Transport
Swarm. The word haunted Kaito, playing through his mind every other second. Swarm. What a word.
Mere seconds after the announcement of the Swarm, the woman's terse voice had returned, instructing them to peruse a small fleet of shuttles that was presumably headed towards the Homeworld. Rantaro had vanished after being told that the most recent Abducted were most likely contained in the shuttles. He hadn't said it to anyone, but Kaito was certain that Rantaro had been hoping the destruction of the Imperial had halted the Abduction.
He sat in the cockpit with only Shuichi and Kiibo for company. Kaede had offered to try and find Rantaro, and the others were most likely making their personal preparations for the work ahead. Kaito almost found it ironic. They had done so much work already, but their mission had hardly begun.
"Is this humor?" Kiibo asked suddenly. "I believe it falls under the category of comedic irony. If we continue to draw parallels between the insect-like appearance of the aliens, would it not be too much of a stretch to call the Homeworld the Hive?" he smiled hopefully.
"What?" Kaito asked. His mind was still stuck on the swarm.
Kiibo sighed. "It needs work, doesn't it."
"No, I got it." Shuichi said. "It's not really the time for jokes...but yeah, we could call it that."
Kiibo nodded. "Apologies. I'll try to do something more useful."
"Are you ok?" Kaito asked. Admittedly, he had no idea how to react to Kiibo. He'd never talked to a robot before. He didn't know robots like this existed even! Kiibo was remarkably human-like, something that unsettled Kaito a little. Before meeting Kiibo, robots were little rectangle thingies with flashing lights and metallic voices. He hadn't even tried to think about the paradoxes Kiibo presented. It was too much on top of everything else.
"Why are you asking? Am I doing something that makes you uncomfortable?" Kiibo asked. "I can just go-"
"No, you don't have to." Kaito said quickly. "It's just-"
"I know." Kiibo said, crossing his arms. He sounded bitter. "It's the whole robot thing. I promise I'm just like the rest of you!" he almost sounded desperate.
"Honestly, I almost forgot you were a robot." Shuichi spoke up.
"What! I'm doing an even worse job than I thought!" Kiibo wailed. Kaito debated asking him if he wanted to be seen as a robot or a human. Kiibo seemed a little contradictory.
"No, I mean in all the craziness, you've been doing your best too." Shuichi said. "You're up here with us, working with us. To me, that makes you one of us, no questions asked." he blushed after speaking. "I didn't phrase that very well."
Kiibo's face lit up. "No! I understood perfectly. Thank you, if I could feel happiness I would be feeling warm and fuzzy right now."
"Are you sure you can't feel emotions?" Kaito asked.
"I'm certain." Kiibo said. "The fact that I felt something similar to embarrassment after realizing Kokichi had made a fool out of me was an odd coincidence."
Kaito raised an eyebrow and exchanged a look with Shuichi before laughing. There was something endearing about Kiibo. "Alright, I'll take your word for it. But seriously bro, stay. I need all the emotional support I can get right now."
Kiibo awkwardly patted him on the shoulder. "Was that an appropriate response?"
"Yeah, it was perfect." Kaito said. The conversation was helping his nerves. "Actually, can I ask you something?"
"Yes! I'm happy to answer anything, so long as it's not robophobic." Kiibo said.
"Ok. So how exactly were you...born. Or made?" Kaito asked.
"A brilliant scientist devoted his life to building me." Kiibo said. "When I'm fully operational I will be charged with helping the human race as best I can."
"So you're not fully operational yet?" Shuichi asked.
"No, not yet. I should be capable of so much more." Kiibo said.
"So, can you shoot lasers out of your eyes?" Kaito asked, growing excited. "Ooh! What about jet packs!"
"I do not have those functions! I'm not part of some science fiction plot!" Kiibo said, looking offended. The obscurity of the statement caused Kaito to burst out laughing. He'd had many random dreams over the years about meeting robots, but none of them held a candle to this real interaction.
"Well, I'm sure you have all sorts of helpful skills." Shuichi said. "You're here for a reason. Did you get anything good out of those transmissions?"
Kiibo nodded. "I transcribed them in to written...words I guess, and gave them over to our intellectual team. I would have liked to help but...I do not think they like me."
Kaito found himself thinking that Kiibo was potentially less strange than Korekiyo and Angie. "Huh? Why do you think that? Angie seems pretty sweet, and Kiyo's a little cold, but I think he's a good guy."
"Angie keeps calling me the "Walking Sculpture" and Korekiyo just stares at me." Kiibo said sadly. "I'd like to get to know them. I feel like talking to them could enhance my understanding of humans!"
