Airi slipped into hyperspace,
holding course back to Mülldeponie.
Blindy was the first to rip off his mask and oxygen canister—
and the moment he stepped inside,
he just dropped to the floor, back against the wall,
like the last thirty minutes had been a marathon called
“don’t die and don’t shit yourself.”
Zeros took his place by the holographic map.
He stared at the galaxy
like it was trying to run from him—
even though he knew every coordinate
better than Airi knew her own wiring.
Shiori calmly stowed her weapon…
then, like flipping a switch in her brain,
walked over and picked up a barbell.
Because yeah—
she processes stress
with deadlifts.
For a while, the ship stayed quiet.
Even Airi’s engines didn’t hum their usual Z-P-N-E-S—
that soft rhythm Blindy almost treated like a lullaby.
But silence never lasts.
Blindy glanced at Zeros.
Stretched his legs out.
Assumed the most dramatically-dead position possible.
And said:
“Zeros…
man… you one scary bastard—
like— look at you—
no one even knows what the hell’s inside you—
you just— walk around like a sealed problem—”
He paused—short, dumb, very Blindy—
like his brain buffered thoughts at three sentences per minute.
“You’re an unkillable metal nightmare…
and your ultimate skill is—
CLAPPING?!What kind of twisted—
what is that—
You clap before you erase people?
Like—what—you congratulating yourself?
‘Good job, me, I just deleted a guy’—”
Another pause.
He inhaled deep,
like something wise was coming.
It wasn’t.
“No lasers out your eyes.
No plasma—
no—actually, I don’t even wanna know if you got plasma somewhere weird—
No cool powers like—
like— hold on—”
He started counting on his fingers:
“Reality warping?
Yeah, you do that just by showin’ up—
ruin everybody’s mood—boom—reality altered.Mind control?
You great at that—
drive people insane—
especially me—Illusions?
Please—
the best you got is turning your hand into a flamethrower—
that ain’t even subtle—”
He squinted at him.
“Charisma?
Your whole personality is ‘I HATE EVERYTHING’
plus extra profanity—Shit, even Groot got more lines than you—”
He raised both hands now:
“Time manipulation?
Now THAT would be cool—
like that chick—rewinding time—saving her blue-haired girlfriend—Yeah, right—
If you had that—
you’d just rewind me dying—
over and over—for fun—
‘let’s watch Blindy explode again, that was funny’—”
He facepalmed.
“And forget telepathy—
forget techno—techno—whatever—pathy—
You’re a walking disappointment box—Just—just—
CLAPPING.
Trash.
I swear to god…”
Zeros tilted his head slightly—about three degrees.
For him, that meant: “you’re unbelievably stupid… but fine, listen.”
“There was a man,” he said.
His voice dropped. Colder.
“Body like stone.
One strike—he could break anything that could be broken.”
Blindy whistled.
“Your—what—your ancestor or something?
Like—family tradition? Break stuff, clap, move on—?”
Zeros ignored him.
“I hate you humans…
but sometimes one of you shows up
and makes me hate you… a little less.”
He continued:
“He once said:
‘I do not fear the one who knows ten thousand strikes.
I fear the one who knows one—
and has practiced it ten thousand times.'”
Blindy blinked slowly—both halves of his brain trying to sync up.
Zeros finished:
“So…
maybe I only have one skill.
‘Trash,’ like you said.But Saer’thal…
pulls space apart into strings
and plays Flight of the Bumblebee so fast
even darkness doesn’t have time to blink.Hell—
even the fastest rapper alive wouldn’t be capable to keep up.”
Zeros’ hand twitched—his version of almost laughing.
“One perfect skill…
is enough
to erase any idiot who thinks he’s a king.Or a planet.
Or a star system.
Or your entire… goddamn civilization.”
Blindy’s jaw dropped—loud enough to echo off the metal floor.
He scratched his chin.
“Saer’thal…
what the hell is that even supposed to be?
That a name or you just sneezed mid-sentence—?”
Airi, who had been quietly piloting, chimed in:
“Buraindi-kun, in Aelorian, it poetically means
‘the unraveling of the world’s breath.’ o[≧∇≦o]”
Zeros gave a small grunt and nodded.
Blindy made a serious face, nodded a couple times…
…and immediately moved on:
“Airi—Airi-kun—
no—wait—whatever—what about that—Kaire—Kairelin thing?
I heard someone call him that—you the language pro—
what’s that even mean?”
Airi giggled—soft, warm, and absolutely condescending:
“Buraindi-kun… you’re truly hopeless. ¯_[ ͠° ͟ʖ °͠ ]_/¯
First of all, it’s Airi-chan.
You don’t call me ‘kun’—I’m not a boy. Like you~As for Kairelin…
that’s also Aelorian. It means—”
Zeros cut her off.
“Nothing.”
Blindy frowned.
“C’mon, man—
they didn’t just—like—call you that for no reason—
that’s gotta mean somethin’—”
Zeros snapped:
“I said, you rotting sack of meat—
Kairelin means nothing.”
Blindy thought about it. Failed.
“Huh?
So they just—what—named you… nothing?Like—straight up—
‘hey, this guy? yeah, he’s nothing’—I don’t—
I don’t get that—”
Airi stepped in again, her voice practically glowing with amusement:
“Buraindi-kun… please try. [ ͡°╭͜ʖ╮͡° ]
Kairelin means ‘nothing.’
Or ‘nonexistent.’
Or ‘void.’Do you understand now?”
“Aaaah…” Blindy stretched the sound out. “…yeah—
yeah, okay—
now I get it—”
He turned to Zeros, grinning wide:
“Well—fuck the Aelori then!
You not nothing to me, buddy—
hell no—and anyway—I gave you a way better name—
Zeros.
Way cooler than that—
that dumb ‘Kairelin’ thing—”
Zeros ignored him.
Blindy beamed, proud of himself.
Airi, of course, went in for the kill—softly:
“But Buraindi-kun…
if you think about it…
you just rephrased his original name~ [─‿‿─]♡‘Zero’ is still… nothing.”
That landed like a mathematical knife to the liver.
Blindy scoffed, scrambling:
“Yeah but ours is ZEROS!
Plural—
that’s different—that’s like—
more—
not nothing—!”
“One zero… or a thousand…” Airi sang lightly,
“still ends in emptiness~ [ღ˘⌣˘ღ]”
Blindy snapped, glaring at the ceiling.
“NO ONE ASKED YOU—
DAMN IT—
STOP TALKIN’—!”
Shiori, who had been silently lifting, set the barbell down with a heavy metallic thud.
“Airi-chan… don’t tease Buraindi-san.
He is trying to understand.”
The moment lingered.
“Sometimes.”
Airi giggled quietly through the speakers.
Zeros, still staring at the holographic map, added:
“If emptiness could speak…
it would say less than this pile of rotten meat.”
Blindy flipped him off.
“Man—
go to hell—seriously—”