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LOG: Byodoin and Mizuki
Who: Byodoin and Mizuki
When: sometime during the second week at the mining outpost, right before the 15th.
Where: Lake Kobayashi
What: Romantic date at the lake before things go south for Byodoin
If there was one perk to giving Hiyoshi the week off, it was that Byodoin was going to be at the mining outpost at the same time as Mizuki. Which meant, of course, more chances to flirt.
Byodoin was SO ready for this. He'd washed up in the lake, shaved his hair, and applied fresh deodorant. There was nothing that Mizuki could find repulsive about him now. And so he waited, bag of rations in hand, to take Mizuki on an impromptu date to the only semi-romantic location on this god forsaken planet.
Busy, busy busy. Mizuki had been bustling about the outpost, which had only just barely gotten basic infrastructure online (Mizuki knew it was going to be mostly remote operated, but honestly, the toilets). He had to make sure all procedures were going safely, no one was pulling too much overtime, equipment was being used as specified and not creatively... Mizuki was honestly exhausted by the end of his shift, but he’d promised to meet with Byodoin. Hopefully the man wouldn’t take him mountain climbing or something.
He grabbed a flask of tea (the only representation of civilisation he’d brought along for this trip) and headed to their agreed meeting spot.
Byodoin was already there waiting, not about to be anything but punctual when Mizuki was concerned. He waved to Mizuki in greeting.
"Looking good, Safety. You have a good day making sure the outpost doesn't implode?" He asked, going over to the dark haired man.
“Hello, Byodoin-san. Ugh, there’s just so much to do,” sighed Mizuki, evidently familiar enough with Byodoin now to complain at him. “It’s the worst when things are still being set up and nobody is sure of what protocols to follow. You’d think the UEA would have this colonization thing down pat by now!” He sniffed and looked Byodoin up and down. Punctual, which was good, and all cleaned up. Also good. At least Byodoin was trying.
Oh was Byodoin ever trying. The amount of work he was putting into winning Mizuki over was insane at this point. It was like Byodoin had lost his mind.
But eh, Mizuki was worth it in his crazy man opinion.
"The UEA sent a bunch of civilians out here, is the biggest problem. The military people all know the game, but we have a lot of people unfamiliar with protocol running around too." It was typical UEA nonsense. "Settlements that are strictly military go up a lot more efficiently. Less nice stuff on them, though."
“Can it really be called a colony without civilians, though?” Mizuki questioned, twirling a lock of hair around his finger. “A planet with just military is a garrison.” He looked at the bag in Byodoin’s hand. Probably not cookies this time, given the circumstances.
“Where are we going today?”
Yes, a military settlement was called a garrison. And garrisons went up way easier than colonies, his point still stood. Though a garrison wouldn't have Mizuki wandering around.
"I'm taking you to see the prettiest place I've found on this damn planet." Byodoin explained absolutely nothing, just handing Mizuki the flashlight he would need since he couldn't see in the dark (not everyone could have night vision) and leading Mizuki into the caves. "You're bound to like this place at least a little."
After all, it was full of gold and glowed on its own. The lake was honestly awesome, apart from being full of dicks.
“Outside, underground? I suppose we’ll need the nanosuits…” Mizuki took the torch with some trepidation. Perhaps Byodoin had found an interesting rock formation? Stalactites? Honestly, he wasn’t looking forward to it, given that the place was supposedly overrun with crawlers.
Don't worry, Mizuki, Byodoin had already cleared the route out, and could handle any new ones that showed up easily.
"Yeah, we'll need the nanosuits." Byodoin confirmed amused. "Not a fan of it? I know a lot of people don't like the nanosuits."
“It’s… inconvenient,” admitted Mizuki, as they made their way to the changing area. He didn’t want to spend two weeks in a nanosuit ever again. “I dislike the helmets the most. They’re made of ultralight composite, I know, but it just feels so unwieldy.”
"The helmets are the worst, that's true. We should be able to take them off when we get to our destination though. Air quality there isn't bad." Byodoin replied, already in his suit so he just grabbed his helmet and turned his back to Mizuki to give him privacy to change. "I assume eventually they'll install the electronic trees to improve general air quality in the outside areas people frequent. It's not really high priority though."
If they could take their helmets off, then it must be somewhere enclosed, but with ventilation. The underground cavern guess was looking more and more likely. “There’s a lot more infrastructure they have to build before even starting to think about that,” Mizuki agreed with Byodoin, quickly changing into his nanosuit. He was pleased that Byodoin was considerate and polite enough to turn away, even though by now everyone was more or less immune to the sights of people getting in and out of the suits. Another point for Byodoin. “It’s not even toxic air, just… so much dust… I guess we have it better off than Eden.”
t"Yeah, this place could be a lot worse." Byodoin agreed, sliding on his helmet and locking it into place. "I've been places with atmospheres so bad you needed more PPE than just a nanosuit. That bulky protective gear is horrible, really."
He waited a bit longer, listening for the sound of Mizuki putting on his helmet before turning around. "Well, let's get going."
Byodoin’s experience sounded horrible to Mizuki, though he supposed it must come with the rank.. “I’d recommend more detailed surveys before deciding to settle, but I suppose humankind can’t really afford to be too picky.”
Mizuki locked the helmet in place with a click, then followed after Byodoin. “Lead on, Byodoin-san.”
And lead Byodoin did, taking Mizuki down into the labyrinth of caves to follow the newly diggen path to what they had been calling Lake Kobayashi.
