Original subtitles

They will all forgive you.

Betty, we're starting the docking sequence.

Oh... Yeah...

Chris! Betty!

Welcome back.

Chizuru. Annette.

We're back.

Sorry for worrying you.

We're fine now.

Did you lose some weight?

Yeah, maybe.

In any case, I'm glad you were able to recover.

It'll be nice to work together again.

Yeah.

For us, too.

Follow us; we'll introduce you to the Commander.

All right, it's another day of hard work for Miharu's sake.

What's she doing?

Who knows? She's been like that for a while.

Reminds me of Honjou a while back.

Quit it, Kazuma; I don't want another one of those inquiry messes.

True, I don't want to see Sako-san like that anymore.

He made it on the newspaper-

Bastard! If you say any more, I'm going to blast you out to space instead of a missile!

Excuse us.

What's going on with today's training?

We cannot find Honjou-senpai nor Doi-senpai.

You're right; we haven't seen them, either.

Are they ditching?

They said they had some business to take care of.

If they don't get their act together, we can't fly at all.

Then do you want me to give you a nice, step-by-step lesson?

No!

What could possibly be wrong with her?

She's been down recently, which is really unlike her.

Excuse me.

Is Instructor Kisaragi-

She's not here.

Could she be at the tower?

Hello.

Who's this?

Hey, what's wrong?

It's me!

Nakamura? Why are you there?

Because I failed my exam.

You're not in a good mood, are you?

By the way, is Sako-san there?

Looks like he's out with everyone else.

What do you need?

Well, I guess you'll be good enough.

What do you mean "good enough"?

Why you...

This isn't the time to fight.

Just tell her what you have to say.

O-Oh, that's right.

Anyway, pass a message along to Sako-san, will you?

There was something he asked us to check out.

Yeah? Okay.

Yeah... Yeah...

Ayamo-chan has seemed really down recently.

You haven't heard anything from her? You guys are always together.

It looks like she doesn't want to share...

I've asked a few times, but all she says is "I'm fine".

Really.

Maybe it's that letter.

Letter?

What? None of you know about it?

Karin knows about it.

Karin was there when Ran-san handed the letter to her.

Geez, you could have told me earlier.

And who was the sender?

It was so messy, Karin couldn't read it.

It was close to calligraphy, so it would have been difficult to read it.

Talking about conjectures won't do us any good.

But to lighten up Ayamo-chan, should we have a little party?

Yes, yes, let's!

Right, everyone?

Yup.

Food.

Rei-chan.

Rei-chan, it's almost nap time.

Let's return to your room.

Please give me a call when you're coming.

The entry of unauthorized personnel is prohibited.

This is part of my job, too.

And one more thing; I've mentioned to you several times not to smoke in here.

With that glass, she wouldn't get any secondhand smoke, would she?

Well now, this is strict.

I'm sorry, Rei-chan.

A guest came over; you can stay in the garden a little while longer.

What is it?

Well...

Hi, it's been some time, Mikuriya-san.

What brings you here today?

I'm sure you didn't have to come all the way here.

I'm just here to convey my appreciation.

"Appreciation", meaning?

For your help in the treatment and return of the Comet Blasters.

Although Commander Oozora hasn't shown any sign of recovery.

That's right; I wanted to give you this.

What's that?

It's a little too much of a thing for me to keep,

but I thought you two might find some ways to use it.

Fair enough; we'll take it.

By the way, you have some horrible taste in the pictures you have up.

You think so?

They're Rei-chan's drawings.

Aren't they impressive? She can reproduce things after just seeing them once.

Precise memory is a symptom of Savant Syndrome, but her brain does not show any defects.

Rather, it's a part of evolution caused by the seed.

I'm looking forward to seeing how she will grow up.

So she's Sample Zero.

Note: Zero, in Japanese, is "Rei".

Don't talk about her like that!

It hasn't been confirmed that she's a carrier.

We're only taking care of her because there is a chance she has been indirectly infected.

The outside does not seem to take it that way,

since the only sample left right now is Commander Oozora.

They're all interested in her more than they have to be.

From a scientist's point of view, wouldn't you want more samples, as well?

That's enough!

What you look forward to as she grows seems different from what you'd expect of ordinary child nurturing.

You don't understand, do you, Tsukino-kun?

Huh?

Our research is to find out if the seed is applicable to humans or not...

If that seed is a step in human evolution...

If it's something necessary for us at this point or not...

We must prove these things.

Do you think she's having a happy life?

I don't feel the least bit of happiness in these pictures.

What she's conveying to us is that she's a bird in a cage.

We did talk this over.

I know in my mind that Chris and Betty are not carriers anymore...

But even if my head knows this...

Would you two like to join us?

It's painful for all of us.

We are responsible, as her foster parents,

for letting her live a happy life with Miharu-san and Sako-san as a family someday.

For that to happen, we must establish a foundation so that she can live normally in the outside world.

Currently, amongst those who were unknowingly infected and those who are around them,

how many people do you think are truly happy?

A reason why we stay here to research is also to serve as a stop signal to you people.

