Innocence Seekers: April Light/Chapter 1/Episode 2

This is the second episode, "A Mysterious Girl" (不思議な少女), of the first chapter of Innocence Seekers: April Light.

Episode text
"Three years ago, the galaxy was facing a massive threat. Gakran had returned and was wreaking havoc in the galaxy. His ultimate goal, was to destroy the entire human race. However, as we all know, eight magical girls managed to defeat him once and for all. Throughout history, many have tried, and failed, to defeat this demon. In a way, he represented our ultimate threat.

"Now, three years after Gakran's defeat, we are still trying to rebuild the many areas he devastated. In Namari, there wasn't that much damage to repair, but Earth is a different story. Many of the cities had sustained at least some damage, and the nations of the galaxy chipped in to help them recover. Busan, the site of the decisive battle which led to Gakran's ultimate defeat, had been all but ruined. But, it managed to recover, and quite rapidly; sometimes I'm amazed at what the Koreans can do.

"Haralni, however, was almost completely devastated. Thanks to Gakran, it had spent well over 50 years in a 'Snowball Earth' state, considerably damaging the planet's ecology. Even now, we're trying to increase the planet's temperature in any way we can; the ice is making it difficult. I, Himawari, the princess of Namari, am helping out the people trying to restore Haralni. I have to admit, it is like terraforming an ice planet. We've made many strategies for restoring the planet, including placing large black mats, pumping the atmosphere with carbon dioxide and methane, and even at one point firing the Amaterasu&#39;s main gun at a part of the planet. But our work is still not done. So far, there is only a thin band of ice-free water and land, around ten degrees in width around the equator."

Himawari was sitting on a chair in the camp. The team had set up camp in the boundary region between the ice and ice-free sections of the planet, and they were assembling a massive device which will pump trapped carbon dioxide from underground up into the air, in an effort to increase the planet's temperature. Already, the effects of the restoration could be seen; the mere existence of the ice-free section was the most obvious sign. The water cycle, which stopped right after Gakran was defeated, had already restarted, and the first flakes of snow falling brought smiles to the teams working on the restoration. Soon, the snow turned into rain, signalling that the restoration had been a success up to that point.

For Himawari, though, she would not see that rain for a while. At the boundary section, the main form of precipitation was still snow. The large black mats, placed on the planet in the initial stages of restoration to decrease the planet's albedo, lost their effectiveness as snow fell on them, so the addition of greenhouse gases was needed to increase the temperature further. She knew that glassing parts of the planet in order to heat it up might do more harm than good; indeed, she was the one who ordered a stop to it.

Himawari looked at the sky above. The clouds had been gathering for the past few hours, and the forecast said that there was a fair chance of snow. She stood up, and inspected the area to see if there were any hostile creatures around. The area the camp was in was a fairly flat plain, with a very thin sprinkling of snow covering the bare soil. Nothing grew here, or in any other place, for the last 50 years. Any trees which could be seen were long dead.

A light breeze blew through the camp, sending a light chill up Himawari's body as the cold air blew around and into her bare legs. She headed into one of the tents, where she will stay until the weather clears up. One of the workers in the tent began to speak.

–Worker A: Princess, how is everything out there?

–Himawari: Well, it'll begin snowing, so we should wait until the weather becomes sunny again. I had a look outside, and I couldn't find any monsters around.

–Worker B: I've been thinking... wouldn't it be easier to just blast the planet with heat? Why do we have to do things like this?

–Himawari: Someone did try to blast the planet. I put a stop to that; weapons aren't meant to be used for things like this. Thanks to him, there's now an extra crater on this planet.

–Worker C: What about using magic to heat up the planet?

–Himawari: That would work... if it weren't for the fact that the heat has to come from somewhere. We could fill the atmosphere with methane and burn it up, but that'll kill everyone. And besides, the scope of this project is far too much for someone like myself.

–Worker C: Then how did Gakran do it?

–Himawari: You should remember that Gakran applied his magic for around a thousand years. It was only in the last 50 years that we've gotten the situation where the entire planet is frozen.

–Worker A: What about the mats?

–Himawari: We removed them because snow was building up on them. Besides, we have an ocean with which we can replace them. Fortunately, if we melt enough ice, we can get enough bare ocean for the process to feed itself.

–Worker B: Princess, why are you here? Shouldn't you be back home?