"This cave is really interesting on it's own, I guess. I've never seen a cavern so full of goddamn gold. Most of the base is going to end up made of the stuff at this point." Byodoin did his best to make smalltalk as they walked.
“I guess that could make it an attractive tourist destination?” said Mizuki doubtfully, following along (at least the tunnels were partially lit, now). A shiny gold base sounded… very tacky. “I did see Marui-kun’s selfie of him lying in a pile of gold nuggets. We might even get an influx of gold prospectors soon.”
"I'm hoping they start exporting the stuff and use the money to buy actual reasonable supplies, personally." Byodoin replied with a nod. "Doubt we'll get any tourists out here, or that the UEA would want to share its literal gold mine with anyone else."
But selling the stuff and getting some real supplies wouldn't be bad. And there still might be iron deposits out there somewhere.
“Might attract investors, too. We should be able to expand the base or add another settlement soon, I hope,” said Mizuki, carefully picking his way over some loose stones. “I’d love some proper supplies! Sometimes I wonder what they’re thinking, sending people out into space with just replicators and vats of algae. It’s gotten a bit better, but I think they’ve overlooked the importance of food and amenities in boosting morale and helping social cohesion. “
"Yeah. Real food improves morale more than anything Ohtori can do. I'm glad we've finally gotten some. I'd even take MREs over that algae crap." Byodoin agreed, continuing through the empty pathways. He'd done a good job clearing them out.
Mizuki was still on high alert, but no crawlers yet! He didn’t feel like he could relax, though having Byodoin around obviously helped him feel more secure (he was a seasoned soldier, after all!). “I think the only thing the replicator ever produced that tasted halfway decent was seaweed soup.” Seaweed being a type of algae, after all. “... are we nearly there?”
As if on cue Byodoin had them make a sharp turn to the right, and they were there, in the big clearing in front of the rather nice looking lake. "We are in fact there. Welcome to what we've been calling Lake Kobayashi. Still untouched, the water guy hasn't gotten his hands on it yet."
The rock formations and water itself all glowed on their own. Some kind of bioluminescent algae bloom or something, Byodoin didn't know the details. But what he did know was that it was impressive to look at... and that the crawlers didn't seem to come too close to this place.
“Oh!” Mizuki gasped in surprise as they turned a corner to a view of a glowing lake. It looked kind of … radioactive … but he supposed it was pretty, in its own way. “It reminds me of those bioluminescent plankton blooms back on Earth, just a little bit differently coloured.”
He turned to Byodoin. “Was this what you wanted to show me? You’re right, it is the prettiest place on the planet so far.”
Byodoin nodded in agreement and moved to take off his helmet, setting it down so he could start laying out the tarp he'd brought so that they could have a nice picnic.
"There might be better views on other places, but this is the best I can do for you at the moment." Byodoin confessed. "Though I did consider just taking you to a mirror to see the real best view on this shithole planet, I didn’t think it would impress you that much."
Mizuki rolled his eyes as he took off his helmet, shaking out his curly hair. He hated helmet hair. “You’re really bad at this compliments thing,” he said, walking cautiously closer to the edge of the lake. “Is this where Tooyama-kun found the guy from Demolitions?”
Byodoin shrugged and shamelessly watched Mizuki and Mizuki’s pretty hair. He thought his compliments were pretty good, thank you very much. "Yeah, the brat found Kobayashi here. And drank the stagnant water like a fool."
His child wasn't very bright.
“Oh, I heard about that.” Mizuki winced. Word was that poor Tooyama was still glued to the porcelain throne in Med Bay. “I mean, it’s good he found Kobayashi! But really, I’m sure he’s been told countless times not to consume anything on an alien planet unless it’s been approved by the scientific board!” That … boy… no he was 30, wasn’t he? That man should be watched at all times.
Byodoin nodded his head. "Maybe he needs a basic safety refresher course every year to help prevent his random acts of idiocy... it can be presented as things Santa says not to do, so he listens."
He started laying out their veritable feast of shelf stable food. Dried cherries and apples, some jerky, granola, nuts, and most spectacularly a freeze dried ice cream sandwich he'd had to threaten somebody for.
“Maybe quiz him before he gets presents..” sighed Mizuki, because honestly, Tooyama was a lost cause. He turned his attention to what Byodoin had magicked out of his unassuming-looking bag.
“Okay, I can tell you’ve put in effort,” he said approvingly, and presented his thermos of tea. “I made green tea for you. It’s cold brew, unfortunately, because apparently hot water is too much to ask for on this outpost.”
Byodoin perked up as he was offered tea, taking it with a grateful expression. "I'd given up on tea while I was here, so this is a nice surprise. Better than the pouches of energy drinks I was able to bring, for sure."
“Those are disgusting,” Mizuki declared, wrinkling his nose. “I brought some powdered tea in my pack too, so you can have those.” Life without tea wasn’t worth living, in Mizuki’s opinion. He daintily sat himself on the tarp, looking around at the glowy cavern.
Byodoin laughed. "I wholeheartedly agree. Gross sugar water shit... even the tea flavor is just sugar." He sat across from Mizuki, breaking into the bag of jerky. He needed some protein after working hard all day! "I hopefully have some new shipments of tea arriving in the next drop. I'll have to have you over to sample them."
“Are they all green tea?” Mizuki asked, knowing Byodoin’s preference. He didn’t mind green tea too much, but he was still attached to his black tea (with cream, thank you Dr. Inui).
"Nah. Got a few samplers this time, so there are several types." The idea had been to provide several potential dates with Mizuki, because Byodoin was invested in this. "My sister rants and raves about this brand's black tea so I figured it was time to try it."
