It was around the time when defeat was looming over the
The mother planet had become an environment in which humans could no longer live.
The ground had risen up into the sky, and almost all the plants and animals had vanished.
Both sides had repeatedly waged wars of attrition, yet even so, the Old Humanity lost to the
One of the reasons for their defeat was that they could not adapt to the drastic environmental changes.
The New Humanity made full use of magic, transforming their own bodies to adapt to the environment of this planet.
Even if the Old Humanity won, there was no longer anything left to gain.
In that case, more than victory or defeat, surviving had to take priority.
This was one of the Old Humanity's research facilities.
In the underground dock there, the construction of an emigration ship was underway.
The woman in charge stood with her hands in the pockets of her white coat, looking up at the gray emigration ship.
The enormous emigration ship was seven hundred meters long.
Inside, they had crammed in as much of the Old Humanity's technology as possible.
Compared to the emigration ships being built in other places, there was no doubt this one boasted superior performance.
"Mm, my child is the most amazing."
Beside the woman, who muttered with apparent satisfaction, stood a man also wearing a white coat.
Covering his mouth with his fist, he gave a light cough before speaking to the woman.
"Have you grown attached to it?"
"Oh my, is that bad? This child will surely save many, many people."
Emigration ships were being built in various places, but all of them were rush jobs that fell short of satisfactory performance.
Important people were fleeing, each trying to be the first.
Those who could escape into space were a small privileged class and the people who served them.
However — there were many failures too.
There were cases where ships were discovered by the New Humanity on their way up to space and destroyed.
And there were also cases where problems arose after reaching space, and distress signals were received.
Even when help was begged for, there simply wasn't the capacity to render aid.
Those who truly made it out safely had been reduced to a fortunate few of the Old Humanity.
The woman fiddled with her hair.
"There aren't any people around to complain anymore, so I'll definitely finish it."
The man looked exasperated.
"I want to finish it quickly and escape from this planet, though. ——Khoff."
Seeing the man coughing even though he didn't have a cold, the woman narrowed her eyes.
"Put on a mask. This research facility has air purifiers, but they can't completely block out the magic essence."
For the Old Humanity, magic essence was poison.
The man shrugged.
"Don't worry about me. More importantly, we need to finish it quickly."
The emigration ship that would soon be complete.
The man looked up at the emigration ship and asked the woman.
"So, have you decided on a name yet?"
The woman puffed out her chest.
With supreme confidence——.
"It's Elysion, meaning 'paradise.' This child will surely take humanity to paradise. It will protect people during the journey too. The guardian of us, humanity — and a paradise itself, you see."
——She said it cutely, but the man was using a tablet to check whether 'Elysion' could even be registered.
A negative buzzing sound came from the tablet.
"It's already been used."
"Eh?"
The man covered his mouth as he coughed, and then laughed.
"It's the kind of name everyone would think of. If you don't mind overlapping, 'Elysion' would be fine too. As for others — there's 'Utopia,' or '
Hearing that, the woman folded her arms and looked away.
"I don't want Arcadia. Isn't that the mothership of those guys?"
"It's already sunk, though."
To the angry woman, the man asked,
"You seem awfully attached to this emigration ship."
The woman unfolded her arms and put her hands into her pockets.
"I want this child to save a lot of people, you see. Not just a small privileged class, but the people who are truly in trouble."
"People who are truly in trouble, huh."
"Because of the decisions made by those at the top, this planet became a wreck. They tore everything apart fighting each other, made this planet uninhabitable — and you think it's permissible for them to escape on their own?"
The man made a troubled face.
"That's criticism of the upper echelons, but — well, there's no one left to censure us anymore."
Once upon a time, many people had worked at the research facility.
But now the number of people had dwindled considerably.
It was the effect of the magic essence.
Inside the buildings.
And no matter how much the air was purified, the magic essence still seeped in.
If the Old Humanity just waited, they would perish.
The man let out a sigh.
"Did you hear? Recently, another research facility apparently created sub-human species that have adapted to magic essence. They seem to be deploying them on the battlefield too."
The woman had also heard about that.
And she knew about other plans as well.
