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OniAi: Volume 2 Chapter 1.1

2018-09-28T01:17:14Z

172.68.54.115: /* Day After the Opening Ceremony */

===April 8th, 7:00 A.M.===
====Day After the Opening Ceremony====
 
“Brother-complex is indeed inconvenient, but it is definitely not a curse!”

It was morning, at the dining table, in the caretaker’s room of the St. Liliana Academy’s students’ hostel.

My rather incompetent sister suddenly said that with her eyebrows arching up.

“Many have the misconception that having a brother-complex = having a curse. There are even some narrow minded people who firmly believe that brother-complex is some sort of mental illness. People that had committed such serious errors have repeatedly appeared, and that is the sad truth. But, even so, we should never give in. We should firmly maintain our stance, and fight against such prejudice to the end.”

“…”

Upon hearing my sister’s grand speech all of the sudden, I stopped my hands from eating breakfast.

“Well, I don’t really understand what you’re talking about, but I’ll just say this: brother-complex isn’t something that wonderful, alright? You can’t openly be in love.”

“Hmph. That is something that I already know… but Onii-chan is one of those pitiful people who are plagued by the sickness called common sense. That is probably the only weakness of my brother whom I am deeply in love with.”

“But if you’re a bro-con, you won’t be able to have healthy children, right? The fact is, the union of genes between two closely related relatives will result in hindering the development of future generations. That had been already proven by both history and science.”

“Yes, that! I was about to talk about that!”

“Stop waving your fist and chopsticks about. That’s rude.”

“It is this very taboo that makes such passionate love even more exciting!”

My sister ignored my reminders and continued on.

“I dare say this: brother-complex is a gift from god, an irreplaceable talent.”

“Aha.”

“Indeed, I have occasionally suffered from gratuitous criticisms due of the fact that I am a bro-con. There are occasions when I am treated unfairly by people subconsciously as well, and so I am unable to take revenge on them. I have to admit, this is something rather inconvenient in regards to my everyday life.”

“Rather than talking about all these things, why are you not eating? The food will become cold if you don’t eat it quickly, you know?”

“But, you can not say that it is a curse or anything! No one knows the sort of happiness I have been enjoying every day due to me loving Onii-chan a lot! As someone who treats my blood related brother as a member of the opposite sex and loves him deeply for that, they would have no idea what sort of glorious life I have been living!”

“… You know, it shouldn’t matter even if the opposite party isn’t me, right? The amount of happiness that you feel will be the same even if your other half isn’t blood related to you.”

“No, you are totally wrong! It is against morals, but that’s the perfect reason why we can savor absolute happiness! Also, would anyone find a romance enchanting if it was smooth sailing? The answer is no, absolutely no one!”

“Ara. This morning’s rice is really delicious.”

I’d realized this conversation won’t end anytime soon.

I ignored my sister’s speech, and changed the subject.

“Each and every grain of rice is plump and glossy. It’s obviously different from those of the past. Could it be that you’ve switched to another type of rice?”

“Please Onii-chan. This tactic will no longer work, you know?”

<nowiki>*Che che che*</nowiki>, my sister wiggled her index finger.

[[File:OniAiVol2_009_Ch_1_1.jpg|thumb|]]

“Akiko has already experienced it personally, that skill that Onii-chan is proud of; which is to change the subject of the conversation. That is right, if you think that I will always fall for that, then you are terribly wrong.”

“Upon closer inspection, you’ve mixed various types of rice into this, right?”

“Huh!? You found out?!”

My sister showed an expression half in shock, and half in glee.

“I had planned to be secretive about it, but who would have thought that it would be found out that quickly… as expected from Onii-chan.”

“This is probably… some sort of inexpensive rice, right?”

“Ah, you are sharp. Yes, that is how it is. I used a type of plain, ordinary, rice that costs five hundred yen per kilogram.”

“Eh… Even so, this rice is really delicious.”

“Yes. Actually, it is not just the expensive types of rice that are delicious.”

“Uhuh. Meaning to say, it’s something like blending coffee, right?”

“As expected of Onii-chan. It is just as you have said.”

“I see. It’s no wonder I find the taste so intriguing. You’re really wonderful to be able to make 1 + 1 equal to 3 or even 4.”

“Ehehe. Thanks for your compliments.”

“Come to think of it, where did you learn such techniques from? Did the Arisugawa family actually teach you stuff like these as well?”

“No, how could that be? This was taught to me by the boss of the rice shop, whom I have gotten familiar with recently. Since the Arisugawa have their lofty reputations to uphold, they will only use organic rice of the highest quality. Actually, typical rice can be as delicious as this with just some effort put into it… those people’s minds are really rigid.”

“… Sigh, but I’m really sorry to have caused you to undergo such trouble.”

“Is anything wrong?”

“No, it’s just that our family budget is really tight. You learned techniques like these because you want to lessen the burden on us, even if it’s just a little. Isn’t that so? If only I could earn more money, then it would be easier for you as well.”

“Onii-chan, what are you saying? I am extremely satisfied with our current lifestyle, and I am quite grateful to Onii-chan for living together with me everyday. This is my responsibility as your wife, to be as thrifty as possible, so that we can work towards a better life. Onii-chan should focus on his work, while I focus on the housework; is that not wonderful?”

“Hmm I guess. Although I spotted a certain term that’s quite wrong. Well, so that’s how it is huh. I feel a lot better if you put it that way. You’re a really capable younger sister, Akiko.”

“Ehehe, thank you. Well, Onii-chan, please eat it before it gets cold. There is still more, you know?”

“Mmm. Since it’s so delicious, I’ll just eat a little more.”

“Alright, please eat to your heart’s content. Also, I spent extra effort on the miso soup as well, did you notice that?”

“Ohhh? What did you do?”

“Kuku. Please take a guess.”

“Uhh— Hmm… Since you’ve said so, the saltiness is slightly richer than usual… No, could the secret be in this rather dark color? Uhh— Hmm…”

…

……

………

“—Oh. It’s that time already?”

“Ah, it really is. We have chatted too much.”

“We’ll be late if we don’t pick up the pace.”

“It is alright, Onii-chan, please go to school first. I will go after clearing the dishes. It is my turn to be washing the dishes today.”

“Oh. I’m really sorry about that.”

“Do not put it to heart. I really want to go to school with Onii-chan together; but it would not do if we do not follow the rules.”

“Mmm yeah. That law abiding attitude of yours is really dependable.”

“No, it is nothing like that.”

“Mmm, Well then—”

I stood up from the short table, and checked my looks using the mirror on the floor.

The fact is, even now, my body is still not used to wearing St. Ririana Academy’s rather old fashioned uniform.

Today is my first day of work as a member of the student council. Even though being given the post of deputy assistant of secretary (errand boy) isn’t something out of my own will. It won’t do if someone like me, who just transferred into the school, played around with my duties. I’d be an utter embarrassment for my sister, who’s the secretary. As her elder brother, I don’t wish for anything like that to happen.

“Well, then, I’ll be leaving.”

“Alright. Be careful, Onii-chan.”

Opening the huge door of the wooden, seventy-year-old, shabby apartment, I was welcomed by the winds of late spring.

Today is a clear day that’s almost cloudless. The chance of rain is near 0%.

As for myself, Himenokouji Akito, who’s talking his first step into a new chapter of his life, this is definitely something good,

“Uhh, no— that is right!”

My sister ran up to me as I was walking out of the hostel. She was breathless.

“Hold on a second Onii-chan! I am not done with my speech!”

“Hmm? I listened to you talking quite a bit about the methods of mixing rice as well as the secret of the miso soup.”

“Not those things! It is the topic about how being a bro-con brings about inconveniences, but it is definitely not a curse!”

My sister just rushed onto the street while still wearing her apron, with her eyes becoming like an inverted triangle.

“Really… Onii-chan you are too much. You deliberately ran away from your cute sister, who was trying to tell you something important, by changing the subject. I said that I would not fall for it again, right?”

“Mmm, I guess you did say something like that. But you bit at my bait at almost full force, you know? Just now.”

“Ignore that for the moment!”

She pointed at me with a *swoosh*.

“Please listen to me carefully, because this is something important! You are to remain here and not move an inch until you have listened to everything that I have to say—”

“Well then, let’s just leave it at that. I’m short on time.”

“Wa—!? You are turning your back towards me and leaving in a hurry after saying that?! That is enough, there is no use in running. With my godly speed that can run fifty meters in a mere six seconds, it will be easy for me to catch up to Onii-chan—”

“Oh. Right, right. You’re to clear up the dishes immediately. No leaving them for later. Your Onii-chan dislikes children who don’t follow the rules, you know.”

