Chapter 1
Senku tried to take slow breaths to preserve his oxygen as he stared out into the black, stillness of space. 118 billion, 15 million, 920 thousand seconds. That’s how long it had been since he first announced to his class, at age 11, that he wanted to go to space. Senku swallowed, looking out of the capsule where the Earth was visible over the horizon. He remembered it like it was yesterday.
His teacher, Mr. Shirasu, thought that he meant he wanted to be an astronaut when he was older. Like his desire to go into space ‘as soon as possible’ had been a pipe dream or a childhood fantasy. Senku told his class the day after Byakuya failed the astronaut swimming exam. They’d all laughed at him. He snorted as he looked out at the blue and white sphere. Maybe it had been. So much has happened since then…
117 billion, 876 million, 729 thousand, 600 seconds. That was how long it had been since Senku and all of humanity had first been petrified to this very moment. He was grateful the second petrification—the one of humanity’s own doing—hadn’t lasted as long; only 220 million, 838 thousand, 400 seconds. And just like he’d hypothesized, the petrification by the Medusa could heal people, even from mortal wounds.
Senku was glad the plan he’d formed in a matter of minutes had worked. It took longer to prepare than it did to come up with, but his South American team made it happen. Suika had made it to the tower before the petrification beam had passed and was the first to revive once the last bottle of revival fluid broke from its perch in the top of the tower.
Prior to Stanley’s attack on Fort Science in Araxa, Brazil, Senku wrote down the instructions for making the revival fluid for her. He and Gen had taught the Ishigami villagers how to read and write, and Suika had been one of them. He just hadn’t expected it to take seven years to bring him back. Still, he was impressed that it was such a short time. He had counted then, too.
It had been six years since then, and now they were here. Senku swallowed as he recalled waking up on the capsule. He and Xeno had come up with a plan that he, Stanley and Kohaku would be petrified once they boarded the ship. It would prevent any possible injuries due to the g-forces as they left the Earth’s atmosphere.
At first, he thought something had gone wrong. Maybe Xeno had betrayed him after all. When the timer on the revival fluid built into his watch had restored him, he’d been alone. Alone in the sense that he was the only one revived in the capsule. He reached for the shirt that was waiting for him, putting it on before looking out of the capsule window into the darkness.
It was an amazing thing. Looking out and seeing the Earth far below them. Something he’d always dreamed of seeing. But it was tainted by the thought that Xeno had left him stranded in space by himself. That was when the fear began to take hold. Fear and doubt. What was he doing? Had he left all those people on Earth to be ruled by the madman Xeno had become? Had the man really fooled them all? It didn’t make sense.
Senku looked over and saw Stanley still petrified. Why would Xeno have let Stanley come on this mission if that was the plan? Weren’t they friends? Why were the others still petrified? Stanley was the pilot, it made no sense that he was still petrified when they needed him to pilot the ship to connect it with the other modules. Were the other modules even coming? No, no, he thought. I can’t start thinking like that, but…
His next thought was panicked, as he wondered if their revival watches had been damaged by the g-forces as they left Earth.
“Good morning, Senku. I trust you’re awake now.”
Senku started at the sudden sound of Xeno’s voice over the radio.
“So, it wasn’t a malfunction, then,” Senku replied, his guard going up in an instant after his previous thoughts, wondering if the scientist who had been his mentor was calling to gloat. “You wanted me to wake up first.”
“You’re presently in zero gravity,” Xeno said. “Meaning liquids flow differently. There was a chance this could affect the revival fluid. So as a precaution, I deemed it wise to awaken you ahead of the others.”
“But if that’s the reason, then why…?” Senku asked, biting back his question about Stanley. “Right,” he said after a moment. “We’ll go ahead and leave it at that, shall we?”
There was no response as Senku realized why Xeno had timed his revival ahead of the others. A moment of quiet reflection. A moment alone to experience the emotions that came from seeing something for the first time. A moment alone so that he didn’t have to hide his emotional reactions from his crew mates. Xeno would have known. He’d worked with Byakuya all those years ago, and knew that he was Byakuya’s son, even if he was adopted.
Senku gave a snort of laughter. He was a scientist. He was nothing like Byakuya, Xeno should have known that. Like Xeno, he was more clinical and scientific than emotional like Byakuya. Still, Senku thought, looking out the window of the capsule. He’d always wanted to see this view.
He enjoyed it for a while, then inspected their equipment when he heard the sound of movement below and saw Stanley had also woken. During his talk with Xeno, he’d wondered if he could truly trust either of them, wondering for the briefest moment if they’d sabotaged the revival watches. If Xeno had some plan to come up and retrieve Stanley’s petrified body after Senku himself had perished, and return to Earth to revive him and rule over the world.
Ruling the new world they found themselves in… that had been Xeno’s plan before Senku and his friends had captured him, and Stanley had hunted them. It had all led up to Senku sending out a message to their friends that they would use the Medusa themselves, petrifying everyone as a last ditch effort to save humanity.
Seeing Stanley awake, allayed Senku’s doubts only a little. Maybe the plan was to have Stanley take him out in the quiet isolation of space, and destroy Kohaku’s petrified form before anyone on Earth was the wiser.
“Not even gonna pretend you’re surprised to see me awake?” Senku asked, looking back at Stanley from the window, when the man said nothing to him, but had reached for his vice almost immediately upon reviving after getting dressed. Stanley loved his cigarettes. Senku laughed, recalling Xeno had replaced them with chewing tobacco. “Admit it, you were in on Xeno’s little scheme, too. I wasn’t expecting you old fogies to get all sentimental on me. Weirdos.”
Stanley snorted. “Sentimental? You think too highly of yourself. I’m a soldier following orders. There’s really nothing more to it.”
Senku laughed. “Yeah, sure. We’ll just leave it at that.”
“Back in the late 20th century,” Xeno’s voice came over the radio. “There was a spaceship design that was completely lacking in windows. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the pilots protested this. Perceiving space with the naked eye was considered an integral part of an astronaut’s emotional well-being.”
