– – – – – – – – – –

  Epos (Maltia)

  ?? ?? ????

  Ethan’s 7th day on Tersain

  – – – – – – – – – –

  Nipria is a really… energetic person. With a level of enthusiasm I wouldn’t have expected at first glance, the artificer dragged me through pretty much the whole engine room, showing me this and that gadget and explaining how everything works.

  What can I say? First of all, she definitely knows what she’s talking about. She must be good at her job. It’s just that—sorry to admit it—but… I really struggled to keep up.

  Too technical!

  But I couldn’t exactly tell her that. So I did my best to listen, even though my mind kept drifting off and wandering away with a will of its own… only to come back to reality and realise I had no idea which part of the explanation we were on.

  “Erm… are you tired?”

  We’ve reached the far end of the engine rooms by the time my difficulty must be showing in my expression. At her question, I can only smile and confess:

  “Sorry… it’s just a lot to take in all at once.”

  I try to be as diplomatic as possible, hoping to get the message across without offending or embarrassing her.

  “Ah… yes… I suppose so, of course,” she replies, suddenly flustered.

  Nope… I’ve failed in my attempt.

  “Thanks for the tour,” I try to make up for it. “It was interesting.”

  I’m not lying. The subject being complex doesn’t mean it’s not stimulating in small doses—just like many other things. After all, I’m on an extraordinary ship I never could’ve seen on Earth.

  “Well… if you like, once you’ve recovered, we could go over it again… at a slower pace,” the girl suggests, relaxing again. “That is… if you’re not leaving.”

  “… leaving?”

  “You’re a guest, aren’t you?”

  Oh, right… that’s what Archeos told her.

  “Have you managed to settle into life here?” she goes on.

  “Uhm… sort of. I’m a… fish out of water in this place,” I say hesitantly, unsure how much I should or can reveal.

  “Oh… it shows… ah!”

  Nipria raises her hands in front of her.

  “I mean… it’s just a feeling,” she clarifies. “You don’t really blend in with the surroundings… how to put it…”

  She doesn’t seem to know how to explain it.

  Huh, but actually it’s a bit of a novelty hearing something like that. I’m used to blending into the background, standing out as little as possible—not by choice, but as a kind of natural phenomenon, something inherent to how I am. At least, that’s always been my impression. It’s strange that now, instead, I find myself standing out—though it has more to do with how odd I must seem to the people aboard the Epos.

  “Nipria!”

  Suddenly, from among the people working in the engine room, a loud voice calls out to the artificer.

  “Are you coming or what?” a big, burly guy snaps at her.

  “Ah… my break’s over!” she jumps. “Sorry, Ethan… I lost track of time…”

  “Oh… I’m sorry, it’s my fault,” I say, realising she’s wasted her break on me.

  “No, no… I wasn’t paying attention. I’ve got to go! You’ll manage to get back on your own, right?”

  “Yes, yes…”

  And off she goes, waving goodbye. As for me, I stay there a few seconds in the middle of the corridor, looking around, disoriented.

  I mean… I should manage… I just need to retrace my steps, right?

  Come to think of it… this must be the first time I’ve actually been left unsupervised. Not that I’m planning to take advantage of it. Where would I even go? If I wander off from here, I really will get lost. I still haven’t figured out how this ship is laid out.

  Ugh… I can’t take it anymore, I think, raising my hands to my ears, irritated by the noise. Right, maybe I’ll just step away for a moment—somewhere quieter—then face the journey back.

  They’ll allow me at least a short break, won’t they, my captors? Or will they punish me for it? Well, I have been helping them quite a lot… turning a blind eye is the least they could do, surely.

  I turn on my heel and step through a doorway leading into a corridor just outside the engine rooms. Once the door closes behind me, I let out a sigh. At last, a bit of peace and quiet… or at least, the noise and heat are much less intense out here. What’s more, I don’t see anyone around, so I don’t even have to worry about being watched.

  I wonder if all this is actually doing any good.

  I think it as I raise my eyes to the ceiling.

  I’m doing my best to show goodwill. They must be noticing it, right? If I try hard enough, they’ll eventually listen to me.