Mizuki fell for the bait hook, line and sinker. “Ooh, that sounds interesting, what brand is it?” he asked. Mizuki liked making his own blends, so he was always interested in the popular types out there.
"This little indy brand based out of Mars... Kishimoto Tea Company or something. Like I said, my sister raves about them." Byodoin replied, nibbling on an apple slice now. "They had good reviews, so we'll see how it goes. Gives me something outside the usual to do while stuck here."
“Oh, I’ve heard of them!” Mizuki said, starting to pick at some of the dried fruit as well. “Pricey, though. It’ll be interesting at least. Supposedly their tea is grown on Martian soil, so the flavor profile is different. Have you been on Mars?”
Byodoin nodded his head. "Numerous times. My parents adore visiting Rainbow in particular. Took me there a whole lot when I was young." He shrugged. "Can't say I've had Martian tea before though. Should be an interesting thing to experience."
“I can’t say I’ve been to Rainbow,” Mizuki mused. “I’ve only been to Prime and Eberswald for work training. “I’ve always wanted to go to Tannhauser, though.” He opened a piece of jerky (honestly, not his favorite, but better than a protein bar) and started eating it in tiny little bites.
"There's a lot of places I'd like to go. Anywhere on Earth, for example... Haven't made it there yet." Byodoin watched Mizuki nibble on his jerky with amusement. It was clear the stuff wasn't his favorite. "Where's the most interesting place your work has ever sent you?"
“You should visit Earth if you can. There are lots of beautiful places left, despite climate change,” said Mizuki, thinking fondly back on his home. Come to think of it, Yomi seemed to have a disproportionate number of people from Earth’s Japan. “Interesting places… well, there was one that was interesting in a kind of horrifying way … it was a mine on an asteroid. Everything was radioactive. The walls were glowing.” Mizuki had been stuck in a protective suit the whole time and still had been terrified of developing some horrible disease.
Byodoin raised an eyebrow. They'd sent Mizuki to that hellhole? Yup, they sure dumped on him. "I know the mine you're talking about. Seems like an interesting place, but that level of radiation is a serious danger. I hope they paid you extra to go there. I know the human miners there make bank."
If you were working in that dangerous an environment you deserved a lot of money.
"I think my most interesting missions were all the ones on New Australia. Beautiful planet, lots of lush lifeforms. All of them wanted us dead, but they were beautiful." Byodoin sipped his precious tea. "None of the colonies there are still active. The flora and fauna got to them."
“I was only there for two days, but it was two days too many!” Mizuki shuddered, recalling the ordeal. “They paid handsomely for that, but I never want to go back.”
He listened with interest as Byodoin described his experience. “Well… maybe they shouldn’t have called it New Australia,” he said, grimacing. “I’ve heard about that place. SWS lost quite a few personnel there.”
Well, Byodoin was pretty sure it was named that because of the murderous wildlife and not the other way around. Right? "It's where I met Kintarou though. The water guy is apparently from there too... I'm actually surprised by how many people survived, but I guess it's because the colony was in a bubble."
“Oh! Yes, I remember now, Tooyama-kun participated in the evacuation!” said Mizuki, remembering that it was one of the deeds Able Spaceman Tooyama was known for. There had been a good deal of publicity around it, back in the day. “I didn’t know Zaizen-san was there as well, though.”
He hadn’t just participated, that had been where they'd found the brat. But Byodoin wasn't going to spill that bit of information. Not that it really mattered. Kintarou was on the books as being from there, as far as he knew. "Yeah, the water guy was one of the evacuated citizens. I don't personally remember him at all though... probably one of the kids that got to the shuttles without issues."
“Well, I’m glad he got out safe and isn’t too traumatized by living on a space colony, considering he’s joined us on this one,” Mizuki commented. He hadn’t met Zaizen, so he didn’t have much of an idea of his personality. He seemed decent and well-adjusted, though, as far as Mizuki could tell from what he read online. “Were you sent to protect the New Australia colony?”
Byodoin nodded. "Well, I was sent to try to clear out the more dangerous wildlife a few times. They ended up giving up on that and the last mission was the evacuation."
There were situations even Byodoin couldn't resolve. Though that might have been different if he'd had Kintarou on his earlier missions.
"This place is a lot calmer compared to that. Doubt we'll end up needing to evacuate." Byodoin mused. "Nope... we're stuck here."
“People still get eaten by sandworms!” Mizuki pointed out. Crawlers were kind of terrifying too, but at least they hadn’t eaten anyone. “But I suppose every colony has its dangers. It’s not all safe everywhere on Earth either.” Hopefully he could get through his five-year stint without incident.
"We've thinned the sandworm population around base off enough that it's fairly safe now. Pay attention to radar and listen to security and the average person is fine now." Way different from New Australia and it's incredibly toxic plants and vicious animals. "But yeah, I've heard about some of the vicious animals on earth. Like bears. Or hippopotamuses."
“Oh, what you have to watch for are the geese!” laughed Mizuki. “They’re more common than bears or hippos, and they’re basically feathered demons.” Mizuki had a few memories of people being chased by geese from a neighboring farm.
"Feathered demons, huh? Sounds kind of like the chickens here." Byodoin mused. Birds in general were pretty vicious, now that he thought about it.
Mizuki’s smile wavered as he recalled the dreaded Agri 2 incident. “... the chickens here are…something else,” he agreed, unable to suppress a shudder. The chickens just… didn’t seem…right..
“Well, they are descended from dinosaurs, so I suppose it’s understandable.”