“Are we good on oxygen?” Stanley asked, ignoring Xeno’s comment and Senku thought he sounded almost bored.
“Since docking in space presents unknowable risks,” Xeno replied over the radio. “We supplied you with an overabundance. It’s enough to account for the revival of another astronaut, for instance.”
Senku and Stanley looked at each other in surprise.
It wasn’t long before Kohaku was revived, dressed and had her face pressed against the window in excitement. Senku grinned as he found more amusement in watching her reaction than he had with his own.
He didn’t say it, but it irritated him that she kept trying to get an emotional response from him when they shared a meal of the space ramen that Francois had prepared for them a short time later.
He sighed internally as she went on and on, talking about Byakuya, the station he’d been on, and what happened to it, wondering aloud if it was still drifting out here somewhere. He swallowed as he thought about it. Like everything else down on Earth from the old world, nothing was left. It had been in a controlled fall, pulled to Earth eventually, and rained down as comets.
It wasn’t long after their meal that they got to work. Stanley at the helm, piloting the ship as Senku explained to Kohaku about how Byakuya had also worked on a team that had to put their station together up in space like they had to do now. Senku wanted to roll his eyes at how excited Kohaku got when Stanley succeeded in making the first connection. He silently chided himself for it, having to remind himself that she didn’t come from his time.
True, it took skills and know-how to do it. Skills Stanley had as a pilot, but such skills were unimaginable to someone who was born and grew up in the Stone World. He had to remember that.
“Ha!” Kohaku burst excitedly as she watched. “You actually managed to pull it off, Stanley! You brought the ends of the two ships together up in space! I can’t imagine how hard it was since there isn’t an up or down!”
“Don’t get too far ahead of yourself,” Stanley replied coolly. “That’s just two modules. You can celebrate when we’ve connected all five.”
“Hey, we have an update for ya,” Senku said over the radio. “It’s a 10 billion percent success.” Senku blinked after a moment when there was no response. “Huh?” he asked.
“Come on!” Kohaku said. “Even you guys must be getting pretty excited about all of this.”
“Wait, is it just me, or is the Earth team a bit too quiet?” Senku asked. “The big oaf should be bawling and screaming his head off around now. It doesn’t make any sense that all of them have gone completely silent.” He gasped. The radio he thought. It’s gone silent.
They couldn’t wait.
Kohaku suited up and headed out for her first space walk. It was decided that she would go, when they found out it was only the communications to Earth that had died, and they could still talk to each other around the ship. After deliberating, it was decided that she would go out and see if there was a problem outside the ship while Senku checked inside, and Stanley piloted the ship.
“Okay,” Kohaku said over the radio a few minutes later after she made some repairs. “Looks like the third module is heading your way.”
“Ah,” Stanley said. “So your eyes are as sharp as they say. Well done.”
“You can always count on me when it comes to scouting,” Senku heard her reply over the radio. It wasn’t long before Kohaku returned to the ship and was safely back aboard. “I can even see stuff on the screen!” She blinked, looking at it and then screamed, “I’m sorry! I promise, I didn’t realize I was grabbing it that hard!”
“No need to panic, okay?” Senku assured her. He’d been watching the same screen, and saw what she was talking about. Part of the image on the monitor was fuzzy. “This isn’t your fault. There’s something wrong with the electrical system we’re using to power the ship.”
“Half of the image is messed up,” Kohaku observed when the third module came into view on the monitor. “How are we gonna dock with module 3 like this?” She looked to Stanley, wondering if she’d offended him. “Stanley,” she said apologetically, but with uncertainty. “I know you’re talented, but can you still do it?”
Stanley took hold of the flight control joystick confidently. “Yeah,” he said, determination in his voice. “I can still do it.”
And, he had, Senku thought, remembering the sound of Kohaku’s laugh and their small celebration at Stanley’s success. Senku however, had still been trying to figure out what was wrong with the electrical system. He opened up a panel and looked inside, before gasping.
“Are you shitting me?” he muttered under his breath. “That’s the culprit?” He’d tried to be quiet in his assessment, to not startle anyone as he’d pulled out the circuit board. He knew what it meant, and knew that Stanley knew as well. But Kohaku… She thought it was a stick that caused the problem.
“Petrification fragment?” Stanley asked, identifying it.
“I’d say it’s a single strand of petrified human hair,” Senku responded. “It must have been wedged in the circuit since before launch.”
“But that doesn’t make sense,” Kohaku argued. “How was one piece of hair petrified?” She gasped. “It must have been when we used the Medusa’s power on the rocket before blasting off!”
“Chalk it up to trial and error,” Senku said in frustration, getting nervous. There was no backup, and no telling how long this one would last. “That’s how science moves forward, by making mistakes. Seems we should have been petrified before ever setting foot in the rocket. It’s always easier to spot a failure after it’s already happened.”
As he spoke, the circuit overheated and the circuit board blew. Senku blinked, gasping. Catastrophic failure.
“The image is gone!” Kohaku exclaimed, looking at the screen.
With no radio, and no visuals, how could they ever get back? All those people… Senku thought, and swallowed. Even if the mission succeeded from here… which was now highly improbable, we might never get home. Gen. Senku blinked at the thought, wondering why he’d thought of him before anyone else… Before Taiju… Before Yuzuriha… both of which he’d known longer.
“We can’t see a thing on the docking monitor,” Kohaku confirmed.
“Module 4 is on the way,” Stanley’s report from the window interrupted Senku’s thoughts. “Is there any chance you can fix it?”
Senku’s anxiety was building, as was his frustration. He should have listened to Xeno instead of standing his ground on the weight limit of the rocket, and accounted for spare parts. They were dead in the water… or rather, dead in space, with no way out. There would be no way to even continue with a moon landing without the monitors.
