Volume 5 Chapter 3 Gate Opens
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”This is Skylark One. Five minutes to the target.”
”Copy, Skylark One. The target should be only two or three meters at most. It won’t show on radar, so stay low and don’t miss it.”
”Roger!”
A US Army helicopter flew low over the heart of the Nevada desert. There were no landmarks at all, so they had only the map point. The navigator kept his eyes on the GPS as they moved toward the spot.
”It should be around here. Do you see anything?” the captain asked, telling the others to check with their eyes.
”Well… the sun is strong at noon, and the sand shines a lot… Ah. Maybe that?” one soldier said, pointing.
The captain looked and saw a ring of light.
”That must be it. Looks like Dr. Stanford was right again. Report the Gate to base—”
”Captain, look! The Gate is changing color!” another soldier shouted.
The yellow light slowly turned blue. The captain frowned. Something was there.
”C-Captain! A person! Someone came out of the Gate!”
”This is… Close Contact Case B. Call base and ask for support now. We will try to make contact. Check your weapons!”
The helicopter landed about three hundred meters away. The team took their guns and walked toward the Gate with care.
”We split here. Jackie and I will try to talk. The rest stay back and cover us if needed,” the captain said, taking one soldier with him.
”Three people…” he said as he walked with his gun ready. The three on the other side also noticed them and raised their guard.
”Jackie, prepare the AI translator.”
”Ready.”
If the people from the Gate were known visitors from the other world, the AI translator should work with the language data they had. The guide said they should play a greeting first, and they were close enough for that. The captain reached to turn it on.
”Hey! Please don’t shoot. I’m home after a long time!”
The person really said that… in English. The captain stared. They looked like people from another world. Why English?
The one who spoke came closer. “I’m Sheena. I’m a second lieutenant of the Apocalypse Empire Gate Research Team. I want to speak with the AWCC.”
Sheena? Was that the same Sheena in the files, Teleportation Subject No. 47? The captain quickly called base.
***
”Oh my. It really is Sheena! I can’t believe it. I never thought I would see you again while I’m still alive,” a woman said.
”Haha! Mathius, long time! About five years for you?” Sheena said.
”Yes. It’s been that long…”
Dr. Mathius rushed to the Nevada base after the report. She could not hide her surprise and joy when she saw that one of the visitors was Sheena.
”So, Sheena, who are these two? Will you introduce us?”
”Sure. The cute little elf girl here is Saran, a royal guard from the Zerlant Kingdom. This one who looks like a messy jobless guy is Utari, the spirit clan officer. And I’m from the Demon Clan Empire, so the three of us are a joint team for Gate development!”
”A joint team for Gate development?”
”Yes. After Yuuta, Claudel, and I went back, many things happened. Making the Gate work was not the hard part, but the politics were a pain.”
”Haha. General Anderson and Dr. Stanford will come tomorrow, so you can tell us the details then. Ah, Sheena, let me see your face more,” Dr. Mathius said, and pulled Sheena into a tight hug.
”Wow, this base feels so nostalgic. Look, this was my room,” Sheena said later.
The three visitors were shown the old underground base where Sheena once stayed. They would spend the night there, and Sheena proudly guided the other two.
”It’s very small. We stay here? I heard from Lady Claudel that human inns are very high and have a good view…” Saran said, a bit unhappy.
”I’m sorry. We can’t prepare a place like that so fast. We’ll find you a better one tomorrow,” a voice said in fluent elf language. Saran turned in shock. Dr. Mathius stood there with a small tablet.
”Oh, Mathius, is that a translator?” Sheena asked.
Dr. Mathius nodded.
”With this… we can talk…” Saran said, opening her eyes wide.
”But what about Mr. Utari? Does it work with him? I don’t have spirit clan data,” Mathius said.
”It’s fine. Utari is like a translator himself,” Sheena said.
Right then, Mathius heard a voice in his head.
[I can speak by telepathy. Please treat me well.]
”What was that? Telepathy?” he gasped.
”Well, that’s the word here. But be careful, Mathius. The spirit clan can take over other minds very fast!”
[Ms. Sheena, that is banned by the Three-Clan Treaty!]
So many things were happening at once that even Mathius was lost. These people were walking top-level secrets.
* * *
The next evening, Major General George Anderson, Dr. Stanford, and AWCC staff came to the base for a meeting with Mathius and the visitors. After Yuuta’s return, Dr. Stanford did not go back into hiding in New Jersey. He kept working with the AWCC on Gate research.
Sheena gave a short report of the past five years. After much trouble, the elves, the Demon Clan, and the spirit clan signed a Three-Clan Treaty to build and use the Gate together for mutual growth. They fixed the Gate at last and sent these three as the first team. This was only a test visit, and real exchange would take time.
Sheena began to speak of her own goal. “Our Queen hopes for cultural and trade exchange in the future. But many humans were sent to our land by force. Even if we want peace, we should help those people return first. But only a few can pass the Gate, so we cannot be fair now. To avoid conflict, we must make rules first, and that is why I came to speak with you here.”
”I see. So you mean we must make clear rules first, then let people travel,” Dr. Mathius said. Saran nodded.
Next, Utari spoke by telepathy.
[The spirit clan does not need mana to form our bodies, so the Gate limit on people does not apply to us. But we also have no data to know if many teleportations are safe. So my main goal is to test this with my own body.]
”I see. Do you feel any change so far?” George asked.
[Not yet. I plan to go back and forth through the Gate a few times and watch my own condition.]
”That means you could be a postman!” Dr. Stanford cried.
[Postman?]
”Mail delivery. We could use letters for contact between both worlds. We tried that idea before with Sheena, but anything sent through the Gate must be attached to living flesh.”