–Himawari: I wanted to personally oversee the progress here. You know, I actually came because I heard rumours that someone in the navy was misusing the Amaterasu.

–Worker B: Ah, that.

–Himawari: And besides, I wanted to see this planet for myself.

–Worker A: Anyway...

Suddenly, a scream was heard.

–Worker C: What was that?!

–Himawari: I'll go check. You three stay here.

Himawari left the tent and headed in the direction of the scream. Suddenly, a monster leapt into her path.

–?????: Look at what we have here. A princess, all alone.

–Himawari: What do you want?! Who are you?!

–?????: Hmhmhm.... It's not something you need to know. I'm just here to stop you from interfering with our plans.

–Himawari: I heard a scream. Could that be your doing?

–?????: I won't say. I'm only here to stop you.

–Himawari: Then try!

Himawari changed into her mage outfit. An orange magic circle appeared beneath her feet. The monster charged straight towards Himawari, but, at the very last moment, Himawari shot a fireball at the monster, critically injuring it.

–Himawari: Just what was that thing? Just in case...

Orange chains bound the monster.

–Himawari: I better hurry.

Himawari ran towards the direction of the scream.

When Himawari found where the scream came from, she saw a large monster attacking a young girl.

–Girl: G-Get away from me!

The monster was about to attack the girl; however, Himawari shot a fireball at it, stopping its attack and diverting its focus.

–Girl: Eh?

–Himawari: I'll take care of this. Run away as fast as you can!

–Girl: Y-Yes!

The girl ran away. The monster saw this, and tried to attack the girl again, but Himawari leapt into the path of the attack and blocked it with her staff.

–Himawari: Sorry, but I won't let you harm her.

Himawari's staff glowed orange, and flames started appearing from it. The monster took several steps back, then charged straight at Himawari. She leapt into the air to avoid the attack, and pointed her staff at the monster. An orange magic circle appeared beneath her feet, and a massive fireball appeared in front of her staff. Himawari swung her staff, and the fireball was thrown straight at the monster, annihilating it.

–Girl: Wow, you're really strong.

–Himawari: Can I ask you something?

–Girl: What is it?

–Himawari: Why was that monster attacking you?

–Girl: I... I don't know.

–Himawari: Actually, can you tell me who you are, and why are you here?

–Girl: I...

The girl paused for a bit, then responded with her name.

–Lyra: Lyra.

–Himawari: Lyra?

–Lyra: Well, that's a rough translation of my actual name. But the people who brought me in had some trouble with pronouncing it; in fact, I had trouble as well, and I had to write it down to show them.

–Himawari: So that's why they decided to translate your name. And I assume that the people who brought you in are English speakers, right?

–Lyra: Yeah, they speak English.

–Himawari: Anyway, why are you here?

–Lyra: I heard a voice calling for me. Something about a 'return to the galaxy'.

–Himawari: What do you mean?

–Lyra: I don't know. But... I don't know much about where I came from. No one knows.

–Himawari: Do you know where and when you were born?

–Lyra: I don't know where. As for when... around nine or ten years ago.

–Himawari: So you're around a year younger than me.

–Lyra: Eh?

–Himawari: I'm going to be eleven in around two weeks.

–Lyra: I see. Anyway, you haven't introduced yourself.

–Himawari: Ah. I am the princess of Namari.

–Lyra: You're... a princess?

–Himawari: Yes, I am. My name is Himawari.

–Lyra: Himawari...

–Himawari: Anyway, Lyra, do you know how to get back?

–Lyra: No...

–Himawari: It can't be helped, then. There's a camp to the southwest of here. Let's go.

–Lyra: Yes.

The two girls headed to the camp, only to find it ruined. Several monsters were roaming around, and the dead and wounded were scattered around the campsite.

–Himawari: Oh no...

–Lyra: Monsters!

–Himawari: First thing to do is to take care of the monsters. Lyra, could you hide for a bit?

–Lyra: No, I'm going to fight with you, Hima-chan.

–Himawari: Well, I guess you could; I can feel that you're a magical girl... wait, did you just call me 'Hima-chan'?

–Lyra: It's easier this way.

–Himawari: ... Anyway, let's get rid of these monsters.

–Lyra: Okay!

Lyra changed into her mage outfit. The two girls fought the monsters, and in less than a minute, killed them.

