Down Time
Kaito returned to the cockpit, only to be greeted by a loud, blaring alarm. Kokichi stood by the control panel, arms behind his back, looking undeniably guilty. "I accidentally did a thing."
"Congratulations Kokichi, you single handedly fucked over the mission." Miu said, throwing her hands up. "Let's all go home now."
"Atua thinks it is not a good idea to send untrained minors into space, but he thinks it will be fun anyways." Angie spoke up, clasping her hands.
"Great, good to know." Kaito said, tapping a few buttons. The alarm shut off and the crew sighed in relief. "That's the button that makes a really really loud noise."
"You're kidding right?" Kokichi said.
"No, if the pilot was dying or had an issue or whatever, he'd hit the button to alert the rest of the crew. The other alarms are way louder and way more annoying."
"So, now what?" Tsmugi asked. "We're in space. Yay I guess?"
"Oh no no. Hell no." Kaito said. "Get your asses over here. I'm taking down the screens."
"I knew it. It's all a simulation." Kokichi said with mock enthusiasm. "One more time for us idiots please, what the heck are the screens?"
"Space is distracting. The screens are digitized to make it easier to navigate and focus. So yeah, it looks like a desktop right now, but when I take it down..." Kaito hit a few more buttons and the group gasped.
The wide expanse of space in all it's glory was before them. Kaito had been completely taken by the minimal view before, but now he had to remind himself to breathe. He was in awe. This was what he had been waiting for all his life.
"It's beautiful." Rantaro said softly, stretching his fingers out like he was trying to touch the stars before him. "Makes everything else I've seen seem small."
"Humans are very small and insignificant compared to the scale of the universe." Kiyo mused. "Think of how many other races could be out there. Our entire species could die, and everything here would remain unchanged."
"That's terrifying." Tenko shuddered. "It's pretty but I don't wanna die up here."
"It reminds me of slower pieces." Kaede said. "Dramatic and beautiful, yet everlasting."
"Great. Now space has a soundtrack. Cool." Kokichi said, breaking the stupor. "So, anyone else wanna check out our digs? Also, what does one have to do if he has to pee in space. I'm asking for a friend."
Kaito rolled his eyes. "I saw a bathroom earlier. Come on, let's see this shit."
Kokichi demanded that everyone wait for him while he used the bathroom. Kaito only waited out of nervousness. What if he hadn't gotten all the blood-
"That has got to be the cleanest bathroom I have ever seen." Kokichi said. Kaito sighed in relief. His grandmother would be proud.
Bathroom aside, the rest of the ship was just as impressive. A massive lounge area sat in the middle of the circular two story area. Sixteen individual rooms lined the two stories. On the lower floor, there was another hallway. Kaito was interested to see the rest, but everyone else was happy looking at the rooms.
"Dammit, I wanted a window." Kokichi whined.
Gonta emerged from his room with a pillow and a big smile. "Gonta has discovered Space Pillow!"
"Actually, I think the pillows are from Earth...nevermind." Tsmugi trailed off, seeing how happy Gonta was.
"Hey." Rantaro nudged Kaito with his shoulder. "I need to talk to you."
"Yeah sure. Shuichi! You're in charge!" Kaito said, clapping Shuichi on the shoulder.
"M-me? Why! I can't-"
"Yes you can! And fine, if it makes you feel better, Kaede is assistant leader." With that Kaito stepped through the doors of his room.
"Looks just like mine." Rantaro said, sliding the door closed behind him. "Guess they all look the same huh?"
"Maybe." Kaito said. "So did you need something?"
"Yeah." Rantaro looked at Kaito. There was something different in his eyes now, the same look he got when being told to leave any abductees. "I'm guessing you're the leader from the way things are shaping out, so I'm gonna tell you right now. I respect your authority, I respect you and I'll follow most of your orders."
"Most." Kaito said. "What's the exception?"
"If we come across any captives you can bet I'll be doing everything I can to free them." Rantaro said calmly. "You can try to stop me, but you won't get too far." It wasn't a threat, but Kaito got the message.
"Yeah, I get it. I'm not cool with those orders either. But what can we do for them? They're strangers-"
"You don't get it." Rantaro said sharply. "They're strangers to us, but they're not to other people. Somewhere out there someone is mourning the loss of their loved one. They could still be out there. If it was someone you cared about, wouldn't you risk anything to get them back?"
"Yeah, but-"
"Then you'll let me try to help them." Rantaro said. His shoulders relaxed. "Sorry, I didn't meant to get intense on you."