  I have to believe that. It’s crucial to my plan to clear myself of the accusation of being a spy.

  Is Archeos reporting to the others that I’m cooperating?

  As for Dawn, it didn’t seem like it. In fact, earlier I noticed she seemed thrown off by what I’d said. Did she find it odd that I was opening up about what I know? Did she think I was revealing information to Archeos that I’d refused to share either during the interrogations… or with her?

  Maybe she was a bit upset?

  Meh… no point jumping to conclusions. She must’ve just been surprised. After all, why would I have talked about it with her?

  Then, in my mind, I reverse the roles. It’s never actually happened to me, but… what if I were trying to convince someone to confide something important to me, and they refused… only to go and share it with someone else they’re arguably less close to than they are with me…

  … would I be happy about that?

  Probably not. I’d be a little disappointed. Still, it’s also true that Dawn might not think the way I do, so… no point torturing myself over it.

  “So… it’s over?”

  Suddenly, a voice reaches my ears. Or rather, I realise it had been doing so for a while already, mixed in with the sounds from the engine rooms. I’d just been so lost in thought I barely registered it.

  Now, however, something’s caught my attention. A… vibration in the tone, you could say. The distinct trace of strong emotion.

  Before I know it, I instinctively turn my head, angling my ears to listen better. And then I see them: two people not far from me, talking near a doorway they must have come through at some point.

  I don’t think they’ve noticed me. My “invisibility power” still seems to be working a little, after all.

  Now that I’m looking more closely, a golden glint helps me recognise one of them. Yes… it’s the philosopher, Archeos’s pupil. The voice I heard was hers.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Yes,” replies the other now—a young man perhaps a little older than me, though I can’t quite make out his face. “I’m sorry, Ehliana, but I’m sure you understand. We’re just not compatible at all. You noticed that too, didn’t you?”

  “I was still trying to make it work,” she says.

  “But you weren’t really convinced,” he replies. “You never made a secret of it. But we had fun, didn’t we? So… let’s not turn it into a drama, and let’s end it like grown-ups, okay?”

  “… as you wish, Jervis.”

  “There, you see?” says the young man, his tone calm. “You don’t seem all that upset. See you around, yeah?”

  And with that, he starts to walk away. Ehliana stays where she is, motionless, her gaze fixed on the spot where the guy had been just moments before.

  Damn… maybe I hadn’t wanted to witness that, I think to myself. So things like that happen on this ship too. Oh, but why am I even surpri—?

  All of a sudden, my train of thought is cut short. Because just like that, the philosopher’s eyes have snapped… and turned to me.

  The instant our eyes meet, I feel a mix of emotions coming from her gaze—enough to freeze me in place. Sadness, definitely… but also a fiery anger… and embarrassment. There’s even a hint of threat.

  Or maybe I’m imagining all of it, and this is just my clumsy interpretation of a simple reaction of surprise from someone who’s just realised they were being watched.

  No—okay—I don’t know. But one thing’s certain: this is an awkward situation… for both of us. I need to act carefully and strategically. I have to say something that might ease whatever sense of violated privacy she may be feeling.

  “Oh… um… hi,” I say. “Didn’t expect to… run into you here.”

  Awkward. But it’s a start. Simply looking away would only have confirmed that I heard everything. Better to throw up a smokescreen and watch how she reacts.

  So far, I’ve had several chances to speak with Ehliana, but they’ve always been very… formal. Archeos was usually present too, and we only ever discussed how to proceed with the process of producing penicillin. I’ve only ever seen the philosopher’s serious, composed side, so I’ve no idea how she handles this kind of situation. On top of that, the fact that she’s a bit older than me—even if only by a little—might make it harder for me to understand her, since I don’t know how much of a difference those extra two or three years might make in how she thinks and sees the world.

  Right now, she’s still staring at me with that strange expression. It’s almost giving me goosebumps.

  Then she lets out a long sigh, brushes a strand of hair aside with one hand, closes her eyes, and softens her expression.

  “Ethan,” she says, looking at me again, now betraying nothing of what she’s feeling. “Have you been there long?”