“We’ve got ourselves a blown capacitor,” he replied. “There’s no way to know how bad the damage is. We need to replace the power distribution circuit. Thing is…” he added, wanting to kick himself for being an idiot. “We don’t have a backup… and we can’t get one in space.”
“We can’t do it without that camera!” Kohaku exclaimed. “We won’t be able to connect the ships if we’re blind! So there’s gotta be something we can do to fix it in time.”
The three were at the window, looking out at the impending disaster.
“Huh?” Kohaku said in confusion when the directional jets on the forth module began to fire. “You saw it too, right?” she asked, looking at Stanley. “The empty fourth ship? I’m pretty sure I saw it move, even though there’s not supposed to be anyone inside it.”
“I saw,” Stanley answered. “And it’s not empty. Someone hitched a ride into space.”
Senku joined Kohaku at the window.
“The fourth module contains our lunar lander,” he said. “And there is theoretically enough room for someone to cram in.”
“But who would do something that reckless?” Kohaku exclaimed.
Senku chuckled. “I can think of only one person in the entire Stone World who would 10 billion percent do something that ridiculous.”
“He’s brash enough,” Stanley drawled. “But docking from module 4 is gonna be pure hell.”
“Sure is,” Senku agreed. “Especially since he doesn’t have a reaction wheel.”
“And that’s…?” Kohaku asked in confusion.
“It’s the machine inside a spaceship that rotates it using a bunch of stupidly fast-spinning disks, like a spinning top,” Senku explained.
“If you rev the engines, that could potentially get you enough momentum to pilot it,” Stanley said. “But you’d run out of fuel real fast.”
“No way!” Kohaku exclaimed, her eyes widening in disbelief as she looked out the window at the fourth module. “I can’t believe he’s doing it!”
Senku blinked looking back at her over his shoulder when Kohaku had drawn his attention.
“Ryusui figured out a way to adjust the ship’s angle,” Kohaku reported.
Stanley and Senku looked out the window in surprise to see that she was right.
Senku burst out laughing as he realized what Ryusui was attempting to do and wondered just how long he had to live before the spaceship exploded. “The greediest man in the world is officially off his rocker!”
He relaxed after a few moments. There was no explosion. No scratching, scraping of metal on metal as he imagined as the minutes ticked by. Just the soft click that had sounded when Stanley had connected the first module. He and Stanley joined Kohaku around the hatch that led to where the fourth module would have docked, and when all was quiet once again, Kohaku opened the hatch.
Ryusui was a sight for sore eyes for Senku, who heard the snap of his fingers before the man appeared, causing Kohaku to laugh, and Senku gave the new arrival a well-earned high five.
Stanley, Senku and Kohaku blinked a moment later as Ryusui presented them with something. Something they desperately needed.
“That board,” Kohaku said, looking at the man’s hands. “It looks like ours, but not broken.”
“That’s exactly what it is,” Stanley said.
Senku took the board, connecting it in place of the broken one, and set it in the slot in the open panel, and chuckled. “This replacement panel is perfect. It’s hella easy to just swap out the whole thing. Good work you guys. Our backup flight control team came through.”
“You received a rather elegant gift,” Xeno’s voice came over the radio a few moments after the new circuit board was installed. “We heard the entire predicament from start to finish.”
Senku was relieved to once again have radio contact with Earth. Now that Ryusui arrived, even though he saved them with the replacement circuit board, his presence presented yet another complication, and his brother, Sai, had to run the calculations to account for his presence.
While he was running the numbers again, Senku reported back that they’d successfully completed their spaceship construction with the docking of the fifth and final module, and they were ready to continue the mission and pay Why-Man a long-overdue visit.
“We’re finally going to the moon,” Senku announced.
“For the duration of the mission,” Xeno said over the radio. “Flight control transmissions will be transferred from here on Treasure Island to the base of operations for the Kingdom of Science. We’ll send and receive waves from the orbiting ship and measure their round trip timing to calculate the ship’s distance. That’s not all. We can also calculate the speed with the Doppler effect of the radio signals.”
Once Sai was done with his calculations, Xeno made direct contact with Senku. Sai had run the numbers multiple times. While Ryusui’s arrival had saved the mission overall, it had complicated things, and now adjustments to the plan had to be made.
“After the first incident with the communications,” Xeno said. “I can understand your hesitancy, Senku.”
Senku swallowed. He wasn’t sure hesitancy was the right word.
“Sai’s gone over it multiple times,” Xeno continued. “There’s no other way.”
Yeah, Senku thought. The whole idea of building a rocket to the moon in the Stone World was just like throwing shit at a dartboard with a fan behind you, and hoping some hit the target rather than the wall. He chuckled at the thought. Who am I kidding? It was like that even in the modern era… Once the astronauts were up here, there wasn’t much more that people on the ground could do if something went wrong anyway…
“Senku?” Xeno asked, checking the connection when Senku didn’t respond.
“I’m here,” Senku replied. “Just give it to me straight, we don’t have time to sugarcoat the bullshit. Just tell me what we have to do.”
“Very well,” Xeno answered. “In the lunar lander in the fourth module are the revival watches we prepared for the return trip. You’ll need to readjust the setting on them. It’s lucky for Ryusui that we sent an extra in case something was damaged.”
“Yeah…” Senku said and sighed. “He’s one lucky guy…”
“You’ll need to re-calibrate the watches to release the revival fluid in 75 hours,” Xeno said, ignoring Senku’s comment. “The trip from Earth orbit to Lunar orbit will be approximately -”
“270,000 seconds,” Senku said with a smirk. He chuckled when there was a momentary silence before Xeno spoke again, and imagined him blinking in surprise then turning to Sai for a third verification after he ran his own math.
“Three days,” Xeno confirmed. “Yes. Technically the flight time would still have been three days, but with Ryusui’s added weight and drain on oxygen, Sai and I think it’s best to have another petrification before reaching the moon.”
“I see…” Senku replied. “So, you were going to leave us conscious for three days, fly to the moon, and petrified before re-entry… now we’ll have to deal with those g-forces on the return trip instead.”
