Pandora was shocked awake when she heard the door to the room open. A sliver of drool ran down by the side of her lips, but she wiped it off with the sleeve of her jacket. Kodea had been sitting on his bench the entire time Pandora was asleep, but even he was curious as to who had come through the door. Still hazy, it took a while for Pandora to realize who was standing at the door.

It was The Collector. "Wakey, wakey, sweetie!" Floating like a ghost, the tall figure deactivated some of the red bars of the cell. "I have some questions for you while we wait for the Halo Drive to charge. Would you mind accompanying me to the Collection?"

"W-What's the Collection?" Pandora asked as she forced herself up. Glancing at the cell across from her, she could see Kodea's legs against the bench; he was still awake, and he was still watching.

"Oh, my, you're quite stupid aren't you? I know many people who would kill to score but a glance at my collection, and here you are, completely shaded from its majesty. Come, Pandora, I'll show you," the Collector said. He locked her hands together using magnetic handcuffs before she could do anything.

"I won't leave!" Pandora yelled.

The Collector shook his head, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Yoohoo, Sandol, sweetie, would you come here, please? Make sure our beautiful Pandora over here keeps close to me; I wouldn't want her to get lost in this big, big ship."

A droid as tall as the Collector walked into the jail room. While it looked more simple and refined than any piece of technology she had seen before, Pandora was awestruck at how smoothly the droid moved. His body was pure silicon, and there was not a speck of dirt on Sandol's body. The most prominent feature was his eyes. Blue as the deepest parts of the ocean, Sandol's eyes illustrated raw intent and power. Pandora found herself shuddering as the droid rounded itself into her jail cell and placed its cold, metallic hand onto her shoulder.

"You will follow the Collector," Sandol said, staring at Pandora as if she were a painting.

Nodding, Pandora moved without saying anything. Sandwiched by the Collector and Sandol, Pandora took one last look at Kodea before Sandol closed the door to the room; he hadn't moved a muscle. Perhaps he was sleeping? Pandora reassured herself.

The Collector led Pandora through the unfortunately familiar large jail room. She avoided eye contact with the other inmates as they too were staring at Pandora. Curious looking droids grew in number as Pandora was led out of the jail room and into a large storage area. Stacked by the thousands were small ruby cubes, otherwise known as Sidars. These compact and efficient storage units were worth 100,000 credits each. Someone could pack an entire building into it as storage. Even people could insert themselves into the cubes and allow designated individuals to extract them from inside. All Pandora knew was that if she would insert herself into a cube, time would move much slower for her.

Sandol kept Pandora at pace as they neared a glass tube elevator. The three stood in the elevator as it shot up into the top of the Collector's ship. Pandora only caught a glimpse of the upper levels of the ship. She saw droids and people of many different backgrounds going about their day. She saw control systems, holographs, airlocks, pipes, uniforms, and everything she could imagine would be in a ship this large. What put her off, however, was the fact that she couldn't help but feel like she saw Saros. That was impossible, however, how could he have gotten into the Treasure?

Finally, the elevator stopped. She stood in the center of the room surrounded by things she had never seen before. This must be his collection, she thought while fixing her eyes onto the bizarre objects. Each artifact floated in thin air on top of a golden pedestal. Some of the objects were small, and some of them were large. There were swords, runes, shields, phones, and much more. Pandora continued to round her wandering eyes until she saw her box with the five-pointed star in it. Just like the other artifacts, it floated atop a pedestal. Only, this pedestal was ruby in color, and it was built on top of an elevated step. Behind the box was an oval window that looked out onto the planet. Pandora caught a glimpse of planetary ships as they lined up outside of the ship.

"Why are those ships lined up outside like that?" Pandora asked.

Smiling, the Collector chortled, "Those people wish to tour my ship, the Treasure!"

Pandora's ears perked when she heard the Collector whisper something to Sandol. Unable to make it out, she was surprised when she saw Sandol return to the elevator and leave.

"Now, Pandora, we can finally talk," he said.

"How do you know my name?"

"My dearie, what you see in front of you is a collection of the universe's greatest treasures, secrets, and conundrums for even the greatest scientists. I have traveled long and far, tracking these objects. Yes, sweetie, I found them all. I would imagine that it'd be easy for me to learn the name of some labor girl on a backwater planet!" the Collector bit his thumb's nail.

"Why did you steal my star?" Pandora finally asked as she walked closer to the ruby pedestal.

"I'm the one who's supposed to be asking the questions, sweetie. Now, tell me, where did you find this star?"

"I- I found it in a cave, over there," Pandora pointed out of the window at Mount Past, which stood proudly under the light of day. She wondered if anyone had found Apollo's body from the day before. Squinting, Pandora tried to get a better view of the top of the mountain, but it was too far away for her to see anything with proper focus.

"Indeed..." the Collector appeared next to Pandora in front of the glass. "Pandora, why did you find it?"

Startled by the question, Pandora backed away from the Collector, "I was just exploring."