  She stares at me, almost daring me to lie. At once, my mind starts racing, looking for a way to wriggle out of answering directly. The trouble is, under that kind of pressure… I get the feeling that whatever trick I tried would be seen through straight away.

  “Let’s say… a little while, yes,” I end up admitting.

  “Mh…” she sighs again.

  “…”

  And now what?

  Oh, why did I answer like that? I should’ve just played dumb, no matter what, right?

  “I appreciate your honesty,” the philosopher says all of a sudden.

  … or maybe I did the right thing?

  “Are you here to see the lab?” the girl asks.

  “… lab?”

  “We were there yesterday.”

  “Oh…”

  I hadn’t realised. There’s a room nearby where they’ve set up the equipment to grow the moulds used to extract penicillin. Its proximity to the engine rooms—and their heat—was considered helpful in speeding up the process.

  “No, it’s just a coincidence,” I reply.

  “Well, I needed to ask you a few things anyway. Do you have a minute?”

  “Um… we could always do it another time.”

  Damn, I’m sure she’ll need some time to process what just happened. It doesn’t seem like the best moment to stick around.

  “No, now’s fine.”

  At that, I consider an alternative. Maybe she doesn’t want to think about it. Maybe she’s trying to run from her emotions by throwing herself into work.

  In that case…

  “… alright,” I agree. “But you’ll be the one explaining to Archeos why I’ve disappeared.”

  “Don’t worry.”

  ???

  I can’t say I’m thrilled to be hanging around a near stranger who’s just been dumped by her boyfriend. Even if she doesn’t say a word about it, and I try not to think about it, the back of my mind keeps unconsciously processing how she must be feeling, so I end up constantly picking up on the discomfort she’s probably carrying with her. And I’m not sure how to deal with that.

  Still, I felt bad doing nothing. If keeping busy with work is really what she’s looking for right now, it’s not such a big effort to try and help her with that.

  That’s why I agreed to follow her to the lab, where—amidst flasks and various pieces of more or less advanced equipment—we’re now looking at the results of the mould culture filtrate.

  “Yesterday we administered the first dose,” Ehliana says, holding up a glass test tube full of liquid. “We’ll carry on today too, as production continues.”

  “You’ve been incredibly fast,” I comment.

  I had no idea they could move so quickly. Luckily, it seems the tools and expertise of the philosophers on board are far more advanced than I’d imagined.

  It almost seems like they’re used to this kind of thing.

  “I honestly didn’t even think that man would survive long enough,” I add.

  Not that I know much about it, but it sounded like his was quite a serious case.

  “Even without antibiotics, we at least know how to keep tetanos under control with other medicines,” says Ehliana. “He’ll live… at least long enough to be given this penicillin. That way, we’ll know whether it actually does anything.”

  She pauses for a moment.

  “Maybe that sounded a bit cold,” she adds, a note of discomfort in her voice. “I don’t want it to seem like I don’t care.”

  That didn’t even cross my mind.

  “The doses aren’t as concentrated as the ones we use where I’m from, but they’ve got to have some effect,” I say, playing it cool so she doesn’t feel awkward. “Well… I hope so…”

  The woman sets down the test tube, then picks up a pencil and starts filling in a label stuck to it. I notice how precise she is as she writes down what looks like…

  “… is that today’s date?” I ask.

  “Yes,” she confirms, finishing her writing.

  Right, I don’t recognise the characters for the month, but the numbers… odd as they are, they really do look like mine.

  “2355?” I blurt out, shocked.

  “… well, yes,” Ehliana nods. “Why?”

  Okay, let’s stay calm…

  “That’s the year?” I ask.

  “Do you think it could be the day of the month?”

  “And from what event is it counted?”

  “… are you messing with me?”

  An instant after saying it, she stares at me. Then she seems to realise something.

  “… you really don’t know?” she asks.

  I shake my head.

  “It’s the number of years since… the Fragmentation,” she explains.

