Chapter 1 - 02: Something New

Nothing changed today. Absolutely nothing. All of our calculations led to null. We knew we were going nowhere. Time was running short - if we didn't complete at least a theory of such an engine, we would be transferred to another project. We all wanted to do it, but it just wouldn't work. We all went home with exhaustion. My room was dark. The moment I walked into it, it lit up. The console in my room was flashing and dutifully informed me that I had a new message. I wondered who the message was from. It could be from the upper ranks, maybe to remind us of our deadline, could also be Kamal inviting me out for some tennis in the games room. I decided it could wait - maybe a shower would be good to freshen up first. In less than several seconds, my screen started flashing a different colour - another message had come. It had to be important if I had two messages. I decided to grab my remote control device and play them. They were both from an unknown address - it only had one familiar-looking section - Takamatsu-Ran Industries in the 'from' tag.

I played the first one. It said that there was a pirate headhunt for me. It said that I was being hunted for creating the most dangerous device yet - a high speed weapons transporter. I was shocked to find such reports attached to the message. The next message was stated that a worker from the Raumfalte network would come to help me leave the station before it was attacked for the bounty - me.

The reports look fabricated, but verifying it with the release signature I had illegally obtained decades ago - I was convinced they were real. Things sounded like they were going to change really quickly.