Chapter 26: The Boundless Sea of the People’s War

Yuki dragged his weary body back to Aegis, changed out of his uniform, stowed his weapons in the locker, and prepared to go home. He had just completed a twelve-hour security shift, switching places with his senior, Ayu.

That company president really was someone who loved to rush about everywhere! Now, at the very height of public scrutiny, he insisted on heading straight into crowds. Yuki couldn’t help but suspect he was doing it on purpose, just to stir up more attention.

Wherever he went, as long as he appeared in public, masses of people would chase after him holding banners—perhaps, in his eyes, it was the epitome of style. The unlucky ones, besides Yuki himself, were the two bodyguards and the driver; the four of them would form a human wall to keep the banner-waving crowd from swarming the president.

Originally, Yuki was only responsible for security when supernatural abilities or extraterrestrial beings were involved, but watching those people surge forward so aggressively—far more frightening than any superpower or alien—he logically could have stood aside, yet he still joined in the protective effort.

Incidentally, during high-risk security assignments, Yuki’s hourly wage plus commission was 4,000 yen. Perhaps he felt that standing by would be a disservice to the client’s payment.

So, for the entire day, Yuki followed the president’s footsteps through two exhibitions and one symposium. The cosmic environmentalists pursued them relentlessly, leaving Yuki utterly exhausted.

And this, despite having already put two extra points into his physical stamina.

Glancing at the other bodyguards, who all looked equally drained, Yuki felt somewhat vindicated.

Returning to Aegis, Yuki called up information on the space station and began to read carefully. Since the tragedy of the Birthday Rocket destroying the space station had not yet occurred, Yuki intended to do something about it.

As he sifted through the latest news reports and public information about the space station, Yuki’s unease grew. There weren’t just the Kujou couple aboard!

Currently, there were more than thirty astronauts conducting research on the space station, hailing from nine nations and regions around the globe. In the original Taiga series, the camera gave the impression that only Nana Kujou perished in the disaster, while Ren Kujou survived because he happened to be outside performing a spacewalk to maintain the solar panels.

But in reality, there were thirty-four astronauts currently on the station, with twelve ongoing research projects. Some of these had lasted over twenty years, representing the accumulated efforts of two or even three generations of scientists. If all that were destroyed…

Yuki felt a chill run over his scalp.

No, he had to do something! Never mind the research—just for the sake of those thirty-plus lives, he had to find a solution!

Early the next morning, Yuki clocked in and sought out his senior, Melika. He didn’t beat around the bush. He told her directly that he suspected the company president’s Birthday Rocket might collide with the space station as it passed overhead, and asked Melika to use publicly available data online to confirm this possibility.

Melika was shocked by the news—this was not something to joke about! She asked Yuki if he had discovered anything specific, but even as she questioned him, her fingers flew across the keyboard, combing the web for the space station’s orbital data.

She found only a report from three months ago, issued by the space station authorities as part of their quarterly updates. She also found news of two orbital adjustments in the past two months, but the new trajectory data hadn’t been posted publicly.

With so many recent changes, it seemed the space station officials were too busy to update the public platforms every time and planned to batch the updates with their quarterly reports.

As for the Birthday Rocket, no trajectory data had ever been published. It seemed the president had always intended to launch it as a spectacular firework, just fast enough to reach low Earth orbit and escape Earth’s gravity.

That was precisely why this Birthday Rocket would become space debris in low Earth orbit.

If they spent more money to accelerate the rocket to the second cosmic velocity, it would become debris in the solar system instead.

But that was far too expensive! As the head of a commercial company—since the promotional effect was the same—why not save money? As for the rocket turning into orbiting junk after launch… what did that matter to him?

Melika stared at her screen in frustration.

There just wasn’t enough public information…

Based on the space station’s trajectory from three months ago, there would be no collision—the closest the paths came was several thousand kilometers apart, no danger at all.

However, in the last two months, with two orbital changes—

From the scattered clues in news reports and official notices—phrases like “adjusted to an altitude of about 360 kilometers” or “accelerated to approximately 29,000 kilometers per hour”—Melika extracted usable data, predicted over a hundred possible new trajectories, and ran calculations against the expected path of the Birthday Rocket.

The probability of collision leapt from zero to twelve percent.

The more data Melika crunched, the more alarmed she became. Yuki’s concern… might actually come to pass. She was a robot, so she didn’t have hairs to stand on end, but even so, she felt an uncanny discomfort.

She immediately showed Yuki her results. The two exchanged a glance and saw the same worry in each other’s eyes.

Without delay, Yuki found the space station’s ground control office, NAXA, on the official website and called.

“This is NAXA Ground Control for the Space Station… All lines are currently busy. There are 2,036 callers ahead of you. Please be patient and do not hang up. Thank you.”

Two thousand and thirty-six?

Yuki was stunned, eyeing the receiver suspiciously. Was NAXA’s line usually this busy?

He hung up and checked online. As it turned out, the president’s marketing campaign had been all too effective—news of the Birthday Rocket had spread far and wide. Some users on astronomy forums had noticed that the space station would be passing nearby at the time of launch.

Though no experts had yet published calculations to confirm the risk, speculation was already circulating that the Birthday Rocket might threaten the safety of the space station.

Which explained why NAXA’s lines were jammed—concerned citizens, erring on the side of caution, were all calling in to warn them.

Yuki breathed a little easier. He had been considering what to do if NAXA ignored his warning, the Space Technology Research Institute refused to alter the launch plan, and the Department of Special Affairs turned a blind eye—in the worst-case scenario, he would have to post the information on public forums! But passionate netizens had already noticed the problem and begun to act.

Not having to fight this battle alone was a huge relief! Yuki couldn’t help but feel optimistic. He glanced at his watch—it was almost time to switch shifts with Senior Ayu.