There was no way to know exactly where or how AJ had suddenly appeared. But more important than how he appeared was Heichi’s current condition. It was when Heewoo reached out to grab Heichi.
“Guide, you mustn’t touch him right now.”
“…Pardon?”
AJ suddenly blocked Heewoo’s path. AJ, who had stepped between them, didn’t look frightened or angry, but appeared endlessly calm and composed. Heewoo stammered as he asked AJ.
“B-but before, you clearly said I needed to make c-contact with him for guiding…”
“That’s correct. However, what I’m currently worried about is not the Captain but Guide Lee Heewoo.”
“M-me? Why?”
Right now Heichi was the one who had collapsed, yet why was he worried about himself who was perfectly fine? Heewoo looked at AJ with an uncomprehending face. Behind him, Heichi’s face as he collapsed leaning against the wall looked very unwell, making Heewoo anxious.
“If you make contact and guide him now, there’s a high probability of imprinting.”
“Im…imprinting? What’s that? Is it bad?”
“Imprinting is… Haa, since this is an urgent situation, I’ll start with the conclusion. Guide Lee Heewoo.”
AJ didn’t have a gentle smile hanging at the corners of his mouth like Heichi, but he had an impression that drew out inexplicable goodwill from others. Meaning he was someone not difficult to make eye contact with and converse with. But now it was different.
“If you make contact with the Captain now, you may have to take on corresponding responsibility going forward.”
“Responsibility…?”
“Yes. I’m speaking in a moral sense, so it would be best for you to return home for today.”
AJ cut off Heewoo firmly and clearly. Just moments ago he’d been laughing and talking with Heichi and sharing delicious food, but now it felt like ancient history. While Heewoo stared at AJ in a daze, unfamiliar Espers appeared one by one behind him and began supporting Heichi.
That sight resembled the last image of the tree-trunk Esper who had turned the surroundings into a wasteland not long ago. That figure being dragged away by Jet without any particular resistance or movement while hanging limply. Seeing Heichi being carried away exactly the same way, Heewoo’s heart pounded violently.
“An Esper on our side will help you on your way home. Then, farewell.”
“…”
Inside a cold building where people didn’t walk. With those words, AJ carried Heichi and left. No, he tried to leave. Though for some reason he headed toward the emergency exit stairs instead of the door connecting to outside the building.
It was Heewoo who stopped them.
“Excuse me…”
“Did you call me?”
Though he hadn’t grabbed his collar or shouted loudly, AJ stopped his steps abruptly even at a very small voice. The Espers who had been returning while supporting Heichi also simultaneously looked at Heewoo. Heewoo, who received all their gazes at once, spoke with his head deeply bowed.
“I’ll… take responsibility…”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Heichi, I’ll… take responsibility for him…”
Heewoo, who had been looking down at the floor, squeezed his eyes shut.
He had never been responsible for anything of his own volition in his life. His grandmother and father, whom he’d been forced to support, had naturally been unavoidable, and he hadn’t been able to provide even one meal for the countless neighborhood cats he’d encountered in passing. Because Heewoo didn’t have that luxury.
But Heichi was different.
He was the first living being Heewoo had ever wanted to take in since he was born.
Heewoo, who was continuing to speak with difficulty while looking at the floor, hesitated only very briefly before eventually slowly raising his head and looking at AJ. When their eyes met, this time he spoke properly without stammering.
“Please let me help.”
He didn’t know if he could really be of help, or if doing so could wake the collapsed Heichi. However, Heewoo conveyed his sincerity honestly. If they said he couldn’t help so he should go back, he intended to return and find another way to help him. As Heewoo clenched his fists tightly and spoke, AJ also stared at him intently.
In the lengthening silence, Heewoo felt his firmly resolved heart breaking little by little. Why wouldn’t he answer? Perhaps he really couldn’t be of help to Heichi after all.
“Understood. Guide Lee Heewoo, let’s go together.”
“Wh-where…”
“Obviously.”
AJ glanced at the tightly blocked building ceiling. Heewoo also looked at the ceiling following that gaze, but only pure white lighting was visible on the ceiling. Then he realized belatedly. What AJ was talking about wasn’t the building ceiling visible before his eyes but the sky that would be beyond it, and the battleship anchored there.
While Heewoo hesitated in surprise, AJ and the Espers opened the emergency exit door and began entering. The supported Heichi disappeared inside first, and soon it was Heewoo’s turn, who had been at the very back. AJ, who was standing nearby, spoke to Heewoo.
“This is a temporary wormhole connected to the battleship’s interior. Since it’s a one-time-use item, it would be best for you to board first.”
“Uh, ah, yes…”
What Heewoo understood was only ‘connected to the battleship’s interior’. Of course, even that was merely understanding the dictionary meaning; he couldn’t comprehend at all how an unfamiliar building’s emergency exit could be connected to the battleship’s interior. But there wasn’t time or circumstances to question everything one by one, so he could only slowly step forward.
Barely calming his rattling heart, Heewoo extended his foot toward the emergency exit. As soon as he did, squish, a sensation that absolutely shouldn’t be felt right now was felt from the tip of his shoe. Heewoo, who squeezed his eyes shut, pushed his remaining foot and entire body inside without stopping. This time the squishy feeling enveloped his whole body.
And when he opened his eyes, he had arrived at the battleship.
There’s only one reason Heewoo could be certain this place was the battleship. Currently, before Heewoo’s eyes, that is…
^̶̡̹̚̚8̸̸̸̷̵̨͖̣̻̖̀́̄͒̔!̸̸̸̶̵̧̨̻̦̝̿͊̍̐̉# ҉
Letters were floating through the air.
No, was that even letters to begin with? To call it dust, looking closely it seemed to have some kind of system, but he couldn’t know for certain.
