A few days later.

  Min has just returned from work and, upon entering the living room, sees Xi P lounging on the sofa and fiddling with what looks like a phone. Spotting Min, it waves at him.

  For some reason, Min feels as if he is looking at a total otaku here. Though Xi P doesn't exactly look like an otaku — if anything, an otaku would like to look at Xi P.

  During these days, the two of them have finished building the shelter. Using a few buried support points, large pieces of canvas, nails and a lot of manual labour, they completely hid the vehicle wreckage on the hillside from plain sight. Fortunately, the wreckage remains largely intact and hadn't fallen far. Min worked entirely on his own land and hadn't been disturbed during the process.

  Meanwhile, they hauled the contents of the vehicle's cargo back to his home. Thanks to Xi P's careful packing, even though many items were destroyed by the crash landing, the cushioning provided by the food packaging allowed some electronic devices to survive. Min recalls finding a small stapler-like object, which made Xi P visibly excited. Handing it to Xi P, Min had watched as he pressed a button on the back. With a faint hum, several short sliding rods extended. Xi P placed the object on its arm, and the rods glided smoothly over its fur, neatening it, and rendering it thoroughly content.

  'You put a grooming tool in precious cargo space?' Min desperately wanted to quip. He can understand why — for some, appearance matters immensely. Though Xi P is adorable regardless of whether it's been groomed or not.

  Anyway, back to the present. Over the next few minutes, Xi P leads Min through a display of the recovered items. Based on Min's understanding, most appear to be everyday household goods. Xi P demonstrates actions such as ventilation over the bulky machinery, leading Min to conclude that these are survival devices intended for hostile alien environments. Most of them are severely warped and non-functional, though they are of no use now anyway.

  It isn't immediately obvious, but judging by these items, if Xi P was on a mission, it must have been a long-term one. Likely it involved landing on a planet too, otherwise there'd be no reason to pack all this gear into the ship...

  'Or maybe it just dismantled the ship's life support system, though that sounds pretty impractical.'

  Xi P then leads Min to an object that appears to be a picture frame. Before they can see its contents, Min senses Xi P, who was cheerful moments ago, grow sombre. Inside the frame is a high-definition colour photograph showing three fox-like beings like Xi P standing together. After Xi P points to the figure in the centre and then to itself, Min begins to understand.

  The atmosphere instantly grows heavy. Min understands Xi P's feelings. It truly is a tragedy... It might never have the chance to see its parents again. Assuming this species reproduces sexually and shares such familial bonds, that is.

  After half a minute of silence, Min pats Xi P on the shoulder in consolation. Xi P slowly shifts its gaze away from the photograph. It sits quietly back down on the sofa, saying nothing.

  '...'

  Besides the heavy items, Xi P also displays some things that Min finds rather interesting. For example, a small nuclear battery to charge their devices. There are also remnants of the landing parachute — given its size, Min is glad there is a tree in his garden. A specialized kettle designed for zero-gravity environments. A sandbox that appears to reshape itself using ultrasonic waves. And a small box containing personal hygiene items. Min recognises a nail clipper, a nail file, and an ear pick inside. The first two differ slightly in shape from what he is used to, that makes sense given the species difference. However, that ear pick...

  It is terrifyingly large.

  For some reason, when a spoon grows to that size and is placed alongside items like nail clippers, it takes on a distinctly sinister aura. It looks almost like a torture device, making one's ears ache just to look at it.

  Of course, considering the size of Xi P's ears, it is probably perfectly normal for them. Human-sized tools would be too small for them to use.

  ***

  After finally wrapping up all the tasks, Min finds himself with some rare free time and opens the news feed once more.

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  The U.S. military claims that they have sufficient forces to confront two Chinas.

  Several Olympic athletes have also contracted the Zika virus.

  Russia has successfully developed a new continuous nuclear pulse propulsion system. The chief engineer declared that this would be a milestone in the history of human spaceflight.

  Min shows little interest, but Xi P, who is watching with him, takes notice. This engine looks strangely familiar. Its basic configuration seems remarkably similar to the main engine that he dismantled from the research vessel back then. This slightly heightens his anticipation of returning home. If his memory serves him correctly, they achieved a breakthrough in warp drive technology within less than 15 years after developing this kind of engine.

  'If only they keep up with the pace...'

