Chapter 103: Preparation

"...This is genuinely insane and almost unimaginable... I can’t believe it’s actually happening for real..." I can’t help the disbelief as I feel the island starting to slow down. It’s still nowhere near stopping—after all, it’s a gigantic object and there’s no way it could just "stop" in seconds and ignore the speed it was moving at.

Only in very specific circumstances would it be worth sacrificing several stabilizers to stop the island more quickly, but right now it’s slowing down even if gradually, which honestly is something unprecedented in history in a way.

Even though this is a bad historical event, it should never stop without a reason forcing it to. If it’s completely fine and just stays still, it becomes a giant beacon for monsters.

"You noticing it too, Zenith? Thought I was going crazy." Maya speaks up, also noticing the change in the winds, in the speed of movement, and in the atmosphere.

"Yeah. How long do you think until it stops completely?" I can’t say with any precision, but Maya should be able to since her powers can be more accurate than mine.

"...Two days at most. And judging by the distance... it looks like it’s going to stop right on top of the ruins where the Ship landed. It matches the GPS signal we received... Sorry, Zenith, but I have to go now." Maya speaks in a very serious tone.

"I have to check some relevant things about this with some people, if you know what I mean. I won’t be around you for the next few days, so try not to miss me too much." She starts gathering her things to leave while I glance over at Rouge resting for a bit.

’Maya’s probably going to try to get in touch with the [Research and Development Team]. After all, Maya has direct contact with them and even helps them dismantle and reassemble specific things...’

"Rouge, come say goodbye to Maya..." Rouge quickly gets up and runs over to Maya with a smile on her face. She asks a few questions that Maya doesn’t answer, just giving a nod and leaving.

Rouge makes a somewhat disappointed face at being practically ignored. It’s clear that with just a few displays, Maya managed to become a little idol to Rouge.

"Professor Zenith, I heard some of your conversation with Maya... I want to go down there with you all too!" She says in a serious tone, turning to me as her ears perk up.

"What?"

"You’re taking Tanya, Eirwen, Ashlyn, and Charlotte down there!! I want to go below the island too!! Whether it’s to deal with that hooded woman or to hunt real monsters." Her tone is extremely determined as I slap my own forehead.

"Why would you want to go down there? Do you have no sense of danger? Besides, I don’t even know if I’ll be able to take you all, considering everything." Things have changed. My initial plan was based on the fact that the military wouldn’t go down either.

That the island would just stop somewhere and they’d quickly try to get it moving again—meaning it would all come down to a forced stop that wouldn’t be used for anything.

But with the Ship down there, it’s obvious the military will go down and investigate the ruins, especially after the hooded woman became such a major focus. And to take my students down there, I’d need permission.

"You can figure out a way to take me, right? You’re a former commander!! Besides, if you can’t do it on your own, just ask Maya." She practically ignores what I said, as if it’s guaranteed I’ll manage to take the others whether or not I take her.

’Tsk... ask Maya... as if I’m going to keep depending on favors from that damn woman...’

"...Fine. I’ll take all of you then. If you die, that’s not on me. But know that I won’t be attending your funeral if something happens. After all, it’s your responsibility." Now I’m going to have to take Edith too, or it’ll look like I hate Edith, which isn’t true.

’What a pain... I wanted to go alone, but because of the trust I built, I’d have to take some of them after promising to train them. And now I have to take all of them... what miserable luck had to happen to me of all people.’ Even if it’s good experience for them, it’s still going to be complicated.

"Perfect!! You’ll see that I—"

"No. Don’t even start, Rouge. I really won’t let you all do much. This will be more so you gain experience of what it’s like to be in a real ruin—experience very different from the Simulator scenarios."

"I don’t even want you all trying to investigate anything, and at most fight weak monsters if necessary. Don’t forget that you’re just mere students. I don’t want problems because of you."