"Hey, it's ok. Today's been crazy." Kaito said. "And seriously, I get it. Maybe not all of it, but as your leader I'm gonna do my best to understand and support you."
Rantaro nodded. "Thank you." the intense look faded, and the calm, friendly demeanor returned. "Jeez, I feel like I made it awkward."
"No, you didn't." Kaito said. "Do I sound professional and leader-y?"
"Yeah, sounds like something right out of a movie." Rantaro nodded.
"Sweet!" Kaito did several fist pumps. "Ok, now that I'm the leader, I gotta act the part."
"Come on, you're fine. Keep acting like you are now. I could tell you're genuine." Rantaro said. "I've been fine following your lead since the beginning."
"Honestly, maybe you'd be a better leader. You've got experience." Kaito shrugged.
"Nah, I'm happier keeping everyone going. You lead the way, I'll prop up the stragglers." Rantaro said. "As hopeless as I am at that."
"Why do you do that? Degrade yourself?" Kaito asked suspiciously.
Rantaro's eyes darkened slightly. "I don't want to talk about it right now. Sorry, but we don't have time to focus on my personal issues. Besides, being in space is the best thing I could be doing for those issues."
"Alright." Kaito said. "Just talk to me if you need to. I trust you. I'll have your back."
Rantaro's smile returned. "Then I'll have yours too."
"Hey asshats!" Miu's voice was slightly muffled by the door. "You gotta see this!"
"This will be perfect." Kirumi said, looking around the kitchen. "It is full stocked with plenty of ingredients. I can make all sorts of dishes."
"You don't have to cook for us." Kaede said. "Kaito! I think these are the labs. Not this, this is a kitchen, but the other ones!"
The crew had ventured down the hallway while Kaito had been talking to Rantaro. The hallway split into two, the first of which leading to a kitchen and several labs.
"So who got a lab?" Kaito asked.
"The biggest one is Kiibo's, I'm guessing there's a lot of robotic stuff in there. The one next to it is for Miu, the one at the end is Kiyo's, Kokichi has one next to him-"
"Kokichi?" Kaito asked skeptically.
"Yeah, no one's sure why." Kaede said. "Then there's one for Tsmugi, Maki, and Gonta. The one right here is for you."
Kaito grinned. "I don't need it. I'm already in space."
"I think it's actually navigation stuff. I just wanted to make you excited." Kaede admitted. "The door at the end of the hall leads to a gym. It has a dojo and tennis court too, so Tenko and Ryoma are happy, even if Ryoma won't admit it."
"Damn, so they really thought of everything." Kaito said.
"But of course! Atua planned all of it." Kaito jumped. Angie had somehow snuck up behind them. "My room is larger than yours. It has a small art studio attached to it."
"And yet they couldn't fit a piano." Kaede sighed. Kaito patted her back sympathetically.
"The other hallway leads to shuttles, space suits, weapons, all that mission crap." Miu walked up to them as well-
"WOAH!" Kaito yelled, turning his head. "Why aren't you wearing clothes!"
"Tsmugi's working on them." Miu shrugged. "And I didn't feel like waiting. I guess those things are designed to be washed with us. They're the only things we have to wear, and they aren't even that sexy. Hopefully Tsmugi can fix that. What's a girl supposed to do?"
"But why aren't you wearing clothes..." Kaito hissed.
"Aww, you can take a peek." Miu said sweetly. "It'll be enough to help you get it on for years to come! And like I said, this is all we have to wear and I didn't wanna wait around. So I'm exploring in my delicates."
"Good for you." Kaito said, still refusing to look.
"Miu, maybe you should put some clothes on." Kaede said slowly.
"Not my fault you can't handle me." Miu shrugged, walking off towards her lab.
"So who didn't get a lab? You, Rantaro, Shuichi, Himiko...is that it?"
Kaede nodded. "Yeah. I mean, a lot of us technically didn't get labs, but there's stuff relating to their talents at least."
"Awwwww, poor Kaede." Kokichi said, strolling over to them. "Whatcha talking about?"
"Space lice." Kaito said.
"Ew, that's a thing?"
"Yeah, they're gross and annoying and they remind me of you."
"Wow! Funny! Oh did I forget to laugh?" Kokichi rolled his eyes. "So space boy, what the heck do we do now?"
"Wait I guess. Get comfy. I'll call everyone together in twenty minutes or so." he turned to Kaede. "So I have no idea where we'd find a piano in space, but if we do, you can put it in my lab."
"Wow, that's so sweet I'm getting diabetes by just standing here. I'll see you freaks around." Kokichi said. "And by the way, there's totally a reason why I got a lab. It's just way too awesome to tell you."