“Precisely,” Xeno replied.
“I’ll get right on it,” Senku said.
That was around 270,000 seconds ago… Senku chuckled. Xeno probably thought it would take him a while to re-calibrate them. That wasn’t the hard part. The hard part was finding them in the first place, after Captain Goldilocks came to their rescue. True to his greedy nature and his word, Ryusui had made it to space, but his arrival was a double edged sword. While he saved their lives, his arrival also seemed to only delay the inevitable. Senku just hoped that he could thwart that inevitability one last time.
“Hey, Senku?” It was Kohaku who had been the one to ask what their next steps were. Senku smiled wryly to himself as the memory came to him. Of course it was Kohaku who had asked. Stanley was a soldier. He’d follow orders to the very end. Ryusui had ambition driven by greed and would see everything as some grand adventure. Kohaku though… She was the lioness, she wanted to know what they were up against and to figure out how to defeat it to protect the ones she loved.
Senku sighed softly. Three days ago, he told them of the change in plans. It seemed he was the only one to have misgivings about the change. He kept his mouth shut, though, keeping his thoughts to himself. Once again, their personalities shone through, just as he expected. So, they all took off their used revival fluid watches, and put on the ones he re-calibrated.
Xeno talked with Stanley and they set up the auto-pilot. There was more to it than just the flip of a switch in the Stone World, and Stanley needed Xeno to walk him through it while Senku worked on the watches, getting them ready after he’d located them.
“Hey,” Senku said as he was calibrating the last of them. “Before we set this thing off, I have a request.”
“What’s that?” Kohaku asked, looking at him curiously.
“We should use this as a learning exercise,” Senku answered. “Before we set off the petrification again, we should go to one of the other modules and make sure we don’t have any stray, loose hairs that could cause any more problems.”
He’d been a little surprised when they had readily agreed, and Kohaku had even put her hair up again to keep it out of the way, before she returned. Five meters in one second. Senku remembered saying, trying to calm his heartbeat, dreading the darkness after waking up alone for the second time.
Senku woke up alone once again, but only by a few seconds, not like before with Xeno giving him time to begin wondering and doubting. This time, it was only because he put the first watch he’d re-calibrated on his own wrist before starting on the next, and then the next and next until all four were completed. Stanley was revived second again, given his pilot experience, then Ryusui and Kohaku. Senku chuckled when she woke and nodded toward the window he was looking out of and she came over to look out.
“That’s it…” she murmured to herself after gasping in surprise. “The moon. I can’t believe how close we are.”
Senku was busy making the calculations needed for the moon landing while Kohaku continued to observe through the window. “That’s it?” she asked, and he looked up a moment, catching her confusion. “The other side of the moon? Looks like it’s taken a beating.”
“Yeah,” Senku answered, smiling slightly. “Back home on Earth, we’re always looking at the same side of it. The other half’s ridiculously nasty. Mr. Moon’s a trooper. It protects Earth by drawing in meteorites that would have otherwise nailed us.”
MECHA SENKU SCIENCE DROP!
Mecha Senku: (Pops up on screen with a squeaky marker and a chalkboard showing a heavily battered, crater-filled moon protecting a pristine blue Earth)
“Heh! Why is the far side of the moon so much more beat-up and ‘nasty’ than the side we see?
It all comes down to Tidal Locking!
Over billions of years, Earth’s powerful gravity has acted like a brake on the moon’s spin. Today, the moon is locked in place. It takes the exact same amount of time to rotate once on its own axis as it does to make one full orbit around Earth—exactly 27.3 days! Because its spin and orbit are perfectly synced, only one side ever faces us.
Since the moon is locked facing Earth, its far side is permanently turned outward toward deep space, acting as a giant, physical shield. Millions of space rocks that would have slammed right into Earth are instead pulled in by the moon’s gravity, taking the hit for us! That’s why the far side is absolutely covered in jagged, chaotic craters while our side stays relatively smooth!”
“Ha,” Kohaku’s laugh of amazement burst forth, and she smiled. “The moon’s always been protecting us without us humans even knowing it was happening.”
Ryusui laughed. “As for the three astronauts who get to set foot on our lunar guardian, it’s always possible something will go terribly wrong. Which is why we decided to only send three to the surface.”
“Yep,” Senku said. “I’m the scientist, so I’ll stay in the command -”
“No,” Ryusui said firmly, cutting him off. “I’m the one staying in the command module. You came here to represent the Kingdom of Science in our new Stone World. Senku, you know I’m not wrong on this.”
Senku looked at him, surprised.
“Ha!” Kohaku snorted in disbelief, folding her arms. “I’m shocked. I would have thought you’d want all the glory of setting foot on the moon.”
Ryusui laughed. “I’m a sailor after all. There are three in the landing party, but only one pilot staying behind. Of course, I want everything. But if I have to choose, I’ll opt for the more exclusive prize.” He snapped his fingers. “Am I wrong?”
Senku looked at him and relaxed just a little. He’d been wondering if there would be an argument wasting time, energy and precious resources when it came time to set out. He was relieved, just a little, that hadn’t happened.
“Sure,” he said after a moment. “If that’s your story, we’ll just leave it at that.”
The plan confirmed, Senku, Kohaku and Stanley suited up and headed for the fourth module where Ryusui had stowed aboard, and climbed into the lunar rover, buckling in before the module disconnected from the ship and headed for the surface.
“The eyes and ears of the world are on you,” Gen said. Senku blinked in surprise in his seat beside Stanley and was glad that the helmet design obscured peripheral vision when Gen’s voice came over the radio for the first time, and he found his face heating with embarrassment. “Have you thought of something clever to say for your first step on the moon?”
Senku groaned as chatter erupted over his radio channel with suggestions from Taiju, who copied Neil Armstrong without even knowing it, but got kudos from Chrome for its awesomeness.
