76. Before the talks

76. Before the press conference

After listening to Ain’s explanation, I raised a few questions.

“Is it impossible, with current Earth technology, for humans to escape Earth on their own?”

“No, escape is technically feasible. However, it’s impossible to evacuate all eight billion humans. Even under the most optimistic estimates, the number of people who could be evacuated would barely reach the minimum viable population—what we call the long-term minimum survivable population—accounting for inbreeding risks and genetic diversity, necessary for the long-term preservation of the species.

Needless to say, such a selection process would only exacerbate social instability.”

Moreover, to escape the solar system, a spacecraft must accelerate beyond escape velocity—requiring, even with projected advancements in Earth’s technology, a substantial amount of propellant. Propellant is also needed for deceleration, increasing the total quantity required. This, too, contributes to limiting the number of people who can be evacuated.

Additionally, it is predicted that all inner planets within neighboring star systems will have been destroyed by Zeno. Consequently, reaching a habitable planet will necessitate millennia of life aboard the escape vessel—long enough, it seems, that maintaining order within the spacecraft would become impossible.

“The rate of population decline in the simulation felt a bit too rapid,”

"The initial explanation was based on estimated values of various parameters currently in use, calculating the peak timing of population decline. Among the parameters used, the one with the highest impact is the spread—velocity and intensity—of nihilistic ideology. However, adjusting this estimate slightly downward would shift the peak of population decline slightly later, pushing the entire timeline of societal change further back. The content remains unchanged, though—just earlier or later."

"What about the collapse of social infrastructure?"

"Initially, the shock of the warning will trigger widespread economic disruption. We anticipate a level of chaos that would make the previous incident—when the assault landing vessel Blaze appeared over Earth—seem trivial by comparison. Last time, it resolved itself. This time, however, the disruption will not resolve."

In the scenario, a stock market crash in specific sectors—finance, real estate, investment—acts as the trigger, sparking a global equities collapse. Gold prices, too, plummet to industrial-value levels, exacerbating financial instability. With no underlying backing left—foreign exchange rates, for instance—trade grinds to a halt.

These factors cascade into a spiral across advanced nations: corporate bankruptcies, mass unemployment, pension fund failures, suspension of public services, and escalating credit anxiety—all fueling inflation. The maintenance of social infrastructure becomes increasingly untenable.

Social infrastructure includes healthcare and education systems, both of which grow harder to sustain. As their continuity erodes, society’s resilience weakens. The result? The rate of infrastructure collapse accelerates further.

In short, it became clear that if Earth’s destruction by Zeno were warned to all nations, and Agirakana did not actively intervene, humanity would extinguish itself before the destruction occurred.

“Is it really just a matter of securing the Japanese Government’s approval on immigration, and nothing more? I’d like to proceed cautiously, feeding them information in dribs and drabs—but even ‘dribs and drabs’ has limits. Still, perhaps it’d be best to meet with the Japanese Government’s leadership at least once.”

“Captain, the current Japanese Government appears to be… objectively, somewhat problematic.”

“What kind of problem?”

At this point, Ain explained the current political state of the Japanese nation. The following is a summary.

Last year, when we at Agirakana destroyed the neutron star that was Zeno’s primary, Japan saw the Sōmei Party withdraw from the coalition government and subsequently join the opposition alliance. Following the passage of a no-confidence motion, a general election was called; the ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party, narrowly lost to the opposition alliance and was forced into opposition. Hence, the current Japanese Government is being administered by the former opposition alliance.

The new government has distanced itself from the United States, a longstanding ally with whom it had maintained friendly relations, and is now rapidly aligning with the Continental China and Democratic Korea.

The Agirakana Embassy in Japan—meaning the bureaucrats currently on assignment there—had seemed shaken, but apparently recovered quickly. After all, the so-called Agirakana faction, comprised of officials who had served at the Agirakana Embassy, had been promoted en masse to vice-ministerial ranks across nearly every ministry.

Still, there appeared to be a considerable rift between the bureaucrats of Nagatacho and the government leadership, whose ministerial-level performances seemed to serve no purpose beyond theatrical display. Most policy initiatives were floundering on hidden reefs, and the cabinet’s approval ratings continued their steady decline.