Byodoin patted Mizuki’s back as he had some kind of chicken related flashback. There there Mizuki. He was big and strong and able to protect you from the chickens.
"Dinosaurs are cool. New Australia had some lifeforms that were similar. Big, bipedal things." Stuff like that was always cool to encounter on a mission.
Strangely enough Mizuki did feel a little bit better, but only a little bit. “That sounds terrifying,” he commented, imagining Niou’s mutant chickens, all bald and beady-eyed, but the size of a house. It was probably for the best that colonization plans for New Australia had been abandoned. “Anyway! I do hope SWS will let me transfer to somewhere a bit more civilized after this stint.”
"You deserve a placement somewhere cushy after putting up with this!" Byodoin agreed with a laugh. "Meanwhile I'm just hoping they don't decide to promote me in three years. Every promotion means less and less field work, and the field work is what I'm best at."
Well, he was actually really good at command too, but the field work was more fun.
“You don’t like leadership positions?” Mizuki was surprised. He’d rather pegged Byodoin for the leader type. Though, he did seem to be quite adventurous… “I’m sure you could train a replacement. Hiyoshi-san?”
"I like them just fine. I'm just better as a hands on leader than some Commander stuck behind a desk." And much further up in rank a desk was all that would be waiting for him. Which was a shame really. He wasn't so old that he needed the break, yet.
"What about you? You vying for a promotion after this? You'd probably good at management... you seem good at bossing people around. And have the mind for strategic placement of employees." Byodoin pointed out.
“Well, in times of peace, it can’t be helped, but you might get to make decisions that really matter,” said Mizuki encouragingly. Commander Ryuuzaki was out here, after all, and governor of a colony. Even if it was in the middle of nowhere.
“I see, so I’m bossy,” sniffed Mizuki, though he wasn’t actually offended. “Well, I am due for a promotion soon. Perhaps a regional manager or something. I might change jobs too, depending.” If SWS was not going to give him what he deserved, Mizuki would not hesitate to leave for greener pastures.
"I'd describe it more as assertive. You aren't afraid to tell people what needs to be done. You have conviction. It's something I like about you." Byodoin ate a couple of the cherries and sipped his tea, looking thoughtful. "You're definitely management material. You deserve that pay raise, too, after five years here."
“Flatterer,” Mizuki scoffed, although he looked pleased, preening a little at the praise. He agreed with Byodoin. He deserved a promotion and better pay! Especially after enduring Izanagi. He was about to add his thoughts when a movement in the water caught his eye.
“...what is that?”
Byodoin was unashamed to flatter Mizuki. There was no better way to a man's heart, after all.
...the stuff moving in the water probably wasn't that good for seduction, though. "There are fish like things in the water. Don't worry about it." No dicks to see here!
“Oh.” That made sense. Mizuki had heard of cave fish and cave shrimp back on Earth. He was about to relax when he was startled by a sudden splash, when a very R-rated oblong creature shot out of the water, made a very R-rated arc through the air, dripping R-rated pearly luminescent drops along the way, before diving back into the depths.
“...”
Byodoin cleared his throat and pretended he hadn’t seen anything. If the obscene looking fish things wanted to jump around so be it. He wasn't going to let that ruin his date.
Another one jumped. And Byodoin sighed.
"The animal life here isn't very attractive. I figured we'd ignore it." He finally conceded.
“... they certainly are very… unusual,” agreed Mizuki, wondering what other obscenities lived in the lake. It kind of ruined the kind-of-sort-of-borderline charming atmosphere the glowing lake and cavern possessed. Still, it was something eccentric about Izanagi he could write home about, he supposed. His sisters would get a kick out of that. “Very pertinent to our prior discussion about strange native creatures.”
Byodoin sighed a long-suffering sigh. "That is true... and at least they're harmless. Maybe even a potential food source. Pretty sure they're what Kobayashi was surviving on." Eating dicks. What a wonderful thought. "If this was New Australia the dicks would ejaculate toxins."
“Disgusting,” Mizuki decided, wrinkling his nose. “I certainly hope that these ones don’t secrete toxins, considering the lake supplies the mining outpost. Has anyone taken a specimen to Science yet?” Hopefully, the rude-looking critters wouldn’t be on the menu anytime soon.
"I brought science a bag full of them, so I assume they're being analyzed as we speak." Byodoin sighed. "I'm not sure how I became the one who brings all the live specimens back for science though... Hopefully someone else discovers the next weird animal."
Mizuki wondered if Dr. Oshitari was enjoying the bag of… dicks… “I think it’s because you’re strong enough to capture them alive, generally,” said Mizuki charitably. “The crawler, for instance. You’re also out in the field more often.”
Byodoin supposed that was the case for the larger things. It was still a bit baffling though. "I wish someone else had found the fish though. I'm worried it will be like the blob and they will eternally be referred to as 'Byodoin’s dicks' or something."
He said it with a perfectly straight face because he was seriously worried about this. Oshitari sucked at naming things.
That elicited a chuckle from Mizuki. “I think it might be named after Kobayashi instead, because of the lake, and because he might have eaten them for sustenance.” Honestly, it sounded like a 50-50 situation.
"God. I hope so." Byodoin chuckled himself, pleased to have gotten a laugh out of Mizuki. "It's getting late though... should we pack up and head back to the outpost?"
He started consolidating the remaining food.
“Okay,” Mizuki nodded and started to help tidy up. Leave nothing behind, after all (no matter if they were developing the area afterwards). All done, he stood up, and winked at Byodoin before putting his helmet back on.
