"OF COURSE NOT!"

  Xi P chuckles twice, though his schadenfreude quickly fades. Upon reflection, it is a genuinely unsettling statement. And to be honest, he is effectively dressing as a female right now. Not to mention being mistaken for an alien's wife…

  Anyway, it's clear that Min is unwilling to continue this line of conversation. He bluntly demands that Charlie take them to the aircraft immediately. Such a sudden change of subject makes Charlie chuckle as well as he turns to the airport and leads them into the gyrocopter.

  Most gyrocopters can only carry one pilot. Those capable of transporting three passengers and a bit of cargo are of the heaviest class. Without the two large rearward-facing propellers at the tail, it looks almost identical to a light helicopter. Unlike the one they'd seen outside the airport earlier, this one lifts off after only about ten metres of forward movement. As it gains a bit more altitude, the engine roars louder, and the scenery outside the window begins to rush backwards.

  Initially, both passengers sit in silence. Pilot Charlie remains quiet, likely focused on flying. Beyond the engine roar, an eerie stillness fills the cabin, with only Xi P occasionally turning his head to glance out the window.

  Suddenly, a concern hits Min. He leans toward Xi P and whispers to the side of the hood: "Do you get airsick? Is this noise okay with you?"

  Xi P murmurs back: "Hold on."

  Ignoring Min's gesture to put it back, he pulls his hand out from under his cloak and points a finger towards the top of the hood. He continues: "My ears are here."

  "Uh…" Min is a little speechless. Apparently, his earlier whisper was aimed at the wrong spot…

  Glancing at the pilot's seat ahead, Min sees that Charlie is completely oblivious to their exchange and breathes a sigh of relief. Whispering again at the correct spot, Xi P replies: "The noise is fine. I only get spaceplane sick."

  Min has heard of rocket sickness, but spaceplane sickness is something new. Flying in a spaceplane must feel different from regular planes, though only those who've experienced it will know the specifics. How could someone prone to spaceplane sickness handle missions to explore space? Then again, maybe it's different from spaceship sickness...

  ***

  "...The rainforest is below us now."

  They both turn to look out of the window. Unsurprisingly, a sea of verdant mountains stretches below, with low-lying clouds at an altitude even lower than theirs. "This is the forest northeast of North Taieri, one of the undeveloped rainforests closest to the city, and at the moment there is not even a footpath. I'll descend to 30 metres and circle for several minutes before heading towards the lake..."

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Xi P can't make out the meaning of the rapid-fire explanation coming through the poor-quality speaker amid the deafening noise, but the logic is obvious enough. He rolls down the window, ignoring the gale that instantly blows his hood off, and thrusts his head out to savour the wind's caress.

  Min also rolls down his window, though he doesn't stick his head out. He simply sits there, quietly enjoying the cool breeze.

  For the next ten minutes or so, the plane circles the area, and the pilot describes the nearby scenery. At one point, it hovers at an extremely low altitude for several dozen seconds, allowing Min to snap a photo of leaves being blown open by the wind, before finally departing.

  The moment Xi P pulls his head back in, Min bursts out laughing at the complete mess the wind has made of his fox-like face. The shorter fur is manageable, but the longer strands have been completely blown out of place. So much so that after retracting his head, Xi P spends over thirty seconds trying to smooth his fur back into place. Watching him constantly tug at his own fur, Min finds it nearly impossible to resist the urge to stroke his head. Thankfully, it's also nearly impossible to see the passenger compartment from the cockpit; otherwise, this would probably become the first plane crash caused by aliens.

  The glacier lies quite far from the rainforest, with other landscapes in between. As the deep green canopy below fades into lighter, ordinary woodlands, the initial excitement of the rainforest wears off, and boredom creeps back in. That is, until Min suddenly frees his right hand, points to the window on the right and shouts: "Look! A UFO!"

  It's super effective! Xi P whips his head around in disbelief, his ears instinctively pricking up despite his hood. His gaze locks onto a white, smooth, disc-shaped object in the sky, its edges glowing brightly. His mind goes blank for five or six seconds before it clicks.

  This must be some kind of cloud. In their culture, the stereotypical alien spacecraft rarely resembles a disc. However, having absorbed Earth's culture for such a long time, he is aware that humans frequently associated disc-shaped flying objects with extraterrestrials.

  "It's actually called a lenticular cloud. The formation is because... well, I forgot. Anyway, it's a natural phenomenon. Didn't scare you, did it?" Noticing Xi P's tension, Min says with a smile.

  ***

  Is the view of the canyon and glacier from above breathtaking?

  Many people would say so. The ice tongue, an extension of the glacier, truly lives up to its name: a thick, elongated mass of ice nestled in the canyon, with a tip shaped like a tongue. Few countries boast landscapes of this kind within their territory, and among those that do, this is the finest. The stark contrast between the barren, dark green canyon walls and the pale ice tongue resting in their midst is far more breathtaking than any promotional photo could capture.

  Even better, the pair has the opportunity to walk upon it. Snow is absent from the ice tongue's surface, allowing the aircraft's landing gear to descend directly onto the solid ice. This leaves Min, who anticipated a "soft" landing, feeling rather disappointed.

  Charlie is unable to help but cast a sceptical glance as Xi P steps down from the helicopter. To him, these two guests radiate peculiarity: the Middle Eastern woman, though seemingly in good spirits, hasn't spoken a single word to him throughout the entire journey. The man is even stranger, acting as if he has no interest in the scenery whatsoever. The relationship between these two passengers also seems suspicious — he saw them whispering to each other on more than one occasion. Add to that the deliberately elongated and reinforced hood at the front, it makes him wonder if he has been drawn into some kind of conspiracy.