan’s guards aren’t that useless.” Diode looked up at her, and Terra nodded reassuringly. “A recapture squad is illegal because infiltrating another clan violates the clan territorial sovereignty rule. So if Gendō's trackers come, my clan’s guards will stop them. Besides, travelling from one base ship to another uses a huge amount of propellant. They won’t come that often... probably.”

“You’re saying everything's okay, then? Despite everything?”

“Despite what?”

“I’m a fugitive! I’m an illegal ship-jumper!” Diode raised her voice.

"Ssh...!" Terra lifted her index finger. “It’s better if others don’t find out about that.”

“...Ah, yeah.”

“So, let’s decide how things will go starting tomorrow.”

“What, why would you...?”

“What do you think is the worst thing that could happen to the both of us?”

“Huh?”

“It’s that we can't board our boat and go fishing together, right?” Terra couldn't catch Diode's hand again, so she forced the conversation forward then backed off. “Am I wrong? Or is there a bigger problem?”

"Uhh..." Diode gulped, then eventually said, “That's true, there's no point in pairing up if we can't fly a boat or cast nets, yeah...”

“Yeah! And we already succeeded once. Meaning that–” Terra opened her large hand. “Today absolutely wasn’t the worst it could go. Alright?”

“...Huh?”

“All the other problems are secondary—recapture squads, hiding you, Bonus charging us extra fees. To deal with that last one, we better make big catches.”

“We’ll stand out if we catch too much.”

“So, let’s keep our big catches on the modest side.”

“Aren't you being incredibly careless?”

“Sometimes it's good to make careless decisions about things!” Terra firmly asserted herself with a smile, and thrust a calculated hand towards Diode. “So, your decision please, Die-san. How shall we conclude our ceremony?”

“Ceremony?”

“Regarding our partnership.” With perfect timing, an order of two generously plated four-fruit parfaits with strawberry-like, blueberry-like, mango-like and melon-like arrived for dessert. Terra had given the signal to bring them out during the pause a moment ago. The soft cream inside the glass, printed with a brand new printerhead, smelled like fresh, unoxidized buttercream.

Diode’s expression grew complicated, and she put a hand to her eyes as if shielding herself “What is this? You’re sorely mistaken if you think you can catch me off guard with this.”

“I'm not trying to catch you off guard at all. But do you think passing up this parfait and leaving by yourself solves anything?”

“...Got it, I’m going to state my conclusion.” Diode raised her face proudly, pushed the extravagant dessert back to Terra, and said, “I don’t want this. All right, I’m looking forward to working with you, starting tomorrow.”

“Likewise! Ahhh, I’m so happy!” Terra cheerfully picked up the long spoon and took one bite of the cold, sweet cream. She looked at the girl beside her.

Diode called the waiter. “I’d like a hot coffee-like, please.” Having made her order, she looked back to Terra and firmly repeated, “I don’t want this, thank you.”

5

Back in the oceans of a rocky planet, long before the Circs arrived at the gas giant, fish emerged in the pre-dawn twilight to eat. Fishermen set out in their boats before their star made its presence known along the horizon, aiming for the time they called dawn patrol.

That custom is kept even at present. The Circs also fish at dawn, but match the timing to their own planet, Fat Beach Ball, instead. Synchronizing a human’s 25-hour circadian rhythm with the planet’s 10 hour rotation period is a hassle, and it is common for their bodies to receive the signal to begin the day at odd hours like 4 P.M. or 1 A.M. It’s a difficult lifestyle, no two ways about it, but fishermen have been in rhythm with nature since ancient times.

Well past 5 P.M. On a day soon after she began fishing with Diode, Terra restlessly crawled out of bed after oversleeping. Her ancient residence on the Idaho was in the Year 120 Ring, where gravity 0.5g. She washed her face, then printed her garment and make-up before quickly dressing. The day’s deck dress was a lightweight platinum elf-style temple girdle from the 35th century Sirius imperial court. It was incredibly embarrassing as far as everyday clothing went, but it was just right for fishing.

She puffed out her chest, got on the ring spoke elevator and was pushed into the corner by others also on their way to board. No matter where they were in space, unaccomplished people found their place in corners.

6:22 P.M. Terra met up with Diode at the Fisherman’s Wharf assembly terminal. Diode wore a slim silver and black opera skinsuit, a look anyone could tell with a single glance was meant for fishing. It was the same outfit she'd worn on their first trip, but it was no less charming the second time around. On the contrary, Terra felt like she hadn’t fully savored it enough. Approaching the girl, she opened her arms.

“Die-san, good morning! Your dress is wonderful again today!”

“Good morning, Terra-san. Your dress is just as wonderful.”

“No way, I’m totally too big. You’re so compact that it’s cute!”

An ordinary twister—in other words, a man—didn’t dress too gaudily. Having a partner dress just as stylishly as she did was a completely new experience for Terra. Her eyes sparkled as she looked down and circled her partner once in appraisal.

In contrast, Diode’s eyes were cold as she looked up and around Terra’s chest. Bluntly, she responded: “Would you mind not belittling yourself over your proportions? Also, you’re 22 minutes late.”

“Augh, I’m sorry...! I came here after I woke up from a nap, I ended up oversleeping because I couldn’t fall asleep earlier.”

“I would have guessed you were the type to sleep well.”

“It was because I got really excited when I started thinking about us going out to fish again today! How about you, are you a good sleeper too?”

“I can sleep pretty much anywhere in any way. There’s no time, let’s get moving.”

“Huh, what about breakfast? Something light.”

“You already used up your time for that. We’ll have to make do with snacking on the pemmican when we board.”

“Aaaahh...”

Diode quickly snapped around and started walking, then stopped just as quickly. Terra, trailing behind, bumped into her.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Despite Diode’s denial, Terra saw the problem. Ever since leaving for the assembly terminal that morning, they felt probing gazes from others on their way to board. The usual pair of fisherwomen would chat about each other's husbands to catch up before going their separate ways. The deck dresses served a similar purpose—they were carefully chosen with their husbands in mind. So, it was inevitable that the odd sight of two women walking towards their spaceship without a husband would attract curious eyes. It was also only natural that Diode would be alert to it.

“Uh, Die-san, I’ll be a barrier, so...” Using her height to block the surrounding gazes, Terra nonchalantly stepped in front of Diode. However, Diode yanked on Terra’s elbow and put herself back out in front.

“You’re worrying over nothing.” She proudly stuck out her chest and pressed forward like a small tugboat, leaving Terra wide-eyed.

They passed through the assembly terminal’s camera gate, headed for the pier extending out into the void of space. They passed the supply counter and greeted ‘Maintainer-san’ and ‘Supplier-san’, counted the gate numbers as they continued, then hurled themselves into the boarding tube of their boat.

Diode and her suit gleamed as she swirled down the snaking throat of the boarding tube. Terra was chasing after a sight of something she had never seen before. The tube ended against a wall. It was pink and smooth, almost like an aquatic mammal’s belly. That wall was the pillar boat’s hull, which had been reconditioned with fresh AMC clay. Diode confidently pressed the clay with both hands and her handprints began to glow as a large slit opened. Terra had already given her a twister account with elevated privileges.

Diode quickly jumped into the slit and was pulled through the viscosity hatch. Terra followed by jumping in behind her. It was like being swallowed by a large beast, except it was much less unnerving—the process didn’t prompt any strong feelings in particular. It was something she, all of her previous partners and, long ago, her parents had done many times. However, this time felt special. Boarding after that girl was exciting.

Cool slime engulfed her, and she inhaled and coughed for ten agonizing seconds. There wasn't a need for that in a dry pit, but it was unavoidable in a submerged pit. The pain faded as her lungs adjusted to the gel. Terra lowered her hands and positioned them as if to raise a rattling iron shutter door at a garage, then scooped them upwards in a sweeping motion.

“Rear pit, lift up!” The scooping gesture activated the boating system, and a dazzling array of parts erupted into a lightshow. The pre-flight checklist flickered on the VUI as data from the interior sensors began to flow in. Half of the pillar boat’s functions promptly resumed.

“Mn, twister, starting...” Diode replied absentmindedly, having already moved her pit somewhere else in the boat. The previously dim cockpit was suddenly awash in the harsh light of the VUI. She was in fact working through the activation sequence, but that wasn’t the standared response to the decomper. Stating ‘Cockpit, lift up!’ was a formal part of the sequence, but it seemed like Diode was unaware of that. Diode's workflow, oblivious to protocol, annoyingly held Terra's interest captive.

The interior and exterior cameras finished booting and projected the view all around Terra. The planet was to her right, space was to the left, and directly below was the pier and Idaho’s gigantic wheel—then before her eyes, the back of Diode’s small figure appeared, her hair tied up.

“Ready to fish! Let’s go, Die-san!!”

“All right. I’m ready, too.” Diode’s response was typically laconic, and she spun the VUI’s contact dial to call the official.

“This is Terra Intercontinental Endeavour’s leisure boat  to the Idaho boating officer. Requesting permission for descent.”

The registration number and identification codes were communicated in binary, so Diode didn’t really need to repeat them. Her words were a necessary bit of ceremony, but they served no real purpose beyond that. However, Diode’s tone as she said ‘leisure boat’ communicated immense annoyance.

“Permission for descent granted for Terra-san’s boat. Take care.”

The reply was somewhat amicable, but upon hearing that, Terra muttered, “Take care, huh...” They would have added something along the lines of ‘We're praying for a big catch’ if they had been a fishing boat, and its absence felt just a tiny bit alienating. Mentioning that out loud might worry Diode, of course, so Terra muttered it off-line.

“So, shall we depart?”

The pillar boat's umbilical disconnected the moment permission was granted, enabling it to move in freespace. Diode spoke calmly and raised her hands over the cluster of folding fan-shaped throttle panels.

While in at-anchor form the pillar boat is, as its name implies, a 220-meter-long, 20-meter-wide blunt cylinder. Diode opened two small holes at the front and back of the hull for tiny RCS nozzles. —Poof... Poof... Poof...—the pillar boat separated from the pier with three gentle jet-like bursts from the nozzles. She began a turn to point the pillar boat’s aft end in the direction of orbital travel, then braked.

“Port departure complete. When does the window open? I do think we’re just in time to make it, at least.”

“Umm... Yes, our timing is fine. Eight minutes left until then!”

“We’re almost out of time, that’s not fine at all!”

“Waaah! I’m sorryyy!”

“Let’s eat something while it takes us down. Reentry shape, please.”

“Okay!”

Now it was Terra’s turn. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Decompression—changing the boat’s shape according to her desires.

As if working clay with an imaginary hand, she started to mold the boat into the image in her mind. Its cylinder was soft, pleasant, and cool to the touch as she worked the bow end into a shape that resembled a tricorne before pinching it tight. She spread the aft like a flared skirt, then carefully leveled out the base. The shape would allow them to decelerate as they dove into the atmosphere.

Secretly enjoying herself, Terra calmly kneaded the clay to remove unwanted lumps. Even so, she felt like she was making others wait on her, and the result still ended up showing traces of being hastily beveled.

All 18,000 tonnes of AMC clay easily responded to Terra’s modeling; the pillar boat’s shape smoothly flowed from a long, thin cylinder into a charming cone. The origin of the reentry form’s shape was murky, but it had been called the “apollo shape” since ancient times. The underside had a radius of 50 meters, and the cone was more than 20% wider than it was tall.

“Phew, done!”

“OK. Timing, please.”

Fishing grounds are set 10 hours in advance. To put it another way, fishers sync themselves to the fishing grounds by going to sleep 10 hours before departure so they can descend and arrive at the right time.

“It’ll only be a moment, 30 seconds remaining! 29, 28, 27–”

“That’s fine. Okay, initiating reentry.”

“But we still have 25 seconds...!”

“It’s not a problem if we’re only off by a few seconds.”

6:58 P.M. Diode interrupted Terra’s countdown and leisurely announced the start of reentry. Beautiful flames the color of black tea gushed out of the pillar boat’s nuclear fusion engine and through its large underside, decelerating them.

The combustion promptly cut after several seconds, reentry burn complete. Now that they were in separate orbits, the Idaho shot forward, momentarily racing through an arc overhead before trailing away behind the boat. It followed their elementary comprehension of orbital motion: “the front is the back; the back is the front.”

The full descent brought their boat into the atmosphere. Their fishing grounds in FBB’s dawn twilight were approaching daybreak. Mother Beach Ball’s rays lit an extended shoreline of thin cirrus clouds, a cliff of stacked stratus, and a valley of coiled, swirling stratus which yawned into the depths.

“Ok, let’s have breakfast.”

“Die-san, are you really okay with pemmican? It’s like eating pet food in the bath...”

“I’m used to it.”

The Circs’ fishermen descended with their boats at dawn.

Five hours of daylight fishing, five hours of night fishing. The cycle set by FBB's ten-hour rotational period is the same for most of the planet. Whether a fisherman likes it or not, that doesn't change. In the morning, when visibility is good, fishermen descend for their haul. After dark, they ascend to a safe altitude and cruise on alert as they wait through the night. When their haul comes up short, they navigate under the light of FBB’s several moons to catch species that surface in the darkness. They return to their base ship at dawn. And it was through many fishermen following this cycle for hundreds of years that the Circs had arrived at the present.

Terra was following the cycle as well. To be specific, they started to fish for sweet mackerel following the plan of keeping their "big catches on the modest side" as agreed that first night. The fish were found in the high-altitude ammonia cloud belts, diving in and out of the clouds without a care.

However, Terra had failed to catch them. She had gotten overenthusiastic and wove a net that was too large. Thanks to her blunder in spreading the mesh too far and wide, most of their prey spilled out. A mere 200 tonnes remained in the net. Converted into the equivalent amount of propellant, it would keep the pillar boat afloat for 100 seconds at most.

With regret, Terra pulled in the net then changed her target to schools of bowstring parrotfish, a borderline class-large species which emerged from their resting spots in the cliff-like faces of red phosphorus cumulus at noon. However, while preparing a flag-shaped net for the bowstring parrotfish school they were cautiously approaching, she noticed it was actually a school of string spiderfish.

Spiderfish were a small species that formed gigantic schools within cumulus clouds. As Terra thought about it again, they were definitely hunted by bowstring parrotfish. It was already too late by the time the realization set in, though. String-covered spiderfish rapidly overfilled the net and spilled down the cliff like an avalanche. It only took a moment to cross 200,000 tonnes. The catch corresponded to 11 hai, and it quickly capsized the pillar boat.

Unlike with the surfers, they weren’t trawling in a high-speed form. The current hull shape didn't provide any lifting power. To keep their forward momentum going, Diode nervously adjusted the engine to run its jets at full throttle with both hands. Despite her anxiety, she maintained a flat tone.

“Terra-san, we caught too much, didn’t we?”

“Aaah I’m sorry, I overfilled it! My mistake—the volume would have been fine if that had been bowstring parrotfish, but I got careless.”

“Never mind the incident report, if we don’t do something, our jets are going to melt the boat long before we run out of fuel.”

“W-we’re throwing the catch out, right?!” It was a waste, but there wasn’t anything moderate about the large catch at all. “I wonder if half is good. That would leave us with five hai.”

In a panic, Terra began loosening part of the net, but Diode raised a hand to stop her. “That’s not what I meant. Change shape, please.”

“Change shape?!”

“We're going to be flying for a good while, so I want you to decomp us into a shape with a high glide ratio.”

That was an unexpected proposal.

“So we’re not throwing away our catch? We’re bringing it back?”

“Mhm.”

“But you said we had to be careful not to overfish, and besides, it’s so heavy it might be hard to leave the atmosphere.”

“I said it’s fine, so just do it. I can get through this with motivated piloting, so leave that to me. But of course, we can give up on it if you don't think that's physically possible.”

Free to decide, Terra reached her own conclusion. “If it’s for gliding at high altitude, then how about a flying wing or a glider shape? Wait, no, those aren’t strong enough, so maybe a parachute would work better? Ah, what if I pressed the whole catch into filler and molded our airfoils around it, how about that?! I think it’d go great if we did that! For sure!”

“...Come again? Never mind. I barely understand, but I’m entrusting it to you.” Terra filled with excitement at Diode’s declaration. From the moment they discarded the 315,000 tonne catch, she had been thinking about how they could have brought it back.

Decompression—The long, narrow cartridge shape underwent a huge transformation as Terra reshaped it into a flat wing. She pulled the dangling net inside the boat, repeatedly breaking the catch down into pouches.

As she pushed the evenly flattened pouches inside both wings, they expanded to an imposing length, which now provided lifting power. However, the lively squirming of besshu inside the pouches was capable of creating instability, so Terra reinforced the internals. Luckily, they had caught string spiderfish, so she stretched out their strands and tied the fish together with their own bodies inside the pouches. Tightly packed and functioning like elastomers, the pouches were lined up and hardened. Terra’s plans for reinforcement were beginning to show the desired result. To finish, she quickly lined up longitudinal ribs throughout the wing, fixing the whole structure in place.

“Done!” Terra announced. The pillar boat’s finished appearance resembled a primitive V-shaped hunting tool. It was a gigantic flying wing with a 500-meter wingspan.

“Wh–” Diode looked out over the wing from left to right, then spoke like she’d been punched in the gut. “What... is this...”

“Sorry, the shape’s weird, isn’t it? I don’t think anyone’s ever made their pillar boat look like this before. But I think I managed it just fine... Ah, I’m not trying to brag or anything! Also, those yaw rudders... I only noticed there was no way to steer while in the middle of decomping, so they were entirely an afterthought!”

Multiple perpendicular foils resembling a shark’s dorsal fin extended above and below the wing and had been thoughtlessly placed along its length with traces of regret. When Terra realized that she’d completely forgotten essential parts of an aircraft, such as vertical and horizontal rudders or a tail boom, she tried to cram them in at the last minute.

“If you’re careful when pitching the nose, it won’t suddenly dive or break, I think! It’s misshapen, but please make use of it one way or another...”

“...Misshapen, right...” Diode cautiously touched the throttle swarm in silent astonishment. She refired the engine, which had been relocated by the decomp, tested the rudders a few times to ensure their sturdiness, and ran the jets up to full throttle to verify the center of thrust was in line with the center of mass. Looking nervous, she spun around and asked, “How...”

“Huh?” Terra asked as Diode turned back to look ahead. “Huh? Huh?” Terra tilted her head to the side.

After the shape change, the pillar boat could successfully climb with a one-to-eighteen thrust ratio. They welcomed dusk after ascending to 40 kilometers above sea level. As the five-hour long night swept over them, Diode suddenly lifted both arms. “I’m beat. Fuel consumption this low feels like cheating. If the thrust ratio holds up until we make the return, we’ll have a clay surplus.”

“Ehe, fuheheheh.”

“We’re taking 11 hai back with us. Seriously, what’s up with that? You're the best, Terra-san. Crap.”

“Heheheh—huh?” Terra grew bashful at the thought of praise but suddenly froze when she noticed the dark blue eyes staring at her. “Um, what is it?”

“Do you understand what you just did?”

“Uh, no...?” I made an awesome boat based on the fantasies I wander into every day. “...I don’t know, I’m sorry!”

“Let me rephrase. Why do the fishermen who fish at noon and sit idle at night usually bring in an average catch of six or seven hai when they come back in the morning? Why do you think that is?”

“H-huh?”

“It’s because they’re blowing through their fuel overnight. You could say it’s a bottleneck.”

“Is that why I'm crap...?”

“Please forget that. It slipped out accidentally.” Diode sighed, then faced forward again. “...Being able to do that as a decomper, incredible.”

“Ah, yeah, decompers are incredible. Decompressing is incredible. Just why does the clay we get from fishing change into the shape we want...right?”

“I said you’re the one who’s incredible!”

Diode’s tone sounded like she was scolding Terra, so she replied, “Okay!” and bowed her head.

The ship circled in the night sky, and before long the rhythmic breathing sound of a sleeping person began to fill the pit. Diode's small, sleeping body gently floated in the gel. She really could sleep anywhere, just like she’d said. Stationkeeping had been turned over to the boating system, so Terra also folded her arms over her dress and looked up into the starry sky.

They slept like that until the VUI sounded a loud wakeup alarm at 5am. Off in the direction of the giant that loomed in the depths of night, the faint, flame-colored light of dawn was spreading. Terra heard the cold voice of her new partner.

“Please bring up the guide container. Full-element.”

They astonished Officer Bonus by arriving at Idaho with a 66,000-tonne profit, having brought back a 201,000 tonne catch after consuming 135,000 tonnes of propellant.

Diode and Terra headed to the W.E.B beer hall, but there were no tears this time. They toasted their cups of coffee-like, cleaned the plates of bacon-like, fried egg-like and vegi-like they ordered, and tried to figure out why the burnt dish prepared from fermented wheat-like flour was called toast. When they finally took their leave, their faces were calm.

Terra walked back to her ancient residence against the crowd commuting to work. She took off her outfit, laid down on the cushioned floor, and sank into the pleasant exhaustion of returning home the morning after a full day out. However, she wasn't used to processing an entire day's worth of lingering feelings in the morning, and momentarily stirred, restless and disoriented.

8:10 A.M. Terra finally noticed she was overlooking a very important detail.

“...Where is she going back to?”

6

The day after her second fishing trip with Diode, Terra left for work in Idaho’s Year 10 Ring, where the fan-shaped Antiquity District was located. Terra was in the media storehouse, which resembled an archive built in the ruins of an ancient, nameless castle, sorting through the 3,000,000 files damaged during the early days of the Circ Calendar when the minicell on the back of her hand received a call. She really didn’t want to field private messages at work, but it appeared to be from the Council of Elders. Simply ignoring it was pointless, so she opened her palm to answer.

“Yes, Terra Intercontinental speaking.”

“Greetings. How do you do? I am Salem Dishcrash.” A middle-aged man she had never seen before appeared on her palm. Wearing gray servant dress, he greeted her with a smile. “This will be short. Would you happen to be available at the moment?”

“Not really, I'm in the middle of work.”

“Work? But is your pillar boat not currently docked at the pier? Do you happen to be occupied with maintenance work?”

“Ah, no, I’m at my job as a video distribution officer.”

“Video distribution officer? So, you have not become a fisherman, then?”

“I’m doing that too, but I used up my clay allotment and am taking a break for the time being. So...”

“I have been informed it was a big catch that generated more than two months’ income. Yet, you still find it necessary to continue with make-work?”

“Make-work? Really. I happen to very much enjoy my distribution work. It’s fun digging up interesting old articles and showing them to other people. They’re delighted with them. Are you saying my work here is a bad thing?”

“No, not at all. That work is neither bad nor wrong—only, it is probably not the manner of work a fisherman should be engaged with.”

“Now see here!” His comment predictably set Terra off. “I wasn't recognized as a fisherman even when I said I wanted to work as one, so I’m going to keep working here too. Dishcrash-san, was it? You work for the Council of Elders, huh? How about you all formally recognize me as a fisherman before telling me off like that?”

“That is exactly what this is about.” Dishcrash extended his hand as he smiled and nodded. “The Council of Elders is extending an invitation to a meeting regarding the fisherman-like conduct of Terra Intercontinental-san and Kanna Ishidōrō-san, to begin at ten o’clock. Please prepare yourself to be in attendance.”

“Meeting?” He disappeared. Terra absentmindedly stared at her left hand. She hadn’t been given much time, as it was already after nine. The coworker seated next to her, Makia, had watched the whole thing.

“Tell-Tale, what was that about just now?”

“Who knows. Maybe... a bid to deceive me and take my pillar boat away with a convoluted argument, like a bunch of swindlers?”

“Don’t get started with the delusions now. Those guys will be here before you know it. But what he said about a big catch... you got married? When?”

“Well, uh...”

Just then, they heard a high-pitched knock from the archive’s door. A receptionist who had just left returned in a hurry. “Terra-san, Terra-san! A liaison from the Council of Elders is here!”

“Makia, we'll talk later, okay?”

Although they’d worked together for six years, the four-year gap between the two made Makia something more like a half-superior, so their relationship wasn’t close. Terra felt that if they talked about her boarding the pillar boat while unmarried—and with another woman to boot—she’d only get laughed at. So, she was thankful she had managed to escape that conversation.

Mr. Dishcrash was a memorable personality. He was a thin man with good posture, soft sideburns resembling cream puffs, and narrow eyes that which seemed to smile at first glance. “Ooh, this seems promising,” he said, looking up at Terra in admiration. He puffed out his chest and began to guide her.

A shaft descended from the Year 10 Ring, near the inner circumference of the donut-shaped Idaho, towards the outer circumference. There, in the Year 250 Ring, the current Council of Elders had established an office partitioned off with shiny, precious chrome.

Terra was brought to what seemed to be a small waiting room. Like a kid waiting for a staff member, she sat quietly on the sofa and tapped her fingertips in boredom. She wondered why the downcast figure next to her wore an inboard plumber's simple fishing pants and an old-fashioned hat like the ones Terra saw in ancient books.

Unable to identify the person, Terra absentmindedly stared at them for a moment. The small figure looked over at her and spoke up. “Terra-san?” Silver hair spilled out as she doffed her hat. A familiar face appeared; it was the girl she had parted with the morning earlier.

“D—Die-san, what are you doing here?” Terra said, slightly surprised by Diode’s disguise.

Diode, on alert for some reason, frowned. “I should be the one asking why you showed up here,” she replied.

“It’s more like I was summoned here. They told me it was something related to our fisherman-like conduct.”

“...Ahh, so that’s what this is about?” Diode glanced at Dishcrash, standing behind Terra, and sighed deeply. “I see, so you're also being condemned alongside me.” She looked relieved.

Terra leaned over her to her side. “Don't tell me you thought I was on their side.” Diode’s cheeks quickly turned red and Terra smiled at seeing she'd guessed correctly. “Don’t feel bad about it. It's easy to distrust everyone and everything when you don't know anyone around you, isn't it?”

“...I’m not that paranoid. It’s just that I thought you would be treated differently from me since you’re a member of this clan.”

“It’s fine, I'm not exactly in good standing with them either. It seems like they're mad at me too.”

A lively smile grew on Diode’s face as Terra made light of their situation. “So, how about we pick a fight together?”

Terra nodded at her smile—then stopped that thought in its tracks. She had been to multiple meetings with the Council of Elders regarding her pillar boat since inheriting it, but this was her first time being directly summoned by one of their subordinates. She had a really bad feeling about it.

“I’d like to say ‘gladly’, but would you mind holding back for a bit?”

“Huh?”

“You’ll go jumping ship again if it gets hard for you to stay here, and I’d like to avoid that. I want to keep fishing with you. So, can you trust me to do the talking for now? We can consider picking a fight later.”

“Ahh, well... if you say so.” Diode reluctantly nodded and extended her hand. Terra was quite surprised by how easily she accepted, having expected her to put up more resistance. Relieved, Terra lightly took Diode’s hand in hers.

“Huh.”

“Huh?”

Diode's face was full of surprise. She seemed bothered by something other than the handshake, but she averted her eyes and said, “It's nothing.”

“By the way, Die-san, what’s up with your clothes?”

“Ah, I’d like if we could also consider that later, please.”

She gave off the smell of food waste in her current state. Terra was curious as to why Diode was willing to put up with dressing so shabbily, but didn't press the matter given the bargain she just made.

They waited for forty minutes without being served even a single tea-like before they were brought into another room at ten o’clock. It wasn’t a normal office or conference room; with the surrounding rostrum looming over them, it looked a lot more like a courtroom. Several figures stood above it. Dishcrash remained on standby along the wall at Terra’s back. She gulped nervously.

“Terra-kun,” a voice sounded. “So, you have come. My apologies for towering over you like this. This was a design choice made 50 years ago.” A slender man in the prime of his life bent forward. The dark skin on his manly face was weathered and bordered by a white mustache and hair.

Terra more or less nodded in response. “There’s nothing we can do about things that have been tall from the start.”

“That’s right. You yourself are the living, breathing example of that. I have seen you on Main Street and at W.E.B. on multiple occasions. This may be our first time being face-to-face, but it does not feel like our first meeting. Certainly, you’re the leading woman of our clan, hm?”

“Yes...that’s probably the case.”

“It is something worthy of praise. Have you ever seen a woman taller than yourself?”

“I have not.”

“So, there can be no doubt about it. While we are at it, we could say you are splendid well beyond just your height. It is an honor for you to have come here.”

The man cheerfully laughed. At times like these, Terra would usually force a smile and think, ‘I just want to sit down’, but she wasn’t in any position to request a chair. There didn’t even seem to be chairs in the room to begin with.

He hadn’t introduced himself, but his face was so well-known he didn’t need to. The cheerful, sociable man was Clan Chief Xeon Highhertz Endeavour, the clan’s sole Elder and its head fisherman. He was 62 years old.

“One.”

Hearing the voice beside her, Terra looked over to see Diode calmly standing with her index finger casually pointed at the floor.