“I agree,” Gen said and Senku almost chuckled at the tone he used. “But Neil Armstrong came up with it back when he became the first man to walk on the moon.” Senku could just imagine Gen’s expression and heard Taiju’s voice in the background along with Chrome’s as something else they thought was original was, in fact, not. Senku blinked again, his mind zeroing in on the thought he’d had, though the radio chatter continued with suggestions from Chrome, Moz, and Sai. Ukyo made a remark about one-liners before Gen interrupted them again.
“Go ahead,” Gen prodded. “Don’t keep us in suspense. Did you think of something to say?”
Senku swallowed. If truth were told, he’d only heard one of the suggestions after the Neil Armstrong debacle from Taiju. He’d been too distracted with his previous thought. He could… imagine Gen? Sure, it sounded innocent, Senku could picture all his friends…but something about imagining Gen made his throat tighten. As well as recalling that he’d once heard a person could only remember 150 people. No more, or they forgot someone if they met a new person. Senku swallowed again as the suggestion from Moz echoed in his mind. Cuties of the World, I’m on the market.
Senku made a dismissive sound. Moz’s suggestion was definitely out. The man was brazen and that just wasn’t him, but…the thought of saying that, for the world to hear… for Gen to hear… it wasn’t something he wanted everyone to hear. It made his chest feel tight, and not in a pleasant way. He wasn’t sure he wanted to say something like that and have Gen hear it. Gen was waiting, he had to say something.
“Nah…” he said in a tone of disinterest. “Didn’t give it one billionth of a second thought.”
“Could have called that one,” Gen returned dryly.
“That said,” Senku continued. “Landing on the moon means something different than it did in the 21st century. If we can’t defeat Why-man, humanity will eventually be wiped out. But if we do prevail, we’ll learn the secrets of petrification. The fate of all humanity is on the line as we step into our science future. We’re taking a giant leap forward! This is exhilarating. Get excited!”
Senku swallowed at the memory of his reply to Gen’s question. He scoffed, gritting his teeth. It had been all bravado. He knew that. Gen probably knew it, too, and knew it was a lie. But Senku remembered him saying that ‘the eyes and ears’ were upon him, and knew from the planning with Xeno, that they were broadcasting not just the audio but the video feeds of the mission back on Earth. He didn’t want to frighten all those people, let them see his unease about the mission.
They had modeled their flight after the Apollo 11 mission perfectly. Well, near perfectly. It had only taken three days to arrive here on the moon. 118 billion, 15 million, 920 thousand seconds after his first desire to go to space, he was here.
With grit and determination, we took this journey one brutal, ridiculous step at a time, leaving our primitive world, and making it all the way to the moon, Senku thought.
He swallowed again, and tightened his glove into a fist around the metal handle at the doorway when his hand trembled in his suit. Space was big, dark, and silent, and it reminded him of the time he’d spent petrified, unable to move. They’d come here for one reason, and one reason alone. To confront Why-Man and stop the threat of petrification. He took a deep breath, and jumped from the module, realizing he was too frozen to take a single step.
“We still don’t know who or what Why-man is,” Xeno said over the radio. “Our weapon’s meager at best.”
“Weapon?” Chrome’s voice came from a distance, and Senku knew he was there, but didn’t have a headset. “Are you talking about that kablooey net-launching thingy?”
Senku rolled his eyes.
“The net grenade gun?” Chrome finished.
“No,” Senku barely heard Tsukasa’s voice when he spoke. “They’ve brought one more. The capsule Medusa.”
More chatter came over the radio as Chelsea explained it to the Stone World villagers one more time.
Senku heard Ryusui interject when they still seemed lost.
“The Medusa is a powerful tool, both weapon and healing item. If the capsule is filled with air, it should be able to receive the voice commands we speak into our mics.”
“Ha!” Kohaku said triumphantly, holding the capsule. “And if it comes down to it, I can just hurl this thing straight at the enemy. I’ll say 10 meters, one sec -”
Senku and Stanley both rushed to stop her.
Are you insane? Senku wondered as she almost flubbed the entire mission.
“Uh… Oops, sorry,” Kohaku’s voice sounded in their headsets at their expressions. “That could have been pretty unfortunate for us, huh?”
“Areful-cay,” Gen warned over the radio. “Think first.”
“Look,” Stanley said. “Let’s just save the chit-chat for later.”
“Yeah,” Senku agreed. “Don’t waste that sweet O2.”
“I say we find this Why-man and settle the score,” Kohaku replied.
While they had been chatting with Earth, Stanley had gotten the lunar rover unloaded. He floored it in the direction of their destination after they’d all gotten aboard.
“Okay,” Minami said. “I guess we’re not getting a viral, heartfelt quote.”
“Soldier, efficiency freak and lioness on a hair-trigger would never wait for such a thing,” Gen answered.
Senku smirked, hearing it.
“Next stop,” he said. “The Taurus-Littrow Valley!”
“It’s gonna be easy for the enemy to see us coming,” Stanley said, ignoring the radio chatter.
It wasn’t so easy for Senku to ignore. He was listening, waiting for it to go dead again when they got out of range. Waiting for the utter darkness and isolation that would surround him and his team, and he was feeling edgy.
“…since we’re driving around in this shiny-ass thing.”
Senku laughed trying to cover his nerves.
“It’s a stealthier approach than landing on them,” he replied.
“Do you see that?” Kohaku asked, pointing before they reached the point for radio silence.
Senku looked over. “The remains of the Apollo 17 landing,” he replied.
“No,” Kohaku said. “That. It looks like a flag, right?”
Senku realized she was pointing at the flag planted in the lunar soil as they continued on.
“That’s because the USA planted our stars and stripes here,” Stanley answered. “The old American flag, representing a past world fractured by nations and borders that was ultimately wiped out. Old Glory… the star spangled banner of red, white and blue.”
Kohaku blinked as she looked at it. “I don’t see any stars,” she said.
Stanley snorted.
