Was I a Good Boy?

With JS Aki

"Oooh!" my newest 'little' sister cooed, looking around the desert landscape. "So RED!"

I have to smile and nod slightly, agreeing with my younger sister. The surface of Mars does indeed happen to be rather red. That and it has a stark beauty that the simulations and movies just cannot convey. You have to experience it yourself to understand it fully.

My little sister Re-13 had not even waited long enough to be properly "rechristened" with something more than the mere hull designation that the Crane Princess of that mirror world we'd left a bit ago before jumping on the Program. Oh, we DID get her a proper name before my purple-eyed sister here could slip through the cracks and enter into the Training Program for the Mars Mission. Honestly, I think that JS Autumn was halfway hoping to have been able to make it all the way to Mars before getting properly named. She does have something of a mischievous streak that stands her apart from me at HER age.

Of course, the other thing had been that despite having excelled in combat whilst under her version of our Princess she had died not a moment after defeating that bint of a Princess who'd tossed a depth charge into her Hime's face...

Thus the purple eyes instead of red ones like I sport. Yes, my sister was sunk before I had back in our first/Abyssal life.

But unlike me, my sister did not have to set sail for the Abyssal War. Instead, we are now serving humanity in other ways. We and others like the former Crossroad Fleet are involved in various projects to build off-world colonies. Something that we as Kanmusu are better suited than humans in many ways. Of course, we may consume more food than what a standard human could (or should) per meal, but we have much in our favor. We are MUCH more resistant to radiation, not suffering from either short or long-term exposure. Trinitite's time on the Bikini Atoll is a good example of that fact. We also are much more resistant to microgravity to the point that some scientists speculate that it would take centuries before the first signs of degradation would occur in a Kanmusu (if even that). And perhaps the most important thing of all? We Kanmusu can operate MUCH longer between bouts of sleep, being able to work days (and weeks) at a time.

Meaning that a group of Kanmusu could throw up a working space colony much quicker than the same number of human beings could, which is the plan. Some Kanmusu had gone to the Moon to set up Lunar colonies. Some have set up in high orbit around Earth to make large long-term cylindrical (spinning) space stations. Some have even gone out to places like the Astroid Belt or even out to the moons like Titan (the moon of Saturn). As for what you've seen, my Princess chose to set up one of the initial ground side settlements on Mars; the former Abyssal Jellyfish Princess (and her fleet) is setting up the orbiting facilities and space colonies orbiting around Mars.

Ah, but while I totally agree with the sentiment that while Earth is our Cradle (for both Kanmusu and humanity as a whole) if we do not LEAVE Earth it will soon become our grave. The damage done to the environment from the Abyssal War on our Earth is being attended to here, but . . .yeah.

From what I am hoping that our sister Earth will have a shorter and much less costly war with the Abyss, but honestly, after having done one war already I and the other Resummoned do not wish to partake in another unless we have to here. We have helped with gifts of technology and such (and a limited form of trade through the narrow portal down in the Bikini Atoll), but enough is enough for me and my sisters thanks! Now is a time to create.

...

But that is not why I and my sister are out and about this section of Mars? Well, the thing is that Trinitite's young daughter--what a scamp!, the behavior which started when nearly she nearly drove her father and mother insane with that squeaky Jellyfish Princess toy Trin had bought before finally rejoining with Saratoga and had continued well until now!--wanted to swing on by where the Pathfinder prode was located before going silent back in 1997. She'd seen The Martian with us while in route to Mars, so . . .

What the Fu...?

Is that a little BOY crying over there? In THIS atmosphere without a spacesuit?!

Jumping off the rover and running up to the youngster, I and my sister pause when we notice . . .the boy is translucent as he stands over a pile of sand. A pile which is rather near the spot we'd been angling towards for a while now . . .

"Pathfinder?" Autumn ventures, guessing what we're actually SEEING here.

Some of the Kanmusu involved in a rescue mission back on that sister Earth had mentioned meeting a modern Chinese warship's spirit.

"Wha . . .you see me?" the young boy whispered, turning and staring at me and my sister in our spacesuits. "And . . .why do you look like humans and big warships?"

"Yes. . .yes we can," Autumn finally says after giving me a quick glance, as if asking if I am seeing the same thing as she was seeing.

Yes, Trinitite and Elizabeth had been in the belief that various space probes could have their own versions of ship spirits but I had . . .

. . . I had been wrong.

"We are what people call Kanmusu," I begin, bending down to be better able to look the young red-haired boy in his blue eyes. "And we're somewhat like what you are, to make a long story short. Would you like to hear about it while we bring you back home?"

" . . .Could I?" the young boy asked hesitantly. "I mean I must have done something wrong. What I don't know because I've been alone so long. What did I do wrong?"

"You didn't do anything wrong!" I say loudly, putting aside the fact that despite the fact that this boy should probably not be able to hear my voice through the thing Martian atmosphere. When has logic been a reason for what sometimes happens with shipgirls (and apparently space probe boys)? "We've just . . .got caught up with other things like war and other things we'll tell you all about. Sound good?"

"Okay," the young boy blinked, looking hopeful. " So it's time to go? Was I a good boy?"

Giving my sister a look, I smile softly.

"No, I was told you were the best." I smile, reaching for an extraction tool to dig out Pathfinder's body and take it with us back to base.

1. It was time for a return home.

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