Aside from Xeon, it wasn’t possible to clearly see the faces of the others at the rostrum. Terra noticed they were only projected avatars—those individuals were actually somewhere else, meaning the Council of Elders didn’t have time for this. They might interrupt if an argument grew heated and needed intervention, but Xeon was the only one speaking at the moment.

“Now, before we move on to the important matters at hand, there is one more person I would like to greet. Diode-kun—that is how you have introduced yourself, so it will be fine to use that name here, correct? Or would you prefer your real name? You may be small and cute”—“Two.”— “but it seems you have arrived on our ship by your own show of strength.”

Terra instinctively glanced at Diode again. Her partner muttered quietly, now making a peace sign at her thigh. She gave a short response with a 20,000-kilometer stare. “Please, call me Diode.”

“Very well. I believe you have already grasped the fact that our clan greatly values individual freedom. While I may be only passingly familiar with the customs of other clans, I am certain life is much more pleasant here on the Endeavours' ship compared to the JT and Pollux. Diode-kun, what is your opinion?”

“It does seem habitable compared to the Pollux.”

“You are quite correct. And how about the JT?”

Diode, still facing an imaginary horizon, shut her mouth.

Terra leaned over and whispered, “Would you like me to answer instead?” Receiving a mumbled response, she straightened herself and answered for Diode. “Her experience with the Jack-of-All-Trades was colored by a mistake on her part, so she can’t provide a fair assessment.”

“Hahaha, what an interesting young lady. She seems rash but remains honorable. I have taken a liking to her.”

“Thank you very much.” Relying on the habits and fortitude she had cultivated over many years, Terra smiled and nodded. Xeon seemed to be in a good mood, and their discussion might be headed in a positive direction.

“It is a shame that I must tell this to such a likeable pair, but allow us to get straight to the point. As I have inherited the will of the early Endeavours, who established our livelihood around Fat Beach Ball, I have the duty of guiding both our clan and the fleet into the future. To that end, it is desired that a proper pair make use of your pillar boat.”

It wasn't a positive direction at all. Terra felt slightly discouraged, but since she was already braced for the news, she maintained her smile and responded, “Uhh, Clan Chief Highhertz–”

“Terra-kun!”

“Yes...?”

“I do not mind if you call me Xeon.”

“...Xeon-san. I’ve had multiple meetings like this with the Council. Yes, my pillar boat has been grounded for a while, but my understanding is that the grounding does not currently have a big impact on our clan's profits and expenses. Has that situation changed? Could it be that someone sank?”

“I appreciate your concern, but all eleven of Endeavour’s fishing families, yours and mine included, thankfully remain in good health.”

“Then if that’s the case, the situation hasn’t changed, right?”

“That is correct, it has not changed. Only that—and I am assuming you understand this just as well—nobody expected your situation to persist for six years. Our Endeavour clan has been tolerating it for a good while now.”

“I’m really sorry about that... It might sound like I’m making excuses, but I have been trying hard to marry a good man.”

“A ‘good man’?”

“Yes? Ah, um, these last few times, I have been more particular about my partner.”

“That is an admirable attitude. Of course, we know about that aspect of yours—striving to fish properly before solidifying yourselves as a married couple.”

“Ah, thank you... though I'm really sorry I couldn’t achieve an outcome that satisfied everyone’s expectations...”

“You have been working hard. Not only that, I must say that you have shown promise from the start. Although your height is a clear disadvantage”—“Three.”—“your fascinating appearance compensates for it. You also have an incredibly cooperative attitude, so there has not been a single case of your rejecting a partner after meeting them face-to-face. That is truly wonderful—Diode-kun, is there something wrong?”

Xeon looked to Diode after she whispered a single word, pausing for a response that didn’t come. “However,” he said, turning his eyes back to Terra, “you have been turned down every time. That means you failed the fishing trials with your possible choices, correct?”

“Yes...”

“You must be aware that you yourself have made us listen repeatedly to your yearnings to sail your own pillar boat. However, Terra-kun, despite being blessed with a talent for decompression, you have found nothing but misfortune.”

“I’m sorry, I’m the one who’s at fault.” She had no excuses. Terra hung her head.

“No, no.” Xeon calmly waved his hand. “Please do not misunderstand, I am not blaming you. That is just how it is when there is a difference in ability. Besides, you have a very good reputation as a video distribution officer. It was only recently that I investigated, but I do believe you could please many in that arena. Do you understand what I am getting at, Terra-kun?”

“I understand.” The conversation touched a sore spot that, until now, hadn't been hit so hard. “Even though I’m talentless, I am still holding onto the boat, and that’s not good.” The inside of her nose stung; she found herself sniffling. Just then, she felt a light tug at her sleeve. Diode gave her a look and repeatedly pointed back and forth between herself and Terra.

“Huh?” Terra asked.

Diode, clearly frustrated, flapped her hand in front of her face over and over like she was trying to deny something. It looked like she wanted to say that Terra being untalented wasn’t true. Diode’s humorous gestures, faithfully keeping her promise to let Terra do the speaking, caused a chuckle to escape Terra.

“Yeah, you’re right. Um, Xeon-san. This may be presumptuous of me, but it’s not like I’m completely incapable of being a decomper.” Diode frowned again in denial as Terra spoke, but Terra chose to ignore it for the moment. “I haven’t been able to fish the normal way with any of my marriage candidates so far, but I can successfully fish with Diode-san.”

“Hm.”

“So, well... we would like to contribute to the clan’s catch if possible. Would it be possible, Xeon-san?”

Maybe he hasn’t received our catch report. Terra’s face was full of anticipation as she raised the matter, but the Clan Chief had turned profoundly serious, looking at her with his chin held between his fingers.

“Terra-kun, it seems that you have not heard me clearly, so I will repeat myself. I said that as the Clan Chief, I have the duty of guiding what we inherited from our clan and fleet into the future. You understand, don’t you?”

“...Yes.”

“No, you do not. Tell me, what is it we have inherited and are guiding into the future?”

“Things like our family name... or our hopes?”

“Our bloodlines. When fishers become husband and wife, they will entrust their fishing techniques and boat to the children they bear. That structure is the core of our society, is it not?”

Terra was momentarily speechless. That was another sore spot of hers. However, considering what the two of them were doing, she had expected this point to come up.

“Excuse me, Xeon-san.”

“What is it?”

“There are regular couples without kids, aren’t there? And those are unavoidable because of personal matters, right?”

“Yes, naturally. Those situations are unavoidable.”

“And if by chance, when those couples happen to be fishers, we have a system which allows them to pass down their fishing techniques and boat, don’t we?”

“Yes, there is an adoption system. It allows our long-established fishing families to select a youngster suitable to bear the responsibility of inheriting their boat.”

“So, if that’s the case—”

“Hold on, Terra-kun.” He firmly interrupted her and bent forward from the rostrum. “Is it possible you are trying to suggest that in place of joining our valuable fishing lineages together with others, you wish to use our exceptional adoption system so you two can casually fly your pillar boat for leisure? Is that what you are suggesting?”

“Huh...no.” Terra grew pale, not expecting Xeon’s opposition to be so fierce. “I thought that it could be a solution to our problem...”

“Did you really think that solution would be adequate, Terra-kun?!” Xeon asked forcefully. Terra shrugged. “Do you understand what you are asking for? You want to take an aid system intended for those who have genuine troubles and justify its use for reasons that stray from the righteous path. Imagine we do as you suggest and allow just anyone to board and inherit a pillar boat. If that were to happen, what would become of our traditions? Our successors? Everything would be completely ruined! Do you think that is okay?”

“No, I don’t think it’s okay. That’s really not what I’m trying to say.”

“Really? Do you really believe that? Very well, are you also capable of explaining why women are not twisters, then?”

Terra’s mind instantly blanked. “That’s–”

“Terra-kun?”

“That’s, um, well–”

“Thank you for providing us with an actual example, Terra-kun. That is exactly what I am referring to.”

“Huh? What?”

Losing track of the conversation confused Terra even more. Xeon gave her a deep nod.

“That is your answer. Women have difficulty reacting to unexpected situations. What would you do if you were at FBB and a sudden downburst hit you while you were in a fight with a myriatonne bachi orca at the 8000 pressure level? Nothing. You would fall in head first. Only the capable should expose themselves to such danger.”

“That’s... that’s true, but... but Die-san's not bad at a–”

“There are numerous methods to make it appear that way. However, we are deviating from the topic at hand, the main point of which is that a twister and a decomper must be united by a strong bond. For the twister to be capable of fighting FBB’s relentless, merciless nature, the support of the decomper is indispensable. For the decomper to weave the proper net, direction from the twister is indispensable. What kind of relationship is capable of doing that? Not just for the sake of enabling the continuation of your lineage, but for the very sake of survival itself. What is the proper form for that pair to take? Well, Terra-kun?”

“But, but we–”

“You...?”

Terra found herself at another loss for words. She was taken with an incredibly odd feeling. The world was so vast that she could exist in the close presence of something she knew nothing about. She didn’t know exactly what she was being denied, but she had a strong hunch that something was wonderful—but wouldn’t make a difference here even if she could put it into words.

“I, I–”

“You were on strike four before, and that was strike five. Don't ask Terra-san that.” The voice was firm. Terra turned to her side and saw Diode wiggling all five fingers. “I put up with it five times, okay?”

“So, that’s what you were doing?”

The girl dressed like a boyish plumber nodded once. She stepped in front of Terra. “Clan Chief Highhertz.”

“Yes, Diode-kun–”

“I'll be calling you Xeon. You've been absolutely shameless in spouting a bunch of sophistry. Seriously, do you not feel any shame in nitpicking others, deciding your own facts, or feeding your ego by acting like you’re being helpful, Xeon?”

“What did you just say?” Xeon raised his eyebrows and shut his mouth.

“Die-san!” Terra tugged on Diode's sleeve.

“Well, Xeon, you must have accumulated an extensive history of failure and deception by your age, so it's no surprise your sense of shame and remorse have declined, degraded and depreciated well past their best-by date. Looks like it’s not enough for you to just mock me, an outsider, with your tattered pride—wait, maybe that’s just a rag—but going as far to harass one of your own, Terra-san, in your gross, backhanded way is so disgusting that anyone who saw something so inexcusable would be taken to an entirely new dimension of unforgettable repulsion. So, in spite of this being a pain-in-the-ass and there not being enough time to address every single detail, I’m going to give you the scolding you deserve. You’d better be grateful. Well, I’ll go through all this in order, so first, don’t ridicule others for their height—don’t ridicule others for their body, period. There's absolutely no way someone in your position doesn't know you can't mock a woman and render judgement just from looking at of her. There's no way, right, Xeon?”

“Diode-kun, Diode-kun!” Xeon’s face turned deep red as he shouted. The two heard footsteps as Dishcrash approached them from behind.

“Please mind your words.”

“So even you would like to join in roasting him too?” Diode said as she turned to face him. Her question didn't register with Terra, and naturally, it didn't with the liaison, either.

At a loss for words, he replied, “What?”

As Terra had expected, Diode had gone completely out of her mind.

“The position of Clan Chief should naturally be dignified and noble, so isn’t being forced to ignore the drivel pouring out of his mouth an insult to you? If what he said about carrying forward what your ancestors left to you is true, then you already have something worthy of leaving for future generations. Is it the Endeavours’ will to simply decide others are inferior without proving it, and then behave like they’re acting in the best interests of the people they decided to deem useless and ostracize? Do you really think this is okay?””

Dishcrash’s face was filled with surprise, “Whew, if we are going by that logic–” His words were drowned out by the loud sound of a fist slamming the rostrum.

“Diode-kun!” Diode slowly turned around. The elder clan leader’s eyes were blazing, and he began to speak through clenched teeth. “I have quietly listened to everything you had to say. I hope you are aware that I can arrest you solely on the basis of contempt. What is the point you are trying to make?”

“I would only be repeating myself, but of course, if you require further assistance in insulting yourself–”

“Knock it off with the pointless, annoying argument!”

“But who started those pointless arguments?” The girl, so small a man's sneeze could blow her away, proudly puffed her chest at the rostrum. “Aren't you basically saying those who excel at fishing are the ones who make history? Yet, you needlessly kept talking about stuff like preserving our lineage and womens' incompetence. Why's that?”

“That is not what I was saying!”

“Then what were you saying?”

“Are you trying to turn this into a contest? This is an unacceptable way to settle our discussion!”

“You're talking like you want to settle this discussion, Clan Chief Highhertz. How about putting your amazing reflexes to use dealing with unexpected situations like dodging bachi orcas in FBB's skies—that is, if you are better than a woman.”

“You're stepping into the abyss, little missy!”

“But that’s where I came from?”

To translate Xeon’s shout to an older mode of speaking, it essentially meant the same as ‘go to hell’. Diode’s calm retort intercepted his words, causing an invisible mid-air explosion.

Terra watched open-mouthed as they went at one another. While a population of 20,000 might be small, Xeon was their leader, so argument or even mere disagreement in a dispute with him was a potentially serious matter for Terra. Yet, Diode was squaring off with him, and, as casually as pushing trash into the can with a sandal, arguing splendidly.

It was a reckless act certain to bring them to ruin, but a historical feat nonetheless. Up until that point, there had been nothing but shadows on the surrounding rostrum, but one-by-one, their faces were beginning to show. Their argument had apparently caught the Council of Elders' interest.

With all eyes turned towards him, Xeon declared, “I cannot turn a blind eye after you have gone this far. I can impartially judge your real abilities, but are you sure you really want that?”

“If anything, you’d better not get defiant and chicken out, or else I'm going to shout that you did from the middle of the Wharf. I hope you're prepared, Your Excellency,” she sneered.

“Wait, please wait a moment!” Dishcrash spread his hands and stepped in. “Clan Chief, please forgive my insolence, but we have strayed off-topic. Fundamentally, this matter concerns the appropriate course of action we should take with Miss Terra’s pillar boat, not issues related to Miss Diode’s skill.”

“Excuse me!” Terra reflexively shouted. “If that’s the case, I think the end result will be the same. I can’t fish with anyone other than Die-san! So if she’s no good, then I’m also no good!”

“This is dangerous,” Dishcrash whispered to her.

“Huh?”

Xeon pounced on the opportunity while Terra was confused. “I hear you loud and clear, Terra-kun,” he shouted. “That simplifies matters. To settle this issue, the Council of Elders will judge Terra-kun and Diode-kun’s abilities with a bachi orca catch. In the event they do not achieve superior results, we shall seize the Intercontinentals’ pillar boat. Happy now, Diode-kun? You brought this on yourself.”

“If it’s about being better, I have no objection. If you’re going that far, then you will have no problem with our becoming fishers if we win, right?”

“Right. If you win you can become a fisherman, a swordsman, whatever you want. But that’s only if you win!”

The entire Council of Elders had become spectators to their shouting.

7

“...so that's how I successfully got under his skin and dragged him into a one-on-one fight.”

Their pillar boat looked down on a morning sea of clouds. From the rear pit, Terra listened to Diode with her face buried in both hands.

“Got under his skin? You were provoking him...? Was that all an act?!”

“An act? No, absolutely not.” Wondering why Terra thought that, Diode turned around. The day's deckwear was a deep crimson camisole dress with gold chain stitch fringes and a pair of tights, capped off with a striking lipstick. “I didn't need an act. That anger came naturally to me.”

“What about that ‘one’, ‘two’ thing?”

“Well, I wouldn't have gotten angry if the score of ‘things I personally wouldn't let slide’ stayed low, but I'd already completely lost it by the middle of the hearing, so I was putting up with it through sheer force of will after that.”

“It was that bad?”

In contrast to Diode's engaging outfit, Terra wore a green maxi dress with a brown bust. Although the ribbons adorning its sleeves and waist were intended to be as chic and lovely as possible, Terra had completely forgotten they wouldn't have the same bounce once submerged in the biofluid gel, and they were plastered to the dress instead.

Diode squinted an eye and stared at Terra for a moment before turning around and sighing. “It was that bad. I mean, I thought that of anyone, you would be aware of people looking down on others from on high like that...”

“So now you're saying it's a bad thing to be tall?”

“I wasn't talking about you. Why are you snapping at me about that?”

“Why?! Did you forget how furious you made the Clan Chief?!” Sensing that Diode's tone had gotten prickly, Terra hardened her own. “You might think it's okay because it wasn't someone you're related to, but making other people mad like that is going to cause trouble for us in the future.”

“Heh.”

“What do you mean, ‘heh’?”

“You still consider him family, even though he's like that.”

“I don't consider him to be family! I don't even like him!”

“Hmm.”

“And also... yes, getting under his skin might have been your strategy, but you didn't have to push it that far, did you? Dishcrash-san even had to apologize later. He told me, ‘His Excellency also went too far.’”

“What? Who?”

“Salem Dishcrash-san, the liaison.”

“I have no idea who that is.” Now that she mentioned it, Diode had been delivered by a different liaison. “I don't want to be told how far I should have gone after the fact, especially when it's a miracle that I managed to get into this contest with the Clan Chief. If I didn't, then the boat would have just been seized outright, I'd be deported, and you'd have to go back to looking for a husband. And anyway, to begin with, since it's you—”

“What?”

Diode had started to mumble something, but replied, “Nothing.”

Both pits fell silent. Terra began to regret the argument they just had as she reflected on it. She had blamed Diode for the Clan Chief's temper without really meaning to. That was the opposite of how she'd felt when Diode suddenly spoke up from the back of the Council Chamber. That's what I meant to say...

There were some other things Terra needed to ask, too. Just where had Diode disappeared to after the meeting? Why was she dressed like she was hard up? Well, Terra could roughly imagine the answers to that—but those answers were just her imagination, and she could imagine away. She couldn't find the resolve to actually confirm the reality of the situation.

Nine days passed like that. Eight days earlier, the Council of Elders promptly served a brief describing how their judgement by bachi orca fishing would be carried out. Terra didn't receive any word from Diode in the meantime, aside from a single minicell message reminding her to be there on time the night before they went fishing. In other words, they had compared far fewer notes than usual. Are we really going to be able to catch bachi orcas while we're like this? You'd never guess from how assertive we'd been.

“...Really, why did we pair up?”

The boat violently rocked once, even though there were no clouds at their altitude.

“Put that aside. Please prepare our tactical plan,” Diode said.

“Ah, right.”

Diode's unemotional tone came as an unexpected relief. Within moments, the boat fully entered the atmosphere, their signal to start fishing. It would have to take priority over their argument going forward.

“Fishtracking!”

Terra brought up three screens: an optical pattern scan to her right, a radar scan to the left, and a lidar scan front and center—all scans from the multi-frequency fishfinder. In water, fishing boats made use of sound, but at FBB, where fishing targets could be anywhere from several dozens to hundreds of kilometers away, they had to rely primarily on electromagnetic waves. It was an effective technique because besshu, the target of their search, contained highly reflective metallic crystal structures. However, the atmospheric properties weren't so kind as to just let electromagnetic energy pass through anything and everything.

“Currently, within a three-hundred-kilometer radius, there are forty-two besshu-like returns. Forty of those look to be things like surfers, sweet mackerel, fire mackerel and spitting trevallies... so, basically migratory fish from the surface layers.”

“Those other two big returns, are those the ones we just passed?”

“Yes. Since they're inside the big cumulus clouds, those are probably sardines or herring.”

“No luck today, huh?”

They nodded at each other. It was nice to agree on something, even if trivial.

“None of the returns resemble bachi orcas, do they?” Terra asked.

“...It might be a little late to ask, but do you know anything about them?”

“Well, if it's just the basics...” Thinking back to her textbooks, Terra explained the following: Bachi orcas were heavyweight-class besshu. Their name was taken from marine mammals of the past, and although they had a similar shape and style of movement, they nonetheless differed in a number of ways. They were distinctive in that unlike other besshu, caught by the thousands or tens of thousands, they were caught by the head. They ranged between a few dozen to a hundred meters in length. The largest individuals, surpassing the 10,000-tonne mark, were called myriatonnes. As prey, they were generally regarded as high value due to their immense resource yield but made for less-than-ideal targets due to the difficulty in hauling enough heads to efficiently turn a profit. If anything, they served more as a test of fishers' strength and courage.

Diode had a question. “Do you know how they move?”

“Vertical free-swimming mobility.”

“What's that?”

“You really don't know any of the basics, Die-san.”

“Just describe what that movement actually looks like, please.”

“By vertical free-swimming mobility, I mean that when they're swimming forwards, they can breach powerfully and dive deeply, so basically what you would call a dolphin jump!”

“Well, they splash around on the canopy of those super dense dustcloth clouds in areas where they stack up to almost twenty kilometers thick. So, they don't show up on our fishtracking unless they jump out of those stupidly thick, sooty clouds of hydrazine, red phosphorus, and bake. It's possible to track them using their splashes, but they have a tendency to dive after only three or four hops, and those hops are never consistent. Sometimes they jump right-left-left or left-right-right, so it's basically impossible to catch them like that. Back on the Tsunami Search, I saw them dodge the novices' guesses and send them plunging into the clouds instead. They're the type of besshu that remain concealed until they decide to show themselves."

“...”

“I can't speak in as much detail as you can, sorry.”

“Don't worry about it...”

Terra shrunk a little and started breaking into a cold sweat before she suddenly had an idea. “So, we should be looking for flat clouds that the fishtracking can't penetrate and post up there, right?”

Diode turned towards Terra and gave her a small grin. “That's right.”

The pillar boat had been formed into a long, narrow rifle cartridge, and tiny airfoil controls kept it slicing through the hydrogen atmosphere over a low sea of clouds at 3000 kilometers an hour. They were within a small region of one of the planet's dark belts. Off in the distance to their right, pure white cloud layers towered ten kilometers over them like a huge rampart that stretched away in both directions. Those clouds marked one of the planet's zones, but since being composed of ammonia crystals, the pair had no business there this time.

As they dropped altitude and approached the belt's dark clouds, various patterns began to take shape. Some formed along an orderly flow, some through wildly turbulent frontal collisions, and others still formed vortices where flows simply passed one another by. In the last case, they formed incredibly beautiful spirals—Terra was always enraptured by the scenes formed in the planet's clouds.

“Any prospects?”

“Ah, sorry. I was admiring the view and got distracted.”

“What? The clouds?”

“Yeah...” Terra had expected a scolding, but the girl twister said nothing.

They flew along an arc for about an hour, but sensing they weren't searching around the right clouds, Diode posed a question to Terra. “I know it's a little bit late to ask, but this is the airspace they inhabit, right?”

In the past, the Circs had deployed countless drones to get a rough sense of how besshu were distributed around the planet. Most fishers made use of the data acquired back then, so it stood to reason it was still valid here, too.

“There's no mistaking it. The Clan Chief also came down near where we did.”

“So, where is he now?”

“According to satellite, he's in the seven o'clock direction about 2,400 kilometers away. He's flying on a completely different vector, though.” If it was only the vector, an error like that was to be expected from a planet 150,000 km in diameter.

Xeon's pillar boat wasn't the only vessel displayed on the open VUI panels that surrounded Terra. More than ten boats in total had descended from Idaho alongside them, including the Council of Elders’ jury boat, a rescue boat, and boats filled with curious onlookers. It was a spectacle. It didn't stop there, either. Idaho's Council of Elders was using a substantial portion of their comm satellite's bandwidth to broadcast the trial.

“We're pretty far from the Clan Chief, and there are a lot of people around. I wonder if we can trust them not to interfere.”

“What kind of person would interfere with fishing? Would he–”

“No, I certainly don't think he would.”

Is the Clan Chief really a person we can trust? Terra was struck by her sudden doubt in his character. She had never thought anything of the sort before. She shook her head. No, no. Now's not the time to doubt others. It doesn't matter if he interferes if our fishing's not successful, does it?

Terra took command of the fishtracking and initiated the radar's Doppler scanning mode. If the assumption was that bachi orcas lived in flat cloud stacks impenetrable to electromagnetic energy, then their level surfaces must have formed where there were no vortices or disturbances to disrupt them. If that were the case, measuring the relative speeds of their target clouds with the Doppler would give them a single-band visual on the right area to look.

She found an area that fit the criteria in seconds. “Die-san, 350 kilometers away at two o'clock! How about th—uwaah!” Before she could finish, the boat swerved right. Diode was pushing her senses to the limit. The 17,000 tonne mass dove into an aileron roll.

After about five minutes, a dark, reddish-brown cloud that resembled a plateau came into view. It was shaped by three or four currents which happened to be flowing in the same direction and had become confluent. Here and there, deep rifts revealed cross-sections through the complex, delicately shaded black layers within the drifting clouds.

“I see... So this is a dustcloth cloud.”

A small teardrop-shaped bulge appeared on its surface, at first barely large enough to register. No sooner had Terra clocked the bulge rapidly swelling upwards than the smooth body of a fish breached. It glided powerfully through the unobstructed hydrogen atmosphere. Reflections sparkled brightly on its twisting, dark red back, making it look nearly transparent.

Before long, it keeled to the side and descended, creating a splash that bloomed in crown-like majesty. Terra opened a scale on her display. What initially seemed like a splash of water no larger than a pinky was actually a huge, 50-meter-wide swale rippling outwards. Two identical medium-length jumps followed before the fish finally disappeared into the cloud's depths.

“It's a bachi! Incredible, you were right!” Diode's voice livened up. “Please begin the decomp. I know ‘a net in pursuit is much like a bald head’, but all we can do is chase them. Optimize for speed when you craft your net.”

“Ah, okay!” Looks like it jumped about a kilometer, if we're playing it by ear. I wonder why they jump...? Ah, focus—how should we go about catching it? “Maybe... a tunnel net with a large mouth and wide mesh to reduce air resistance?”

“We'll want the mesh to be able to veer for the sake of making tiny adjustments. I—no, Terra-san, could you manage that?”

“Maybe we could use the boards for steering? I'll try!”

Decompression—this time, the cartridge-shaped main body was left practically unchanged, since their priority was speed and maneuverability. A faint, thin fiber spooled away from the boat's underside, knitting itself into a cylindrical net almost double the pillar boat's size. Otter boards surrounded the net's mouth like flower petals, allowing the net to open, close, and turn. Terra closed her eyes as she conveyed her thoughts to the ship, and as she was finishing up the huge encumbrance below, she felt the noticeable sensation of drag.

“...Phew. Like this?”

“Let's see.” Diode swung the boat left and right, batting the fluttering net around. “Yeah, like that. Coming from you, this is surprisingly normal.”

“Sorry the way I usually do things isn't exactly normal!”

“But isn't that your charm point? Let's go.”

The net slowed the boat below the speed of sound. Diode increased the power and flew lower. Terra turned up the radar's resolution, probing for any tiny undulations on the cloud's surface. She alerted Diode the moment it began to swell.

“It's coming! Ah, but it's heading off to our–”

“I'll turn!”

Their prey began to emerge. It crossed left to right as it surged forward, and Diode responded by using a lateral propulsor to indirectly match its trajectory. The gigantic bullet-shaped boat kicked up an S-shaped splash of muddy clouds in its wake.

Then, the bachi surfaced. It was a beautiful creature, uncannily similar to the whales of ancient Earth. The only difference was its lustrous, deep red tint. Clouds sprayed from its powerful tail as it started its long jump—but Diode couldn't attempt her catch just yet.

“Right? Err... right, probably!”

Its first jump finished, the besshu decelerated and splashed into the cloud. It raced through the next 400 meters in the shallows before surfacing once again.

“Now!”

By that point, Diode loomed uncomfortably close to the besshu as she approached from directly behind. Bam—it leapt so powerfully they felt its tail impact the cloud. Diode simultaneously maxed out the throttle to scoop up the big, powerful creature. Terra focused on the scene directly below them. Just as she stretched the net's mouth to swallow the streamlined besshu, though, it raised its right fin as if to greet them.

“Huh?”

Before she could even register that the orca had flapped one of its huge pectoral fins, the situation disintegrated into chaos. As the bachi orca keeled left, its right pectoral fin snagged in the passing net. As it began to fall forward into its dive, the long, powerful tail fin slapped the pillar boat's hull.

The physical sense of the orca's scale, which had been hard to grasp up to that moment, suddenly became tangible. Its lower half alone massed 2,000 tonnes. It was a thick, flying bundle of carbon muscle. The bachi orca had initially been moving at 1,000 kilometers per hour. When its tail smashed into the pillar boat and its lone flight propulsion jet, the boat instantly went tumbling through the clouds in an ungraceful spin that continued over nearly a dozen kilometers.

“OAAAGH!” “AAAHHH!”

The advanced boating system was able to buffer against an impact to the pits, but it was useless when the boat itself was somersaulting every which way. They blacked out from the insane tumbling, and when they came to, spent five full minutes curled up and hugging their own heads.

“...Die-san, are you okaaay...”

“Well, I'm alive.” The only thing illuminating the darkness when Terra opened her eyes was the signal lighting. Diode tinkered with the VUI, frowning. “Looks like the boat flamed out. The net tore, too. At least we didn't split apart... All right, rebooting.”

