End of the World Broadcast

 wonder if any messages came while I was asleep?”
Waking up at dawn when the sky, which had been completely dark as always, was gradually regaining its grayness, I took care of the drone first rather than my coat, even while shivering in the cold indoor air.
The battery, which had decreased to one bar, was back to four bars, indicating it had charged properly while I slept.
And the controller had about a dozen new messages.

“Hmm… unfortunately, they’re not particularly meaningful messages.”
The drone is working fine and new messages have arrived.
This alone is enough to make the corners of my mouth naturally lift with joy, but naturally, there are also disappointments due to the time difference between when the video is filmed and when messages arrive.
A day’s error between the time of sending the video and receiving messages.
It would have been so good if this error was not a day but an hour… no, even half a day.

“I wonder if they properly heard and understood my words or questions?”
The words coming in messages express surprise or fear.
Or people curious about what this video is… and mostly onomatopoeias that don’t even convey such meanings.

“It seems I’m not receiving all the sent messages.”
It’s just my speculation at this point, but… there are probably quite a lot of people watching this video.
At least a hundred times, a thousand times, maybe even ten thousand times more people than the number of messages coming to my drone are watching my video.
And they’re freely sending messages after watching my video, but due to some technical issue or a problem on my end, I’m not properly receiving them.
I seriously suspect this. Not just out of a desire for many people to be alive, but through logical thinking.

If only a few people were watching my video, they wouldn’t still be asking what this video is or sending messages expressing surprise at the sight of this city, even on the third day.
…Of course, for those watching the video, it would just be the second day, but even so, they wouldn’t have been sending only surprised or confused messages all day long.
And, if there were time or opportunity constraints for sending messages to me.
When sending me messages, they would have mainly sent more careful and serious messages that could obtain information about my situation.
But the messages that came to my controller were not like that.
Just as if many people living their days happily happened to come across this video.
They’re only expressing primitive emotions like fear or terror, showing their reactions in various languages.

“It’s a feeling of both pleasure and regret.”
I’m happy that there seem to be more people existing in this world than I thought.
But for me, who thought I could soon meet face-to-face and have conversations, it’s disappointing.
Due to the time gap, there would be difficulties in meeting each other even if proper communication were established.
Time gap and difficulty in communication simultaneously. I don’t know when we’ll be able to properly share information or situations with each other at this rate.

“I wish there was something I could do. I should have studied harder in school. Read books more consistently…”
Maybe because I’ve once held hope.
As if it’s a reaction to the hope I’ve been suppressing and suppressing all this time, regret is spreading like frost on a window.
But the most regrettable thing was that I had no way to solve the inadequacies I felt by myself.
What if I touch the drone and controller trying to receive messages faster and more abundantly, and end up breaking them?
When doing something uncertain, one must first think about what could be lost rather than what could be gained.
It’s true that you can gain more by taking many risks and gambling, but.
For me, this drone and controller were the only communication channel connecting me and this world.
Despite it being only 3 days, they have already become precious friends that I cannot do without in my world.
It would be good if I could receive messages faster.
But that’s definitely not a gamble worth risking my only friend for.

“Still, the fact that I can connect to this drone and send messages must mean there’s some level of technology, right?”
I don’t even hope for technology as advanced as the city I’m standing in right now.
If there was a civilization that could maintain such excellent and sophisticated technology, they wouldn’t have left this place in this state, no matter how far away the cities were.

“23rd century, no. Even having technology from the 21st century would be enough.”
With that level of technology, they could come to pick me up, alone in an unknown city, by helicopter or boat.

“Thinking about it that way, the day we meet might not be so far away.”
Perhaps because I’m thinking hopeful thoughts, I make a stupid sound, “hehe,” at the smile that appears awkwardly often, as I put on my clothes piece by piece.
And before organizing the baggage spread out on the floor, including the heater and map, I turn on the drone.

“Everyone, good morning! Did you sleep well? Thanks to you, I think I had a good dream.”

With the hope of receiving messages and having conversations as quickly and as much as possible.

“So… whether it’s an issue with this machine or you’re really only sending such messages, I have no way of knowing. But I’d prefer if you sent responses to my questions or words about yourselves rather than laughing sounds or small talk.”
I bend my body to pass through the gap between a car that crashed into a utility pole standing sparsely along the roadside and the utility pole that fell over the car.
And as I carefully walk along a road littered with yellow and black striped barricades, various weapons, and corpses, as if there had been a big fight, the supermarket I entered yesterday comes into view.

“As I said earlier, about ten messages came while I was briefly sleeping… oh.”
The moment I returned to the supermarket with the intention of slowly examining various places starting from the electronics section, as I had said yesterday.
Messages that I had been constantly looking at in the window started moving up one by one, and new messages appeared.

“Another one just came. [Wow, it looks like a cold morning]… Yes, these are the types of messages I mostly get.”
I read the rather unsubstantial message with a small laugh, staring directly at the drone’s camera.

“Anyway, from now on, I’ll give you answers to the questions you’ve asked me. Just as I have a lot of questions for you, you must have a lot of questions for me.”
Most of the messages I received were ordinary messages without special meaning or information. But not all messages were like that.
Just as I first encountered living people through the drone, people who first encountered me through my video sent various questions.
Talking about the video itself, asking why the city became like this.
And I haven’t yet given a proper answer to messages asking who I am while looking at me.

“I should start with my name. I’ve been so elated since meeting you that I haven’t even told you this basic information.”
The more information we share about each other, the more familiarity develops, and I laugh a bit at how foolish I’ve been.
And with a deep breath, I uttered a name that doesn’t quite stick to my tongue.

“First… my current name is Mori. Yes, Mori. Maybe because I haven’t told anyone? Even though it’s my name, it feels quite awkward. Well, the biggest reason would be that Mori wasn’t the name I originally used… Ah. I wonder if you understand what I mean when I say this?”
If it were the era when I lived in my original body, that is, a male body, everyone would have understood just from these words.
But I didn’t think people of this era would have the same technology and thoughts as those from a few generations ago.

“Alright. I wouldn’t have much to talk about while looking around at things anyway. Before I hear stories about you, I’ll tell you about myself.”
By the time you hear this story, you’ll know me as well as my parents did.
…Though they’re no longer here, of course.
Making such a joke that wasn’t really a joke, I smiled brightly toward the drone.