Chapter 7

Translated by SkyTL Edited by SkyTL

Chapter 7: The girl with silver hair

The next day, it was my job to ask Ira for the materials that our Riza needed.

To repair a ship, you need quite a lot of materials. Fortunately, the Astoria had a good number of materials left over that could be used to repair the Eos.

However, there is a problem.

Ira, the Astoria’s management system, and Riza, our Eos’ management system, don’t get along well, even though they are both robots. Ira, who puts Astoria’s safety first, is very cold toward Riza, who wants to get on with repairing Eos. No matter what she asks, she always resists.

Therefore, whenever there was a conflict, I had to use my second principle right and order Ira to obey.

The problem is that you can’t just order Ira to “quietly obey Riza” and leave her alone. If I don’t address her directly, she will immediately disobey on principle and say that she doesn’t want to risk her safety. This happens many times a day.

What a pain in the ass these robots are. By their standards, it’s apparently not a violation of the first rule if they cause me more grief each time.

Another problem is the food is not very good.

I ate here again today, but I had to remind myself that yesterday’s “Green” was a feast for the eyes. The “Blue” dinner, in particular, was appalling, to say the least. I can’t even begin describing it.

I know this is a luxury in the middle of nowhere, but it’s still hard to get a good meal. In fact, food is one of the few things you can enjoy in this remote part of the universe.

I decided to ask Riza to prepare a proper meal for me tomorrow.

I managed to note down my activities for the day while trying not to let my mind wander. I looked at my watch and saw I still had some time before my next errand.

I think for a moment and then call up the image data on the display.

“Lyle, it’s been a long time.”

A silver-haired girl, Miss Whitford, smiles at me from the display.

This last video letter of hers arrived while I was in cryo-sleep after Eos’ accident. I’ve been in a flurry of activity since then, and now I finally got to see it. She was the same girl I knew and was familiar with.

Miss Whitford talks about the nature of the earth and plants, in addition to the usual earth literature.

She really loves the earth. In her last video letter, she expressed her interest in the sweets of the earth.

At the time, I thought I would like to meet her one day and take her out for something sweet. That’s what I thought, and that’s what I told her in my reply.

But the Astoria accident was fifteen to seven years ago, and the total extinction of humanity, as far as Ira, the management system confirms, was confirmed ten to three years ago.

Just yesterday I learned that Ira hadn’t reported this to Eos until today.

So who is the Miss Whitford who speaks so cheerfully in this video letter? This video letter was written after the time when humans were supposedly exterminated. Is she actually still alive, or is she an image created by Ira, or is she just another person pretending to be her? If I had questioned her, she would have answered me, but I haven’t done so until now.

Because I probably already knew the answer.

I stopped Miss Whitford’s video letter halfway through and sat down low in a chair set up in the room. This was the first time I hadn’t watched her video letter all the way through. Normally, I would have run it through three times.

At that moment, a small beep sounded from the door of the room.

“Lyle-sama, it’s Lacey. You wanted to see me?”

“Come in.”

I reply as I sit up. Just in time. The door opens with a small bang.

It’s Lacey, the silver-haired girl who’s been causing me so much trouble, lately, walking in. Her gray eyes stare at me without showing any emotion.

“…What can I do for you?”

“I’ll talk to them one by one. Hey, Riza, enough with the surveillance.”

I said to the ceiling and disconnected Riza from the system in this room. Just like yesterday, this room was unmonitored by anyone.

I take out a slightly different thermos and the same bottle of pure water as yesterday.

“Is it me, not Charlotte today?”

“Huh? Yes, it’s a daily change.”

“Daily change, huh.”

Lacey muttered, raising her eyebrows slightly.

There’s nothing particularly disturbing or frightening about it, but I’m not sure there is. Because I’m going to ask her something unpleasant….

But given yesterday’s example, I’m sure she’ll be in a better mood if I serve her something from the thermos. Will she be as surprised as Charlotte, or will she keep her expressionless look? I ask with a small mischievous smile on my face.

“Did you hear from Charlotte about yesterday?”

“No, she said Lyle-sama asked him not to.”

“Yeah, she’s protecting herself well, isn’t she?”

“She’s not very good at hiding things.”

Her expression softened a bit. It was the first time Lacey had shown me a smile, a gentle smile that showed she cared about her friend.

I thought Charlotte was the only one who was special, but there was something human about Lacey, too. She doesn’t show her emotions very often, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel anything.

The blank stare she’s given me since we met and the girlish expression she just showed me both show a certain irrationality that is human.

“What should I do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“For example, should I take off my own clothes? Or would Lyle-sama like doing that for me? I will do anything you ask, but …”

“Wait a moment.”

“Maybe it’s better to keep them on?”

“You’re jumping in a strange direction at an alarming rate!”

Taking off her clothes?

Where in the world did she get that idea?

I want to interject, but Lacey continues with a slight shake of her head.

“I understand. Lyle-sama is a healthy male human being.”

“I’m not!”

I don’t like that. And I especially don’t want her to misunderstand me that way.

I sigh loudly and check her words with one hand while pointing to the chair in front of the table with the other.

“…Hmm. Just sit down. It’s not like that. Really, I just want to talk to you.”

“…?”

Lacey looks a little confused and sits down in her chair to follow my instructions.

I pour the same tea into a cup that I served Charlotte yesterday and carefully take the contents of the other insulated container from the one I served her yesterday and place it on a plate.

One in front of Lacey, one in front of me.

“This is…”

Lacey’s eyes widened with a gasp when she saw what was on the plate.

It was a beautiful fruit cake that looked like a jewelry box, with colorful fruits on top of the cookie dough.

Of course, all the fruits are imitations, but mangoes, blackberries, pineapples, melons, cherries, etc. look and feel just like the real thing. The taste is also very good.

It’s a masterpiece developed by Yuri, a burly programmer who has made a hobby of tinkering with the Eos food factory to make candy.

“You know that?”

“Yeah, I know. It’s a fruit cake, a pastry of the earth. Well…”

She hesitated, then looked me straight in the eye, like she was trying to build up her courage or something.

“…You remember me.”

“Of course, I won’t forget my promise to you. Besides, I’ve been in cryosleep for a long time, and it’s only been a short time for me.”

I paused to catch my breath. It took some courage for me to say the name, though I was ready to do so.

“…Miss Lacey Whitford. They looked the same and sounded the same as her name, but she had such an attitude that I didn’t know how to begin. Well… I’m glad to see you.”

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