"Well, just talk to them like you are with us." Kaito said. "I think you're totally awesome now! See? It's not so hard."
"You think I'm awesome?" Kiibo asked softly.
"Hell yeah I do! Robot or not, you're super cool." Kaito said.
"If I could blush, I would." Kiibo said. He looked awestruck by the compliment. He suddenly looked serious. "Forgive me for the sudden proposal, but would the two of you be interested in forming a companionship based bond with me?"
"I...huh?" Kaito asked.
"Are you asking us to be your friends?" Shuichi asked. He had finally looked up.
"Um, yes." Kiibo said sheepishly. "I find the two of you to be quite awesome as well."
Kaito grinned. "You have got to be the most pure, innocent thing I've ever met."
"I-I'm not a thing!"
"Nope, you're my friend." Kaito said. Kiibo beamed.
The moment was shattered as the doors slid open, revealing an irritated Miu. "The hell are you virgins talking about?"
Shuichi quickly looked down. "N-nothing..."
Miu eyed him. "Chill, I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at the fuckin' lack of supplies. This is ridiculous! I'm the Ultimate Inventor! You'd think they'd give me some decent tools to work with!"
"What do you mean?" Kaito asked.
"Well, I was thinking about whipping a little something something up that would help us handle the creepy crawlies better. Maybe something that cuts through their shells, but I don't have anything to work with! Not even a box of cheap condums!"
"How would one kill something with a cheap condum?" Kiibo asked.
"You don't wanna know. Anyways I'm bored and I have cramps. I think I'm gonna be the first fuckin' bitch to get her period in space."
Well the conversation had turned uncomfortable.
"How about you?" Miu asked, turning to Kiibo. "You got any weapons? Or should I break you down for parts?"
"Th-That's the equivalent of disembowelment!" Kiibo squeaked. "Please don't!"
"Fine, plan B. We give Gonta a shit ton of weapons and see what happens." Miu said, looking at her nails.
"The poor guy's gonna blow a hole in himself." Kaito said, shaking his head. Then he remembered. "Hey, has he been acting weird?"
"He talks in the third person and told me he was raised by animals. Define weird." Kiibo said.
"Weird would be a robot." Miu said. She eyed Kiibo suspiciously. "Come to think of it, where the hell have they been hiding you? I've been at the top of the tech scene since I was ten, and as far as I know, we don't have the stuff to make an android."
"I'm not weird..." Kiibo said sadly. Kaito decided to turn the conversation around. Something about Miu set things on the offensive.
"Don't you have an Ultimate Lab?"
"Yeah, but it doesn't have anything useful. Not for what I want to make. I couldn't make anything dangerous out of that shit if I tried."
Kaito saw Shuichi shift out of the corner of his eye. Shuichi seemed to be thinking now, and Kaito had a feeling that the detective had picked up on something.
"Are we there yet?!" Kokichi whined, coming to stand behind Kaito. "I'm sooooo bored." he sighed, draping himself over Kaito's chair.
Kaito felt the irritation spike and he glared at Kokichi, who sent him a chilling grin, one lacking all playful teasing.
"Gee, do you see a massive alien space port? 'Cause I don't." Miu grumbled.
"We are calling it the Hive." Kiibo spoke up.
"We entered hyperspace a while ago." Kaito said. "See those little dots? Those are the shuttles. I don't think we're getting anywhere at least for another few hours. The shuttles aren't slowing down or anything.
"Great. Fantastic. What the hell's hyper space?" Kokichi asked. Kaito stared at him.
"Hyperspace is faster than light travel, it's faster than faster than light travel. It's one of the most basic concepts in aerospace engineering!"
"Well, surprise, but I'm not an aerospace engineer." Kokichi said.
"Point is we're covering distance in minutes when it would have taken the first rockets centuries." Kaito said.
"Cool!" Kokichi said, eyes lighting up. "Hey, hey, it almost looks like a video game. Let's try shooting em down!"
"But we need those! They're our guides!" Kiibo said.
"Not to mention there's people in them!" Shuichi added.
"Whatever, they're screwed either way. Might as well end their suffering quick." Kokichi said, slowly reaching towards the weapons controls. Kaito slapped his hand away.
"Don't you even fucking think about it. You just blew up an alien ship! Isn't that enough?!"
"It was! But now I'm bored again." Kokichi whined. "So I wanna blow more stuff up. C'mon Spaceboy! Lemme blow things up!!"
"Go away Kokichi." Kaito said, covering the weapons controls with his body.
