Side Story 2: Nameless Heroes(1)

MISTERLP

Every evening in the Kingdom of Friedonia, a number of variety

programs aired on the Jewel Voice Broadcast.

Depending on the day, it may be a singing program, or a serialized

drama, a performance program centered around comedy and tricks, but all

of them had a firm grip on the people's hearts. With the high praise those

programs received from the people of the kingdom, the number of fixed

broadcaster receivers kept rising. Now they were even placed in small

towns, and in the large cities there were multiple installations, increasing

the number of places where people could watch. There were no means of

recording, and all broadcasts were live, so there was a lack of freedom

there, but broadcasts had taken solid root as part of this country's culture.

Out of all those broadcast programs, there was a documentary drama

currently on that had become a hit with the people.

The name of the program was Nameless Heroes.

[Nameless Heroes Episode 3: The Closers of the Gap]

What set this drama apart was the black curtain set up at the back of the

screen.

Because the Jewel Voice Broadcast still only allowed for live

broadcasts, drama programs involved the actors acting out the scripts the

moment the broadcast began. Because of that, it was normal to have a

proper set (backdrops, and such) behind the performing actors, to make it

feel as little like a play as possible; but this drama was shot in front of a

black curtain.

The other thing that stood out was that the characters all wore black

hoods like the kuroko stagehands in a kabuki production. This, despite

them wearing outfits appropriate to their role from the neck down.

Now, as for the effect this had: In combination with the black curtain, it

made them appear to have no faces. Because it was a thin black cloth in

front of their faces, the actors could see well enough to act, but the viewers

watching the broadcast couldn't see the actors' faces.

I believe you will see why this manner of presentation was used as we

watch the program.

Now then, on the stage for today's drama there was a scene

overflowing with the sorts of things seen in an experimental laboratory.

There were two young researchers, a man and a woman, wearing white

coats, who were using a set of balance scales to measure out an amount of

powder, or peering up into a round-bottomed flask being heated with an

alcohol burner.

"Oh, geez!" The male researcher who had been measuring with the

scales pounded on the table.

"Hey, Toto, those chemicals are dangerous, so don't go shaking

things," the female researcher said critically when she saw how her junior

colleague was behaving.

The male researcher she called Toto wasn't done being angry yet. "But,

Momo! When we graduated from the Royal Academy, we entered Cosno

Labs out of a passionate drive to develop something that will help the

people of this country! Like Madam Genia of the House of Maxwell does!

And yet... the work that comes our way is always just to 'research her

research'..."

Unable to refute his words, the female researcher called Momo sighed.

"...It's true, Genia has produced a lot of incredible inventions. But didn't

Dr. Mattis always say that basic research is just as important?"

"Yeah, see, I can't accept that!" Toto's knuckles were white with

frustration. "Dr. Mattis is a great researcher! A great researcher who's

produced results with slow, steady progress... but the only one who gets

public praise is Genia, for her string of eccentric inventions!"

"...Yeah," Momo said. "Well, I can understand the feeling..."

"Were you talking about me?" While the two were talking, an elderly

male researcher appeared.

This person was also wearing a black hood. In order to bring across the

idea that he was elderly when the audience couldn't see his face, he wore

his white coat a little more loosely than Toto or Momo, as if he was used

to it, and he was wearing worn-out shoes, too.

""Dr. Mattis!"" Toto and Momo cried out in unison.

This man was the chief researcher of this lab, Mattis Cosno.

Seeing the two of them stand bolt upright, Mattis laughed. "Please,

don't praise me so highly, Toto. I know better than anyone that Madam

Genia's imagination is far greater than my own. It suits me better to slowly

build upon my studies, rather than come up with revolutionary ideas like

hers."

"But, Doctor!"

Toto was about to say more, but Mattis held up a hand to stop him.

"You want 'to develop something that will help the people of this

country.' You just said that, didn't you? The greatest wish of researchers

and engineers is, and ever shall be, to create the things that will make

tomorrow better than today. I can't say we don't want to be praised for

what we do, but it's not our primary motivation."

"Doctor..."

"Now, if you understand that, let's work hard on our research again

today. I hear we've just received another object of research from the

capital." With that, Mattis placed some sort of lump on the table.

Looking at the reddish-black object that was kind of like a brick,

Momo furrowed her brow. "What is it, Doctor?"

"This, here, is a shock-absorbing material."

"Shock-absorbing material?"

"Yes. When His Majesty asked Madam Genia, 'I'd like you to develop

a system for reducing the amount of shaking on the rhinosaurus train,' she

came up with the idea of using these sorts of shock-absorbing materials on

the wheels.

"Madam Genia again, huh..." Toto's voice had a displeased tone, but

Mattis laughed it off.

"That's the researcher from the House of Maxwell for you. Keen

insight, as always... However, because this shock-absorbing material uses

the flesh from the inside of the giganto armadillo's hard armor shell, it

can't be mass-produced. It is hoped that the rhinosaurus trains will develop

as a means of shipping freight, and of travel for the people. But without the

ability to mass-produce them, they're meaningless. The research request

we received was to develop a viable alternative for this material."

It might seem like he was overexplaining things, but the fact was that

Mattis's lines were explaining things to the viewer.

Momo banged on the shock-absorbing material. "It's awfully hard,

isn't it?" she commented.

"With that level of force, you aren't going to do anything to a lump of

this stuff," said Mattis. "More than that, if a powerful force is exerted on it,

it will change form to disperse the shock. In other words, the important

properties of this material are toughness and elasticity."

