Editing City Series:Volume1 Chapter 5 (section)

===Part 4===

A forest known as the Grunewald Forest was located on the northwest outskirts of Berlin. The Breuer Company’s aircraft repair factory had been built inside it.

It was an old building. It had gone almost entirely unused since the Breuer Company had left the aircraft production industry.

Even past eight at night, an old man in a work outfit remained in the factory’s office. He seemed to live there. The office table contained stacked dishes from dinner, half-eaten ''käse'', and the knife used to eat it.

His legs were resting up on the table and his arms were crossed behind his head.

“There’s nothing to do around here,” he muttered leisurely. “And there used to be so much going on.”

Ever since Hiram Maxim’s first successful flight in 1894, airplanes had become an industry of their own. Business had slowed at one point, but ironically, it was a world war that had truly expanded the airplane market. Immediately after the war, the industry had only targeted the wealthy, but airplanes had later become a much more household means of transportation.

However, that prosperity had not lasted long.

A mere three years after the Breuer Company had shifted from the defense industry to the aircraft industry, a certain accident had occurred. That was fifteen years ago.

“If that hadn’t happened, people wouldn’t fear flying through the skies.”

Currently, flight had become the exclusive realm of shipping along air routes and the military.

Airplanes were much less safe than cars or boats. The incident fifteen years before had been powerful enough to place that fear in everyone’s hearts.

From that day onward, the civilian aircraft market had declined.

…''In the old days…

He scratched his thinning hair.

“There was always the roar of engines coming from the airfield.”

As soon as he forced a smile, the factory shook from a powerful blast of wind. A roar reverberated through his body as if some great mass was pressing down on him. The unpleasant creaking unique to old buildings reached him and his tilted chair almost fell backwards.

“!?”

…''Was that an aircraft?

He frantically stood from the chair, thought for a moment, and corrected himself. It could not have been an aircraft. If it had been one, he would have heard the loud sound of a rocket or jet being fired.

“Was it just a gust of wind?” he muttered.

He sat back down and reached for the ''käse'' and knife on the table.

The office door burst open and a gust of wind blew in.

“Old Man Metz!”

The gust of wind was joined by a familiar voice and a familiar form.

It was Else.

“E-Else!? What are you doing out when it’s so cold!?”

The girl used to visit the factory for fun, but now she approached the old man without responding or closing the door.

She moved quickly and she snatched the knife and ''käse'' from his hand.

“Old Man Metz. No, Breuer Company Aircraft Factory Manager Steinmetz. I want help repairing a ship.”

She spoke quietly, ate the ''käse'' in her hand, and took a breath.

Her shoulders fell and the old man, Steinmetz, spoke.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He sounded somewhat taken aback and Else seemed to understand why that would be.

“Well, Old Man Metz. I need you to understand.”

She pointed at the old man’s face. And she used the hand holding the knife.

“Hyah!”

Steinmetz leaned back in surprise and his chair fell backwards.

“Oh, whoops.”

Else set down the knife and helped the man up.

“Else, what is going on? When you say a ship…do you mean an aircraft?”

“No.”

“Then what do you mean?” he asked while brushing off his butt.

“A spaceship.”

The old man could not contain his laughter at that unexpected answer.

“Pfa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Now that’s a bad joke, Else! Like I can believe that!”

“Then look at this!”

Else walked over to the dew-covered window and threw it open.

A mass of metal sat outside.

“!”

Else turned around and clenched her fist with her back to what looked like a collection of steel organs. It almost looked like a wall sitting outside the window.

“I’m going to fly to space in this ship!”

She faced the old man with the winter night’s wind on her back.

Steinmetz was at a loss for words.

He had stopped laughing. He had thought this was a young girl’s joke, but before he could make sense of anything, he had been shown this mass of steel.

The intensity of this fact complicated his thoughts.

When had something so large landed?

Why was Else talking about going to space?

How was he supposed to react?

“Ah…”

He tried to say something and forcibly calm himself, but it did not work. The beating of his heart only grew faster as Else stared directly at him.

Her gaze was telling him to believe in the facts before his eyes.

“You mean…”

Sweat ran down his brow. Even with the cold winter air blowing in through the open door and window, he was sweating. That was how tense he was.

He gulped a little and moved his lips.

“What are you trying to do?”

He barely managed to squeeze out that question and he looked away from Else. He instead looked at the ship outside the window.

He breathed a sigh of relief and sat back in his chair.

Else spoke calmly to him.

“There was an aerial battle over Berlin today, right?”

She quickly explained what had happened.

“And this is the ship that held its own against the air force.”

Steinmetz focused on the mass of metal outside the window.

“Else, I’m going to ask again. You aren’t joking about this, are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You really are…well, going to space with this?”

“Yes, of course. Only an idiot wouldn’t go if they had the means.”

“Are you serious?”

Else nodded.

“I am.”

Her tone was light, but her expression was serious. The fact that she said nothing more prevented him from investigating further.

“…”

He sighed and looked out the window again.

“I see,” he muttered. “I don’t really understand, but you can reach space in that ship, can you?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re asking me to fix it?”

“Yes. You’re the only person who can do it.”

“You’re overestimating me.”

His voice was filled with resignation, but his lips were smiling.

Else could not help but smile as well.

Suddenly, his eyes stopped on her expression.

“What is it?”

“Just a little thing. More importantly, Else, have you told your father?”

“I was about to go do that.”

Her expression stiffened a little.

She pulled a black communicator from her coat pocket and held it out.

After a moment, he took it.

“What is this?”

“The ship will carry out simple actions if you give it orders with this. It’s pretty smart.”

“So it has voice recognition? That’s pretty amazing.”

He stared at the Kaiserburg.

“The times have changed.”

“Times don’t just change.”

“What?’

“We have to change them.”

Else closed the window.

“Can you do it?” she asked.

“Not on my own. I’ll need three more people and one of them has to be an emblem engineer.”

“Okay. Got it.”

“Now hurry to your father. Get the permission to use some engineers and to do what you’re trying to do.”

She gave a powerful nod.

“I’m on my way.”

With that, she turned around and ran from the office.

The old man smiled bitterly as he watched her go.

“How is Gaston going to greet her?”