Composed by deko
Translated by Yuki Neco
Two old men were facing each other at the observatory on top of Mt. Souen; Masatsugu Nozaki picked up a glass of wine for celebration, but his friend was worrying with his arms crossed.
“I owe you one, Masaki,” Masatsugu began, “Your assistance just made my life this bright.”
Nevertheless, old Masaki could not bring himself to be delighted at the appreciation. Now his mind caught what was seen on the TV, when the reporter announced, “Now the Krommelt Comet makes its return, we all have been waiting for a long time. The comet will be seen in the eastern sky in a very short while before the sun rise, but it’ll be adjoining Venus in the dawn...”
“The first calculation predicted that it’d return next summer. The reason why the comet comes back this early is...” Masaki started slowly. “Partly because we didn’t have enough data from last appearance... plus, because there is another world beyond across the sun,” answered Masatsugu brusquely. Masaki didn’t like how disinterest in the news the scientist whom he had known from his childhood was. Dr. Nozaki was seated deep in the sofa after swallowing the wine.
“It was when the war was over that I found it,” Masatsugu mumbled, “And recently, Nakagawa found it, too.”
“You mean Rumi’s father?”
“Say, Masaki. I wonder to what degree the people in the other world know about the universe? Or there’s no one there anymore...”
Masaki wouldn’t reply; instead, he was looking at the tiny family out of the window—young father and mother, and their little girl were playing in the snow.
In Avanced Communications Laboratory, the director was talking over videophone, where people from different places were on different parts of the huge screen. Satoshi Nakagawa, director, was seated in the middle, talking to the screen, “Then the system is able to start in a few days, Dick, huh?”
In the screen showing a desert, a sun tanned scientist smiled, “Sorry for the delay, Satoshi. Sorry for keeping the guys in South America waiting for me.”
Another screen replied, which showed an Ameican Indian scientist named Elnan wearing a hood, “Professor Bracket, I’ve been waiting for you. Anyway, Satoshi, I’d like to hear you explain this state.”
“Fifty-six years ago, one comet passed by the sun; when it went through its perihelion (the nearest point to the sun), it was attracted by the planet at the opposite side of the earth. That slightly bent the orbit, along which it flew away,” Satoshi explained.
At this time the door opened, then Misako brought a FAX. Picking it up, he nodded his heard toward the two scientist. “The slight distortion of the orbit was found by a Japanese astronomer, who didn’t have adequate time, then he went over to East China Sea for addinal observation,” Satoshi continued.
“Fifty years passed, when we met at a conference,” Dick said.
“That was when Rumi was only three, she was a lovely little girl,” Elnan said, “How’s she doing, anyway?”
Satoshi didn’t reply not changing his look, but continued, “Then three of us made friends, and eventually succeeded in calculating the location and the mass of the planet that bent the orbit.”
The two scientist sighed in unison in the screen. Elnan agreed, “That’s right. But the mysterious planet hasn’t found even by space telecopes on a satellite.”
“What did the FAX Misako brought you say?” asked Dick.
“Interplanet Probe Tsubame has reached the predicted location of the planet, but nothing was found in vision,” Satoshi replied. Dr. Elnan from a laboratory in Andes said in depressed manner, “That means our calculation was just an illusion?”
“That’s not it, Dr. Elnan,” Misako replied, “The gravity sensor detected someting, on the other hand.” Satoshi nodded with agreement, “I confirmed the returning Krommelt Comet was affected by the gravitational field.”
“That’s the sign,” Dick exclaimed.
“Yes! They did exist!” Elnan got excited, “They are now chanllenging us to reveal the mystery!”
Misako observed the conversation among the three scientist turn into an excieted discussion, though she didn’t agree to their attitude, when she thought, “Oh, Mrs. Nakagawa. I don’t think this is the way you want all the things to go.”
Wei was raking the snow in the yard of Amamiya’s villa, when a car carrying the parents and daughter of Daidouji family came out of the garage.
“See you later, Wei,” Tomoyo cheerfully said from inside the car. He smiled and nodded very politely, “Have a nice day, Tomoyo.”
“We’ll be back in tomorrow evening, so please take a care of the tiny family and my gandfather,” Sonomi said to Wei, but she turned to her husband and said, “Darling, what’s wrong with you. You look like you face the end of the world.”
“You are right,” Tomoyo’s father replied, “Yes, it’s the end of the world. Today is a nice day for skiing.”
When the car left the villa Wei resumes his work. Just a few seconds later, Masaki walked out to him, saying, “Wei, I see Tomoyo and the others just went out.”
