Murakami chews the professor out (for the fifth time that day) for allowing living things to enter the base. Not only that, but this most recent transgression he had brought flowers all the way into the guard office--to apologize for the first four times. The base had recently survived an attack by giant bugs, and Murakami doesn't want to risk a repeat catastrophe, which is why he's so strict. The professor feels that since Murakami defeated them last time, as long as he's around then there's no need to worry.
A group of three native children are struggling to bring a stone to the professor but pause when they see Murakami with him. Two of them want to use force to get the guard out of the way, but their leader Albireo stops them, saying Murakami is stronger than the others of the Old Race and he protects the professor.
This is a story set in the far future. First humanity was devastated by an epidemic called the Medusa Disease, then the Earth was struck by a meteorite that wiped out most of the survivors, leaving mankind in only one small part of the globe. After several periods of war and peace, humanity has finally managed to start exploring again. Accelerated evolution has occurred among both animals and, on the New Continent, humans. It was Seiberheigen's influence that got the current expedition underway.
That night the three children sneak into the base and give the professor the stone. (He's the only one who can speak their language.) One by one, they each try holding it at the same time as him, yet nothing happens. They know he'll be leaving soon, but he promises he'll come back. They grab onto him and tell him they love him. Albireo vows that one day he'll show the professor what he's been wishing for, the "Document of the Original Beast" (Genjuu Bunsho). Then they leave, Albireo cautioning him not to hold the stone together with anyone.
Seiberheigen's assistant Virginia comes up and tries touching the stone, with no result. She knows the New Continent children are hermaphrodites, mentioning she's never seen any that look like girls. Then Murakami comes around on patrol, spots the stone, and knows the professor has broken his rules again. He tries to confiscate it, but as soon as he touches it, it shatters. Seiberheigen suddenly feels extremely hot, while Murakami loses all his energy.
Murakami has a medical check, but it doesn't turn up anything unusual. When the professor approaches him, he gets weak and shaky, while Seiberheigen accidentally crushes his new glasses. He thinks it's odd, since he's not especially strong when it comes to muscular activity--particularly running, when his top speed can't even match Murakami's walking pace. Murakami envisions him attempting to run from a dangerous creature and not being able to go fast enough. In his concern, he swears to stay by Seiberheigen until he can run faster. Then Murakami finally succumbs to his energy drain and collapses.
Virginia talks to another expedition member about the Destiny Stones. The New Continent children all look vaguely masculine. They're easily sexually aroused, but they don't have much of a mothering instinct. When a couple wants to reproduce, neither wants to be the female, so the Destiny Stone forces sexual distinctions upon them. Frantic to get help for Murakami, Seiberheigen dashes off in search of a doctor, instinctively doing a hundred meters down the hallway in 8.7 seconds.
In the infirmary, Murakami is conscious only of a lovely scent, somehow knowing it's responsible for his loss of energy. The doctors can't find anything physically causing his symptoms--then they notice his vital signs all return to normal as soon as Seiberheigen leaves. The first hypothesis is that his reaction is due to stress. Knowing the key to the puzzle is the stone, the professor sets out to gather more information from the natives. Murakami follows, catching his scent trail.
Seiberheigen is trying to locate the three who gave him the stone, musing that though the New Race children are extremely friendly, they apparently undergo a severe personality change when they become adults, growing more hostile. He flashes on an image of his father's death, his father saying he's sorry for no clear reason. As he travels, he's confronted by a pair of New Race adults. They ask him if he's one of the Old Race, a male, and they don't believe one of the Old Race could have the same face as "The Demon." They take him away to be judged.
His captors argue over whether to kill him. He notices that they all seem young, as if they were forced into adult roles because there weren't enough elders. They begin the trial--he has to pick between a black and red pebble hidden in one of the natives' hands. If he picks the red, they'll listen to him, but if he picks the black, they'll kill him on the spot. At that moment he smells Murakami approaching. Without a second thought, he leaps off the tower of rock and lands an impossible distance away in Murakami's arms.
The natives instantly recognize the effects of the Destiny Stone. They continue the trial, Murakami catching them cheating by using two black pebbles. After a moment of contemplation, Seiberheigen picks one, then "accidentally" drops it before they reveal its color. "But it must have been red, because the one that's left is black."
Forced to follow the rules they set up, the natives explain about the Destiny Stone. Seiberheigen, as the "male," gains strength from his mate's scent, while the reverse is true for Murakami, the "female." No matter how far apart, the couple is bound by their mutual scents--plus they are sexually aroused by (and *only* by) the scents as well. The effects of the stone last until the female gives birth to the male's children.
