Man or Machine

[thisDerius]

835. A.S. - Planet New Tokyo.

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I found it.

Tucked away in the Ontario system, half-buried in the void like a ghost of the past. A fragment of the Hamilton wreck, hidden so well that if it weren’t for a stroke of luck, I would have missed it entirely. Inside? The Silent Claw’s old database. The data was fragmented, decayed from years of drifting in radiation, but it still contained something valuable—something on the Slomon K’Hara. I had searched all across Liberty, wasted time combing through dead signals and false leads, but then a familiar ping cut through the static.

Ontario held the answers where Liberty did not. The wreckage was dangerous. Radiation levels spiked the moment I got close, my hull creaking as if the wreck itself was warning me to turn back. Thank god I came prepared—reinforced shielding, a quick grab-and-go strategy. No room for hesitation. A single misstep, and I’d have been left as another nameless corpse floating in the black. The data I salvaged wasn’t much—an additional 5% to my collected research.

A small step forward, but progress is progress. I’ll take whatever I can get. There’s still some encrypted data in the package, possibly my own old logs. A part of me wonders if I should even look. I never liked leaving my ship while in deep space—one mistake, and off you go, lost forever. Maybe those thoughts are still buried in the files, waiting for me to dig them back up.

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But Liberty isn’t safe for me anymore. I’ve decided to head to Kusari—for now, at least. It feels safer, or at least less immediate in its threats.

Before that, though, I need to rename my ship. I can feel the weight of too many eyes on me, the way people’s stares linger just a second too long. They’re suspicious. Maybe they recognize me. Maybe they don’t. But I know better than to let them keep wondering.

Still, I chose to keep my main transponder active. A risk, but one worth taking. If I’m going to move around freely, it’s better to own my identity than constantly run from it. Even if it costs me later.

---

One lingering thought keeps circling back to me. Sanae Miyasu. Is she still alive? If she is, she might be able to give me a lead, maybe even offer me some kind of safe harbor. Assistance. Insight. A place to work from, at least for a while. I’ll track her down in due time, but first—I need a drink. The Undercity on this planet will do. A good drink, a dark corner, and time to think.