11. Visiting the Received Spaceship 4: Captain's Office

"Yamada-san, let's take a look at another room in the Captain's Office."

Led by Ain, here we go—touring the residence! Or, rather, the private quarters.

"This is the Office."

A fairly spacious room, with a large desk set deep in the back, a monitor-like device resting atop it. Whether it's spacious or unnecessarily so depends entirely on me.

"The adjacent room is the Secretary's Office. Four of us, including myself, are permanently stationed here."

Unlike the desk I’m slated to use, desks—or rather, operational boards—curved in a complete circle line up here. The chairs placed among them look functional and stylish, almost like something out of a museum exhibit. This room might be what Agirakana—or Arsen, more precisely—style offices were meant to look like. Different from the operational boards in a spaceship’s command center, where operators would face them. Comparing this room to mine, there’s a subtle sense of… something.

“The opposite side of the room houses the Dining Hall, Bedroom, and Bath and Toilet.”

“The kitchen and related facilities are located just before the dining hall used for meetings.”

“And this is the general conference room. Adjacent to it is the strategy conference room.”

“This is the transfer room. The only place within the Core Interior where transfers are permitted. Naturally, only the captain and those granted permission may use it. To activate it, please step into the circle at the center of the floor and state your destination. You may be transferred to any location within Agirakana—except those designated as transfer-prohibited zones. You may also be transferred directly to the captain’s standby vessel.

Currently, the S2-class cruiser LC-0001—the vessel that escorted the captain here to Agirakana—is designated as the captain’s standby ship. It’s not a regulation, but if you transfer aboard, the other party tends to panic. So, for the sake of convenience, please board via shuttle from the first dock, as usual.”

Ain speaks while walking. I follow like a duckling, barely keeping pace.

Every room felt like a standard office in a city hotel or business building in modern Japan—no sense of dissonance. In other words, aside from a corner of the Secretary's Office, there was no visible sign of future technology.

That said, despite the absence of any dedicated lighting fixtures, the rooms were quite bright. The ceiling, walls, and floor seemed to emit light on their own. As a result, there were no shadows. Or rather, shadows weren’t necessary.

For now, I returned to the Office and tried sitting in the stylish chair behind the large desk. After seeing the furniture in the Secretary's Office, though, it somehow felt a bit bulky. Still, it was comfortably spacious, hugging the back perfectly—remarkably comfortable to sit in. I hadn’t sat in it before, but it had that classic executive-chair vibe. The seat in the shuttle had been good, too, but this one was even better.

There was a monitor on the desk, currently displaying something. Upon closer inspection, it was the internet portal I usually browse. The black thing on the desk—was that a mouse? Well, that should keep me occupied.

"Shall I bring you something to drink?"

"No, no cola, right?"

"We do have it. Your preferences, Mr. Yamada, have been cataloged, so we stock most things. Shall I bring you a cola?"

"No, actually—coffee, please."

"What kind of coffee would you like?"

"The instant one I usually drink. If that’s available, hot. Otherwise, a mocha."

"Please wait a moment."

...

One minute passed. Ain, who had disappeared into the Secretary's Office, returned with a tray.

"Was it okay, Orendee?"

"Thank you, Ain."

Fuh. Let out a breath, sipped at the hot coffee. The cup was a plain white mug, much like the one I’d always used. The usual slightly strong instant coffee. How thoroughly have they been investigating me, I wonder?

“Please take some time to rest. In thirty minutes, three new staff members assigned to the Secretary’s Office will come to pay their introductory visit. I’ll leave it to you to make a good impression.”

Ain slipped into the adjacent Secretary’s Office, so I decided to pass the time browsing today’s news online. Remarkably real-time connection, it seemed. I hadn’t doubted it—just couldn’t resist checking.

Fingers tapping at the monitor, waiting for the time to pass, when Ain returned with three newcomers.

“Mr. Yamada, these are the Secretary’s Office team members.”

He stood up to greet the three women. All three had jet-black hair, cut very short. They were about 170 centimeters tall. Though they didn’t look particularly muscular, given that Ain had effortlessly carried a backpack weighing 100 kilograms, they were probably quite strong.

Tight-fitting uniforms in a deep gray close to black, with stiff collars.

“Assigned to the Secretary’s Office, Martha Egynante. Served as a corporal in the ground forces. Please take care of me.”

“Likewise.”

“Assigned to the Secretary’s Office, Alexandra Nabaita. Served as a sergeant in the ground forces’ special operations unit. Please take care of me.”

“Likewise.”

“Assigned to this unit, Conia Nabaita. Served as a sergeant in the ground forces. Please take care of me.”

“Likewise. Alexandra and Conia share the same surname—could you possibly be sisters?”

"Our second name is called the 'Second Name,' and it indicates the factory where the individual was manufactured. 'Nabaita Te' and 'Eginanta Te' both refer to factories. The two of us hail from the same factory, though we share no genetic connection."

"Is that so."

Come to think of it, the captains of the cruiser you sent us—those names were similar, too.

"We are directly under the captain's command, so to distinguish us from other departments, we'd like to request a new assignment color," said Ain.

"?"

"An assignment color means we'll change the trim on the collar to match the color of our department, making our affiliation clear to others. For example, the Aerospace Fleet uses black, the Ground Combat Team uses green, and so on."

"Then, is red used anywhere?"

"No, it isn't used anywhere. In that case, let's make it red. We'll inform everyone on Earth as well."

There was something oddly cheerful about everyone. After all, they’re all bio-androids, aren’t they?

Dinner was too lonely to eat alone, so I invited Ain, but she declined. Apparently, the six of them without guard duty are each getting individual instructions. The remaining three seemed busy too, so I ended up eating alone in the usual Dining Hall. The menu was exactly the same as the izakaya we’d visited together earlier with Ichijō. The ice-cold draft in a large mug tasted good, but eating alone made the silence stretch too long. I cut it short and left early.

Afterward, I took a bath. The tub, made of some smooth ceramic-like material, measured two by three meters in length and width, and was sixty centimeters deep—quite spacious for one person.

Naturally, there was a shower in the wash area, along with the same body soap, shampoo, and conditioner I’d used at home. Even a coarse nylon washcloth for scrubbing was provided.

After rinsing off and stepping out of the bath, a bath towel and hair dryer were waiting. The front was entirely mirrored, evoking some distant hot spring resort. My discarded clothes had been cleared away, replaced by a fresh set of underwear and a pajama set. The underwear was the same brand and size as the ones I’d just taken off. The pajamas were from an unknown origin, but they fit perfectly—remarkably comfortable.

The ceremony tomorrow starts at nine, so I should probably get ready early and go to bed. Apparently, even the time in the Core Interior has been synchronized with Japan Standard Time since today—how thorough.