Their boat was sinking through the cloud's interior, which looked like the cotton of yore. However, since the boat was made entirely of malleable AMC clay, it was possible to recover from even disintegration so long as the people inside the pits at the boat's center were unharmed. Diode's piloting and a simple decomp from Terra quickly restored the boat to flight, and they began climbing.

Naturally, the bachi orca was nowhere to be seen when they reemerged from the cloud. Terra was dejected. “Looks like it got away.”

“Well, I guess that's what asymmetric meant.”

“But haven't you seen them before?”

“I was in the Tsunami Search. I only watched. This is my first time attempting to catch them.”

“And you still picked a fight like this in spite of that?!”

“Well, I thought it would be an easy win since I'd be with you, you know?”

As she said that, a spinning planet icon popped up on the VUI and a robotic voice announced, “Trial boat to Terra Intercontinental Endeavour. This is to notify you Xeon Highhertz has caught his first head of bachi orca. Length 81 meters. Inertial mass 8500 tonnes.” The two fell completely silent. “The condition you must fulfill for a judgement of superiority is to exceed Xeon's catch in mass. The judging period will conclude once the trial boat marks sunset. —However, we observed your boat crash just now. Do you require rescue?”

Terra felt a bit of emotion in those last few words, but maybe that was just her imagination. It was nothing more than a standard phrase.

“This is Diode speaking. Rescue is unnecessary. We will continue with our fishing.”

“Understood.”

The communication cut. Diode spread her arms and upped the throttle. “Make the net's opening twice as large, please. We'll take on more than 10,000 tonnes of load instantly, so set an automatic disposal function, too.”

“O-okay.”

What would be the best shape for the net?—As she pondered that, Terra suddenly understood why Xeon had kept his distance from them.

Four hours passed without catching anything.

Bachi orcas were asymmetric jumpers, which meant they displayed a behavior of jumping three times. They followed a right-left-left pattern at some times, a left-right-right one at others. However, the two realized the harsh truth behind the pattern as they actually took on the challenge. Fundamentally, they had no way to tell whether the next jump would go left or right.

They couldn't figure out why they couldn't tell, either. The two encountered and lunged for the bachi orcas time and again, observing them from nose to Ψ-shaped tail (a shape that was apparently called a “bachi” in an ancient language) from point-blank range. No matter which sign they picked up on, the following jump never went the direction they expected.

“Did you see any veterans while you were in the Tsunami Search?”

“I did, but it's not like I know how they chose.”

“And you don't happen to have any acquaintances who would?”

“If I did, I wouldn't have washed up here with the Endeavours.”

“Sorry this clan really only knows about sophistry and selfish, capricious decisions!”

“That's not what I said, though?”

Fishing with their strained mood hadn't been successful. Resorting to force-feeding the orcas into an ill-suited net simply tore it when the orca keeled like it did on their first attempt. Since right and left were the only possibilities when it did keel, it should have been a 50-50 call, but for some reason they hadn't made a single correct guess.

“Xeon Highhertz has caught his fifth head of bachi orca. Length 69 meters—” Coming only a dozen or so minutes after the last, the unwanted announcement from the judging boat only deepened their anxiety. It would be nice to dismiss those announcements as a hoax or bluff, but since they could be verified through the video stream on the general broadcast frequency, they probably weren't.

“Why don't we watch the broadcast, Die-san?”

“You want to steal our opponent's secret technique in the heat of battle?!”

“Since when was this a battle? I think if they're showing it in public, then there's no issue with watching it.”

“But if they're showing it openly, then there's no secret to see!” Diode stubbornly resisted the temptation to do some scouting, but her resolve wavered around the time Xeon made his seventh catch. “Let's watch,” she said, finally yielding.

A minute was all it took to understand. The gently curved tracks left by both Xeon's pillar boat and his prey were clearly visible on the cloud's surface in the video captured by the high-altitude broadcast boat. They realized why the orcas veered left or right the moment the broadcast recapped of all seven of Xeon’s catches.

“The orca's wake...?!”

“We got too close. We would have noticed that immediately if we were watching from a higher vantage point!”

“I never had that view from the Tsunami Search. There was nothing to hide, it's probably just fundamental knowledge. Since the orcas are leaving that sort of wake," Diode said, looking up with a pained expression, "it means they're changing direction with their ventral fins. We couldn't see that from directly above.”

“Even though whales don't have anything like a ventral fin?!”

“Whales? What are those?” Diode had found the issue. Bachi orcas were indisputably besshu. They weren't the mammalian whales—introduced to multiple planets in the Galactive Interactive from Earth—that Terra was well-acquainted with from photo books.

“Xeon Highhertz has caught his eighth head of bachi orca—” The transmission echoed. Terra faced upwards inside the slow-flying pillar boat, floating limp from exhaustion. We flaunted our skill like veterans before we took on a challenge we knew nothing about. That was shameless of us. Xeon's braggadocio seems to be the real deal, unlike ours. He's caught seven—no, eight heads. That's not the kind of know-how you get just from watching. I forgot besshu aren't whales, too. I can't blame Diode for that, I should have known that already.

Terra moved on from those thoughts. Returning her attention to the broadcast, she saw that Xeon's piloting obviously wasn't bad, but it wasn't outstanding, either. It was a very mature style: everything necessary, and only what was necessary. Diode's piloting was lively, even brash, in comparison. It was something—how do I put it? It's exciting—much better. I don't want this girl's skill going to waste.

“Die-san.”

“What is it?”

“Why can't you catch it?”

“Are you trying to pick a fight?”

“I'm not trying—no, let's stop this.” Terra exhaled a sigh and raised her head. “Sorry, I phrased that badly. Die-san, to me, you're a genius. Despite that, you haven't caught anything. So, I assumed there's a reason I didn't pick up on.”

Diode reclined against an armrest in the pit's interior, as if she were gazing out at the distant sky. Then she sighed before saying, “I'm sorry, too. I lost it.”

“It's okay.”

“The reason I can't catch them is... well, they avoid us right before the splash.”

“Avoid us...”

Diode spun her whole body around. Terra moved closer to listen. “They're not like the small fish. It's like they're predicting our next move instead of simply fleeing.”

“They're watching us, then?”

“Seems like it. Maybe they have eyes—They react when I trim the aileron or use the side thrusters. But we can't avoid using those, since they're our only way to steer.”

“Ah, then that was an issue caused by our current form. If that's the case, then maybe we could trick them by putting the rudder they can't see it from below? We could even attach a surface piercing thruster to the hull to make us look like a fellow bachi breaching with a raised dorsal fin.”

“That sounds good,” Diode replied, her gaze fixed on Terra, “but even if that works, we can't beat him anymore.” Diode looked off the side. On the distant horizon, the sun had begun to set through the thick atmosphere. FBB's short day was coming to an end. “Imitating him won't work at all. We have to abandon the fundamentals. What if we increased the number of nozzles and chased them at double speed? No... we'd run out of fuel and lose the ability to carry our catch... what if we rushed at them head-on and collided while passing them? No... if we collide too fast the boat will break up...”

Diode's desperate brainstorming reminded Terra of how she looked at the beer hall, when she showed the fragility of that strong face she put on. Diode may have looked and acted experienced, but she was still only 18 years old. Why did I pair up with this girl?—Terra had taken a liking to the way Diode gave everything her all. That's right, I forgot. She's been like this from the moment we met, even before we went fishing.

Diode turned towards Terra and lashed out. “What are you smiling at, Terra-san?! Think through this together with me!”

Terra unintentionally burst into laughter. “Die-san, you're so desperate.”

“What?! What are you saying? WHAT are you saying?!”

“I think it's nice that you're like this.”

“What are you sayinggg...” Diode's shouting trailed off as her shock lost its momentum. Her shoulders drooped.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh.” With that apology, Terra returned to her thoughts. “So, our problem has been finding a hint about how to do this, right? I don't know if it’s a path forward, but… there’s something I've been wondering about for a while.”

“What is it? At this point...”

“It's ‘why do they jump like that?’”

“Aren't they chasing prey?”

“Do they look like they're chasing prey?”

“Now that you mention it...”

Terra nodded as Diode gently shook her head. “It doesn't, does it? Dolphins on Earth don't have a specific reason to jump like that. They do it just for fun, and I think they do it as a group. But well, bachi aren't dolphins or whales, are they?”

“Right.”

“And besshu eat each other, right?”

Diode raised an eyebrow, “Right.”

“And they don't look like they're eating. So, what if it's the opposite?” Their eyes met. Diode's breath caught as Terra looked into her dark blue eyes.

Before long, the girl's long eyelashes shot up as her eyes opened wide. “So, there's something behind them?”

“There has to be something, right? And at this rate, I'm not sure if—”

“It doesn't matter if it's useful or a waste of time, let's fish for it?”

Now it was Terra's turn to freeze at an incredibly direct proposal. “S...so it comes down to this?”

“Comes down to what? Did you not have fishing in mind when you brought that up?”

“No, I'm just feeling a little rattled...”

“Let's fish,” Diode firmly stated before turning her back to Terra. She expanded the VUI panel once again and accelerated the boat. “I'm going to take us there, but I'm trusting you to catch it.”

“H–how?”

“It's your job to think of a way. No, actually, to imagine a way.” Diode looked at Terra and gave her the day's best smile. “You can do whatever you want. I'll definitely fly all out, so please decompress with everything you've got.”

“Only a few seconds remain to sunset. Ten—five, four, three, two, one. The day has ended. The judgement is complete.”

“Phew! It's over.”

The twister Xeon Highhertz Endeavour turned his pillar boat away from the twilight. He had been setting up to chase the last head, but time ran out just before he reached the approach. Still, he was certain his catch had been sufficient.

“Pohi, how many did I catch?”

“A total of 11 heads massing 69,100 tonnes,” his decomper—in other words, his wife—Pohi Nootka replied bluntly. “You certainly were enthusiastic, even though it wasn't necessary to go all out with it.”

“It was necessary to teach impertinent kids like them the difference in our power. Besides, I didn't go all out, I would say this was a mere 70% effort.”

“Well, you are childish like that.” Pohi turned away. Although she said that, she still played her role of a proper decomper. That is fine—thought Xeon. Those two should be like Pohi and do as they're told. Yet, despite the fact they stood to lose nothing by doing just that...

“Clan Chief, may I inquire as to Your Excellency's results?”

“Not bad, Salem.”

Xeon reported his results to the liaison in the trial boat as soon as contact had been established. Pohi butted in before they could finish.

“Salem, how did it go for those girls?”

“Their final catch was one head.”

“I see...”

“They put on that huge production, and that's all they have to show for it?!” Pohi shut her mouth as Xeon burst into laughter. “I watched the broadcast myself in the middle of it, but it looked more as if they were testing a number of things. Did they discover how the bachi can see us?”

“That was not the case, but Your Excellency does understand the workings, no?”

“Of course. I would not be able to catch them if I didn't.”

Bachi orcas have infrared vision—that was the conclusion Xeon reached after many years of experience. The radar frequencies were not able to penetrate through dirty air like in dustcloth clouds, but a band of infrared waves could. Since the pillar boat is visible at those wavelengths, it was possible to trick the orcas by cooling the bottom of the pillar boat. That prevented the orcas from noticing they'd made a mistake until the very last second, massively improving the odds of a successful catch. It was a secret technique, one he kept from rookies and close friends alike.

“So we shall be seizing their boat. It seems this will be a very unsatifying conclusion for them.”

“Then that is your decision. However, Your Excellency... there is one detail, if you would allow me to explain?”

“What?”

“The catch they brought in, that single head of bachi orca, weighs approximately 58,000 tonnes.”

Xeon was speechless.

“Heeh...!” Pohi squealed, leaning forward. “58,000? That isn't a mistake? My, my. Doesn't that surpass last year's weight record? Maybe even the year before last?”

“It is an all-time weight record, Madam. The record mass before today was 14,600 tonnes.”

“Oh my, oh my! What now, dear?”

Xeon shooed off his wife, who seemed inexplicably merry, and spoke to the liaison, “Whether in mass or in numbers, I am victorious. Am I correct?”

“It is as you say, Your Excellency.”

“Then, there should be no questions.”

“Yes, that is true. However, following Your Excellency's instructions, their catch of the 58,000 tonne bachi orca was broadcast to the entirety of Circs. Thus far, they have recieved commendations from the Jack-of-All-Trades and Radenvijaya clan seats on the Council of Elders. Conversely, Gendō clan has filed a declaration that they intend to rescue the maiden that we, the ‘crafty Endeavour clan’, set up as a twister, using any means necessary.”

“Gendō or the like have nothing to do with me!” Yell as Xeon might, he still recognized that the situation had turned into a mess. Punishing fishers officially commended by other clans would call his own abilities into question. Circs routinely received excessive praise and criticism regarding their abilities, but it was unwise to ignore the commendations. The Gendō declaration, though, could be safely ignored. It was a groundless accusation based on a misunderstanding, and Xeon might as well be admitting to their claim if he turned over the girl named Diode.

“So, they think I'll completely change my stance and praise that little missy to death just because of a commendation? I absolutely will not!”

“Indeed, it is true you would not. Therefore, for now I believe you should proceed with the punishment agreed upon from the beginning.”

Xeon ground his teeth, his expression souring as he noticed what his liaison Dishcrash was hinting at. “It does not matter what you believe, nor do the beliefs of what the other Elders expect to gain from this. However, if a more satisfactory compromise is available, I will not oppose it.”

“So, what you mean to say is he can deal with it.”

“Be silent!” Xeon yelled at Pohi, who had butted in, then gave a signal with his eyes.

“Very well then, if you will excuse me.” Dishcrash cut the communication. The Clan Chief was ultimately uninterested in what his liaison did or didn't do.

“Hey, Die-san, what do you think all that was about just now? What do you think? Hey!”

“Well, who knows, I don't know anything about those unknown messages sent by unknown Elders.”

At the exit of Idaho's arrival terminal, a tall, excited woman was attempting to detain a small, dejected woman in conversation. They wore jumpers and pants like they had just finished a neighborhood stroll, but the subject of their conversation was nowhere near that casual.

“Dishcrash-san said, ‘to follow the ruling, we will seize the boat at first, however–’. He said, ‘however’! He even winked! It must mean something like that, right? It's definitely something good, isn't it?”

“I said that I don't know.”

“Huh, really?! By the way, Die-san, why are you so down about this? Our catch weighed 58,000 tonnes! 58,000 tonnes! Bonus-san's soul left his body when we tried to haul it through the fish gate, didn't it?! Wasn't that a huge triumph?! There really was an even bigger monster chasing the bachi, it was so chilling! But you were like, zoooom! And then woooom! Then we just gulped it down!”

“Seriously, can you please stop acting like an idiot in public?!” Diode shouted at Terra, who was being loud and stretching her arms wide, and bared her small fangs as she rushed out of the lobby. In fact, the arrival terminal was packed with people who had seen the broadcast and rushed in to get a peek at the historic catch as it was processed into resources.

“Die-san!” This time, Terra was going to make sure that she couldn't run away. She slinked after the girl, keeping pace with Diode from behind exactly like a wolf would stalk its prey. “Sorry, I was only thinking about what we might have accomplished. I got carried away.”

“I could tell that much, at least...”

“But I think Dishcrash-san really can live up to our expectations. He promised he wouldn't tell anyone else, since the way we caught the bachi is our own secret method!”

Diode used the microgravitational ambient, a condition spanning to the outskirts of Fisherman's Wharf, to kick off into midair. Grabbing onto plumbing, she turned around. “Listen!”

“Yeah?”

“You keep going on about Dishcrash this, Dishcrash that. It's annoying!”

“It does kind of sound like crashing dishes.”

“He doesn't matter one bit. You're really the incredible one here, don't you think?!”

“Huh?”

“When that 140-meter-long besshu went like ‘zoooom’ right before our eyes, when you ‘woooomed’ at it with the decomp, and when you ‘gulped it down’ with the entire boat, all of that was something I had never seen before. I've never even heard of anything like it! Aren't tension and release opposites? Are you some kind of freak that produces adrenaline and oxytocin at the same time?!”

“I don't even get the meaning of that insult.”

“At any rate!” Diode gulped, returning to a neutral expression before continuing, “I did not have the courage to go after another one of those beasts while we were already carrying the one we had. In the end, we lost and it was my fault.”

“Is that why you're so down?”

“I mean, I picked that fight.”

“Not really.” Terra gently smiled and extended her hand. “We picked that fight. It made me happy to hear what you said back then.”

“Terra-san...” Upon seeing Terra's extended hand, Diode grimaced. “Why didn't you tell me sooner?! Instead of going on about the Clan Chief being angry or whatever...”

“I'm sorry I wasn't honest with you... I felt like that was something that also needed to be said since I'm older. Thank you, though.”

“Ngh...” Hanging her head, Diode accepted Terra's hand. It looked like she wasn't going to run away anymore. Her hand is so small. Terra felt it. Diode's fingers were small and slender, but they moved with the speed and accuracy of an ancient pianist when she operated the boat. It was an incredibly strong, cute hand. When the girl took her hand the night they first met, it had been cold as ice. Even now—no. Now it's warm. Blood flowed through it, radually warming it up a little.

A familiar scent of smoked medicinal herbs faintly wafted from her body. Her downcast face turned away. An ear peeked through silver hair. The moment Terra caught sight of it, she felt warmth gently spreading from the hot water tap that had just burst open in her breast. Mm...?

“Um, Die-san.”

“...Yes?” Her response was faint, barely a whisper. Terra leaned in and replied with a whisper of her own.

“Why don't you come with me and stay at my place?”

“Why...?”

“Why?” A reason, a reason... Ah, there's one. “Die-san, you've been living rough, haven't you?”

Diode's slender shoulders jumped in surprise. When she turned to Terra, her face was flushed with shame. “...So I've been found out?”

“Call it intuition, since you were dressed like a boy back at the meeting with the Council of Elders. That must mean you're sleeping somewhere a girl really shouldn't.”

“......”

“I should have noticed right after the Bow Awow ended, since you weren't staying in any of our ship's hotels.” And that's when I should have gone looking for you, without any weird hang-ups. “Where have you been crashing? Under the cleaning duct basin? In the food ingredient composting area? Or–”

“Well... whether the Bow Awow was happening or not, whether it was with the JTs or Endeavours, if I need sleep, I'll make one of those places work some way or another,” Diode mumbled with an embarrassed look. “They'd be pretty unimaginable to you, so I'd prefer if you didn't imagine them in the first place...”

“What... is that supposed to mean?”

“That it wasn't somewhere decent.”

“Then that's bad, isn't it?! Please! Stay at my place!”

“But the Council of Elders is about to send out a deportation order.”

“They probably won't. No, even if they do send one, we'll refuse it!”

“There's no use...” Diode said, gently letting go of the hand that had been holding hers. It looked like something had suddenly come to mind. “Listen, Terra-san, there's something I'd like to ask you.”

“Yes?”

“Are you always so eager to invite strangers to come stay with you?”

“Absolutely not,” Terra said, shaking her head. “Die-san, you aren't a stranger, you know?”

Looking slightly downward, Diode immediately asked, “Then, what am I to you?”

A heavy package had finally arrived.

If we're not strangers, then... just what are we? Coworkers? Friends? Accomplices? Partners? All of those felt a little off the mark. Terra was troubled by the way those terms didn’t apply and felt the reasons why they didn’t were extremely important.

“For now, we share a boat.” Terra carefully placed that heavy package on a shelf for the time being. “You and I both absolutely need each other. So, don't you think it would be nice to live somewhere where we can easily reach one another?”

Diode's eyes wandered about for a few seconds before she sighed. “Yeah.” She nodded one, two, three times. “You're probably right, since you might suddenly disappear on me.”

“Isn't it the other way around?”

“You think?”

They looked into one another's eyes, studying the other’s feelings. Their eyes said, I think that's fine—probably.

“Yeah I... don't think that will be the case,” Terra said.

“Me neither.”

“You're the one who's most at risk, of course.”

“Yeah, no doubt.”

“So, taking all of that into consideration and thinking strategically, why don't you come live together with me?”

Terra could tell the expression Diode wore was to mask her feelings. Diode slowly nodded. “All right. There really is no other choice.”

8

“Here's the guest room!"

“No thanks.” Terra's offer of a warm twin bedroom near the living room of her Year 120 Ring residence met with flat rejection. Diode wandered around, warily scanning the plentiful spacious rooms within the aging colony residence. Venturing deep into the attic, she found a panel in the ceiling that accessed the plumbing space and set her rucksack down. “I'll sleep here.”

“Why here?! It's dark, cramped, and dusty! Huh, to think there's actually a place like this in my home.”

“A space not even the homeowner knew about. It's the perfect hideout.”

“Hideout? But you're a guest...”

“Stop with the guest treatment, please, it's creating a huge burden where there isn't one,” Diode replied with an annoyed tone, her cold gaze locked on Terra. “I'm just a homeless twister freeloading here because there's no other option. You don’t need to provide me with anything except this space and some water.”

“I wouldn’t do something that cruel! Are you a stray cat?!"

“What's a staycat?”

“It's an animal from a long time ago. I'll show you a photo book later.”

“Oh, yeah. Absolutely do.”

“Anyway, I can provide you with three square meals, clothes and a shared shower! Ah, right, the Gendō–” Terra grew nervous as she remembered something. "I heard that instead of having individual rooms, your clan has a custom of... getting into heated pools? As a big naked crowd...? Or something like that. So, I was wondering, perhaps it's the same with you? Like you can’t... Unless you get in with me...?”

Getting into a pool with nude strangers was beyond Terra's experience and for that matter, everyone else's in the Endeavour clan. Whether it was with the same sex, the other sex, or even as parent and child, it just didn’t happen.

Do they really do that kind of thing?

“Thank you for the concern, but that's a misunderstanding,” Diode replied, seemingly uncomfortable with the conversation. "Yes, it's true we have a custom of communal bathing back there, but we don’t need anyone to go in with us. We put up with it because the bathhouse is a convenient structure, really. Don’t worry about it, I don’t do that anywhere else.”

“Ah, so that's how it is?”

So they really do that! They really do that!—Although Terra felt relief, she still had to restrain herself from imagining that unsettling situation.

Diode spoke bluntly. “Basically, I'd like to avoid physical contact as much as possible. I can also use the coin printers in town to get food and a change of fresh clothes outside, and there's probably an exhaust vent with access to the outside passageway buried up here. You can pretend I'm not even here.”

“Whyyy?! OWWW–” Having gotten worked up, Terra bumped her head on the attic's low ceiling and doubled over in pain. “Owww... My head...”

“What are you doing?”

“Why are you avoiding me?” Terra muttered, still crouching and holding her head. “Is it because I'm too big?”

“Huh?”

“Am I scary because I'm big?” She looked at the ceiling, and then at Diode, who was considerably lower than it. “That's why, isn’t it? Even though I'm this big I didn't hesitate to jump into a cramped space like this. Of course that scared you. I cornered you like prey.”

“No, that isn’t...”

“And now that I think about it, the way things went with this wasn’t very good, either. I forcibly dragged you here, pressured you into accepting room and board, and there was that bit about being naked... Ah, this is bad. I kidnapped you. This is abduction and confinement.”

“Kidnapped? No...”

Terra glanced sideways at the bewildered-looking Diode, then backed away and started to make her way back downstairs while pressing her forehead. “I'll go cool my head a bit. Help yourself to anything...”

“Terra-san, wait! Don’t overthink this and go jumping to conclusions, please. Stay!”

“Stay?” Terra suddenly stopped, with only her face visible from the opening. “What is it?”

“Um, well, you see...” Troubled, Diode kneaded her fingertips before she finally sighed and admitted the truth. "It's not like that.”

“Wha?”

“I'm not scared of you. Your size doesn’t scare me, Terra-san. Actually, your being big and soft is really ni...”

“What?”

“Nothing. I'm only asking you not to think of your size as a bad thing. I don’t see this as you kidnapping me or anything, either...”

“Really?! Then come stay downstairs, won’t you?” Terra's face instantly brightened. As she began scrambling back up, Diode pushed her head back down with both hands, fangs bared.

“Distance! DIS! TANCE! Don’t just suddenly corner me like that!"

“Ow! Owww! That hurts, Die-san! It hurts there!"

The Year 120 Ring, as the name implies, was added in CC 120. That meant that it was a very old layer, with 180 years having passed since its construction. The donut-shaped Idaho was constantly spinning, and it was constantly expanding, too. Its expansion proportionately moved full gravity towards the outer floors. The business district had migrated to the 1g floors on the outskirts, far from the Year 120 Ring and its 0.5g environment. The ring had grown quiet as its population declined. Without her family around anymore, Terra's home had grown quiet, too.

“You live alone, Terra-san? In a house this big?”

Diode sat on the living-dining sofa in the living room with a cup in hand, looking around at the furnishings. While Terra was aware this was one of the neighborhood's nicer residences, it wasn’t anything particularly special. Still, Diode was restless, seemingly not used to a space like it.

Terra sat facing the table. She nodded. “Yeah, I am. Nobody's come to chase me out.”

“Well, I'm not too worried about that sort of thing, but your parents... they passed away, didn’t they?” She hesitated a little. "What I mean is, I'm just wondering if it's really okay for me to be here..”

“Ah, you're worried about that? It's fine, it's already been five—no, six years.”

“Terra-san, you shouldn't be worrying about how I feel about this."

Terra watched Diode's face closely as she said that, then quietly nodded. “Then... I'll be honest with you. My parents were a twister and decomper pair like us. While I remember times I made them angry, it never escalated to verbal abuse. They were good parents. They took a weeklong resort trip to FBB's water moon Tova while I holed up to focus on my cruise school graduation and distributor specialization exams. They were struck by ice bombs from a fluke cryovolcanic eruption on their way back.”

“Their kid was going through a critical time like that and they were out goofing off–”

“Ah, you don’t have to get angry about it.” Terra desperately waved her hands around as Diode started standing up. “I suggested it so I could study quietly by myself.”

“Ahh.”

“Since they were fishers, they should have gone in their pillar boat, don’t you think? If they did, ten or even twenty ice bombs could have smashed into them and they'd still be unharmed. But they took a sightseeing ship since it had good service. They were on the kind of ship that has flimsy shielding to look nice.”

“Well, it's not exactly proper to take a fishing boat to a resort, you know...”

“And then—bam! That was how they ended up.”

“My condolences.”

“It's impossible not to regret sending them, knowing that's how things turned out. But like you said, it would have been silly to go there in a pillar boat. They couldn’t have predicted a cryoeruption. There was nothing they could do, I guess... That's–" Terra cut her sentence short and smiled at Diode, who looked even more downcast than she did. "So, I'm just happy someone else is here now. Really, there's no need to hold yourself back, okay?”

“Got it,” Diode said, looking up. “Still, I thought you'd have someone to rely on. A helper, a robot, or even a man.”

“I'm not married. I don’t know any guys like that.” Terra waved her hand, laughing. Diode gave her an odd look.

“I don’t think that will be completely true from now on.”

“Why? I'm still unmarried.”

“Well, yes, but–” Diode took a sip of her hot cocoa-like, then whispered, “Aren’t you going to try getting married again?”

“Well, I wonder about that...” Terra sharply tilted her neck to the right. “Ah, I only just realized we're famous now thanks to the trial. So, there would be more partner candidates from now on, wouldn’t there?”

“And since that's the case, don’t you think they'll be a bunch of old men just like Clan Chief Xeon?”

“Ugh.” Terra's face stiffened reflexively. “That's... probably the kind of person they'll be.”

“They will,” Diode quickly asserted. “Before now, your partners thought you were undependable because you couldn’t work as a decomper, right? Since that's probably been proven false, you're going to catch attention from prominent twisters. And just who do you think those twisters are? Veterans with plenty of experience—old men, in other words.”

“Nngh...” Terra sharply tilted her neck again, this time to the left. “So, someone like Clan Chief-san. Someone like that is... a bit... I think I'd prefer someone closer to my age if possible...”

“Uh, Terra-san,” Diode said, bringing her knees together and sitting up. “If I'm going to stay here, I'd like you to clear something up for me.”

“What's that?”

“You don’t like men much, do you?”

“Ahh.” Terra laughed evasively and tilted her neck back to the right. “Ahaha, so that's what you want to know about? Is that what it looks like?”

“It doe—what if I said that was what it looked like? Would I be wrong?”

“Hmm...” Terra tilted her neck to the left again, then suddenly stood and walked around the table. Looking down at Diode she asked, “May I sit next to you?”

“S-sure,” Confused, Diode nodded. She shrunk into the sofa's corner with her cup held in both hands.

Terra started to speak as her large bottom settled beside Diode. “Back when I was still a student, I got touched a lot.”

“...What?”

“By boys. Like, getting slapped on my chest or butt.” Terra tapped her bust and hips on the loose shirt and tights she wore. “I've always had a habit of bumping into things, ever since I was a kid. It's like I'm bigger than my surroundings, so they just end up being in the way. And well, that was fine as a kid, but in middle and high cruise school that habit invited a lot of issues.”

