Chapter 12

Translated by SkyTL Edited by SkyTL

Chapter 12: Cryosleep Pod

There was a small low vibration sound echoing around. I wondered if it was the sound of a compressor operating. Apparently, Astoria uses a compression-type refrigeration system.

At Eos, we use semiconductors for everything that is possible with semiconductors, and our chillers are usually based on thermoelectric elements.

The use of mechanical compressors for cooling then seems old-fashioned and somewhat extravagant. But for a ship as large as the Astoria, there must be a point.

The cryosleep system was installed in a temporary compartment a short distance from the Simulant’s living quarters. The system itself was basically the same design as the one used by humans and the one used by simulants. Medical treatment before and after freeze sleep is performed by Ira, so the operation is similar to our Eos.

“Speaking of which, Lacey. You are treated as human beings by Ira.”

“Yes.”

“For example, could you use the second principle to give orders to Ira?”

“I have never tried it, but I have heard that it is possible.”

“…I see. I understand…”

I thought that might be the case, but I guess that’s how it works.

I may have learned something good about this…

I followed Lacey thoughtfully, and soon we were standing in front of a very large, airtight door.

“The entrance is here”

At Lacey’s light touch, the airtight door opened on its own and cool air poured from inside. There were large cryo-sleep pods lined up in a row.

The surface of the pod was painted a slightly rough white, so we couldn’t see what was inside.

If it’s black, it’s a catacomb or something…

It is larger than any other system of its kind that I know of, and it is several generations older than the one on Eos. After the Astoria left Earth, information about the latest technology must have continued to be sent from Earth, but there seems to have been little change based on that information.

The other fifteen, whom I have not yet met in person, are apparently sleeping here.

“Is Lacey’s here too?”

“Yes. The slightly smaller one in the back is the pod for my use. Mine incorporates Earth’s new design to match the original and the experimental environment.”

Lacey’s original, or Miss Lacey Whitford, was the subject of a new cryo-sleep pod that had been upgraded with information from Earth. Lacey, who took over the experiment, is said to have set up an equivalent system.

It’s a cryo-sleep pod designed to spend the same amount of time as me.

Next to Lacey, Charlotte was looking around the room with great interest. She had never been in a cryosleep before and this was her first time in this room.

Come to think of it, Charlotte is the only one of us whose outside age matches the number of years she’s been born…

Riza is still standing diagonally behind me.

I didn’t bring Thomas with me. He was unhappy with the work Lacey and the others were doing, so I wanted to make it look like they were doing me a favor. Also, I was a little scared.

It was only a few minutes by trolley to the cryosleep pods, but Lacey was more than up to the task of guiding us.

“Oh, by the way, did Miss Whitford use the system here?”

“No, she would have been using the device connected to the lab all along. But we never saw it, because the research department is far away from here, quite far outside the administrative area of Ira…”

“Is the investigation … difficult?”

Half of my question is directed to Lacey and the other half to Riza. I look over at Riza.

With a little bit of anticipation.

It was a question of whether Riza would be able to go that far, but her intentions seemed to have been conveyed correctly, as she folded her arms and raised her eyebrows.

It’s not safe for Lyle to go with me, but I think it’s possible for me to go alone. But it’s a little difficult to go right now. But it’s a bit difficult to go now. It’s on the agenda, but should we hurry?”

“Oh, no.., you don’t have to. If you can do some research before you leave, that’s fine.”

“I understand. T hen hurry to a reasonable extent.”

Well, leave it to Riza, she won’t do anything wrong.

Then I looked around at the Hypersleep capsules, keeping in mind the material I had read earlier.

I need to write a full report for Earth about what happened in Astoria.

There are only a few places in this section that I can enter, and I don’t want to force myself to mess with it because I don’t want it to affect the simulants sleeping inside. I’m really only going to look around on the top side.

It’s a much bigger and louder system than the one in the Eos…

However, that is not the only thing I would like to see in the report, so I would like to have something more to say.

After about twenty minutes of boredom in the cryo-sleep pods, we went to a small quiet room with a table to catch our breath.

While I, the guest, was a bit bored, Charlotte, the guide, seemed to enjoy visiting the cryosleep pods. According to her, this area is restricted except when the cryo-sleep pods are in use, so she doesn’t have many chances to take a look around.

I shrugged my shoulders at Charlotte, who was both pleased and disappointed that she didn’t get a closer look at the precious opportunity.

“If it had been Eos’, we would have seen it immediately.”

“Is that so?”

