For a while, Airi circled Haumea’s orbit,
adjusting to its insane gravity and gradually lowering altitude.
Blindy had his face pressed against the viewport so hard
he left behind a full imprint of his despair.
Just looking at the spinning planet made him nauseous.
Inside the ship, of course, there was no sense of rotation—
but Blindy’s brain treated it like a personal enemy.
He felt like he’d spent half a day stuck in a roundabout,
missing his exit every single loop
because of idiots who wouldn’t let him merge.
And even though his body stood still,
his imagination was already flipping him over,
throwing him side to side,
and punching his inner ear with both fists.
Soon, Airi stabilized above the target.
Below them—
a base buried in ice,
covered by a dense energy dome
protecting it from cold, wind,
and the radiation rage of this local cosmic hell.
Airi’s voice rang out—bright and cute,
completely inappropriate for the moment:
“ARRIVED. PREPARE FOR DEPLOYMENT! ଘ[੭ˊ꒳ˋ]੭✧”
Zeros didn’t waste a second.
He headed straight for the airlock—
dragging his partner, as always, by the collar,
like Blindy was his personal floor rag.
Shiori stopped at the corridor junction.
She lowered her gaze—
for a moment quieter, softer than usual—
and said, almost apologetically:
“Watashi no tomodachi… do this without me.
Sumimasen…
I… need to check on Airi.
Something feels… off lately.Watashi no tame ni yatte?“
Airi immediately jumped into the audio channel,
like a dramatic but adorable patient:
“Itatatata… I really don’t feel so good… [[[＼（✘෴✘）／]]]”
Blindy instantly straightened up,
switching into full “knight with no armor, no brains,
but a murder-android behind him” mode:
“Yeah… sure…
We got it.
You can trust us. TOTALLY!”
Shiori gave a short nod.
Not just “thanks”—
but the kind of trust people like her don’t give lightly.
The airlock doors sealed,
leaving two idiots alone with their fate,
while Airi and Shiori stayed out of the operation.
Blindy took a deep breath and turned toward the hatch.
It began to slide open—
slowly—
venting the air like the ship had decided
to suck their souls out with it.
The cold hit first.
Not “chilly,” not “freezing”—
but cosmic winter with a fucking vendetta,
that bit Blindy’s eyebrows clean off—
they turned white instantly.
“Zeros—what the fu—
—HEY—WAIT—WAIT—
we goin’ OUT THERE?!”
Zeros nodded. Blindy choked on panic:
“OH—HELL—NO—
NO, NO—YOU OUTTA YOUR DAMN MIND?!
THERE AIN’T NO AIR—
I CAN’T—
I CAN’T BREATHE—
I’M GONNA DIE—!”
Zeros said nothing.
He pulled him in, pressed his head into his metal chest,
completely covering his mouth and nose.
“Just hold your breath.
It’s a second or two.
We’re dropping from above.”
Blindy tried to scream:
“WHAT THE F—?!”
But it came out as:
“MMMRR—NGHHH—!”
The vacuum tore air out of the chamber
like the god of emptiness had decided to do spring cleaning.
His hair whipped like a deranged archangel
was trying to rip it out by force.
And then—
Airi’s soft, cheerful voice:
“Zerosu-sama, prepare.
Creating an opening in the base dome.
You must jump quickly, =͟͟͞͞ʕ•̫͡•ʔ=͟͟͞͞ʕ•̫͡•ʔ=͟͟͞͞ʕ•̫͡•ʔ
otherwise… well…
you’ll freeze until you crack!~”
And the nuclear-pulse engine shuddered—
and below them, in the energy dome, a clean breach opened—
perfect, precise,
like it had been drilled by a cosmic dentist.
Zeros took three steps forward—
and dropped.
Calmly.
Like he was stepping out for a walk,
not diving through a hole in a radiation shield.
The shield sealed instantly behind him.
Zeros released Blindy—
finally letting him breathe.
Blindy let out a howl—
and immediately started coughing mid-air.