Rune Troopers: Self-Defense Forces Adventure - Chapter 2: Argentavis (Part 3)

“Unidentified creature approaching again!”

A crew member stationed at the exterior observation post at the wing located on the side of the bridge, shouted as he tracked the target with binoculars.

Immediately afterwards, a huge shadow passed right above the radar mast.

“Whoa!”

The sound of flapping wings echoed heavily, and the crew cowered under the power of the shadow.

Kato, the Chief of Staff, opened the hatch and emerged from inside the bridge to the wing, chasing after the unidentified giant bird.

“I can’t believe a creature like that is real!”

“I’ve never heard of such a creature from Guam!”

A navigator in the navigation department exclaimed with a look of disbelief on his face.

“Can I borrow it?”

Kato asked the wing’s lookout to step aside as he observed the birds through the long-range telescope installed on the boat.

(Is that a …… boy on board? No, it’s a girl!)

The girl with red hair, projected through the optical lens, did not seem to possess any kind of radio. She was dressed in what appeared to be a traditional costume reminiscent of maritime culture and carried a sword at her waist.

She was astride the bird’s back and held the reins in her hands, she was using that bird as a messenger. In addition, to Kato, her actions seemed somewhat like an attempt at a forced reconnaissance. 

It was not just curiosity, but a kind of evasive maneuver to prepare for our attack, such as constant circling.

(Are we involved in something terrible right now? ……)

Kato was annoyed that they had no way to communicate with the other party.

◇

“Not many, but are there people there?”

As she passed directly over the mysterious ship, Lalona was certain she saw people looking up at her.

However, she could not make out their true identities from the clothes they were wearing which looked like a slouchy vest.

“Where in the world are they from?”

At first, she suspected that they might be from the Filborg Succession Empire, but it seemed that they were not. 

The strange clothes and the lack of hostile behavior, such as shooting bows and arrows, were not apparent at this point.

“I don’t…… know who they are.”

Lalona thought as she flew around the ship, but no answer was forthcoming.

But it would be the job of a superior officer to make such a decision. She thought about it, and decided that it was more important to go back to the basics of the military and bring back accurate information, as soon as possible.

She pulled the reins and turned her partner around.

“I don’t know, I’m feeling awfully queasy, tail …….”

Despite his own feelings, Lalona did not know what the uneasiness was.

For some reason she felt a rather vague sense of anxiety that something was about to happen because of the appearance of the ship.

“Hurry up, Tail! I’m worried about the Royal Capital!”

Her partner squealed at the sound of her voice and started on his way home.

◇ ◇

“Que…..”.

The birds’ chirps gradually moved away.

“They are gone…….”

Kato muttered.

Then, as the bird disappeared beyond the horizon, he went back to the bridge. He pressed on with a grim expression on his face.

It was shared by everyone on the bridge.

The senior officers were bewildered, too, and could only say that they could not believe what had happened.

Unlike them, however, Kato was desperately trying to arrive at some kind of conclusion about the current situation.

While he may have a sense of duty as Chief of Staff, this was also due to his own flexibility and adaptability.

He may be an exception among the senior officers of the Self-Defense Forces, who tended to possess a rigid thinking.

Kato displayed little agitation, even when a restless atmosphere enveloped the bridge.

“What was it? Did you get it?”

Kaburaki, wearing a gray life jacket and steel cap like the rest of the Maritime Self-Defense Force personnel, had somehow climbed out of his command chair and was standing next to him.

Kaburaki was one of the few people who understood Kato as a very different person. Kato also trusted him.

“Yes,” he replied cheerfully to Kaburaki.

At his voice, the bridge quieted down in unison.

Kato cleared his throat, seemingly unperturbed by the attention.

“We have been lost in the thick fog for about twenty-two hours, having lost our current position due to an anomaly that was probably caused by a girl who appeared in the officer’s quarters,” he said. 

“During that time, all frequency bands went silent. With no means of communication, as an emergency measure, we took a course toward the U.S. military base on the island of Guam, which was considered to be the nearest one.”

Kato took a breath to make sure no one disputed his perception.

“But just when we were out of the fog, there’s that bird. The nationality of the girl on board is also unknown. However, these are not so important. These are issues for the future, not fundamental issues.”

He did not go into depth about what had just happened.

Instead, he asked Ibuki’s radio operator about the current communication and radar situation.

“Even now that the fog has lifted, you are not picking up any signals, are you?”

“Yes.”

“The system is not malfunctioning?”

“I have re-checked it three times, and there seems to be nothing wrong with the equipment itself.”

“The satellite positioning system has also been disabled …… Due to a loss of response from the satellite, isn’t it?”

The radio operator provided a silent affirmation.

Kato assured him.

“That would never happen on Earth.”

It was the question most strongly felt by those present.

It was absolutely impossible for commercial radio waves and even satellite communications to go down, even though there was no radio interference.

It was an unimaginable situation. Since this was an unimaginable situation, they had no idea what was causing it.

The disappearance of radio waves other than natural ones.

It was as if the world itself had disappeared.

Some people were unsure of the meaning of what Kato was saying, and began whispering and discussing the situation with those around them.

Kato, however, paid no heed and continued.

“Have you ever heard of the ‘multidimensional interpretation’ in quantum mechanics?”

“No, what is that?”

Kaburaki replied, a little surprised at the unfamiliar words.

Kato crossed his arms, raised the index finger of one hand, and began to explain in a teacher-like tone.

“Quantum mechanics is famous for the thought experiment called “Schrodinger’s cat,” which posits that there exists more than one Universe.”

“The Universe?”

“Yes, the Universe. The Universe we live in has many parallel ones, which do not intersect because they run on parallel dimensions, and we cannot perceive them and have no way of knowing they exist.”

Kato’s matter-of-fact voice was easy on the listener’s ears and strangely persuasive.

“But what if we could somehow bring something from another world into our own?”

Kato said that much and repositioned his glasses with his middle finger.

“The “observer,” the girl with wings on her back, could have intersected the worlds in both the Universe by acting as the “nexus” and dragged us into another world in her Universe? But why on earth was there such a need ……?”

“I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about, Rear-Admiral Kato,” one of the executives interrupted him, as if to yell at him. However, Kato did not care and proceeded with his story.

“If my hypothesis is correct, then the …… world did not disappear.”

Then, looking around at the executives lined up in front of him, he said, “On the contrary. The opposite is true: our fleet has now wandered into a ‘parallel universe’!”