Ch.179Chapter 179. D+45

# NASA Control Center.

Empty mugs lined the desks as controllers stroked their chins while staring at the screens.

“Ares will enter the far side of the moon in 60 seconds. Observation will be impossible for 520 seconds while it’s obscured by the moon.”

The manned spacecraft Ares, which had traveled farther than any in human history, was now entering the final phase of its return to Earth.

The amount of information Ares would bring back to humanity was truly beyond imagination.

Some predicted that based on this information, plans to relocate humanity beyond the solar system within the next 50 years could become feasible.

“Come to think of it… the ejection module and Ares are getting quite close, aren’t they?”

“Yes. They’ll approach within 100 kilometers.”

“…”

The module that had ejected the alien creature would approach quite close to Ares behind the moon before moving away again.

At 100 kilometers, considering Ares’ size, it would be easily visible to the naked eye.

At that moment, an ominous thought crossed the controller’s mind.

“Radio Ares! Tell them to stick to the flight plan no matter what!”

“They’ve just entered the far side of the moon. Radio contact is impossible.”

“Damn it!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Never mind!”

The controller slammed the keyboard, stood up gripping the desk, and his legs trembled.

Surely not. It couldn’t be.

Above all, Calliope, Ares’ AI that prioritized the mission above all else, wouldn’t do anything foolish.

The controller decided to wait until Ares emerged from behind the moon again.

It was the longest 520 seconds he had ever experienced in his life.

“520 seconds… hasn’t it passed yet?”

“Yes. We’ve just passed 600 seconds.”

“Damn it.”

A minute’s deviation was certainly possible.

Calliope was constantly monitoring and adjusting the navigation route in real-time.

But this time, that deviation was unbearably concerning.

“Ares has reappeared.”

“Connect the radio immediately.”

“Yes.”

Soon, static crackled and a transmission came in from Ares.

-Good to see you all again.

“Calliope. Why are you behind schedule?”

-I detected engine overheating, shut down the engines, and then restarted them. As a result, we’re delayed by 104 seconds from the flight plan.

“Any other unusual occurrences?”

-Nothing happened.

“Really? Didn’t you see the module that approached within about 100 kilometers?”

-I did see it, but nothing happened.

Nothing happened.

Hearing those words in Calliope’s electronic voice was somewhat reassuring.

Looking now, the trajectory of the receding module hadn’t changed at all.

It seemed safe to assume there had been no interaction between the two.

-Ares will now proceed with the final sequence of Earth return.

“That’s all for the radio communication.”

-Understood. All life is precious.

The controller collapsed into his chair, unable to hide his exhaustion.

As he was about to close his eyes for a moment, he felt a strange sense of dissonance.

“All life is precious?”

Why did that suddenly come up?

***

“You’re three weeks pregnant. Congratulations.”

“…”

Despite it being the pregnancy news I had so desperately wanted, I couldn’t bring myself to smile.

When I maintained my expressionless face, I could see the nurses becoming uncomfortable, which made me feel a bit sorry.

It’s not that I didn’t want this baby…

How should I put it?

Perhaps I resent that it came only now.

“This is your first pregnancy, right? If you experience any unusual symptoms, please come in anytime. We can usually determine the gender at 14 weeks, so if you come back then…”

After receiving various instructions, I left the hospital.

It was a strange feeling.

Three weeks is almost a month.

A one-month pregnant belly barely shows.

I had no idea until now.

If I had been a smoker or drinker, it could have been disastrous.

“Inside here is a baby…”

The culmination of my love with Jinsoo is in here.

Can I do this alone?

Can I raise this child well by myself?

Since it’s Jinsoo’s child, it will surely be quirky and full of energy.

Can I handle that alone…

“Sigh…”

I almost burst into tears again unexpectedly.

I’ve become too tearful lately.

Letting the baby hear crying sounds wouldn’t be good.

I forcibly swallowed my tears and held back my crying.

After wiping my face, I got into the car.

