[ VOLUME — [∅ / ∀]⁴ TURNIN' HEAD IN ZERO-G ] CHAPTER 38 – WORSE THAN OPEN SPACE
— VJOOMPS-SHH-SHIIITTUDUM
RADIO NEBULA 69.99 FTLM!
[short space-jazz jingle—the same one rumored to be used in Galactic Lunatic Asylum™ as "shock therapy with style."
73.6% of patients become model citizens after session nineteen.
The remaining 26.4% enter a state officially labeled: "Enlightened Silence]
[Dick, smooth, but tired:]
“Well then, dear gremlins… I’m guessing you’re all sitting there thinking:
‘Well, great. Another station wiped out by our favorite duo, who teamed up with another duo, forming a double-duo that now wrecks stations and planets faster than I can take a breath.'”
[Aquiet exhale]
“I’ll be honest… I’ve seen a lot in my life.
But even I get uneasy sometimes.
The kind of dark shit happening out there in space… it’s not funny if you look at it too long.
So yeah… take care of yourselves out there. Stay home. And listen to Radio Nebula 69.99 FTLM.”
[Jackie—quiet, cracked:]
“Dick…
Every time we laugh at how those idiots— Zeros or Blindy— ‘lost their temper’ and blew up a station… or a planet…
We don’t even think about what was there.
Someone lost a home. Someone lost a job. Someone lost a family.
Sometimes… millions.”
[A pause—long enough for the mic fan to become a character]
“I got a message.
‘Yo, Jackie. You’re telling a great story.
But it ain’t fair. All the people caught in the blast? They don’t get a voice.
That needs to change.
So while listening to your show… I made this track.
It’s about my papa. He was a welder. Built orbital stations. Just like thousands of others no one remembers.
Stations your “heroes” blow up faster than HyperDash can finish a delivery.
This one’s for them. The ones who didn’t do anything wrong— but paid for those who did.
Peace to you and Dick.'”
[A soft breath]
“And… he sent a track.”
[Music fades… slowly…]
[Silence... just air in the mic]
[Dick—hoarse, almost a whisper:]
“…Yeah.
Listen up, you little bastards…
Sometimes space reminds you it’s not a toy.
Every explosion… every ‘haha, that was wild’…
Somewhere out there, someone just lost their entire universe—
because it was one person.”
[A dry chuckle—no humor in it]
“Life’s funny like that.
It doesn’t ask:
‘Are you good? Are you bad? Do you deserve this?’
No.
It just hits.
And it doesn’t hit the guilty.
It hits whoever’s standing nearby.
Because the universe… is a piece of shit sometimes.
A very unfair piece of shit.”
[The moment lingered]
“But you know what I’ve learned after all these shifts on this cursed broadcast?
People are afraid of silence.
Because if it lasts too long— they start hearing their own thoughts.
And sometimes…
that’s worse than open space.”
[heavy exhale]
“Alright.
Enough of that.
This ain’t Galactic Therapy Radio.
We’re here to witness one of the strangest, ugliest, most idiotic stories this part of the universe has ever seen.
And whether it hurts or not…
The story keeps going.
So… back to our assholes.
Zeros, Shiori, Blindy, and Airi… same faces, same bullshit, same damn universe just waiting for someone… finally… to stop them.
Alright, gremlins. Buckle up. It might… get worse.”
