Abukuma closed her somewhat baggy eyes as she said that. She’s delicate, so she’s probably not getting much sleep. I drove as smoothly as possible, heading for the rocket launch site in Anegasaki, Chiba Prefecture.
Apparently, there used to be a launch site on an equatorial island, but maintaining such places became difficult after the Change of Calendars. So a new one was built in Anegasaki in Chiba, which faces Tokyo Bay and is within the safety zone, but it hasn’t seen much use since space development itself has fallen out of popularity.
The Kawashima-One had already been transported to this launch site. Although there was no need to stand it upright, it had been set up vertically like a normal rocket at the request of the mass media who wanted to film it that way if possible.
Apparently the Kawashima-One had taken a short flight during the setup process, and the media that came to film the preparations rushed to broadcast that footage as a special report. The actual flight scene of the gravity control method, which had been considered mere theory, received tremendous buzz and spread rapidly around the world.
As everyone at Kawashima Asteroid was overwhelmed by the immense pressure, barely even eating during that Christmas Eve, the day after was Christmas. And the inaugural mission day for the Kawashima-One.
We had gathered at the still-dark launch site and, after the morning briefing by Director Abukuma carrying the Kawashima-One on her back, confirmed the final schedule.
“Whoa, this is becoming huge!”
Amid this, a coworker showed me the TubeStreamer video – the footage of the Kawashima-One floating had already surpassed 100 million views. At this rate, today’s live stream commentary is going to be incredible too.
My premonition was right on the mark – at 5:30 AM, half an hour before the scheduled 6 AM start, there were already over 100,000 people waiting. The lively chat section, which had more foreign languages than Japanese, gave a keen sense of the high level of international attention.
“Director, I heard a bunch of media outlets that didn’t get prior approval are showing up.”
“Eh? Why?”
“Probably because it’s becoming such a big deal.”
In the dim predawn light not even casting shadows, Abukuma – whose eye bags seemed darker than usual – calmly issued instructions to deal with the unexpected situation.
“Have security turn them away. We absolutely cannot let anyone in except those who have been cleared in advance.”
“Understood.”
“Mr. Kuwajima, can I leave you in charge of the launch site? There might be people trying to force their way in – please deal with them properly.”
“Understood.”
With those words, Mr. Kuwajima and the other former security personnel immediately sprang into action. Since they were dispatched specifically for situations like this, they seemed quite enthusiastic, which was reassuring.
“Now then, Kaneki-kun…”
“Yes!”
In the howling sea breeze, Director Abukuma brought her mouth close to my ear and whispered:
“Because the president and others are providing backup, we absolutely cannot fail this ground launch. I’ll be stuck in the command center, so I’m leaving the livestream entirely to you.”
“Got it.”
The director gave me a couple of pats on the back before walking toward the command center to give instructions for Kawashima-One.
We didn’t want to introduce any uncertainty into Kawashima-One’s remote operation. That’s why I couldn’t broadcast from inside the command center this time… Instead, I was tasked with setting up equipment in the corner of the launch pad and providing commentary while filming Kawashima-One with our cameras.
By the way, this livestream was a project championed by President Tonbo-kun, set up because he wanted to watch the launch from where he was already waiting in space. Entrusted with this boyish dream, I gathered the equipment with my colleague who was assisting me, contacted all relevant parties, drank my usual canned coffee… and was fully prepared to meet six o’clock.
“Good morning, and Merry Christmas! This is the Anegasaki Space Center. We’re fortunate to have clear skies today – perfect weather for a launch. I’m Kaneki from Kawashima General Trading, and I’ll be your guide for today’s stream.”
As soon as I gave that greeting at the start of the broadcast, comments began flowing at an incredible speed in the area my assistant had set up for easy viewing. I had planned to respond to some comments during the stream, but that clearly wasn’t going to be possible.
“First, let me explain Kawashima-One’s mission for today.”
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I spent about fifteen minutes explaining the mission schedule, overview, and technical features of Kawashima-One. When I made an OK sign with my fingers while looking at my colleague, he nodded and operated the PC.
“The launch will begin at exactly seven o’clock, but we have a guest with us today… Let me introduce VTuber Space Sora Takako-san!”