“Yes, I guess it’s the beginning of Tomoyo’s father’s tough day,” said Wei with sympathy.
“There’s nothing harder than serving for their family, but I hope he’ll be OK,” Masaki said with a smirk, “The climate in the mountain, that’s what I most worry about.”
“Climate?”
“Avalanch,” Masaki replied, “This year, there’s more snow than usual.”
The conversation between the two old men was interrupted by Sakura calling everybody in the villa to the lunch.
In Advanced Communication Laboratory, big computers were working in the analysis room. There’s a glass case in the middle of the room, where the scientists were watching the glittering chip in the case. “It hasn’t synchronized yet?! This things emits a coded signal for sure. It’s not impossible to capture the signal,” the chief engineer shouted.
“It does emit a signal, but it cycles at too high frequency for our computers to capture,” one of the engineer replied. All of a sudden the lights in the room went out, and simultaneously smoke came out from the power supplies of all the computer.
“Damn! Overheated!,” a scientist shouted.
“Extingusiher! Quick!” the chief enginner shouted.
The room was filled with smoke; even though the scientists sprayed fire extingusher, the chip in the case was still glittering as if it was sneering. “Damn it! What the heck do you think we are? Bunch of airheads?” one engineer shouted in irritation.
At this time, director Satoshi Nakagawa, and his secretary Misako came in. They looked cherishingly at the glittering chip, not caring about the trouble in the analysis room. “Analysis and copy of the chip is done? Not to mention, you know how important this study is, just like your senior scientists do.”
Someone opened the curtain to the back room of the analysis room, where there’s a gigantic machine.
“This is the Borg system. It has 10,000 times the volume, and needs 100,000 times the enegy,” the chief engineer explained.
“Mere a RISC chip for rescue boat control comes out this size,” Satoshi was astounded with a gasp.
“That’s right. But the stem system couldn’t be analysed, so it’s only a simulator,” a scientist added.
“There’s no other way, Is the center hole a chip holder?” Satoshi asked.
“It’s possible to to feed it energy, but once it stated up we wouldn’t be able to stop it,” an enginner said.
Satoshi took a hostle glance at the gigantic machine. Misako sadly looked at him, then he turned as if he sensed her emotion.
“There’s always time of distress for expecting time of happiness. Now’s the time of grawth,” Satoshi said firmly.
“Grawth of what?” Misako asked.
“At this rate, humans will lose their place to live in sooner or later. All I want is to pioneer a path—path to the new era,” Satoshi replied with a determined look. She knows the purpose of his steady philosophy. She said in a quick manner, “Dr. Gnome, the expert of fundamental systems, will be arriving tomorrow,” then walked out of the room, as if she couldn’t bare to stay in the room.
Late at night, in Amamiya’s villa, the people are doing what each liked to do by the fireplace. Masaki was dozing off while he was reading poems, Syaoran was reeling a thread for helping Sakura do knitting. Wei came down from upstairs and reported, “I set Rumi to sleep.”
“Thank you, Wei,” replied Sakura with a smile. “Hey, Syaoran, hold the thread, or it’s gonna be tangled.”
Wei made them coffee, when he looked up at the falling snow out of the window. “It snows so much that I’ll have to rake the snow tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow I’ll rake the snow, so you need to take a rest,” Syaoran offered.
Kero, who floated down to the fireplace attracted by the smell of cake, said, “Leave it to me, old guy. If I turn back into my Celestial form, I’m able to melt the snow in the blink of an eye.”
“You need an extinguisher?”
“What?! My fire magic is more powerful and sophisticated than your cheap Fire God, kid,” Kero glared at Syaoran.
Wei smiled from bottom of his heart to think how happy it would be if he answered to this tender family.
“Sakura.”
The young mistress gasped at the call from the old man, and made pause of her knitting, “Uh, sorry. I thought Rumi was kind of depressed.” She took a glance at the basket in which the rabbits were sleeping. “She is a friend of the mysterious rabbits with some kind of power that understand our language. I wonder what kind of lady Rumi’s mother was.”
Wei replied, “I presume it was a nice person. I guess Rumi inherited her personality from her mother.”
Masaki kept on pretending to sleep, while he was listening to them, when he thought, “That’s right. She was a good student. And now... she’s fighting against her destiny.”
