Chapter Index





    Ch.4Chapter 4. To Earth

    When humans lose their dignity, many sorrowful things happen.

    It may be obvious, but everything I say immediately loses all credibility.

    “There. Freeze the screen. Go back three seconds. Yes, right there. Here! What were you doing here?”

    “It’s clearly visible… I was just standing still when he grabbed my face.”

    “Tell the truth, you bastard.”

    “Ugh… urgh…”

    That’s how it goes.

    Damn it, even when I tell the truth, they slam my face into the desk repeatedly.

    I have to take a beating two or three times before they finally move on to the next question.

    Maybe they’re being stubborn because I keep giving the same answer as before. Fucking bastards.

    Now my nosebleed has dried up and clogged my nostrils, forcing me to breathe through my mouth.

    I almost passed out from dizziness at one point.

    The Audit Office should be monitoring this. Damn it.

    “What were you doing while the CCTV was covered?”

    “Masturbating.”

    “While looking at the hibernation device?”

    “No. While listening to the warden’s angry voice. With my eyes closed.”

    “…”

    The investigator’s expression turned strange.

    What? You should try listening to the warden’s voice too. You wouldn’t be able to resist masturbating.

    Just don’t look at his face.

    The moment you see his face, you’ll drop dead.

    “Rewind a bit more. Yes, here! What were you two talking about here?”

    “‘Are you conscious now? Do you remember your name?’ That kind of stuff. How many times do I have to tell you?”

    “Don’t be vague, you bastard. Tell me exactly what was said, damn it.”

    “Aaah! The investigator is killing me!”

    “Hey now, Investigator. That’s enough.”

    Just as my hair was grabbed again, the door opened and a grim face appeared.

    Jack Wild. The bastard who became known as the Death Row Hunter after suppressing the rebellion.

    “There’s no record of the hibernation device activating while the camera was covered. And after it was uncovered, we have footage showing this guy standing still the whole time. Stop beating our boy. He’s going down to Earth soon.”

    “Tsk. How’s the subject doing?”

    “Seems to have lost all memories. It appears to be that rare hibernation device side effect…”

    “Ah. So the hair color change is also due to pigmentation from that side effect…”

    Jack naturally led the damn investigator outside.

    As the door closed, peace finally arrived.

    A quiet peace in a tiny room with handcuffs.

    Through the window, I could see our blue planet—no, now yellowish planet—Earth.

    I can really go down there now.

    With parole already promised, they have no reason to kill me and create issues with the Audit Office.

    They’ll probably just beat me until they feel satisfied before sending me down.

    A slightly twisted nose bone and a few cracked ribs would be perfectly acceptable.

    As long as I can go down.

    As long as I can leave this godforsaken space.

    “Prisoner 220. Come out.”

    After a nap, the door opened again.

    I felt a vibration earlier.

    The spacecraft that would take me to Earth must have arrived.

    “Is this parole?”

    “Yes. Final approval came through. The detailed processing will happen after you land.”

    They handed me a small box.

    A box containing a pair of cheap gold rings with most of the gilding worn off.

    This is all I have left.

    With my arms held by guards, I moved to the docking pod.

    Many thoughts crossed my mind as I passed through the corridor.

    I was among the first to come up here and watched over 30 inmates.

    But they died one by one before long.

    And now I’m the only one making it out alive.

    If I had known it would turn out like this, I might have given those gay bastards a chance.

    No, I’d probably be wearing diapers by now if I had.

    I take that back.

    “Turn your head, bastard.”

    “…”

    I briefly made eye contact with “it” as it peeked its head out the door.

    Looking at it now, it appears to be nothing more than an innocent silver-haired beauty.

    Given that there haven’t been any problems, it seems to have followed my advice and pretended not to remember anything.

    It had no choice—the moment it opened its mouth, everyone would know it wasn’t human.

    I wonder what will happen to it when it goes down.