  “Ah…”

  Right, that makes sense. So, it’s not the calendar I’m used to. But if I do a quick bit of maths… if that number on the left is the day of the month…

  “28,” I murmur. “Today’s the 28th of October?”

  “… yes.”

  Just as it would be on Earth. The day matches… only the year is off. What does that mean?

  “Ethan?” Ehliana calls out to me. “Is everything… alright?”

  “I… yeah, yeah,” I reply, shaking my head as I emerge from my thoughts. “I just noticed something.”

  “Mmh…” she murmurs, turning her attention back to the test tube. “Anyway… I hope you won’t talk about what you heard earlier.”

  Ah… there it is. In the end she’s decided to address the matter head-on.

  “My lips are sealed,” I assure her. “You don’t have to worry.”

  “Good. You understand what it means, don’t you?”

  Not really. I’ve never had the misfortune of going through something like that.

  As I think it, I realise that Ehliana is staring at me again. Her eyes widen slightly. In that moment, I get the feeling my internal response somehow slipped through.

  Crap…

  “Let’s say I can imagine,” I end up saying. “I mean… I think anyone could, right?”

  “… actually… no,” she replies.

  “I’m sure they can. Everyone’s got an imagination,” I insist, glancing back at the date on the test tube. “It’s just that many people usually can’t be bothered to use it.”

  That’s a truth I’ve run into plenty of times. I suppose it’s why my world of mental oddities isn’t exactly one people would want to wander into… well, that’s what I assume, judging by how people react when my conversations start going a bit too far off on a tangent.

  “They can’t be bothered… you think,” Ehliana murmurs.

  She seems to be reflecting on it.

  “Well… maybe it’s just me being weird, and I’m blaming others for it,” I add. “Don’t read too much into what I say.”

  She doesn’t reply. She still looks deep in thought.

  “There you are!”

  Suddenly, a voice behind us. We both jump and turn around: Archeos is standing in the doorway, out of breath.

  “Ethan!” he exclaims, looking more alarmed than angry. “Martin’s going to tear a strip off me if I lose sight of you!”

  “No, Master… I just needed to ask him something…” Ehliana tries to explain.

  In fact, that was the reason she called me here. Or—wait—was that just an excuse to keep an eye on me in case I went and blabbed about what I heard?

  “Then tell me beforehand, will you?” the philosopher exclaims. “For heaven’s sake, you two! Don’t pull this sort of stunt—especially today!”

  … especially today? Why, what’s happening today?

  – – – – – – – – – –

  Epos (Maltia)

  28 October 2355

  Ethan’s 7th day on Tersain

  Several hours later

  – – – – – – – – – –

  “Ethan Knight,” says Martin Young. “This is the conclusion we’ve reached.”

  The tension in the small interrogation room is palpable. Or is it just me, overwhelmed by my emotions, imagining that they’re seeping into the air?

  “The Maltian Republic became aware that someone was on the fragment belonging to Cyrus Sanders—part of an archipelago that is off-limits,” the man states, his tone resolute and formal, like someone delivering a verdict. “Suspecting the presence of dissidents, it sent you—a well-trained spy—to investigate. I’ve already explained our theory about how you reached the island using mayea. When you recognised Cyrus Sanders as a member of the Resistance, you made your way to the edge of the fragment and signalled to republican aircraft, revealing his presence. This led to the attack the following day.”

  I freeze. So despite the fact that things had seemed to be improving lately, they’re still completely convinced I’m a spy.

  Not that I had much hope, but hearing this nonsense out loud makes me feel awful: part of me had been foolish enough to believe they were starting to change their minds about me.

  “Do you wish to retract anything you’ve told us so far?” the captain asks.

  Would that be in my best interest? Maybe if I lie and claim they’re right, they’ll treat me better. But I wouldn’t even know what to say—I can’t pretend to be guilty of something I don’t even understand. Republic, Resistance… I don’t know either of them!

  In the end, honesty is the best choice. Just like it was this morning with Ehliana.

  “No,” I then reply. “I’ve only ever told the truth. I ended up on that fragment by chance, and against my will, and I come from a world called Earth, where floating islands don’t exist. And I’m most definitely not a spy.”

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