Terra felt like she was talking through a forced smile. Bringing up that issue had been mistaken for boasting before, so she spoke as gently as possible to make it clear she wasn’t. The loud clatter of a cup being set on the table suddenly startled her.

“Woah!"

Diode quickly stood and scanned the room with sharp, watchful eyes before sitting back down and grabbing both of Terra's hands. “Terra-san... Why did you come sit here just now?”

“...Huh?”

“Was it because you would feel uncomfortable if you were being watched or if other people overheard you?” Terra blinked. She realized Diode was right. “You sounded incredibly distressed by what you just said, Terra-san. You know it was absolutely appalling, don’t you?”

Her gaze was gentle, and the care in her look was as if she were asking Terra if she had already forgotten what happened last month. Terra didn’t dwell much on those incidents, so she closed her eyes and tried to recall the past. Was this back during the in-ship warming season? Or had it been the hot season already?

She had a memory of walking around with a crowd during a season for light shirts. There were only two girls, while lots of boys surrounded her on both sides as they played around. She remembered the sticky, sweaty touch of their skin and the overpowering smell of it. Terra gradually recalled the formless weight and pressure that surrounded her in those days, and more than anything, didn’t like the thought of talking about any of this.

“...Ah.” Goosebumps crept across Terra's shoulders and up the nape of her neck. Her smile crumpled. “Maybe that's true, now that you mention it. I don't exactly think they're pleasant memories, but they’re nothing I can't handle–”

“They’re nothing you can't handle, but you think of them as experiences you don’t want to go through again, right?”

“Isn't that just how things are?!”

“That's not how things are.” Terra blinked. Diode's dark blue eyes stared directly at her through narrowed eyelids. “Plenty of women are eager to be involved with men, and they don't exactly hate men touching them. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just that there are also women who don’t feel that way but convince themselves that’s only because they don’t know how to deal with men. It would be helpful if they realized that's not the reason. It’s that they're different.” Terra's wide-open green eyes reflected in those dark blue eyes. “Although people might not want to hear you bring this up, it's okay for you to talk about it with me.”

“...”

“Did I miss the mark?”

“No... So... what you're saying about marriage... is... that I don't really want to...”

“Could you be more specific?”

“I don’t want to get married.” Terra looked around in surprise at the clarity of her words. In all her 24 years, those words had never even strung themselves together in her head. Now that she had spoken them, she understood the feeling with the same clarity as reading it in print. “I don’t want to get married... Um no, I didn’t mean tha–”

“All right, Terra-san.” Diode lightly patted her lap and asked, “Could you put your head here?”

“Huh?” Confused, Terra timidly curled her large frame to lay down in the tiny lap. “L-like this?”

“Yes.” Her face was firmly pressed against Diode's stomach. “Okay, now say that one more time.”

“I don’t wannaaaa get marriiiiieeed...” Terra said, tightly embracing the slender belly. She somehow grasped that was how she truly felt.

“I understand. There, there.” Diode draped her small body across Terra's shoulder. She was airy, slender, and warm, with only a hint of softness. The smoky, exotic herbal scent Terra always noticed around Diode filled her sinuses. It was an incredibly comforting sensation. Terra gently snuggled closer as her mind buzzed with that sudden new realization. She took a deep breath. One more breath, then another. She relaxed with a deep sigh.

“...Die-fuaan.”

“Yes?”

“This might be a weird request but... Would it be okay to stay like this for just a little longer?” Terra's cheeks resting on Diode's abs in just the right way to feel them tense.

After a moment, Diode slowly contracted her diaphragm before she oozed in a low, controlled voice, “Yes, for as long as you want.”

Terra shifted her hips and settled her head on Diode's lap. She kept her face buried there for a little bit. Before long, she sat up again sluggishly, straightened her hair, and looked away. She seemed to be stuck in a daze, her mind cluttered with confusing thoughts.

Diode remarked, “I think that clears up one thing.”

“...What's that?”

Terra turned around. Diode was also brushing her silver hair with her hands, like she was trying to hide her emotions. Her eyes met Terra's as she calmly asked, “My touching you wasn’t unpleasant, was it?”

“Ah. N-no. It looks like I don’t mind it, as long as it’s you.”

“That's good,” she said, turning more fully towards Terra. The usual nervousness was gone from the porcelain beauty of her face. She wore an unmistakably cheerful smile. “That's good, Terra-san.”

“Y-yes. Thank... you...?”

Although relieved, Terra remained confused. What was up with me just now? It's li-like I—what was I doing?

“So, if that's how it is, I won’t hold back either.” Diode poked at her palm before she brought the back of her hand to Terra's and tapped. A satisfying metallic chime played. It was the minicell's deposit sound.

Terra looked at her palm in astonishment. “Wh-What's this?! Huh? How many digits was that?”

“Well, since I started feeling okay with accepting your offer to live here, I decided to pay rent.”

“Rent? But isn’t this everything you earned today? You don’t even need to pay like this—wait, is that where things were headed just now?!"

“Yes, it was. For me, at least.” Diode nodded, tucking a sofa cushion under each arm. Before leaving, she said, “I'll be taking these. Good night.”

“Good... night?” Terra was left there in a daze, like she had just woken up from a dream.

They hadn’t discussed cohabitation, only shared a strange moment that ended just as quickly as it began. And yet, Terra understood that discussion wasn’t what they needed, it was a moment like the one that had just passed between them.

Warmth gradually rose in her cheeks and ears.

“Huh? Uhh...?”

Terra hid her face in her hands.

The silver-haired girl, who had looted two cushions for the attic despite her initial reluctance to be taken in, changed her behavior afterwards. She gradually began straying further into the territory downstairs, coming in and going out by way of air vents somewhere.

Her daytime incursions were frequent. Terra was notified about them by minicell while she was at her day job. Much like ships had the Boating System, residences had a Dwelling System with their own sensor interface. The Dwelling System let the owner know if doors opened while the house was supposed to be vacant, reported who walked by in the corridor, and monitored details like electricity and oxygen usage.

The transformation in the notifications recieved by Terra's minicell due to New Resident #01 fascinated her.

For starters, Diode printed 100 meters of nylon, the same length of double-sided tape, and dozens of contraceptives using the dressing room printer. She then watched as Diode printed some recycled cloth scraps, a 15-liter container, water, and ethanol, struggling to piece together what she was doing. Confusing Terra even more, she stole fifteen cushions from various places around the house. In addition to the cushions, Diode also stole shoes, a frame, a pen, an emergency button and an antique tightsuit.

It wasn’t long before Terra figured out how the recycled cloth and container were being used. Diode was soaking the cloth in the water-filled container, wringing it out to remove the excess moisture, and using it to scrub the attic. This ancient method of bucket and cloth cleaning, zoukingake, was something Terra had only seen in photo books. Diode had no choice but to manually clean the attic herself, since she couldn’t get back upstairs with the cleaning tools from downstairs. However, zoukingake struck Terra as the kind of thing Diode would not learn voluntarily, so no doubt she had been forced to learn it.

Terra didn’t know much about contraceptives, so she looked them up in the archive. Diode hadn’t printed the usual seminal duct blockers or meiosis inhibitors, and Terra was shocked to learn that primitive rubber products like that even existed. Diode was going into sketchy places with those contraceptives, and although when and where she used them was up to her, Terra felt a turbulent emotion she didn’t understand when she imagined how they might be used.

No, she's definitely using them for some kind of craftwork! That's what the other print jobs seemed to be for, too, Terra firmly told herself.

Then, one morning on a workday while Terra was preparing breakfast, Diode materialized beside her. “Are you heating that?”

“Ugwah!” Terra looked down at her hip and saw Diode standing there.

She was examining the object in Terra's hand. Diode looked up, greeted her with, “Good morning,” and quietly bowed. She wore a gray sweater and had her hair up. Everything about her gave the strong impression that she actually lived there.

So she can look like that too. While Terra was distracted by watching Diode, her companion focused on something else.

“Kind of a peculiar tool you're using.”

Terra's gaze returned to her hands. She had printed flour paste between two rectangular metal plates held together by a hinge. The tool, which had its own special power cord, was incredibly hot. Savory smoke rose from it as the paste sizzled.

“It's a nichrome hotplate. It uses electricity to heat up. My father refined it himself.”

“Nichrome? You mean nickel and chrome alloy? Woah.”

“Haha, it was a hobby of his.”

Terra couldn’t help but laugh at the shock on Diode's face. Nickel and chrome were both scarce in orbit around the gas giant, and only a miniscule amount was extracted from besshu. In Idaho, one wouldn’t expect to see it outside of the natural history reference room or on the Council of Elders' walls. Put another way, she might as well have been cooking with gold.

“Why do you have that ?”

“So, you know how fire laws limit ovens to restaurants and only allow residences to have dish printers? This was built with the aim of splitting the difference.”

Terra finished cooking and served the crisp, spongy bun on two AMC porcelain plates, steaming hot. Diode's sudden appearance had given Terra cause to cut it in half. She offered it to the girl, who had been salivating from the moment she smelled it.

Diode took one clean bite, then chewed and nodded in approval at the same time. “...Mm diph... is ohwn par wif a rephtwant...”

“It does have that crispy-soft feel to it.”

It wasn’t just bread-like—it also had cheese-like and bacon-like melted between the buns. The ingredients had the characteristic mouthfeel of food from the molecular dish printer, but Terra's cooking at a constant 75°C imparted it with next-level flavor. It helped Terra successfully conquer Diode's stomach. After that, she was much more likely to appear at mealtimes.

Terra was happy Diode was gradually drawing closer. At the same time, though, it made her feel anxious and confused. It was like being lost in a city she was familiar with. —Just what are we doing here? If she had to explain to others, Terra could say she was putting a roof over the head of her boat's pilot because she had nowhere else to go. There was no point in trying to hide it, because the Council of Elders itself made clear it would come out eventually. That being the case, once Terra's boat was taken out of Diode's hands, there would be no reason for her to stay other than the room being available.

She didn’t want Diode to leave, though.

Although Terra was previously living alone, she wasn’t completely isolated. Neighbors and friends from her school days invited her to hang out. Four days after the trial, her aunt and uncle came to visit in person during a day off. They lavished praise on the pair for putting up a good fight with their huge catch and lamented the seizure of the Intercontinentals' pillar boat. Uncle Rubal, speaking outside his official role as Council of Elders clerk, even encouraged the two to keep their hopes up as he departed.

During the chat, Diode maintained the composure of an honor student, only interjecting “true” to maintain her presence. They saw Terra's aunt and her companion off at Main Street, and once back home Diode calmly asked, "Did I treat the guests well?”

Just who do you think you are around here? Diode seemed to have settled in enough to ask that kind of question naturally. She not only decided she could belong at Terra’s house, she also showed no hesitation in behaving like it.

Diode's incursions weren’t just limited to Terra's living area. She made a visit to Terra's workplace while Terra was on shift. Terra's coworker Makia, who had been handling customers out front, came back and called for her.

“Tell-Tale, this one's for you.”

“Again? Is it Dishcrash-san?”

“No, it's Diode-kun—uh, Diode-san?”

“Wuh?” Terra made a weird sound in surprise.

Makia responded with an equally weird and surprised face. “It's your partner, I recognize him from the broadcast. He's kinda dressed like a girl.”

“That's because she is a girl...”

“What? She's not a twister?”

“She is a twister.”

“We are talking about a twister, aren’t we? So... wait... no, you didn’t get married?”

“Uhh, well... Die-san is a woman and a twister. We haven’t gotten married.”

Forcing a smile, Makia asked, “How did she even end up like that? Why make things this complicated...”

“It's not that complicated—well, it is but..." She felt the same weariness as when talking with Xeon but decided to try saying now what she couldn’t then. “She's someone who found a place she belongs on her own terms.”

“But doesn’t everyone? Neither of us had to twist arms to work here.” Makia shrugged.

“Yeah, you're right,” Terra replied before heading to the archive's entrance.

She saw Diode through the cracked door. Diode raised a hand and said, “I decided to visit you, Terra-san.”

“Welcome. Why are you here?”

“I'm interested in your work. You're a video distribution officer, right? You watch lots of Content from long ago, and I even hear you get paid to watch it instead of the other way around. Is that true?”

“Well, it is, but I think you're misunderstanding something. Makia! Let her in.”

“Alright, I authorized her pass.” Makia, who had already returned to her desk, replied with her back turned.

Diode held her minicell over the office's entry device before Terra led her to the storage space deeper inside. The media archive was located in the fan-shaped Antiquity District of Idaho's Year 10 Ring; it was a large old storehouse, just like the old transport ship itself. Inside were gates, pillars, and piles of cut stone that looked like a tall parapet.

Some parts had eroded, others were crumbling. Grass grew through cracks, dense trees sprung from the ground, and moss carpeted dark, damp areas. They happened to hear deep, animal-like breathing, and turning around, saw a large four-legged creature with a mane. Its golden tail swayed and then dropped flat as it stood there. "An animal?!" Diode exclaimed, surprised. Terra, enjoying her reaction, whispered into her ear.

“It's a robot horse. Try petting it.”

“Petting it...?”

“Shh, quietly. It'll run away if you startle it. Something nice happens if you pet it.”

At that, Diode warily crept up on the creature from behind while Terra watched with a wide grin. Finally, she stood on tiptoes to pat the horse's powerfully muscular hindquarters, but as she did—the horse quickly turned and licked her cheek with its long tongue.

“Ewww!" Diode shivered violently and backed away. Terra laughed and wiped her face with a handkerchief.

“Ahaha, it's taken a liking to you! You pass.”

“Why do you call that a pass?!"

“It wouldn’t have let you touch it if you failed. It would have chuffed at you with its nose instead. That's usually what happens. The horse does that to me and the others. It's rare to succeed like you did.”

“Even if I did, I'm not happy about it...”

Terra tried touching the horse too, but the skittish robot quickly evaded her and trotted away off into the deep thicket near the stone wall.

“Why is something like that here?” Diode muttered.

“Who knows. Maybe it was one of our ancestors' hobbies? Or maybe it was an educational model? Or maybe they were planning to use it as a mount if they arrived at a solid planet? I don’t really know, but we leave it be because it's a precious artifact from the past. It even does self-maintenance.”

“Ahh... So it's part of the Content. I see.” Although Diode nodded, she immediately looked around like it still didn’t make sense. “So, where's the Content that doesn’t walk?”

“Here. It's all in Stone State Storage format.” Terra touched the rampart.

Diode's eyes shot open. "Eh?"

That elicited a question from Terra. “So, since you're asking, am I correct to assume Gendō clan doesn’t have a place like this in Fuyō?”

“Well, there is, but it doesn't have much of substance,” Diode replied, subtly nodding to move along. Terra sat on the low stone railing nearby and started to tell her about the archive.

The Circ's ancestors brought an enormous amount of Content with them for entertainment and education when they first left the Galactive Interactive. They were said to have brought between 30,000,000 and 50,000,000 files, but most of them ended up destroyed, stolen, resold, or hidden during the chaos of misrule and rebellion shortly after the Circs arrived at FBB. Restoration efforts began once the rebellion calmed down, and the 3,000,000 files in the media storehouse represented what they had managed to reassemble after 290 years. However, many of the files had degraded over time or were altered to conceal their contents. With the main index out of commission, it wasn’t clear whether a file was a photo book, a movie, or a fairy tale. As a result, the responsibility for looking through the Content and relabeling it had fallen to the people.

“You see, the ones who are responsible for doing that–”

“You.”

“–are us, the public video distribution officers. In six years, I have restored 5000 files.”

From her stone seat, Terra proudly puffed her chest. Diode oohed at her with an admiring look and clapped.

“So, it's like I thought, it's a job where you're paid to look at pictures.”

“Well, yes, but you still don’t get it! You try too. Pick one of the unidentified files.”

“How?”

“The usual way... Ah, right. Here.” Terra showed Diode how to use her minicell's laser head function, since Diode didn’t seem to know about it.

“Like this?” Following Terra's instructions, Diode traced the stone with her nail. A human figure appeared in her palm. It was a stereoscopic video of a half-naked man. His head was covered by a cloth, with both ends tied under his nose. He held some sort of circular device resembling an ancient plate made of plant matter and rhythmically moved it over the ground from left to right as if repeatedly scooping something up.

“What is this?”

“Our job is to find an explanation and enter it in the telop.”

“...That's certainly admirable.”

“Isn’t it? Isn’t it?” From her stone seat, Terra proudly puffed her chest again. Diode applauded.

“Well, let's put the loach scooping aside. I came here with a goal in mind.”

“Huh? What did you just say? You know what that primitive dance was?”

“It's probably something that was only passed down through my clan. Forget it. To be precise, I'm here to see the records dating from around the rebellion. Terra-san, are there any records from the very beginning, before CC 10?”

“There probably are. But tell me about that dance from where you came from first, please!"

“Okay, okay.”

They negotiated a trade—Terra learned about a shanty from an island country in a time back when boats sailed instead of flying. Diode received permission to examine the logbook.

“The logbook is one of the archived official documents regarding us Circs. Those documents are duplicated in other sources, so even though the logbook is reliable, it's not interesting. Is that a problem?”

“Not at all. That's actually a good thing. It means the logs were personally written by Magiri.”

“I mean, couldn’t you just access the logs from home with your public database connection?”

“It won’t connect through my account. I'm from Gendō, so " Diode raised a hand as she spoke calmly. Terra found it weird.

“It shouldn’t matter if you're from Gendō or any other clan. You don’t have any access limits on the Endeavour DB.”

“No, that's not it. Gendō places restrictions on women's minicells.”

“Huh? What does that mean?”

“Women will become stupid and indecent if they're allowed to access information streams that aren’t carefully vetted.”

“...What? Not the other way around? Like, not having access instead?”

“They allow us access to information through an institution instead. You have to show gratitude for a curriculum that was carefully selected by our clan's governing body for the sake of raising modest, obedient women. They call it a girls' school, though. I was in that kuso, crappy, merdique, shitty, dàbiàn institution for two years—from the moment I turned 16 to just before the Bow-Awow.”

Looking relieved, Diode stood in front of Terra, who had been left slackjawed. She picked up a baton-like pumice rock which had fallen near the building stones and flung it at the thicket with a big swing.

It made a nice, dry sound.

“Thankfully, since I'm not there anymore, I can come here with you instead. It seems like I have access to a lot of files here, but is that really okay?”

Terra nodded without hesitation. “Yes, of course! Go ahead and look at as many as you want!"

Diode settled into a pattern where she spent a third of the day resting at Terra's house and another third hanging around her workplace. The remaining third, however, was still a mystery. Her whereabouts were unknown, but at the very least, Terra knew she wasn’t at home thanks to the Dwelling System. Diode didn’t tell Terra anything. Terra could imagine it to some extent, but didn’t ask.

It was only once, but while Terra was looking around for handmade items in the Year 240 Ring shopping district, she saw a small, masked figure dressed in black jumping from roof to roof. The figure jumped down to a bay window and scaled its decorative eaves. As they passed through, they spun around the railing before tumbling into the outer passageways. They completely ignored the road as they jumped from building to building.

Terra noticed the figure because the people around her were looking up in surprise. Whoever it was moved deliberately, relying on their grip, leg power, and the weaker 0.8G gravity of the Year 240 Ring, not on any special technique or tooling. It didn’t look like they were out to shock people. They ignored everyone's attention and carried on with the risky-looking acrobatic challenge.

Terra made an unplanned purchase afterwards. Once they finished dinner that evening, she pulled Diode aside.

“Die-san, would you take this?”

“What is it?” She opened the bag to reveal a sparkling blue clasp decorated with an overlapping circle pattern. “...A barrette?”

Terra moved behind the standing girl and gathered her silver hair, fixing it in a diagonal twist at her crown. “Your hair sticks out in back if you only wear a turban and mask. Using this to hide it should work.”

“...Thank you.” With that, Diode returned to her room.

Later, a series of columns about a black-clad figure started to appear in the clan's journal, but Terra sadly never personally witnessed the sight a second time. Not that it mattered much. When Diode visited the archive, she responded to Terra's efforts to talk with her. Their conversations were entirely concerned with old Content. Diode helped identify uncertain pieces, since coming from another clan gave her knowledge that an Endeavour didn’t necessarily have. (Example: ‘The snowman in this one has a thick neck and wide base, so the work is probably from around the era of the daruma archetype.’). She had been such a great help to Terra and her coworkers that it wasn’t long before her stay was officially authorized.

“Going by everything you've told me, you seem to have learned a lot at the school you attended. Was it really that much of a shi... cruel place?” Terra asked, seated in a corner of the archive's grass garden.

Diode replied, "Everything I’ve been telling you is something I’ve gotten a rough idea of from underground Content I saw with my mother when I lived on the Tsunami Search or when I cut class.”

“Ooh, underground... Uh, do you mean Content like callouts, fights, and.... even pervy stuff?”

“Stuff like ‘S, D, and V’, or ‘A and G,’ there's almost ten thousand years' worth of underground material. Or are you not able to handle that sort of thing, Terra-san?”

“Uh, it's not that I can't handle it, it's more like... I don’t know enough about it.”

“Hmm. Well, let's stop talking about it if you don’t know about it.”

“Ah, I don’t think I'd hate it! It's just that I've never really had many chances to see it...” Terra blushed, noticing that despite having six years on Diode, she was somehow less knowledgeable about the world.

“It's stuff that the Council of Elders strictly prohibit–” Diode cut herself short and quickly glanced towards the office. Terra laughed.

“You don’t need to worry. No one's going to arrest you for what you say here.”

“Even if it's about Magiri and Eda?”

“Magiri? You briefly mentioned them before. Who's that?” Terra asked innocently.

Diode let out a weak sigh. "Those are names they won’t tell you about, at the very least.”

“...Were they the kind of people they would normally teach us about?”

“Hm..." Unusually, Diode folded her arms with deep, genuine anxiety. “Ah well, the Council of Elders here would have arrested me a long time ago if they were planning to...” she muttered. "Gendō Magiri was the first Great Chief of the Circ fleet, from CC 3 until CC 18.”

“The first... really? Wasn’t it C.B. Endeavour?”

“There aren’t any documents written by Sivi Endeavour dating to that time. They were the Great Chief after CC 18, but there's nothing from what's called the early period. Look, it's the same here, too.” Diode rubbed a single stone state and brought up the log from Month 8, Day 1 of CC 10 in her palm, then pointed to the empty space in the lower left. “It's been erased. Beginning in CC 18, Sivi Endeavour's signature is there, but everything before that was erased like this. I wonder if the Endeavours are the only ones still openly displaying the altered logs.”

“Do the Gendō keep those documents private?”

“Either that, or more likely, they're missing.”

“Huuuh...” Terra was surprised but didn't fully grasp her meaning. "Why's that? Did that person do underground things, too?”

“In the underground, there's a legend that's believed to be true.”

“What kind of legend?”

“Back in CC 3, Magiri had a partner in starting the rebellion and assuming power after purging the old leadership. That partner's full name isn’t known, but she had the nickname of The Exceptional Eda. She was some sort of genius scientist, apparently. She studied the composition and properties of the bake floating around FBB, and she was the one who put the fleet on the road to self-sufficiency after she succeeded in converting bake into a usable resource.”

“We learned about someone like that in our clan, too. That's the first time hearing the name Eda, though.”

“Yeah, that kind of breakthrough is too big to be erased completely. Anyway, Eda was the one responsible. She passed away in CC 8.”

“Did she get sick?”

“She fell into FBB due to a boating accident. She saved others but couldn’t manage to save herself. That's where the legend started: Eda was the one who gave birth to the besshu. There are a range of opinions as to how she did that.”

“...Gave birth to the besshu?”

“Yes.”

“How? That's... you don’t mean that literally, right?”

“Of course they didn’t come from her belly. I meant in the sense they were a scientific innovation.”

“Did she raise them in a test tube and then spread them from orbit?”

“Who knows. I don’t really know how she did it. She died in CC 8, but the besshu didn’t appear until CC 16. Whatever Eda set off when she died took eight years to spread. But by making what we now call besshu take the form of fish, she made it possible for us to harvest it. At least, that's what the legend says.”

“Woah, now that you mention it, I'm pretty sure that besshu aren’t found anywhere else in the Galactive Interactive. They're endemic to FBB. That's why we can make a profit exporting the AMC clay through the Dàxúnniǎo. Doesn’t that make a huge amount of sense?” Terra suddenly got enthusiastic. "Isn’t that great? Our ancestor created the besshu! And thanks to her, the Circs make their living fishing for them, even now!"

“Well, that might be true, but from an academic perspective, learning a completely new form of life was entirely engineered by a human is a really unsatisfying explanation.” Diode looked through the stone state storage Content as it displayed in fragments. "At least as far as I've gotten with my investigation, there isn’t a single scholar in any clan that takes it seriously.”

“Is that so...? I do like how the besshu resemble Earth animals, but have their own quirks... Ah? But wait, isn’t that weird?”

“What's weird?”

“Doesn’t an achievement like that make Exceptional Eda a notable person? Why wasn’t her name preserved?” Terra asked, before adding, "Besides, what does Magiri have to do with this?”

“Eda and Magiri were a couple.”

“A couple?” Terra narrowed her eyes. "But you said Eda was a woman, right? So Magiri was a man?”

“She was a woman.”

“What?” She asked as comprehension dawned on her.

Diode indifferently explained. "They were a same-sex couple. It was a pair of married women who provided fierce guidance and leadership to the Circs back then, and who laid the cornerstone of our lifestyle by giving birth to the besshu. The Circs couldn’t bring themselves to accept that, so once there were only couples between men and women, they erased the records of those two. According to legend, anyway.” Diode turned off the Content she was showing Terra, who was now breathless, and peeked around the corner. “I wanted to find proof, so that's why I asked to see the logs.”

Ten days passed, then twenty, then thirty. Idaho and the other base ships continued to spin, the water miners worked the icy moons, the outboard workers quietly repaired the exterior of the ship here and there, and twisters flew their boats while decompers spread their nets. Diode continued her usual routine of disappearing only to reappear in Terra's dining room at mealtimes for a chat before she returned to the attic.

The days passed with a mood somewhere between that of watering a freshly-planted seed and counting seconds with a bomb timer. Terra felt a sense of patience with her impatience. Although she looked forward to her pillar boat's return, she also wished the strange but calming interlude with Diode could continue.

Diode also felt that sense of patience with impatience, but her concerns were entirely different from Terra's.

Beep, beep, beep—The moment she heard the sound of an alarm go off, as piercing as a shattering glass window, Terra's bed shook. The nightlight suddenly flickered and died.

“Wh-what?” Terra climbed out of bed, still half-asleep. She shoved her hand under the bed without a thought and retrieved her quickmask. It was a habit drilled into every Circ from childhood..

You hear me, Terra? Mask first, even if the air leak alarm is blaring, and even if you hear banging or feel air rushing in. Put your mask on before you try to save anyone or hug any cushions. If there really is an airtightness breach, that's when you run to the rescue ball or go to a printer pod.

As she remembered her father teaching her as a kid, she put on an oxygen mask that covered her head and used the minicell to light the surroundings with her palm. She scanned the room. Soft, dark green curtains. Portrait of her parents. A quiet row of figurines on the curio shelf. Apatosaurus, morpho butterfly, cat, and gulguiuli (the red ones from planet Coubingar, not the three-legged kind from Mock). Nothing looked out of place at the moment.

In the first place, nothing could damage the residential district in Idaho's innermost section enough to cause an emergency, save for an extremely high velocity meteorite coming in from space. Besides, the alarm that had just sounded was different. Terra kicked herself for not noticing that alarm was something else.

Her next actions after donning the mask were something her parents hadn’t taught her.

Terra shouted into her minicell, “Die-san! I just heard something. Are you okay?!" She felt vaguely apprehensive as she thought about what to do if she didn’t get a response. It came unexpectedly quick, and was a bizarre one at that.

“Terra-san, please run! Get to Clan Security!"

“What?! Why–”

“It's definitely the trackers! The intruder alarm I installed on the hatch above us went off! The Gendō trackers are—Bam!“ There was the sound of an explosion, followed by a groan.

Terra felt a chill rush down her spine, followed by a flood of adrenaline a moment later. She shoved her hand back under the bed and grabbed a tool made of hardened AMC clay. Terra's mother had given it to her as a kid. She threw the door open and rushed to the corridor. Once her hands were on the stairs leading to the attic, she took a second to calmly adjust her mask before climbing to open the trapdoor.

“Die-san!"

The scene was almost like she had imagined.

The wall light Diode had taken from downstairs illuminated the tight passageway of the attic. Two figures wearing skintight gray suits stood still. They were in spacesuits, meaning that they had entered through the exterior walls. They held the girl between them by the arms as tears fell from her fluttering eyes.

They have Die-san!

One of the intruders turned in response to Terra's voice and, with a subtle movement, threw something shaped like a cup onto the floor.