Sheena laughed. “I thought of that too. It would be great if it works. We could even begin simple trade. But we must be sure it’s safe for the spirit clan body.” She added that her job was to gather knowledge to keep the Gate in good shape, and this study was part of it.
”In any case, this is a big turning point for us humans too. We must be careful. Many people and countries will try to use this for their own gain. While my dad is still the president, we need to make the AWCC strong.”
”Wow, George. Your father became president?” Sheena asked.
”Yes. Last winter. I got a promotion, and the AWCC got more budget.”
”Haha, but you know, George, Yuuta moved up too. He is the lord of the Kashiwagi lands now. And he is also the father of the next queen’s child…”
”What? That sounds wild. What do you mean?” George asked. Sheena explained, and everyone fell silent in shock.
”He had a child with the queen in secret… I can’t tell Tomori that,” George said.
”But she will find out. Lucky for him, Ms. Akari is trusted by the queen, and she teaches the princess now, right, Saran?”
”Yes. The Queen Mother is very kind and strict in her teaching,” Saran said.
”The Queen Mother… Tomori will be shocked,” George said, eyes wide.
”So, George, how is Halt? Humans grow fast. I would like to see him. Do you have a photo?” Sheena asked with bright eyes.
”They are both in Washington now. Halt starts junior high next year. Here—his picture,” George said, showing his phone.
”He has become just my type. Next time, I want to touch that tail again,” Sheena said with a grin.
”Please don’t do anything silly.”
After the meeting, Sheena and the others moved to a hotel in Las Vegas for dinner.
”Wow… this dress brings back memories,” Sheena said. She walked slowly, hiding her tail under a wide, long Rococo dress that reached the floor. Like with Claudel long ago, no one cared much about Saran’s elf ears, and Utari looked like a normal young man to most people.
”Ms. Saran, your room is on the top floor as you wished. Please rest tonight. I’m sorry, but from tomorrow, you must stay at the base again,” Mathius said. Saran smiled and said she understood.
They each had a private room. Sheena set George’s tablet on the table.
”The time in Japan… it’s around noon now,” she said, opening the app. Yuuta’s parents were waiting on the screen. George had set up the secure line.
”Hello! Long time no see!” Sheena said.
”Ms. Sheena, you look well. How is Yuuta? Is everyone all right?” Yuuta’s mother asked.
”Well, I’ll start with news about Karin…”
There was so much to say that the one hour passed fast. Even Yuuta’s parents were shocked about the queen.
Next—
”Hi, Tomori! Long time!”
”Oh my, it really is Sheena. You look fine. George told me many things… Is your mother well?”
”She’s great. She is almost like a guardian for the next queen. And Yuuta is a lord now.”
”I don’t know what to say… but I’m glad you’re fine. How is Karin?”
”Here, I brought a new photo. She now works as a link between the elf and Demon Clan, and talks with the spirit clan too.”
”I’m so glad… everyone looks well…”
”Don’t cry, Tomori. Now that I’m here again, I’ll work hard so travel becomes easy for both sides. But… I wonder if Saran will help with Sheena Unit Seven. Anyway! So, where is Halt? Is he okay?”
”He has been here the whole time. Halt, do you remember Big Sister Sheena, the one whose tail you chased?”
Tomori moved the camera down. Halt sat there, small and stiff with nerves.
”Wow, Halt, you grew so fast. Humans grow quick. Are you doing well?” Sheena asked.
”Sheena… Big Sister?” he said.
”Oh, did you forget me? You always chased my tail and ran under my skirt!”
”Tail… skirt?”
”Oh come on. Look! This is why!”
Sheena lifted the skirt of her Rococo dress slightly to the camera, revealing her tail.
”Hey! Fool, Sheena! What are you doing!?” Tomori shouted, but Halt remembered.
”Oh! The lizard-tail sister!”
”There you go. You loved this tail and stroked it every night!”
”Uh… yeah…”
”Sheena, put your bottom down! What if he gets the wrong ideas!” Tomori cried.
”Ah, Tomori, it may be too late,” Sheena said.
They talked about many things, and as the call neared the end, Sheena said:
”Tomori, this is not decided yet, but… if this test team does well, the elf queen may send the elf princess to study here for a short time in a few years. If that happens, your mother will likely come too. Don’t hope too much, but be ready.”
”I… I see. I might meet my mother… Thank you, Sheena.”
After the call, Sheena put the tablet away and thought:
”I wonder if I can meet Halt somewhere. I want his first time to be mine.”
Notes:
• Sheena – A Lizardman from the Apocalypse Empire, specifically a junior researcher in the teleportation research team of the empire’s army. She is the 47th resident (hence ‘No. 47’) of the secret underground facility in Nevada, where she has been living for several years after accidentally being transported to this world through a failed gate experiment. Yuuta’s saffle too.
• Mathius – Middle-aged researcher in a secret underground facility located in the Nevada desert, Earth. A serious and professional scientist wearing a lab coat, tasked with overseeing the research and containment of otherworldly beings, including Sheena, a Lizardman from another dimension.
• Saran – An elf; part of the joint team working on the Gate, described as ‘cute.’
• Utari – A member of the Spirit Clan that being captured by Sharlin and Karin. His appearance varies depending on the observer; Karin sees him as a human boy of similar age, while Master Sharlin perceives him as a bug-like monster. He communicates through physical touch, directly affecting the minds of others.
• Claudel – The elf captain of the royal guard assigned to Princess Asuka. At first, she had a strong dislike for Yuuta, who is human. Now, Yuuta’s saffle.
• George – An U.S. military officer and the son of Michael Anderson, a high-ranking official. He is also the brother of Gregory. Tomori’s husband.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply