Two-Person Galactic Journey: Earth Was Destroyed While Imprisoned in Space Prison

Chapter 119

It is extremely rare for the Federation to recruit short-term workers.

In a society that has permanently solved the problems of lifespan and resources, labor is merely a form of entertainment. Only those who wish to do so engage in it as a hobby, either to pass the time or to upgrade their citizenship.

If all you want is to live, the Federation imposes no special obligations. As long as you don't infringe on the rights of other Federation citizens, you're free to do whatever—or nothing at all.

For the Federation, which has such a social foundation, to recruit short-term workers means that there has been a sudden increase in labor demand. In other words, something happened. Considering recent movements in the Federation Congress, it's probably that bunch with the ridiculous name—the space tuna meteor swarm.

Rebecca looked down at the job listing that had come in. The job types were more varied than she expected. From the listed information, it was hard to guess what was going on. She spoke to Madim, who was working at the neighboring desk. Although the person looked similar to an Earthling, the shell-shaped hair made it feel extremely out of place.

"Senpai. Why are there so many job postings all of a sudden?"

"Oh my, Rebecca, are you changing jobs?"

"No, it's not that. It's just that a lot of my fellow Earthlings still haven't found work..."

"That's right. I'm so jealous you're acting as a proxy for Kait, the Third-Rank Citizen of Enec Lagif."

The citizens working in the Central Star Cluster of the Federation generally had deep trust in Kait. The incidents he caused irregularly—and the achievements that followed—were all things that would go down in Federation history. Hearing that the only ones complaining were lower-tier citizens who had never worked and the media targeting them, Rebecca thought the Federation's class system was far more strictly stratified than Earth's. Living in the Federation, it was normal to have seniors who were a hundred or two hundred times older than you, so there was no time to feel inferior about your abilities.

Her thoughts had wandered. The original topic was supposed to be about the job itself.

"You know about the space tuna meteor swarm incident, right? Kait, the Third-Rank Citizen, achieved something amazing again, that one."

"Yeah, well. He's incredible, isn't he?"

"Exactly! I heard he even pushed the Congress to revise Federation law, so we've got another great topic for a play. I'm so excited!"

"Um, so..."

"Oh right, sorry. Once you pass twenty thousand cycles, your thoughts really start to scatter. Right now, the Congress is working with the Corporation to protect the ancient species inside the space tuna meteor swarm—or rather, those Agua... something."

"Yes. Aguares, wasn't it?"

"Yes, yes, little Agua! To protect little Agua, it seems we need the ship and the folks from Terapolapaneshio to join in."

Madim clapped both hands together. Her (or his) Earthling-like gestures were apparently due to being a huge fan of plays based on Earth culture. Rebecca had heard from the manager that it was thanks to Madim's recommendation that she got the job. Madim was partial to Earthlings, though in a different way than Terapolapaneshio.

"It seems the folks from Terapolapaneshio are seriously moving to protect little Agua. Because of that, they need cooperation from citizens who own ships."

"So the military alone isn't enough?"

"Exactly! And you know, most citizens who own their own ships already have jobs, so temporary staff are being recruited to fill in for them."

"I see. So once the protection of Aguares is over, they'll be unemployed again. I wonder if it's okay to recommend this..."

As Rebecca worried, Madim spread her arms wide and exclaimed, of course! The over-the-top reaction was probably due to the plays she watched.

"You should recommend it! Having work experience will help in the next job hunt, you know?"

"Even so, since it's a short-term job, they'll have to quit eventually, right? Earthlings have only recently arrived in the Federation, so moving between jobs might be stressful."

"That's true. You can only work for about twenty cycles, so if you want a stable job, it might not be suitable."

"...Sorry, what?"

Twenty cycles. If she remembered correctly, one cycle in the Central Star Cluster was about two and a half Earth years. That meant you could work for roughly fifty years. The madam-like alien in front of her was speaking from Federation norms. It wasn't strange that Rebecca's idea of "short-term" differed from Madim's.

Rather, it was Rebecca and her peers—who felt uneasy about working the same job for hundreds of years—who were the outliers. Shaking her head at her own unfamiliarity with cultural differences, she thanked Madim for her kindness.