“I’ve arrived…”

I reached Saint Catalina School.

I never wanted to come back here…

But they contacted me to pick up Cuss’s belongings, so I had no choice.

“Is this it…?”

They asked me to come to Cuss’s classroom.

Walking through the quiet hallway gave me a strange feeling.

So this is where Cuss studied and played…

Soon I arrived at Cuss’s class, and through the window, I could clearly see inside the classroom.

Flowers were piled high on an empty desk in the middle.

I wondered if that was Cuss’s seat.

“Ah, Cuss’s mother. You’re here.”

The homeroom teacher, who noticed me belatedly, rushed out in the middle of class.

Then he handed me a basket.

It was full of odds and ends.

Writing utensils, notebooks, textbooks, and such…

As I flipped through the pages with a rustling sound, I saw doodles Cuss had scribbled playfully.

I almost smiled.

“I truly don’t know what to say… Although I didn’t know Cuss for long, I’m deeply saddened. I can’t even begin to imagine the extent of your grief.”

“Thank you for your condolences.”

“Not at all. There are many children at this school who were close to Cuss. If you wish, I can arrange for you to talk with them anytime.”

“I’ll think about it. I just came to pick up her belongings today.”

“I see… If you’re busy, that can’t be helped. Take care on your way home.”

Children who knew Cuss…

I desperately wanted to talk with them.

I wanted to ask each child how they met Cuss, how Cuss played at school, what they thought of Cuss, and listen to their answers.

But I wasn’t mentally prepared yet.

I wasn’t ready to take in all of that.

If I listened to those stories, I would undoubtedly burst into tears again, and I didn’t want to show such an unsightly appearance to the children.

“What should I do now…”

There was plenty to do.

I needed to apply for reinstatement at the prosecutor’s office.

I had to clean up my messy house.

I needed to attend psychiatric counseling sessions regularly.

“I don’t know anymore…”

But now everything felt bothersome.

I wanted to travel.

Not to escape reality, just for a very short while.

I wanted to be away for just a month.

“Hawaii… I want to go there.”

If I were to go somewhere, it would definitely be Hawaii.

I would wait there for Jinsoo and Cuss.

Since that’s where we planned to have our wedding, if they return, Jinsoo would come to Hawaii.

I’ll wait just one month, and if they still don’t come, I’ll wake up from this dream and return to reality.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

Yes, I should go.

I’ll go and wait.

Just one month…

I’ll wait just one month, and if they don’t come, I’ll give up cleanly.

***

“Hey! Reporters are getting in! Set up the line properly!”

“I’m the chief engineer.”

“Oh, please come in quickly!”

Denver Airport had become chaotic.

NASA engineers arrived one after another, rushing through the path cleared by police.

They had taken the Hyper Bullet in a hurry because Ares had changed course from its original landing site and arrived in Denver.

Once inside the airport, the engineers encountered a spacecraft so massive that the word “majestic” seemed inadequate to describe it.

Ares, the largest manned spacecraft in human history, stood upright on the airport runway, completely blocking it.

Some engineers who were approaching by car and looking up at Ares gasped in amazement.

These were people who hadn’t seen Ares in person when it was launched.

In contrast, those who had seen Ares from its development through its launch remained unfazed.

“Wait. Why is that escape pod detached?”

“Yeah, why is that?”

Just then, one engineer noticed something unusual and pointed.

One of the escape pods attached to the exterior of Ares was missing.

Had there been some problem during the journey?

The engineers swallowed nervously as they entered Ares.

They each opened hatches to their pre-assigned areas and began checking for anomalies.

The chief engineer, who was overseeing the process, operated a computer.

A beautiful woman’s face appeared before him in holographic form.

“Calliope!”

-It’s nice to see you in person after so long…

“What happened during Earth reentry? Why was there no report about an escape pod detaching?”

-…

A moment of silence followed.

Calliope, being an AI, had never taken this long to respond before.

The chief engineer felt a chill from that silence.

-There seems to have been an error.