“Our cryosleep capsules are modular. There is one in the medical container next to the guest house that I used to use. I’ll show you next time.”

It was the same container in which I took my first steps here in Astoria. It was placed within walking distance of the guesthouse, and since no one was using it, it was safe to look at it up close, touch it a little, or even open it up to see what was inside.

“Earth’s machine! I want to see it!”

“Um, Lyle-sama, for your information, I also…”

Charlotte’s eyes lit up at my suggestion, and next to her Lacey made a small noise.

I nod my head.

“It’s basically the same model Lacey used, so I don’t think there’s anything interesting to see.”

“…Yes, that is true…”

“No…”

When Lacey put on a disappointed look, I hastily shook my head to make up for it.

“Yeah, I think I’ll have Lacey take a look at it. And if you notice anything when you compare them, I can use that as a story for my report.”

“…Yes, I will do my best to compare.”

Lacey’s expression softened a little, as if she was aware or not that I had forced her to make up an excuse. At times like this, Lacey immediately tries to push her thoughts away, so it’s better to pull her along. I’m starting to understand how to handle her a little better.

And then Riza carelessly interrupts.

“Lyle-san, that container has already been collected and put away.”

“How?”

“I’m having a hard time understanding how slow Lyle-sama thinks my work is. And by the way, shouldn’t I be giving you a daily work report?”

“I’m sorry, I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to go through the work reports….”

“Well, that’s fine. Anyway.”

Riza continues to berate Lacey and the others mercilessly.

“You people give up.”

Riza is not kind to Simulants.The two of them, raised and dropped, stare at me with sorrowful eyes.

Well, I didn’t expect that to happen either… but I have a plan to fix it.

“Then I’ll show it to you next time you guys come to Eos. No one’s using it right now anyway.”

“What, I can go inside the ship? Then I don’t need a cryosleep pod, I want to see the inside of the ship.”

“I’ll still take it.”

“Lyle-san? Are you letting these people on the ship?”

When I nodded slightly at Charlotte’s request, Riza looked at me from the side with an expression of undisguised protest in her eyes. Her confidence in the Simulants is low. She does not want them to enter her sanctuary, Eos, and she makes that clear with every word.

Speaking of which. Do I need to check with Riza beforehand what I just thought of?

Uh, Riza. I need to talk to you later about that.

“What is it? Here and now… No, thank you. If it’s something you don’t want these guys to hear, ask them later.”

“Um, yeah, well, maybe later.”

It was a matter for Lacey and the others, but I couldn’t make a decision here and now, and I had Riza to prepare for. I decided to put the issue on hold for now.

I take a deep breath and look around the room.

Then I suddenly realized that this common room looked familiar.

Maybe this room is Miss Whitford…, or maybe it was Lacey at the time, or maybe it was the video letter that Lacey, who is here now, sent to me.

“Lacey, I have seen this room before. I have seen it before in a video letter.”

‘Ah…”

Lacey meets my gaze with some surprise as I begin. She pauses for a moment to think about it, and then turns her head in a rather uncomfortable way.

“…I’m sorry, Lyle-sama.”

“No, I’m not accusing you of anything. What did you apologize for?”

“I filmed a video letter in this room. It was here that I deceived Lyle-sama.

“I don’t want to talk about that. Oh, I see. This is it.”

Apparently Lacey felt more than a little guilty for pretending to be and impersonating the original Miss Lacey Whitford. However, thanks to her, I was able to maintain my hope of survival until I arrived in Astoria, and it is not as if Lacey, who was born long after Miss Whitford, was responsible for her death. It would be a lie to say that I have no feelings, but if anything, I am grateful to her.

I take another look around the common room.

It’s a dreary and featureless room, but that’s pretty much what you’d expect on a starship when resources are scarce. Yeah, but yeah. That’s how I remembered this room. It was not the kind of room that Miss Whitford normally used. She liked to take care of her plants, and there was always something in the video letters. Her video letters always showed some kind of plant, from a large houseplant to a palm-sized potted plant. In contrast, there is really nothing in this room.

Compared to the time when Miss Whitford was alive, Astoria now has that much less room.

“Still, I don’t have much to write about in my report…”

“I have compiled all the technical information so that you can simply write what you think about it from a human point of view. Feel free to write that the system is an old model and that there is nothing to see in it.”

“Riza has been rather harsh on this ship.”

Riza’s words are bland as I groan into the terminal display. She is a proud young lady who looks down on Astoria, which is more than 200 years older than she is.

“You know, we could get to know each other a little…”

I was about to say this when suddenly everything in my field of vision went dark without a sound.

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