You have a great sense of responsibility,

but they seem rather impatient, too.

They might start using force.

I'm saying that they're willing to do just about anything if it means getting you guys on to their side.

So there's a possibility that some sort of threat might come to your mother and daughter at Shimojijima.

Did you come here to blackmail us?

Well, then... I wonder.

Everybody, can you come here for a moment?

Chizuru-san.

You all look like you're doing well.

Isn't this amazing? We have a live broadcast from the Eighth Orbital Station.

But, is there some problem, contacting us all of a sudden?

Well, we heard that you guys failed the Comet Blaster Exam, so...

We're sorry, after making you two go through the trouble of recommending us...

Don't let it bother you.

It's not like you guys are going to give up after one failure, are you?

You'll just have to try again the next time.

Of course! Right?

Yup, since being stubborn is one of our best traits, too.

That's the spirit.

Thank you very much.

Um...

What is it?

Have Chris-san and Betty-san arrived there?

Yes, they're here.

They're doing fine up here.

Really, that's great.

They visited us once after their return was decided,

but after that incident, they seemed lost.

I see.

After all, both Chizuru-san and company and we are teams of four.

If we all work together, we will not fail next time.

We'll be up in space in no time, so please be prepared.

Chizuru-san and Annette-san, please be good supports to Chris-san and Betty-san.

You're right; we will.

I'm glad we contacted you.

We'll be waiting in space.

Really, they are a strange bunch.

Yeah.

Come on, if you don't eat up, they'll turn into charcoal.

Help yourselves, everyone.

Please, both of you, take a seat once in a while.

Oh no, we're fine.

Come on, let us do it once in a while.

All right, I'm gonna cook for you, so you guys better eat up.

I think I'm going to get food poisoning from that.

H-Hey.

Now, now. You two can go to the terrace.

Two people coming in.

Eating out is nice occasionally.

This way please, Rin-san.

Here, eat up.

Come on.

Thank you.

Not a problem. You're welcome.

Ayamo.

There're plenty more here, so don't hold back.

Y-Yeah.

Hey, was today some special day?

Not at all.

It's an ordinary day.

Then why?

Who cares? It's just for changing the mood.

Here.

You haven't looked too cheerful lately.

What? So you mean this is for me?

Exactly.

I see.

I'm sorry, everyone.

You don't have to apologize.

I thought I was all right, but I guess I'm not.

Even though I tried to not make you all worry, it didn't work at all.

Sorry.

That looks like a serious problem.

If it was as usual, she would have been back to normal after saying, "Thank you."

I thought she'd like this.

Don't worry. Just in case this were to happen, I had a second plan ready.

Attention please, everyone.

What I'm about to show you is Doi Shizuha's special .5-shaku ball.

Note: Shaku is a unit of measurement for fireworks.

Huh?

What's that?

It's a firework.

Firework?

Bingo. You're right, Rin-san.

Tada.

You're kidding; you're going to set off that firework?

That's right; I may not look like it, but I'm a certified fireworks woman.

So, Ayamo, take a good look.

It's small, but I prepared it for tonight's main event.

Ignition!

It's a success!

That's it?

Looks like it.

Oh boy.

D-Don't worry, I'll make it work with this one.

You're all pushing yourselves too hard.

You're the one that's pushing yourself!

Why won't you tell us anything?!

Is it something you can't tell even us?

I'm sorry.

Come on, tell us. We'll help you.

I'm still confused myself.

I'm sorry.

Hey.

There are some replacement fireworks.

What she's conveying to us is that she's a bird in a cage.

You think it may have been better for us not to have come?

There are just too many things for us to overcome after we became carriers.

All Comet Blaster pilots, gather in the briefing room immediately.

Wh-What's this?

In honor of the new start of the Comet Blasters.

Since we are a team of four.

Let's start over.

I guess that's not a bad idea.

Hey, I won't be mean to you, so let's play together.

Oh no, I'm sorry.

Hey!

Ayamo!

It's headed your way!

It stopped.

That's right; let's do another one... Something different.

Y-Yeah.

Senpai, let's go with this one.

I bet it's really flashy.

Nice choice, newbie.

All right!

It disappeared.

This! This has got to be amazing!

It's falling.

God, Karin.

We're trying to lift the tension!

What are you talking about?

Wait, you were talking about your fireworks?

Yup.

Talk about confusing.

It finished.

So, Karin, you don't have to give a play-by-play each time.

Ayamo?

Oh, was the Miyakojima fireworks display today?

I don't know who planned it, but this one's perfect timing.

It's beautiful.

I guess we can't beat the real one.

Everyone.

Thank you, everyone.

Yeah!

I've decided!

I'll quit being so gloomy!

Let's all go to space together...

...since all of the Comet Blasters are waiting for us.

That's right; we are a team of four.

The day of Ikeda-kun and Miyazawa-kun's first flight is finally here.

But something looks weird.

Hey, the main characters of the series are us!

Next time, Stratos 4 Advance, episode 5.

Dash One.

Look forward to it.