Now then… In plotting a route from that edge world to the Arein System, we’d technically had a number of paths to choose from. Traveling normally would’ve taken a bit too long, though, so using a gateway was in our best interest. However, that reduced our viable options to a single route.
“We’ll take the closest gateway to one near the Arein System, then fly normally from there to Arein. Right?” Dr. Shouko asked, resting her tablet on a pillow.
“Well…yeah, more or less.” For pillow talk, this conversation is quite lacking…
Yes—don’t make me spell it out. What you think happened happened.
Her glasses removed, Dr. Shouko moved her face closer to mine. “It seems like you have something to say.”
Yeah, she’s really hot. “Well, I kind of just went with the flow, since you were the one who approached me. But I guess I’m wondering now whether that was a good decision.”
“Hm? I’d say it was, although I’m a little embarrassed at my performance. It really wasn’t easy to overcome the difference in experience.” Dr. Shouko smirked.
“Well, thanks for the—wait, no. I mean…like…there’s a proper order to things like this that should be followed, right?”
Dr. Shouko seemed momentarily surprised by that idea; then a wide smile broke out on her face. “It’s not like we’re teenagers trying to experience all the romantic ups and downs of a relationship. This is fine, isn’t it? I’m satisfied, at least. Aren’t you, Captain?”
“Oh, I’m very satisfied too. It’s just, well—putting romance aside, I guess I got a little hung up about these things in terms of love.”
“Love? Love, eh…? I don’t really understand love. I haven’t got parents, and I’ve never experienced anything resembling love in all my years.”
“Oh? Is this going to be a conversation about something serious?”
“That might seem serious to some people. But I think it’s totally normal, and I don’t really care how other people perceive it. I’m me, after all.” Dr. Shouko put down her tablet and shifted to face me. “You see, I’m technically an artificial human.”
“Technically?”
“Yes. My body is no different from that of a normal human woman. I can also have children the same way normal humans can. But I was born in an artificial womb made of glass and metal, in the research lab of an interstellar corporation that’s no longer around.”
With that as a preface, Dr. Shouko began to explain the circumstances of her birth. In a nutshell, she’d been a designer baby created by an interstellar corporation that was trying to mass-produce skilled researchers by picking and choosing superior genes.
Oh—I think I know what she’s talking about. It’s like that SEED thing that shows up in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, right? The SEED factor thing where their SEED goes “Peeew!” and they suddenly power up. I see, I see. Not that Dr. Shouko has a SEED that’s suddenly going to go “Peeew!”
“In the end, the company that created me ran afoul of rules regulating the creation of life or something and was shut down. I was placed into the care of the imperial government, which ran all sorts of inspections on me before handing me over to Inagawa Technologies.”
“Wow. You’ve lived quite a dramatic life, Dr. Shouko.”
“That’s all you have to say…?”
“Hmm? Yeah. Now I know why you don’t really understand romance, or love, like you said. That’s helped to change my own perspective a bit, and now I think it’s fine to gradually develop those feelings after forming a physical connection.”
If Dr. Shouko knew what I was thinking, she’d probably be mad or stunned speechless; still, I couldn’t help but feel that being a genetically modified artificial human was kind of cool. Besides, Elma and other imperial nobles physically augmented their bodies through cybernetics and bionics, which in my opinion wasn’t that different. Being an artificially created designer baby wasn’t anything to feel ashamed of. If that was problematic, then what about my circumstances? I was a guy who’d just randomly ended up in this universe via unknown means. That was way weirder than being a designer baby.
“Most people get creeped out after hearing that,” Dr. Shouko told me.
“It doesn’t creep me out. If you don’t have any misgivings about us suddenly entering an intimate physical relationship, then I don’t either. We’ll cross any future bridges when we get to them.”
Tina, Wiska, and Kugi had been crew members for a while before I became intimate with them, but I had no misgivings when it came to Dr. Shouko. Like Elma, she was a fully independent adult. Well, I supposed that Tina and Wiska were also independent adults, but they looked like children…not that it bothered me anymore. I couldn’t help feeling as though I’d opened a door that was better left closed, but there was no point crying over spilled milk.
“Oh, I recognize that look,” Dr. Shouko told me. “You’re thinking about other girls right now. That’s no good.”
She pinched my cheek, then started tugging it—quite hard. If I were a certain elf, I’d probably have been screaming in agony at that point, but I figured everyone had different—Oh. Whoops. She literally just scolded me.
“You’re hopeless,” Dr. Shouko added. “I guess I need to take back your attention by force.”
“Bring it on.”
I decided to stop thinking and just treasure her warmth.
✦ ✦ ✦
The next morning, I woke up with Dr. Shouko and together we headed to the Black Lotus’s lounge. There, the little dwarves ganged up on me.
“Well, it’s good that things went well, hon,” Tina told me. “But I’m still mad.”
Wiska glared.
The pair didn’t hold back their displeasure, though I could tell they weren’t actually serious.
“Kugi, say something.”
Tina had dragged over Kugi, who responded with rare awkwardness. “Um…well… It didn’t really bother me, so…”
Whatever happened, Kugi always put me first. The way she fully accepted everything about me was borderline worrisome, and she appeared unsure of what to do when asked to voice her complaints like this.
“With you guys, it took me time because of your racial and personality differences,” I explained. “And crossing the line with Kugi felt kind of risky, so… Yeah.”
“Risky?”
“Uh…well, that risky vibe exists even now. It’s like Kugi is totally submissive, or like she just completely embraces whoever I am. It feels like, if I said something was white, she’d agree with me, even if it was really black. Am I making sense…?”
“Mm…hmm…” Tina glanced at Kugi. “Yeah, I kinda get where you’re coming from. But I don’t think Kugi worships you blindly.”
Kugi nodded. “Tina is right, my lord. Although I adore you, I would do my best to correct you if you strayed from the rightful path. Serving with sincerity is not the same thing as blind loyalty.”
I hesitated. “Well, your deep loyalty and favor are too dazzling sometimes.”
I wasn’t just referring to Kugi’s choice of the word “adore.” She constantly radiated positive thought waves about me, so I couldn’t help but wince sometimes. What do I mean by “positive thought waves”? Well, she basically emitted an “I love you, I love you” aura that was always crashing into me. It was a bit much to handle at times.
As I reeled at Kugi’s barrage of positive thought waves, Wiska dove into my lap. Crap… I ignored her for too long.
“Meow…”
“Pwfff!” Monopolizing my lap, Wiska had shifted, looked up at me, and mewed. Why is she so cute?!
“W-Wiska?! H-how sly! I can’t believe…! What a terrifying girl!” Tina exclaimed.
“I know I’m the one who did it, but that was super embarrassing!” Wiska said, blushing and covering her face with both hands.
Mimi, Elma, and Dr. Shouko watched us from over in the cafeteria. I was curious as to what those three were talking about…but the atmosphere seemed fine, so I figured there probably wouldn’t be any problems.
“Stop thinking about Dr. Shouko and pay us some attention too,” Tina told me. “Fairness is an important virtue.”
“Okay, okay. So that’s an invitation to come over tonight, right?”
“No—well, yes, but…! Dang it!”
“Gah! Wait! Don’t punch me! That actually hurt!”
Tina had jabbed me out of embarrassment, and it seriously ached. Well, at the very least, I could look forward to this trip not being a boring one. I needed to make sure the girls didn’t get bored with me either.