“T-That is too much! You planned to trap me with that all along!? Onii-chan you are an idiot! You are mean!”

I pretended not to hear the protests of my sister. I increased the pace of my steps, and walked hurriedly.

… Well well.

I’ve a feeling today is going to be a rather messy day.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[OniAi: Volume 2 Illustrations|Novel-Illustrations]]
| Return to [[Onii-chan_Dakedo_Ai_Sae_Areba_Kankei_Nai_yo_ne—|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[OniAi: Volume 2 Chapter 1.2|Chapter 1.2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Amaryllis in the Ice Country:Chapter 1

2018-09-26T03:38:25Z

172.68.54.115: /* Part 2 */

[[Image:Amaryllis017.jpg|thumb]]

==Chapter 1: The Snow White in the Sleeping Forest==

===Part 1===

There are blobs of light being refracted, and a gust lifting the powdered snow.

--Ehh…!

I hold onto the handles, firmly tilting the Icemobile. I spin the steering wheel to the right to climb the mid-wall, and after a pause, I turn left to the curb, and then to the right curb immediately. The tunnel of ice continues to extend, and though the scenery is simple and repetitive, I can't relax one bit.

The temperature is -16º Celsius, fairly warm compared to how it usually is in this underground world, where the walls and ceiling are completely frozen, and the breath released between the lips floats back like a white comet.

"I say, it's about time to rest now, isn't it?" I hear an unenthusiastic voice behind me,

"We've been traveling for 6 hours already!"

--Really.

I ignore the voice of my colleague who wants to slack off, and strengthen my grip on the handles of the three-wheeled vehicle. Right, right, left, right, left. There's a need for continuous cornering skills in the tunnel. In those moments, I lower my waist and twist my body. I match my breathing with the bounce, absorb the impact of the shocks with my knees, and shift my weight in a rhythmic manner.

"Hey, you listening, Amaryllis? Hey, Amaryllis Alstroemeria?"

"Shut up…!" I shout out, cutting off that cheesy voice, and continue to turn. The goal is near, just another 30 seconds away... 20... 10. There's a light at the end of the narrow tunnel, a wide world out there--

--Now…!

''Bonk''! We bounce off the ice floor, going towards the very tall place that seems like a dance hall.

--Brake…!

I maintain the balance of the vehicle, and at the same time, activate the reverse jets to kill the speed as we land. ''Donk''. The skates crash onto the floor, bouncing off like rubber several times. The wheels gain balance and manage to land while killing the impact.

"Phew…"

I fasten the front wheels to steady the vehicle and finally heave a sigh of relief. I'm able to control the Icemobile and my own limbs after driving it for so long, but I still feel tense falling from such a great height.

"Hah!" With a growl, my colleague sitting beside me landed too. Seeing the skates of a massive vehicle land and smash the ice with style is always a highlight.

"Goodness, well, we made it…"

He clicks his tongue, stroking the swept back hair that he is so proud of.

Can't you just land a little quietly?, he reprimands me.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," a tranquil voice echoes in the hall.

I turn to look and find a tall, slender woman there. She's as pretty as a goddess, her hair glittering like an emerald.

"Cattleya, it's been a while!"

"Thank you as usual, Miss Amaryllis." Cattleya pets her pretty, silky hair as she shows a gentle smile.

If I have to choose the prettiest lady in the world, she'll be the first person I'll nominate.

"How about it, Cattleya? Are you free tonight?"

"I-I'll be troubled, Mr. Eisbahn."

--This idiot!!

"Ow, owwwwww!!" I tug the antenna at the ears hardly, pulling this beast away from the pretty woman.

"Enough already."

"What? Just a little touch?"

"How many times must you be reminded to not woo girls during your work?"

"It's a man's duty to pursue a pretty lady."

"You can do that when we're done with our work and duty here." And as usual, we continue to bicker.

"Erm...I think it's time to begin the delivery?"

I look back and find Cattleya giving us a troubled, stunned look, "Ahh, sorry sorry. We'll do it now." I hurriedly apologize.

"Hurry!"

"Help out too!"

I chide my colleague who isn't doing anything and begin to unload the goods from the Icemobile. There are backup batteries, spare parts, charging cables-- all standard issue. Us robots are powered by electricity, so any items related to batteries are necessities.

Cattleya receives the issued items as she asks me with a soft voice, "How's the 'torso' looking now?"