Kaito shook his head. "I guess the chances of us finding a piano in space are better than getting a straight answer out of him."
Kaito spent the next twenty minutes exploring the ship on his own. He'd found the boiler room, as well as a long, thin shaft that lead to a section of the ship's inner wiring. There was also a launching bay. Two of them actually, one for launching miniature shuttles, and a smaller one for space walks. Kaito had been tempted to throw on a spacesuit and try the spacewalk right then and there, but he had a bad feeling about leaving fifteen unsupervised and inexperienced crewmates alone. The last thing he needed was for Kokichi to actually singlehandedly fuck over the mission.
"Hey space boy."
Speaking of...
"Let's chat." Kokichi said, falling into stride with Kaito.
Kaito sighed. "What do you want? If it's more insults, I will flush you out an airlock."
That seemed to mildly terrify him. "Woah! Hey, easy. No insults. I promise." When Kaito eyed him skeptically, Kokichi held up his hands in surrender. "Would I lie to you?"
"Just tell me what you want." Kaito certainly didn't trust this one.
"Well, I'm sure you're pissing yourself with excitement over being here right? I mean yeah, it's pretty cool. But does anything feel a little suspicious to you?"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Kaito asked.
"Well, here we are, literally in space and we still don't know what the hell we're supposed to be doing." Kokichi shrugged. "Now don't call me a conspiracy theorist, but what are the odds we're being sent up here to die by a corrupt government organization?"
Kaito stared at him. "Are you serious?"
Kokichi stared back, a new intensity in his eyes. "What do you think? You seen anything that might confirm that?"
"Of course not!" Kaito spluttered. "The TCCSE is respectable! I was trained by them! I've never seen the facility we were launched form...B-but our mission is important!"
"Another thing. Why would Towa City alone have a space center?" Kokichi mused. "I just think it's kinda funny they used personal files to scan hundreds of Ultimates and they only pick one space oriented one. Maybe they're saving the rest for something better. Maybe we're guinea pigs..."
"Stop!" Kaito yelled. "Stop it, you're trying to screw with my head!"
"Nishishi! That what you think? Ok." Kokichi shrugged. "Hug it out!"
Before Kaito could react, Kokichi had wrapped his arms around him, pressing his face against Kaito's chest. "Woah! What the fuck are you doing!"
"Watch yourself space boy." Kokichi hissed. There was something different about his voice now. "There's something going on here. And watching you get screwed over would be like watching a puppy get hit with a brick. You're stupid as hell but you're the best we've got. Don't fuck this up and be careful. Now hug me back goddammit before we look weird."
Kaito slowly obliged. "Wait what do you me-"
Kokichi let go and jumped back, smiling wildly. "Huh? Aw you think I like you? Ew, you're not my type." He snickered. "Just being a good little soldier."
"Kokichi seriously-"
"Nishishi! Gullible much? I was just kidding." He flicked his wrist in a somewhat sassy wave. "Seriously, I expected better from our honorable leader. See ya space boy, aw don't look so sad! I'm a liar, it's what I do!"
Kaito watched Kokichi walk away, open mouthed. Did he think he was cool or funny? That wave was weird, like he was....
Kaito turned around and looked up. A security camera. Had Kokichi been pointing at that? No, he'd said it himself. He was a liar. He was trying to fuck with Kaito's head. Kaito couldn't trust anything he said. Still...Had he been trying to warn Kaito? Did a supreme leader somehow know these things? Was Kaito believing that now?
Damn, he was getting a headache. If Kokichi really was trying to screw with him, he'd succeeded. He debated seeking out Rantaro or Kaede, but found himself walking to Shuichi's room.
The Detective opened the door after the first few knocks. "That's was fast." Kaito laughed.
"Oh! Sorry, I'm a little jumpy I was just going to leave anyways. I can't sit still."
"I know how you feel." Kaito said. "Wanna walk with me? I don't have anything to do either. C'mon sidekick! Let's bond!"
Shuichi nodded and followed Kaito down the hallway, head down. "What do you mean by bond?"
"Tell me about yourself!" Kaito said. "You're a detective right? Do you have a super sense? Like can you tell when shit's weird?"
"Uh, no, not like that. I get hunches yeah, but I don't really follow them." Shuichi shrugged. "I worked for my uncle's detective agency. Stuff really picked up after the Invasion. We still accept all the missing person cases even though...we know where they went."
Kaito grimaced. Those poor people, hoping for something that might never happen. "So what do you do?"