–Himawari: Okay, that should be the last one. Lyra, how is everything over there?

–Lyra: Everything's okay here.

–Himawari: Anyway, could you tend to the wounded? I need to get in touch with the Amaterasu.

–Lyra: The Ama... what?

–Himawari: One of Namari's spaceships.

–Lyra: You have a spaceship?!

–Himawari: Okay, it's not mine specifically. But I did come here on it, so...

–Lyra: I wanna see!

–Himawari: I'll show you around the ship sometime.

Himawari took out a device, and began to speak into it.

–Himawari: To the Amaterasu, this is Princess Himawari. I'm here to report that the camp has been attacked.

–Voice: Are there any casualties?

–Himawari: There are many. Could you please send a rescue team down here?

–Voice: Yes, Princess. We'll send a rescue team.

Orbiting Haralni was the spaceship Amaterasu. It was monitoring the restoration efforts around the planet. One of the bay doors opened, and a shuttle took of from it. The shuttle entered the planet's atmosphere, and began to be enveloped by a bright red glow. Eventually, the shuttle slowed down enough for the glow to disappear, and it glided its way to the ruined camp, where Himawari was waiting.

Once the shuttle landed, the door opened, and several members of the rescue team exited the shuttle.

–Rescuer A: Princess, what's the situation?

–Himawari: Well, as you can see. monsters have attacked the camp. While we have eliminated most of the monsters, there could still be some remaining, and it is possible that the attackers are planning another attack.

–Rescuer B: I see. Well, we've made plans for this. Princess, I suggest that you return to the Amaterasu. We'll handle things here.

–Himawari: Very well. Anyway, I found this girl a short while ago. She was being attacked by one of the monsters, and I saved her.

–Rescuer B: Hm? Oh, her. Well, do you know where her home is?

–Lyra: ... I was lost.

–Rescuer A: Lost? Well, it can't be helped. Princess, take her to the ship. Maybe you'll be able to find her home from there.

–Himawari: Okay, then.

The rescuers all left the shuttle, leaving only the pilot.

–Himawari: Lyra, let's hop on.

–Lyra: Okay!

The two girls boarded the shuttle, and the door closed. The shuttle began to fire its jet engines, and it took off. The girls saw from the window a barrier being erected where the camp was.

–Himawari: Hopefully that'll be enough to ward off another attack.

–Lyra: Hima-chan?

–Himawari: What is it, Lyra?

–Lyra: What do you do as a princess?

–Himawari: As a princess, I do many things to help my country. Namari is a very powerful nation in the entire known galaxy, and a founding member of the Federation of Four Earths, so my job takes me to faraway places. Of course, I'm also a magical girl, and at times, I may be asked to fight.

–Lyra: I see. That's very unlike the stories I've read.

–Himawari: Those stories were reflective of a time and place where girls only existed to be married off. Being a native of Namari, I cannot really understand their rationale with regards to that, as in my country, it is always the women who hold the power.

–Lyra: I see.

–Himawari: Anyway, one day I'll introduce you to my sister.

–Lyra: Your sister?

–Himawari: Erika, the queen of Namari. She was only crowned less than three years ago, and often needs help from others with regards to running the country. But, she's a very powerful mage in her own right.

The pilot interrupted the girls' conversation.

–Pilot: Princess, we're at 35,000 metres. We'll be firing the rockets now, so hang tight.

–Himawari: Understood. Lyra, is your seatbelt on?

–Lyra: Yes.

–Himawari: Okay, then.

The shuttle turned off its jet engines, then fired its rocket, sending it far up towards the sky.

The shuttle left the atmosphere of Haralni and turned off its rockets. It continued towards the Amaterasu, which was parked in Low Earth Orbit. The shuttle extended its radiators on the way to the spaceship. On board, the girls looked out the window.

–Lyra: Hima-chan, is this what you were trying to do?

–Himawari: Ah, that? Well, it'll take a long time, but we will get the planet back to the way it was before Gakran came. As you can see, we're beginning to melt the ice.

–Lyra: I wonder what the planet will look like once this is finished...

–Himawari: I'm sure it'll be very pretty once everything is finished. Lyra, have you ever been to any other planet?

–Lyra: No. But I want to someday leave this planet.

–Himawari: Well, the first thing is to find your home.