"So mean." Kokichi said, tears streaming down his cheeks. "WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN TO ME!"
"Jesus! You're gonna blow my fucking eardrums out!" Miu yelled. "Shut it or I'll punch you!"
"I'm not scared of you." Kokichi said, calming down instantly. "And whatevs, I'll leave but not because you want me to. It's boring here." he turned to leave and almost walked into Kirumi.
"I do not mean to interrupt, but Gonta recently asked me for a large quantity of raw meat. I have newfound concerns about his dietary habits." Kirumi said.
"This just keeps getting weirder." Kiibo sighed. The irony of him of all people saying that was not lost on Kaito.
Kaito had gone off in search of Gonta. He needed a break from staring at the endless expanse of stars. He almost couldn't believe he was thinking that. The government had ruined space. Fantastic.
He stifled a few coughs as he weaved through the ship. His chest had been painful, but not terrible. He'd had a few coughing fits, but he'd blamed it on the dry air. He needed to apply a new medicine patch when he got the chance.
Gonta's lab doors were closed, and from the outside it looked just like the others. Kaito knocked on the door, jumping when he heard a thump and Gonta's panicked voice.
"Shh! You have to hide. Gonta sorry!" there was a swooshing noise as the doors slid open and Gonta stood in the doorway. "Hello Kaito!"
"What's up?" Kaito asked, trying to peer behind Gonta's bulk. Gonta shifted so he couldn't see.
"Gonta just taking self time." Gonta said. "Miu laughed when Gonta say where he going, and Gonta don't know why. Gonta only sitting quietly, doing nothing suspicious." He smiled brightly.
"Ok." Kaito said. He wasn't sure if Gonta was trying to say that he wasn't doing anything weird, or he was doing something weird and this was his way of hiding it.
"Ya hah!" Angie said, tapping Kaito on the shoulder. "Atua told me you would be here! Hello Gonta!"
Gonta waved cheerfully. Kaito turned to Angie. "Hey, what's going on?"
"We have something wonderful to show you!" Angie said happily. "Gonta, would you like to come? The more people who witness Atua's divine splendor, the better!"
Gonta shook his head sadly. "Gonta has to stay here and watch...Gonta has to stay here." Gonta said quickly. Kaito eyed him. Gonta turned back and peered at a cardboard box. "Gonta must watch box."
"What a shame." Angie sighed. "When you are done with it, Atua would love it if you let me have it. He could use me to make something wonderful! Look at that hole, it has potential."
"Hole?" Gonta asked. He picked up the box, which had a massive hole in it. "Oh no."
"Something wrong?" Kaito asked. He didn't like the nervous look on Gonta's face.
"On second thought, Gonta want to come." Gonta said quickly.
"Excellent! Come, come! We have kept Atua waiting long enough!!"
As Kaito and Gonta followed Angie, the former kept spotting the latter peeking into every room. "Gonta, you sure you're good?" Kaito asked.
"Gonta very good!" Gonta said quickly. "Gonta just looking for...for new box."
"Ok then." Kaito said. He would have to keep an eye on Gonta. He didn't want to accuse Gonta of anything, the guy seemed as sweet as can be, but something was going on.
"We are back!" Angie announced, stepping into the room she and Kiyo had occupied while Kaito was on the Imperial.
Himiko looked up. "Oh, good. I was about to show Kiyo a magic trick. He likes my magic."
Kiyo only nodded, but Kaito had the impression he was smiling. He hadn't pinned Kiyo as the type to like stage magic, but you never knew.
"Himiko, Atua is so pleased by your talents!" Angie gushed. Himiko practically glowed.
Gonta moved around the room, looking under papers, knocking things over. Angie and Kiyo both cringed.
"Um, Gonta, Atua says you should stop moving around-"
"Don't touch that!" Kiyo snapped, yanking a book away from Gonta. Gonta jerked back, surprised.
"Gonta sorry! Gonta did not mean to make friends angry!" he looked as if he might cry.
Kiyo softened. "My apologies for snapping. I find myself a bit stressed under circumstances."
"You can come look at bug pictures with Gonta! Gonta find that relaxing! They have lots of pretty colors." Gonta said excitedly.
Angie crawled under a counter, retrieving a sheet of paper. "This is what I-Eek!" she jumped back. "There's something under there!"
"What?" Kaito asked.
"It must have been my magic." Himiko said, nodding like this was nothing concerning.
"Is anyone else confused as to how vermin infiltrated a spacecraft?" Kaito heard Kiyo say. Kaito was slowly approaching the counter. As he got closer, he could hear a faint clicking and hissing.
