Zeruna was alive.

From the moment Jace and Sophie stepped off their ship, the air buzzed with movement — sleek transports gliding overhead, street vendors calling out in languages they didn’t recognize, the hum of neon signs lighting narrow streets. The buildings were tall and curved, glowing with soft lines of color.

For a world so far from Earth, the people were strangely familiar. Most looked almost human, though their eyes shone in different colors, and some had faint markings along their skin.

Jace adjusted the black jumpsuit he’d found in the ship’s storage — slim-fitting, reinforced with a faint metallic sheen. Strapped to his side was one of his father’s old swords, its curved blade etched with alien runes. Sophie, walking beside him in a white and pink jumpsuit, looked like she’d stepped out of a holo-comic.

They had a mission: find their father.

A flickering hologram of Captain Kael Norven hovered above Jace’s wrist communicator. They moved through crowded streets, stopping to ask passersby if they recognized the man. But no one seemed to care.

Most glanced at the holo once, then kept walking. Others just ignored them entirely. After the fifth rejection, Sophie groaned. “Either they don’t know him… or they just don’t want to talk to strangers with glowing space swords.”

Jace was about to reply when he noticed movement in a side alley. Two men had cornered a young woman against a wall. She was tall, with copper-toned skin, dark hair that shimmered faintly under the streetlight, and eyes that were wild — from drink or fear, Jace couldn’t tell.

The men were closing in, one pressing his hand against the wall beside her head. “C’mon, sweetheart. No need to be difficult.”

She pushed back, her voice slurring. “Get. Off. Me.”

Jace didn’t hesitate. He strode into the alley, his hand tightening around his sword’s hilt. “Back away from her.”

One of the men turned and smirked. “And if we don’t?”

The first punch caught Jace off guard, sending him stumbling. The second knocked him to a knee. Pain flared in his ribs.

Then… it happened.

The now-familiar rush of energy ripped through him, brighter and hotter than before. His hair flashed to glowing blue, markings searing across his skin in pulsing streaks. Electricity danced across his arms, cracking in the air.

When he looked up, the men froze.

“K-Krymorian,” one whispered, stepping back. “He’s a damn Krymorian!”

They didn’t wait for more. Both bolted out of the alley, disappearing into the crowded street.

Sophie was already at the girl’s side. Up close, she was clearly drunk — her pupils dilated, her steps unsteady. “Easy,” Sophie murmured, but the girl shoved her hand away.

“I don’t… need help,” the stranger muttered, her words slurred. She looked between them with narrowed eyes. “And I don’t owe you… anything.”

She took two wobbly steps toward the street, then her knees gave out. Jace caught her before she hit the ground.

“Where do you live?” he asked gently.

Her gaze was glassy, but she mumbled an address.

Carrying her through the neon-lit streets wasn’t exactly what Jace had expected to be doing his first night on Zeruna. She was lighter than she looked, and every now and then she mumbled something he couldn’t understand.

When they finally reached her apartment — a narrow flat above what looked like a music club — Sophie unlocked the door with the code she’d given them. They laid her gently on the couch.

Stepping back into the cool night air, Sophie smirked. “Nothing says intergalactic adventure like picking up drunk girls from alien nightclubs.”

Jace chuckled. “Yeah. And here I thought we’d be dodging laser fire, not… this.”

They laughed together as they walked down the street, neon signs flickering overhead, the strange planet of Zeruna alive and restless around them.

They didn’t know it yet, but they’d just met Amber.

And she was going to change everything.