"Same as usual, peace and calm. As for any drama, there's just Daisy and Gappy's arguments."

"Huh, again?"

"They're on such bad terms it's worrying."

"What's the reason this time?"

"It looked like they were fighting over Oil Candy. We already said that we'll 'half' them in this situation, but they wouldn't listen."

"Oh dear."

Cattleya beams happily, and we continue talking as I sort the items out. We only meet once a week, so there's a lot for us to discuss.

And right when we're about done unloading the goods, "Ah."

Cattleya looks up at the sky.

--Sky…

Sparkling lights begin to fall gently from the ceiling. These are speckles of ice called Ceiling Dust, and though they are called dust, they are able to give off such a beautiful light and flutter down from the skies. This is one of the rare natural phenomena that occur in this world of ice 500m underground, isolated from the world.

"So pretty…" Cattleya mutters as she looks up.

"You're prettier," Eisbahn says as he puts his arm around Cattleya's shoulder.

"Leave her already," I pull Eisbahn away.

The speckles of light continue to flutter and gather in the hall. Each of them forms complicated crystals in the shape of 'six-sided flowers in three layers', prettier as they overlap each other, coating the silver world with snow.

"Time to go."

"Ehh~ let me rest for a little while."

"No can do. We got another 30 houses to go to."

I drag my slacker of a colleague by his arm and hop on the Icemobile.

"Tchee!"

I ignore Eisbahn while he gives a childish reaction, and start the engine. The Icemobile bellows excitedly, rumbling,

"See you, Cattleya!"

"Be safe!"

Cattleya's voice can be heard from behind as I charge into the tunnel, headed to the next point. The goods piled up at the back of the Icemobile rattle. Though Eisbahn has been grumbling, he leans his body firmly onto me.

I accelerate, and the ice crystals stuck on the Icemobile glitter as they drift to the back.

===Part 2===

"Big sister!" "Welcome back!" "Amaryllis!"

I return to the village, and the children gather. Soon, I'm surrounded by at least ten of them. 20 hours passed after a trip through the assigned path, and I return to the 'torso' again.

"I'm back, everyone. Have you been good kids?"

I pat each one of them on the hand, and they all reach their heads out to me, going I want, I want.

"Listen, listen! I've worked hard to do a lot of 'parts shining'!"

"Really? That's great!"

"Sister, I did a lot of 'cutouts'!"

"That's really great!"

The children narrow their eyes happily as they get a pat on the heads by me. They're all holding blue glowing translucent metals in their hands; the job of the children in this village is to use and polish these metals.

"Sister, let's play, let's play!"

"Sorry. I still have a lot of work to do. Later then."

I coax the children who continue to cling onto me and leave the scene. I do want to stay with them for a little longer, but the most important thing is that I have to report what happened today.

I hurry down the road in the village. The sides of the road are lined with rows and rows of ice sculpted houses, and the light shining from the ceiling are sparkling like a starry sky.

I continue to marvel this typical, beautiful street scenery as I hurry on, and at this moment,

"Hey~Amaryllis! Good work!"

I'm called by a lively voice, and opposite the road, a tall woman is raising her hand, waving at me.

"I'm back, Viscaria. The icemobile tyres feel a little weird."

"Got it. I'll have a look."

"It's parked at the usual place."

"Okay."

Viscaria Acanthus extends the feeler from her finger as a response. Her arms are made of metallic feelers, meant for repairs, tools like screwdrivers, hammers, pincers, spanners, and bars contained within them. The 'mechanic' in the village refers to her.

Viscaria points a feeler from her right index finger and adjusts the beret on her short red hair. This beret is her trademark.

"Haven't you been working too much? It's taxing on your body if you don't rest."

"Thanks, but I'm fine here."

"If you feel unwell anywhere, give me a shout."

She waves the hand with the feeler pointed out, says 'goodbye', and leaves. Viscaria has the appearance of a 25-year-old woman, and to me, she's someone who's like a reliable older sister to me.

"Yo, Amaryllis!" "Welcome back, vice chief!" "Good work today!"

"Everyone, I'm back!"

I answer their greetings with enthusiasm and continue to move forward.

After walking about 15 minutes, I'm finally able to see the village hall. It's a thick ice pillar that stands between the ground and the ceiling, and the town hall is located inside this hollow ice pillar. This is the central area of the village, one that has yet to change over 100 years.