Bam! An intense flash of light flooded the room as it exploded. The intruders had likely planned to use it to cover their escape, but Terra activated the mask's anti-starglare dimming mode. The figures were clearly visible to Terra inside the burst of light. Terra pointed the deadly tool, which she performed weekly maintenance on, in their direction, took aim, and fired.

There was a quick one-two-three burst of eardrum-tearing explosions. The first shot had been aimed at the intruder to Diode's right. It blasted the figure off Diode and knocked them to the floor. The intruder on her left still stood after taking the second shot, but the third hit their suit's visor and cracked it.

"I'm sorry!" Terra apologized, using the opportunity to take another shot. The invader collapsed where they stood, their face covered in blood.

“Die-san!"

Terra rushed into the attic. She held Diode in her arms, more worried than anything. "Are you okay? Did any of the bullets hit you just now?”

Diode squirmed, momentarily resisting. "Woah, i-is that you, Terra-san?” She still couldn’t see, and her ears were blown out by the explosion. Terra pulled Diode into her chest and hugged as tightly as she could.

“Yes, it's me!"

“Ah...these are...” Diode nervously caressed Terra's large breasts and quickly relaxed. "So it really is you. These are Terra-san's...”

“That's right. Can you hear me? Does it hurt anywhere?”

“Ah...Yes, my hearing is slow in coming back, but I can hear you.” Terra placed her hand on the girl's forehead and gently wiped her eyes. Diode's dark blue eyes appeared. "I should be asking if you're okay, Terra-san. What the hell happened?”

“I dealt with them using this.”

Diode's eyes shot open when she caught sight of the long, smooth, and deadly-looking thing in Terra's hand. “A-a gun?! That's a gun, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it's a shotgun my mother gave me.”

“Why do you have a gun?”

“Why? There's usually one in every home, right?” As she said that, Terra realized it might be another difference between them. "Or does Gendō prohibit guns, too?!"

“That's obvious, isn’t it...” Diode started to cry-laugh. Her voice tightened into a cackle.

Terra pulled Diode back into her arms and, holding her tight, went downstairs to report the situation to Clan Security. Due to her ongoing dispute with the Council of Elders, she was doubtful as to whether they'd come to help. That turned out to be a baseless worry. Armed guards rushed in less than two and a half minutes later.

“They're up there! The strange people in the attic who tried to kidnap Die-san!"

The squad cautiously ventured upstairs but eventually returned empty-handed. “We couldn’t ID any intruders. There was no one up there.”

“Huh?! But there were two people wearing tight suits! They threw a light grenade, so I did what we're trained to do in high cruise school!"

“Chill, I wasn’t callin' ya a liar. We found blood and evidence of the fight,” the squad member replied, pointing at the other guards looking over the house's entrance and surroundings. "That said, looks like those guys got away. Took all their gear with them too, so they're probably professional infiltrators.”

“They escaped?” Terra was dumbfounded. "Even after being shot like that? I'm pretty sure I even shot one of them right in the face, too "

“Those were resin bullets, yeah? Won’t stop 'em. We're talkin' real pros here. Oh, you're Terra Intercontinental-san, aren’t ya? The fisher who bagged that enormous fish.” The male squad member raised his goggles and grinned. "You did pretty good for a woman. Took some guts. But you should know when to call it quits, this was a close shave.”

“Uh... Thanks.” Terra replied bluntly, disliking the sentiment. Diode was in danger, so she had acted in desperation. That was all there was to it. She was sure that any person, man or woman, would react to the situation the same way.

And... and, there's something else, but I don’t know how to describe it.

Shortly after, the Rescue Squad arrived and quickly began tending to Diode. An unexpected person showed up alongside them.

“Are you two all right? I received word of an attack.”

“Dishcrash-san...!"

“Good, it appears you are both unharmed.” The Council liaison with the soft, puffy sideburns adorning his cheeks looked down on the two with eyes that always seemed to smile.

A fog filled Terra's mind, and she replied without thinking. "We aren’t unharmed at all. Die-san went through something awful. They tried to kidnap her! And it's terrifying to think of my own home being invaded like this. Really, it's too much...”

“I am sorry to hear that.” Dishcrash said, bowing. "Just now, a construction boat departed from the work pier without authorization, headed for territory outside of Idaho's jurisdiction. However, the two exterior workers who boarded it were identified as citizens who migrated here from Fuyō during the Bow Awow. There are official actions which can be taken in regard to this matter, but they are unlikely to return. I believe the Gendō reserve a trump card for mischief like this, and it has been played tonight,” Dishcrash said. He stared pointedly at Terra. "—You do understand, correct? This situation resulted from your own decision to shelter Diode-san.”

“You make it sound like it's my fault! Don’t say that... please.” Terra started with a raised voice but trailed off. In truth, was that fear was in the back of her mind the whole time she was living with Diode, and she did nothing about it. If I had taken that fear seriously, then maybe I could have trusted Security Squad with the matter before the break-in happened.

“It would have been useful to secure the burglars for the coming negotiations. It is truly a shame we failed to do so.”

Dishcrash touched on something Terra felt like she was trying unusually hard to tolerate. The fog shrouding that feeling suddenly lifted—she wasn’t satisfied with simply being saved. The truth was she wanted everyone to see the clear righteousness in the act of exposing the people who attacked them.

“If we did happen to catch them... Would I get my pillar boat back, by any chance?” Terra asked.

Dishcrash shook his head and responded with a silence that meant ‘I don’t know’ and shook his head. Maybe he's not really as good-natured as he seems? Just the thought made her sad.

“Dishcrash-san, may I say something?” Diode cut in, her examination finished. She thanked the doctors with a silent nod, then returned her attention to Dishcrash. "You expected this and kept quiet, huh? How do you plan to take responsibility?”

“What leads you to believe I could have expected this?”

“Why would a fully armed platoon rush in because of a mere report from a panicked citizen? Do the Endeavours always react that way?”

Dishcrash warded off her glare with a disinterested expression. “There have been previous instances.”

“No there haven’t. You expected this, and you could have assigned the relevant authorities to prevent it. Instead, you people kept quiet and let the trackers do this, because you also wanted this. If Gendō's trackers had captured us during this incident, you would have a bargaining chip for negotiations with them. That was the outcome you aimed for, wasn’t it?”

“Was it? You can prove this accusation?”

“I put these on the residence's windows and doorways.” Diode pulled out a small bundle of fine thread.

Ah, Terra recognized it. That's probably in the print log.

“There was one place where it was cut, then put back by stretching it. The trackers didn’t do this tonight, and they couldn’t have noticed it because they tripped my alarm. So, someone must have entered earlier, but–” Diode quickly glanced at the Security Squad as they prepared to leave. "–Even though this is supposedly the first time they've been here, they didn’t break any of them.”

Terra's breath hitched. "So those people have been wandering around my house?”

“Terra-san, lean down here for a second.”

“Yeah?” Terra did as she was asked without a second thought. She jumped back when Diode tightly pinched her nose. "Agh?!"

“I'm sorry, I don’t want you raising a fuss right now. Dishcrash-san, there's no point in keeping score here. How about we skip to the heart of the matter?”

“And that, meaning?”

“By that, I mean Terra is an asset to the Endeavours. Isn’t that right? She's one of the clan's elite decompers.”

“Yes, that is true. That has always been true.”

“She’s very important to me, too. I’m vowing to wager a lifetime’s worth of maydays by saying this, but Terra-san standing here right now is more important to me than the Gendō who just showed up. We have a common goal.”

“Hmm, I see, I see...” Dishcrash closed his eyes and pinched his chin, then finally spoke in a serious tone. "Although there may be no point in keeping track of our score, as you say, one may also expect to know I cannot ignore the matter of a suspicious person skill training in both the new and old town districts for the past half month. Additionally, this very same person is known to frequent back alleys in the Year 25 Ring, actively seeking drug and crack specialists. Those are points I cannot turn a bli–”

“Die-sa–” Terra started to shout, but quickly covered her mouth with both hands. The liaison's narrow eyes and Diode's cold look stabbed her from both sides.

“...turn a blind eye to.” Dishcrash said, returning his gaze to Diode. "In short, these events are connected. If there is an issue requiring more suitable management on my part, then there is an issue that also requires correction on your part. Would you agree, Diode-san?”

“I hope we are on the same page, but probably.”

“And regarding the matter of our inheritance?”

“At any rate, that can wait two years, can’t it?”

“So, you do not oppose a temporary arrangement?”

“I'm not that greedy.”

“Hmm, I see. Hm.” As he thought, Dishcrash twirled the fuzz on his right cheek. Then he suddenly spoke, full of cheer. "As an aside, I have not yet spoken of the business I have concerning the both of you.”

“Huh?” "Ah, right.”

“I am here with regard to your appeal with the Council of Elders. Your method of hauling extra-large bachi orca has been deemed a matter of exceptional importance. Thus, they have ordered Terra of the Intercontinental family and self-proclaimed Diode of the Gendō clan to establish its continuation. You are to report to the Council with a total of ten specimens. Both of you, please raise your left and right hands.”

They extended their hands a little as they were told. He knocked on the back of their hands, sending a message that likely contained the same content to their minicells. Diode clicked her tongue, but she was too late.

“I was dispatched to deliver this message in person. Just now, you have received a code to erase the access lock on your pillar boat. Do not forget the conditions and do your best from now on. His Excellency, the Clan Chief, looks forward to the next Bow Awow.” Dishcrash bowed sharply and left.

“Ahh... Wha?”

Terra was in a daze, not quite understanding the direction the conversation had taken or how it reached the conclusion it did. So, she was startled when Diode suddenly kicked the chair beside her and yelled, "Shit, that hurt!"

“W-what's wrong? Die-san...” Terra asked nervously.

“We got played. He meant to tell us about the boat from the very start, but he made us think this was a pointless discussion and waited for us to back down. He was smiling about his true intentions the whole time.”

“Meaning?”

“They returned your boat!"

“Really?!" Although Diode had angrily raised her voice, Terra's own shout of happiness drowned it out. She jumped to her feet, eyes sparkling.

“Then—then that means I can go fishing with you again, right?”

“Yes, but did you not hear the part about catching ten heads of that monster bachi?!"

“Isn’t that basically saying we can do whatever?! Huh, is this really okay?!" Terra started to glow in amazement. She grasped Diode's hands.

Diode was dumbfounded, but eventually sighed and responded with a blunt, "Yeah.”

“Huh? What's with that reaction? Shouldn’t we both be happy about this?”

“We're going to divide the workload. I'll trust you to handle the happiness. I'll be busy with the resentment.”

“What's there to feel resentful—Ahh, right, you did ask me to overlook something earlier.” Terra grew curious about it as she thought back to the conversation. "It was about that, right? Running around... searching for some sort of specialist... Do you mind if I ask what you were up to?”

“Well, the running around was just training. My reflexes will get duller and duller if I stay at home doing nothing.”

“What was that about drugs and crack, then?”

“One frees the mind, the other frees the machine.”

“And you were trying to get your hands on those? Why?”

“To take the pillar boat back.”

“Urk, taking it back?!" Terra was genuinely surprised. "You wanted to take the boat out without permission from the Council of Elders? That's impossible!"

“It's not impossible, it just would have taken a while. Only, I ran out of time to do it. My search was in vain, since they gave it back before I could follow through with my plan.”

“You don’t think they returned the boat to keep you away from a life of crime?”

Diode made a face like she had just watched someone eat toast through their nose. "No way. From now on, they're going to use the boat as leverage for all the shady things they're planning. It's not like this outcome was to our advantage. Besides, right up to the very end, he never said ‘you can be fishers’, did he?”

“That's okay as long as we can board together, isn’t it?”

Diode rested her chin in her hand and sighed, "Ahh, I'm over it. Sure. It's okay.”

Following the liaision, the security and rescue squads withdrew from the residence. Terra waited for the same calmness of the preceding days to return as the turbulent atmosphere in her residence dissipated, but it never did. Their wait was over. Now that they were certain they were able to board again, their everyday life as fishers could resume.

Before the last voice out front faded, Terra slightly leaned towards the girl beside her and whispered. "Can I ask you something?”

“Hm?”

“That was the first time I heard the expression ‘I’m vowing to wager a lifetime's worth of maydays’ How serious is that?”

“Good night.”

Diode abruptly stood and left.

9

The attack on Terra's house and the combined efforts of the Endeavour clan's guards and a private citizen to drive the invaders out became huge news. The invaders' identities were publicly stated to be unknown. While the reality was that Terra had run them off on her own, with no help from the guards, that was the type of detail that was sure to be classified immediately after an incident like that. Terra agreed to keep her mouth shut once the guards promised to reinforce security to prevent a repeat occurrence.

Terra's silence had also been exchanged for her pillar boat's return.

She was disheartened to see the ship's logs. There were signs several other fishermen had been allowed to fly it as they pleased, which suggested the Council of Elders had challenged others to achieve the same results as Terra and Diode. In other words, they seemed to believe the boat was special, not the two of them.

Unfortunately for the Council, that wasn't the case at all. Terra's pillar boat wasn't anything special, so naturally, the fishers using it didn't achieve any special results. Ultimately, that seemed to be the reason why the Council gave it back—since it was just an ordinary boat, they decided it was best to leave it with Terra and Diode. Terra detested the lengths they'd gone to for that conclusion, but she forced herself to make peace with it. Well, I'm glad they gave it back, at least.

The pillar boat operated by the unusual pair of novices began descending to FBB once again. They quietly set sail, without any grand ceremonies or public announcements.

That's not to say the two conducted themselves quietly. The two worked on new fishing methods on one flight after another. At night, they emitted an intense light that lured a multitude of besshu. Splitting the pillar boat in two, the decomper sat in a larger part that flew in a holding pattern while the twister deftly caught besshu using the smaller part.

In a mere two months, the two main pillars of their techniques—exceptional piloting and a 500-meter-wide form with a high glide ratio—allowed them to catch roughly 1,525,000 tonnes. Those entirely un-rookielike numbers not only made Terra and Diode famous among all sixteen clans, but it also tied them with third among the top fishers in the first quarter of CC 304.

The fishing industry admonished the abnormal fishers' chaotic operational behavior while spying on the details of their new techniques. The economic sphere demanded the two control themselves, citing concerns about a price collapse due to overfishing. The scientists were thrilled to finally learn about species that, until then, remained full of enigmas. The Council of Elders lamented that the two hadn't promptly caught the requested ten heads of gigantic bachi orca (it was extremely difficult, as expected) but, unable to ignore their splendid numbers, the good offices of the Council introduced them to potential spouses with strong pedigrees.

“If this is what praise brings, I'm in trouble...” Terra spread the profiles of suitors recommended by the Council of Elders across her table and sighed. “This really didn't turn out to be a favor. I guess it wasn't actually meant to be one from the start.”

“Are you checking to see if there are any good men, Terra-san?” Diode asked. Wearing tight fitwear, she darted back and forth on the monkey bars on the ceiling. She had wordlessly thrown her marriage profiles away without a second thought after she was also graced by the Council's good offices.

Terra shook her head. “It doesn't matter if there's a good one or not. I'm not interested in marriage anymore.”

“Sorry, Terra-san.”

“Why?”

“It's because I said too much before, isn't it?”

“You didn't say too much. All you did was notice.”

Terra looked up at the monkey bars and saw Diode hanging there with both hands. The bars had been installed indoors to put an end to the matter of the suspicious person running around town. Diode basically turned into a monkey whenever she felt like doing a training exercise in what she called “three-dimensional kinesthesia."

Diode grabbed the monkey bars with her toes, and dangling upside down, said, “If you turn down the marriage proposals, there probably won't be a next time.”

“Yeah, about that... Would a single, firm rejection be a good idea?”

“...If you're unsure, it's fine to accept, isn't it? You can save the rejection for when you meet up.” As Diode hung upside down, her silver hair dangled on the tip of Terra's nose. Her words were reasonable, but she delivered them in a tone colder than a comet.

It was a terrifying sight. A fall would break her neck. Diode had previously assured her, “This really isn't as dangerous as it looks, there's only half-gravity here.” Terra couldn't help but think that depended on how she fell.

“Should I really accept the favor?”

Terra stood up and cradled Diode's scalp in both hands. Diode blinked in surprise, and her toes quickly let go of the bars a moment later. Her entire weight, supported by her surprisingly strong skull and neck muscles, was suddenly concentrated in Terra's hands—but she did it as casually as trusting herself to a pair of cushions.

Diode spread her arms and legs wide, keeping her frame balanced upside-down. She began to wobble all four of her thin, flexible limbs like a spring toy. However, she didn't have much practice doing that, so after several seconds she grabbed Terra's wrists and spun to land on her feet.

“Hahaa,” she sighed, sounding impressed. “I made it down.”

“What was that all about?” Terra giggled. The girl's face, which looked like an artisan's handiwork, was covered in sweat. Her head had just happened to be at the right height to make Terra want to pet her. She wasn't expecting Diode to take a break by climbing on her. What if I dropped her? Was she really that certain she wouldn't fall?

“You're just like an arboreal animal, Die-san.”

“Arboreal? What's that mean? Oh, trees? If that's true, then you must be the tree.”

“Rude, much...?”

A small hand, still warm from exercise, caught Terra's wrist. Terra tried to grab Diode's wrist in return, but she evaded the attempt. Then she left, saying she was taking a bath. For a brief moment, the smell of sweat mixed with her usual smoky botanical scent and left a peculiar, invisible trail in her wake.

Diode had received that burnt, aromatic fragrance from her mother. It meant the two hadn't necessarily cut ties, but Terra had yet to even glimpse the face of the woman who traveled through the edges of the gas giant's storms while living aboard a Tsunami Search. She was also in the dark as to why Diode had left, or how she'd ended up in the all-girls' school. (Based on Diode's tone while recounting her story, Terra had the impression she'd been captured and forced to enroll.) She still didn't know why Diode was steadily working to fish up records from the past, either.

However, Terra let her have free rein of the house, allowing Diode to learn everything from the monthly printer cartridge replacement to her parents' funerary number. At the beginning, Diode had avoided learning those kinds of details, but her behavior completely changed after their boat was returned. She was actively asking about Terra's life. Terra answered all of Diode's questions, not hiding anything. If Diode happened to be an elaborate scam of some sort, she had gotten the means to suddenly run off with everything. Terra had completely forgotten to even have that kind of doubt about her.

Still, Diode maintained some distance—like she had a moment earlier, casually drawing an invisible line as impassable as a mountain border between herself and Terra. Terra already knew with certainty what lay on the other side of that mountain pass was incredibly vast, too. It seemed to her that Diode was also aware of that border and was only watching her behavior to decide whether to pull her across. Terra already expected her to do so.

It felt nice when Diode touched her. Far more importantly, Diode had become someone she was willing to touch. Diode wasn't just simply allowed to remain in the house; Terra enjoyed her presence. Savored it. She was the first person Terra ever wanted to allow within touching range.

There could be no mistake Diode felt the same way—Or maybe not? Maybe I'm just telling myself that. Terra wasn't sure. All of her doubts started churning in her chest. She went to the dressing room uninvited and called into the bathroom. “Die-san, should I really accept a marriage proposal?!”

“You're welcome to accept at any time as long as you have the resolve to do it. By the way, when are you going to stop camping out by the door? Peeking in by yourself isn't how group bathing works, so if you want to look you're going to have to come in. Are you ready for that?!”

“I'm not ready to do either of those things, I'm sooorrryyy!” Terra went back to the living room and immediately, in a single swipe, threw the profiles burying the table in details regarding families and personal histories into the trash.

The situation hadn’t improved as much outside her house as it had inside. Everyone—her aunt, her uncle, the people she ran into at the fishing harbor— worried about how long she'd keep up her eccentric behavior of fishing with another woman. Whenever they asked Terra about it, she'd reply ‘It's fine.’ She repeated ‘It's fine’ almost like a mantra, as if it would eventually be made true by saying it. She had a sudden realization in the following days.

Living with Diode made her feel safe. It was more than the safety from everything being in its right place. It was the safety where she was certain she would be okay even if she lost everything else. She couldn't tell where that strange sense of certainty came from but from that day forward, it seemed to her that ‘It's fine’ would inevitably bear fruit.

She started to feel if things continued as they were for half a year, for a year, then ‘It's fine’ would be a reality. Then the storm came. It had only been 93 days since they met.

10

Gradually but unmistakably, something rose from atmospheric depths so dark and dense the air acted like water. An incredible gust of wind accompanied its arc into the sky, which caught and tumbled the pillar boat like it was a mere grain of sand. The boat drifted for seventy or eighty kilometers before Terra could finally use words that meant something.

“Oww. My head is spinning... You okay, Die-san?”

“I'm all right, more or less.” Diode was still sloshing around her pit but managed to respond with a flat tone that was likely made possible by her recent endurance training. “I didn't try to fight the wind because we would have taken a huge amount of damage if we got careless, so I let it quietly carry us away. Sorry, that must have been really hard on you.”

“What was with that huge gust just now?”

“I think it was an ejector. Could you bring up the radar?”

“An ejector?! Really...?”

Terra adjusted the VUI and shuddered when she realized the noise filling half of the laser screen wasn't a cloud, but a gigantic rocky mass roughly two hundred kilometers in diameter. The thing they were looking at was an ejector, assumed to be a fragment of a celestial body located deep in FBB's atmosphere known as Iron Ball. Pieces of it blew into the skies due to explosions or other disturbances.

“This is the first time I've seen the real deal. It's huge...”

“Same. At least it seems our luck didn't run out here.”

“Don't you mean our luck definitely ran out here?”

“If it had run out, we would have been squashed instead. Alright–” Diode corrected the pillar boat's attitude with a single stroke to the trim slider, evading the rocky mass with a gentle turn. Now that they had a better view of it, they could see the ejector had already lost its upward momentum and was beginning to fall. It sank slowly, with the water and methane clouds it dragged up from below shrouding it like a veil.

Terra started to feel a little ambitious. “Do you think we'd make the scientists happy if we brought a sample back with us?”

“They'd definitely be happy. But even though it seems like it's moving slowly, it's falling at almost the speed of sound, right? The shock waves just from being near it are dangerous.”

“Ah, you're right...”

For a moment, they stopped to take in the rare sight. That turned out to be a mistake. The VUI sounded another warning, and Terra looked over at it.

“It's a bake concentration warning... in an inversion layer?”

The bake was coming at them from above, not below. Terra glanced up and immediately let out a hoarse scream. “AHHHH, we messed up! It's an ejector storm, Die-san!”

Diode looked up for herself. Clicking her tongue, she quickly fired up the turbine engines. “Yeah, that's definitely an E-storm. I got careless.”

Something resembling a muddy whirlpool had formed in the skies overhead and loomed over the two as they flew the pillar boat at high speed.

An E-storm is a local storm generated by the appearance of an ejector. Ejectors drag up a huge amount of heavier air from the middle and lower atmosphere alongside them. That air wouldn't pose much of a problem if it quietly fell back into the planet like the ejector. However, since it originated from deep inside the planet, the heat it contains generates a vast 'expansion dome' above the tropopause. Simple expansion wouldn't be much of a problem either, but naturally, hot air cools off and descends. When that happens, the entire air mass condenses and turns into an instant downpour.

The sight they witnessed overhead was said expansion dome. What it was, how it formed, and what it did were all things taught in cruise school. However, because they had been slow to evacuate, they were both about to experience the full reality of one.

“Gwah! Die-san, don't! Nonono! Don't speed towards it!”

The pillar boat ascended to escape, but met with a dense cloud of bake unlike any of the easily navigated clouds found in the upper atmosphere. The moment they entered the cloud, they were met with a noise that sounded like a volley of machine gun fire. The two were attempting to fly through what was essentially abrasion powder, and large areas of the hull were quickly stained in danger red on the VUI display.

“Tch... is it impossible to go through this?”

“Forget it, please go back! Hurry!”

It was also too late to go back. Once the heavy air reached the cold tropopause at fifty kilometers altitude, an eerie black, muddy rain began to pour. As their ability to see diminished to almost nothing, ejector mini-fragments rocks about the size of a house also began raining down around them. It was too dangerous to fly any faster.

Terra began wailing. “I'm sooorryyy! We should have evacuated the moment I heard the 'e' in ejector, but all I did was sit there in awe!”

“Since you’re saying that, I’m also to blame. That should have been my cue to quickly dump out the catch.”

Diode grudgingly reflected on her actions. The pillar boat was loaded with excess catch. It was a large-class besshu, an eight-thousand tonne black-veined squid they caught that morning. Terra's decomp had tightly bound it to make a fish pouch structural substitute like before. It was impossible to get rid of it unless she liquified the boat.

“Well, I really don't think throwing away 8000 tonnes would make that much of a difference either way...”

“That's true, the weight's not really an issue. More to the point, how long do you think this storm will last?”

“I thought the normal curriculum taught you about this.”

“I meant how long are they in your experience?”

“This is the kind of storm that'll end in an instant. Since a rock less than a few hundred kilometers wide made this splash—” Four seconds of quiet passed before Diode finished with an annoyed tone. “I'd say a day at most.”

“That's what I thought, too!”

When textbooks discussed the gas giant's weather, they used "instant" in a way that often meant “less than a year.” It was inevitable that “instant" would take on that meaning when living around a world where so-called “long-lasting storms" continued for around a century. However, while a storm lasting a day might be an instant for a planet, it was an eternity for fishers. Idly expending almost all of the propellant to wait for favorable winds instead of practicing their trade was never a happy situation.

“What should we do, Die-san? We have a couple of options. We could harden the bow and break through the expansion dome and then fly as a blimp until morning, or we could blow around in a fluttering form until we're out of the storm. We could try other things, too.”

“Where do those insane ideas you always get come from?”

“Ehehehe, from my brain.”

“All of those use a huge amount of clay though, so I guess we're giving up on fishing.”

“There's not much of a choice. Our lives are more important.”

“Well, yes, that's true. But...” Diode brooded. “It's just not a great look for a Tsunami Search captain's daughter to be outwitted by an E-storm, but I guess we really don't have any other good options...”

“Ah, that's it!” Terra bit hard on Diode's throwaway remark. She bent forward in the rear pit and shouted. “A Tsunami Search! Let's seek shelter in one! Doing that would save on our clay, right?”

“Are you serious?”

“I am serious! Boat, show us nearby Tsunami Search vessels!” The search results flooded into the VUI, producing a map that illustrated where the various Tsunami Search vessels were drifting around the planet. Two huge circles, which had looked like deformed human eyeballs on the upper half of the striped Fat Beach Ball since ancient times, were displayed in high resolution.

An example of a so-called “long-lasting storm", the Left Eyeball was an immense anticyclone located on the northern fringe of FBB's northern tropical belt. A deeply colored spot that looked like a pimple on the corner of the Eye was the E-storm the two were trapped inside.

Terra shouted with glee when she saw another glowing point right beside the storm. “There's one!! There! Tsunami Search TE508Q!”

“TE508Q... I've never heard of that boat before.”

“That really doesn't matter when it's so incredibly close to us! It's practically a miracle to find shelter like this in the vastness of FBB, so we should absolutely stay there!”

“A Tsunami Search in the Left Eyeball...? Guh.”

“What's wrong, Die-san? You're not going to stay out here in this storm, are you? You might as well be a stray cat running around in a landslide.”

“You mean that mollusc you showed me the other day? I don't think there's any way to make the pillar boat as soft and melty as one of those... Ok, no, I get it. Let's get going.” Unable to speed up in the frequently shifting and reversing winds, she grumbled as she did her own research into their options. “Well, there might be several tens of Tsunami Search vessels, but only the very best crews are capable of cruising long stints around here, so hopefully it's not...”

It didn’t take long before her hopes were crushed. “It's probably not that one. I don't want it to be that one. Why does everything line up with it being that one so well?!”

An incredibly thick wall of clouds appeared as clouds drifting to the left and right parted. There was a brief flash inside of it and then, like a dream, a tower slowly emerged as the clouds around it faded away. The tower looked like a natural crag carved by the passage of time, standing imposingly against the dark, violent winds. Around it, hollow floats spread like giant radial petals to give it buoyancy. Its top section was as complex as a spire for primitive religions to display their icons. It seemed to be the observation mast's lighthouse. Nestled between a telescope, radar antenna, and communications antenna, the flashing high-candela light slowly rotated. A fluttering cloth streamer jutting from the mast’s side was probably an anemoscope, but strangely, it was painted as a clear imitation of a besshu. Below the pole was a catapult with a small single-wing aircraft neatly parked on it.

Watching where the tower poked through the clouds, it was possible to see the mast's foundation peeking in and out of sight. It had an opaque sheen that resembled obsidian. The foundation was most likely a sintered bake ballast to keep the tower floating upright. At the center of the tower, along what seemed to be the boundary between its upper and lower floors, three ancient characters that looked like they had been gently written with a brush were written in a row.

孀婦岩

“Hey, pillar boat out there! You're flying like a squid swimming through asphalt. Why don't you come stay at my beach house Sо̄fu-iwa for half-board? A night's sleep and two meals can be yours for 10,000 tonnes of clay—wait, this ID tag... Kanna?”

