91. Final Chapter
"Captain, it's time."
Awakened in the morning light streaming through the open curtains, by Maria, who is now my wife. Even after marriage, Maria still calls me Captain. Upon marrying me, she passed on the Core Avatar role to the next-generation Maria and withdrew entirely from the space fleet.
My current status is honorary captain of Agirakana, former marshal of Agirakana Space Force, and baron of the Arsen Union Kingdom. None of these titles carry much weight, but everyone around me goes out of their way to accommodate me, so I manage to feel fairly at ease. Also, I believe I was made an honorary citizen of New Tokyo City, Upper Level—though I’m not certain.
Maria, imitating Earth’s customs, holds a rank that is meant to signify a promotion of one grade upon retirement—retired major of the space fleet—but whether it actually means anything is anyone’s guess.
The current captain of Agirakana is our daughter, Yamada Asuka—Major General of the Space Fleet. Our pride and joy.
Normally I have no schedule at all, but today, unusually, I’m scheduled to inspect the public demonstration of the ultra-long-range, large-scale teleportation device—developed at the Graduate Institute of Advanced Technology, Tokyo New City, which has now surpassed twenty million residents since its initial construction. Maria and I will be departing from my home (the former captain’s private residence), stopping by the Captain’s Government Residence en route, and then boarding the Clain—the vessel now designated as our daughter’s personal ship—to reach the experimental orbital zone.
Asuka, our daughter, is currently sleeping at the Government Residence, and having apparently decided to spare us the trouble, she has already left the Government Residence and is en route to the experimental orbital zone aboard the S6-class battleship BC-0001—Sitadel, the flagship of the Agirakana Space Fleet—for the inspection of the experiment. Sitadel has undergone multiple refits in the past, but following what is likely to be a successful experiment this time around, it will presumably undergo another round of refit work—this time, just ahead of or behind the other existing vessels.
The experimental orbital zone we are heading toward lies in interstellar space slightly farther from Agirakana’s home star system, an area relatively dense with interstellar debris. A wide range of small celestial bodies drifts here—some estimated at several thousand tons, others up to hundreds of millions of tons—scattered across the void like dust in a sunbeam.
I seated Maria in the command chair reserved for Crain’s fleet commander, then took my place in the specially arranged seat beside her, gazing at the central command deck’s forward screen.
“Marshal, the experiment will commence in ten minutes. Countdown has begun.”
The captain of Crain informed me.
The forward screen currently displayed the experimental zone from a bird’s-eye view—basically just the backdrop of stars, nothing more. Even after the experiment concludes, the image will likely remain unchanged.
The experiment will transfer all floating minor celestial bodies within the target space—specifically, a spherical region with a diameter of ten astronomical units—whose mass exceeds one hundred thousand tons. Currently, the total mass displayed in the lower right corner of the screen stands at approximately three hundred billion tons. The destination is hyperspace—the observable-universe-adjacent void where this mass will be discarded. If the experiment succeeds, that three hundred billion figure will drop to nearly zero in an instant.
‘Thirty seconds until experiment start. One hundred seventy-seven, one hundred seventy-six, …, one hundred twenty-three.’
‘Two minutes until experiment start. One hundred seventeen, one hundred sixteen, …, sixty-three.’
‘Sixty seconds until experiment start. Fifty-seven, fifty-six, …, three, two, experiment start.’
In the span of a single instant, the number 3,000 displayed in the lower right corner of the screen shifted to 0.02. The outward mechanics of the experiment had ended—just like that. Yet, without noticing, tears had slipped from my eyes. I hastily wiped them with the handkerchief Maria handed me, when—
“Sir, the experiment has succeeded. The complete eradication of Zeno—once deemed impossible—has now become feasible. Congratulations.”
“Thank you. With this, both Earth and the Solar System will be saved. Captain, relay the results to the Embassy in Tokyo. They’ll handle the rest from there.”
“Understood.”
The target mass of three billion tons equated to ten thousand Zeno units, assuming an average Zeno mass of three million tons.
The operational capacity of the long-range, large-scale teleportation device during the mission is expected to be a thousand times that of the current experimental model. It would forcibly transfer all mass contained within a spherical volume of 100 astronomical units in diameter—directly into hyperspace. There is a limit to the transferable mass, but for the purpose of the Zeno operation, that limitation poses no obstacle.
In an instant, everything in this universe gets sucked into hyperspace—true cosmic vacuum cleaner. The developers apparently nicknamed the device something like "Disruptor," but personally, I think it’s a Zeno Cleaner. The target won’t always be Zeno, of course, but in my mind, that’s perfectly fine.
The experiment concluded successfully. Maria and I returned home together and enjoyed a pleasant dinner, just the two of us.
“Today’s drink is the one recently delivered from Arze—Captain’s favorite, the usual brand from Halmaine.”
“Ah, that’s something to look forward to. Been drinking nothing but new Japan—above—brand spirits lately; just the right change.”
The next morning, after finishing morning preparations, I gazed out from the veranda at the cherry tree in full bloom in the garden.
It bloomed beautifully again this year, delicate pale-pink petals drifting in the gentle breeze.
Flanking the central, notably large cherry tree—Maria’s cherry (Prunus serrulata)—two slightly smaller trees stood on either side. Whether to place mine on the right, the left, or straight ahead—now that was a question.
(End)
Last posted: August 28, 2020. Reached 3 million views.
Thank you for reading to the very end.
Numerous bookmarks, stars, comments, typo reports—thank you all.
This work, unlike my other pieces, does not contain any intentionally obscure parodies, so no explanations are needed on that front.
This story was once concluded at the end of last year, but thanks to the delightful feedback received, I ended up restarting it on a whim. As always, I began without any particular plan, but this time I encountered a mid-story slump—causing trouble for readers, for which I sincerely apologize.
[Advertisement]
『The Man Who Received a Spaceship, What He Got Was a ☆!? 1–6』
A tale involving Yamada Asuka, the daughter of Keiichi and Maria, with chapters 5 and 6 particularly tied to the ending.
Sci-Fi
『I’ve Got the Galaxy in My Hands! – Experimental Event Probability Calculator Device X-PC17 –』
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n1035gi/
『The Story of Asuca』
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n3861hc/
Fantasy
『I, the Servant of Darkness – Climb the Ladder of Evolution –』
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n6512gg/
The sequel to 'Servant of Darkness, Me —' 'Goddess of Eternal Shadow — Aim for My Great Sanctuary! — Darkness, gather! My Dominion shall blanket the entire world!'
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n0271gt/
'Keen Arbys — Shield of the Empire —'
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n1501hd/
And please do check out the other works as well.