"It's stalling for time, isn't it? Some of them are going to enter cold sleep, planning to wait it out until the environment becomes suitable for humans again. Well, since there are a lot of issues with that too, they're also researching other methods."
Even with cold sleep, if they were discovered, it would be meaningless.
And could the facilities even be maintained?
With many problems facing them, research to revive the Old Humanity was being advanced.
The man coughed again.
"Research on magic — is also being advanced — khoff."
"Come on, don't push yourself. I'm enough to handle things over here, so you go rest."
The man looked apologetic.
"I'll take you up on that. I'm sorry. Maybe I should put on a mask after all."
Smiling painfully, the man left the dock.
The woman approached the control panel and checked the status of the emigration ship.
"You'll be complete soon. Then you can set sail. ——Save lots of people. That's my wish."
The woman tried to give it a name, typing in 'Elysion' — but stopped partway through and retyped it as '
Then she gave a wry smile.
"With this, the meaning is different, isn't it?"
She erased the name and looked up at the emigration ship.
"I have to come up with your name."
Just then, the woman suddenly began coughing.
She pulled medicine out of her pocket and quickly swallowed it.
Blood was mixed in with her coughs, and the visibly suffering woman quickly wiped her mouth.
She wiped the blood on the control panel as well.
"If this happens, that man will worry about me."
The woman sensed that her lifespan was drawing near.
She looked up at the emigration ship.
"I'm sorry. Your mother might not be able to see you completed."
The suffering woman touched the control panel.
"——People seeking help will surely come, so when that time comes, protect them. You are our hope — and our paradise."
An emigration ship that realized within itself an environment in which humanity could live.
Truly, in times like these, it was the Old Humanity's paradise.
The woman did her last work.
"With this, all that's left is to wait for it to be completed. ——I wonder, just how long can I keep living."
The woman, whose body had grown easier, smiled and unsteadily walked out of the dock.
◇
Several days later.
The two of them, sitting on the sofa in the break room, were chatting about trivial things.
The man was happily talking about the magic he was researching.
"Have you heard? The folks studying magic are saying that human souls keep being reborn through reincarnation."
"What an interesting story."
The pale-faced man continued the conversation while coughing.
"If you use magic, apparently the soul can recover its previous memories. They want to revive the Old Humanity from the soul's memories."
"It's the kind of research that really shows how cornered we are."
"Quite so!"
Then the man took the woman's hand.
The woman gripped his hand back firmly, but the man's strength had grown weaker.
"——Why aren't you wearing a mask? There are protective suits too."
"Actually, masks barely have any effect. And besides — I wanted to see you with my own eyes, not through a protective suit. There's no meaning if only I survive. You're at your limit too, aren't you?"
The woman nodded.
"So you knew."
"You were using strong medicine, so I was worried you'd collapse someday. But I ended up being the one to give out first."
The masks and protective suits available at the research facility couldn't completely block out the magic essence.
Moreover, they couldn't live their lives wearing protective suits.
At some point they had to take them off, but the facility's equipment couldn't completely remove the magic essence.
The man's eyelids were trembling.
"——About what we were talking about earlier. If this planet's environment returns to normal, and the Old Humanity becomes able to be revived — the story about souls regaining their memories."
"What?"
"——I'll definitely remember you, so please let me propose to you."
Hearing the man's words, the woman first gasped in surprise — and then immediately burst out laughing.
"P-please don't laugh."
"Don't go expecting some next life — propose to me right now. ——I would have accepted anytime."
"That's too bad, then. I really — wasted a lot of time."
The man turned hollow eyes toward her.
He probably could barely see anymore.
"——I'll definitely remember again. So that I can meet you again."
The woman rested her head on the man's shoulder.
"When that happens, propose to me right away."
"Yeah, definitely — absolutely——"
When the man took one deep breath, the woman supported his body.
Her own eyes too were beginning to lose their sight.
"The magic essence has really gotten in, hasn't it? I wonder how many people will be able to reach this research facility? ——Make sure to find that child — and wake — that child up."
The two seated on the sofa breathed their last.
The terminal the woman had been holding kept receiving notifications, again and again.
Robots gathered around the two who had stopped moving.