    Maybe it’ll freely go around slicing people’s necks.

    “Jack.”

    “What is it?”

    “…”

    The words kept lingering on the tip of my tongue: That thing is a monster. If you X-ray its head, you’ll understand what I’m saying.

    But I could immediately envision my parole being canceled if I said that.

    Capturing the monster was the condition for my parole, and missing the actual body would be a sufficient excuse to cancel it.

    “Speak up.”

    “Never mind.”

    “Useless. Just get in.”

    “What is this?”

    “The spacecraft that will take you to Earth.”

    As the hatch opened, a breathtaking sight was revealed.

    Dense instrument panels. An extremely cramped seat. And letters that looked like fake Roman characters.

    This isn’t a space shuttle.

    It’s a Soviet spacecraft. A Soyuz.

    Weren’t these all decommissioned long ago?

    An uneasy feeling began to creep in.

    “What is this, really?”

    “Don’t worry. It works properly. The route is already set, so don’t touch anything and just sit still. Got it?”

    “You’re not trying to kill me, are you?”

    The guards swarmed around me, removed my handcuffs, and began putting a spacesuit on me.

    It was unsettling that this wasn’t a new model but an old one.

    Even when going out for work, they gave us new models, so why now…?

    “You know to keep quiet about everything that happened here, right? Everyone died in an unfortunate accident. Right?”

    “…Yes, sir.”

    I could only smile back and agree with the warden’s warning as he grinned while holding a gun.

    What else could I say when he’s pointing a gun at me?

    I don’t care whether my colleagues died unjustly or whatever—all that matters is that I survive.

    I have absolutely no intention of causing trouble by demanding an investigation.

    “Well, goodbye. I’ll miss you.”

    Wait, what the hell? These bastards suddenly creating a warm atmosphere seems suspicious.

    Before I could respond, the hatch closed with a thud.

    -отстыковать! отстыковать! отстыковать!

    “Son of a bitch…”

    With an eerie electronic female voice, the vessel began to shake violently.

    It felt like riding an amusement park ride without a safety bar.

    There was only a window on the side so I couldn’t see much, but I could feel the acceleration—we were really descending.

    I was about to cheer in excitement when something felt wrong.

    We should still be far from Earth.

    Should it be this hot already?

    -Waaang…! Waaang…!

    -перегрев! перегрев! перегрев!

    The lights turned red, and sirens began to wail.

    The electronic voice was babbling something again, but how could I understand what it was saying?

    Looking carefully, I noticed one light on the instrument panel flashing frantically.

    I don’t understand Russian, but instinctively, I knew what was happening.

    “Heat shield…! Damn it!”

    There’s no heat shield. No, let me be clear.

    Someone removed the heat shield beforehand.

    Otherwise, it wouldn’t be this hot already.

    Sure enough, my toes were starting to feel like they were burning.

    Was it so hard to grant me parole, you bastards?

    Even so, burning someone to death?

    “Urgh… Aaaah!”

    The instrument panel turned bright red, emitting smoke, and soon the plastic buttons began to deform.

    Next was the spacesuit.

    Damn it, the spacesuit caught fire.

    The fire, which initially caught only my fingertips, quickly spread throughout my body.

    As the Maillard reaction seemed to occur evenly across my body, even the helmet’s glass began to slowly deform.

    If that melts and pours onto my face, I’ll really die.

    The reddening glass slowly shrank, getting closer to my face.

    I wanted to throw it off, but I couldn’t bear the thought of heat capable of melting reinforced plastic directly hitting my face.

    This is truly the limit now.

    “Ugh!”

    Just then, a severe impact caused my body to lurch forward.

    The vibration stopped, and my body felt unusually heavy.

    This familiar sensation.

    Yes, gravity.

    The final sequence of Earth return. We’ve entered the deceleration phase with the parachute.

    If you removed the heat shield, why not the parachute too, you bastards?