Starting with those strange letters, the battleship was strewn with unfamiliar sights. Naturally, a certain figure he’d thought was real was actually an illusion within a hologram, and besides that there were all kinds of backgrounds and objects, but for Heewoo it was all things he was seeing for the first time in his life. While Heewoo was confused, AJ who appeared following behind spoke to him.
“I wish we had time to introduce you to the battleship’s interior, but currently the Captain’s condition is not good, so I’ll guide you to the recovery room first.”
“Ah, yes, yes…”
Heewoo walked along closely following behind AJ, worried he might lose him in this complicated place. During the walk down a long corridor with no visible windows, where he couldn’t tell at all where the light was coming from, everyone they met greeted AJ. It was a greeting method Heewoo was seeing for the first time, but he soon became accustomed to it.
“It’s not my place to overstep, but since the Captain’s situation is urgent, I’ll speak first.”
AJ, who had been walking ahead, opened with a preamble while glancing at Heewoo who was following behind instead of stopping his steps. When Heewoo looked at AJ like that, a voice flowed out in succession.
“The Captain has been overexerting himself a lot recently.”
“Overexerting…?”
Could he have had some busy matter he didn’t know about? For Heewoo, who had spent ordinary days without any special incidents every time he met Heichi, he couldn’t even guess what the ‘overexertion’ AJ was talking about was.
“An Esper who hasn’t received guiding for a long time will soon enter a ‘weakened’ state. A weakened state is when the operating range of unpurified waves is extremely reduced and problems occur in ability operation.”
“…”
“Regrettably, the Captain has been in a weakened state for a long time.”
Purification, waves, ability operation…
They were all still difficult words for Heewoo to understand, but the nuance of the word ‘weakened’ itself wasn’t good. Heewoo, who was surprised by the fact that he’d been in a difficult state even before meeting him, opened his mouth slightly.
“Not only that, but other side effects exist for Espers in a weakened state. Most importantly, guiding anemia.”
“A-anemia…?”
“The symptoms themselves are similar to the anemia you’re thinking of. If the condition is serious, it even causes problems with consciousness.”
Heewoo, who didn’t know Heichi, who had only seemed robust, was in such a bad state, drew in a breath. AJ still didn’t stop his steps and spoke.
“Therefore, for Espers in a weakened state, guiding supply matching their level is desperately needed.”
“Th-then I’ll provide guiding…”
“Yes. I know you made a lot of effort even though it must have been difficult since it was your first time. The problem is, the guiding you provided is still below the critical baseline.”
Critical, baseline, below.
It was a combination of words he was hearing for the first time, but Heewoo understood their meaning without difficulty. And right on cue, AJ’s steps stopped abruptly. A door he’d thought was a pure white wall opened horizontally, revealing the inside.
Beyond a transparent barrier, Heichi was lying in an upright position inside a long cylindrical bed. Toward Heewoo, who was staring at that sight in a daze, AJ bowed his head deeply, lowering it below his waist.
“I know it’s shameless, but I’ll ask you, Guide Lee Heewoo.”
“…”
“Please save our Captain.”
—
[Online Forum Posts]
So what exactly is that battleship in the sky doing?
Sometimes it disappears and then appears again, where does it go? That huge thing just disappears and appears in the blink of an eye;;
‣Likes(32)│Comments(5)
Anonymous1: It’s not going anywhere, the battleship itself has a cloaking function
Anonymous2: Yo just how advanced is Epsilon’s scientific development?
⤷Anonymous3: They’ve got new materials never heard of on Earth, unregistered elements, alien ores—the level itself is just different; they say they’ve traveled to hundreds of planets so their resources must be insane too…
Anonymous4: They’re just incomparable to us
Anonymous5: Cloaking wow… There’s such a function? It’s already fantasy that something that big just floats around in the sky
—
But there’s still no one who’s been to the battleship, right?
Like that Brown Guide who appeared in Germany this time, high-grade Guides are appearing one by one
But there’s still no one who’s been all the way to the battleship, right?
I’m so fucking curious what it looks like inside
‣Likes(17)│Comments(6)
Anonymous1: ㅋㅋㅋ You mean that place where even the famous Matthew Harris from UniverseX couldn’t set foot despite offering money and begging?
⤷Anonymous2: I saw that in a video too ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Anonymous3: If anyone had been, they would’ve said so.. If it were me my mouth would already be itching to say I was the first Earthling to go inside
Anonymous4: Listening to what Espers say, even if you’re their Guide they can’t carelessly take you to the battleship. Either way it’s also a military strategic base.
Anonymous5: I’m a Guide and I’ve been. They were torturing an alien.
⤷Anonymous6: ㅇㅇ I saw it too
—
How exactly do they get in and out of the battleship?
If they jumped down with like a wingsuit or something, it would’ve been caught by satellites but it doesn’t seem to be that.
What path exactly do they use?
Coming down is one thing, but when going up to the battleship how do they go up;
Really so fucking curious about the Esper world.. Don’t they have communities and stuff? So I can at least ask there
‣Likes(55)│Comments(8)
Anonymous1: They say there’s a landing-specific jumpsuit with stabilization boots.. they come down with that
⤷Anonymous2: Like a wingsuit?
⤷Anonymous3: ㄴㄴㄴ Looking at what they wear around, it honestly just looks like overseas janitor uniforms, honestly don’t know what function it has
Anonymous4: Someone go ask as a representative
Anonymous5: But sometimes there are Espers who don’t wear that, what are they?
⤷Anonymous6: High probability they’re top-tier Espers
⤷Anonymous8: ㄷㄷㄷ Then I met a top-tier Esper..
Anonymous7: When going up they connect a door with a one-time temporary wormhole and go up