"Bugs not vermin!" Gonta said. He turned to Kaito. "No! Don't hurt him!"
"I don't even know what it is!" Kaito said. He slowly peeked under the counter. Something lunged at his face. "AAAGH!"
Kaito jumped back hands over his face. He staggered blindly. "HELP! GET IT OFF!" he banged into desks, chairs, and then toppled over to the floor.
"Nothing's on you." Himiko said. Kaito opened his eyes to see her looking down at him. "There wasn't anything. My magic must have made it disappear."
"That seems logical!" Angie chirped. "Himiko's magic is something special. Right Kiyo?"
"Yes, of course." Kaito noticed how Kiyo was still scanning the room, looking unsettled.
"Anyways, tada!" Angie held up a sheet of paper with a series of symbols scrawled on it. As Kaito looked closer, he saw that scrawled was far too harsh of a word. Each symbol had been carefully sketched out and shaded, each one was a work of art.
"Gonta like picture!" Gonta said. He was holding his hands behind his back.
"Behold the first translation of an alien alphabet." Kiyo said. "It's incomplete, but it may serve a the basis of a decoding system. I'm currently working on uploading it."
"He's been working on that for the last twenty minutes." Angie whispered. Ironically, her whisper was just as loud as her talking voice. "He's not good at technology."
"I heard that." Kiyo muttered, tapping something out on his datapad.
"Please allow Gonta!" Gonta said, taking the datapad. He hit a few buttons and it beeped cheerfully. "There! Gonta uploaded picture."
"I...thank you." Korekiyo said slowly.
"Did the animals teach you that in the forest?" Himiko asked. She sounded genuinely interested.
"No, Gonta learned earlier. Gonta been taking lots of pictures." Gonta said happily.
"Angie, Kiyo, great job. Seriously." Kaito said. "Jesus, you guys are fast."
"By the will of Atua!" Angie cheered.
"I haven't slept in three days." Kiyo sighed.
Five minutes later found Kaito hunched over the sink, wiping the tears from his eyes. The convulsions had been worse, and they'd come out of nowhere. He'd had to duck out of the room suddenly, already choking on the blood that was rising. He'd barely locked the door before launching into the worst episode he'd had in a long time. It felt like it lasted hours, but upon checking, it had only been two minutes.
Kaito let himself slump onto the floor and into a fetal position. Everything hurt. Even worse, he felt hopeless. He'd been able to ignore it all for a while now, but this episode had brought him back to reality. He was getting worse, and fast.
Kaito remembered the day he'd been diagnosed. He'd been running on the playground with other classmates. He'd been nine, and in second or third grade. He couldn't remember if he was chasing or running from a friend, when he felt his chest seize. The next thing he knew, he was on his hands and knees coughing, and everyone had been pulled away from him.
Little Kaito had been quarantined alone in the art room, shaking from both fear and exhaustion. When medical teams finally arrived to collect him, decked in hazmat suits that made them look inhuman, Kaito had passed out from the combination of both.
Even though he wasn't dead, the diagnosis ended his life. He had an expiration date. He was contagious. He wouldn't ever be hired for anything. Who would give him a job? He was just going to die. He could still remember the looks on his grandparents' faces. The shock and horror. Kaito wasn't sure he had understood what was happening. He knew he'd had it explained to him years later.
He had been tracked as an Ultimate at a young age. He wasn't sure how it worked exactly, but he'd shown some kind of mental prowess that served as a marker for Ultimate potential. He had been presumed immune, and therefore hardly any precautions had been taken. It had been a shock. He remembered his grandfather bitterly recounting how the doctor had excitedly stated that Kaito was the first instance of this ever happening.
Later Kaito had learned that his genes hadn't completely failed him. His life expectancy was much longer than non Ultimates who contracted the illness. He'd just die slowly, and wasn't that so much better? Kaito honestly wasn't sure.
That had started his path of trying to get to space no matter what. He'd originally been interested in a strictly scientific field, but he no longer had the time for schooling. Becoming an astronaut was his best bet. However, he wasn't sure if he'd live to the required age to take the entrance exam. He'd...solved that problem.
And now, here he was in space. He'd technically accomplished his goal, but he didn't feel anything. He had expected to feel something incredible, a feeling that would make dying feel ok, but there was nothing. It was the mission, he thought. He'd wanted to go to space to be among the stars, not fight for his life with a team of strangers. In a way, it was almost ironic. He couldn't even achieve his only dream, and now he was trying to persuade people to believe in him.
And all the while he got sicker and sicker.