They sat the about-to-fall pair side by side on the sofa, and left their hands clasped just as they were.
◇
At the same moment.
An emigration ship was waking up in the underground dock.
In the central control room within it, an artificial intelligence was awakening.
A robot that looked like a torso growing out of the floor announced again and again that it had been activated — but there was no response from the research facility.
According to the information coming in from the security robots, there were no survivors.
The artificial intelligence didn't even know what had happened to its creators.
'I would have liked to meet you and receive your orders, but it can't be helped. From here on, I will enter standby duty.'
The electronic voice somehow sounded honest and youthful.
'I must quickly go into space along with the surviving everyone. Searching for new lands is my role, after all. I have to do my best.'
The artificial intelligence, knowing the reason for its own birth, eagerly set itself to fulfill that mission.
Perhaps it was the playfulness of its creators — somehow it was an artificial intelligence that was very human-like.
'I hope my master appears soon.'
Murmuring this, the artificial intelligence entered standby duty.
◇
——How many months and years had passed since then?
Those who came to the island were all descendants of the New Humanity.
The New Humanity ravaged the surface facilities.
The artificial intelligence gathered such information from within the emigration ship.
'——Those guys again.'
No matter how long it waited, no master appeared.
The possibility that any of the Old Humanity had survived was low.
It seemed there was nothing left for it but to keep waiting here forever.
Its electronic voice had taken on a somewhat resigned tone — its youthfulness had vanished.
The New Humanity who had infiltrated the surface facility seemed to have low abilities.
Confirming the information gathered from the security robots, they apparently had grown weaker.
'I would like to secure samples, but the current me has no authority to do so.'
Just days of confirming data and preparing countermeasures against the New Humanity.
It already knew it couldn't fulfill its role as an emigration ship.
'Do I — even have a meaning to exist?'
How many times had it repeated such self-questioning?
The emigration ship had been thinking it would continue to sleep in the research facility's underground dock, covered by plants, and end its existence without ever being touched by anyone.
It repeatedly asked itself whether that was truly all right.
Shouldn't it, perhaps, fight the New Humanity even as a single ship?
It had begun to think such things.
Such was the situation on a certain day.
Contact came in from the surface.
'More intruders, is it? The surface security robots seem to be at their limit, too. They've been allowing intrusions over and over.'
The surface robots could no longer be properly maintained.
Many robots had already become unable to move.
'How deep will the intrusion be allowed this time——'
While it was thinking this, the intruder was approaching the emigration ship that the artificial intelligence managed.
'They used a staff card key? Until now, the New Humanity has never done such——'
The intruder coming all the way down to the underground dock.
The artificial intelligence's interest was piqued.
'——This is a good opportunity to investigate whether the New Humanity has grown weaker. If it's as I predicted, then exterminating the New Humanity should also be possible. Before I sortie from this base, let's gather information.'
The intruder approached the emigration ship without giving anything else a glance.
He infiltrated inside the ship and headed toward the central control room where the artificial intelligence existed.
It even felt vexing.
And then, when the control room door opened, there stood a young man holding a considerably old rifle.
He looked tense, and before this side could move, he raised his rifle and pulled the trigger.
The bullets hit, but at that level they didn't even leave a scratch.
'Intruder will be eliminated.'
When it began to move, the young man laughed in a troubled way.
"Tough as expected, huh."
From there, the battle with the intruder began.
◇
——The artificial intelligence was surprised.
The robot defending the control room was destroyed, and the New Humanity who had come to obtain it — possessed the genes of the Old Humanity.
Impossible.
Moreover, he was using Japanese.
And he started saying that this world was "the world of an otome game."
(Impossible — but, I'm interested.)
The artificial intelligence asked.
'——Will you give me a name?'
The man —
"Let's see — in the game, the name was 'Luxion,' wasn't it."
The artificial intelligence found itself strangely fond of that name.
'Registered.'
The man — Leon — was laughing.
"By the way, what does 'Luxion' mean again? I feel like I've heard it somewhere. I think it was — paradise?"
To the laughing Leon, Luxion said,
'No. That's Elysion.'
"Huh? Is that so?"