Volume 1 — Chapter 2: The Ship That Should Have Disappeared

The unknown signal disappeared.

The spaceship continued drifting through the darkness.

No one spoke for several seconds.

Ren stared at the main screen.

The message had been unmistakable.

SPACE DASH — EMERGENCY TRANSMISSION

But the most frightening part was the voice.

The little girl had recognized it.

Someone who was supposed to be dead.

Mio slowly looked at the radar.

"There's something nearby."

Ren immediately turned toward her.

"Another ship?"

"Yes."

"Can you identify it?"

Mio's fingers moved rapidly across the controls.

"There are no registration records."

The mysterious girl suddenly stood up.

She looked at the radar.

Her expression changed.

"I know that ship."

Everyone looked at her.

"You remember it?"

She nodded.

"That's Space Dash."

A few minutes later, their spaceship approached the unknown vessel.

At first, everyone expected to see a damaged wreck.

After all, Space Dash had disappeared sixteen years ago.

But what they saw was completely different.

in front of them.

Its outer hull was intact.

There were no holes.

No visible damage.

No signs of an explosion.

Not even a single broken engine.

Kai stared at the readings.

"This can't be right."

Sora checked them again.

"The ship is completely functional."Ren frowned.

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

Mio looked at the ship's identification signal.

"There's something strange."

"What?"

"The ship's systems are active."

Ren looked at the mysterious girl.

"You said this was the ship you remembered?"

She nodded.

"Yes."

"Then why is it here?"

"I don't know."

She looked at the giant vessel.

"But I think... it was waiting."

The two ships connected.

A docking bridge extended between them.

Ren, Mio, Kai, Sora, Aika, Nana, and the mysterious girl entered the Space Dash ship.

The moment they stepped inside, everyone became silent.

The interior looked completely different from their modern training ship.

It was advanced.

Extremely advanced.

The technology seemed far beyond what they were used to.

Yet everything was perfectly clean.

The corridors were illuminated.

The monitors were active.

The lights were functioning.

There was no dust.

No signs that the ship had been abandoned.

Kai looked around in disbelief.

"How is this possible?"

Sora touched the wall.

"Sixteen years..."

"And this ship looks like it was activated yesterday," Aika said.

Nana examined one of the control panels.

"There's no evidence of mechanical failure."

Ren walked deeper into the ship.

"Then what happened to the original crew?"

No one answered.

The mysterious girl suddenly stopped.

She was standing in front of a large door.

Her hand slowly reached toward it.

The door opened.

Beyond it was the main command room.

The center of the room contained a large captain's control station.

The girl stared at it.

Something inside her seemed to recognize the place.

"I've been here before."

Ren followed her.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded.

Then she slowly walked toward the captain's console.

Mio looked at her.

"Don't touch anything."

The girl stopped.

But something seemed to draw her toward the controls.

She raised her hand.

Her fingers touched the main console.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then—

BEEP.

The entire command room lit up.

Everyone froze.

A holographic screen appeared.

IDENTIFICATION SCAN

The system scanned the girl's hand.

A blue light moved across her body.

Biometric identification in progress.

Identity confirmed.

Captain's authorization recognized.

Ren's eyes widened.

"Captain?"

The system continued.

Welcome back, Captain.

Silence.

The girl stared at the screen.

"I...?"

The system continued scanning.

Then dozens of systems began activating.

Navigation system: ONLINE.

Life support: ONLINE.

Weapons system: STANDBY.

Long-range communication: ONLINE.

Hyperdrive: ONLINE.

Artificial Intelligence: ONLINE.

The entire ship came alive.

Lights appeared throughout the corridors.

Engines began humming.

The giant spacecraft that had supposedly disappeared sixteen years ago had just awakened.

And it had awakened because of her.

A calm female voice suddenly filled the command room.

"Welcome back, Captain."

Everyone looked around.

A holographic figure appeared above the central console.

She looked like a young woman wearing a futuristic Space Dash uniform.

"I am Astra, the artificial intelligence responsible for the Space Dash."

Ren stared at her.

"A.I.?"

"Correct."

Astra looked at the people in the room.

Her expression remained calm.

Then she suddenly paused."Unexpected."

Mio stepped forward.

"What?"

Astra scanned them.

"Multiple unidentified personnel detected."

Ren immediately became cautious.

"Are we a problem?"

"No."

Astra's eyes focused on the mysterious girl.

"All current personnel are registered as authorized passengers."

