Story Reader / Affection / Qu: Shukra / Story

With the drastic change in pressure and temperature, the small transport craft from Babylonia experiences brief tremors. Time and again, the passengers sitting in the aircraft can feel the jolts coming into the cabin through the anti-shock structure.

At this moment, looking out the porthole, one could see the beautiful and fragile outline of the blue planet.

I believe humanity will be able to escape the threat of the Punishing if we can go from orbital transport to interstellar travel in terms of our navigation technology—and when that happens, both the residents of Babylonia and Kowloong would benefit from it.

Mankind will one day be able to reach all the stars out there.

Or at least so I've always believed.

See, you could have taken care of this shaking situation had you gotten the engines swapped or added buffer plates.

I don't fancy the thought of hanging out with all these different factions, not to mention most of the meetings are pointless anyway.

Considering our past relationship, I couldn't think of a reason to turn you down, and I also wanted to personally explore Babylonia and see how life there differs from Kowloong.

Her casual gaze shifts to the table in front of her, where a pot of freshly brewed tea sits.

After picking up the teapot, Qu swirls the hot water along the inner wall of the teapot before blending it with the tea leaves.

Carefully, she tilts the teapot, allowing the tea to flow slowly into the delicate cup.

Rarely as relaxed as she is now, Qu gives off a composed and intellectual vibe.

The entire cabin shakes violently.

This time, however, you fail to predict and counteract the motion, and with it...

The liquid inside splashes out and spills onto Qu's clothes.

With the fabric on her chest wet, Qu calmly sets down the teacup.

New Babylonia aircraft don't go haywire because of minor turbulence since they come with emergency safety systems.

When you turn back, you see that Qu has already placed a delicate towel over her chest.

Wiping every inch of her clothes, she looks up with a frown, having noticed your gaze.

So I heard you were a Chief at F.O.S.? Guess they totally overestimated you there.

The first thing you checked on was me and not the aircraft itself right after that turbulence just now.

Is that what they taught you guys at F.O.S.?

Or is it because you have a hard time taking your eyes off me?

But don't sweat it, because I'm not here representing Kowloong.

I'm glad you're aware of that, though.

Save for the engine's roar, the cabin has fallen completely quiet.

Qu crosses her legs casually, gazing at you as if she has something to say.

But when you meet her gaze, she turns her head toward the porthole and starts admiring the view outside.

This goes on a few more times, until Qu gets tired of this little hide-and-seek and decides to face you.

Want to know what else I came to do?

In the interest of helping you stay on the ball, here is why.

And I was a little confused at first because I didn't remember writing physical letters being part of Babylonia's tradition.

But things started to make sense to me when I saw the sender's name.

The sender was Hengzhu, former administrator of Kowloong's observatory before the Punishing struck. He was as much a loyal subordinate of mine as he was my mentor, for giving me all sorts of suggestions on building Kowloong.

I thought he'd died from the Punishing, but it turned out that he survived and moved to Babylonia. He works as an astronomer there now.

But something hit me when I opened the envelope feeling relief.

That Hengzhu should be quite old now in human years.

And given that the letter came at this time, something came to my mind.

Knowing him and considering his pride, leaving Kowloong would have meant that he'd parted ways with his past.

And that he'd never have swallowed his pride and written me this letter unless he was coming close to the end of his life.

And it turned out I was right. The letter was a farewell letter.

Hengzhu no longer lives in Kowloong, but he follows this tradition nonetheless.

It was clear from the letter that he had to put in a lot of effort writing it from his sickbed.

I'd like to pay him one last visit for old times' sake.

Keeping a low profile will save us both a lot of trouble. You understand that, right?

Up close, Babylonia's scale rivals that of a space fortress. Babylonia, in fact, does serve a similar purpose, too.