"Thank you. For now, I think I'll show the conditions to my friends and discuss it with them."

"Yes, that's a good idea! Oh, Rebecca dear. Want to go see the next play together? It's the latest one about Kait, the Third-Rank Citizen's heroic deeds."

"Y-yeah. I'll think about it."

Rebecca forced a smile, her cheeks twitching.

She had once gone to see one of those Kait plays with Madim, and it had been awful. The glorification and distortion of Kait were over the top. It shook her image of him so much that she was now trying to come up with an excuse to decline.

***

Meanwhile.

Kait and Emotion had returned to Eanipol once again. It was because Fulgadonga copy had requested an information exchange.

When told it concerned the quality of the Aguares detection device, there was no room for refusal. Kait had wanted to rejoin the pursuit team, but Emotion had advised that they respond, so he prioritized that.

Guided to the factory sector, they found Fulgadonga copy waiting, equipped with some operational devices. It looked like a human upper body growing out of a base.

'Don't trouble yourself, Captain.'

"It's fine. If Emotion judged it necessary, then there must be a reason we needed to come here, right?"

"Yes. When sharing the analyzed data, there is a possibility that the contamination could extend to Dr. Fulgadonga. We needed to prepare for immediate destruction in that case."

There was no machine intelligence stationed in Eanipol that matched Emotion's specs. The explanation that simply sending the data might fool them carried some weight. Only "some," though.

"So? That's not the only reason, is it? Especially for you."

'You got me. You're right, it's not the only reason. As long as I'm here, I can't be your enemy.'

Fulgadonga copy fully understood the situation.

Still, the reason for summoning Kait and Emotion wasn't sufficiently explained by Emotion alone. When Kait gave a sharp glare, the copy surrendered more easily than expected.

'The reason I wanted to share this information is... a little indulgence.'

"Indulgence?"

'Yes. Imagine there are two choices. As long as you live, you can only experience one of them. You'll never know what would've happened if you picked the other. But this data shows what would've happened if I'd chosen the other path. Isn't that an extraordinary indulgence, something you normally can't have in life?'

I see. That makes some sense.

In Kait's case, it would be like catching a glimpse of what would've happened if he had chosen to return to Earth instead of boarding the Goodbye Earth and leaving.

Most likely, he would've been sold off somewhere due to Divin's scheming, and never gained the respect of the Federation. As things stand, it's clear that this choice has been better for both him and Earth. Even so, part of him couldn't help but wonder what the other path might have looked like.

"So, what's your impression after glimpsing that alternate path?"

'Hideous.'

Fulgadonga copy dismissed it without hesitation. Apparently, the data wasn't contaminated. When Kait looked at Emotion, she nodded that she was fine too.

'I'm well aware I have no right to say I've developed feelings for Aguares now, but this one is no good. The data was damaged during the copying process. The emotions I had toward Aguares, and the feelings Fulgadonga held for them—both are fundamentally missing. Unfortunately, this one seems to hate simply for the sake of hating.'

The rapid-fire tone suggested he was quite angry. It seemed that Fulgadonga had a short temper.

Hating for the sake of hating. Kait started to understand why the Federation banned machine intelligence copies by law.

He imagined a version of Emotion with something missing due to a failed copy. Yeah, that would be unforgivable.

'I thought it would be a little indulgence, but it's nothing but disappointment. If it's just acting out of shortsightedness caused by that lack, then this isn't Fulgadonga's choice at all.'

"Is that so?"

'Indeed. Please wait a moment. I'll begin the creation right away.'

As he said that, Fulgadonga copy pulled out a data terminal and handed it to Emotion.

'This is the Aguares detection software you requested. If the quality is acceptable, please digitize and distribute it.'

"Thank you. I'll check it now."

"Huh?"

As Kait failed to follow the conversation, Fulgadonga copy chuckled.

'You're going to chase that defective copy, right? Captain. I'll immediately make a transfer prediction software based on its thought pattern, so please use it.'

"Are you sure?"

'Of course. I can't stand the thought of such a flawed copy existing in the world.'

Whatever the circumstances, this seemed to be the shortest route to chase down the broken copy. No wonder Emotion had recommended it. Kait finally felt truly convinced.