Editing KSGU:Volume 10 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 10===

A shockwave occurred far away, the cryo filled with stars shaking on its floor. It was much weaker than when the “Magallanica” was shaking, but Banagher instinctively realized it was closing in.

“More pursuers…”

Syam seemed to sense the slight tension, and spoke up. He looked up at the unwavering starry space, the eyes made it difficult to determine if he was similarly a human, his speaking voice seemingly amassed with ‘time’. Banagher continued to listen as he watched the former’s shrivelled body reclined in the bed. This man knows, so his heart of stone muttered. Syam knew of what was happening, what had happened, and what might happen in the future.

“You saw it?”

Banagher took a step forward, saying subconsciously. So Syam looked over, and Audrey seemed tensed up.

“Have you seen everything…that happened to us, all from here?”

The heat suppressed in his chest oozed from his mouth in a hiss. If this was truly the case, the man was no different from Full Frontal, secretly hiding in this underground bunker, watching sacrifice after sacrifice occur, waiting like a god awaiting the winner after all the elimination.

Syam’s head, buried in the pillow twitched, and he did not answer immediately, instead looking towards the ceiling. His slightly wavering eyes were covered by his eyelids, and he opened them again, staring into the illusion of  stars. “Yes, I did.” The response flew like a wind, the heat in Banagher’s heart throbbing wildly.

“Not everything though, just what I can know from here…”

There was no arrogance, no reproach. It was the voice, the expression of a man who had to endure everything. Banagher sensed the throbbing heat in his heart suffocating him, and was about to take a step forward, only to stop as his arm was grabbed from behind.

Audrey did not let go of his arm, and instead, she took a step forward, looking towards Syam. “It was an intense war.” She eked out a repressed voice.

“We sacrificed the people who were bewitched by the “Laplace Box”, and many other innocents. Who we are, what bloodlines we inherit, these do not matter. I hope you understand that we stand here representing the casualties of this war.”

The warmth flowing from the palm was telling Banagher to calm down, and he took a deep breath, relaxing his fists. Syam’s eyes squinted to the point of nothingness. “I have heard your words.” His heavy voice echoed through the cryo.

“But despite that, I have to express my thanks. It is because of someone like you that he is able to make it here safely.”

Saying that, he gave Banagher a familial look, only to erase his emotions immediately. “I shall tell you everything then.” So he said, a cruel glint appearing in his eyes. Once again, Banagher clenched his relaxed hands.

“You shall have to choose the price however. To open the “Box”, or to keep it sealed, or to destroy it without care for the consequences. You may also leave without asking.”

The probing eyes were looking at Banagher, who exerted strength into his practically trembling legs, looking back.

“The decision lies in your hand. You understand?”

After exerting strength for the last time, Audrey’s hand finally let go of Banagher, who took a step forward, nodding towards the expression reminiscent of Cardeas. Syam’s eyes flickered as he reached his hand beyond the bed. A cylindrical panel silently rose from the floor, and the hand that was seemingly weathered over a century was placed on it, like there was a side table fixed to the table.

Banagher sensed a tremor rising up from the floor, potentially causing him to shiver. The floor right before the bed stopped projecting space, and there was a 3 meters wide quadrilateral hole, rising next to the space hologram. Banagher and Audrey stepped back in unison, staring at the object rising from the abyss. The faint light from the star cluster shone upon its glossy surface, though not particularly distinct, as it gradually showed itself. It was a hexagonal block placed on a pedestal. Banagher had an impression of it. Perhaps it was similar to something he had seen before?
 
With a tremendous throbbing in his heart, Banagher looked towards the object that rose from the floor. The hexagon approximately 1 meter in length had countless words on it, resembling a honeycomb. The object giving off a silver glint was—
 
“The stone tablet, of the Universal Century charter…?”

Audrey eked a hoarse voice. “It used to be called the Laplace Charter.” Syam answered, and Banagher went towards the stone tablet with quite a few damages.

On the day the Universal Century started, it was the foundation of the Federation government as they declared the change of calendar. Representatives of various countries, led by the Premier, engraved their own signatures on the hexagonal Charter with many chapters. Banagher saw the same thing in the Central Senate Hall at Dakar. Loni Garvey said it was a replica, and the original stone tablet was destroyed during the “Laplace Incident”.

So, in other words, this was the original? But so what? Banagher could not understand at all. This thing, this, was the “Laplace Box”—? His thoughts froze momentarily, and was about to turn into rage, “Banagher, look!”Audrey’s tense voice entered his ears.

“It is different from what we know. There is an additional chapter.”

Audrey pointed at the Charter, her finger shaking. Banagher himself learned of it in school, but he was never the model student to memorize it all. “Beneath article 14, chapter 7.” So with Audrey prompting, Banagher looked towards the engraved text ‘Chapter 7 Future’. The words were engraved into his eyes as he focused his will on understanding it.


Chapter 7. Future.

The Earth Federation needs lots of hopes and expectations, and have prepared the following articles for Humanity’s future.

Article 15.

1, The Earth Federation shall broaden research and preparation to defend any biological emergencies beyond the Earth celestial sphere.

2. In future, if the existence of new space-adapting humans is confirmed, their inclusion in the running of the government is to be prioritized.


“If the existence of new space-adapting humans is confirmed, their inclusion in the running of the government is to be prioritized…”

Audrey’s monotonous voice as she recited the message exploded in Banagher’s mind, his heart jolting. While she was mesmerized and not leaving the tablet at all, Banagher turned his back on her as he stared at Syam unflinchingly. It happened all because of this, this one thing…Banagher could not stop his thoughts from running wild, and Syam took on that confusion as his eyes flicked silently, the face sunk into the pillow staring into the distant stars.

“This is the “Laplace Box” the truth to the curse binding us over a hundred years.”

The sigh that encapsulated a hundred eyes shook the air in the cryo, piercing through the body and heart. It seemed the object called time was speaking as Banagher’s eyes returned to the stone tablet floating in the void.

“At the same time…it was a prayer.”

Syam continued. These words overlapped with the voice of the ghost Banagher heard at “Laplace”, and unwittingly approached the tablet, reaching his hands towards the relatively scarred hexagon. The polished stone reflected himself wearing the white pilot suit, the reflected silhouette becoming an unknown youth who similarly reached his hand towards this stone tablet a hundred years ago, and their hands touched across time—