“The cosmic rays have been bleaching that thing out,” Senku said. “So there aren’t any stars or stripes left on it.”
“Ha!” Kohaku crowed, and Senku wondered if he wasn’t the only one putting on a brave front as she continued, “So Why-man just happens to be around here, right around the spot where humanity planted a flag.”
Stanley chuckled.
“Yeah,” Senku said. “That is a little bit suspicious. It’s not like the moon is some tiny rock or something. I bet it’s not a coincidence. There’s gotta be a reason for that.”
“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Stanley warned. “Assuming you know, can be deadly. We’ll just have to go and see for ourselves.”
The rover continued on toward their destination, and into radio silence. They’d only been traveling that way a few minutes when a movement from the corner of Senku’s eye caught his attention,a reflection caused by the last of the visible light they were leaving behind crossing his helmet, and he looked back at Kohaku, who was sitting in the back of the rover, and his crimson eyes went wide.
“Hey, Kohaku,” he said, his voice calm but laced with fear and warning. “What do you think you’re doing?” Senku asked, his alarm increasing, finding that she was opening up the capsule they had the Medusa in and catching her hand.
“It’s quiet,” Stanley said, his voice calm. “No one asked you to do anything just now.”
“But you told me to…” Kohaku protested, her eyes filled with fear. “I heard you.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Senku said. “We’ve been quiet since we left the Apollo.”
Kohaku gasped as she realized she’d been hearing things, and she heard Ukyo come across the radio. They hadn’t quite reached the dead zone yet, but his voice crackled through the headset. “Why-man’s using Senku’s mic frequency and copying his voice. He’s forging comms.”
The radio went out as they crossed into the dead zone and the capsule in Kohaku’s hand hissed as the air vented from it.
“They unlocked it for me…” a sinister voice that was all too familiar said over their radio. “Thank you so much.”
Stanley gripped the rover’s steering and turned it hard when the Medusa began to glow with a green light, activating, and he swung the steering hard, making the rover veer off course. Senku, Kohaku and Stanly were thrown from the rover as it slid in the lunar soil and turned over.
“Throw that thing, Kohaku!” Senku shouted urgently, as he slid across the moon’s surface on his back.
Kohaku ripped the capsule from her belt, snapping the band and threw it as hard as she could as the rover and Stanley kept sliding across the ground.
Senku chuckled, watching it move away from them.
“Kohaku and her lioness strength ought to get that far enough away from us,” he said, watching it float away.
“Especially true since we’re up here on the moon,” Stanley said, getting to his feet. “Six times farther than on Earth. Not bad.”
Senku and Stanley breathed a sigh of relief, watching the green light of the petrification beam go off and die away surrounding nothing but empty space.
“Aha!” Kohaku said, looking around them after the Medusa’s petrification beam activated well above them. “I think we may have found what we’re looking for.”
Senku and Stanley turned to see what she’d spotted when an eerie sound could be heard over their comms.
“There it is,” Kohaku said, pointing as the dark cloud they had seen was rising above the lunar surface, moving, shifting with the ease of weightlessness. And as they looked, they realized it was thousands of the Medusae. “So this is what’s behind that creepy black spot we’ve seen writhing around on the surface.”
Senku was shaking in his suit as he saw the cloud rising to tower over them like a tidal wave. “Holy shit…” he murmured. Finally, the truth behind all these mysteries is coming to light he thought as the memories raced through his mind. That green glow thousands of years ago, the mastermind behind it all, who petrified humanity. “All of that stuff was your doing, right? Because you’re Why-man.”
Senku heard Kohaku gasp and Stanley’s arm reached out to stop her as she started to move closer to the swarming black cloud, moving beyond the peripheral vision block on Senku’s helmet. “That’s the Medusa I threw,” she said. “The one we brought from Earth. The whole capsule is floating.”
“You’re the only ones who could have been crafty enough to fake my voice,” Senku said. “And send those forged comms earlier. You speak through radio, isn’t that right? So go on ahead and give us an answer.”
“Yes,” a voice came over their headsets and they gasped.
“Hmm,” Senku snorted. “It’s nuts. All this time, you were right there. Closer than we ever realized. It’s you, Medusa, or Medusas. You’re like a collective organism. Together you make up the machine life form, Why-man.”
“Do you wanna die?”
Senku swallowed and shiver went down his spine as he recalled that first, eerie question being heard over their radio on Earth.
“Hey there, Senku!”
Senku gave a start as Gen’s voice came over the radio, and he looked in confusion between Kohaku and Stanley, wondering if they heard Gen as well, and then to the Medusae in front of them, wondering if it was another trick with the comms. They were supposed to be in a dead zone.
“I don’t know if there’s any point in trying to talk to it,” Gen’s voice came through again. “But I had a thought. Throughout the entirety of world history, diplomacy between peoples or nations has always had an element of gift-giving.”
“Is that right?” Kohaku asked. “But we don’t have anything with us to give them. What would they even consider a gift anyway? I mean, are they alive? What do they want or need?”
Think, Senku thought to himself, trying to focus. What rules do they operate under? As long as there are replicable rules, we’ve got science. Senku chuckled. “You know, I’m positive about one thing. As spooky as that question is, it was polite enough to ask us if we wanna die. And that tells us continuing to live is something that these little guys also think is important.”
He grinned, an idea coming to mind.
“Why-man,” he called louder. “Ah, I know that’s not really your name, but that’s what I’ll call you. Anyway, unfortunately, our science isn’t advanced enough to replicate your kind, although, we can replace those diamond batteries. You need those to power yourselves, don’t you? One stupidly tough step at a time, we managed to bring human science that far, at least. That’s our gift to you. But we have some demands in exchange.”
“Now, Senku,” Gen warned over the radio. “Be careful. You need to frame this request uber olitely-pay.”
“Quit doing that shit with the petrification!” Senku shouted. “It really sucks!”
“Oh, no!” Gen said in a panic. “Don’t cuss him out!”
