Prologue
CITY OF HOPE

In a certain remote corner of the universe, whose position in relation to its other parts is yet to be determined, there lies an almost unremarkable spiral galaxy, whose only known distinguishing feature is its ability to support intelligent life on suspiciously fine-tuned planets.

At least six planets in that galaxy are currently known to be inhabited by a protein-based lifeform — known as humans in their dominant language — that first evolved on Earth, or Aasu in the dead language of a much earlier nearly-extinct sapient species only known to the humans as the Precursors. This is the only other intelligent lifeform known by humans, and only the most enlightened of them.

The majority of the population, on the other hand, is largely unaware of the fact that the Precursors ever existed, much less that they (and later what remained of them) used to control the human civilization until about three centuries ago — or, more precisely, the year 2005 AD. Most of the current "secret technology" developed behind closed doors by the Searrs Foundation — an organization long dedicated to transforming the human society with the power of science — is reverse-engineered from Precursor designs, which were themselves used by their creators to research and exploit the humans' special affinity for a type of empowerments collectively known as Highly-Advanced Materialising Equipment, or HiME for short.

As noted, humans are largely unaware of the existence of other intelligent species, which sometimes causes them to loathe their own existence in a cold, inhospitable universe, where their entire history is a dismissable momentary disturbance. This causes them to fill the void with works of fiction where such other species are plentiful, and engaged in all kinds of interesting political relationships. This is, presumably, an extension of the natural belief that a lone existence is meaningless, and only when viewed in the context of a society does an existence become noteworthy.

The planet Earl, which we are going to specifically focus on, is perhaps forever doomed to isolated existence. Even the Precursors avoided it: when the planet was first accessed from Earth under the supervision of Matten Searrs and Miyu Greer, its address in what was eventually named the Bifröst system was recovered from a Precursor note (since translated):

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES GO TO ..

The exact reason for this directive is not known. Almost exactly three centuries since the planet's discovery, during which it was extensively colonized, Earl's Bifröst node was severed, interrupting all contact with Earth and the rest of the human civilization — which was the beginning of a long chain of events eventually leading to the fall of the Searrs Foundation and the rise of its successor, the Garderobe Academy.

---

Saturday
November 5, 2332
8:53 AM

Wind City Travel Guide

A hand opened the book, and its index finger began following the text on the first page.

"...a literal translation of 'Kazahana', the old Japanese name of this place. Note that the Windbloom Prefecture of Aries, and by extension its capital Wind City, would be almost completely unremarkable if not for the sheer number of conspiracy theories they evoke. What Area 51, Roswell and the Bermuda Triangle once were for Earth, Windbloom is for today's Earl, along with the very inaccurately named Black Valley on the Aries-Cardair border and Apex Mountain in Artai. Almost every theory about a secret world-controlling society is guaranteed to propose at least one of these three places as its possible headquarters..."

"Ariesu. Hehe, so outdated," whispered the reader, flipping the page.

Said reader was a young woman in her early twenties, distinctly Japanese in appearance, with short black hair and a smooth round face typical for that particular ethnic group. A far cry from a supermodel, but definitely not ugly either. She was casually sitting on a couch, in the waiting area of what appeared to be a transport terminal, holding the travel guide book loosely — apparently scanning rather than reading. Her thick dark blue jacket was partially unzipped, revealing a featureless teal shirt below.

After noticing that other people in the hall began to stand up, she quickly stood up, packed the book in the bag she was carrying, took a document out of a pocket and went towards the exit in rapid steps, with the intent to slip into the unavoidable queue not too long after it would begin to form.

The passport inspector looked at the young woman's document with a vacant look and, after holding it for a second on a scanner, indifferently tossed it back.

NATIONALITY / 国籍: ZIPANG / ジパング
FAMILY NAME / 姓: IMŌTO / 妹
GIVEN NAME / 名: HARU / 春
SEX / 性別: FEMALE / 女
DATE OF BIRTH / 生年月日: 2308-03-08 / 二千三百八年 三月 八日

Without losing her careless disposition, Haru Imoto walked through the train station with inevitable "Welcome to Wind City" signs, and a big Aries coat of arms that was hastily and unprofessionally painted over.

She boarded the train standing idle on the station and, inside, upon reading a sign telling the fare (15 units), took out some money out of her wallet and handed it to the driver. This completely ordinary action, for some reason, attracted the attention of nearly everyone present, including the driver himself, who was left puzzled but accepted the money anyway.

"You actually paid the fare?" asked a bearded man sitting next to Haru when she took her seat.

"Yesu, why?" she asked in turn. "I didonto see anywhere to pay outsido ze torain, so I assumedo..."

"When abroad, never assume," said the man. "Blend in, do what everyone does — although... you would never blend in with that accent. Still, in Windbloom, it's not customary to pay for public transportation. Most locals are too poor for that, they can hardly even afford necessities."