Next morning, the foot of Mt. Souen was covered with fresh snow. There’s a cabin; the wooden door opened, when an elderly hunter walked out and let out a big yawn. “There’s very few games these days,” her grumbled. He walked into his hounds’ kennel and gave them breakfast. One of the hounds got excited and dashed out kicking the breakfast.
“What? Found a game?”
The hound barked at one point in a distance, and the other hounds and the old hunter ran and joined the first hound.
“That munchikin.”
The junter could see, in the middle of the white fresh snow, a pink point is moving.
Meanwhile, there’s a panic in Amamiya’s villa. Syaoran still in PJs rushed to Rumi’s room, when Sakura cryed, “Rumi is gone, Syaoran!” The room was tidied, and blanket was folded neatly. “Sakura, take a look,” Wei found a piece of paper on the bedside, and hand it to Sakura. She lost her words on reading the message written on it.
DEAR MOM AND DAD
I’M VISITING MY MOTHER WHO’S IN THE MOUNTAIN
SEEN OUT OF WINDOW.
The mountain seen out the window—they could see high mountans covered with fresh snow before their eyes.
In Mt. Souen, a girl in a pink parka peeked in a burrow, “Hello, Aunt Ben.” The back of the burrow was a cellar where a female bear was in hibernation. Behind her was seen Advanced Communications Laboratory, but she was interested in nothing but the female bear. “Everybody is sleeping. I didn’t see Goron (racoon dog), and baby bear Koro left here and lives on his own,” Rumi said lonesomely. Despite the mountains were totally covered with snow, additional snow frakes were falling onto the old snow.
In the mountain Rumi said about in the piece of paper, the snow fall is so heavy that it practically block the view. Tomoyo and Sonomi are sitting by the window in the rest house of the ski resort. The father brought them coffee from the counter back of the room.
“When was the last time we three had breakfast together like this?” said Sonomi.
“Umm, Mom, I guess you should go easy on Dad.”
“Not so easy! He gave me stress for these years that’s piled up higher than this mountain top,” said Sonomi sarcastically.
“Yes, I know,” the replied respectfully.
Tomoyo giggled to see her father in an apron. In fact, he doesn’t look meek, but it seems like he was relaxed in the situation.
“Miss, this salad is highly recommendable. This bearbelly jam tastes divine, too,” the father serves them brakfast. Sonomi laughed newvously, and gave him the bread that has just grilled, “What are you dressed like this for, Darling?”
“Do I look cool? I hear Mr. Kinomoto is good at cooking. That’s why I’m trying...”
But then their family gathering was interrupted by the cell phone that rangs at the moment.
A snow vehicle came in front of the entrance of Amamiya’s villa, Sakura and Syaoran in parkas are getting in.
“Tomoyo told me that the snow in the ski resort is getting heavier,” Wei said.
“She has nothing to eat. How can she be so stupid?!” Sakura said disgustedly. She received a big busket containing food, when Masaki ran up to them with a cell phone in his hand.
“I reported to the police and town office,” Masaki informed, “Weather forecast said the snow continues all day. Uh, Wei, you stay here, please.”
The snow vehicle backed up, before leaving the villa. It was a rough driving, but nobody complained about it. Sakura anxiously looked out the window at the sky like the real mother. Syaoran grasped Sakura’s hand and whisper encouragement to her, “If I have to, I’ll use my magic even if your ganddad was watching.” Sakura was astounded by his declaration. In that case, what if their secret was revealed to everyone?
“I don’t care. Doesn’t matter to me.” That was an amazing determination for the shy boy—Sakura felt a relief on him.
“Yeah...”
Nevertheless, the snow went on; the rough blizzard lost their vision as if trying to weaken their determination. Because of the side blow, the ski lift was suspended of service.
The snow vehicle had been running in the blizzard for hours, in which Sakura held the bascket of the food for Rumi tightly. She mumbled in tears, “What a fool I am. I am the one who promised her father that I’d take a good care of her,”
Tomoyo who joined at the ski resort caressed her by the shoulder, “Don’t blame yourself. You acted like a careing good mother to Rumi. Besides, she didn’t want to make you worry about her...”
“I wanted her to depend on me,” Sakura muttered, “even though I’m not her real mother.”
Somomi continued with gentle words, “Rumi is a kind girl. She wants to depend on the nice mother, but...”
“Rumi as well as Dr. Nakagawa didn’t want to bother people around them, I think,” Tomoyo’s father commented.
Masaki seated in the passenger seat put his cell phone in his pocket, then said to the backseat, “I contacted the laboratory, but she’s not there.”
“Where should we look for her, Granddad?” Sonomi asked.