After she heard the voice over the radio, Terra turned and stared at her twister. She was covering her face, which was a shade of red Terra had never seen before.

“That's my mother.”

Even a petite woman who normally weighed 50kg would get hit hard by the 2.1G gravity in the upper layers of FBB, where she would cross the 100kg mark. Fishers fly pillar boats inside gel-filled pits for that reason, as the fluid's buoyancy allows their bodies to cope with the gravity. The same applies to the facilities stationed in the cloud decks. The use of a living pit is necessary to live in a Tsunami Search, even for a short period.

Terra and Diode got into large, transparent self-propelled bubble pits loaned out to them. Once she did, Terra faintly smelled the original source of the pleasant, bittersweet scent that always hovered around Diode. The two boarded the Tsunami Search from their pillar boat, gliding along in their bubbles.

They paid 10,000 tonnes of clay as agreed, and soon they were automatically brought into the facility's interior. However, one of the two was more than just a guest. Terra had been secretly looking forward to how the drama of a moving mother-daughter reunion after a long separation would play out, at least until the war broke out in Sо̄fu-iwa's residential sector lounge.

“DIE-OD." Rock burst into laughter the moment she caught on to the meaning behind the name signed on the temporary shelter request Diode transmitted to the Tsunami Search. “Ahahah, overdose? As in death from a drug overdose? Hahaha Kanna, you're the best. That's the kind of thing that only sounds cool when you're young. It's adorable.”

“Shut up, you freaky shut-in hag! Stop laughing and keep your mouth shut!”

“I also heard you got caught at Fuyō after you left here, but seems like you had no problem escaping. You even had the guts to come back with a girlfriend! I'd expect nothing less from a daughter of mine.”

“Stoooop! I mean it!” Diode yelled with a bright red face, unable to stand what she was hearing.

Diode's deckwear was a shadow dress with diamond and graphite studs. In front of her stood a black-haired woman with a similarly small stature, her doll-like face laughing wildly. Since they were in different pits, they couldn't touch one another. If they could, though, there was no doubt a parent-child hug would turn into a serious wrestling match instead. Terra could only watch with the cartoonishly vacant, wide-eyed stare that accompanied a cringey memory. “So that's what... her mother is like... and Die-san is also like...”

A woman standing off to Terra's side asked, “You've never seen Kanna-san act like that?” She was a beauty who seemed to be in her 20s and wore a monotone butler uniform. That was Terra's introduction to Linia Xīnxīng, an assistant to Rock who permanently lived and worked in Sо̄fu-iwa.

Terra nodded. “I haven't. Though every now and then she accidentally uses some slang. But basically, whenever she asks for something it's along the lines of 'She and I would most like...'"

“Rather reserved, isn't she?” That handful of words felt like a deep stab to Terra's chest.

“Hey, you're Terra-san the decomper, aren't you? Allow me to welcome you,” Rock said, turning to greet her. “Could it be that you brought Kanna back here with you on purpose?”

“Not really, it was a complete coincidence. Actually, I should be the one asking that. How were you able to find us...?”

“That was a coincidence too. The Tsunami Search's course is at the mercy of the wind. We're talking about a golden encounter here. What are the odds a decomper-san washes up here with my Kanna in tow?”

“If anything, it was Die-san who brought me here. She's been a huge help to me.”

“Hah, really? She's been helpful to you? This asylum case was capable of helping a proper young lady like you?”

“Stop that, youuuuuu stuuuuuuupid haaaag! You’re just a freeeaaaaking char fish who calls herself a rock, Iwana!”

Rock's smooth addition of a barb to the otherwise sociable chat set Diode off. Terra was overwhelmed by the scene and ready to retreat, but asked Rock, “Iwana?”

Rock laughed as her cheeks quickly reddened like a little girl. “That's 'cuz my real name's Iwana Ishidōrō Gendō. Long, innit? The characters for Iwana mean 'rock' and 'fish', so just Rock is easier.” Giving her daughter a mischievous side eye, she added, “My nickname's not because I have eighth grade syndrome. If you really insist on a diagnosis though, you could call it thirtieth grade syndrome instead, ahaha.”

“Aaargh! You're making my skin crawl!”

“Oh, uhh...” Terra felt a little shy, but still had the determination to step between the two. “Please don't... tease Die-san that much. I think those traits of hers are wonderful, name included.”

“Oh?” Rock blinked and Terra bowed.

“I introduced myself over the radio but allow me to do so again. I'm Terra Intercontinental Endeavour. Thank you very much for allowing us to shelter on your ship. I'm very grateful for your help tonight... Umm, I think Ishidōrō sounds nice, and it's not all that long, wouldn't you agree?” Terra said, attempting to smooth over the situation.

Rock tilted her head and replied, “Hmm, Intercontinental... between landmasses, right?”

“What?”

“Yeah, if I remember correctly, that's what it means. It's an old Endeavour word,” Rock explained. “On rocky planets, a continent is a large landmass that isn't flooded with water. So, I wonder if your family name comes from people who used to travel between continents.”

“Really? I had no idea that's what it meant, wow.” Genuinely impressed, Terra turned and smiled at Diode. “So that's what it means. Die-san, your mother knows a lot, doesn't she?”

“Terra-san... she's... she's..” Feeling squeezed by the simultaneous feelings of hostility towards her mother and feelings of something else towards Terra, Diode made fists with both hands and pounded the air a few times before rushing out of the lounge.

“Ah, Die-san!” It was the sort of situation where Terra felt she needed to support Diode no matter what, and she had failed to do that.

Just as she was about to give chase, Rock stopped her.“Hold up, Terra-san. Now that we have the chance, why don't we chat for a bit? Don't worry about her, it looks like she went to her room. She'll shove her face in her favorite pillow and scream all night before she calms down.”

“How is she going to shove her face into a pillow while she's in a pit?”

“Figure of speech. I always end up teasing her because she's cute. She's cute, isn't she?”

“I agree completely.”

“You're a fascinating one... The rumors have even made it out here to the middle of nowhere, by the way.” Rock took a close look at Terra's figure. Her deckwear for the day was an airy, dark green and gold Victorian-style dress. Although she had forgone the traditional corset because it was a hindrance, she had made sure to tie the waist as tight as possible to emphasize her bust and hips.

“Let's have a seat now.” Rock signaled to Linia and brought Terra to a table. Terra chose something with just the right amount of alcohol from the selection offered in the drinks tube. Linia brought over a basket of sealed food items and offered them to Terra, demonstrating how to bring them into the pit using the fastener pinned in front of her chest.

“As you can tell, this ain't the most convenient place. I've got Linia here with me now, but way back it was just the kid and me. Our only source of entertainment, if you could call it that, was the kayak. We only got a few visitors or temporary residents over the years, to say nothing of the difficulty of 2G life. I raised her in an extreme environment.”

Rock's hair spread like a black fan inside the gel. Her gaze had the same romantic appeal as a legendary jewel from 5000 years ago known as the pearl. She was no doubt older than thirty, but her exact age was impossible to judge from her small stature alone. The contrast between the casual language leaving her mouth and her attractive, elegant face was so excessive that the effect was refreshing.

“I get where she's coming from, though. Ever since she got her first period, small arguments always escalated into blowout fights that ended with her running off. Normally, people in that kind of situation would wonder why it turned out that way, but I want to say–”

“That your family is actually one of the oldest in Gendō, right? You don't happen to be a descendant of that Magiri, do you, Ma'am?”

For the first time, Rock's eyes shot open in surprise. Quietly, she responded, “And whose idea is that? Highhertz?”

“What? Ohhh, no, our Clan Chief doesn't have anything to do with this. It has more to do with the Endeavours' archives. There are a bunch of old documents there, so Die-san came over a few times to help look through and figure out what's in them.”

“Heh. What did you find?”

Terra told her about how the true history of the early Circs was unclear, about the two peculiar people known as Magiri and Eda who were very active in that history, and about the possible role they had in the creation of besshu.

“I'm not sure what it is, exactly. But I was wondering if it could be something to do with your family's heritage, since Magiri was a past Gendō, Die-san is a present Gendō, and the Gendō have even gone so far as to send trackers after her—are you okay, ma'am?!”

Rock spat out her cocktail in the middle of conversation, and began choking in her pit. Unable to reach her to help, Terra started to panic. Linia promptly caught the fastener to Rock's side, but she quickly stepped away once it was clear the situation wasn't serious.

“*Cough, cough* What, trackers?! They came? For you two...?”

“Yes, they came, but I scared them off.”

“How?!”

“With a bang. Like this,” Terra smiled, making a pump action gesture. Rock, dumbfounded, and Linia, relieved, exchanged glances.

“Is everyone in your clan like that?”

“No, I believe the people in her clan would usually be afraid, too. She's the exception.”

“That's just normal for us Endeavours,” Terra said. Then she got worried. “Um, are the trackers really that hardcore?”

“It's more like it's hard to make them back off. Even I feel like running away when I argue with them.”

Linia cut in, “In your case, Rock-san, your character is 50% to blame for that.”

Rock replied, “Wrong-o. It was their fault, 80%.”

“If that were true, then Kanna-san's attitude wouldn't resemble yours so closely.”

“C'mon, that's 'cuz she grew up on the sidelines hearing me argue with them.”

“But I was there too, and you don't see me taking after you.” Linia shut Rock down with a calm look. She was a beauty—tall, but not quite Terra's height. Although she seemed difficult to approach, she acted rather close with Rock. At any rate, there was no way a normal person would willingly come work in a place like this.

Terra decided to probe a little. “Forgive my asking, but just what kind of person is Linia-san...?”

“Ah, she's Kanna's polar opposite. She moved to Fuyо̄ from the Xīnxīng clan but came here with me after she got disillusioned with life there. She likes it here. Linia doesn't bite, she just ain't very social,” Rock explained. Linia only nodded, not adding anything in particular.

If that's how she is, I guess her own circumstances must be complicated, too...

“Anyway, back to what we were talking about.” Rock ran her fingers through her hair for quite a while, then suddenly gave Terra a serious look. “Terra-san, thank you.” She put both hands on the table separating their pits.

“Huh? For what?”

“For how much you seem to love that difficult girl. She's very important to me too, and I just knew she'd leave someday from how she was always out in the kayak.”

“By kayak, you mean that? The small aircraft attached to the tower?” Terra asked, pointing above her. Rock nodded.

“That's right.”

“Ah, was that how Die-san got her veteran-level 9500 hours of flight time...?”

“Yeah, and since she was a brat, she spent hours every day out flying around in it. Sometimes she'd be out for more than three days.”

“Isn't that dangerous?!”

“Do you hear yourself?” Rock chuckled, sticking up her white, nicely shaped nose. “Tell me, Terra-san, does she ever listen when you tell her to stop doing something dangerous?”

“...She doesn't.” Terra shook her head with a sour look on her face. “She's the same with me, just gives me a 'What?' and that's the end of it.”

“Well, we really didn't ignore the danger of it. The kayak is guaranteed to surface. Its structure is full of hollow microspherules. It wouldn't sink even if you smashed it down to a cubic centimeter. Completely opposite problem, actually, it gets stuck at the tropopause and often just doesn't come down. She never cried when that inevitably happened, even when she had to be rescued with the comms aircraft. She'd spend days out there alone, totally calm and living off pemmican. The moment she saw me she'd give me a dirty look, like I had finally captured her after a chase.”

Terra could imagine the sight easily. Night at 50,000 meters a dark, purple-red sky spreading over a slice of the planet as base ships crawled overhead. Diode as a kid, fitting comfortably into the kayak's tiny seat—I wonder if back then she couldn't print deck dresses as elaborate as the ones she does now?—and gliding through the boundless skies, thinking of how she'd travel beyond them as she calculated an orbit's full-element.

Or maybe it was the complete opposite. Maybe she watched over what she could catch from high in the sky, her field of view extending to FBB's cloudy horizons 3000 km away. Admiring all of it: besshu schools here, changing clouds there.

And the little girl who wanted to do those things—Terra suddenly realized she probably completely misunderstood what Diode had been thinking about.

“Ma'am! Could it be it wasn't the Tsunami Search Die-san wanted to leave, but–”

Terra leaned closer to the woman. Rock was already getting drunk, and a faint, devious smile was growing on her elegant face. To Terra, she whispered, “You’re a good catch. You’d be wasted on Kanna if you became her wife. Why don’t you come live here together with me?”

Terra headed towards Diode's room. The girl invited her inside and apologized with an incredibly embarrassed look. “I'm so, sooooo sorry for screaming like that in front of you. I don't mean to, but I get filled with rage whenever I'm in front of my mother. I just can't control myself for some reason.”

“I understand, I've argued with my mother too. There are some things we just can't stand, right? I've also done what you'd call 'going off somewhere' because of it.”

“Yeah, even though it would be better if the parents went off somewhere inste–” Diode quickly cut her sentence short by covering her mouth like she was trying to slap a bug on a wall. “Um.”

“Yes?”

“I'm sorry...”

“It's okay. I was watching because I felt a little jealous. You're you, Die-san, so of course you'll have things about your mother that you find inexcusable. I won't force you to love her.”

“But, but still, I'm soooorry!!” Diode glued herself to her pit's walls, pounding her hands against the transparent divider. Terra, who had been intently watching the girl, immediately burst into laughter.

“It's fine, you don't need to apologize so much. Like I said before, it's been six years already. I've still got my aunt, too.”

“Okay...”

“I was a little surprised though. Don't you always use that fragrance your mother gave you?”

“Yes, that was the story I gave, but I never thought I'd end up coming back to the place of the person in question.” Diode turned her head away again before continuing, “It's a long story, but back when I was at the girls' school, there was a phase where incense and perfume were popular as hell. I kind of went overboard back then, and the backlash made me settle on the scent of my old home.”

“Wow, everything I've heard about your past so far has been fascinating.”

Diode covered her face with a hand and staggered to a corner of the room, where she curled up. “I really can't with this place... nothing good ever happens here...”

“I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to tease you.” For all of Diode's pride, it was easily damaged. She was very particular about her own territory. Trying to be mindful of Diode, Terra said, “I'll go out for a bit, then. Your mother asked if I'd like to come up with her, so...”

“What? Up?”

“Mhm, since an e-storm is a pretty unique phenomenon.” Although the Tsunami Search's equipment automatically gathered and transmitted meteorological information to the Circs, witnessing special phenomena in person hadn’t lost its privilege for humanity. After their lounge chat wrapped up, Rock let Terra know she and Linia were going up to the meteorological observatory to watch the storm and departed, so Terra came here. “I've been wondering how the storm will progress, so I'm gonna go have a look. I heard there's a room up there, too–”

“You can't.” Diode banned Terra from going with zero hesitation, cutting off any chance to talk about it at the root.

“Huh? But–”

“No, you can't go. The meteorological observatory is, uh... full of control panels for strange and complex analytical devices, so I'm worried about what might happen to the body of a complete novice like you, Terra-san. Leave it for those two and stay here, please.”

Diode again firmly barred Terra from going there. The way she phrased it was incredibly unnatural, but Terra accepted she must be saying something like that for a good reason. “Got it. I'll take your word, then—but is it okay if I get out of the pit? There seems to be some furniture in here...”

Terra took another look around the room. There weren't any windows, just a damp-looking desk, a few shelves, and what seemed like a wall-mounted bed for a 0G environment. Although Diode's old bedroom looked like a ruin, it still felt more like a home than a pit.

“No, stay in. That stuff is in here because you need it for normal life when the room is completely filled with gel. We're just using bubble pits right now because we're guests. You don't want to breathe the same gel as someone you just met, do you?”

“Ahh, I see...” Terra felt like the mystery of how Diode had lived inside a pit for the dozen odd years from infancy to her departure was totally solved.

Night came.

The light turned off, and Terra heard a howling noise like a small and big flute being blown at the same time, ebbing and flowing like waves. Terra wondered if it was the sound of the wind swirling around the rocky tower. There could be no doubt the sound was coming from the environment, since the Tsunami Search was unique in its ability to stay afloat without the use of power. Her pillar boat's engine was much louder, so Terra had never heard that sound while she was aboard it.

As Terra focused on the noise, she noticed the room swayed gently every six seconds. She could feel the gel pulse inside the pit. It seemed like the huge, tower-shaped Tsunami Search was swaying in the wind. Terra hadn't experienced the rocking motion in a pillar boat either, but she found it unexpectedly comfortable.

“This is making me sleepy...” Terra whispered.

The immediate response was, “Really? Aren't you scared?”

“...Of what?”

“Of falling.”

“You mean down there?”

“Yes,” came Diode's voice from the dark. “I'm scared of falling down there.”

“Ahh. If that's what you're wondering, then yes, I'm scared too. Today was really scary. If that ejector had hit us head-on, then we wouldn't be here right now.”

“When I was a kid, I used to watch trash being dumped from the dust chute through the glass floor,” Diode whispered. “Since the central opening here is a bottomless pit, every time trash was dumped, I would run over to watch how it would spin and spin until it shrank and was swallowed by the black and blue haze. I watched it fall like that more times than I can count... So, what do you think happens to it after that?”

“It gets crushed by the pressure, doesn't it?”

“Right, that's what they teach you. I did hear about somebody falling down there when I was around three years old. But then how would it feel? If a person fell down there, then what? Would their legs and arms get smashed? Would they choke? Would their eyeballs pop? Would their stomach, heart, and lungs–”

“D-Die-san, stop. I know what you mean, but that's a bit...”

Diode laughed emptily at how easily Terra was defeated. “Are you bad with that kind of thing? Sorry.”

“I imagined it...”

“Hah, of course you did. I think I get it, though. I've been scared of falling for as long as I've been here—that's why I ran away.”

Terra turned towards the dark and resolved to ask the question she had attempted to pose to Rock. She placed a hand on the wall where she was about to direct her voice. “Die-san, you want to leave this planet, don't you?”

Diode's breath caught. “How–?”

“For a lot of reasons, like how you request the full-element. I thought maybe it was to practice flying the boat on planets other than FBB or something.”

“...”

“You left here and got caught. You were forced to enroll in a girls’ school at Fuyō and escaped. Even though you came to my place, you’re not satisfied with just that, are you? You eventually want to go somewhere much further away, don't you?”

Terra felt lighter after asking. She gently pushed her hand against the pit's resin wall, and she felt it grow a little warm—another hand was touching it from the other side.

“This might sound weird coming from me, but I don't think you're afraid of things the way everyone else is,” Diode said, which Terra found curious. “I mean, you're an insane decomper. You can think of hundreds or even thousands of flight forms. I always, always feel like crying when I see you make one shape after another. Like, how are you so capable of coming up with that many?”

“Isn't that only because you're incredibly skilled at piloting–”

“And skill is all it is. I'm saying what you have is more than just skill. I mean, if you're already able to think up all of those forms just living here, then what would you be able to come up with in the vastness of outer space?” Terra's breath caught. Diode quietly continued. “A hundred million, a trillion, or maybe even more than that—but despite that, our lot was to be isolated in a small corner of space here with the Circs. Being raised in the Tsunami Search was even more isolating...”

“I understand what your mother struggled with now,” Terra said.

“So you get her now, do you?” In a resigned tone, Diode continued, “If it hadn't been here, it would have been at Fuyо̄ instead. I would have been raised as a cute, fragile bird in a cage that would never even dream of going outside. So, I'll put some effort into... not resenting that h—I mean, my mother.”

“Speaking of which, could I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Back at Fuyо̄, do they ever bring up the idea of leaving the planet? Like, when you were in the girls' school...?”

Diode went silent, but Terra could tell she was vehemently shaking her head. “They don't even think they need to mention it. To them, Fat Beach Ball is the paradise the Circs discovered on the edge of space. The Gendō slogan is that we reclaimed paradise with pride, and that will sustain us into the future.”

“Ahh, so if you ever said you wanted to leave, they'd treat you like a failure or an underdog?”

“I don't know who this Edna Dock person is, but yes... What do the Endeavours think about escaping?”

“It rarely comes up,” Terra replied in a tone that conveyed her wistful smile. “They believe this is a good place to live, so they don't feel the need to go anywhere else.”

“...But what do you think?”

Diode's slight hesitation before asking cued Terra into noticing something was off. Why did Diode flee her mother's ship during a Bow Awow?

“Die-san, this is just a hypothetical, but...” Terra realized she didn't want to ask the question, but it was too late to stop herself. “If you could board the Dàxúnniǎo, would you?”

Diode was silent. It wasn't the response Terra expected, but she took that silence as the answer. Not wanting to hear anything else, Terra curled up in the gel and did her best to sleep.

The fierce howl of the wind and gentle sway continued for 90 minutes until the trackers finally arrived.

11

An alarm didn't pierce the quiet like shattering glass, nor did the bed shake. Since Sōfu-iwa was a place with neither glass nor beds, the trackers' attack plan differed considerably from the one back at Idaho.

“Terra-san! Kanna! Get up! Now!” Terra and Diode simultaneously woke up and threw on the lights the moment they heard yelling. Naturally, since voices didn't carry between pits, it must have come from the communication system. Rock broke in over the comms again. “Run, the trackers are here! Get over to your boat!”

“R-really?!” Terra fumbled for her quickmask, but it wasn't there. She reached for her shotgun next, but it wasn't there either. She started to panic.

Diode gave her pit a hard kick. “Wake up, Terra-san. Rock! Where are they? Above or below us?!”

“Above you. They're rappelling down from the observatory. It's a bunch of the usual tightsuits. We're boarded up in the supply room, so we're fine as long as they don't blast the top off Sōfu-iwa. We'll be okay. But don't worry about us, you two are the targets. Get moving already!”

“You're okay with us just abandoning you here?”

“When did you become such a saint?” Rock sneered. Then, in a somewhat gentler tone, she said, “Well, I'm happy to hear that. Come visit another time.”

“...If the wind carries us here," Diode said bluntly. Then, she yelled at Terra rudely, “What are you smiling about? We're supposed to be fleeing! Escaping!”

Terra had received a message from Linia on her minicell. When she looked at it, she saw the passcode for in-board cable communications, probably to help them escape. There was a memo attached: “Please take very good care of Kanna-san.” She wondered if Diode and Linia also had a history.

“Thank you, Linia-san. Ma'am, keep well!”

The two leaped out of their rooms and began running downstairs. But at the landing Diode, who was leading Terra, abruptly stopped. Turning around, she murmured, “I figured out their little trick. I'm certain they won't treat us like amateurs and underestimate us again. If they've announced their presence above us, they must have already set a trap at the lower exit. Let's go back.”

“Wouldn't we just be running straight into their hands?”

“Yes. That's why we'll take a different route.”

That route was the dust chute. They didn’t hesitate to use the vertical duct, which carried the trash Diode used to watch fall with both fear and fascination as a kid—

“D-Die-san, this is really scary...”

“Please just look up. Just focus on my butt!”

—and in their bubble pits, ascended like slime backwashing up a drain

The dust chute went through the whole ship, up to the telescope room on the top floor. The two thankfully didn't find any threats when they climbed out. When Terra quietly looked down from the observatory window, she accidentally let out a chuckle that was completely disconnected from their situation.

“I thought this when we first got here, but that besshu-shaped streamer is kinda cute.”

“That's the Gendō national flag.”

“What's a national flag?”

“Who knows? It's a mysterious tradition. Maybe leaving it up tricks them into thinking she's loyal.”

“But aren't the trackers here anyway? I guess its usefulness wore out, then...” As Terra looked down at the streamer, she caught sight of a small armed shuttle flying around the lighthouse room like it had just arrived. “Gah... They came armed. If that's the case, I guess it means they want to take me down. Since you're the only one who's valuable to them and all.”

“They won't be taking you down. Please summon the pillar boat, Terra-san.”

“Will it get a signal? Wouldn't they jam it, or tap the systems maybe?”

“We'll summon it by cable. The boat's moored to the pier down there. There's probably also a control line connection, so look for it, please.”

So that's the purpose of a cable connection—impressed, Terra used her minicell implant by sticking her left hand out of the pit and placing it against the observatory’s wall. Not only was a communication circuit guaranteed to run through the walls no matter the building, but since the walls were made from AMC clay, anyone, anywhere, could tap into the circuit as long as they had the passcode.

Her minicell located the pillar boat docked below within ten seconds. “All right, I have it on the line. Come up here!”

The boating system could respond to assigned tasks as long as they were simple. The pillar boat, which had been moored as a sphere to reduce crosswind while on station, slowly began to rise on its jets. Another aircraft, a shuttle, approached it from below. Just like Diode predicted, the trackers had set an ambush.

“We don't have the luxury of boarding normally, Terra-san. We're going to have to jump!”

“Whaaat?! Weren't you scared of falling?!”

“It's better than getting caught.”

The two smashed the observatory window and jumped, aiming for the boat hovering beside the Tsunami Search. They didn’t have to worry about suffocating in the hydrogen and methane atmosphere since they were in the bubble pits. If they slipped and fell, though, that was that. As they fell through the skies under a 2G acceleration, Terra worried she wouldn't make it out alive.

“AIEEE...!” She felt a soft landing as the familiar sensation of the pillar boat’s interior enveloped her, then let out a huge sigh of relief.

They shed their living pits and made for the control pits. While Terra noisily worked her way down the slimy tunnel, only a single point was lit on the VUI in the cockpit. A sharp command echoed from there. “Cockpit, lift up! Run away!” With that, the pillar boat massively accelerated, and Terra’s pit tumbled all the way aft. The boat’s jet plume singed the rock tower Rock and Linia had barricaded themselves in as it began to climb.

“Diiieee-saaan!”

“Quick! Give the lift up command to the rear pit!”

The jets were at full throttle, running without any vector tweaks or power reallocation. As a result, the nozzle configuration blasted out huge plumes around them, which provided a visual reference for the resulting thrust vector. Almost immediately, the two were moving in the opposite direction. Diode quickly opened and set virtual throttle panels to her left and right and started adjusting each nozzle—or so it seemed, until she killed the power to every throttle within reach on the right.

In astonishment, Terra shouted, “What are–” then acted on reflex to avoid an emergency. She lived up to the name Terra Tell-Tale and decompressed before she could even think to curl in a ball and scream. In an instant, she flattened the boat, which had started yawing right due to the idle jets. A moment later, a cloud of sparks shot past with almost no room to spare.

“They're actually shooting.” Diode frowned.

Terra once again used her imagination to grasp the entirety of the boat and began stretching it into a shape with high speed and maneuverability. However, something rolling around inside the ship obstructed her—the previous day's besshu catch still seemed to be alive, and it prevented her from changing the boat's form. She wanted to align the squid with their flight direction, but it insisted on rolling sideways. Giving up, she made due with a shape that wasn't quite flat, resembling the rays of the shallow ocean world Centomica.

She pulled up the multi-frequency fish scanner VUI and assessed the situation behind them. In the night-vision footage, Sōfu-iwa was already a speck in the distance. A single rhombic shape stood out —the deep black muzzle of an armed shuttle aimed right at them. By the time Terra noticed it was glowing, they were already dodging the shot. Diode scowled at the projection of the scene behind them. She dodged the two follow-up shots with an agile maneuver, hoping to use the moment to break the pursuit. It failed, and their pursuers followed.

The two took stock of the trackers. There were a few seconds between each shot, which meant were probably using physical bullets instead of laser or particle guns. It was impossible to tell how much firepower they had, but judging from the barrel's caliber, it wasn't enough to sink them in one shot. At most, it might break a nozzle or shave off some clay. It suggested they plannned to make contact once the pillar boat stalled and began to sink.

Terra and Diode were at a disadvantage when it came to maneuverability. They were in a big fishing boat, and no matter how capable a decomper might be at shapeshifting, there was nothing she could do to change that fact. While their boat had the thrust to give them an advantage in straight-line high-speed flight, they couldn't fly at full power in the dirty atmosphere. Their only choice was to keep evading their pursuers as long as possible.

“Let's put out a mayday. The Gendō are unreasonable, but at least half of the other clans should be willing to help us.”

“Will the signal get through considering an E-storm just happened?”

“Hm? Aaargh, this microwave belt weather is awful! Why did it have to be now...?!”

“That's precisely why they decided to attack now, no?" The dust suspended in the atmosphere didn't just degrade the flight conditions, but communications, too. That was probably what prompted their attack; the poor connection would allow them to abduct Diode without anyone noticing. “We really are at a disadvantage with all this.” Steeling herself, Terra continued, “I'm going to make a hard shield behind us.”

“Wait, it's too late for that. Check this out instead.” Interrupting Terra, Diode sent one of her VUI panels to the back pit. Terra looked and nodded. It was a file she'd made the day before—their fishing strategy for black-veined squid. “The school's an obstacle. Let's blend with them.”

“Nice idea! I do feel bad for the besshu, though...” The pillar boat turned sharply and plunged into a thick, majestic cloud wall in the Left Eyeball.

