-"mr. yuri?"

"hey kyu, what are you doing up? evening launch?"

"um, that compass..."

"..., um... uh-huh... it's hard to believe i was young once. or maybe, it's hard to believe that i'm already that old!"

"what?"

"when i was twenty, i went traveling around the world trying to find... i was young, confused, didn't know what to do with myself. my mind was just swimming. i couldn't figure out anything. who i was, what i wanted... all the stupid stuff you get obsessed about when the whole world is open to you. what's dedication? what's duty? what's good and evil? real chicken-and-egg type philosophical conundrums. where does space end... ...and the earth begin? you know, i was searching for truth. i walked a lot. i was wandering around aimlessly until i knew what it was i wanted. pretty freaky, don't you think? well i held onto all these questions. i was going to get come concrete answers."

"?"

"one day i was hiking through the north american plains... ...and i got up to this ridge that looked down at a beautiful valley, and this ancient native american was there, sitting cross-legged in front of a fire. i asked him my questions... ...but he laughed at them"

'young man, you are searching for a clarity that does not exist'

"kyutaro, where is the border between the earth and space?"

"the border? let's see, 100 kilometers up from the thermosphere, the air density drops significantly, about 200 kilometers up..."

"hmm... my life has shown me that... ...there isn't one. there is no boundry. the universe is a whole... ...the things in it seperated only by a lack of understanding. and now i've let go of my questions."

"..."

"i told myself that when i found it, i would leave outer space. her compass kept me up there. but the old man was right. the clarity i'm searching for does not, indeed, exist. outer space... earth... they are names. one is no different than the other. and so... thank you for breaking the compass."

"i don't really get it."

"neither do i, kyu. and that's the beauty of it."