Editing KSGU:Volume 5 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 13===

23.55. The debris of “Laplace” could be detected from a point in the vacuum, and in an instant, it became a huge block that filled the sights of the all-view monitor. Banagher continued to take note of the height meter and the speedometer as he gradually reduced the relative velocity of the “Unicorn” with “Laplace” and let it approach the let debris.

The ring-shaped construct fragment in front of him used to be a living area, and it was 40m long in diameter and approximately 130m in length. It was large, and the word “Laplace’ could be seen on the remaining outer wall. The pillars that poked out like whale ribs and the shattered glass that was used to retain light were the only visible things left of its past glory. It was thorough devastation, and there was no other way to describe this relied. This cosmic dust that filled the space gathered like sand in the wind, and the word “Laplace” became hard to determine, and this image was very consistent with the aged ruins.

The inside was hollow, and it was not too difficult for a machine to slip in. Banagher took note not to touch the metal frames and pillars that were extended out as he let the “Unicorn” dive inside the ring. If the “Unicorn” carelessly knocked into a construct, the debris ferrying it would slow down, and may cause the balance between “Laplace” and Earth’s gravity to collapse. It had become old and weak, but there was no guarantee that the debris could burn completely if it entered the atmosphere, and there was no need to imagine what would happen if a thing of such mass fell onto the surface. “Don’t touch anything.” Daguza said with a suppressed voice, and Banagher cautiously moved the machine. Soon, the relative velocity with the machine and the debris became zero, and the “Unicorn” moved into this hollow that was reminiscent of a whale’s stomach before ceasing all movements.

In the past, the ring would be lit by the sunlight through the reflective mirrors, and there was a centrifuge gravity at the same level as that of the Moon created within, but the scene inside at this point was at such a state where it would be an understatement to call it dilapidated. It was a large scrap of metal formed by twisted and deformed materials, ripped walls, and beams that were exposed to vacuum for almost 100 years. ''To think that it would be abandoned in such a place—no, it’s because it’s this place that they can put it here, is it? '' The all-view monitor image that switched to the actual footage was optically corrected, and Banagher tried to look around the debris. The shattered remains of lighting glass showed a reflection of the “Unicorn”s white body, and it looked so mysterious it was like a ghost looking back at him.

“Even if we compare with the past camera records, there aren’t any obvious differences we can see. It’s really hard to imagine that someone would do something to it…”

Daguza said slowly as he compared the current image with the data from the computer at his hands. It seemed that the debris was not touched by anyone ever since it was treated as a relic and had warning lights set around it. “Then, are the coordinates the most important thing?” Banagher asked.

“I don’t know. Even though we let the machine pass through the given coordinates, nothing happened. If the Laplace Program can identify the shape of this debris, we might hae to let the machine reach the given coordinates together with it…”

Daguza’s unspecified words caused Banagher’s stomach to hurt. He could imagine what was not mentioned. The Laplace Program would show the information about the “Box” through the activation of the NT-D. if that were the case, arriving at this given space coordinates would not trigger anything. Banagher could also predict that if he did not activate the NT-D, he would not be able to progress onto the next step.

He gathered the depressed feeling deep within his mind as fuel, and it felt his body and mind would become like a reactor core that would explode continuously—no matter what happened, Banagher did not want to ride on this gadget that would transform into a “Gundam”. He looked down and held onto the control sticks, “I said that you shouldn’t think too much.” but a voice caused him to look up.

“The answer will come. We just have to wait inside this debris and float to the given coordinates.”

Daguza said, and in front of his sights, the clock on the display board showed 23.58. There were less than 2 minutes until the debris of “Laplace” moved to its given coordinates, but either way, the NT-D would not activate at will. Banagher wiped away the sweat on his forehead, and held his breath as he waited for that moment.

The two “ReZELs” that were on standby outside the debris looked like they gulped too, waiting for events to develop. The two “Lotos” that got away from its back circled around the debris, taking footages of the exterior of “Laplace”, and the floodlights installed on the shoulders would shine inside the debris from time to time. “Make it as detailed as possible, carry out observations from the outside. If there are any changes, report to me.” Daguza notified the allied unit, and Conroy answered, (Roger that. Nothing abnormal for now.) There was still 30 seconds until it reached the target point.

20 seconds, 15 seconds, Daguza started to count down when there was less than 10 seconds left, “8, 7, 6…” the voice caused the atmosphere inside the cockpit to tense up. Latitude 0, longitude 0, midnight; the time left before this moment was—

“3, 2, 1…target reached point zero.”

The clock and the display board both showed zero, and the date was changed to 15th April. The machine’s functions were normal, and there was no anomaly confirmed on the outside. The debris of “Laplace” remained dead silent just like a second ago.

The latitude, longitude and time numbers were indicated on the digital display, and the moment the three zeros crossed each other ended. 5 seconds after the time was shown, Banagher tried to look behind. The space of the given coordinates did not show any change even after it floated behind. Earth continued to remain in the slumber of night, and there was only an endless vacuum on the low orbit.

So nothing happened in the end. “So, what happened…?” In response to Daguza’s question, Banagher continued to look around with a calmed expression as he answered, “Even if you ask, there’s still nothing…” Daguza continued to show an emotionless expression as he asked with a calm expression, “Any changes on the outside?” (Negative, there’s no change with the “Unicorn” and the relic.) Conroy answered. During this time, Daguza checked all the sensors and compared the current situation with past footage, but once the relic was 200km away from the designated location, he exhaled.

“Did Cardeas Vist pull a fast one on us…?”