Black-veined squid were large-class besshu. Even the smallest measured fifteen meters in length, and some grew up to sixty meters long. The squid were shaped like fishing sinkers. As their innumerable, muscular tentacles pumped in flight, the eyeball located at their pointy end would dart around. Although they were comparable to bachi orca in terms of their besshu size class and their resemblance to their Anno Domini namesakes, they differed in two major ways. The first was that the squids' mouths were in the back, not the front. The second was that the squid didn't swim much laterally. They swam vertically instead. Like a cartesian devil, they floated up to the altocumulus clouds at eighty kilometers above sea level and sank down to the middle layers one hundred kilometers below sea level. To the Circs' knowledge, the squid weren't intelligent, but their vertical swimming required an entirely different fishing technique.

Then the pillar boat, for the second time, and the enemy boat, for the first time, headed towards the black-veined squid habitat. As they broke through the clouds, they found themselves leaping right in.

The sky was almost pitch black as blue-black rain fell across the whole area. For a moment, everything lit up from a lightning flash. Tens of sinker-shaped figures as far as the eye could see, their sizes easily rivaling a spaceship big and small alike, stood completely still as if frozen to the sky. It was a spectacular view.

Terra screamed in delight. “Woah! Doesn't it look like there are more of them now?”

“It does. I wonder if they take shelter in this area. Mm!”

Diode focused her eyes on the darkness and quickly rolled the boat. A moment later, something big and heavy brushed against them. Once again, lightning flashed, and the besshu they had seen earlier were now at different altitudes. The two suddenly realized that the besshu were actually moving. Their apparent stillness was an afterimage.

“How does it look behind us?”

“They're coming–”

High speed, poor vision, and obstacles. Diode had to keep her full focus ahead of the ship to maintain her situational awareness, so Terra kept watch behind them. They're here—A lone rhombic shape flickered in and out of sight among the school of black-veined squids with irregular flashes of light. That figure never lost sight of the two or ran into any squid. Irritating though it was, the pursuing pilot was also incredibly skilled.

“They're following us. We didn't shake them off! They have to be using something besides radar and visuals.”

“Insistent, huh? Ah well, we'll have a heat signature as long as the engine keeps running...”

“That's it!” Terra clapped her hands together and adjusted her breathing to decompress again. She opened small holes all over the thermonuclear engine.

“We lost thrust and it's like the throttle is choking. What are you doing, Terra-san?!” Diode's shout had an uneasy edge to it.

“It's fine!” Soothingly, Terra said, “I created an intake to mix our exhaust with the cold air outside. I think it will make it harder to detect heat from behind us!”

“You can do that?”

“I'm not done yet! I thought of one more thing!” Next, the sides of the hull started to undergo a huge transformation. The structure evoked Terra casting a net, but the shape spread into several thin bags that quickly filled with air. As they expanded, Terra closed them off using her specialty in ribs and strands. They were empty inside, but the outside was specially crafted to resemble a pillar boat. One-by-one, she separated them from the main boat as she finished them.

Diode's breath hitched as she watched the scene unfold. “Incredible...”

Terra formed four boats with the same shape around them but didn't let go. One moved like a dolphin bobbing up and down, the second spun around, the third darted left and right in a frenzy, and the fourth flew straight at squids before dodging them masterfully. All four looked just as real as the boat the two were in. Once the decoys all looked accurate, Terra cast them away from the main boat and controlled them with a wire connection.

“CLONE FIGHT!!”

The trackers' moves became erratic. They chased the first clone, which suddenly switched places with the third. When the trackers seemed to get a lock on the second, the fourth came rushing at them. In the midst of it all, a fifty-meter black-veined squid suddenly emerged, forcing the trackers to swiftly turn to avoid the floating obstacle.

“Ahaha! Terra-san! Terra-san!” Diode burst into unhinged laughter. “You're the best. You're seriously the best! Ahaha...!”

“Fuhehehe, I am? I am?! Bwah!” Terra had gotten a little too happy, and the third clone exploded before her eyes. A flash of light, different from lightning, had raced up behind and blown through it. Wider clouds of light followed that shot and started raking across their boat. Their opponents had ditched the barrel and were using buckshot.

“Ahhh, was my trick no good...?”

“No, you're doing great, those guys are wasting their bullets. Please keep it up!”

“Okay!”

It was now a matter of life or death.

Rain and dust, lightning bolts and alien lifeforms, black and white. Spray and steam filled the air. Diode pushed her piloting skill to her limits as she flew hither and tither. The 16,000-tonne mass whirled, rolled sideways and back, and weaved amongst the squid like it was knitting them together. The OMS nozzles lined up along the hull spouted flames that flickered like fairy lights as Diode alternated between diving and climbing.

Terra kept tight control over the decoys. It was fine for them to get shot, in fact, her strategy planned for that possibility. However, the amount of clay she needed to make those fragile imitations wasn't zero, and their pursuers might get some lucky hits. She had to operate them with nothing less than her full attention. She pulled the remaining three to and fro, using them as a decoy at some times and putting them on the offensive at others. She was improvising as much as possible while maintaining their intricate dance.

They never would have imagined how the game of tag came to a sudden end. Several squid trailed black gas as they sank around the fleeing pillar boat, suddenly creating a wide opening around it. The trackers had lost patience and involved the squid in the conflict. Terra frowned a little and whispered, “Squid-san, I’m sorry for getting you caught up in this.”

“I don’t think we have much room to talk.” The two had come to catch squid to begin with. Although they were just making idle comments, the next thing that left Diode’s mouth was nothing short of genuine astonishment. “Terra-san, look!”

“Huh, what?”

The squid closest to them was pointed at the trackers and rushing towards the shuttle. It obviously took the enemy boat by surprise, but they swiftly evaded it and shot. That seemed to be a bad call, though, as other squid swarmed towards the enemy boat, racing to be the first there. They repeatedly rammed the shuttle from the front, rear, and sides.

“Black-veined squid can do that?! They can actually move like that?!”

“I had no idea. It's my first time seeing this, too. Maybe they got mad about being shot at.”

“Why? They didn't react at all when we caught one, did they?”

Even if they couldn't comprehend why, the fact was the squid were treating the armed shuttle with unmitigated hostility. The constant barrage of violent impacts smashed the shuttle's antenna and broke its radar.

“Looks like they can't shake the squid off. Ah, are they snared in the squids' tentacles? Ah, ah... the gun's broken, too...”

The two slowly brought their pillar boat about and watched the shuttle being surrounded by the squid school. Terra looked anxious, so Diode whispered, “Do you want to help them?”

“...Huh?”

“You're kind, Terra-san. And because you're kind, you don't just want to abandon them, do you?” Despite what Terra might think, Diode wasn't teasing her with that question. She had a gentle, faintly sympathetic look in her eyes.

Terra used all of her willpower to shake her head in spite of it. “No, I can't forgive the people who tried to steal you away back there. Let's leave them—who knows, they might actually have another trick up their sleeves.”

“...You're trying too hard.”

“What? Woah–” The pillar boat came about sharply. Squid were coiled around the shuttle like a ball, so the boat's trajectory was aimed slightly above them.

“Trying to act tough doesn't suit you. If you feel sorry for them, just be honest and say so, please.”

“Die-san–”

“Fly the remaining decoys fly into the school of squid. The shuttle can use the opportunity to escape if they're lucky... Well, their gun's broken, so they'll surely need to retreat.”

“...I'm sorry!”

Since another one of their decoys had been shot down, only two remained. Terra positioned the decoys to the left and right underneath the pillar boat, and the two flew extremely close to the enemy boat in that formation. One of the decoys snagged on the squid ball, untangling some of them. Propulsion flames rapidly emerged from the gap the two opened.

“How was that?”

“It worked, but it still wasn't enough!”

“One more time, then?”

Diode once again brought the pillar boat about. Terra centered the last remaining decoy directly underneath, then decomped again to harden and reinforce the pillar boat's hull. Diode's decision to rescue them felt crazy, so Terra, alert to the possibility of a surprise attack, was preparing to keep the girl safe.

“Let's go!”

The pillar boat was on a precise trajectory. They raced towards the enemy ship, or rather, a soon-to-be shipwrecked shuttle. At that moment, before their very eyes, the entire squid school balled their tentacles and swung.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

<What is your name? Can you say your name?>

<Terra... Intercontinental Endeavour...>

<Do you know where you are?>

<Fat Beach Ball... Inside, a cloud. There were a lot of squid... Sōfu-iwa... I smell gel.>

—Pah! A zap ran through the sensitive fingertips in her left hand and suddenly brought Terra back to her senses. A doctor, a woman, was in her face and asking questions.

“Do you know who I am?”

“T-the first aid avatar! Boating, end emergency stationkeeping mode! Return crew control!” Terra shouted. The doctor nodded once before disappearing. That virtual image, an interactive tool, appeared when crew members passed out from accidents, seizures, or other health events. Its shutdown plunged the pit into murky darkness.

Terra was in a daze. She was aware of passing out but couldn't remember the moment itself. Her pit had sustained an incredibly violent impact, no doubt. Her head felt like her brain was divided into bags and every single one was being squeezed. She felt fingers pressing into her eyes and ears. It was hydraulic pain from the collision bending her pit inward.

Terra sensed the dark scenery outside quickly racing upwards. Gravity also felt weak. The realization dawned that both she and the boat were in freefall.

“Die-san! Die-saaan!” There was no response. Terra shuddered. What happened? Where's Diode? What about the boat? What about the trackers' ship?

There were only two reasons for a partner to go missing while flying a pillar boat. The first was that the partner died instantly. The second was that they were physically separated from the pillar boat. A wave of nausea and grief crushed Terra the moment she thought of the former. It was possible. They were flying through an obstacle-filled squid nest, or the tracker’s ship might have done something to them at the very last moment. Sinister, repugnant thoughts spilled from Terra’s mind. Diode might only exist as a single cubic centimeter, or she might have been pulped into 38 liters of juice and mixed with AMC clay. She did her best to stop thinking.

Wait, wait, before I do that...! There are still plenty of ways to try contacting Diode. She restored a multi-wavelength antenna outside the hull and tuned the radio. She broadcast a signal hailing her boat from her own boat, a signal type that under normal circumstances would absolutely never be used.

<Intercontinental to Intercontinental, please respond.>

Not even two seconds passed before a small planet icon began spinning on the VUI. “Terra-san, Terra-san!!”

Terra was relieved from the bottom of her heart. The voice was urgent, but it was familiar. The response meant the second reason, that an accident split the boat, was what really happened. The pillar boat had broken in half somewhere between Terra and Diode. The accident was serious but could have been much worse. It was at least possible to put the pillar boat back together. That said, she still didn’t know where the boat had split, or why.

“Terra-san, are you alive?!”

“Yes, I’m alive!” Terra answered emphatically and paused before she continued, “I was about to cry, though! I’m not hurt and just feel a light headache. My boat is falling. Do you know what happened?”

“I'm glad you're unharmed and proud of you for not crying. As for what got us—if I had to say, it was a squid punch.”

“Huh?”

“Sorry, but let's save the explanation for later. My part of the boat is fine, so I'm going to rescue you. Please open a parachute immediately. The trackers' ship fled, so don't worry about them.” Anxiety peeked through Diode's clinical tone.

“Ah, sure," Terra said, calmly following Diode's instructions. Diode casually avoided sharing information Terra probably didn’t need to know for the moment.

The atmosphere of a gas giant is a bottomless pit, and falling into it took more than just a minute or two to kill a human. Terra was fairly certain they had been flying around thirty kilometers altitude in the troposphere. She could stall her descent to sea level for an hour or two if she made full use of atmospheric drag. The thick but navigable middle levels also continued well beyond that, so with the proper measures she stood a very good chance of rescue.

Terra ordered her pillar boat to use its preset glider form. The available presets allowed the crew to change into that shape on the mere hint of a desire to do so. Its wings spread gently. Terra felt a little weight return, but nowhere near as much as before the accident. Grasping the situation, she frowned. The glider didn’t produce enough lift to really slow her sinking.

“It's not really stopping.”

“Okay, I'm bringing up the radar—damn, that's tiny! Is it a bathtub?!”

“I know, right? I'm pretty much down to just the pit.”

The optical feed that displayed her surroundings looked like a fuzzy memory. The squid were gone, and as far as she could tell, the only thing visible in the total darkness of the cloud canyon was the incessant rain of dark liquid bake. Terra was falling at a leisurely 80 km/h inside a control pit no larger than a bathtub.

“If only the clay lump had been just a little bigger—the truth is, your pit got punched in just the right way to knock it loose when we were attacked by the squids’ tentacles. Can you remember? Ah, it all happened so quickly.”

“Huh?” Terra's voice rose in surprise. “Just the pit? Is that even possible?”

“Haven't there been a number of cases of squids coiling around pillar boats and doing severe damage with tentacle punches?”

“I've heard of squid damaging engines and otter boards, but never aiming for the pit with that sort of precision.”

“IIf that’s the case, then still it’s a mystery why they attacked the trackers like they did. Assuming you’re right, it’s possible punching the pit like that was just a coincidence. But forget it, your clay situation is what’s important right now”

“Yeah, you're right.”

AMC clay is an incredible material. In addition to its use as a pillar boat’s engine and fuel, it is used to manufacture batteries, cables, wings, and pressure-resistant armor. However, it can only be refined on the orbiting base ships. No matter how many besshu one might catch down in the atmosphere, it can’t be converted to clay. Which is why Terra laughed emptily when the boating system threw a warning for the remaining clay. “...Haha, I’ve only got about three buckets with me.” All she had left was the clay still plastered to her pit.

“—I'm hurrying with your rescue.” Diode spoke a little faster. They were in a bad situation. By that point the two were separated by about five kilometers, but they couldn’t see or find one another with lidar scans due to the pitch-black bake rain. Not only that, their microwave and longwave infrared sensors were having trouble getting through to one another. It was increasingly difficult to determine their relative positions.

The pillar boat's core dived in pursuit. Over the day, its clay mass had been reduced from 40,000 tonnes to a mere 13,000 tonnes. However, its form was the real issue. When the pursuit began, Terra had decomped the boat into a wide form that resembled a ray. Its airfoil shape gave them the agility to evade the armed shuttle, but as one might guess, that specialization precluded a nosedive. The shape was the cause of their new crisis.

Diode alternated between rolling the hull left and right to lose altitude, similar to a historical dogfighting maneuver known as the “falling leaf”. In comparison, though, Terra was in a near-vertical fall, so Diode wouldn’t catch up that way. The ideal solution was to decomp the boat into a form with minimal drag, but the decomper was in the clouds far below.

Terra being Terra, she tested several methods to decelerate. She commanded the pit to take a glider form and a jellyfish form before attempting to craft and spin up counter-rotating wings. She also thought of forming a nozzle for propulsion. Rather, the nozzle was the first thing she tried, but she stopped when the boating system flashed the clay warning. For starters, spraying mass through the nozzle wouldn’t leave any for later use, but the rising atmospheric pressure also meant rocket thrust was becoming less efficient. The situation simply didn’t justify her using it.

She ultimately opted for a parafoil, the lightest available gliding form, and molded the clay into cloth and string. Still, it only reduced her fall to 50 km/h. Worse, downbursts began to blow ferociously. The parafoil kept collapsing, and even when she repaired it, it wasn’t long before another gust knocked it out of shape. She couldn't tell which way the pit was being blown at all.

“Hmm, things are looking kinda... This has turned into a really complicated situation.” Terra licked her lips. Outside the two cubic meter pit, the scenery swirled like a turbulent stream of mud painted in the ten darkest shades of an artist’s kit. The pit swayed incessantly as pressure increased by the minute.

“Terra-san, could you extend an arm? A ten-milli rod should do the trick,” came Diode’s alto voice. Maintaining her usual cool, she asked in the same tone as a polite request to pass the salt.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to shoot a net at you. I’ll predict when it will get to you and have it open then. So, please, just swing something around to try catching it. Anything works.”

“Got it, something you can go fly fishing with.”

The signal for the shot went out. Two hundred high-density sinkers on an incredibly thin cable fell straight down. The weights were set to burst open and form a net 100 meters above the pit. Terra saw it on her VUI, but they weren’t in reach when the timer went off. Either the net had scattered and drifted away into the skies above due to the violent winds, or Diode hadn’t shot it in the right direction.

“That failed. I'll try again.”

“Okaaay, please do.”

Another shot signal went out, and several minutes went by as they waited for it to arrive. A HIT symbol never appeared.

A dissonant chime sounded to inform Terra of the pressure outside reaching 1 ATM, meaning she had already fallen thirty kilometers. From that moment on, the relationship between the inside of the boat and the atmosphere was reversed. The air and gel inside the pit were no longer trying to get out, they were being compressed. That said, it still wasn’t a problem. The pit could handle up to 50 ATM, the pillar boat 200 ATM. There wasn’t a crush risk yet, and still plenty of time before there was.

That's right—Terra kept telling herself that.

Diode spoke up, “Terra-san, have you thought of anything we could try next?”

“Um, I'm a little ashamed to ask, but would it be possible to contact Sōfu-iwa and see if your mother could come help us...”

“There's absolutely no need to feel ashamed, but yeah, the communication won't go through... We can't reach anyone, whether it's by direct line-of-sight or satellite relay.”

“True. Besides, one of the shuttles stayed there, didn't it? I hope they're okay.”

“Now's not the time for you to worry about others!”

“Ahaha,” Diode’s emphatic delivery made Terra laugh. “So, we’ll have to make it back up to where the radio can get through on our own, huh?”

“Yes. We can restore the boat as long as we make it back to orbit with the pits, at least. So, let’s think of more ridiculous solutions, too.”

“Ah, then... you've more or less told me already, but can you decompress, Die-san?”

“Not very well. I scored eight points on the General Imagination Concretization Exam two years ago.” Terra scored a full 100 points on the test. “Of course, I'll consider decomping as an option, but there's a major risk that I'll break the boat if I'm not successful.”

“Breaking it would be really bad, yeah. Then how about you keep the flat form but put full power into the dive?”

“The truth is I’m already doing that.” Diode shared a VUI panel with Terra that displayed four giganewtons of thrust. For the first time since the ordeal began, Terra broke into a cold sweat. Using that level of output to dive into the atmosphere was not good. In layperson’s terms, Diode had shoved a thin plastic foam board underwater and was kicking it down. “It’s a bit difficult to maintain control. I can’t focus on anything else. I’m pretty much doing the exact opposite of decomping.”

“No! Don't do that, Die-san! Stop! Reduce your thrust!”

“Why should I?”

“Because I'm the boat's owner!” Terra stated firmly. “Limit your thrust to one giga! I'll suspend your twister account if you don't!”

“I don't want to, not until we think of something else,” Diode replied immediately. “I won't be able to keep up with you unless I keep it that high.”

There was something neither of them wanted to bring up, and that was the distance between them. They could track the exact distance by measuring their communication lag, and it was already more than 20 kilometers. Diode was not only not catching up to Terra, she was falling further behind. A moment of suffocating silence passed before the two started speaking with increasing emotion.

“I'll get this out of the way now, but I'm absolutely not going back by myself.”

“I won’t allow it. It would be the worst if both of us died, so please go back, even if it’s just you.”

A huge argument broke out on the edge of hell, then and there.

“Why would that be the worst? Doesn’t a double suicide sound good? I’d go for a double suicide. Going back without you is impossible, but following you in is something I can do. You’re going to suspend my account? Fine, do it. I dare you. Do it knowing that’s absolutely going to blow up the boat, okay?”

“You’re being ridiculous, aren’t you? You need to go back and keep living. You can tell my Aunt Mora, Bonus-san, and Dishcrash-san what happened if you go back to Idaho! And of course, you can meet up with your mother and Linia-san and have a proper talk with them instead of getting into a shouting match! And after that, you hang out there and turn a huge profit catching besshu with the boat!”

“Haah, what do you even mean? You’ve already changed what you said you were going to do, so aren’t you being a little too indecisive about what you want? Please just make up your mind if you’re going to suspend my account or not. You can’t because your true feelings are making you indecisive. You’re telling me a bunch of things you don’t really mean because you feel obligated to send me back alive, aren’t you? Well then, how do you truly feel?! What do you really want?!”

“Stop with the questions about my real feelings or whatever, please. If you start panicking about getting the truth out of me, forget about being rescued or anything else, you know?! My real feelings?! You want to know my true feelings? That’s what you care about right now?! You idiot! Go back! Go back!!”

“Aren’t you basically admitting you have feelings?! When are you ever going express them, if not now? So, you’d better start talking now. But even if you don’t, I already know what those feelings are, ‘kay? You always stare at me plenty, huh? That’s because you want to catch me and pet me enthusiastically, just like a small animal! A small animal!! I learned all about it back at the girls’ school—the big girls always want to pet and pamper the small girls! Tell you what, you can pet and sniff me all you like if you just tell me to come get you already!”

Gh… b-but Die-san, you always stare too. And you weren’t gawking like you were in awe of a rare beast. It was a different kind of look, and I’m perfectly aware of what it meant!”

“—What.”

“See?! You don't even know what to say to that! You had ulterior motives when we started living together, I’m sure of it! Look, it's true that I don't have much awareness when it comes to that, but I'm not so oblivious I wouldn’t notice, you know! You were dead set on living in the attic because you were trying to control yourself, weren't you? The truth is you really just wanted to come down and let me spoil you. And for proof, you even tried to say it yourself... What was it again? Something something big and soft”—"W-wait.”—“It was about these, right?! Boobs! You love them, don't you?”

“What are you talking about?!" There was a shrill quality to Diode’s shouting Terra had never heard from her before. "You can't say something like that, Terra-san! Please don’t say things like that!! M-me? Wanting to... with your...?? B-boo—? Wh–W–Why would I want to do something like–”

“You’re clearly being extremely indecisive about this.”

“I! Am! Not!”

“Yes you are, and besides, you touch them every chance you get! Also, do you really think I never heard about my boobs when I was trying to get married? They've definitely got appeal, don’t they? And you tried to sneak up on me thinking I wasn’t aware of that, didn't you? I could tell even with it being the sort of thing I don’t have any knowledge about! You have experience, don’t you, Die-san? So, you were trying me out. Well, I noticed everything. You were definitely up to something, even if I didn't quite understand what!”

“Stop! Please stop, Terra-san! Sorr—You have my deepest apologies!”

“And then there's the condoms! I looked it up. They weren't for men; they were for fingers!”

“AAAAAHHHH! Okay, I confess! I'm guilty! I'm sorry!” Diode was undeniably screaming at that point. After her shrieks made it obvious she was bending backwards and covering her face, she muttered, “It was just in case...”

Terra let out a long sigh and spoke gently, “I won't forgive you for that. So please, just go back already.”

Diode’s response took a little while to come, but something had quietly grown firmer in it. “I don't want to. I'm going to save you. I don't care about reason or logic anymore.”

“Even if I'll hate you for it?”

“Do you really not want me to?”

Terra opened her mouth, but her voice didn't come out. It couldn't come out. Her silent response and Diode's silent acceptance of it mixed together comfortably. Eventually, Diode began talking again, politely.

“Um, I had an idea. Do you mind?”

“...Okay.” Terra gulped, then promptly asked, “Go ahead, what are you thinking?”

“I released the black-veined squid.”

“Huh?”

“The one we caught first. I still had it on me, so I released it.”

“Why did you do that?”

“I felt it still moving. It’s not the squid that hit you, but didn’t it seem like the other one targeted you for a reason? I thought so, at least. So maybe I’ll be able to pinpoint your location if we track this one.”

“Ahh, well, if that's the case, then we should have released it to begin with. Even then, its settling rate is incredibly fast, right? How are you going to chase the squid?”

“I'm going to decomp into a diving shape.” Terra swallowed her saliva in one gulp. Diode was making a do or die decision. “I can't make very detailed shapes, but I think I can do it as long as it's just a form that'll let me dive. And if it works and I catch up with you, you can return the boat to its previous shape.”

“And if it doesn't work, you're falling straight in. The boat is going to groan, creak and break, and then you'll fall into the deep ahead of me, you know? That's when 4000 ATM will squash you... guuuh.”

“Please stop scaring me! I can't decomp if I don't relax!”

“I'm well aware. Isn't it scary?”

“...I'm not scared.” Terra heard the sound of gel being inhaled deeply. “If it means I can save you, there's not even a millimeter of fear in my thoughts.”

Terra smiled, and what's more, she felt herself loosen up. “Die-san.”

“Yes?”

“Please come get me. I'll give you a reward.”

“...Got it! I'll be claiming all of it. I'm going to start decompressing, so the antenna is going to melt for a moment.”

The communication dropped out.

Terra took a deep breath from her belly and stretched her whole body. At that moment, she heard a violent curtain of rain lash her pit and the parafoil, unable to withstand the gust, silently tore to shreds. She began to feel weightless. Her descent accelerated towards terminal velocity in near-freefall. Terra simply kept watch from her small, tumbling pit as it fell, carried sideways and downwards by the storm’s violent surges. Nobody had ever been calmer.

One more body resided within the storm’s depths. According to observations made by the Circs when they first arrived, a rocky planet collided with FBB around 35 million years ago. It still steadily circled deep within the bulky, gaseous body. That planet, which they named Iron Ball, didn’t just provide the Circs with a variety of elements. Its constant stirring of the deepest layers birthed a variety of structures and lifeforms, which were blown into FBB’s upper atmosphere. It was thanks to Iron Ball that the Circs could catch plenty of besshu, which in turn allowed them to live at a place like this. Isn’t that wonderful? Aren’t you thankful for it? Terra had heard the platitude plenty of times since starting primary cruise school.

Am I thankful? I wonder, Terra thought. No, I don't think I am. This world is stifling. It was a small world with only around 300,000 inhabitants, isolated from wider civilization. It was an old clan society, strangled by old customs. Her path through life was predetermined—marriage interviews, marriage, and bearing children. If she refused, it meant being coerced into something else. Freedom was always a gift chosen by other people, and anyone who refused that gift was taken down a peg. Even after that girl and I ended up in a place like this, we still couldn’t speak our true feelings because of that.

Now that she was here, Terra finally understood they had been hesitating to say something neither of them had a reason to hesitate over.

It was telling the person they loved to come be at their side. It was putting their feelings into words and having them heard. It was something they would never forget, even if they pretended to. It would change the meaning behind, “Why don't you come with me and stay at my place?” Their relationship would become something that obviously didn’t exist within the Endeavour clan, or the Gendō clan for that matter.

What would a relationship feel like? I think it's absolutely expected that we can't be open about it, so will we have to keep it a secret and live in fear no matter what?

No—there’s no need to do that. Diode has been gazing somewhere far away from the start. She wants to go somewhere beyond this planet. I finally understand why that girl didn’t give me an answer when I wanted to hear one. She was afraid I would tell her I didn’t want to leave. If that’s all it was, then I’m okay with leaving together. If she goes to the very edge of the Galactive Interactive in that giant, cross-winged bird, I'm willing to go that far too. I have no reason not to. Terra felt her heart open in a way it never had as she found her resolve.

Decompression—the shell of Terra's pit roiled, and the single liter of remaining AMC clay thinned, lengthened, and stretched into a kilometer-long fiber no more than a micron thick. The fiber drifted and fluttered around inside of that storm, weaving a net no more than 500 meters wide. That net held the two's fate. It was a chance, but only a chance.

Something touched the tip of the net. Not even a moment passed between her noticing and the pit being yanked up. A mineral eyeball, as large as a table for two, stuck to the outer wall and moved around as the squid clung to the pit with its tentacle and took a peek inside. The squid! It touched the fiber Terra had spread, having arrived in pursuit. And the squid being here means—

The very next moment, a violent gust broke from above and a giant, misshapen lump of clay tumbled by, swallowing the pit the squid had just yanked up. Then, the clay slid off.

“—Die-san!”

She didn't get a good look at the big, dark pink thing which just brushed by her, but Terra knew it was part of the pillar boat. She knew the boat disintegrated and that was just one fragment of the 13,000-tonne clay mass. Terra the decomper acutely understood the situation. A girl who had failed to decompress was buried inside and unable to respond.

“DIE-SAAAAAAAAA—” She was hit by the shockwave as both the pillar boat and squid fell away. A loud wind blew and sent the pit tumbling. Terra screamed. Screaming was all she could do. “Die-san... Die-san...!”

Terra's tears mixed with the gel as she watched the dot grow further away. She focused her full consciousness on the skies below her for the sake of keeping track of Diode, for the sake of touching her again. She regretted trying to drive her away, realizing Diode would have been the one stricken with this feeling instead. It had been do-or-die situation, but Diode had committed. All that was left to do now was accompany her.

The last decomping—Terra crushed the soft, thin fiber into a curved shape along the bottom of the falling pit and stretched it into a long tail on the top, molding the pit into a teardrop shape.

“Please wait a bit, okay? I won't be long.”