The Collector slowly followed Pandora as she walked between the many pedestals in the room. "Yes, but why you? Surely, you know that there exist more stars than the one you found. Why else would you look for it? Pandora, you are somehow connected to these things, and I want to know why. Why?" The Collector's black glasses did not hide his obsession with Pandora's silence. "I guess you might not know... Yet. Pandora, do you know why I brought you into this room?"

The two slowly danced around the room, playing cat and mouse. Pandora tried her best to stay away from the Collector, but he never failed to stay close to her.

"I don't know. To scare me?"

"Scare you!" the Collector cackled. "No, beautiful girl, I want you to bear witness to what could be yours one day. This," the Collector gestured to everything in the room, "It could all be yours."

"What?" Pandora asked.

"I'm going to tell you a secret, dear Pandora, but you must promise me that you will never tell anyone this secret. Okay?"

"I don't understand..."

The Collector's tone became more serious, "Promise me."

"I promise," Pandora lied.

"There is a curtain that hides the secrets of this old universe. I know of it, for it has denied me my right to wanderlust. You see, Pandora, I am a pioneer. Blocked by this preposterous veil, I am now unable to uncover the secrets that I was destined to see. You know of this curtain, Pandora. For your entire life, you've felt that something was missing. I know of it. Why else would you have found the star of all people? We're much alike, you and I. Do you agree?"

Eyes widened, Pandora reluctantly nodded. She still kept her distance from the mysterious man. Studying the intricate pedestals, she noticed that all of them had an archaic stone button on one of the sides. What were those for?

"Yes, well, I wanted to be as well, and much like you, I learned about these stars. Lo and behold, I have finally come across one... Amidst all the backwater planets and beyond the great black hole ports, you, Pandora, have finally given me hope! Those stars are what I truly collect. I have no care for these other artifacts," the Collector rambled.

Backing up towards a pedestal with a floating blaster, Pandora finally stopped. "If you collect those stars, why do you only have the one I found? What's the point of collecting all of this other stuff?"

"You are finally asking the right questions, Pandora. These other artifacts are objects I have come across in my travels to find these stars. They fetch for quite the price, and they bring me the respect I deserve. I have purposely set my goal to find these stars, yet my plan leads to nothing but disappointment. You, on the other hand, stumble upon it like a mumbling baby. Oh, sweety, I can see it in your eyes: you don't believe me, do you? After everything, you still think you are an insignificant speck... Astonishing," the Collector uncontrollably shivered.

Pandora neared a pedestal with a floating blaster near it. She only had one chance of escaping, and she was going to take it.

"Pandora, I know how you feel. My dearie. You look at this vast and unforgiving universe, and you can't help but think about your place in it. I've thought about it, too. Now, the easiest position to take is one of insignificance. With the insolent and simple-minded, I disagree!" the Collector screamed. "No, Pandora, you are significant. That star you found? You have just unlocked a door once thought to be locked forever, and I? I shall be your instrument. Together, we shall forge an alliance long lost in this universe. Together, we shall destroy those stars once and for all! Pandora, where there is death, there is life. I want to put an end to death in this universe," he was breathless.

She had enough. Pandora slammed the stone button near the pedestal as hard as she could; immediately, the blaster stopped floating and fell onto the pedestal. The impact caused the blaster to bounce and fall off of the pedestal and onto the floor. Both Pandora and the Collector dived to grab the blaster, but Pandora was more nimble. Still crouching on the floor, she pointed the blaster at the Collector. "I've had enough of your crazy ramblings. I will not be destroying those stars, not with you, not by myself, not with anyone!"

Afraid, the Collector reached for the skies, "Pandora, that is no ordinary blaster. Be careful, please. Pandora, plea-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Pandora squeezed the trigger. The blaster vibrated heavily in Pandora's hands, but she held tightly so as to not let go. A magnificent glowing stream of blue light spewed out of the barrel of the weapon. Surprisingly, it caused the lights in the room to shut off and all the other artifacts to fall down from their pedestals. The stream of what seemed like lightning was slow enough for the Collector to jump out of the way, but it was still quick enough to reach the ship's hull by the time he got back up.

Upon contact with the white wall, a collection of what looked like small lightning bolts intensified at the spot. Carefully shifting her hand while still holding the trigger, Pandora couldn't help but compare the stream of light to a rope. As she moved the blaster, the stream moved along with it just like string. As powerful as the rope of lightning looked, it did nothing to damage the hull except create a dark spot on the area it hit.

"Incredible," the Collector said, dumbstruck by the blinding power of the blaster, "Phosphene reborn unto the hands of the final Knight of Tara."

Confused and annoyed, Pandora loosened her attention on the blaster. She quickly pointed it at the Collector. Pandora watched as the stream of light whipped over to where the Collector knelt on the floor. Expecting him to try and escape, Pandora was thoroughly surprised when the Collector did not even flinch. The blue light made contact with his skin, but he was complacent. In a matter of seconds, the Collector disappeared into thin air.

She had been talking to a hologram, and now the Collector knew Pandora was armed and against his plans to destroy the stars.