“Why?” Why-man asked.
Senku’s attention was drawn by a green light being activated, and a low hum, and he froze.
“Stop it,” a new voice said. “I ask you, please, be silent.”
“There’s more than one Why-man,” Stanley murmured. “Seems as though they’re not a monolith after all.”
“We don’t have any intel on this, so I’m just taking a guess here,” Senku said. “You guys would love nothing more than to have us give you a little needed maintenance. That’s what the whole petrification beam is about.”
“Of course!” Xeno’s voice came through their headsets. “The elegance of this life form is unbelievable. The Medusa, or the Why-man rather, its modus operandi is to promise eternal life to intelligent beings through petrification, who in turn would later care for or make more of them. It’s a mechanical parasite, so it needs a host species!”
“Yes,” the first Why-man voice said. “That is an accurate assessment. All necessary information will now be imparted. Civilizations inevitably advance. When a planet emits regularly modulated radio waves, this serves as conclusive evidence of the presence of intelligent life.”
“Why did you petrify the planet’s swallows before humanity?” Senku asked. “Was it a test?”
“It is standard parasitic protocol,” the second Why-man voice said. “An advance party is dispatched. A fortunate species is chosen at random, and their DNA is targeted.”
“Fortunate?” Chelsea croaked over the radio. “For getting stone-whammied?”
“The life of every creature is eventually terminated,” the first Why-man explained. “Even for us, this is an irrefutable fact.”
Senku gasped.
“Oxidation,” he said. “The life forms we call Why-man are machines. Their deaths are caused by oxygen, or rusting to be more precise.”
“There is nothing in existence more terrible or terrifying than death,” the first Why-man said. “The prime objective for all organisms is to prolong their life. Everlasting petrification equates to eternal evasion of death. It is the epitome of magnificence.”
“Petrification waves cause an elemental phase change,” Why-man two said. “They are perceived as visible light, but only for the targeted species. Petrification is abrupt and the result is the gift of eternal life. The most intelligent living entities inhabiting a planet are the ones who swiftly discuss the occurrence via radio waves. That was humanity.”
“In that manner,” Why-man one said. “Our host species was chosen. The mechanism operates in such a way as to allow individuals with increased cognitive processing to be released earlier. Naturally, for the intellectual elite, the promise of life everlasting is impossible to resist. As a result, they elect to accept and maintain us parasites in perpetuity.”
“Those of us who descended to petrify humanity eventually ceased functioning, killed by the deadly toxin called oxygen,” the second Why-man said. “For the rest of us, we remained on this satellite and awaited our opportunity.”
“Then, after roughly 3,000 orbits,” Why-man one said. “The regular signal of crystals being polished was amplified by hair accessories inadvertently functioning as dipole antennas. These signals made their way to us.”
“In response,” Why-man two said. “We decided to rain down petrification devices and teach humans to wield them. Using the same frequency as the radio waves their antenna transmitted, we were able to communicate directly.”
“The nature of our gift was thusly demonstrated,” Why-man one said. “Death was deferred for all who were petrified. Even so, humanity showed no interest in cultivating the devices in their care. They could not even replace the batteries, much less assist in replication. Did they lack the cognitive capacity or had we chosen an inadequate host? Your sparse emission of radio waves made us question if humans were too inferior. We were not expecting what your species did next.”
Senku’s mind spun as he recalled the advancements he and the villagers of Ishigami Village made in science. He frowned, recalling the man known as ‘the Master’ on Treasure Island… not everyone’s death was deferred.
“Their kind is evidently capable of emitting strong radio waves,” Why-man one said. “And yet they do not desire eternal life through petrification.”
“Why?” Why-man two asked.
A tingle ran down Senku’s spine at the question as it bought forth the memories of the eerie message.
“Our next course of action was decided,” Why-man one said. “We would again envelop the planet in our magnificent waves. This would allow us to properly re-convey the glory of petrification. We utilized the same methods, the same frequencies, even the same vocal timbre…”
Senku swallowed, recalling his plan to petrify them to save humanity, where he had given the verbal command. Effect 12 million, 800 thousand meters in one second. He paused, blinking. When they’d first heard that message, when Ukyo had revealed that it was Senku’s voice they heard speaking… that was before the mission to the Americas, and before Senku had been forced to say them. How was that possible?
“Your response was utterly confounding,” Why-man one said.
“Ah…” Senku hummed. “So that’s why you sent that cryptic message… asking us if we wanted to die. Well, we sure as hell don’t.”
“So wait,” Kohaku said. “Does that mean when it went off, it was a misfire?”
“The moment you are referring to is when the poisonous oxygen suddenly vanished from my environment completely. This place, where was I? I could move. I would send a signal with a petrification wave. All proximal intelligent beings must know of my existence.”
“Then it wasn’t an accident,” Gen said over the radio. Senku was grateful for the Why-man making their comms continue to work. He was starting to get nervous, and having proof of the others, in the black vacuum of space was something that kept him grounded and focused. “Why-man was trying to put on a show for us.”
“Is that true?” Kohaku asked. “You did it on purpose to get our attention?”
“Correct,” Why-man one said. “That is accurate.”
Senku hummed in thought as he processed all the information. “I’ve only got one question left…” he said.
“Only one question?” Taiju’s voice sounded panicked over the radio. “Really? But I still don’t understand most of this.”
“It’s complicated,” Gen’s voice followed, causing Senku to swallow. “But long story short, they go around space petrifying intelligent life forms. Then said life forms say, thanks for the eternal life, and take good care of them. Didn’t happen, but that’s what they were hoping for.”
“So that’s your aim,” Senku said. “You bastards want us to use our science to swap batteries and make more of you. But you petrified us for thousands of years, wiping out civilization and ruining your plan. Why the hell would you sabotage your own goal?”
“Upon first arrival at this satellite,” Why-man two said. “We discovered an abandoned interplanetary craft. The implication was that humanity must be highly intelligent. Contrary to this initial assessment, your kind took thousands of years to awaken. Your intelligence was overestimated.”