“Good effort,” he told Byodoin, and strutted off ahead.
When: sometime during the second week at the mining outpost, right before the 15th.
Where: Lake Kobayashi
What: Romantic date at the lake before things go south for Byodoin
If there was one perk to giving Hiyoshi the week off, it was that Byodoin was going to be at the mining outpost at the same time as Mizuki. Which meant, of course, more chances to flirt.
Byodoin was SO ready for this. He'd washed up in the lake, shaved his hair, and applied fresh deodorant. There was nothing that Mizuki could find repulsive about him now. And so he waited, bag of rations in hand, to take Mizuki on an impromptu date to the only semi-romantic location on this god forsaken planet.
Busy, busy busy. Mizuki had been bustling about the outpost, which had only just barely gotten basic infrastructure online (Mizuki knew it was going to be mostly remote operated, but honestly, the toilets). He had to make sure all procedures were going safely, no one was pulling too much overtime, equipment was being used as specified and not creatively... Mizuki was honestly exhausted by the end of his shift, but he’d promised to meet with Byodoin. Hopefully the man wouldn’t take him mountain climbing or something.
He grabbed a flask of tea (the only representation of civilisation he’d brought along for this trip) and headed to their agreed meeting spot.
Byodoin was already there waiting, not about to be anything but punctual when Mizuki was concerned. He waved to Mizuki in greeting.
"Looking good, Safety. You have a good day making sure the outpost doesn't implode?" He asked, going over to the dark haired man.
“Hello, Byodoin-san. Ugh, there’s just so much to do,” sighed Mizuki, evidently familiar enough with Byodoin now to complain at him. “It’s the worst when things are still being set up and nobody is sure of what protocols to follow. You’d think the UEA would have this colonization thing down pat by now!” He sniffed and looked Byodoin up and down. Punctual, which was good, and all cleaned up. Also good. At least Byodoin was trying.
Oh was Byodoin ever trying. The amount of work he was putting into winning Mizuki over was insane at this point. It was like Byodoin had lost his mind.
But eh, Mizuki was worth it in his crazy man opinion.
"The UEA sent a bunch of civilians out here, is the biggest problem. The military people all know the game, but we have a lot of people unfamiliar with protocol running around too." It was typical UEA nonsense. "Settlements that are strictly military go up a lot more efficiently. Less nice stuff on them, though."
“Can it really be called a colony without civilians, though?” Mizuki questioned, twirling a lock of hair around his finger. “A planet with just military is a garrison.” He looked at the bag in Byodoin’s hand. Probably not cookies this time, given the circumstances.
“Where are we going today?”
Yes, a military settlement was called a garrison. And garrisons went up way easier than colonies, his point still stood. Though a garrison wouldn't have Mizuki wandering around.
"I'm taking you to see the prettiest place I've found on this damn planet." Byodoin explained absolutely nothing, just handing Mizuki the flashlight he would need since he couldn't see in the dark (not everyone could have night vision) and leading Mizuki into the caves. "You're bound to like this place at least a little."
After all, it was full of gold and glowed on its own. The lake was honestly awesome, apart from being full of dicks.
“Outside, underground? I suppose we’ll need the nanosuits…” Mizuki took the torch with some trepidation. Perhaps Byodoin had found an interesting rock formation? Stalactites? Honestly, he wasn’t looking forward to it, given that the place was supposedly overrun with crawlers.
Don't worry, Mizuki, Byodoin had already cleared the route out, and could handle any new ones that showed up easily.
"Yeah, we'll need the nanosuits." Byodoin confirmed amused. "Not a fan of it? I know a lot of people don't like the nanosuits."
“It’s… inconvenient,” admitted Mizuki, as they made their way to the changing area. He didn’t want to spend two weeks in a nanosuit ever again. “I dislike the helmets the most. They’re made of ultralight composite, I know, but it just feels so unwieldy.”
"The helmets are the worst, that's true. We should be able to take them off when we get to our destination though. Air quality there isn't bad." Byodoin replied, already in his suit so he just grabbed his helmet and turned his back to Mizuki to give him privacy to change. "I assume eventually they'll install the electronic trees to improve general air quality in the outside areas people frequent. It's not really high priority though."
If they could take their helmets off, then it must be somewhere enclosed, but with ventilation. The underground cavern guess was looking more and more likely. “There’s a lot more infrastructure they have to build before even starting to think about that,” Mizuki agreed with Byodoin, quickly changing into his nanosuit. He was pleased that Byodoin was considerate and polite enough to turn away, even though by now everyone was more or less immune to the sights of people getting in and out of the suits. Another point for Byodoin. “It’s not even toxic air, just… so much dust… I guess we have it better off than Eden.”
t"Yeah, this place could be a lot worse." Byodoin agreed, sliding on his helmet and locking it into place. "I've been places with atmospheres so bad you needed more PPE than just a nanosuit. That bulky protective gear is horrible, really."
He waited a bit longer, listening for the sound of Mizuki putting on his helmet before turning around. "Well, let's get going."
Byodoin’s experience sounded horrible to Mizuki, though he supposed it must come with the rank.. “I’d recommend more detailed surveys before deciding to settle, but I suppose humankind can’t really afford to be too picky.”
Mizuki locked the helmet in place with a click, then followed after Byodoin. “Lead on, Byodoin-san.”
And lead Byodoin did, taking Mizuki down into the labyrinth of caves to follow the newly diggen path to what they had been calling Lake Kobayashi.
"This cave is really interesting on it's own, I guess. I've never seen a cavern so full of goddamn gold. Most of the base is going to end up made of the stuff at this point." Byodoin did his best to make smalltalk as they walked.
