_System Linked Bio-Probe / Diver I.D. - 'Ryuu Creed'

_Location: Currently Unknown / Preliminary Survey Recommended

My jaw dropped way downward after seeing the scene before me. At least, I think it did. Thing is, I can't feel my jaws at all...

"A Thornwinged Emeraldback..." I softly muttered. It was a rare species of wild wyvern which inhabited the mountainous regions of the southwestern part of the Central Continent [Runegard]. It's fiercely territorial and would not hesitate to attack anything which trespasses inside its nesting grounds. Adventurers hunt it down for the hide on its back and the long bony spurs on its wing tips - both of which could be made into high tier bronze ranked armaments. They fetched quite a price on the market.

...Geh! This really isn't a time for giving a lecture on monster taxonomy! And I actually learned all of that with Vance as part of our research back when we were both planning to become famous adventurers, if anyone's curious.

[_DIVER, I DO SUGGEST READING THE UPDATED USER MANUAL WHICH WAS SENT TO YOUR INBOX. IT WOULD HELP YOU GET FAMILIAR WITH MOST OF THE FUNCTIONS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TO YOUR PRESENT VIRTUAL BODY.]

I heard that robotic sounding voice again. Somehow, it felt like the voice was speaking directly within my consciousness. It was a very weird feeling.

"Who are you? What's going on? What is this place? Is this inside a dream, an artificial virtual space or..."

I got increasingly anxious while thinking of the various possibilities about these strange circumstances. Was I just simply dreaming? Or was this scene recreated by reading my memories and then simulating them in a virtual environment?

No, those can't be right. This feels too real and vivid to be a dream, and I never really saw a Thornwinged Emeraldback before. I just read about them in the monster encyclopedias Vance and I bought from a travelling merchant who passed through Lindorf. They were hella expensive too. Mom nearly scolded our ears off when she found out...

...Gah! I got distracted again. Honestly, my mind's in such a mess. 

[_DIVER, PLEASE ACCESS THE USER MANUAL NOW. AS THIS IS JUST A PRELIMINARY TEST, THE LIMIT SET FOR DIVING INTO THE MAIN TEMPORAL LINE IS SHORT. ONLY ABOUT 30 STANDARD SOL SYSTEM MINUTES. ALL THE AVAILABLE FUNCTIONS OF THIS NEWLY CREATED VIRTUAL BODY NEEDS TO BE TESTED OUT FIRST BEFORE YOU CAN PROCEED TO FULFILL YOUR ACTUAL DUTIES AS A DIVER OF THE FEDERATION.]

"What the heck are you talking about, you shady sounding A.I.? You're an A.I. right? And what's with this Federation and Sol System crap? Where the heck are those supposed to be?"   

[_YES, I AM AN A.I. RESPONSIBLE FOR GENERAL OPERATION OF THE LAPLACE TEMPORAL QUANTIFICATION AND MANIPULATION SYSTEM. THE UNITED MILKY WAY GALACTIC FEDERATION IS THE RULING BODY OF OUR HOME GALAXY. SOL SYSTEM IS ONE OF ITS FIRST FOUNDING MEMBERS, AND THE ORIGIN OF HUMANKIND. MY CREATOR IS A HUMAN FROM THE SOL SYSTEM. THUS, THE USE OF STANDARD SOL SYSTEM UNITS FOR TIME INDICATION.]

United Milky Way Galactic Federation? Sol System? Origin of humanity? This stuff just gets weirder and weirder, doesn't it? 

My memories as Ryuu Creed don't contain any recollections about any Federation or Sol System. There's the Solaris Confederation, but I think it's entirely different from what this strange A.I. is harping on about. 

In the first place, the Confederation doesn't claim to be the origin of humanity at all. It was actually formed by various Sectors who split off from the Emperium in order to break free from its unilateral oppressive regime. That's what the history data records say anyway. I doubt it was all as black and white as the historians made it sound.

And a temporal manipulation system? That sounded really freaky. We could already kinda, sorta bend space-time through the use of Genion Jumps. But fully calculating and manipulating them? That would be the work of God, if there really was one. It seemed really amazing and terrifying at the same time.

But all those didn't really matter to me at the moment. I just wanted to make sure of one thing, and I proceeded to nervously ask the weird A.I.

"So, am I right in thinking that the system you mentioned earlier manipulated space and time to send me to this place? T- This place is real?" 

[_AFFIRMATIVE. THE L.T.Q.M.S. ALLOWS TEMPORAL DIVES BY USE OF A PREPARED VIRTUAL BODY WHICH HOUSES THE BIOWAVE PATTERNS OF THE DIVER. WE ARE NOW WITHIN THE MAIN TEMPORAL LINE. THE APPROXIMATE LOCATION WOULD BE GALATAEA - A TERRAFORMED PLANET PREVIOUSLY ADMINISTERED BY THE GREATER SOL SECTOR.]

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest, I think. I couldn't really feel my heart. But that's not the point! This place IS real! I really made it back!!

"Kyaaaaaah!!!"

I was busy doing an imaginary happy dance inside my head, when a sudden panicked scream rang out from the distance. I turned towards the direction where it came from, hesitated a little, but ultimately decided to check it out.

[_DIVER, GETTING INTO UNNECESSARY TROUBLE IS INEFFICIENT. NOT TO MENTION DANGEROUS.]

"Shut it. I'm just gonna take a quick look." I retorted, and started heading for the place the scream echoed out from.