The pit fell faster, diving into heavy water, ammonium sulfide, and ammonium hydrosulfide clouds. The depth meter continued increasing smoothly, the barometer naturally following suit. The outer shell began to creak. The hydraulic pain returned. Something broke somewhere. Something began spraying out. Something Terra had never smelled before mixed with the gel. Terra clenched her teeth as it all happened, focusing her aching eyes on the dimly swaying spots disappearing into darkness.

After a little bit, the whole scene began to glow. She could still see the glow even when she closed her eyes. It quickly became more intense, engulfing Terra's mind and body—

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“What year is it now?”

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—someone wondered.

Light passed through leaves at an angle, illuminating a thicket from which a small woman emerged, treading the dark soil and undergrowth in sandals. She was dressed in white and appeared to be in her thirties. Her dashing, dignified pixie cut almost sparkled, and she carried herself like she had the most pride anywhere in the universe.

Terra blinked and stared at the woman, repeatedly checked over the lack of injuries on her own palms, then made sure there weren't any stains or tears in her green and gold deck dress. Looking around her, she saw a stone rampart wreathed in ivy, a covered wagon with the carriage slanted from broken spoke wheels, and a horse hurrying away to the one open space carpeted in wildflowers. No matter which way she looked at it, she was in Idaho's media storehouse. She froze as her mind went blank. “What...?”

The woman approached Terra and circled around her once, looking at her with deep interest. She asked, “Was it an accident? A suicide? Or something else entirely?”

“Wha, what...?” Perplexed, Terra could only react by stepping backwards. She was certain her pit had been smashed to pieces, and that she was no longer of this world. She suddenly remembered once hearing that people fast-forward through their memories of life, like a dream, at the moment they died. Is that what's happening?

She didn't know this woman, though. Terra wanted to remember the people important to her, and yet, someone like this was intruding. “What is this? Who are you?”

“Me? I'm Eda. Dryeda de la Lucid, first-rate xenobiologist, one of the first Great Chiefs of the Circs, and father to the besshu.”

“Wh-What?” Her answer didn't clear anything up. Terra felt even more shocked and confused. “Die-san...”

Feeling hopeless, she looked around for Diode in her surroundings. She wasn't sure if there was any point, since it was possible this scene was only an illusion created by her own body as it tried to escape reality. However, her search wasn't totally in vain.

The woman who had introduced herself as Eda spoke up, “Okay, wait a moment. I caught one more person just now. Did you come here looking for this girl?” She walked over to the stone wall and came back with a girl in a diamond and graphite dress.

“...Die-san!” Terra lifted the girl like she was stealing her back, then caressed her pale, smooth face. Her long eyelashes were shut tight, but breath continued to pass through her small nose while gentle warmth radiated from her body. “Die-san...! What a relief...!” Tension completely broken, Terra collapsed to her knees and burst into tears there and then.

“I see, so you came to save this girl.” Eda sat down on the low stone wall nearby and crossed her legs.

After allowing her emotions to spill out for a little while, Terra finally wiped her face and looked at Eda. “Did you save us? ...Actually, were we even saved?”

“I can't talk to anyone except the decomper, so that's why I gave you that girl as a little treat. But if I had to answer—sure, I saved you both. The place you've arrived at is a garden of ideas, where fellow people whose minds aren't constrained by language gather. You're in the middle of decompressing, so no need to worry.”

Terra, however, only started to feel more doubtful. She had just started to think how great it would be if this were real, since she was holding Diode in her arms unharmed. It felt like the woman in front of her was denying that.

“We're in the middle of decomping? So... is this a dream?”

“It's not a dream, just like the pillar boat changing shape isn't a dream. Say some All Mass Convertible clay transformed into a stage and the actors on it started moving. Would you call that a dream?”

“No... I probably wouldn't.” Terra noticed something felt off and opened her mouth. “Am I made of clay, then? What about my real body?”

“Does it feel like either of you aren't real flesh and blood right now?”

“It's... No, not really...”

“Then what's the problem?” Eda grinned so brightly Terra wasn't sure what to make of it. “Anyway, change of topic.” The woman hopped down from the stone wall and crouched in front of Terra. “May I ask what your name is?”

“Terra. Terra Intercontinental Endeavour...”

“Ooh, so the Endeavour clan lives on, eh? Congrats!”

“You said your name was Eda, right? Do you have anything to do with 'Exceptional Eda'?”

“That's me! Ahahaha, it's been a while. It makes me happy to hear that, but a little embarrassed, too. What's the year?”

“We're in CC 304.”

“I see, so I overslept and missed the 300th anniversary. Well, it's good that it's been 15 years since someone fell in.”

“15 years?” Now that she mentioned it, I do remember hearing about something along those lines happening back then.

“So, you've been asleep since...? You wake up when people fall in?”

“Mhm, I'm usually asleep. But whenever something happens, it wakes me up.”

“Who?”

“Iron Ball.” Terra gave her an unblinking stare. Of all the shocking and surprising things that Eda was throwing at her, that one hit the hardest. Eda looked back at Terra and grinned. “Anyway, why don't we have some food while we chat?”

Terra knew it wasn't a time for eating, but she was beginning to doubt everything. Eda guided her to a spot, and Terra took a seat on the stone wall. Eda produced a basket from the broken carriage. Despite Terra's uneasy feeling that something was off about the place, she ate the cucumber-like and cheese-like sandwich she was offered and complimented its incredible flavor. Eda laughed at Terra's praise for the high fidelity of 303-year-old printers, saying it wasn't from a printer.

“This is food, not 'food-like'. It's real cucumber and dairy from the early days, back when those things were still alive and kicking.”

“...All of our ingredients are recycled organic matter now, so everything we eat comes from the printers.”

“Hmm, for people orbiting a place that's starved for elements, I'd say they're doing well. Decomping is what lets us eat this sort of thing here.”

While Eda chowed down on her sandwich, Terra murmured, “What exactly is... What exactly is decomping?”

“What exactly is decomping? Mm, excellent, asking that right out of the gate. So, in exchange for temporarily reducing the capacity for human thought—the driving force of our language centers, in other words—to a minimum, one maximizes their ability to mold, which gives shape to the clay. Decompers—the Circs—believe they 'change the boat's shape to their desires'... but do you really think that's an ability that humans possess themselves?”

“Think? But aren't we really doi–”

“The clay changing shapes like it does makes you think you're the one doing it.”

As Terra realized the alternative to humans molding the clay, she was horrified. “...The clay's alive and in sync with humans?”

“Ex–actly.” Eda pointed at Terra and winked. “Iron Ball, the planet circling in the abyss. In reality, it's a single gigantic life form that arrived at FBB millions of years ago. The thing is though, it doesn't seem to have crashed here on purpose. It's been trying to escape the whole time. Life forms that call themselves 'humanity' arrived here recently, so it's been using that tiny crowd to slowly but steadily work on breaking out of here. 'We let them catch and export us on purpose,' is how it's done, more or less.”

“We've been doing that?” Terra asked, then corrected herself. “They've been making us do that?” Correcting herself again, she asked, “Are they really okay with giving us small amounts of clay that are going to get roasted and turned into building material before it's shipped off in the Dàxúnniǎo?”

“The mola mola, which was introduced from a planet with an ocean, lays 300 million eggs—and of those, no less than 99% are eaten by predators. And yet, the mola mola hasn't shown any sign of being bothered by that.”

“...So Iron Ball is a fish like a mola mola?”

“Ooh, you get it. You know your stuff, don't you?” Eda happily rubbed her hands together. “Its survival tactic does seem to tend towards favoring a large number of births to make up for the high death rate, but biologically speaking, they're not related to fish species from Earth. The reason why they're similar is, well, you know.”

“Like you just said, you're the father of besshu, right?”

Eda laughed happily for some reason when Terra pointed it out and started to brag. “That's right... I am. I poured myself into them. Body plans suitable for fluid migration, drifting, floating, rising and sinking, that sort of information. Before then, Iron Ball only discharged what we call 'bake', but after I got involved, things clicked, and it started to birth besshu in large numbers—that's why I'm the father. Iron Ball is the mother.”

“Shouldn't you call her your girlfriend then?”

“Certainly. Kehkehkeh.” Eda cackled joyously.

Terra stared at the totally unreserved woman, then remembered what the girl she held in her arms told her a while back. “Didn't you have another partner?”

Eda stopped laughing and looked at Terra with interest. “You know about that?”

“You weren't the only Great Chief back then. There was also a woman named Magiri. I heard you two were married.”

“So you do know about her! The last time anyone ever mentioned her was nearly 200 years ago, I think. Where did you hear that?”

“Idaho's Year 10 Ring, in the Antiquity Fan District.”

“Woah, aren't we there right now? What a coincidence~"

“Now's not the time to be wowed. Where is this Magiri-san? You're so focused on Iron Ball... Isn't that like having an affair?”

Eda snorted and burst into laughter. “An affair! Ahaha, an affair! Ahahaha, this is the first time anyone's ever said that! I suppose it is, but I ended up having kids with this other woman because I ended up never going back.”

“That's no laughing mat...”

“Well, the reason I never went back is because I was dead. I didn't call for Magiri either, because then she would have died.” Terra was at a loss for words. “I messed up and fell back in CC 8. Ball-chan picked me up right before I was crushed to death, like it did with you just now. It took a while, but we successfully reached a mutual understanding regarding the ability to decompress. So, it began producing besshu and allowed humans to catch them. But as you might expect, there's a possibility the besshu are an extension of my personality—so if I decide to log out and go back up, they'll probably disappear when I do.”

“That's... that's...” Before, Terra would have probably felt lost and troubled, but now, she had only one possible reaction. “Wouldn't it be better to throw it all away and go back to her?!”

“Ooh.” Eda leaned backwards and said in a bright voice, “I'd single-handedly collapse the fishing industry if I did that, and since the Circs stuck up in orbit make their living off fish, that would be that, don't you think?”

“Who cares!”

“If it can't escape from this planet, Iron Ball won't cooperate anymore.”

“And if it stops, so what?” Terra held Diode tight and glared at the legendary Great Chief. “Wouldn't it have been better to go back to Magiri-san, no matter what happened?!”

“Just hearing that, I can tell you're the type to commit, aren't you?” Eda nodded to herself. Her smile looked like a small flower petal. “I wish Magiri could have heard that, too.”

“...”

The meaning behind Eda's words slowly sank in, and Terra turned red and hung her head. She had just chided Eda for something that also applied to Magiri. When creatures resembling Earth's fish suddenly began to appear, there could be no doubt Magiri had sensed the reason why—her beloved partner still existed somewhere at the bottom of the atmosphere. Even if she didn't understand how, Magiri must have known she'd end up the same way as Eda, existing in the veil between death and the unknown.

And yet, Magiri hadn't come. She couldn't be reunited for the same reason as Eda—the survival of the people living in orbit depended on her. That was when Magiri had summoned the Dàxúnniǎo and established their trade. What am I even doing, acting like I know everything—how could I say that about those two?

“Um, Eda-san.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I'm sorryyyy.”

“It's okay, it's okay.” Terra started to cry before Eda gave her a big, bright smile. “Hearing that was refreshing. It feels like a little reward after a long 300 years.”

“Okay...”

“And to show there's no hard feelings, I'm happily going to send you two back up.”

“Sending us... you mean we can go back? We can go back alive?!”

“Yep, Iron Ball can lob ejectors into the stratosphere. Sending your boat back is trivial in comparison.” Eda said. For some reason, she turned around and muttered, “The squid punching you two like that was an incredibly embarrassing mistake. Some exception from 'Exceptional Eda', huh? But eh, I mean, a fishing decomper coming to the rescue of someone getting murdered by squid was beyond even my imagination.”

“Um, is something the matter, Eda-san?”

“Nothiiiiing.” Eda turned back to Terra and flashed a cheerful smile. “You two don't have to worry about a thing.”

“Even if you say that, it still feels bad for us both to go back and leave you behind...”

“Ah, you're worried about that? Nah, it's fine. Didn't I tell you the besshu will disappear otherwise? Besides, even if I go back while you two stay here, Magiri is long gone. You two are the ones who will make others sad if you don't go back.”

“I don't really know if they'd be that sad about it, though...”

“Really? Well, if that's the case, then I just don't want your pity. Besides, once the rest of Iron Ball gets scooped up in the end, we'll be leaving together.”

“Is... that how it's going to be?”

“Yep, yep, that's how it's gonna be. Well, going outside is something that I'll do a little later—it’s why Magiri developed the fishing industry, after all.”

“I see. So you lead a sleepy lifestyle, Eda-san.”

“Mhm, that's right. If we put it in terms of bodily activity, it's possible I'll leave within your lifespans.”

Terra had no way to tell if everything Eda said was true, but she replied with a smile. “I see. You’ll definitely be able to leave while we’re still alive, Eda-san.”

At Eda’s prompting, Terra stood and headed for the archive’s exit. A horse with a gorgeous mane accompanied them through the thicket. The sinister feeling that she was in the afterlife had long since faded, and it now felt like nice, breezy place.

Eda quickly glanced at Diode's face. “By the way, Terra-chan.”

“'Chan'?”

“C'mon, I'm 323 years old. Terra-chan, a minute ago you said no one would be sad if you died, so I was wondering... has that girl been giving you trouble?”

Terra turned to stand in front of the woman who looked like she couldn't be more than three years older than her and happily shook her head. “No? She hasn't given me any trouble at all.”

“Good, good," Eda chuckled. “That's nice. I don't usually pick up anyone but the decomper, so a lot of things happened to catch my interest this time around. I like you. Here, take this.” As she said that, Eda grabbed the horse's tail and yanked with all her might.

Woah. Terra stopped herself from running away. The horse stood still, devoid of any anger, while Eda held a single tuft of golden hair.

She handed it to the speechless Terra and whispered to her with a conspiratorial grin, “The Dàxúnniǎo only comes once every two years, right? But isn't it weird how that seems to be the only way out of this system?”

“Now that you mention it, it is. Is there another way out?”

“This is. Did you know women who pull a horse's tail get sent flying?” Eda combed the long, slightly dry fur with her fingers. “If things get too hard to handle and you don't know what else to do, go pull the tail on the pony. Use the Great Chief's code in Idaho's Early Ring, and it should lead you to a chamber. If you activate the Guāngguànhuán Drive, you'll arrive in the nearby Zugspitze star system in two weeks.”

Terra gasped in surprise. “That's... Really, um...” She wasn't sure what to say. “If we leave, then won't it interrupt the besshu export?!”

“Who cares!”

“...”

“Wouldn't you say?”

With Diode supported on one shoulder, Terra held out her free arm for Eda, who sidled into it. “Thank you very much...!”

“No problem, no problem.” Eda gently tapped Terra's arm and stood by the archive's exit. It was different from the one on the version of Idaho up in orbit, looking more akin to a gate of light. “Now, get going. Make sure you don't forget anything, 'kay?”

“Is it okay if I come visit again?”

Eda, both hands still shoved in her labcoat's pocket, walked behind Terra and sent her flying with a kick to her butt with a sandaled foot.

“Of course not, dumbass!”

Huge debris fell from above Terra like the entire world was crashing down. What little clay remained molded itself around her as the force of the impact sent her pit sailing into the storm.

“Gwah! Ow, ow...” After an intense and uncomfortable sloshing and jostling in the gel, Terra collected herself. The clay indicator on her VUI had changed from deep red to light orange. Wait, more importantly—

“Die-san!” Another pit was visible through the tens of VUI panels that had simultaneously rebooted and were flooding with information. Terra instinctively glued herself to the container wall. “Boat! Synchronize the hydraulic pressure between pits and dock them to one another!” The two pits immediately merged. Terra flinched as the muddy, foul-smelling gel began to mix as she climbed in, but pulled the small, limp figure into her arms.

“Are you okay?! Can you breathe?!” She knew without having to be told that Diode was suffocating in her own vomit. Terra had never gotten into that situation herself, but saw it happen to her classmates multiple times back when she was a cruising student. It was a decomping failure. Diode hadn't been able to change the boat's shape to her desire and give it a new form. When AMC clay couldn't isolate a thought, it changed shape chaotically and caused a boat to shatter into countless pieces. As a decomper's sense of self gradually dissolved, the shock disrupted her proprioception and she lost the ability to tell where her arms, legs, head and body were positioned. When that happened to a person, be they in air, space, or immersed in liquid, the same thing happened: vertigo, extreme seasickness, vomiting, and an inability to move.

“Terra-saa... that's enough.” Feeling her touch, Diode pushed Terra away and wiggled free. “The gel, it's dirty–”

“Who cares about the gel!” Terra made a big spinning gesture with her finger. It was a signal to replace all of the gel. The pump revved up and sprayed gel so forcefully from the circulator nozzles in the wall that it hurt. Terra wrapped herself entirely around Diode and pressed on her belly. “Come on! Let it out! Breathe in!” She was relying entirely on brute strength to forcibly clear Diode's trachea. “How's that?! Are you okay?!”

“Ter... Ra... San," Diode gasped. Her whole face felt sticky, and she angrily glared at Terra. “You call that... completely charmless activity... 'artificial breathing'?”

Terra kissed her without saying a word. She tightly cradled the girl, no more than half her volume, and gave her a long, long kiss before she calmly leaned back to look at her. Diode's eyes were wide with shock.

“Wha, what...”

“That was my first time ever, you know.”

With just those words, Terra quieted a bewildered Diode. She set Diode in her seat and stood in front of her. Bringing the decomper UI over from her own seat, Terra spread out four rows on her VUI and assessed the pillar boat's condition. Although its structure and composition were clearly wrecked, the shape reproduced in her mind was completely faithful to the real thing.

“Thank you for all the effort you put into this despite not being used to decomping. I'm really thankful that you brought the boat this far.”

“O-okay...?”

“I'll be trying my best too, even if it's nothing compared to what you went through, okay?”

Decompression—Terra gently melted the 2000 tonnes. She rearranged the boat, smoothly molding its mass into a stack. She formed a single large nozzle underneath, sharpened the nose cone, and aimed the ship towards the faint blue at the zenith.

An eighty-meter-long solid rocket booster made itself visible. It didn't have the immense power that was standard for a normal pillar boat, but it was enough to make them a spaceship. Still, it wasn't enough to reach orbit—at best, they would achieve a suborbital arc over the planet instead. But in the time it took between their rise and fall, the odds one of the sixteen clans would come to their rescue certainly weren't bad.

“How's this?” Terra asked, turning around gracefully. Diode rubbed her eyes and started to cry. “What's wrong?”

“Terra-san, Terra-san.” Diode's tears spilled out. The girl, who was so quick to anger, who had tried so hard not to cry the very first day they went fishing only to end up crying anyway, was now reduced to a sobbing, joyous mess. “I-I’m so ha-happy… we didn’t f-fail.”

“Huh?”

“We sank, didn't we? You and me.” Sobbing, Diode quickly pulled Terra into a firm hug. “We-We were separated, and, and we missed each other's hands, and were falling towards that d-darkness—waaaaaah!” Diode buried her face in Terra's chest without hesitation and Terra, dumbfounded, let it thump against her. She clearly remembered sinking but was doing her best to ignore the memory in spite of that. There was no way any of that had been real. However—

“Boat, show the outside pressure log for the past hour.” The VUI responded to her order by displaying the log. It recorded a pressure of 4038 ATM thirty-two minutes earlier. Terra quietly closed her eyes and rubbed the fingers of her left hand together. There was nothing there, but she still clearly felt the sensation of dry fur.

“—Die-san–”

“Terra-san! Terra-saaaannn!”

“Okay, okay, calm down.” Terra hugged Diode's thin shoulders. The feeling of her touch, the vitality of her presence—in the end, they were things that person couldn't get herself. That was what had given meaning to her gift.

"The boat's going to fall, you know. You don't want this to happen all over again, do you?” Diode immediately stopped crying and shook her head. “Then, will you fly us?”

“...Y-yes.” Diode held her hands up like a pianist about to start their performance before timidly setting them back down. She spread out the twister's VUI and allowed the wind to sweep across the rocket's control surfaces to get a sense of its flight characteristics. Even though it was her first time taming a beast like this one, she gracefully nosed it down to aim in her desired direction with a light touch and extreme ease.

Diode was showing the flashes of pure genius she usually did as a twister but still acted a little off. She turned around and peeked over her shoulder as her dark blue eyes trembled anxiously. “Are you... really okay with this?”

“What do you mean?”

“If I go back, they're definitely going to come after us again. Other people will, too.” She looked at Terra, looked down, looked at Terra again, then looked down. Of all the times Terra had seen her face, it was the most vulnerable she ever looked. “...That's what... it will mean to go back with me.”

“Die-san.”

“Yes?” Diode turned around like she had been zapped.

“Mmmm.” Terra presented her lips to the girl. “Didn't you say you were going to claim the whole reward?”

“...You!!” As Terra expected, Diode snatched her up for the first time. She embraced Terra with the ferocity of a small, fiery dragon. Terra felt the warmth of Diode's cute lips, from which she had only heard sass, bluster, and griping, enter her body for the first time. Unbelievable euphoria spread from the top of her head to the tips of her hands and feet, melting the entirety of her being.

“Haah.” Diode pulled away and looked up at Terra with newborn stars sparkling in her eyes. “No complaining, okay? You're the one who asked for it.”

“Ye... yesh...” Terra was no longer standing when she replied. Her large frame floated in the gel like a bouquet submerged in water.

“Well then, let's get going, shall we?” She suddenly turned around and looked at the sky, determined. “This is a garbage planet where we can't even become fishers. But if you're with me, I think I can put up with it.”

“We don't have to," Terra whispered faintly. “There's a horse.”

“Huh?”

Diode turned slightly and a chuckle escaped Terra. “I'll tell you about it later.” It was nothing they hadn't already talked about, and nothing they weren't already looking forward to.

They gave each other a big nod, then reached for scattered panels. Their toes tapped the floor as their arms swept like tracing a comet's tail.

A burst of light kicked against the abyss.

Translator Notes

The setting of Twinstar Cyclone Runaway contains a number of terms derived from Mandarin Chinese and English. Where the Chinese terms are used, we used the Hanyu Pinyin transliteration rather than the provided katakana reading to help preserve those words' sense of foreignness within the setting. English terms, like Galactive Interactive, were adopted from the provided romaji readings.

Prologue

Guāngguànhuán Drive

光貫環 (クアングアンフアン, kuanguanhuan), translated literally means "light piercing ring." The name loosely implies the Guānguànhuán drive is a form of wormhole generator.

Galactive Interactive

The romaji reading provided for 汎銀河往来圏 (はんぎんがおうらいけん, hanginga ōrai ken). The direct translation of this term is "Pan-Galactic Traffic Sphere." The term is often abbreviated as GI within the text.

Gigas

一〇億人星 (じゅうおくにんぼし, jyūokunin bashi) Translated literally, this term would mean "billion person planet". The katakana reading ジヤイガース (jyaigaasu) was provided. We interpreted this reading as a plural form of "giga", the metric prefix for "billion."

Astro Duodenum

In modern language, ‘duodecimal’ would be considered the appropriate Latin term for a base-12 system. However, the term 'duodenary cycle' is often used to describe the twelve-animal cycle in the Chinese lunar calendar system, and this appears to be the basis of the Astro Duodenum name. The dispute over ‘Astro Duodecimal’ (星十二進暦, seijūnishinreki) and ‘Astro Duodenum’ (星十二指腸暦, seijūnishichōreki) following a replacement of ‘Anno Domini’ implies a split over the cultural direction the Galactive Interactive wishes to take; Astro Duodecimal is more in line with a Western scientific tradition, while Astro Duodenum is in keeping with East Asian timekeeping traditions. The split ties into the use of Chinese terms for a number of things within the setting, as it implies a period (perhaps ongoing) of profound Chinese cultural influence on the Galactive Interactive.

Circ(s)

The reading provided for 周回者(しゅうかいしゃ, shūkaisha), which would translate literally to "people who go around."

Bake

The reading given to 焦粉, which is the Chinese term for coke powder (a carbon fuel processed from coal). The term can alternatively be translated as burnt powder.

Jīwǔkōng

奇舞空 (チーウーコン, chiiuukon) which roughly translates to "strange dancing sky."

Besshu

The reading given for 昏魚. As the character Radenvijaya explains, this term was coined by combining ヴェイグ (veigu, vague) and フィッシュ (fisshu, fish). In the original text, he also explained what the word "vague" meant in English. 昏 means gloomy/murky and 魚 means fish. An alternative spelling of it given by the author himself is “Vesh”.

Arête brûlée

The French reading provided for コゲザカナホネ (kogezekanahone), meaning "burnt fishspine."

Vesperian Sailor and Exceptional Eda

From 一ツ星航行士(ひとつぼしこうこうし, hitotsuboshi kōkōshi), meaning "Morning Star Sailor" (Vesperus being the Latin word for Venus when it appears as the morning star) and 爆才エダ (ばくさいエダ, bakusai Eda), meaning "Bursting Genius Eda."

Chapter 1

Dàxúnniǎo

大巡鳥(ターシンニヤオ, taishinniyao), which translates roughly to "great cycling bird."

Pillar Boat

The reading given to 礎柱船(そちょうせん, sochōsen) which has a literal translation of "foundation stone boat."

Twister and Decomper

Twister (ツイスタ) derives from the reading provided for 舵取, meaning "helmsman", and Decomper (デコンパ) derives from the reading of デコンプレッション given to 精神脱圧 (せいしんだつあつ, seishin datsuatsu), meaning "mind decompression."

Terra Tell-Tale/Tell-Tale Terra

Tell-Tale comes from the reading given to 作り話 (つくりばなし, tsukuribanashi), meaning "made-up story."

Sivi Endeavour and C.B Endeavour

This character's name is spelled in two different ways. In the prologue, her name is spelled シービー・エンデヴァ, but after the story shifts to Terra and Diode's timeline, her name is spelled Ｃ・Ｂ・エンデヴァ. While the reason for this is not stated outright, it is significant, as the change implies some rewriting of Circ history at some point in the intervening 300 years.

Deck dress

The reading given to 舶用盛装(はくようせいそう, hakuyō seisō), which means "fine attire for marine use." It is essentially a specific category of attire within the setting, and several similar terms are used to refer to it.

VUI

The reading given to 仮想入出力パネル (かそうにゅうしゅつりょく力パネル, kasō nyūshūryoku paneru) meaning "virtual input/output panel."

AMC Clay

The reading provided for 全質量可換(ぜんしつりょうかかん, zenshitsuryō kakan). While 可換 usually means "commutative", we translated it as 可(can) + 換(convert), meaning "All Mass Convertible." Full term: 全質量可換粘土 (ぜんしつりょうかかんねんど, zenshitsuryō kakan nendo).

Chapter 2

Tsunami Search

The reading given to 測候船 (そっこうせん, sokkōsen) meaning "meteorological observation boat."

Sōfu-iwa

From ソーフィワー (孀婦岩), meaning "Widow Rock". This is the name of the southernmost island in the Izu Islands, a volcanic archipelago which extends about 1000 km south from the Izu Peninsula. It is a tall, almost pillar-like rock pinnacle that reaches about 100 m above sea level. Sōfu-iwa today serves as a reference point for rich fishing grounds in the surrounding shallows. The island was discovered by the crew of English merchant sailor John Meares in 1788, and was named "Lot's Wife" by the crew. After the island came into possession of the Japanese, it received its current name through a very loose translation of the existing name.

Bow Awow

The reading provided for 大会議 (たいかいぎ, taikaiki) which translates to "big discussion gathering." This word is a nautical pun on "powwow", a gathering for traditional dances in Native American and First Nations communities. That term derives from the Narragansett word powwaw, which means "spiritual leader."

Purge

The reading provided for 全船団解体(ぜんせんだんかいたい, zensentan kaitai) meaning "all-fleet disassembly."

Fuyō

The Gendō clan's base ship, 芙蓉, is named for the common flower Hibiscus mutabilis. The flower is commonly referred to as the cotton rose in English, as it was a popular ornamental plant in the southern United States prior to the American Civil War.

Chapter 5

String spiderfish and Bowstring parrotfish

While the string spiderfish (糸引鰯, イトヒキイワシ, itohiki iwashi) has an existing English name, the attenuated spider fish (Bathypterois atricolor), we decided to go with a more literal translation closer to the Japanese meaning of “string pull”. This was intended to emphasize the stringy aspect of the fish, given Terra's use of the string in decomping the pillar boat.

For the parrotfish (ゲンブダイ, genbudai) though, it was unclear what the ゲン in its name referred to. It has several meanings (original, reddish black, limit, and phantom being the most common) and there wasn't much information to narrow down these options other than the habitat. We decided to go with 弦, or bowstring, keeping on the theme of stringy-ness on this fishing expedition.

Chapter 6

Bachi orca

The original name, バチゴンドウ (bachi gondō) is a Japanese name commonly applied to dolphins within the subfamily Globicephalinae. The tails of the dolphin and orca species within this subfamily are shaped like bachi (撥), the type of plectrum used to play the shamisen and biwa.

Chapter 10

Black-veined squid

From クロスジイカ (kurosuji ika), which could also be translated as (black) lined, striped or streaked squid.