"So absorb this information well. You will study, nothing more. Understood?" I have my own matters to investigate in those ruins. I can’t be worrying about them.

"Ah... okay! I won’t do anything, just study." She says it in a tone that doesn’t inspire much confidence.

"Get ready to head out. I’ll be going home to grab my things and then we’ll head to a checkpoint. I’ll have to call the others too and let them know..." I still have to tell Edith now.

...

...

...

"I-I did what you said before... and you were right, but I don’t know about this... your request now is kind of... kind of too personal." Ashlyn speaks nervously as she listens to Mycena’s voice in her head.

"[Don’t be such a coward. I helped you communicate with that Cube so it would enter your teacher’s body. Your powers only got the necessary strength boost because you did what I said before.]"

"[That helped, didn’t it? Now Zenith even lets you stay much closer to her so you can make contact with the cube, and she’s been helping you sleep. Everyone won. Your teacher even seems to have gotten stronger thanks to the new prosthetics.]" Mycena speaks in a mocking tone.

"I-I know you helped... and yes, Zenith n-now trusts me a little, b-but still, you’re asking for something really difficult..." Mycena asked Ashlyn to find out about the so-called "Hooded Woman"—someone who’s been drawing a lot of attention lately.

"[Zenith knows about it, and I want to know. I’m helping you. The least you can do is help me too. You just need to ask Zenith a few questions. It’s not that hard. Or do you think it’s too hard to have a casual conversation and slip in a question here and there?]" Mycena speaks mockingly to Ashlyn, who feels very uncertain about it.

"B-But..." Ashlyn feels like this would be betraying Zenith. Finding out information and passing it to Mycena like that sounds like something terrible, even if Ashlyn doesn’t know what Mycena could do with that information.

But Ashlyn isn’t sure if it would really be wrong to do, because she wouldn’t be forcing anything—just discovering new things and indirectly teaching Mycena too.

"[You can refuse, but it’s kind of cowardly to have used my help and not want to help me when I ask for your help. You only managed to communicate with the Cube thanks to my help, and that’s undeniable. Just like you only gained Zenith’s trust thanks to my generous support.]"

"[Even the idea of making Zenith use the cube was mine. And you always ask for my help to start communicating with the cube properly when you’re with Zenith. You didn’t even have a plan and were going to go with the others to fight that electric monster!! I helped you!!]"

Ashlyn almost didn’t follow through with the plan to bring Zenith near the Cube. She was very uncertain about doing it. It was a gamble—she bet that Mycena was being truthful, and luckily Mycena really was trying to help. But nothing guarantees she’ll always try to help.

"I-I know you helped me... it’s just... it’s just not very fair to me... I don’t know what you’ll do if you find out about this and... I don’t want to get in trouble or cause problems for someone just because I decided to tell you something I shouldn’t have."

"[...]" Mycena’s disappointed silence makes Ashlyn’s heart race. She feels guilty for having received help without giving anything back in return.

"O-Okay! Okay, I’ll help... j-just could you tell me what you’ll do with it? Y-You really won’t use this for anything bad, right?"

"[Does it really matter? I can’t move, I have no contact with anyone, and I have no way to interact with the outside world. Do you think information like this changes much about my situation?]"

"Well... that’s true, b-but I don’t know who else you have contact with." Ashlyn doesn’t know for sure how far Mycena can affect the outside of the "hospital" where she is, but it’s clearly very limited, and she’s trapped in a place she can’t leave.

"I’ll help... I’ll ask Professor Zenith some questions! B-But if she doesn’t want to talk, I won’t insist and I won’t use my powers on her to try to find out!! She’ll only talk if she wants to!!! I-I also won’t keep asking repeatedly over the following days!!"

"[Fine. I don’t need you to lose the fragile trust you’ve earned from her. If she refuses, I’ll accept that outcome and you don’t need to ask again.]"

"[I just need you to ask the right questions in the right context. I’ll tell you the exact moment you should ask and what words to use.]"