C.E. 71, Heliopolis — Inside a privately owned warehouse.
A young man with black hair lay restless on his bed, twisting in his sleep, cold sweat soaking his face.
In his dreams, he could feel cold, heavy hands trying to drag him down into the dark depths of the sea.
"Ugh—!"
The young man jolted awake, sitting up abruptly.
"Another nightmare, Roz?"
Beside him, a woman with long crimson hair, wearing a white lab coat, turned her head to look at Roz Links, the black-haired youth.
"It's fine. Just an old habit…"
Roz stood up, grabbed the water glass by his bedside, and took a sip.
"Ever since I brought you guys past Junius Seven, I've been haunted by space ghosts."
He spoke calmly, half-joking—but few could truly grasp the pressure he carried now.
"Junius Seven… The side effects of that Newtype ability you mentioned are getting worse," the red-haired woman said, frowning slightly before realizing what she'd said.
"It's just a small issue, Christina."
Roz shivered a little as his sweat-soaked shirt clung to him and the air conditioner's chill brushed his skin.
"Back to business, Christina—how's the unit's component production coming along?"
Roz turned toward the window, looking down at the factory floor below.
There, a brand-new Jegan D-Type lay open for inspection, surrounded by rows of Haros perched on mechanical arms and maintenance platforms, busily working on it.
In just two short years, the Jegan A-Type Roz had once hand-built with nothing but a wrench had been upgraded by his own hands into the far more powerful Jegan D-Type.
After trading with scrap merchants drifting through space, Roz had secured materials far better than what he'd used back when he built the A-Type. Then, after handcrafting an entire production line, he managed to refine each part to nearly match the strength of the original design.
Though technically a mass-production machine, it could hold its own against ZAFT's GINNs without issue—and even against the Earth Forces' secret Gundams being built on Heliopolis, Roz believed it could fight on equal terms.
"All unit equipment and spare components have been completed," Christina replied, glancing down at the Jegan herself.
"But I should remind you—because of the neutron interference, the Jegan can't use nuclear power like in the original schematics. The mobile suit and propulsion backpack are still powered by high-energy batteries. You'll need to watch your operation time."
Roz didn't know why. Maybe this world simply lacked Minovsky particles? Even with his "Ork-like improvisational genius"—that strange instinctive talent of his—every attempt to create a Minovsky reactor ended in failure. The result was always just a conventional CE-style nuclear reactor, crippled by neutron jammers.
In the end, Roz accepted reality. Using his "thinking power," he redesigned the Jegan's energy system and propulsion backpack to run on the high-energy batteries unique to the Cosmic Era.
As for the brains he'd rescued from the Blue Cosmos research facility—
Due to the scarcity of materials, Roz had only managed to create two artificial human bodies. After long discussions among the preserved minds, they selected two brains to inhabit those bodies.
The rest had to make do with Haro units as their temporary bodies.
They didn't seem to mind though—many used the Haros to project holographic avatars they had designed themselves, like virtual YouTubers.
What made Roz nearly lose his composure was that some of them actually became virtual streamers in their spare time.
Of the two who had received human bodies, one led the majority of the remaining minds to construct Roz's space base. The other—Christina—stayed behind on Earth with him, accompanied by a small group of Haros.
"It's a shame I know nothing about biotech… Otherwise, your ten thousand brothers and sisters wouldn't have to stay locked in that storage unit forever."
Roz sighed at the thought.
After all, those brains were still "wetware," even if most didn't participate directly in combat.
And besides, over ten thousand "digital ghosts" were still housed inside the original storage device he had built with his own hands.
"I've already talked to them, Roz. You don't need to blame yourself anymore. Everyone's grateful to you," Christina said, staring straight at him.
"Whether it's those in the storage device or the ones using Haro bodies outside, we all chose of our own will to assist you."
"So please—don't shoulder everything alone. Rely on us more."
"After all, we're the artificial geniuses created by Blue Cosmos."
Roz turned his gaze toward her, meeting her calm, light-blue eyes.
In the Blue Cosmos research facility, they used to extract the brains of children aged seventeen to eighteen and implant vast knowledge and skills into them using machinery—turning them into ready-made tools for any task.
"No… It's still too late."
Roz shook his head slowly.
"The spiral of hatred has already twisted into a knot of death. If it can't be undone…"
"So you want to become a god, then?"
Christina interrupted him.
"In the terminal, there's that folder labeled Deus Ex Machina… and that empty file named Unicorn."