  The international news segment concludes swiftly, giving way to smaller stories. Min actually enjoys these segments quite a bit — simply because they are generally entertaining and more relatable to everyday life.

  Today, however, seems to be an exception. The news features a series of rather mundane stories, such as a few traffic accidents on the outskirts of the city....

  Then the scene shifts, beginning an interview with a renowned hunting enthusiast. Over the past twelve years, this man has travelled the globe hunting diverse wildlife and amassed over a thousand trophies. The report showcases his collection: common hares, wolves, and even a lion's head mounted on the wall...

  Suddenly, Min's eyes widen. He hurriedly covers Xi P's eyes. But it is too late. Xi P has already seen the image on the screen —

  A fox's head, freshly hunted just days ago, mounted on the wall!

  Strictly speaking, Xi P's head isn't exactly that of a fox. But seeing this head — devoid of body, eyes hollow and staring — suddenly appear on the screen is no less terrifying for Xi P than a horror movie. Though he doesn't leap off the sofa, Xi P grips the armrests tightly, its nails unconsciously piercing the surface.

  Min naturally notices the terror in Xi P's eyes. Once the camera pulls away from the fox's head, Min pats the creature, who is still shaken, to signal that it should relax. This fear is entirely understandable. Min figures that he would jump too if a human head suddenly appeared hanging on the wall. In truth, any sentient being would likely recoil at such a scene — including aliens.

  It takes Xi P a while to calm down. There is no shame in it. Horror movie effects might be scarier, but ultimately they are just special effects. What had just been shown on TV, however, was a genuine severed head! Its body was nowhere to be seen, having likely been consumed at some point. Even though he knows that the body beneath the head is entirely different from his own, the mere thought makes Xi P's body tremble involuntarily.

  'I detest these creatures on this planet! Such a coincidence is utterly terrifying, and they seem to be prey themselves!'

  ***

  Russia, Moscow.

  The rocket engineer stares at the nuclear saltwater thruster prototype, lost in deep thought.

  Even now, he cannot fathom how he conceived such a brilliant idea. In less than six months, his team turned concept into reality — the supreme technological achievement before him. Methane mixed with uranium particles flows continuously into the detonation chamber. A chain reaction heats and expands the methane to unimaginable temperatures, and expels at speeds far exceeding those of chemical rockets. While this concept has existed for some time, turning it into reality — essentially triggering continuous nuclear explosions within an engine — has long been deemed impossible by engineers. (Note 1)

  Note 1: For reference, see

  Of course, they've done it now. Not only that, but miniaturisation may be possible in the future. However, it doesn't come cheap. Even this modest device, which produces less than 500 kilonewtons of thrust, uses ceramics that are difficult to produce on a large scale for its inner liner. This is supported by cooling pipes that would terrify anyone with a phobia. Even the cheapest outer casing requires ultra-high-strength steel. The extreme precision required for machining keeps fabrication costs sky-high. Its operational lifespan remains far from practical. Despite acknowledging the inevitable cost reduction as the technology matures, he regrets the bold claims he made to the media yesterday. At this price point, could it truly usher humanity into a new era of space exploration?

  He doesn't want to overhype it, but he considers himself a visionary with grand ambitions. The problem with aerospace isn't a lack of powerful propulsion systems, but a lack of cost-effectiveness. The staggering price of this engine means that it will only offer advantages over conventional methods in the most extreme deep-space missions, such as retrieving samples from the surface of Venus or collecting atmospheric samples from a gas giant.

  Given humanity's current investment in space exploration, such missions are unlikely to materialise in the coming years, or even decades. Their rocket may be a jewel in the crown of engineering, but it is also little more than a useless ornament.

  Besides, even with this engine, humanity couldn't leave the solar system. The speed-of-light barrier would block any possibility of manned exploration beyond the solar system...

  After sitting in silence for a few more minutes, he sighs helplessly. No matter how he looks at it, his own efforts are insignificant if he wants to see humanity leave the solar system in his lifetime. The real focus remains on the progress of the physics lab — he has heard that they are still locked in heated debates over the energy requirements for the warp device. Perhaps there is little hope left.

  Rising slowly, the engineer resumes his sunny demeanour, as he steps out of the vault and returns to work.

  "Regardless," he remarks to himself, "isn't progress always a good thing?"