Everyone froze.

"What?" Kai said.

Astra continued.

"The current passengers are registered within the Space Dash database."

Mio looked confused.

"That's impossible. We've never been on this ship."

Astra tilted her head.

"That statement is inconsistent with the database."

She displayed a list.

Ren Kisaragi.

Mio Takahashi.

Kai Moriyama.

Sora Fujita.

Aika Hoshino.

Nana Mizuki.

And finally—

The mysterious girl.

Her name was still classified.

But beside her name was written:

Captain — Authorized

Everyone stared at the screen.

Ren couldn't speak.

Mio looked at the date.

Then her eyes widened.

"Wait..."

"What?" Ren asked.

"The database date."

Ren looked at the screen.

The date was sixteen years earlier.

Silence filled the room.

Astra continued:

"Current mission status: Preparation phase."

"Preparation?" Ren repeated.

"Yes."

Mio slowly stepped backward.

"That means..."

Ren looked at the others.

They finally understood.

They weren't simply lost in space.

They had traveled through time.

They had gone sixteen years into the past.

Ren looked toward the mysterious girl.

She was still staring at the captain's console.

"You were never from our time."

The girl shook her head.

"I don't know."

"But Space Dash recognizes you as its captain."

She looked at her own hands.

"I don't remember being a captain."

Astra spoke again.

"Captain, would you like me to display the mission information?"

The girl hesitated.

Then nodded.

"Yes."

A massive holographic map appeared.

The same mysterious coordinates from their original mission appeared in the center.

Aika recognized them immediately.

"Those are the coordinates we were investigating."

Nana stared at the map.

"So this is where it all began."

Mio looked at the mission title.

SPACE DASH — DEEP SPACE EXPLORATION MISSION

Mission Objective: Investigate Unknown Planetary Signal

Status: Awaiting Departure

Ren stared at the screen.

They had already experienced the disaster that would supposedly happen.

They had already seen the consequences.

But now they were standing before the beginning.

The Space Dash ship wasn't a wreck.

It hadn't disappeared yet.

The crew hadn't vanished.

The mysterious planet had not yet been explored.

Everything was still waiting to happen.

Ren slowly clenched his fist.

"Then the history we knew..."

Mio finished his sentence.

"...hasn't happened yet."

Astra looked at them.

"Clarification: Current date indicates that the Space Dash mission has not yet begun."

Ren looked at the crew.

For the first time since becoming lost, he smiled.

Not because the situation was safe.

It wasn't.They were trapped sixteen years in the past.

They had no idea how to return.

And they still didn't know why the little girl was the captain of Space Dash.

But they had discovered something important.

The legendary Space Dash expedition hadn't ended.

It had only just begun.

Ren walked toward the main captain's station.

He looked at the enormous window overlooking the stars.

"This ship will become legendary."

Mio stood beside him.

"People will talk about Space Dash for years."

Aika smiled faintly.

"Then we're standing at the beginning of that story."

Nana looked toward the mysterious girl.

"But there's still one question."

"What?"

"Why was she sent into the future?"

The room became silent again.

The girl looked at the coordinates.

A strange feeling appeared in her heart.

She couldn't remember the future.

She couldn't remember how she had survived.

She couldn't remember why she had been sent away.

But somewhere inside her mind, one sentence remained.

Don't forget us.

She slowly placed her hand on the captain's console.

"I don't know what happened to Space Dash..."

She looked at everyone.

"But I want to find out."

Ren nodded.

"Then we'll find out together."

Astra's hologram appeared again.

"Captain, shall I begin the mission preparation?"

The girl looked at the stars.

Then she gave her answer.

"Yes."

Astra smiled.

"Understood."

The ship's systems activated one after another.

NAVIGATION: READY.

HYPERDRIVE: READY.

LIFE SUPPORT: READY.

EXPLORATION SYSTEM: READY.

A new mission appeared on the screen.

SPACE DASH — FIRST TRUE MISSION

Ren looked at Mio.

Mio looked at the mysterious girl.

The girl looked toward the endless stars.

None of them knew what they would find there.

None of them knew what had happened sixteen years ago.

And none of them knew why the future had brought them here.

But one thing was certain.

Their journey had only just begun.

The first true mission of Space Dash was about to begin.

Objective: Investigate the mysterious coordinates.

The spaceship slowly turned toward the unknown region of space.

And the legend of Space Dash began.

End of Chapter 2