Meanwhile a new woman appears on the scene. She's a nurse named Makiwo who is a dedicated slash fanatic--so much so that she's most strongly attracted to gay men (which doesn't do her love life any good). Time passes, and Murakami makes people put up "wanted" posters for the capture of the professor, who's been avoiding him. Murakami can't get him personally, because Seiberheigen always knows when he's coming and makes a break for it with his enhanced abilities.
Seeing the poster, Seiberheigen silently apologizes that he's not running because he wants to, he simply believes they can't be together or it will interfere with their jobs. Murakami can't work if he's always collapsing. Only coming up with one possible solution, the professor calls up the guard office. Since the connection is garbled, Murakami turns up the volume just in time to receive the words, "Will you marry me...?"
Seiberheigen goes on to explain that he wants to fulfill his responsibility by taking Murakami as his bride. Murakami yells at him that he never asked him to take that kind of responsibility and hangs up. Then Makiwo arrives and is immediately fascinated by Seiberheigen (after busily speculating that the two male doctors are an item). During their introduction, Murakami shows up, and the professor hightails it before he enters the room, calling out, "I'm sorry... I... I love you, and I'd talk with you if I could... But we can't see each other!" Murakami tries to follow, but the proximity means he has so little energy he can barely crawl. Suddenly Makiwo recognizes him.
Several New Race adults who had met Seiberheigen encounter a warrior with the same face as his, Zene. They attack him to avenge fallen comrades, but he slaughters them, interrogating the last survivor about this member of the Old Race they mentioned. At the base, the news of Seiberheigen's proposal has spread, and various people keep coming to him to offer warnings and advice.
Two of the New Race kids discuss Albireo's reluctance to take the Deiva (shaman) test. They figure it's because a Deiva isn't allowed to marry, and Albireo is seriously in love with the professor and wants to have his children. It was Albireo's idea to bring the Destiny Stone in the first place. Since the stone didn't shatter for them, they had no choice but to give up on the match, yet Albireo doesn't want to accept it. Despite the powers he would gain as a Deiva, he no longer thinks it's worth a life without sharing love.
The rumor is flying around the base that Makiwo is Murakami's former girlfriend. It turns out she was his prom date, but he had only asked her because he was tired of being pestered by other girls and he knew her from his sports club, so he reasoned she was a decent compromise. She's mad at him for ruining her social life--the other girls shunned her for taking him, and she didn't even get the benefit of having him.
Seiberheigen calls Murakami to say he's given up on asking him to be a bride, but he still wants to care for Murakami's welfare. Among the natives, news of the professor's resemblance to Zene is spreading. Zene kills all who oppose him, and those who swear to obey him disappear. They speculate that he's sending them to the land of the Old Race with the professor as his Second. The warriors gather and plot an all-out assault on the base.
Seiberheigen finally explains the full details of the stone's effects to Murakami--that they're mutually bound as mates, that as far as he's concerned Murakami is the only "woman" in the world to him--and that it will probably last forever. The professor wakes up later in the middle of the night and wanders outside, remembering a strange dream he had as a boy in which he went to an island, crossed a bridge in the middle of the ocean, and read the Genjuu Bunsho. He told his father about it at the time. He muses, "My galna was such a beautiful color." He knows a "galna" is the name of the Deiva staff, but he doesn't understand the rest. Albireo had told him that only the highest Deiva was allowed to see the Genjuu Bunsho.
While Murakami suits up and goes in search of him, Seiberheigen sings to the moon in the natives' language. He doesn't know what it means, but Albireo shows up and tells him it's a traditional song for one's wedding night. Albireo hugs him and says he's beautiful. Seiberheigen rambles about the beautiful person he knows, how he loves his voice and scent, and best of all the depths of his eyes. He relates that the Destiny Stone shattered, and he doesn't mind, but it's causing his mate a lot of problems. Albireo is severely disappointed yet refuses to give up hope.
Seiberheigen smuggles Albireo back to his room, wondering what had awakened him. He can feel something coming. A figure looms in the shadowed corridor in front of him. He demands to know the identity of the intruder, who replies, "I'm not a stranger, I'm your wife." The professor gets all excited--he couldn't smell a thing past the suit, which was designed for deep sea work or handling poisonous gas. As long as Murakami is protected from Seiberheigen's scent, he can function normally.
Murakami bops him one for trying his patience, saying it's the first time he's ever hit a VIP, but someone had to knock some sense into him. The professor says he's been hit a lot; his father used to beat him. He's sorry that his mere existence causes pain for someone else. He admits he loved his father, so he never thought anything that happened to him hurt, and the same goes for Murakami. That gets Murakami totally enraged. He pulls off his helmet to shout that he *never* wants to be put into the same category as a child-abuser, then promptly collapses from the scent. He ponders that what made him mad most of all was hearing Seiberheigen belittle his own existence that way.
End Volume 1