"Out of Service Area" "There is a word, "world"." "Until about the time when I was in middle school, I vaguely thought the word meant the area where the signals from my cell would reach." "But why is it..." "My cell never reaches anyone." "Hello?" "Say, isn't anyone there?" "How far should I go?" "I'm lonely." "Noboru?" "I'm going home, okay?" "Say, where am I?" "Oh, that's right... I'm not in that world anymore." "Wait, Noboru!" "Nagamine..." "Nagamine, how was your final exam?" "Nagamine's final exam was perfect." "Then, the same high school..." "Do you think we can go?" "!" "Probably..." "Noboru!" "Look!" "There's a spaceship." "Yeah, that's the Cosmonaut ship Lysithea, isn't it?" "It belongs to the U.N. Army." "I wonder if there were any from this town too?" "Select Members?" "Yeah..." "That ship will travel beyond the solar system." "Yeah..." "The story is they're going after the aliens who attacked Mars, isn't it?" "Yeah..." "Those Tarsians, I wonder where they came from?" "Yeah..." "Nagamine, you're not interested?" "Kinda..." "Well, let's stop by the convenience store, okay?" "Where should we eat?" "Let's head toward the bus stop." "Nagamine, are you going to take Kendo in high school too?" "What should I do?" "Are you, Noboru?" "Yeah, I'm gonna." "You should continue too, because you're strong." "So you say, but you really just want to join the same club as me, right?" "What are you saying?" "Should we go home pretty soon?" "Yeah..." "It's stopped raining, hasn't it?" "Hey, look!" "The sky!" "It's a Tracer." "It's pretty, isn't it?" "Yeah..." "Say, Noboru..." "You know, I... I am going to be onboard that." "Found it!" "Please hit!" "April 15, 2047 (Mon) Create Mail Destination Address Please enter a name, or address" "April 15, 2047 (Mon) Create Mail Destination Address Please enter a name, or address Noboru," "Noboru, on Mars, it was training the whole time." "Even here, I am a Select Member, so my scores were pretty good, you know." "I've seen Mt." "Olympus, and I've seen the Marineris Valley too." "I totally went sightseeing on Mars too!" "Of course, I went to the Trasian Ruins too." "It was a view I'd seen many times in textbooks, but I feel kind of like I can't believe that I saw the real thing." "I thought, "The solar system really isn't just for humans."" "The survey unit of 2039 was annihilated by the Tarsians here." "This time, with the technology we've received from them, we're going to pursue them." "I've gotten used to life on the Lysithea." "After training on Mars, we've come all the way to Jupiter and are taking a short break at a satellite base on Europa." "I never get bored of looking at Jupiter's clouds." "Also, the Flux Tube between lo and Jupiter is amazing." "It's the hugest lightning in this solar system!" "Will it reach?" "It's from Nagamine." "Mikako Nagamine is a classmate I was pretty close to during middle school." "That we'd get to go to the same high school..." "Well, I was hoping, but... lt seems that Nagamine is on Jupiter right now." "During the summer of my third year of middle school," "Nagamine was chosen as a Select Member of the U.N. Space Army." "That winter she departed with a huge U.N. fleet, with over a thousand people on board, on a Tarsian survey." "Now that you mention it," "Nagamine had pretty good grades and was good at sports, but even so, it's the U.N. Army, you know." "It seems, somehow, kind of like a stupid story." "Finally, leaving Jupiter." "The Lysithea will travel way beyond Pluto after this, but the specific destination seems to be a secret." "It will take longer and longer for the mail to reach you." "From the furthest corner on the other side of Oort Cloud, it's about half a year." "It's like air-mail in the 20th century." "Yeah, it'll be all right!" "What's all right?" "In this way, my first quarter at high school passed by while exchanging mail with Mikako." "No message has been received." "The further Mikako goes from the Earth, the more the time it takes to exchange mail lengthens." "No message has been... lt's just... I will become someone who only waits for Mikako's mail." "Noboru, I am at Pluto, the end of solar system." "It's been a half a year since we left the Earth." "The Lysithea armada has continued the Tarsian survey all the way from Jupiter, but we haven't found signs of the Tarsians anywhere." "Noboru, but in truth, for me, it'd be best if... we don't find anything, and can go back to Earth, quickly..." "What?" "!" "Tarsians confirmed at 12 o'clock." "Distance: 20,000." "TRACER Unit 1-4, prepare for dispatch." "The enemy?" "For real?" "!" "Am I going out too?" "I have to shoot them down." "What?" "Tarsian fleet confirmed at a distance of 120,000." "The fleet will evacuate by one-light-year warp." "All Tracers, return to the ships immediately." "The lag between Noboru and I will be a whole year!" "Have to mail now..." "Tracer 2, return to the ship immediately." "I have to shoot down this one, or... I won't make it!" "I have to go back!" "January 24, 2048 (Fri) Receiving Message..." "Checking Mail Box..." "The fleet has warped out." "Via:" "Super