“I’m not sure,” Masaki replied, “Come to think, 12 years ago a big meteorite fell deep in Mt. Souen. Nakagawa said every thing began at the point.”
In response, the driver began, “Sakura said the little girl was in the big mountain seen from the villa—that mountain is...”
“Mountain is what?” demanded Syaoran.
“It’s the territory of the old hunter who had an arugument against Mr. Amamiya the other day.”
That reminded Sakura and Syaoran simultaneously of the hunter. Kero hiding in Sakura’s hood remembered him, too.
There was someone in a pink parka in a gorge in Mt. Souen in the blizzard. It was Rumi who sat with her rabbits, as she couldn’t withstand the heavy snow fall. She took out of her pocket a crust of bread she took of the kitchen, share it equally with the two rabbits, “Eat this, Rabbita and Lull.” She mumbled in tears, “I wonder if the mountain my mother is in is this way. I wonder Mom (Sakura) worries about me. Sorry.” She couldn’t hold her tears—wept, and her tears dropped on the rabbits’s ears. At this moment, they heard hounds’ bark, then in response Rabbita jumps out of Rumi’s side. Dangerouly, a bullet nearly shot Rabbita’s foot. The gun fire echo between mountains.
“I found you,” the old hunter walked step by step, “I gave up the other day because of Mr. Amamiya. But I won’t give up this time.”
“Rabbita and Lull did something?! Stop it, please!” Rumi cried.
The hunter loaded following bullets, and said cruelly, “Hypocrites like you has allowed rabbits breed this much. Rabbits eat crops in the farms. Deer and racoon dogs bred too much. They are over the mountain’s capacity. Culling is the necessary decision.”
“That’s not true! Food in the mountain get less because human cut too many trees. Grown-ups are all responsible for it!” the little girl cried a counterargument. Meanwhile, the hounds are surrounding the rabbits so fiercely that the rabbit couldn’t moven an inch even though they had special powers.
“Humph, you’re a stubborn munchikin. No wonder you mother Yoshiko was arrogant like you.”
“You know my mother?”
The hunter, who still pointed his heated gun head to the girl’s bangs, said with hostlity, “Don’t you know? You and your mother ain’t humans, but a monster. With your pretty face, you two succeed in fooling every stupid people, but me.”
At this moment, he sensed the grave hostlity of a wild beast. He sat down in responce, on which a big Japanese bear was almost mounting.”
“Aunt Ben!” Rumi cried.
At the same time that the hunter fired his gun, the bear flipped the gun away with its paw. It lay over the hunter motionless.
“Aunt Ben, let him go, please,” the little girl said in telepathy.
“I won’t. This bastard cursed your mother. I don’t know exactly what he said, but I do feel what that meant,” the bear replied.
The hunter locked motionless by the female bear found a disastous thing far before his eyes. No one else didn’t find it—the rabbits found it, but it was too late.
“Rumi, run! The snow, snow is collapsing!” cried Lull in telepathy.
It was because the sound of two gunfires distorted the delicate equilibrium of the snowy mountain. The new snow piled up from the day before began sliding on the surface of the older snow, attacking them in the form of an avalanch. At this time, there was a change in Rumi.
An old man with gray hair was watching the chip in the glass case with Nakagawa, in the analysis room in Advanced Communications Laboratory.
“This is the system no one ever has realized, and is difficult to achieve,” the old man mumbled.
“Yes, I know it’s difficult, Dr. Gnome. But this opportunity is one in a million. I want you to help us realize the system,” Satoshi said to the old man.
“A system should be a tool for humans. It is only a channel between humans and hardware,” Gnome replied, “Tools should never take harm on humans. If it does, it’s not a tool but a weapon.”
At this time, Misako interrupted on intercom, “Emergency! There was an avalanch in a gorge in Mt. Soen!”
“Who cares about avalanch?” Satoshi shouted.
“That’s not all!” Misako continued, “The system administrator informed that Rumi wears the pink parka you gave her, equipped with a GPS receiver. The final location the GPS indicated was the gorge!”
He didn’t listen to her, because another big happening occured at the moment. “What kind of reaction?! Dr. Nakagawa, something’s wrong with the chip!” Dr. Gnome gasped. Before their eyes, the glass case sent out a violet halo. It was too bright for the two scientist to look directly. “Perfect, Dr. Gnome. This is what I’ve been long waiting for!” Satoshi sang the impression, then thought to himself, “All right, now I need your power, Rumi.” He blazed with persistence.