Story Reader / Festival Event Story / Fortune of Spring / Story
End-of-the-Year Invitation
>...That's all for today. Any more questions, Captains and Commandants?
The simulated sky outside has turned dark long ago, but the large meeting room is brightened up by ceiling lights. The meeting invite indicated it was a "short meet-up," but it lasted way longer than that unsurprisingly.
Any questions at all?
Alright. The meeting's over then.
Even in the last row, you can feel Celica's uncontainable joy, probably because she does not have to work extra hours.
You follow the crowd outside and see the team members waiting.
Oh, it's Commandant.
The meeting must be exhausting, Commandant.
I'm here.
You hear Lee's voice from behind, along with—
I'm here too, Commandant!
I had an annoying problem on the way here. It took me some time.
Are you talking about when you got lost in the square?
You were going in the complete opposite direction if I didn't find you!
Shut up!
...
No problem. I came here for you anyway, Commandant.
I'm here for you, Commandant.
What do you need our Commandant for?
Captain and Wanshi need to do some preparation, so I'm here to run errands.
Kamui hands over 4 red invitations. The address on them is a famous restaurant in Babylonia, while the time indicates 23:00.
It's the invitation for our New Year gathering.
The event last year seems to have had a great influence. Many are organizing such parties.
So I proposed to host one if there aren't ongoing missions, and Captain agreed.
Today is the New Year's Eve in the Eastern calendar.
The performance of WGAA last year had a great influence. Many are also organizing New Year parties this year.
Celica said there were too many applications, so President Hassen agreed to all.
You could have told us in the comms. Why come all the way here?
It's an important festival. We need some proper procedures!
Make sure you all come, Commandant. I still need to tell others!
Kamui left in a hurry. He seems to feel genuinely happy about the event.
It is 20:22 now, still a long time away from the starting time of the party.
As you try to think of something to do during this time, you notice a few unread mails on the terminal. They probably arrived during the meeting earlier.
"Commandant, you have a new gift!" The sender claims to be the 1st Department of Science Council, Babylonia.
But from what you can remember, the 1st Department has never used such a random writing style. In fact, it really sounds like someone else...
"The gift's been left unattended for a long time! Don't let it feel lonely! Open it now!" It comes from the same sender.
You receive more mails every few minutes, most of them consist of the same messages that urge you to collect the gift outside the lounge.
There is a lengthy gap after the second last mail. The last one was sent just minutes before the end of the meeting.
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It does not even have a sender.
Lucia notices you have been staring at the terminal. Unable to see the mail content, she is curious to know what happened.
What's the matter, Commandant?
Hope it's not explosives again.
Speaking of which, we haven't seen Nanami for a long time.
You hear the sound of another incoming mail.
Open it now before it gets mad!
10, 9, 8, 7, 6.9, 6.8...
There is no time to hesitate. You immediately run toward the Gray Raven lounge.
Commandant?!
I should have touched wood.
The lack of oxygen is making your brain all foggy. You feel your windpipe burning. Your lungs are demanding air with no limit.
The countdown has stopped before you could realize. You blink a few times to barely calm down.
In front of you is the familiar Gray Raven lounge. Fortunately, it is not in ruins as you imagined. You see a red package left at a very obvious place outside the lounge door.
It seems the sender wanted to tie a complicated knot, but gave up half-way.
The package is entangled in rope. It doesn't look like the rope can be easily untied.
Is this Nanami's gift?
Commandant, did Nanami mention what was inside?
At least the size of the package can rule out the possibility that Nanami wrapped herself inside.
Based on past experience, we better handle it with care.
When you lift the package up, you realize it is surprisingly heavy. Through the red wrapping paper, the gift feels like a hard, solid sphere.
You cannot help but remember the bomb graffiti that Nanami did before, and become even more careful.
It's not like Nanami's gift can kill you or anything. But you still decide to treat it with utmost care because—
The lounge door is closed. The package is safely placed on the table.
Shall I just open it?
...
Lee has a big frown on his face. You don't know whether he is troubled by the knot, or is thinking about how to safely open the gift.
If it's a gift, why didn't Nanami give it to Commandant in person?
Maybe she wanted to give Commandant a surprise?
Perhaps she is just hiding nearby.
Rrrr...?
It's from the package. Sounds like a tiger cub.
No, Commandant. It's a tiger cub.
It comes from Nanami's gift.
Did she send us a tiger cub?
I agree. It can't be a creature inside.
It's not a real tiger cub. The size is different.
Nanami won't put a living creature in the package. That would be too cruel.
Meow...?
Y-yes, but why...?
As you wonder why the thing inside can make different sounds, it has made new moves.
It first starts to wiggle slightly on the table, but soon realizes something is limiting its movement. After a short pause, two lines of diamond-shaped black blades have pierced through the red paper.
Move back, Commandant!
Liv, protect Commandant!
When the blades come out, Lee and Lucia immediately move in front of you as if something extremely dangerous is about to happen.
If they didn't leave their weapons in the prep room, they would have taken them out.
I'm not writing the incident report for you this time.
Roger!
The thing inside has not stopped. As the black blades spin around, both the rope and the wrapping paper have been shredded.
It appears to be a black, sphere-like object.
It then shakes off the shredded paper, completely revealing itself.
It is a machine that resembles the head of a tiger. The blades that cut through the rope earlier are its "ears."
The anti-gravity system helps it to levitate and hover in the air, slowly spinning around. There is a red glow in its "eyes"—which are in fact cameras—suggesting that it could be looking for something.
Is this a CUB? Did Nanami make it?
When you look into its eyes, the red glow quickly flashes and it quickly pounces at you like a tiger that has found its prey.
Meow! Roar!