"Rearry?" Haru desperately, and unsuccessfully, tried to raise a single eyebrow without looking stupid. "Bato ifu we donto pay, how wirru zey affordo maintenansu ando repairsu?"

"Don't concern yourself too much, I'd say. Besides, the money is probably going to end up in wrong hands anyway. That's what I say to myself."

"You say zisu to yourserufu for conscienssu seiku, ne?" smiled Haru.

The man was somewhat embarassed. "On an unrelated note," he said, changing the topic, "what could possibly interest a Zipangian in this trash dump of a country? If you're looking for a job, you've come to the wrong place."

Haru reached into her bag, showing an envelope. "I'mu ruukingu for Ryoko Ragna, of the Woru Reriifu Coorudination. Do you know where I couldo findo her?"

---

The Memorial Plaza Complex had seen better days. Of the twin towers that once were renowned architectural features of Wind City, one was completely leveled to the ground during an Artai attack a year ago, and the other one was abandoned and in severe disrepair, seemingly in the danger of collapsing any day. The hole in the middle of the plaza was now surrounded by tape and "Keep Clear" signs, and patrolled by two guards.

Whatever activity went on in the complex was concentrated in a single three-story building, above whose entrance was crudely painted the name of the organization now residing there:

WAR RELIEF COORDINATION

One of the offices was occupied by Ryoko Ragna, whom some readers may already know for her role in a certain... interesting incident a year ago. Her appearance has changed a little since then: she cut her hair shorter, and she now wore a grey suit with a tie, with a badge on the chest reading simply "Administrator".

She was sitting behind a desk, typing something on her computer frustratedly. Finally, giving up, she picked up the phone on her desk and dialed a number.

"Support? What now?" Ryoko asked angrily. "Don't tell me it's power failure again."

"Unfortunately, it is," said the voice in the phone. "Team 2 reports that vandals have damaged a transformator booth on Higurashi Street. They should get it operational in an hour or so."

"Have the vandals been caught?" inquired Ryoko.

"I'm not in position to know this, really... But I don't think so, I mean, there's nobody who could."

Ryoko hung up, stood up and looked into the window, watching as snow fell on the dirty streets, slowly turning dirt into mud. "I should really get out more," she whispered, "or I'm risking to lose touch with reality."

The door to Ryoko's office opened, and Wataru Steingott, our familiar gentleman investigator, came in, smiling mysteriously and stroking a black cat with a white patch on its forehead.

"What..." began Ryoko, but Wataru interrupted her immediately.

"First," he spoke hastily, "the first four squads of our own police have been formed — I know it's a drop in a bucket, but we'll need everything we have, especially with Aries pulling out. There are more on the way. Second, I've finally received a definite yes from Fumi. We're getting married on Monday, so your Chief Domestic Something-or-Other will soon be Wataru Himeno, yesss... And third — "

"Wataru," Ryoko interrupted him in turn. "How on Earl did you come across Naomi's cat?"

"I was coming to that," said Wataru. "In our digs in that Searrs facility, we found another GEM. You can look, if you like." Holding the cat on one arm, he reached into a pocket and produced a tiny casing with the Searrs Foundation logo and an inscription in English and Japanese:

海神の翠玉 / NEPTUNE EMERALD

"You know what this discovery enables you to do, per the Treaty," continued Wataru.

"Yes, yes, my own Otome, since Fumi doesn't count," responded Ryoko, gently touching her ring with a white gemstone. "And I have a candidate in mind. But I wasn't asking about that."

"After we found the GEM, or rather, I did, alone, I concealed it and followed the way out. As I was passing by the Door, however, it suddenly activated from the other side..."

"What? Activated?"

"Yes, activated," confirmed Wataru. "We were right after all, it's a portal. Probably some undocumented side feature of Bifröst, for local transportation. After it activated, we saw the other side — and at this moment, the cat jumped through carrying this note." He handed Ryoko a piece of paper.

"Ryoko, I forgive you. Now that the genie is out of the bottle, all you can do is spread the word before certain nations usurp control over the Otome toys. Be careful with them. Take care of Munya. Don't search for me or Miyu, or you will be killed. N.S. (sort of)"

"Ah, so the cat is called Munya. I remember her mentioning that now, I just forgot. Wonder what she forgives me for, though..." Ryoko sat down again. "And your men didn't follow to the other side?" she asked.

"We tried to, but apparently travel is one-way," informed Wataru.

"Then it's dangerous," stated Ryoko. "Somebody could appear two steps away from our headquarters, and we wouldn't even know where they came from. We must get it working from this side and identify where it can lead. And if we find any threat to Windbloom's safety from any of those directions..."

She paused, opening the box labeled "Neptune Emerald" and taking two ornate green gemstones out of it.

"This time," she finished, "we shall do something about it."

To be continued...