I pass through the main doors that are shaped in an arch, and the first thing I see is the open atrium hall. I attach the cable placed on the reception counter to my arm and let it charge for 5 minutes. Back, then, I had to keep changing oils to maintain the internal functions, but with the rapid development of robotics engineering, simply recharging batteries alone is enough to keep me running.

--My battery is recharged. 99.98%.

Once I'm done recharging, I continue to the inside of the village hall. I continue on by skating down the polished, shiny floor, down the corridor, and ascend the stairs. My feet step on the anti-slippery powder scattered on the stairs, qew qew, letting out a cute sound.

I ascend the last flights of stairs, and in front of me is a transparent, tall door.

"Village Chief Chamomile!"

I raise my voice.

"It's Amaryllis! I'm back!'

Soon after, I hear a voice, "...Come in." and the doors slide open. "Please excuse me!" I step into the Village Chief's room excitedly.

The Chief's room is the core. The silver patterns on the ceiling race around, spreading throughout the entire wall like Tulip antennas stuck onto them. All the communications network in the village are centered around here, whether wired or not.

"Welcome back, Amaryllis."

The Chief turns his 'head' over to me with a rumble. Ever since he gave up on his body 30 years ago, the Chief continues to live on with merely a head. He's able to save on electricity without a head "This is saving electricity too." and that is his usual mantra.

"How are you feeling?"

"My shoulders have been a little stiff recently…"

"So I suppose there is nothing."

I ignore that light-hearted joke as usual and sit on the chair...

"Now then, the report for today."

"What is Eisbahn doing?"

"Chasing after the butts of many young girls."

"Good to be young. When I was younger, I was called the Iron Playboy--"

"I shall skip on that since it is the 370th time you're mentioning that."

If I leave him to continue, I'll have to hear a long autobiography that will last for at dozens of hours, so I pinch the Chief by his nose. He snorts, letting out a weird sound.

"Report. A round of delivery through 56 Issue points was done."

"Um, good work."

"There are 3 with metallic frostbite. Light injuries though, so just a change of parts."

"3...that's a little too many."

"Maybe it's because the recent difference in temperatures causing it. I intend to focus on treating frostbites during the next 'body checkups'."

"Good."

I then propose other 2-3 ideas, and the Chief understood them all. If it gets a lot serious, there is a need to summon the members of the of the 'committee'. Other than that, the little problems are to be settled by the Chief. That is the rule of this village.

"Are you going to check on the 'Snow White'?"

"Yes. It's a daily thing...how about you go have a look too, Chief?"

"No, I'll sleep...fuuahh."

The Chief yawn, his head rolls onto the table, and he leaps onto the cushion he loves so much.

"Got to save electricity…"

He mutters his usual mantra and immediately went to sleep mode.

===Part 3===

I return to the entrance of the village and see Viscaria busy with repairs.

There are a few more metallic feelers, and 10 of these chords are reaching out, surrounding the icemobile and nimbly doing all kinds of independent maintenance on it. Everywhere, there are sounds of metal, tools hitting, blue flashes of laser and steam being released.

"How's it going?"

I poke my head to see. "Yeah." Viscaria answers me as she lies on the floor. The way she leans under the icemobile resembles a frog who got knocked down in an accident. The iconic beret has landed by her side.

"There's a little problem with the vehicle itself...the wheels can't be used anymore, so I'm changing them."

"Good work."

"Where did you flip the vehicle?"

"No, I didn't. Why?"

"There's a strange crack on the handles…"

Viscaria points "Here, have a look.", and flickers one of her feelers to show me.

"Ah, it's true."

As she says, there's a web-shaped crack on the icemobile steering wheel.

"But such cracks can appear when there is a drastic difference in temperature…"

"So it can't be used anymore?"

"No no, it's easy to repair it. Just melt the cracked part, and add soft cream back to it."

"Please do so."

"Got it."

Viscaria utilizes her right feelers nimbly, repairing many areas. All these feelers are moving in a lively manner.

"You're really dazzling a lot when you're repairing things, Viscaria."

"Really? I'm glad."

The repairman with the matching red short hair curls her lips up slightly, looking very delighted. She, whom I view as a reliable older sister, looks like a mischievous boy in such moments."

"I've been doing this for more than 300 years. I'm at the point where I can't calm down if I don't repair anything."

"Heh, I guess that's our calling."