    Is it because a missing heat shield could be blamed on it falling off by itself, but a parachute would be too obvious?

    If you’re going to kill someone, do it properly. Idiots.

    I quickly removed my helmet.

    Soon, with a splash, a mild impact shook the spacecraft.

    It seems we’ve landed in water, either the sea or a river.

    “Damn it! Open up!”

    The spacecraft must have sunk a bit already, as the hatch wouldn’t budge due to water pressure.

    Damn, the spacesuit is still on fire.

    Ping…!

    Just when I thought I would burn to death, a screw popped out from somewhere with a sound, and water began to leak in.

    Maybe the heat deformed it and created a hole.

    Anyway, it’s a welcome development right now.

    I soaked my entire body in the water that was steadily filling the cabin like a stream of piss.

    Since the spacesuit itself was fire-resistant, the fire went out quickly once the heat was cooled.

    After taking off the suit, I wonder if my entire body has turned black.

    Damn, if only my face remains yellow, it would look really strange.

    Not a yellow monkey but a yellow gorilla.

    Now all I can do is wait patiently.

    Until enough water fills the spacecraft so that the pressure inside and outside becomes similar.

    It was fortunate that the spacecraft had a hole and water was leaking in.

    Otherwise, I would have been unable to open the hatch and would have died trapped inside.

    While waiting, I removed the spacesuit and examined my body.

    There were reddened areas with peeling skin in places, and black spots only on my toes, suggesting the burns weren’t as serious as I thought.

    But damn…

    “Why is it filling so slowly?”

    I’ve already finished my warm-up exercises.

    The water is rising too slowly.

    No matter how much strength I use, the hatch still won’t open.

    If we landed in a river, that would be fortunate, but what if it’s in the middle of the ocean?

    What if we’re sinking to the bottom of the deep sea right now?

    I don’t even want to imagine that.

    I’d die from suffocation before reaching the surface.

    Even if I did reach it, I’d probably die from something like immersion syndrome.

    I started to get nervous.

    I reached into my pocket and grabbed the ring.

    “What the hell?”

    There were definitely two of them.

    One has disappeared.

    No matter how much I searched everywhere, even diving into the water repeatedly, I couldn’t find it.

    The remaining one had its gold plating completely stripped off from the fire, leaving just a metal ring.

    “Sigh…”

    The water has now reached my chest.

    I should be able to open the hatch if I apply enough force.

    If I miss this chance, I might really die.

    I can’t waste any more time looking for the ring.

    I pushed the hatch open with all my might.

    Grabbing the oxygen tank from the spacesuit, I fought against the incoming water pressure and escaped outside.

    Everything was pitch black in front of me.

    The situation was dire.

    Even after I got out, the landing craft was sinking at a terrifying speed to the depths below.

    How many meters below sea level am I?

    Relying on my senses, I swam upward against the pull of gravity.

    “Puhoo… Sip…”

    Bringing the oxygen tank was the right decision.

    If I had ascended without stopping, my body wouldn’t have been able to withstand the rapid pressure changes and would have died.

    I took breaks along the way, supplying myself with oxygen.

    It felt like I repeated this for about three hours.

    Maybe that’s an exaggeration.

    Okay, let’s compromise and say one hour.

    “Urgh…”

    The oxygen tank was empty.

    The feeling of pressure on my body had lessened, suggesting I had ascended quite a bit.

    I discarded the oxygen tank and swam upward at a faster pace.

    “Hwaaa! Kwaaa…!”

    I stuck my head above the water surface and savored the air.

    My vision was still pitch black, suggesting it was nighttime.

    By this point, fear began to creep in.

    The fear that I might be in the middle of the ocean.

    I frantically looked around.

    But all I could see was pitch-black darkness.

    Even as my body trembled and my teeth chattered, my eyes diligently searched for hope.

    Just as panic was about to set in as my breathing became labored…

    “Ha. Haha… Damn.”

    In the distance.

    I found a single point of light.


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