–Lyra: Ah, okay.

The shuttle turned 180 degrees, then fired its rocket. This slowed down the craft to a speed where it can maneuver into the hangar of the Amaterasu. The shuttle extended its landing gear and, with a burst of its maneuvering rockets, touched down onto the deck and came to a complete stop.

–Pilot: Right, we're here. Princess, could you and the girl please change into your mage outfits?

–Himawari: Ah, right. Lyra, let's change.

–Lyra: Okay.

The girls changed into their mage outfits. Meanwhile, the pilot had donned his space suit.

–Pilot: I'm now going to open the door. You two still have your seatbelts on, right?

–Himawari: Yes. Please open the door.

The pilot pressed a button, and the door opened. Air began to rush out of the shuttle.

–Lyra: Wait... without air...

–Himawari: You shouldn't need to worry. Your mage outfit should protect you from the vacuum, as well as sustain you.

–Lyra: Ah, okay.

After a while, the shuttle was emptied of its air. The girls left the shuttle, and proceeded to walk towards the airlock. Lyra tried to speak, but no sound came out of her mouth.

–Himawari: &lt;Lyra, use telepathy. You won't be able to speak normally without air.&gt;

–Lyra: &lt;Ah, okay. Anyway, where are we going?&gt;

–Himawari: &lt;I need to speak to the captain first. As this is a military spaceship, there isn't really anywhere you can stay; you can head to the infirmary, or you can come with me. Either way, it'll be cramped.&gt;

The girls entered the airlock, and the door sealed shut. After a while, the opposite door opened, and the girls walked out, after changing out of their mage outfits.

On the way to the CIC, Himawari's phone alerted her to a new message. She took out the phone, and read the message.

–Lyra: What is it, Hima-chan?

–Himawari: It's from Akari. It appears that strange beings appeared on Earth and attacked several magical girls within the vicinity of the Furusaka Shrine. Apparently they were evasive in their responses to questions regarding their origins.

–Lyra: Hima-chan... do you think this is related to the monster which attacked me?

–Himawari: I don't know. It could be possible, but we need to investigate further.

–Lyra: And this Akari... is she a friend?

–Himawari: Yes. She was one of the magical girls who taught me how to use my powers.

–Lyra: I see.

–Himawari: Anyway, let's continue.

In the CIC, the captain of the Amaterasu, Mayu Fukuyama, was monitoring the situation on the ground. Suddenly, the radar operator alerted the captain about an unidentified ship approaching.

–Radar Operator: Captain, unidentified ship approaching.

–Fukuyama: What is its distance and bearing?

–Radar Operator: The unidentified ship is around 12 light minutes; approach into weapons range is expected in 20 minutes.

–Radio Operator: Should we try to communicate with the ship?

–Fukuyama: No, let us wait. Everyone, try to identify the ship.

–Everyone: Yes, ma'am!

Meanwhile, Himawari entered the CIC, with Lyra.

–Fukuyama: Ah, you're here, Princess.

–Himawari: Is something the matter, Fukuyama?

–Fukuyama: We've encountered an unidentified ship heading our way. We have around 20 minutes until it enters weapons range.

–Himawari: I see. Anyway, what is the current course of action?

–Fukuyama: Currently, we're monitoring the situation and trying to identify the ship.

–Himawari: Could you let me have a look?

–Fukuyama: Sure.

The viewscreen showed the data obtained by the ship's sensors regarding the unidentified ship. Himawari inspected the data.

–Himawari: I see. Fukuyama, please be careful.

–Radio Operator: Captain, incoming signal!

–Fukuyama: Put it on the display.

The viewscreen began to show a video feed from the unidentified ship.

–Himawari: This is... could it be...

–Lyra: They're... returning.

Everyone looked at Lyra.

–Himawari: What do you mean, Lyra?

–Lyra: They're here. The Donsilans.

End of Episode 2

Next episode preview
–Wakaba: Aoi, what was that ship?

–Aoi: I'm not sure; it seems pretty mysterious to me. But since Lyra seemed to recognise it as a Donsilan ship...

–Benio: Anyway, I was impressed by the princess's display of power. I wouldn't have expected less from a member of the Namari royal family.

–Uzuki: Umm, should we mention the next episode now?

–Aoi: Ah, good point. They're shifting the spotlight again, this time to another princess.

