Chapter 67
"Scarab, where the hell have you been?"
"Don't ask."
"Your Nexus is beat to shit. Doesn't mean you can just take it out whenever you feel like it..."
Scarab shook his head like a horse shaking off flies and climbed out of the Nexus. The stark hangar—carved out of the dam's interior—greeted him.
"That job you were handling is done anyway, right? No reason to drag the Nexus out for joyrides or whatever..."
"Shut up!"
"Hysterical again. I'm just worried about you as your senior at work..."
"I don't need your shallow concern."
Scarab slammed the control panel like he wanted to smash it, then immediately started diagnostics on the Nexus. The hangar's mechanisms whirred to life, swapping out damaged parts and patching the armor plates.
"Damn it, I'm not clueless about reality. That's why I've been bringing in the cash."
"...Goddamn it."
He'd just suffered a humiliating defeat, and now this bitter reality piled on top. It was enough to shatter his focus. Scarab clenched his fist on the control panel, trembling with rage.
"Fine. So as long as I pay up to the higher-ups, I can do what I want. I'll handle it quick and get back."
"Nothing to say."
The voice on the comm snickered, then shifted to a poking, teasing whisper.
"Mind your own business!"
That girl who'd ripped off his arm twice. He'd gone out with his armament stripped as a penalty, planning to pay her back in kind. But he'd been humiliated in a whole new way this time.
"Artillery? Artillery?! Fuck! That bitch!!"
Bang! Bang!! Scarab couldn't hold back and pounded the control panel.
"If it was a Nexus, I'd get it, but that cheap trick?! Some shitty exo-frame! An exo-frame!!"
"...Shut up!"
He couldn't flat-out deny it. The skill gap was now a cold fact. The problem was swallowing it deep down.
"Someday, I'll win. No doubt about it...!"
The voice muttered curiously.
"Yeah, yeah. That guy."
Anon had backstabbed him during a joint mission, downing both Scarab and his squadmate.
"That's..."
Scarab scratched his head. Why did the two feel so different?
"...Dunno. The second one doesn't hit with much emotion. It's like..."
He pondered, then it clicked.
"Feels like an act of God."
"Damn it, it's just a vague feeling—don't make me explain. Point is, I don't get mad at Anon like I wouldn't get mad at a rock."
Team-up. The Nest invasion mission.
Memories flooded back of charging ahead alone and getting wrecked. Scarab ground his teeth. Even then, those two had felt leagues ahead, leaving him powerless.
To shake off the recalled helplessness, Scarab rubbed his throat.
"Fuck that. Doesn't matter. Next time we fight, I win."
The voice made an annoying nasal hum, fell silent for a bit, then spoke more seriously.
"What? She's a savage beast, of course she's dangerous..."
The operator huffed irritably before continuing.
"...What bullshit is that?"
Scarab scowled unpleasantly.
"If that's all you got, shut it. Doesn't matter who she is."
The operator switched topics abruptly. Scarab couldn't suppress his curiosity despite the irritation.
"Icarus? The corp?"
From what followed, Icarus was trapped in a labyrinth but escaped with wings his clever father made.
"Sounds good. Lucky to have a dad like that."
He got so thrilled flying that he couldn't control himself, flying higher and higher.
"...Anyone would."
No clever words came to mind, but he unconsciously quoted something from an old interview.
"What do you think drives humanity to build and advance civilization? That innate drive for improvement, right?"
Scarab didn't see the fable in a positive light, but he related to Icarus's actions.
The operator's voice sank lower.
"......"
Obvious moral tale. Scarab stayed silent, unsatisfied.
"I don't need that crap! What's your angle telling me this?!"
Scarab cut the comm with a snap.
Ever since connecting, he'd been nothing but pissed. Keep this up, and he'd lose his voice.
Icarus, huh.
Not even funny. Still, intriguing.
Flying on feathers glued with wax? Kids' fairy tale...
Then it hit him.
Who is Icarus?
His "senior" had framed it like he was Icarus. But Scarab recalled overhearing something from the office while working with that glasses-wearing nerd.
"Don't fly too far, or you'll crash, Rabe..."
Now it clicked as a metaphor for the Icarus tale. So was Icarus him... or Rabe?
Flying the highest...
He had no taste for crashing, but Icarus might be humanity's farthest, highest flier in history.
Headache.
Forget it. Scarab shoved the overheating thought aside.
Still, that crown weighs enough to snap its wearer's neck.
Did he want it? Complicated bullshit like that? Nah.
He dropped it just as quick.
A few days later, Nest's experts arrived at the Venice Deep Space Observatory after scouring and securing related data. Just enough for one transport.
"Then let's begin, Hermann."
"Feel like watching, Rabe?"
I shook my head at Hermann's question. First time for them too—they'd spend hours flipping through manuals, setting up gear. Boring as hell.
No interest in that.
So I'd wait till it was running and check then.
"......"
Watching the experts bustle around the observatory, my head said I had no thoughts, but my legs twitched, hands itched, body buzzed with strange heat.
I'm calm.
Then—
"Rabe, looks like setup's done. Where to watch from?"
"I...!"
My voice came out too excited. I paused, then continued.
"Control room inside seems best."
A scene from some movie. I'd recalled it unconsciously and blurted it out.
"Good. Follow me."
We moved to the control room under stares. The long corridor ended, revealing a window smeared with sunset glow.
"Alright..."
The engineers confirmed our arrival.
Click, click.
They manipulated panels tensely.
Clunk!
"...!"
Murmurs rose.
Screeech...
Then the largest radio telescope outside began turning with a heavy groan.
"...Success. Beginning observation."
5:21 PM.
Observation start.
For the first time since humanity's golden age ended, people of this era heard the inscrutable noise from beyond the sky.
Static, hiss—crackle...
"This is..."
More static, then—
Beep, beep-beep...
"...?"
Everyone tilted heads at the signal, clear as day amid the noise.
"Local interference?"
"No, no. Scouts report nothing... This is..."
"...From the sky. The observation direction..."
Beyond the heavens, something too alien for static lingered.
As the control room realized it, heavy silence fell.