World Room

She had been looking to head into the hills more and more with each passing day ever since she lay her sight on it.

She thought she was the only one to feel that way, but when she finally had the chance to reach the top, Z46 was surprised to find someone else was there.

After adjusting her sight to the darkness, she managed to recognize her, a shipgirl from the Eagle Union—yet the name eluded her.

The girl, whose red hair seemed to shine as bright as the stars, was absorbed in setting up a telescope and thus didn't notice her coming. Only when she's done did she see Z46 there, watching.

Her initial surprise was short-lived, to be replaced by a sheepish grin.

"Oh... You're...the new girl...Sorry. I didn't notice you coming. You know, I think I got too excited about all this," she gestured toward her equipment.

Z46 had thought of leaving, but now she found herself inexplicably curious.

"Excited...? What manner of circumstance has made you excited?"

The girl pointed upward; the sky was devoid of the moon and the clouds. Only stars remained.

"It's a perfect night for stargazing, Intrepid told me. Name's Bailey, by the way. You are?"

Z46 pondered about it briefly. Should she tell Bailey about her lack of a name? She didn't seem to be the kind who would look too much into it, though.

"I am known as Z46. This is not my real name, so perhaps, for now, you could call me Viersechs."

She waited for Bailey's response. For a while, all she did was scratch her head as if the revelation was too bizarre to comprehend. But then she giggled.

Z46 couldn't tell if she was laughing at her or something else—still, she waited for Bailey to say something. By then, she would know whether she should leave or stay.

"Well, that doesn't sound like a name at all, and it's hard to say. How about I call you Vi instead?"

Z46 nodded. That was a good enough reason to stay.

***

"I'm looking at the Summer Triangle," Bailey remarked as she peered into the telescope, a star chart in one hand.

"Summer Triangle?"

"Oh, you see, Deneb, Altair, Vega."

"The stars in Cygnus, Aquila, and Lyra?"

Bailey seemed pleasantly surprised at that.

"Oh gosh, Vi, didn't know you knew about them."

"I've read about them, but I've never seen them."

Immediately upon hearing that, Bailey stepped away from the telescope, and Z46 found her offering the star chart.

"Then go take a peek! Try to find them."

Z46 hesitated, but Bailey was clearly being earnest. So she gazed into the lens. At first, she really could not tell the stars from one another, but then she remembered the star chart Bailey gave her.

When she was sure she had found them, her heart raced like never before.

"So this is what they look like...so close..."

"...yet so far," Bailey laughed as she jotted down on a notebook. "I surely would love to explore the far, far corners of space. But you know, it's far away."

Z46 moved away from the telescope. Bailey had just finished with her notes and was looking at the sky with her naked eyes. She could see the longing in them.

"Perhaps, with the right perspective, space need not be that far away."

"Hm? What do you mean, Vi?"

"In Germany, we know outer space as weltraum—in your language, world room. When you see space as merely another room open to be explored, it is not a place so unfathomable, so unreachable."

"...Ahahaha~that's waay deep, Vi. All philosophical an' stuff."

Z46 wasn't sure if her words actually got into Bailey, seeing that she was rubbing the back of her head, and that laugh of hers sounded a touch self-conscious. The laughter soon ceased, with only her sincere smile remaining—and Z46 found her doubts quashed.

"But thank you, Vi. You're right—it does sound close, isn't it? Hey, wanna come along next time?"

"That would be my pleasure," Z46 smiled back.