–Uzuki: How long are they going to shift the spotlight?! If this continues, we'll never get anything done! And I'm supposed to be the main character!

–Wakaba: Well, it's not like we can do anything about it from here.

–Aoi: Uzuki, you'll have to get used to it. Besides, you'll get the spotlight back in episode 4.

–Uzuki: Next time on Innocence Seekers: April Light, Episode 3: "A Mysterious Ship". Be sure not to miss it!

–Benio: Will the mystery of that ship be revealed?

Commentary
There are three main ways one can heat up a frozen planet. One is to decrease the planet's albedo, which can be done by placing materials which absorb a large percentage of light, infrared, and UVA and UVB radiation onto the planet, or by melting enough ice to uncover bare water (which has a much lower albedo than ice). This is the main principle behind the black mats used; however, once enough ice has melted, it is expected that the mats will decrease in effectiveness due to increased cloud cover and snow. The second way is to pump the atmosphere full of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour. Of course, this has its own disadvantages. Too much greenhouse gas and it will cause a runaway greenhouse effect, effectively turning the planet into another Venus. Too much methane can, of course, be potentially fatal; as Himawari explained, burning off such a huge amount of methane in the atmosphere can kill everyone. Finally, one can directly apply heat to the planet. While in the story a rather misguided attempt was done using the Amaterasu&#39;s main gun, this can also be done using giant mirrors. However, it is fairly expensive.

You may notice that the Amaterasu has artificial gravity. In a hard science fiction story, artificial gravity can ony be the result of constant acceleration or rotation of the ship. For similar reasons, you do not typically find skirts in ships in hard science fiction (yeah, you might be excited by the idea of constant panty shots, but I'm sure the girl sitting next to you isn't). However, Innocence Seekers is science fantasy; artificial gravity in this setting is often the result of magic.

One thing I should point out: the Combat Information Centre (CIC) is not the bridge. The bridge is the area which governs navigation and navigation only, and in military wet-navy ships, is often separate from the CIC (you want the bridge to be in a location where it is able to see outside, but the CIC to not be in a location where it can easily be shot; in other words, not where the bridge should be). Many science fiction writers and fans make this mistake. For spaceships, the bridge can be located in the CIC, as astrogation should only rely on sensor input, not windows (windows are effectively "holes" in armour, thus they are absent from all Innocence Seekers military spaceships).

I use shuttles to transport objects and people from a planet to a ship. In the Innocence Seekers setting, teleportation is difficult, especially when moving large groups of people, and one must take into account differences in momentum and potential energy. In addition, teleportation is fairly inaccurate beyond a certain distance; even from Low Earth Orbit, one runs the significant risk of interpenetration (i.e. teleporting into a solid object) or of teleporting thousands of metres in the air.

Most, if not all, spaceships in Innocence Seekers have radiators. Their main purpose is to provide a surface in which heat can be radiated away as light and infrared radiation, as convection and conduction do not exist in vacuum. Even with magic-powered spaceships such as the Amaterasu, radiators still exist for this purpose; although magic-based heat dissipation mechanisms exist, the radiators are necessary to power things like their magic-based torch drives (drives which convert any form of matter into pure energy; this produces a lot of heat) and their main weapons (the Shipborne Multifunction Magic Cannon (SMMC) generates far more heat at full power than which can be dissipated by state-of-the-art magic-based heat dissipation.

Mage outfits actually provide adequate protection from the normal hazards of space, and they also help sustain mages without the need for food, water and oxygen. In fact, it is possible to spend an entire year in a mage outfit without eating, drinking, or breathing something breathable. Energy is supplied purely from mana, which is plentiful throughout the galaxy.

"...as the cold air blew around and into her bare legs..." – Yeah, most (if not all) magical girls go bare-legged when it's extremely cold, against all logic. In-universe, it is apparently a rule imposed by the Zodiac Warriors and Puella (the in-universe justification is to make it easier to identify magical girls in cold climates; keeping in mind that magical girls and former magical girls have physical tolerance to temperature extremes; inexplicably, the rule does not apply in hot weather). And that's before you take into account the masochists...

The format I use for the text uses angle brackets for telepathic communication and parentheses for actions which occur alongside dialogue. Internal thoughts will only be displayed for the point-of-view character, and are marked with quotes.