"Are you trying to become that Machine God yourself—to fix everything wrong with this world?"
"Please… don't try to bear everything alone again."
Roz was silent for a long while, before finally ending the conversation.
"…I need a shower."
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Steam rose from the bathroom as Roz Links leaned against the tiled wall, letting the warm water from the shower cascade over his body.
"Earth Forces, ZAFT, Blue Cosmos, Librarian Works… and the people I rescued from that Blue Cosmos research facility."
Roz muttered the names under his breath, his expression weary.
"This is such a mess. Maybe I should've let that satellite crush me again… anything's better than ending up in this world."
Yes—Roz wasn't a native of this world.
The way he arrived here was nothing short of bizarre.
It had been an ordinary morning. The veteran Gunpla builder, Roz, had gone to visit the Sydney Opera House on a sightseeing trip. He planned to take some photos for a pilgrimage to Gundam's sacred sites. Then, when he looked up—he saw a flaming satellite plummeting straight toward him with perfect accuracy.
The next instant, it slammed into him head-on, and Roz was obliterated on the spot.
A burning, falling satellite… crashing into the Sydney Opera House.
"Sydney really does get higher resolution every time it's hit…"
Those were his last words.
Then, in a blink, Roz opened his eyes—reborn in this world.
Upon arrival, he quickly discovered his new "talent."
No matter what it was—as long as he imagined something he wanted to build, he could make it.
Through substitutions, modifications, and jury-rigging, he could create production lines out of nothing. Armed with just a single wrench, he could turn his imagination into reality.
In his words: "If I think it can be built—it can be built."
On top of that, Roz occasionally heard the thoughts of others—or sometimes, people with highly active brainwaves could hear his. Out in space, he could even sense "ghosts of the cosmos."
"Newtype powers combined with an Ork-tier engineering talent… What kind of weird skill set is this supposed to be?"
Roz wiped the water from his face and sighed.
"I used to just be a regular Gunpla nerd who loved snapping model kits together… and now I'm a pilot with blood on my hands."
"At my age, I'm definitely past the 'genius pilot' category."
Should he give up?
Live quietly?
Protect only the people he rescued from the Blue Cosmos lab?
But…
"I still can't accept it, Ryan. I promised you—I'd change this world…"
"How, though…? I don't even know how. My mind says no, but my body just keeps rushing forward…"
"Unicorn… If anyone can change this twisted world—it's you."
Roz shut off the water. After drying himself with a towel, he got dressed and stepped out of the bathroom.
"Roz," came a familiar voice. "If possible, could you go out and buy some supplies?"
Christina approached him, her red hair glinting under the lights.
Roz scratched his still-damp hair. "We're running short again?"
"Food—and some other essentials. It's about time for the next supply run."
"…Got it."
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"How are the repairs going?"
A ripple of data-like effects flashed across Christina's eyes as she interfaced with the Haros in the warehouse that were servicing the Jegan.
"Repairs complete. The Jegan is ready for combat at any time."
"Warning—warning. External probes outside Heliopolis have detected Earth Forces transports and identified ZAFT warship signatures."
"ZAFT assault teams have been detected. Recommend Roz return to the warehouse immediately."
Christina's expression darkened.
The calm days were over. She knew perfectly well what those tiny probes Roz had scattered around were reporting. When Earth Forces and ZAFT show up in the same place, there's usually only one outcome: that place is about to become a battlefield.
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Roz sat astride a small electric scooter at a red light, watching people on the streets of Heliopolis go about their day.
Where elsewhere Naturals and Coordinators might be at each other's throats, here within Orb they lived together in relative peace. Now and then he even saw a couple—a Natural and a Coordinator—casually strolling together.
"Peace is nice…" Roz murmured, though his mind seemed elsewhere.
Beep—beep—beep…
The comm terminal in Roz's pocket began to vibrate.
He pulled out a wireless earpiece and clipped it on. Only one person had his number.
"Christina, I'm here."
"Return immediately, Roz. Our probes have detected Earth Forces and ZAFT warships. Our cameras have visual on a ZAFT assault team," Christina's voice said, urgent over the earpiece.
"I see them."
The colony satellite shook as if from an earthquake; people staggered, panic flaring in their eyes. A tremendous roar came from above. Roz looked up and saw several GINNs descending from the sky, opening fire on locations below.
"…Prepare electromagnetic rocket launchers and shrapnel-dispersal warheads."
Roz spun the scooter around and headed back toward his warehouse.
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