Chapter 9
Minutes, hours, or maybe seconds. His sense of time was lost.
His vision gradually cleared, and he could perceive that his body was approaching something.
Stars were connected by bridge-like structures. There were quite a few stars connected in three dimensions, far too many for Kait to count.
After all, they were about to crash into one of them at full speed.
"Whoaaaoooaaa!?"
"Master Kait, please remain calm! At this rate, we will crash at a lethal velocity! You must somehow reduce our speed!"
"Even if you say reduce the speed—!"
It wasn't like he was doing it himself, so there was no way to slow down. No, he could tell they were decelerating, but it didn't feel like it would be in time.
The force pressing against his body suddenly vanished.
What came next was a sharp pulling sensation. He figured it must be the gravity of the star before him, but by the time he thought that, it was already too late—he was being pulled straight toward the ground.
"I'm dead!?"
In the moment of impact, Kait envisioned himself not burning up from friction, but rather ending up like a crushed tomato.
But the ground he touched gave him no shock whatsoever, and instead, it welcomed Kait and Emotion as if gently absorbing them.
"!?!?"
His eyes were overwhelmed by intense flashing, and Kait couldn't get up for a while. He assumed it was from witnessing the rapidly shifting cosmos, but the fact that his eyes weren't burned must be thanks to the body modifications.
As his vision returned to normal, he sat up and looked around. A blue-toned ground, a horizon. No buildings in sight. Looking up, a pale green sky. It looked more like an artificial membrane than a natural sky. No sun-like star in view. Or perhaps the membrane itself was faintly glowing. Come to think of it, he didn't recall any sensation of passing through a membrane.
Was this even a star to begin with? A civilization capable of creating artificial celestial bodies for observation—this might be another such construct.
He stood up cautiously. His feet were firmly planted on the ground, not floating.
Perhaps due to the landing location, the other celestial bodies connected by bridges were not visible. As he felt all his previous assumptions shatter, Kait placed a hand on his waist.
"Master Kait. Just where are we—"
"Probably one of their bases. I'd guess it's something like an airport."
Looking closely, he could see something moving up and down in the distance. Perhaps they weren't descending nearby because they saw Kait and Emotion crash in, or maybe for another reason.
Regardless of the answer, what they needed to do didn't change.
As he confirmed he could breathe and move his body freely, Emotion called out from beside him.
"Master Kait? What are our plans from here?"
"We wait for pickup. Considering the procedure, I doubt they'd just leave us here. Besides..."
"Besides?"
"Honestly, I haven't really felt the effects of the body modifications yet. I want to understand my condition sooner rather than later."
No one would complain if he wandered around out of curiosity, but as far as he could see, there was nothing that particularly piqued Kait's interest.
In fact, what Kait was most interested in now wasn't outside his body, but inside.
The power that sent the two of them here must have been Terapolapaneshio's psychic ability.
Being flung through space in the flesh—however far it was—and surviving, was it due to the modifications or the representative's absurd power? Kait, who felt no real change in himself, considered understanding his body's current state a top priority.
In response to his words, Emotion asked with a warning tone, her red lamp lighting up. So she had that kind of function.
"Master Kait."
"What is it?"
"Is there any discomfort in your body?"
"Nope. ...Isn't the atmosphere here supposed to be unbreathable for humans?"
"Yes. We've detected several unknown elements, but the oxygen content is within survivable levels for Earth humans."
"Well, that's good news."
Confirming that Kait's condition hadn't changed, the red lamp turned off.
It seemed his modified body was functioning properly.
Starting with the representative, Kait still couldn't fully trust the people of the Federation. And yet, the reason he was going with the flow was more like resignation.
After all, if he hadn't been accepted here, he would've died. That strange sense of recklessness was now pushing away caution and restraint from Kait.
Just as he was thinking the next step would be learning how to use psychic powers, Emotion raised her voice in warning again.
"Master Kait. Something is approaching from the front."
"Must be the pickup. Now then, what form will it take this time?"
"That's why I said it's like a classic movie... no, never mind."