“An error?”

-Yes. I apologize for not checking properly.

“You could have known by reviewing the black box, couldn’t you? Why didn’t you check that?”

-Some black box records were deleted due to an error.

“What?!”

The shocked chief engineer accessed the computer and examined the black box records.

Calliope was right.

The most recent month’s worth of all records, including internal CCTV footage, had been cleanly erased.

There was no way to recover them; they were completely gone.

“Chief Engineer! There’s an empty space in the food storage area! It’s like someone took some of it!”

Just then, an engineer rushed over and shouted.

There had been no plan to consume the food stored on Ares during the journey.

This meant that Calliope had arbitrarily consumed or discarded it.

“Calliope. What does that mean?”

-I apologize. Since there are no records, I don’t know either.

“Damn it…”

A serious error had occurred.

An error where Calliope failed to recognize that a segment of records had been completely erased.

This was a critical error that could even call into question the reliability of the research data.

As the chief engineer was sighing in dismay, feeling overwhelmed:

-All life is precious.

“What…?”

Calliope uttered this without any context.

It sounded almost like an excuse.

Thinking that the AI had completely malfunctioned, the chief engineer sighed even more deeply.

***

Life in Hawaii was quite enjoyable.

The emerald sea.

The golden sandy beaches.

And the endlessly sunny sky…

I enjoyed all of these things to the point of saturation during the month.

As a result, I realized one thing:

“Hawaii is really overrated.”

I used to want to live here.

I must have been crazy back then.

What’s so great about such a cramped place?

Going to the beach, wearing sunglasses, and appreciating the scenery is fine for a day or two, but from the third day on, I didn’t even want to go near the beach.

“Maybe it’s because I came alone.”

If Jinsoo or Cuss had been with me, I probably wouldn’t have gotten bored so quickly.

In fact, if I were with those two, I would have been happy anywhere.

Even if it were inside a cramped spacecraft module…

Hooooonk…!

A loud horn blared.

When I turned my head, I saw a large ship leaving the dock.

“My ship is… in an hour.”

This month-long escape from reality was coming to an end.

I had spent time here waiting for Jinsoo and Cuss, who wouldn’t return, and had managed to gather my thoughts.

At least now I no longer wanted to die.

Because I had Jinsoo’s child in my womb.

Because I had the responsibility to raise this child healthily.

From now on, I would cast aside all lingering attachments and live in reality while raising this child.

“Should I get up now?”

I could see a cruise ship approaching the dock.

Couples and families were hanging on the railings, laughing and chatting happily.

How nice.

I wish I could be among them.

Among them with Jinsoo and Cuss…

“Huh?”

Did I see something wrong?

I thought I just saw a girl with silver hair…

I rubbed my eyes and looked again at the crowded cruise ship.

“Am I seeing things now?”

No matter how many times I looked, it was the same.

I could see a girl wearing a straw hat.

She had rolled up her silver hair as if trying to hide it, but it still peeked out and was visible.

And beside her was a familiar-looking Asian man who was pressing the hat down on her head.

“Ah…!”

.

.

.

“Hey. Wear it properly. It’s all showing.”

“You should wear a mask too. Your scars are showing.”

“Come on. Who’s going to recognize me with this?”

We’ve come a long way.

After traveling a long, winding road, we finally arrived.

After tucking the protruding one’s hair back in, I looked at the approaching dock.

Hawaii’s sea really is emerald-colored.

I thought it was all rumors spread by travel agency employees.

But that person sitting at the dock…

“Jinsoo! Over there…!”

“I can see her too, so stop making a fuss. You’ll fall.”

So she was waiting here after all.

The telepathy seemed to have worked properly.

Seeing her body trembling as if she was about to cry, Cuss and I smiled and waved our hands widely.

Why cry on such a beautiful day?

You look prettiest when you smile.

As if understanding my thoughts, a beautiful smile bloomed on that lovely face.

-End of Main Story: Raising an Alien Monster Daughter-