Long Distance Mail Service Distance to Destination: 13477536000000km Estimated time necessary for the arrival of mail: 1 year - 16 days - 12 hours ln 48 hours, this fleet will take a long distance warp to the Sirius Alpha Beta system using a galaxy shortcut anchor." "We will fly through 8.6 light years." "We haven't yet found our way back to the Earth." "Commander Struman sends this reminder, don't forget sending mail to your family." "It will take a year for this mail to reach Noboru." "Transmitting Mail..." "1 year 16 days 12 hours until arrival of mail." "From Sirius, it will be eight years one way, you know." "Noboru..." "About me... I wonder if you'll forget?" "The seasons have passed once and summer has come again." "It was the winter of last year that I quit waiting for mail from Mikako." "After all, mail hasn't come from Mikako for a whole year." "It's from Mikako." "This is the first mail in a year!" "I wonderhow I should explain this?" "I'm around Pluto, you know." "After this, the Lysithea will... enter a long distance warp." "The destination is Sirius, 8.6 light-years away." "By the time you receive this mail, I will already be at Sirius." "From now on, it will take eight years and seven months to receive each others' mail." "Sorry." "Say, we are separated by space and the Earth... like lovers like lovers, aren't we?" "Since middle school, we probably only saw each other." "But a distance that takes eight years at the speed of light, is no different than saying, "forever."" "The time between Mikako and I drifts further and further apart." "That is why I have made a goal, to make my heart harder, colder and stronger." "The door that I know will never open... I won't knock on it eternally." "I will become an adult, even alone." "Since the last century, we've known that Sirius has its own planetary system, but we are the first in all humanity to observe another planetary system with our bare eyes." "The fourth planet of the Sirius System, Agharta." "Agharta has sky, clouds, and seas which are very similar to Earth's, but I think these are completely different after all." "The time and distance becomes further and further away from Noboru." "All exploration units from one to twelve." "There is still no evidence of Tarsians." "Wow... I want to be hit by the rain." "I want to go to a convenience store and eat ice cream together." "Noboru..." "Hello, Noboru, who's become 24 years old!" "I am the 15 year old Mikako and I..." "you know, I really like you." "I am here" "Transmitting Mail..." "8 years 224 days 18 hours untilarrival of mail." "Please get there..." "Me?" "!" "Say..." "You finally came this far, didn't you?" "To become an adult, pain is necessary too, but you will probably be able to go much, much farther, even to other galaxies and other universes." "Hey?" "So, please come with me, okay?" "I would like to entrust it to you." "But I just want to see Noboru again, and just tell him, "l love you!"" "It will be all right." "You will see him again." "Tarsians are existing everywhere on Agharta." "Encountering combat." "Their block exists in orbit and are approaching us." "I don't understand!" "The Latest Space Technology Discourse It's coming into view: the practical use of super light speed communications" "News from 2047 Battle at Sirius 8 Years Ago Victory Every Morning" "That summer day, I remember well when I thought the period of eight years seemed eternal." "Although I haven't lived my life since then without indecision, that goal I decided upon that day still hasn't changed." "I will live in my own time, and starting next month, it's that armada duty that I've been hoping for." "You've got mail." "Mikako...." "March 25, 2056 (Sat) Subject:" "I am here From:" "Mikako Nagamine" "The mail from Mikako had only two sentences, and the rest was just noise." "But even with only this, I think it's like a miracle." "Say, Mikako, you know, I..." "Say, you know, Noboru, I have a lot of things I reminisce about." "After all, I have nothing here." "For example, you know..." "For example, things like summer, clouds and like cold rain..." "Things like the smell of a fall breeze..." "Like the sound of rain drops hitting an umbrella..." "Like the softness of spring soil..." "Like the feeling of peace at the convenience store in the middle of the night..." "And then, you know, like the cool wind after school..." "Like the smell of chalkboard erasers..." "Like the sound of a truck passing by in the middle of the night..." "Like the smell of asphalt in the rain..." "Noboru..." "Things like that, I have all this time..." "All this time..." "I thought that I would like to experience these with you, Mikako." "The armada is sinking!" "I have to defend the Lysithea!" "Say, Noboru..." "We are far, far, very, very far apart but it might be that thoughts can overcome time and distance." "Noboru, have you ever thought about something like that?" "If... lf for even one instant, something like that could happen." "What I would think?" "What would Mikako think?" "Say, there is probably one thing we would think." "Say, Noboru..." "I am here."