"Tough, but elastic... Wait, isn't that contradictory?" Toto exclaimed.

Mattis laughed. "Contradictory or not, we're looking at it. The task

entrusted to us is to find a mass-producible alternative to this material. I'll

be counting on you two for your help."

""Yes, Doctor!""

With that, all the members of Cosno Labs (though, for the purposes of

this play, there were only three actors) searched for a material that could

be used as a replacement for this shock-absorbent material. However, they

tried every material they could think of, and still couldn't find it.

Tough, but possessing elasticity. If they tested things with toughness,

they lacked elasticity, and didn't function as shock absorbers. If they tested

things with elasticity, they might function as shock absorbers, but they

quickly broke.

These were parts to be used on freight and passenger cars drawn by

massive rhinosauruses. If they failed one in a thousand, or even one in a

million times, it would be a great tragedy. Because of that, they had to

choose the materials carefully and strictly.

The three of them gradually showed greater and greater signs of

fatigue.

There was a fade to black, and when the lights returned to the stage,

Toto collapsed on his desk. "It's hopeless! We just can't find a material

that's both tough and elastic!"

"Yeah," Momo said with a sigh, putting a hand on Toto's back. "I'm

starting to think it was a miracle that this material was found in the first

place."

Seeing the two of them so exhausted, Mattis let out a wry laugh and

tried to encourage them. "Now, now, there's no need to be in such a hurry.

If you push yourselves too hard, you're not going to come up with good

ideas. Let's try having a hot cup of milk, okay?"

With that, Mattis rose from his seat... and it happened.

"Hm? ...Whoa?! D-Doctor!" Toto shouted and suddenly fell out of his

chair.

"Wh-What's gotten into you, Toto?!" Momo cried.

"Is something the matter?" Mattis asked.

When Momo and Mattis came over next to him, Toto was pointing in

one direction, seeming frightened somehow. What he was pointing at,

incredibly, was a pen that had fallen to the floor, and was seemingly

floating in midair. The other two were flabbergasted.

"No way... Is this magic?" Momo asked.

"No, we shouldn't have any mages in this lab who can use gravity

manipulation magic," said Mattis.

"B-But, Doctor, that pen is floating as we speak!"

"Hm... But the way it floats is strange. As if it's been caught by

something."

With that said, Mattis got closer, and passed his hand over the top of

the pen. When he did, the pen moved with his right hand, as if it were

attached to the bottom of it.

""Huh?!""

"I see... So that's it."

While the two researchers were reacting with surprise, Mattis nodded

sagely. Then, grasping the floating pen with his left hand, he had them take

a good, close look at the space between the bottom of his hand and the

pen.

"Look closely. Don't you see something in between?"

"...Ah! It's very fine, but I do see something like a thread!"

"Hey, you're right! It's super thin, but there is a thread!"

Hearing the two of them say that, Mattis smiled and nodded.

"Precisely. This is a spider's thread. If I were to guess, I'd say that the

falling pen got stuck to a strand of spider silk hanging from the desk.

"O-Oh... It surprised me..." Toto collapsed and exhausted to the

ground. "But a spider's silk is amazing, you know. Even though it's so

thin, it can hold up a pen."

"I know, right? Even though it's so soft, too."

"...Ah!" Mattis acted as though a jolt of electricity had rushed through

his head.

They had been working with objects with a fixed shape up until this

point, but what about this thread? Spider silk was tough, but also elastic.

What if they were to try hardening it?

Fortunately, this world had all sorts of spiders, large and small, and

there were other creatures that produced silk, too. If they could find a

viable candidate for the shock-absorbing material from one of them, it

might be possible to mass-produce.

"We've found it! We've found it at last!"

As Mattis shouted that, the screen faded to black.

◇ ◇ ◇

When the stage lit up again, the scenery had changed.

They were in a place that looked like a reception room, with two people

sitting on chairs facing each other.

This time, the two people weren't actors, and both their faces were

visible.

One was Juna Doma, who was known widely as the Prima Lorelei, who

recently took up singing for children on the educational program.

The other was a relaxed man in his forties who was wearing a white

coat. He had a bushy gray mustache that matched his hair. This was the

real (not played by an actor) Head Researcher, Mattis Cosno.

Juna held a black lump in her hands and asked Mattis, "So, after that,

you created this shock-resistant material, right?"

"Exactly. When we tested the silk produced by a variety of creatures, a

certain type of silkworm's was found to be the most suitable. That would

be what you're holding there," Mattis responded confidently.

Now, the dialogue segment with these two began.

The earlier drama had been a reenactment of events. This documentary

drama, Nameless Heroes, had a two-segment format. First, the

achievements of the person being focused on in that episode (in this case,

Mattis) would be explained with a reenactment, and then the person in

question would have a dialogue with Juna.

"Now then, Mattis," Juna said. "Is it possible to mass-produce this

material?"

"Yes. It uses the cocoons of silkworms as its base material, so massproduction is possible, just like with silk. However, it responds poorly to

heat and flames, so we apply an anti-fire, anti-heat process to it as part of

the processing. As for the method... That's considered a national secret."

"I see. Cutting-edge technology is a national treasure, after all.

Honestly... I think you've made something wonderful here. His Majesty

must have been very pleased."

"Yes," said Mattis. "When I was summoned to the castle, I wondered

what it might be about, but I was then praised for my work in developing

this material. It's not common for us researchers to see recognition for our

work, but that time... Yes. I'm glad to have done the work on this."

Hearing Mattis sum things up, Juna bowed her head. "Thank you for

taking the time to have this important talk with us today, Doctor."