One wonders if Japan will be all right under this administration—but since the honorary nationals, who no longer have voting rights, are hardly in a position to make meaningful statements, one might as well overlook that detail and simply have Ain arrange a meeting with the head of the Japanese Government. Having had no interest in Japanese politics whatsoever, one had not even imagined such a situation could arise until Ain began explaining it.

“For now, I’ll secure the appointment. Shall we say the current Prime Minister?”

“That would be the most expedient.”

Ain, having relayed our urgent desire to meet with the Prime Minister, was informed by the Prime Minister’s Office that the meeting would have to be postponed until after next week, citing the Prime Minister’s overwhelming schedule.

I heard later from Ichijō: apparently, according to one of her aides, a minister from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister had absolutely no diplomatic engagements scheduled at all—there was no way she could be that busy. It was more likely that she had rearranged her already full calendar at our request, just to give the appearance of a scheduled meeting. And, if possible, she was probably hoping to link diplomatic gains with Agirakana to a boost in public approval ratings.

As Ain had feared, a rather dubious administration.

Given this sort of behavior, I’ve decided to limit this meeting to a mere request regarding immigration.

Now that the week until the meeting is effectively unoccupied, I might as well get started on building reception facilities for the first wave of immigrants. Since they’ll also be used for subsequent waves, I should prepare something of adequate scale.

“I’ll tell you this only, Ichijō—keep it confidential for now. Don’t let the lower ranks know.”

…Ichijō, in that case, in about two or three decades, this Earth will be destroyed. The core, perhaps, will remain incandescent—but the crust, of course, and much of the mantle will be blasted into interstellar space. What I’d like you to do, uh? Ichijō, what’s wrong?

I’d explained the situation to Ichijō, but he had gone rigid.

“Ichijō, I’m saying Earth will vanish—still a long way off, and by then, both of us will be dead of old age. Worrying about it won’t change a thing.”

“Ah! So that’s how it is. I couldn’t grasp that even Agirakana can’t do anything about certain things. No matter how strong Agirakana becomes from now on, it’ll still be useless.”

“Regarding interception, that’s apparently the calculation. Personally, I’d rather not see Earth destroyed by Zeno—but I can’t accept the massive sacrifices the Agirakana faction would demand.”

"Does that mean there's a possibility, then?"

"There is. Apparently, if we wear down ninety percent of the Agirakana combat personnel, we have a fifty-fifty chance of breaking their line. That said, I can't order my subordinates to die for people who owe us neither favor nor obligation."

"That's true enough. I understand. So what exactly am I supposed to do?"

"Honestly, it feels like I'm hearing that from Ichijō for the first time."

"Senior, don't tease me."

"Sorry, sorry. Anyway, I'm thinking we run a test case—integrating Earth-born humans into the Agirakana system. We're planning to recruit immigrants right here in Japan.

Currently, we're considering opening up a section of the Agirakana Second Layer for this purpose."

We’re looking to establish immigration facilities for Agirakana within major cities in Japan. Something along the lines of medical screenings and temporary storage for belongings, probably. The Embassy could handle it, I suppose, but—well, it’s rather inconvenient here, and not exactly spacious enough for large-scale operations. You’ve got land holdings in one of your companies, haven’t you? Somewhere suitable. We’re aiming to recruit between fifty and a hundred thousand Agirakana immigrants annually, at least initially. That’s what the facility’s for. If things go well, the numbers will grow considerably, I expect.”

“Understood. I’ll take care of the arrangements. We can sort out the details with Ain, right?”

“Yeah, Ichijō—count on you.”

Among the feedback received, several pointed out issues regarding the simulation from the previous chapter. This work is, after all, intended as entertainment—so if you’ll accept it as such, that’s the end of it. But since you’ve read this far, it would be discourteous not to address it, so I’ve added a brief introductory section.

It concludes that advanced nations, whose financial systems have become increasingly complex, are remarkably fragile once their foundation of信用—yes, that’s the right word—crumbles.

As for the political situation—well, it’s adequate.