"The best we can. We can usually determine where they were taken from." Shuichi said. He sounded grim. "It at least gives them a little closure. We can't do much else. That's why I agreed to go here."
"What do you mean?"
"I wanted to do more. I guess we can't rescue anyone who's already been taken, but maybe we can stop any others from happening. I don't want to be useless."
"Damn, now I feel selfish." Kaito laughed. When Shuichi looked at him, he elaborated. "I didn't even think of all that. I was only interested in finally getting to space. I'm pretty sure I broke a record for youngest person in space! I mean, with you guys I guess, but it's something! And now really isn't the time to think about that..." he trailed off. "See? Selfish."
"I don't blame you. You've trained your whole life for this." Shuichi said. "It makes perfect sense why you're here...but..."
"Hm?" Kaito asked.
"Nothing."
"Bullshit! You can't do that to me! Now I'm gonna be curious and if I never sleep again, it's your fault! I'm joking." Kaito added, seeing Shuichi's horrified look. "You're not really the joking type are you.
"Not really I guess...and really it's nothing. It's just weird how soon they sent us up. We didn't get any training. I brushed off the feelings I was having, but that launch could have killed us. We got lucky."
Kaito nodded. "I've been thinking about that too. But maybe they couldn't wait any more. We had to get up here quickly. It could all be a huge coincidence."
Shuichi muttered something about not believing in coincidences and Kaito shuddered. First Kokichi, and now Shuichi. Was there something going on? Kaito wanted to believe in the TCCSE more than anything, but maybe he should be believing in the feelings of his crew instead...
"Shuichi." he said finally. "Do you think something could be going on-"
A crackle of static cut Kaito off. "Attention crew. Please assemble in the lounge area for briefing." The woman's slightly fuzzy voice played through a speaker overhead. "Immediately."
The crew had barely arrived in the lounge when the woman started speaking. "We have received news that the Abudctions have begun early." the woman stated. "You must be en route to the Imperial ship. Our window is closing. You have one day to reach the Imperial, gather intel, and tail a shuttle back to the Homeworld."
"Can we not?" Kokichi asked. Everyone stared at him. "What? This feels kinda impossible."
"Sorry, but I agree." Ryoma said. "It was impossible before, and we had three times the time. Now you expect us to do this in a day?"
"There is another option." the woman said coolly. "We can wait for the next abduction."
"We're doing it now." Rantaro said suddenly.
"Excellent. Head to the Imperial. When you reach your destination, we will speak again." With a muffled click, the static faded.
"Ok, what in the hell are you doing?" Kokichi asked, staring at Rantaro.
"I'm sorry." For the first time, he refused to meet anyone's eyes. "I can't let anyone else be taken. I'm sorry, I can't. We have to end it. This is going to be the last abduction in human history, so help me."
Rantaro was giving off a terrifying aura again. Despite his own worries, Kaito spoke up. "He's right. We're doing this for the rest of humanity. We can let more people get taken because we're too scared to do what has to be done. We're doing it now. I believe in us."
"I demand to be buried in a separate cemetery from the rest of you." Kokichi said, heading back to his room.
"Great talk! Thanks Kokichi!" Kaito yelled sarcastically. "Anyone else want to be no help whatsoever?"
"Nyeh...this is a bad idea. All of this. I want to go home." Himiko sighed. "We don't even know what we're doing."
"Sure we do!" Kaito said. "We're heading to the Imperial ship. I'm sure when we get there, we'll get all the information we need."
"Mm...ok." Himiko said slowly. "It's not like any of us are ever going home again..."
"Stop saying that!" Kaede spoke up. "If you think like we're going to die, it has a higher chance of happening. We have to believe in ourselves."
"Statistically yes, we have a very slim chance of returning home." Kiibo said. "Well, I don't have a home per say, but if I did, I'd probably never see it again."
"I was being sarcastic when I asked if anyone else wanted to be no help!" Kaito exclaimed. "Jeez. Anything else?"
"I agree with Rantaro." Korekiyo said calmly. "There is no need for humanity to suffer due to our own failures. And don't worry, thinking about dying doesn't seem to make it happen any faster. At least not in my experience."
Kaito stared. "You need help."
"We're all beyond help now." Korekiyo said. "I'm merely stating that I have no issue with dying. I will play my role as best I can until then." with that, he exited the lounge as well.
"He's got a point." Ryoma said. "I can't help but feel that this is a one way trip. The only thing we can really do now is do our part and hope it's enough."
"ENOUGH!" Kaede yelled. "Stop it! Everyone! Do you really think we aren't going to make it out of here?"
