With her new Belobog journal in hand, March wanted to reminisce about her travels before reaching the frozen city.
March's Trailblazing Diary
I've had this notebook from Bronya for quite some time now. I really did plan to document our past Trailblazing expeditions! I promised to help Trailblazer catch up on everything, after all... But... but! Whenever I get serious about writing, something way more fun always happens! Every! Single! Time! Is Trailblazer some kind of comedy genius? Today she/he's been roped into a big cleanup for the Express, so I finally have my chance! Wait... Why does this make me sound like I'm up to no good? But hey, everything happened ages ago, your memory's a bit fuzzy, so you'll have to forgive any gaps. ...Hang on, who am I even being polite to?
Capital of Passion Capital of Passion is a small commercial world with heavy interstellar trading activity. Dan Heng told me that the entire planet belongs to the Corporation now? Seriously, what won't the IPC buy?
The day Mr. Yang and I arrived at the Capital of Passion, we were immediately detained by the "Commune State Enforcers." They had this whole conspiracy theory about us working with the "Messengers" to smuggle some "Neural Syntax Virus." Hmm, technically... it's not... untrue. But let's get things straight, we were working under contract from the geniuses to recover the virus. And accusing us of "smuggling" is too much! This is obviously the magnates trying to keep the virus for themselves.
By the way, the Messengers is quite a famed organization at the Capital of Passion. The Capital of Passion's network stream and transit system are under complete control by the magnates. So these Messengers transport classified data packages physically. Old school, right? It's like using carrier pigeons in a digital world. Except in this dystopia, any unauthorized "pigeon" gets blasted out of the sky by Enforcer auto-turrets.
Long story short... I can't remember how it started or finished, but we ended up at this massive concert broadcast throughout the cosmos... The "Neural Syntax Virus" transmitted through language, meaning everyone at the "concert" would get "infected." Thanks to a local Messenger named Broadster, we managed to neutralize the "virus" and prevent its spread. I'm definitely downplaying how exciting it all was! But the important part is that we stopped a disaster, the show continued as planned, and everything worked out perfectly in the end.
Well, we the Nameless saved the universe one more time.
Kalsas A planet entirely made of clay. That's right. Every single creature there is clay-based. I thought we'd find a gooey, sticky mess... But surprise! The place is completely parched. Water is extremely scarce there. Interestingly, rain is considered a natural disaster there. The peace-loving Kalsasians pray for drought while other planets beg for rain.
The IPC made a high-profile announcement about bringing Kalsas into the interstellar market, pushing tourism initiatives... But the whole Cosmos knows the truth. The IPC came to make the clay people spit out their rare earths. Sigh, IPC. Sigh, capitalism. Those two sighs? Learned them online not long ago. Felt oddly fitting.
By all accounts, the clay people's tech level should be pretty low, right? Turns out, that's not the case. The IPC has been rolling out free "cyber-enhancement" programs on the ground. They embed silicon substrates into clay bodies, boosting their cognitive circuits by several orders of magnitude... But as a trade-off, they can no longer shift forms at will, and they've lost their durability. ...Feels like the clay people aren't really clay people anymore.
These days, even if tourism is just a gimmick, we've still been having a good time. If I get the chance, I want to take Trailblazer to the place where we once went bungee jumping!
Taikiyan Nowadays, every time someone mentions Taikiyan, everyone on the Express goes, "Isn't that the place where March smashed up the Taikiyan Stadium?" Just forget about that! There's really no point clinging to something like that!
Sure, I was the one steering the landing pod, But! Even someone as level-headed as Dan Heng couldn't stop me! That proves it wasn't so simple! At the very least, when people remember this incident, they should be saying, "Isn't that where March and Dan Heng wrecked the Taikiyan Stadium?"
Dan Heng and I ended up in jail for a few days, until Mr. Yang came to get us out... "Every three worlds we visit, we somehow end up behind bars." ...Could this really be some kind of mysterious pattern? Does Belobog count this time...? I mean, we were wanted, but we didn't actually go to jail! And with that, we broke the mysterious curse!
Even though I don't really get Roboball matches, I'll go watch if I've got tickets! When our team's ahead, I yell and cheer with the crowd. When we're losing, I feel just as tense as everyone else. It's like I'm actually playing in the match myself, just as excited, just as worn out!
Hmm... What was the name of that team I supported again? Before I take Trailblazer to Taikiyan next time, I've gotta become a real fan first!
*...The entry cuts off here. Maybe the "big cleanup" was finished, and something even more fun came up.*