"Calling...maybe it is, I don't know."

After that, Viscaria continues to repair for another 5 minutes. "Alright, I'm done." She shouts, and the feelers reaching out from her fingertips shrink back with a swoosh.

"Are you going over to 'Snow White' today?"

"Yep. It's a daily thing."

I get onto the icemobile, activating the engines with a boom.

"If you find that there's something wrong, come back to look for me."

"Understood. Thanks as always, Viscaria."

"Well. It's my calling."

With a swoosh, she reaches a feeler from her fingertip, adjusting her beret proudly.

===Part 4===

And so,

"Why are you following me too!?"

"Don't be so cold to me."

"Seriously, stop touching around! You big pervert!"

I lash out furiously at the man who's hitching a ride on the back seat. The man continues to sneer, saying, "Well well, let's get along." He has no intention of reflecting on his actions at all.

Here's how it happened. I bid farewell, got up onto the icemobile, preparing to look at the 'Snow White'. "I'm going too!" A guy with blond swept back hair leaps into the back seat--the name is Eisbahn Tricrytis.

I slap the filthy hand that's aiming for my butt and accelerate the speed of the icemobile. If I don't hurry there, I don't know what this sex offender sitting behind me will do.

"You're being cold to me."

"Of course. I need to be as cold as possible to a guy like you who starts wooing girls at any given moment,:

"It's fine. We all have sex options installed on us."

This sex option refers to one of the functions installed in us robots that allows us robots to have sex. There are a lot of sex options installed in female robots, and I'm one of them.

"Sex options are prepared to service our masters. Not a good thing to be used on robots ourselves."

"It's because of such words from you that you'll always remain a virgin--guah!?"

[[Image:Amaryllis033.jpg|thumb]]

I smash an elbow into the unruly guy behind me, "Enough with that small talk…!" and growl.

Male robots with sex options installed in them will often tease women of the same kind or do some sweet talk to create some atmosphere. Most of the time, I guess they can't help it because they have such a setting, but Eisbahn, in particular, goes overboard. This guy will get his hand on a woman whenever he sees one.

--Ahh, let's hurry up and reach there already…!

While I continue on this unhappy two people ride, I cut right and left quickly. Finally, the surrounding ice walls become clearer, and the layers of ice start to show a vibrant green. The villagers call this place the 'Ice Plant' zone, and all kinds of plants grow and bloom in the ice like art pieces. The end of this zone of Ice Plants is our destination today--the 'REM Forest'.

Grrr! The brakes cause the vehicle to shave the road, and I park the icemobile. Eisbahn quickly gets off the boot.

"Chief, do you hear me? I'm Amaryllis."

I cover the antenna at my ear with my hand, calling the Chief through the wireless, "Fuuuaaa...saving power, saving power…" only to hear a sleepy voice.

"Stop sleeping and open up."

I chide, "Alright." and the Chief's voice echoes in the Mind Circuit. The doors leading to 'Snow White' is probably about a 1m thick, and nobody is allowed to enter without the Chief's permission. Even I or a 'committee member' like Eisbahn can't do so.

--It's cold…

The moment the door opens, rich cold air resembling a white phantom rushes out. While this underground world is encased in ice, the temperature here is colder.

--External air intercept.

I increase the body temperature conditioning function by about 30%. Robots won't catch colds because of the cold temperature, but the oils or batteries inside the bodies may be damaged. In worse situations, there might be a sudden metallic exhaustion caused 'Metal Frostbite.

"Nothing changed."

I looked up at the ceiling, and the first thing I see is a large 'Spindle'. This is the main computer controlling the entire 'Snow White'. The surroundings of this Spindle is covered with thin blood vessel-like fibres, appearing like a freeze dried fruit with a thin silver dress wrapped over it.

The Spindle continues to spin its massively long, slender body, shining its gentle light upon every corner of the room. This light is a unique 'pulse' that maintains the running of the system and maintains the numerous capsules called 'Cradles' that have become one with the wall. These Cradles are the life supports protecting the lives of more than 300 of the 'Masters'.

This is the cryo facility that allows for life to continue under low temperatures--dubbed 'Snow White'.

A hundred years ago, there was a massive weather change on the surface, and the world went into an ice age. Due to unknown reasons, the 'cold wave' caused the entire land to freeze, and all animals and plants were practically extinct.

