Chapter 2: A Colossal Perspective

The door to the command bridge slid open with a whisper, and Arai’s breath hitched. The chamber that stretched out before him was a masterpiece of futuristic design, a vast, circular space that dwarfed his entire Tokyo apartment. The ceiling arched high above, a domed viewscreen currently displaying a serene starfield. Holographic tactical readouts and shimmering data streams floated in the air, operated by the crew at their sleek, crystalline stations.

Is this the command bridge? he thought, his mind reeling. It’s… immense.

His gaze swept across the room, and his pulse quickened. At their posts, twenty-five officers turned in unison to face him. They were, without exception, stunningly beautiful, each bearing the same polished, ethereal quality as Aoi. Their uniforms were impeccable, their postures perfect.

Just like Aoi, he marveled internally, a giddy excitement bubbling up. They’re all so… perfect. AI-generated girls in modern games can't even compare to this.

The chorus of their voices was harmonious, a single, crisp salute accompanying their words. "Fleet Admiral on the bridge!"

The sheer spectacle of it all was intoxicating. He was the center of this incredible universe. Swallowing hard, he turned to Aoi, his trusted second-in-command.

"So," he began, trying to sound more authoritative than he felt. "What's our first order of business, Aoi?"

Her expression remained professionally neutral, but a glint of urgency shone in her eyes. "The immediate threat, Fleet Admiral. We must neutralize the Krythrogg that attacked you."

"Krythrogg?" The name was alien on his tongue. "What is that?"

"A class-seven bio-hazardous organism," Aoi explained, her voice cool and analytical. "A cockroach-type alien species. Highly aggressive, resilient, and capable of delivering a lethal neurotoxin to a fully-grown human."

Arai’s blood ran cold. "Cockroach-type? You mean… the thing that flew at my face was an alien?"

"Correct, Fleet Admiral."

The grim news report flashed in his mind—the thirty deaths, the glistening black form crawling from the corpse. So that's the alien that's been killing people in Tokyo. A sickening wave of goosebumps prickled across his skin. He had been a hair's breadth from becoming the thirty-first victim.

"Right," he said, forcing a surge of confidence into his voice. He gestured to the magnificent bridge around them. "So, how do we kill it? With this flagship, it should be easy. One precise magical beam, and it's toast. We just have to be careful not to blow up my apartment… or half of Tokyo in the process."

Aoi’s response was immediate and utterly deflating. "I'm afraid that will not be sufficient, sir."

Arai blinked. "What? Why not? This ship is a marvel!"

"While the Warspace is the pinnacle of your fleet's engineering," Aoi continued, "the Krythrogg target possesses a defensive chitin that requires sustained, heavy bombardment to breach. To ensure its destruction, you must deploy the entire armada. All thirty thousand vessels."

Arai stared at her, completely baffled. "The entire… Aoi, that's insane overkill. It's a bug! We're a battleship! Are you telling me we need a fleet of thirty thousand starships to kill one cockroach?"

"Your assessment of the relative scale is inaccurate, Fleet Admiral," Aoi replied, her tone patient but firm. "While this flagship is formidable, the Krythrogg is, in fact, significantly larger than we are. Our individual firepower is negligible against its mass."

"Larger than us?" Arai let out a disbelieving laugh. "We are a starship! You have a crew of 290,000 on this vessel alone! How can a bug be bigger than that?"

Aoi paused, her head tilting as she processed his confusion. "I believe I understand the source of the misunderstanding, Admiral. You are correct that the Krythrogg organism is approximately the size of an adult human's palm."

"Exactly!" Arai said, throwing his hands up. "So—"

"But," she interjected gently, "this ship is smaller than that."

The words hung in the air, nonsensical. Arai’s brain refused to process them. "Huh? There's no way a starship is smaller than a human palm. In every movie, every game, they're colossal, bigger than cities!"

"I apologize if this reality disappoints you, Fleet Admiral," Aoi said, her demeanor unchanged. "But every vessel in your fleet is, indeed, microscopic by human standards."

A cold dread began to seep into Arai’s excitement. "You've got to be kidding me. How big is this flagship, exactly?"

Aoi met his gaze steadily. "The MFS Warspace is approximately the size of a common mosquito."

The world seemed to tilt on its axis. Mosquito-sized? His eyes widened, the grandeur of the bridge suddenly taking on a terrifying new context. The vast dome, the towering consoles—it was all a matter of perspective.

If this flagship is the size of a mosquito… he thought, a horrifying realization dawning. Then how big am I?

His head snapped toward the main viewscreen. It wasn't a starfield. The pinpricks of light weren't stars; they were dust motes caught in a sliver of light from… from below. He took a stumbling step forward, peering through the crystalline panel.

He wasn't looking out into the cosmos. He was looking up.

He saw the familiar, coarse weave of his living room rug, rising like a tangled forest. In the distance, a colossal, dust-covered cliff face resolved into the leg of his sofa. And beyond that, the vast, shadowy expanse of the space beneath it.

He was not in space. He was under his own sofa.

A cold sweat broke out across his brow. A tiny, hysterical laugh escaped his lips, devoid of any real humor. It was a sound of pure, unadulterated disbelief.

"You have got to be kidding me."