After seeing a space jellyfish, even Emotion couldn't deny the possibility anymore. She was becoming quite influenced by it all.
***
The one who came to pick them up was a machine intelligence named Teek. Its main body was a machine with wheels, but it only had one large central wheel—similar yet different from Earth's cars. Apparently, machine intelligences usually have multiple bodies for work, so this wasn't its true body.
Compared to Dilgana, Teek was polite and humorous. The place Kait and Emotion landed really was like an airport. Theoretically, it was designed so that even falling from the gravity zone in the flesh wouldn't cause a scratch—but Kait was the fifth person to test that in the past thousand cycles.
Kait was curious about the four before him, but it wasn't like he had come here by choice anyway.
"I was sent here directly by the representative from Zodogia. It's not like I intended to fall here myself."
"Ah, my apologies. The Terapolapaneshio tend to prioritize efficiency, so they sometimes overlook the psychological impact of their actions on others..."
Kait couldn't help but feel that their definitions of "sometimes" were quite different.
Noticing the atmosphere between the two, Teek asked in a slightly trembling voice. Perhaps an unnecessary but detailed feature.
"Mister Kait. Could it be that my translation software isn't functioning properly?"
"No, it's fine, Teek. So, where are we headed now?"
"To the First Sphere, where the Federation Congress is located. Your arrival is considered a significant event, Mister Kait, so the members of the Federation Congress wish to meet with you."
"An event?"
"Yes. I'd prefer if you could hear the details at the Congress. I haven't been authorized to explain further."
"Understood."
Something felt ominous. Earth had been under surveillance, and now there were unexplained circumstances. Just like back on Earth, such moments usually led to unpleasant news.
"Well, I guess we'll see how it goes..."
Was it fate, or not?
Kait suddenly wondered who he should be praying to now that he was here—an idle thought.
***
'We were quite rude earlier, Mister Kait.'
"Ah, yes."
In a nearly zero-gravity private room, Kait was facing Terapolapaneshio. It was much larger than the 'representative' unit back on Zodogia. He guessed that the one floating here was the central core of the Terapolapaneshio species.
'We exchange information across all units in near real-time. The one meeting you now is merely a unit tasked with acting as a member of the Federation Congress. Please forgive the impression of looking down on you.'
Even this 'congress member' unit wasn't the central core. Perhaps the core was elsewhere, or maybe all of them were both the main body and terminals.
Holding onto a handrail, Kait looked up at the 'congress member'. Then, screens began appearing one after another around it. Some showed faces, others didn't. From what he'd seen so far, Kait figured it was a gesture of consideration.
'Now then, we will begin the meeting with Kait Crouch, Third-Rank Citizen (Enec Lagif). The Federation Congress has just decided to grant Kait Crouch citizenship as a Third-Rank Citizen (Enec Lagif), and we declare that this right will not be revoked except in cases of active illegal conduct.'
"No objections."
From the screens, voices echoed "No objections" one after another. Kait had been worried someone might object, but not a single one did. That meant the Congress's desire to meet him had nothing to do with his citizenship.
In that case, he truly had no idea. He had wondered if they were dissatisfied with him abandoning his fellow Earthlings still struggling back home, or with him seeking a deathbed on Jupiter's orbit with a one-way ticket, and that such issues might lead to a downgrade in citizenship.
As he tilted his head in confusion, the 'congress member' swayed slightly.
'Kait, Third-Rank Citizen (Enec Lagif). The reason we wanted to meet with you was not because of any personal issue.'
"Not a personal issue? Then... is it about Earth, or us Earthlings?"
'There is no direct issue with Earthlings as a whole. Moreover, the data obtained during your body modification proved that the Federation's observation of your kind was justified. For you, it may seem trivial, but—'
But, the 'congress member' swayed even more.
The congress members whose faces were visible on the screens also showed somewhat displeased expressions, suggesting this was a topic they'd rather avoid.
'Now, what I'm about to tell you is the history of the Federation, its sins, and its shame.'
"Sins and shame?"
'Indeed. And the Federation has a duty to explain those to you.'
The 'congress member' began to speak slowly.