With my words, an animated girl wearing a Saturn-like hat appeared next to Kawashima-One in the livestream.
[H-hello~… I’m Space Sora Takako pepo, connecting space and Earth!]
To be honest, until yesterday, we thought that most people only briefly watched spacecraft launches on TV news, and that only enthusiasts would watch a livestream… That’s why we had invited this space-focused female streamer who had previously interviewed our company, hoping to make the stream a bit more lively.
But even she probably hadn’t expected to be called to an event with so many viewers. The stream’s viewer count had already exceeded 1.5 million.
“We’ve actually had the pleasure of appearing on Space Sora-san’s channel before, and she’s very knowledgeable about space development.”
[Y-yes pepo… Takako is a drifter who came from space… and… I’m supporting space development because I want to get home quickly on an Earth spacecraft pepo!]
While we were talking, my colleague turned a tablet toward me. Looking at it, I saw that [Kawashima-One] was trending at number one on social media. In other words, it was currently the hottest topic on the internet. By the way, [pepo] was number two.
“Oh! It looks like Kawashima-One is currently top trending topic. And pepo is in second place!”
[That makes me happy pepo! But please don’t tell me to ride home on Kawashima-One pepo! Though Takako would love to ride it if she could pepo!]
“I wished I could ride it too!”
While I couldn’t read the viewers’ comments, having a partner made hosting the stream much easier… We had fun discussing the differences between spacecraft and spaceships, Kawashima-One’s ultimate goal of reaching the asteroid belt, and before we knew it, it was almost seven o’clock.
“Ah, just one minute to go!”
[It’s finally time pepo!]
There was no communication from the command center. That meant everything was fine.
A huge countdown from one minute appeared on the broadcast screen, with the numbers gradually decreasing. The current number of simultaneous viewers had exceeded 4 million. The comments seemed to have frozen at a point from a while ago, perhaps due to too many being posted at once.
I could hear myself gulping loudly. Then the final countdown began. Only the humming of Kawashima-One’s generator echoed across the launch pad, and despite it being winter, my palms were sweaty.
Ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three… two… one.
Without explosion or stalling, our spacecraft rose up… and smoothly disappeared into the clouds.
“…Go! Go! GO! Keep going like that!”
In that moment, I forgot about work, about the stream… I raised my fist to the sky and shouted those words to Kawashima-One.
The broadcast switched to the camera mounted on Kawashima-One, showing the ground growing increasingly distant. Then as the craft turned sideways and the boundary between space and Earth came into view… cheers erupted from all around the launch site.
“We did it!”
[We did it pepo!]
I high-fived my colleague and waved back at Mr. Kuwajima, who was waving from afar.
“Launch successful! The launch is successful! Kawashima-One! But this isn’t the end – Kawashima-One will now head to the moon. It will collect sample materials and return to Earth!”
[Amazing pepo! So cool pepo!]
The news of Kawashima-One flying into space with the sunrise achieved incredible ratings, and the stream’s viewership ultimately exceeded 6 million. As a side note, Space Sora Takako-san, who had been our partner until the launch, saw her [Tube Streamer] channel subscribers jump from 5,000 to 400,000 in just one day.
And when Kawashima-One successfully reached the moon and returned… humanity once again turned its eyes toward the frontier of space. Our company received various requests for technical cooperation from countries and corporations, and proposals for building space stations using Kawashima-One, though most were rejected by the vice president.
Still, the vice president was apparently considering the space station plan as a potential use for Kawashima-One after it completed its asteroid collection mission.
I really am lucky, I think again. Despite my crazy life… I got to witness this exciting era from the absolute best position.
I wonder what my younger self, who used to dream about the sea of stars every night while clutching a worn-out encyclopedia, would think of me now? Would he say “Well done”? Or would he scoff and say “Not enough yet”?
Now the Kawashima General Trading Asteroid Division has become the ultimate goal for children aspiring to work in space. Leaning on the window frame of its Public Relations Department, I sipped my Kawashima-One branded canned coffee and gazed up at the sky where the first star was beginning to appear, thinking about such things.
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