But even in such radically harsh environment, humans--our masters never gave up. They built an underground shelter 'Snow White' to evacuate, and hibernate in there until the ice age ends. From babies till old people, 300 hundred humans continue to sleep, their aging process stopped in the process.

And during the days the masters sleep, us 'villagers' are tasked to maintain the running of the 'Snow White'. In this world of ice 500m underground, we create a little village, living for a hundred years. All the villagers are robots, and our only important mission is to protect the Snow White. The Mind Circuit with high autonomy installed in us is to make sure we protect the Snow White while the manual mode can't be used.

--One day.

I wonder as I look up at the Snow White.

One day, when the masters awake, I'll do my best to serve them and prove my value, whether it is to cook, wash clothes or cleaning, anything that I can think of, I'll do it. Also, if I'm allowed to, I want them to hear the songs I'm proud of.

I put my hands on my chest, humming the lullaby as usual.

Sleep well, sleep well, sleep well for today.

I shall continue to hold you in my arms, so sleep well.

One die, even if this country, is wiped out, the morning light,

Everything, and anything is for you.

That is why, sleep well, for today.

Until, the day, you wake up again.

The tune ends, and I hear a light clapping.

"It's a nice tune no matter how many times I hear it."

I turn back to look and find Eisbahn leaning at the wall.

"Ahh, thanks."

"Feel like sleeping when I hear that."

"Are you praising me?'

After a pause, "Of course." Eisbahn answers.

--Master.

I cross my fingers in front of my chest and offer my usual prayers.

--Please, hurry and wake up.

We are waiting.

Tentatively waiting for the day our masters wake up in this underground world sealed by ice.

We have been doing so for more than a hundred years.

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Konpeki no Kantai

2017-12-19T23:49:23Z

172.68.54.115:

{{Status|Active}}

{{Teaser|English}}

[[File:Konpeki_no_Kantai_1.jpg|200px|thumb]]
The novel series, '''Konpeki no Kantai''' (紺碧の艦隊, lit. "The Deep Blue Fleet") was written by Yoshio Aramaki, and the first volume was published in December 1990. The novel's popularity reportedly rose dramatically due to the start of the Gulf War the following month. Aramaki later wrote a different series called Asahi no Kantai (朝日の艦隊, lit. Fleet of the Morning Sun). The two series, totaling some 25 volumes, eventually sold more than five million copies.

Over time, the series was adapted into manga, original video animation and game form.

== Story Synopsis ==
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto and his staff are flying to visit the soldiers in the south-central Pacific April 18, 1943 when they are attacked and their aircraft shot down. Just before his damaged plane crashes into Bougainville Island, Yamamoto blacks out, then wakes up inside a ship. Unclear about what has just happened, Yamamoto speaks with a crewman, and discovers that he is aboard the Japanese cruiser Nisshin. He is then informed that the date is May 28, 1905 and that Battle of Tsushima has just ended. Yamamoto realizes that he has somehow been transported back in time (or to a parallel world).

After Yamamoto decides to revert to his old name of Isoroku Takano, he vows to use his advanced knowledge of the next 38 years to ensure that Japan does not make the same mistakes as before.

Yamamoto's first priority is to spearhead a massive naval construction program. It involves building a large fleet of advanced battleships and supercarriers, nuclear submarines based on the design of the real-life I-400 Sen Toku submarine, and advanced combat aircraft that were in prototype or concept form during the late stages of the actual Pacific War.

His plan for success begins with a coup d'état against the hardline government of Army General Hideki Tōjō in late 1941, on the eve of the Pearl Harbor attack, and installing an ally, Lt Gen Yasaburo Otaka as prime minister. Otaka, who has also been transported back in time, agrees to work with Yamamoto to change history and ensure that the Japanese Empire emerges victorious against the United States in the Second World War.

==The ''Konpeki no Kantai'' series by Yoshio Aramaki==
The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konpeki_no_Kantai ''Konpeki no Kantai''] series by Yoshio Aramaki.

===Volume 1 - ''The Fated Outbreak of War''===
::*[[Konpeki no Kantai::Volume1_Hymn|The Hymn of the Deep Blue Fleet]]
::*[[Konpeki no Kantai::Volume1_Prologue|Prologue]]
::*[[Konpeki no Kantai::Volume1_Chapter1|Chapter 1]] (~80%)

== Updates ==
::* January 24th, 2017 - Prologue completed.