“Getting all worked up isn’t going to elp-hay,” Gen’s voice came urgently over the radio.
“Take no offense,” Xeno’s voice followed. “They are simply stating the truth as they see it.”
“Sure…” Senku muttered. “Our science is 10 billion percent lagging behind yours… For instance, we can’t even begin to theorize how you’re giving gravity the finger and floating around like that. But who gives a crap!? We’ll figure it out soon enough! Humanity’s scientific civilization is pretty new. A few millennia is a drop in the bucket. It doesn’t matter that our lives are fleeting. There are seven billion others to pick up the torch, and billions more who haven’t even been born. That’s how we’ve done it, made this much progress so stupidly fast. Why don’t we cut to the chase, Why-man? I’m asking to negotiate with you one on one.”
“No way,” Ukyo exclaimed.
Senku chuckled. “This is for the fate of all humanity… It’s time to duke it out with a super intelligent machine life form. This will be the final showdown. So why don’t we cut to the chase, Why-man?”
Kohaku gasped as the Medusae suddenly began to move.
“They’re swarming!” she exclaimed.
Senku gasped unnerved at first as he was lifted from the moon’s surface by the Medusae.
“Oh, no!” Kohaku cried, watching in fear as they continued to lift him, forming a pedestal. “Senku!”
It was the last he heard of her as he looked around from the pedestal, the Medusae forming a sphere that gave off a resonance that blocked the sound from outside, and their movement blocking his sight. He swallowed. He was alone, once more. Gen Senku thought. Will I ever see you… anyone, again?
No, he thought, steeling himself again. I can’t think like that, there’s too much at stake. He grinned. He couldn’t let Why-man know he was rattled. “It’s crazy,” he said. “I can’t even imagine the mechanics behind your movements. It’s like you guys can go wherever you want and take any shape.”
“You are correct in your assertion,” Why-man one said. “I will now demonstrate. We can scan your physical form like so, and thusly reproduce your likeness.”
Senku snorted and chuckled to hide his unease as the Medusae swarmed to form a giant skull in the space above him. “Well, you don’t see that every day…” he said, wondering if he was about to be petrified as three green glows appeared within the skull shape, two for the eyes, and one in the mouth. “Gives me an idea…”
Senku grinned. If the Medusae could replicate the human form in a skeletal manner for each person they targeted, that could be quite useful. For as creepy as this encounter with Why-man was, he was a man of science, and he had to take advantage of this negotiation in the hope that he came out on top for the betterment of humanity in the Stone World.
Yes, he thought. Like it or not, with all the advancements they’d made at a sprint, until all humanity was restored, and the world returned to what it once was, they were still in the Stone World. But this… Senku thought. This has the chance to advance medicine beyond what it was back then.
“I know it sounds ridiculous,” Senku said after he explained his thoughts to Why-man. “But I want you to lend us your bodies. If you agree, we have a shot at doing something incredible.”
“You wish to borrow our bodies?” Why-man one asked.
Senku grinned. He couldn’t back down and show his fear as the giant skull that was Why-man at the moment bore down on him. He had to keep his thoughts clear and organized. His thought regarding the leap in medical advancement was only the beginning of what could be accomplished if Why-man agreed and they joined forces.
“The entire universe will be exhilarated,” Senku declared as his mind spun images of the advances in science and tech that could be accomplished. “Get excited.”
Senku looked back when suddenly the Medusae behind him separated, and he relaxed, seeing Kohaku and Stanley behind him. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but he’d heard the change in the Medusae as a third voice was heard through his comms talking about a perfect line of sight and that many of them would perish.
He was relieved to see her reaching out and catching several of the Medusae. “I’ve no idea what Senku’s saying to you in there,” he heard her, and relief washed over him that he wasn’t isolated any more. “But whatever it is, we need you to just stay put and hear him out. That’s about all we can do. We won’t fail.”
He chuckled. “Don’t forget you’re parasites,” he said, turning back to the giant skull. “I’m guessing you’re not dumb enough to battle your own hosts. Now back to my proposition. Why not stick around a while and collaborate with us humans? With the powers of humanity and Why-man combined, we could cook up some truly wild shit.”
“The probability of your plan succeeding,” the third Why-man said. “Is approximately 0%.”
“I’m aware,” Senku said. “But near-zero isn’t the same as zero. Not for humanity. You’ve seen it yourself,” he continued and took out his Stone-World axe from the pouch at his belt and held it up. “We shiny apes came into this stone world with nothing, and in ten short years, we built a rocket and flew to the moon.”
Senku wobbled as the Medusae beneath him shifted and he was lowered to the ground again. He blinked as he looked up and saw the skull shape begin to change and dissolve.
“Your request is impractical,” Why-man one said. “We decline. We will abandon the human species and seek out life on other planets. We simply require a more adequately intelligent life form.”
Senku watched as the wave of Medusae moved away and into space. He swallowed, a little disappointed that his negotiations had failed. We could have gotten so far with their help! He couldn’t help thinking. But… abandoning us…. Do they mean… we’re safe? No more petrification?
He blinked when a new voice, a softer one broke the eerie sounds of Why-man, and saw one moving against the wave.
“However,” the new voice said. “I alone offer my continued presence. This body is yours to destroy or terminate at will. This ‘wild shit’ you speak of has the potential to be truly exhilarating. I acknowledge the near-zero odds. Nonetheless, I wish to take a chance on you. May I?”
Senku smiled as he watched it float down to them and Kohaku reached out and it settled in her hands.
“Yeah…” he replied.
It was hard to explain what he was feeling. Maybe his negotiation hadn’t totally failed, after all. And… they seem to have done it. The cloud of Medusae was disappearing into space… away from Earth.
Why-man gave up on us, and vanished into space. Earth was free from the threat of petrification, and we scored a trophy. One single piece of future science.