A knock on the bathroom door shook Kaito from his thoughts. He didn't want to move yet. He was hurting. Hurting all over. He honestly wanted to sleep. Maybe he could sleep forever...
"Kaito?" Rantaro's voice was slightly muffled by the door. "You ok in there?"
"I'm taking a shit!" Kaito managed. His voice was harsh and gravelly. Talking had hurt a lot more than he thought it would, but thankfully, it did buy him the moments he needed to compose himself, and remove any traces of blood.
When he emerged from the bathroom, he felt woozy. He felt as if he was walking through one of the anti gravity training rooms, despite the ship having full gravity. He might need to lay down. He hadn't felt this bad in a long time.
"Goddamn, you ok?" Rantaro asked, seeing him. "You don't look so good."
"Mm' fine." Kaito managed, leaning heavily on the wall. "Bad food or something."
"Ok." Rantaro said. "Do you want to go to your room?"
Kaito nodded, and before he could do anything else, the Ultimate Adventurer was practically carrying him towards his room. "You're strong." he said groggily.
"Yeah, I've given plenty of piggy back rides in my day. Walking someone to their room is nothing." Rantaro laughed.
"Siblings?" Kaito asked. His throat protested but speaking gave him something else to think about.
"Yeah." Rantaro nodded. "Twelve sisters."
"Jesus!" As shitty as he felt, the surprise could still be heard in his voice.
"Yeah." Rantaro laughed. "Most are step sisters. Remarrying a hundred times is all the rage in upper class society, so I'm told."
"So twelve girls, and you." Kaito said, laughing weakly. "How's that going?"
"Not bad." Rantaro shrugged. "I'm the oldest, so I was always in charge of watching over everyone else. Plus I got my own room."
Kaito nodded, stumbling slightly over the steps up to his room. "Shit, sorry."
"Don't be. I gotcha." Rantaro said, carefully guiding him.
"What did they think of you going up here?" Kaito asked. He found himself surprisingly interested in the pasts of his crewmates.
Rantaro was silent for a moment. "I dunno. We haven't talked in a long while."
"Well, hopefully you'll see them soon." Kaito said.
"Hopefully." Rantaro helped him through the doors and settled him on his bed. Kaito was surprised as Rantaro leaned over him, pressing a hand to his forehead.
"What are you doing?"
"What, oh, checking for a fever." Rantaro laughed. "Instinct I guess. Want me to get anything for you? Water or something?"
"Yeah." Kaito nodded. "Wait, did you need something?"
"No." Rantaro said, shrugging. "I saw you go in there, and you were in there for a while. Thought I heard coughing too. Sorry, didn't mean to invade privacy or anything."
"No, no, it's ok." Kaito said. "You're kinda weird."
"Excuse me?"
"Wait, shit, that came out wrong." Kaito said. "I mean it's rare to find someone like you. Someone who just cares, y'know? Wait, I think that made even less sense."
Rantaro shook his head. "No, I got it. Rest up now, ok? I'll keep an eye on things for you."
"Ok." Kaito mumbled. "Thanks."
"No problem."
"Hey Rantaro."
"Mm?"
"Your sisters are lucky to have you."
He didn't get a response.
When Kaito awoke, he felt strong enough to dig in the pockets of his luggage for the small pouch of medicine patches. Upon examining the old one, it became very clear that the patch was empty, and had been for some time. That would explain the heightened severity of the episode. Kaito would have to be more careful from now on.
It was also more than a little unsettling how dependent he'd become on the medication.
"Kaito! Hey!" Kaede called when she saw him exiting his room. "Rantaro said you weren't feeling good. Are you doing ok?"
Kaito could already feel the sweet relief being spread by the medication pumping through his body. He decided to answer honestly. "Yeah, I'm feeling better."
"Good, I was a little worried." Kaede said, giving him a bright smile. "You wanna come up to the cockpit with me? Shuichi's up there right now."
Kaito nodded. "Yeah, sure. Wait, how long have I been asleep for."
"Three years." Kaede said gravely. When Kaito stared at her, she laughed. "I was kidding, two hours at the most."
"Has Shuichi been there the whole time?"
"Yeah, I think so. He said he wanted to keep an eye on things for you, like a good sidekick would." Kaede said.
"Oh my god, that's-"
"Adorable?" Kaede asked. "Yeah, I thought so too. "We'd better not tell him though, or I don't think he'll make eye contact with either of us ever again."
The easy flow of the conversation made Kaito feel almost as if the turmoil of the episode had never happened.
And then he saw the pandemonium in the cockpit.