“I guess that could make it an attractive tourist destination?” said Mizuki doubtfully, following along (at least the tunnels were partially lit, now). A shiny gold base sounded… very tacky. “I did see Marui-kun’s selfie of him lying in a pile of gold nuggets. We might even get an influx of gold prospectors soon.”
"I'm hoping they start exporting the stuff and use the money to buy actual reasonable supplies, personally." Byodoin replied with a nod. "Doubt we'll get any tourists out here, or that the UEA would want to share its literal gold mine with anyone else."
But selling the stuff and getting some real supplies wouldn't be bad. And there still might be iron deposits out there somewhere.
“Might attract investors, too. We should be able to expand the base or add another settlement soon, I hope,” said Mizuki, carefully picking his way over some loose stones. “I’d love some proper supplies! Sometimes I wonder what they’re thinking, sending people out into space with just replicators and vats of algae. It’s gotten a bit better, but I think they’ve overlooked the importance of food and amenities in boosting morale and helping social cohesion. “
"Yeah. Real food improves morale more than anything Ohtori can do. I'm glad we've finally gotten some. I'd even take MREs over that algae crap." Byodoin agreed, continuing through the empty pathways. He'd done a good job clearing them out.
Mizuki was still on high alert, but no crawlers yet! He didn’t feel like he could relax, though having Byodoin around obviously helped him feel more secure (he was a seasoned soldier, after all!). “I think the only thing the replicator ever produced that tasted halfway decent was seaweed soup.” Seaweed being a type of algae, after all. “... are we nearly there?”
As if on cue Byodoin had them make a sharp turn to the right, and they were there, in the big clearing in front of the rather nice looking lake. "We are in fact there. Welcome to what we've been calling Lake Kobayashi. Still untouched, the water guy hasn't gotten his hands on it yet."
The rock formations and water itself all glowed on their own. Some kind of bioluminescent algae bloom or something, Byodoin didn't know the details. But what he did know was that it was impressive to look at... and that the crawlers didn't seem to come too close to this place.
“Oh!” Mizuki gasped in surprise as they turned a corner to a view of a glowing lake. It looked kind of … radioactive … but he supposed it was pretty, in its own way. “It reminds me of those bioluminescent plankton blooms back on Earth, just a little bit differently coloured.”
He turned to Byodoin. “Was this what you wanted to show me? You’re right, it is the prettiest place on the planet so far.”
Byodoin nodded in agreement and moved to take off his helmet, setting it down so he could start laying out the tarp he'd brought so that they could have a nice picnic.
"There might be better views on other places, but this is the best I can do for you at the moment." Byodoin confessed. "Though I did consider just taking you to a mirror to see the real best view on this shithole planet, I didn’t think it would impress you that much."
Mizuki rolled his eyes as he took off his helmet, shaking out his curly hair. He hated helmet hair. “You’re really bad at this compliments thing,” he said, walking cautiously closer to the edge of the lake. “Is this where Tooyama-kun found the guy from Demolitions?”
Byodoin shrugged and shamelessly watched Mizuki and Mizuki’s pretty hair. He thought his compliments were pretty good, thank you very much. "Yeah, the brat found Kobayashi here. And drank the stagnant water like a fool."
His child wasn't very bright.
“Oh, I heard about that.” Mizuki winced. Word was that poor Tooyama was still glued to the porcelain throne in Med Bay. “I mean, it’s good he found Kobayashi! But really, I’m sure he’s been told countless times not to consume anything on an alien planet unless it’s been approved by the scientific board!” That … boy… no he was 30, wasn’t he? That man should be watched at all times.
Byodoin nodded his head. "Maybe he needs a basic safety refresher course every year to help prevent his random acts of idiocy... it can be presented as things Santa says not to do, so he listens."
He started laying out their veritable feast of shelf stable food. Dried cherries and apples, some jerky, granola, nuts, and most spectacularly a freeze dried ice cream sandwich he'd had to threaten somebody for.
“Maybe quiz him before he gets presents..” sighed Mizuki, because honestly, Tooyama was a lost cause. He turned his attention to what Byodoin had magicked out of his unassuming-looking bag.
“Okay, I can tell you’ve put in effort,” he said approvingly, and presented his thermos of tea. “I made green tea for you. It’s cold brew, unfortunately, because apparently hot water is too much to ask for on this outpost.”
Byodoin perked up as he was offered tea, taking it with a grateful expression. "I'd given up on tea while I was here, so this is a nice surprise. Better than the pouches of energy drinks I was able to bring, for sure."
“Those are disgusting,” Mizuki declared, wrinkling his nose. “I brought some powdered tea in my pack too, so you can have those.” Life without tea wasn’t worth living, in Mizuki’s opinion. He daintily sat himself on the tarp, looking around at the glowy cavern.
Byodoin laughed. "I wholeheartedly agree. Gross sugar water shit... even the tea flavor is just sugar." He sat across from Mizuki, breaking into the bag of jerky. He needed some protein after working hard all day! "I hopefully have some new shipments of tea arriving in the next drop. I'll have to have you over to sample them."
“Are they all green tea?” Mizuki asked, knowing Byodoin’s preference. He didn’t mind green tea too much, but he was still attached to his black tea (with cream, thank you Dr. Inui).
"Nah. Got a few samplers this time, so there are several types." The idea had been to provide several potential dates with Mizuki, because Byodoin was invested in this. "My sister rants and raves about this brand's black tea so I figured it was time to try it."