"Um, we're literally in space getting ready to break into an alien ship. You tell me." Miu said, crossing her arms.
"Fine." Kaede said softly. "You all can think like that. Just know I'm going to try my hardest to keep you all alive. You have my word that as long as I'm alive, you'll be safe."
"I agree." Kirumi said. "I have decided to accept the request of the TCCSE, as well as Kaede. I will devote myself to completing the mission and returning us all home safely."
"I won't let anyone get hurt if I can help it." Rantaro said.
"Ditto. I'm the captain and no one dies unless I say so!" Kaito added.
"I'll die whenever I want! And a degenerate male doesn't get to decide that!" Tenko yelled.
"Tenko, that didn't make sense." Himiko said.
"Whatever! I'm gonna protect all the girls here." she said, crossing her arms. "And maybe the boys. It depends."
"That's the spirit!" Kaede cheered. "We can't give up before we've even started. Please, believe in me and believe in yourselves."
"If I hear the word believe one more time today I'm gonna puke." Kokichi had returned. "So, what are we waiting for? Are we going or not?"
"I thought you didn't want to." Kaito said suspiciously.
"Uh, obvi I don't want to. But if I get my own cemetery and a few statues, I'm cool with it. Unless I die of boredom first because you stupidheads aren't doing anything." he crossed his arms and pouted.
"Uh...Miu, can I put you on navigation?" Kaito asked.
"I don't take orders from you, but yeah. Sure." Miu said. "I'll get you to the ship faster than a virgin's first time!"
"...Great. Rantaro, Kaede, Shuichi, help me get supplies ready. Tsmugi, try and fix up everyone's suits. Tenko, Himiko, Angie, find Korekiyo, yell at him for being depressing and then bring him to me."
"Let's go hunt down a male!" Tenko cheered.
"Kirumi, Ryoma, Gonta. Go check out the weapons we have. Don't kill anyone."
"Gentlemen don't kill." Gonta said cheerfully.
"Kokichi, Kiibo, Stay with Miu if she needs anything."
"I don't want them!" Miu yelled back.
"What about me?"
Kaito jumped. He had honestly forgotten about Maki. "Jesus! Um, come with us I guess." Kaito said. "Or check out weapons. Whatever you want."
"I'll just go with you." Maki sighed. "Tell me what to do and I'll do it."
"At least someone's helpful around here." Kaito sighed, eyeing Kokichi.
"Alright! That's a lot of space stuff!" Kaito cheered. "Look at all this!"
"I have no idea what I'm looking at." Shuichi said apologetically.
"Ok, so this here is a thermopatch. It keeps you from freezing to death. That one there's a hydropatch. It keeps you hydrated. And that one is a nunyapatch."
"What's nunya?"
"Nunya buisness." Maki rolled her eyes. "What!" Kaito said. "I know that's old but come on, I think it's funny."
"Hilarious." Rantaro said, patting Kaito on the shoulder. "So you said patches. What do you place em on?"
"Your skin." Kaito said. "Different places depending on what patch they're using. They're a lot of things. There's different medicine, adrenaline, sedatives..."
"Wow. So drugs." Kaede said.
"Yeah, these aren't mass distributed any more. There was a massive breach in security so they recalled them. There were massive trafficking rings."
"So have you ever used one?" Kaede asked, picking one up and rubbing her fingers over it.
"Nah." Kaito lied. "I just know how to recognize which one does what. Just grab a bunch of each. Maki, you can sort them into piles of one of each. They're good to have."
Maki nodded, taking a handful of patches before sitting down and sorting them.
"The rest of this stuff is first aid." Kaito said. "We really wanna have those. Of course they're not organized either, so Kaede, Rantaro, you can do that."
"You got it." Rantaro said.
"Me and Shuichi are gonna head back and see what else we got." Kaito said. Shuichi followed him back through the shelves of supplies.
"It's pretty cool how you know all that stuff about the patches." Shuichi said. "You sure you've never used them before?"
"No, like I said, I just studied them." Kaito said.
He couldn't mention the patch that was currently stuck to his chest, pressed tight against his skin. The patch that had been releasing medication to his failing body. Not to mention that the patch was highly illegal. Kaito had managed to...find some, but his supply had been dwindling.
Maybe he was being paranoid, but Kokichi really had managed to get under his skin. Maybe it was better to not mention anything about his sickness, just in case.
Better safe than sorry, that's why he was doing this. He was protecting himself. Kaito grimaced and forced his thoughts away from his predicament. Thankfully a distraction was just around the corner.
"Hey! Check it out! Drones!"