Daguza rubbed his eyes and rubbed his shoulders with his hands. Banagher saw him give that slightly wry look as his tense emotions relaxed. He seemed relaxed by it, and felt strangely emotional that this was more puzzling than before, and looked up at the space from past the pillar that was uprooted. The actual sight of space was near total darkness, and without the various information indicated on the monitor, it would be easy to forget that this was space.

The bright starry lights entered his eyes, but even though they were bright, they could not overcome the abyss of darkness. ''How memorable,'' this term suddenly appeared in Banagher’s mind, and just as he was wondering why he would have some a random thought from nowhere, he noticed that noise was coming from the speakers inside his helmet, and he could hear a soft speaking voice mixed in it.

(…Greetings…citizens of Earth and Space…I’m the Prime Minister of the Earth Federation, Ricardo Marcenas.)

This voice that came through the noise increased in clarity. Banagher widened his eyes in surprise as he looked around aimlessly. He, together with Daguza who was looking around the cockpit, met each other in the eyes. Both of them showed frozen looks for just a moment, “Where’s that voice coming from?” Daguza questioned with a sharp tone, and Banagher hurriedly reached for the display board.

(The end of A.D. is nigh, and we shall enter an unknown territory called Universal Century. During this momentous time…)

As Banagher operated on the wireless electronic panel to check where the message came from, Conroy’s voice interrupted, (Where’s this voice coming from?). It seemed that the other machines were hearing this ‘voice’ as well. “I don’t know. You guys can’t detect the source of this signal?” as Daguza asked behind him, Banagher summoned out all the communication channels onto the display, and he scanned all the communication channels, ranging from short frequency to long frequency, including optical signals, but after scanning through them, he still could not find any information that matched this ‘voice’.

(And right now, for us, who have achieved the longstanding desire to unify the world, we have defined the errors in Nationalism. Just as humans can’t exist on their own, we know that countries can’t operate alone.)

(RX-0, the relic’s giving off a broadcast. Can you detect the source ?)

The broadcast Mihiro made overlapped with the voice of an unknown man at this point. “It’s coming from the relic?” Daguza wondered, and Banagher again looked at the all-view monitor showing the inner walls of the relic. The system had already done all sorts of scans with its sensors. The “Nahel Argama” could detect this voice even from 200km away, and it was really hard to imagine that such a powerful electronic signal could be hidden amongst this thoroughly dilapidated ruin. In fact, even the sensors on the “Unicorn” were not showing the existence of this wireless signal.

''It’s like the voice of a dead person—'' Banagher felt goosebumps all over his body as he gulped. (This situation…there’s no doubt.) Conroy’s gruff voice caused the speakers to tremor unsteadily.

(We can detect from here that the source is the “Unicorn”. The “Unicorn” used up all the channels to let out this voice…!)

The “Loto” floating at the other end of the beam showed how shaken its passengers were as its stout body trembled. Daguza could not say anything, and Banagher suddenly felt that his presence was distant as his hands that let go of the control sticks were frozen, unable to move. He could not catch up to this situation in front of him, and he could not bring himself to carry out the rational action of checking on the system as he continued to hear the voice of the ghost ringing in his helmet.

(The migration shall begin officially, and many people living in space colonies will be the norm in future generations. This glorious result of humanity uniting together, is to save the Earth from us crushing it.)

(I heard of this in a history program. This was the speech the assassinated Prime Minister Ricardo made.)

(I’ve checked. This dialogue is exactly the same as the one in the library. What we’re hearing now is the Prime Minister speech before the “Laplace Incident” happened…”
[[Image:KSGU5_005.jpg|thumb]]
Conroy and Mihiro’s excited voices overlapped this ‘voice’. Almost 100 years ago, the first Prime Minister of the Federation government made this speech from “Laplace”—but it was blown up because of a terrorist attack, and this voice would be the ghost that was still floating between space and Earth. “Is this the doing of the Laplace Program…?” Banagher could no longer hear Daguza mutter as he understood that this ‘voice’ that was ringing inside his helmet and drilling through his cranium was seeping deep into his consciousness. It was opening a door that he could not open on his own, one he never opened, and this ‘voice’ that was overflowing  with discourse gradually filled his consciousness.

(If Anno Domini was really the infancy of humanity, then the Universal Century shall be the next state. We’re not lowering the population through birth control, but chose to open more space for the population to move.)

''That’s right, the Earth Federation government was set up for this.'' Banagher confirmed. It was an emergency aid organization in charge of ceasing all conventions and eliminating those who defy it. The Federation was given the largest authority in history, and in that sense, it could be said that it was a god created by humanity, the symbolism of absolute…but what exactly would a God be? Was He a concept created by humanity, an existence that resided in people’s hearts? A certain person said before that He was possibility, the source of power that separated humanity from the many species of animals, the source of power that allowed humanity to step into space. This was a great power that was used to create their ideals, and to approach their ideals. Humanity created lots of sacrifices and fulfilled the possibility of an absolute government—

(A baby that climbs out of the cradle must continue to grow. In the process of fulfilling the plan to migrate to space, we’re proving to the entire world that we can co-exist for one goal. Then, what’s next?)

The ‘voice’ continued to ask, but there was no answer. ''We still remain in the possibility that we created 100 years ago. Even until now, we still can’t get out of the cradle, and we can’t face this God called possibility.'' The overflowing words gathered on Banagher’s forehead, and radiated out as a thin flash, and he felt his consciousness ''fly''. Everything around him, from Daguza who was seated beside him, to his body that was seated on the linear chair, became hard to identify. At the other end of the radiating light, Banagher saw a hallucination of the ‘voice’s owner smiling back at him. 

''Then, what’s next—?'' The ghost of Laplace showed a mocking smile at Banagher who was unable to answer. The lone horn of the “Unicorn” rose up slightly, and a red glow started to seep out from the gaps between the white armor.
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