Mizuki fell for the bait hook, line and sinker. “Ooh, that sounds interesting, what brand is it?” he asked. Mizuki liked making his own blends, so he was always interested in the popular types out there.
"This little indy brand based out of Mars... Kishimoto Tea Company or something. Like I said, my sister raves about them." Byodoin replied, nibbling on an apple slice now. "They had good reviews, so we'll see how it goes. Gives me something outside the usual to do while stuck here."
“Oh, I’ve heard of them!” Mizuki said, starting to pick at some of the dried fruit as well. “Pricey, though. It’ll be interesting at least. Supposedly their tea is grown on Martian soil, so the flavor profile is different. Have you been on Mars?”
Byodoin nodded his head. "Numerous times. My parents adore visiting Rainbow in particular. Took me there a whole lot when I was young." He shrugged. "Can't say I've had Martian tea before though. Should be an interesting thing to experience."
“I can’t say I’ve been to Rainbow,” Mizuki mused. “I’ve only been to Prime and Eberswald for work training. “I’ve always wanted to go to Tannhauser, though.” He opened a piece of jerky (honestly, not his favorite, but better than a protein bar) and started eating it in tiny little bites.
"There's a lot of places I'd like to go. Anywhere on Earth, for example... Haven't made it there yet." Byodoin watched Mizuki nibble on his jerky with amusement. It was clear the stuff wasn't his favorite. "Where's the most interesting place your work has ever sent you?"
“You should visit Earth if you can. There are lots of beautiful places left, despite climate change,” said Mizuki, thinking fondly back on his home. Come to think of it, Yomi seemed to have a disproportionate number of people from Earth’s Japan. “Interesting places… well, there was one that was interesting in a kind of horrifying way … it was a mine on an asteroid. Everything was radioactive. The walls were glowing.” Mizuki had been stuck in a protective suit the whole time and still had been terrified of developing some horrible disease.
Byodoin raised an eyebrow. They'd sent Mizuki to that hellhole? Yup, they sure dumped on him. "I know the mine you're talking about. Seems like an interesting place, but that level of radiation is a serious danger. I hope they paid you extra to go there. I know the human miners there make bank."
If you were working in that dangerous an environment you deserved a lot of money.
"I think my most interesting missions were all the ones on New Australia. Beautiful planet, lots of lush lifeforms. All of them wanted us dead, but they were beautiful." Byodoin sipped his precious tea. "None of the colonies there are still active. The flora and fauna got to them."
“I was only there for two days, but it was two days too many!” Mizuki shuddered, recalling the ordeal. “They paid handsomely for that, but I never want to go back.”
He listened with interest as Byodoin described his experience. “Well… maybe they shouldn’t have called it New Australia,” he said, grimacing. “I’ve heard about that place. SWS lost quite a few personnel there.”
Well, Byodoin was pretty sure it was named that because of the murderous wildlife and not the other way around. Right? "It's where I met Kintarou though. The water guy is apparently from there too... I'm actually surprised by how many people survived, but I guess it's because the colony was in a bubble."
“Oh! Yes, I remember now, Tooyama-kun participated in the evacuation!” said Mizuki, remembering that it was one of the deeds Able Spaceman Tooyama was known for. There had been a good deal of publicity around it, back in the day. “I didn’t know Zaizen-san was there as well, though.”
He hadn’t just participated, that had been where they'd found the brat. But Byodoin wasn't going to spill that bit of information. Not that it really mattered. Kintarou was on the books as being from there, as far as he knew. "Yeah, the water guy was one of the evacuated citizens. I don't personally remember him at all though... probably one of the kids that got to the shuttles without issues."
“Well, I’m glad he got out safe and isn’t too traumatized by living on a space colony, considering he’s joined us on this one,” Mizuki commented. He hadn’t met Zaizen, so he didn’t have much of an idea of his personality. He seemed decent and well-adjusted, though, as far as Mizuki could tell from what he read online. “Were you sent to protect the New Australia colony?”
Byodoin nodded. "Well, I was sent to try to clear out the more dangerous wildlife a few times. They ended up giving up on that and the last mission was the evacuation."
There were situations even Byodoin couldn't resolve. Though that might have been different if he'd had Kintarou on his earlier missions.
"This place is a lot calmer compared to that. Doubt we'll end up needing to evacuate." Byodoin mused. "Nope... we're stuck here."
“People still get eaten by sandworms!” Mizuki pointed out. Crawlers were kind of terrifying too, but at least they hadn’t eaten anyone. “But I suppose every colony has its dangers. It’s not all safe everywhere on Earth either.” Hopefully he could get through his five-year stint without incident.
"We've thinned the sandworm population around base off enough that it's fairly safe now. Pay attention to radar and listen to security and the average person is fine now." Way different from New Australia and it's incredibly toxic plants and vicious animals. "But yeah, I've heard about some of the vicious animals on earth. Like bears. Or hippopotamuses."
“Oh, what you have to watch for are the geese!” laughed Mizuki. “They’re more common than bears or hippos, and they’re basically feathered demons.” Mizuki had a few memories of people being chased by geese from a neighboring farm.
"Feathered demons, huh? Sounds kind of like the chickens here." Byodoin mused. Birds in general were pretty vicious, now that he thought about it.
Mizuki’s smile wavered as he recalled the dreaded Agri 2 incident. “... the chickens here are…something else,” he agreed, unable to suppress a shudder. The chickens just… didn’t seem…right..
“Well, they are descended from dinosaurs, so I suppose it’s understandable.”
Byodoin patted Mizuki’s back as he had some kind of chicken related flashback. There there Mizuki. He was big and strong and able to protect you from the chickens.
"Dinosaurs are cool. New Australia had some lifeforms that were similar. Big, bipedal things." Stuff like that was always cool to encounter on a mission.
Strangely enough Mizuki did feel a little bit better, but only a little bit. “That sounds terrifying,” he commented, imagining Niou’s mutant chickens, all bald and beady-eyed, but the size of a house. It was probably for the best that colonization plans for New Australia had been abandoned. “Anyway! I do hope SWS will let me transfer to somewhere a bit more civilized after this stint.”
"You deserve a placement somewhere cushy after putting up with this!" Byodoin agreed with a laugh. "Meanwhile I'm just hoping they don't decide to promote me in three years. Every promotion means less and less field work, and the field work is what I'm best at."
Well, he was actually really good at command too, but the field work was more fun.
“You don’t like leadership positions?” Mizuki was surprised. He’d rather pegged Byodoin for the leader type. Though, he did seem to be quite adventurous… “I’m sure you could train a replacement. Hiyoshi-san?”
"I like them just fine. I'm just better as a hands on leader than some Commander stuck behind a desk." And much further up in rank a desk was all that would be waiting for him. Which was a shame really. He wasn't so old that he needed the break, yet.
"What about you? You vying for a promotion after this? You'd probably good at management... you seem good at bossing people around. And have the mind for strategic placement of employees." Byodoin pointed out.
“Well, in times of peace, it can’t be helped, but you might get to make decisions that really matter,” said Mizuki encouragingly. Commander Ryuuzaki was out here, after all, and governor of a colony. Even if it was in the middle of nowhere.
“I see, so I’m bossy,” sniffed Mizuki, though he wasn’t actually offended. “Well, I am due for a promotion soon. Perhaps a regional manager or something. I might change jobs too, depending.” If SWS was not going to give him what he deserved, Mizuki would not hesitate to leave for greener pastures.
"I'd describe it more as assertive. You aren't afraid to tell people what needs to be done. You have conviction. It's something I like about you." Byodoin ate a couple of the cherries and sipped his tea, looking thoughtful. "You're definitely management material. You deserve that pay raise, too, after five years here."
“Flatterer,” Mizuki scoffed, although he looked pleased, preening a little at the praise. He agreed with Byodoin. He deserved a promotion and better pay! Especially after enduring Izanagi. He was about to add his thoughts when a movement in the water caught his eye.
“...what is that?”
Byodoin was unashamed to flatter Mizuki. There was no better way to a man's heart, after all.
...the stuff moving in the water probably wasn't that good for seduction, though. "There are fish like things in the water. Don't worry about it." No dicks to see here!
“Oh.” That made sense. Mizuki had heard of cave fish and cave shrimp back on Earth. He was about to relax when he was startled by a sudden splash, when a very R-rated oblong creature shot out of the water, made a very R-rated arc through the air, dripping R-rated pearly luminescent drops along the way, before diving back into the depths.
“...”
Byodoin cleared his throat and pretended he hadn’t seen anything. If the obscene looking fish things wanted to jump around so be it. He wasn't going to let that ruin his date.
Another one jumped. And Byodoin sighed.
"The animal life here isn't very attractive. I figured we'd ignore it." He finally conceded.
“... they certainly are very… unusual,” agreed Mizuki, wondering what other obscenities lived in the lake. It kind of ruined the kind-of-sort-of-borderline charming atmosphere the glowing lake and cavern possessed. Still, it was something eccentric about Izanagi he could write home about, he supposed. His sisters would get a kick out of that. “Very pertinent to our prior discussion about strange native creatures.”
Byodoin sighed a long-suffering sigh. "That is true... and at least they're harmless. Maybe even a potential food source. Pretty sure they're what Kobayashi was surviving on." Eating dicks. What a wonderful thought. "If this was New Australia the dicks would ejaculate toxins."
“Disgusting,” Mizuki decided, wrinkling his nose. “I certainly hope that these ones don’t secrete toxins, considering the lake supplies the mining outpost. Has anyone taken a specimen to Science yet?” Hopefully, the rude-looking critters wouldn’t be on the menu anytime soon.
"I brought science a bag full of them, so I assume they're being analyzed as we speak." Byodoin sighed. "I'm not sure how I became the one who brings all the live specimens back for science though... Hopefully someone else discovers the next weird animal."
Mizuki wondered if Dr. Oshitari was enjoying the bag of… dicks… “I think it’s because you’re strong enough to capture them alive, generally,” said Mizuki charitably. “The crawler, for instance. You’re also out in the field more often.”
Byodoin supposed that was the case for the larger things. It was still a bit baffling though. "I wish someone else had found the fish though. I'm worried it will be like the blob and they will eternally be referred to as 'Byodoin’s dicks' or something."
He said it with a perfectly straight face because he was seriously worried about this. Oshitari sucked at naming things.
That elicited a chuckle from Mizuki. “I think it might be named after Kobayashi instead, because of the lake, and because he might have eaten them for sustenance.” Honestly, it sounded like a 50-50 situation.
"God. I hope so." Byodoin chuckled himself, pleased to have gotten a laugh out of Mizuki. "It's getting late though... should we pack up and head back to the outpost?"
He started consolidating the remaining food.
“Okay,” Mizuki nodded and started to help tidy up. Leave nothing behind, after all (no matter if they were developing the area afterwards). All done, he stood up, and winked at Byodoin before putting his helmet back on.
“Good effort,” he told Byodoin, and strutted off ahead.