“Hasn't that reached Nikean territory already?” asked Rob, interested.

“No... I guess, nothing's really been confirmed.” replied Ben.

A disappointed Rob commented: “Too bad.”

“What do you mean 'Too bad'? You want more foreigner shenanigans causing a mess?” questioned Ben.

Turning to face his friend, Rob explained: “...I actually just want to see their stylish outfits.”

“Are you serious?” asked Ben, incredulous.

Rob remained silent for four seconds and replied: “...Yes.”

Ben just shook his head.

The radio host continued his talk: “Now we are being joined by my dear friend here, Jake B. Wells!!!”

“Hey there Macville, feels good to be back!!! I've got my own question for you... What do you make of the 'Elemental' populations moving into some Nikean territories?” asked Wells.

“Ahhhh, about that, these guys aren't puny and weak like the normal foreigners. Don't take that last part wrong; I don't mean to offend, but normals are pretty... weak. The elementals themselves still have the typical foreigner 'taste' in clothing; but at least they're less... unappealing than most other foreigner populations.” explained Macville.

Wells gave his own thoughts: “I think they should stay on their own planet. But that's just me.”

“Weren't they in a war with the... what's their name? The... Platelanders?” asked Macville.

“Slatelanders.” Wells corrected.

“Yeah, yeah, those. They're... a separate group of rastgelans, right? I think they fought in a huge war in a battle for territory. I think that's why they left? They didn't want to share their planet with the slatelanders? Or was it because of a plague?”

“I heard these 'elementals' often eat their own babies.” added Wells.

“Yipe!!! How revolting!!! If that's true, they better stay faaaaaaar away!!! ...Well, if that is true.”

Hearing this same channel from the leisure room's radio, Brigitte declared “I really hope they don't ever get remotely close to Reglom. That's the last thing I need now, more foreigners. Regardless of what they do.”, as she continued to sip from her tea cup.

“Them just thinking of being here would be a problem.” said Maroon.

“You think so? Just imagine their collective smell.” Brigitte dryly replied.

Her stuck out her tongue in disgust, saying: “Gross!!! ...Anyway, this foreigner here... what planet he said he's from again?”

Brigitte recalled: “Wasn't it... one called 'Seplah-Is'?”

Maroon thought for a moment and replied: “...Yeah, never heard of it.”

“Yes, no such planet could be identified by the Station. Presumably, it's too far away.” Brigitte explained, in a dismissive tone.

“That's weird.” Maroon replied, confused.

“That's good, actually. The lower the chances of meeting more foreigners, the better.” the Nikean-in-pink declared.

“He said his 'conception' was an... experiment? Whatever that means... I just hope there aren't many others like him.”

“One can only hope...”

Back again at the jail cell area, Forge broke the silence, asking something of his own.

“H-Hey... uhhhh, I-I heard somthin' 'bout 'el-elementals' in the radio, wh-what ar' they?”

“Some weird foreigners.” Rob replied.

“N-No... ser-seriusly, what ar' they like?” insisted Forge.

“Don't know, I haven't seen any. Most of us never even see any foreigners, with very few exceptions. At best, we know some about ratlegans.”

“I'm pretty sure it's 'rastgelans', Rob.” corrected Ben.

“Ahhhhh, yes, exactly.... that's the word.” affirmed Rob.

“Wh-What ar' raste-rastgelans, then?” asked a now even more curious Forge.

Rob thought for a moment, replying: “Bug people, that's much of what I know. Bug people with, sadly, bad taste in clothing.”

Forge rolled his eyes at that last part but, still interested, asked: 

“What exactly do you mean by 'bug people'?”

“Just that, they're giant two-legged bugs, with wings and all. Pretty weird and ugly-looking.” further explained Rob.

Forge replied with: “Y-Yeah... I... I recall meetin' some b-bug people on som' planet I stopped at, wh-when I was on way to Reglom.”

“Must have been rastgelans, they're very widespread.” said Rob.

“Thankfully, they usually stay away from Nikean territory.” added Ben.

“B-But... ther' weren' only bug people, I... I saw many more varieties ther'.”

Rob simply said: “That's... I don't know... Maybe they're... diverse?”

“Maybe it was a shared habitation?” asked Ben.

Rob commented on this: 

“Well, foreigners tend to be more open to live with other species.”

Forge looked at the sheathed swords that all officers' carried and asked:

“Uhhhm, I-I hav' 'nother question... h-how com' you all carry swords?”

“Well it-...” Rob was about to say, but stopped as he thought for a moment, then asked his own question: “What about it?”.

“Y-You're cops, righ'? H-How come n-non' of you hav' some kinda... gun?”

Ben raised an eyebrow at this, with a confused Rob asking:

“A... 'gun'? What do you mean?”

“Y-Ya know, a gun? A weapon ya point, p-pull a trigger an'... shoot?” the Man in the Jacket explained.

“Ahhhh, you mean a handcannon. No, us nikeans aren't fragile like many foreigners... 'guns' can't hurt us. But... you should know that, aren't you an anomaly too?” Rob replied.

Ben shook his head at this and tried to get Rob to stop: “Don't talk about-”

The Man in the Jacket interrupted: “I-I mean... h-how com' you guys don' ha-hav' a... special gun that can hurt 'nomalies or somthin'?” 

“You see.... creating a weapon that powerful would be difficult. It would take resources, time, refinement and the ammo would need to be replenished. And it still wouldn't do any damage. It's just too impractical.”

“S-So... I guess the swords can?”

“You better think so.” interrupted Ben, who then whispered to Rob “Let's not talk to him about weapons, seriously...”, causing Rob to roll his eyes.

“W-Well... chanin' the subject... I-I heard you hav' a... tea tim'?” asked Forge.

“Yes, of course. It's pretty much universal in Reglom West and North.” answered Ben.

“'You can never forget the tea', my grandma always taught or, perhaps, warned me... I don't suppose you ever drink tea, do you?” Rob asked Forge.

“W-Well, no... but... why do ya hav'.... tea times?” Forge answered.

Rob explained “It's relaxing, why else? Our tea time is coming soon on our break, too.”, then whispered to Ben “Can't wait, this turn has gone on forever, too.”.

“For sure.” replied Ben.

Meanwhile, back at the leisure room, the Nikean dressed in pink was busy drinking tea, when Maroon rushed in: “Brigitte!!!”

“Don't interrupt me, I'm still having my tea!” scolded the Nikean-in-pink.

Maroon just said: “I think we are arriving soon. The bridge's blue light is on!”

“That's good...” Brigitte replied, not really caring, as she continued to sip her tea.

Maroon sighed and said: “...I'll just go and tell the boys.”

“Almost there... just a few more minutes...” Rob said, anticipating.

With only 3 minutes left, Maroon interrupted the countdown: “I am obligated to inform you that we've arrived.”

“Bloody Uffern!!!” cursed Rob.

Ben looked disappointed but not surprised. Of course, he suspected this.

From the bridge of the Paralus, the four Nikean officers beheld EastMak Habitation J355.

“Well, this place is much more impressive than the pictures.” exclaimed Rob, impressed, if slightly bummed out.

With it's foundations laid on an asteroid, the station had a cylinder's shape, topped by a gigantic dome made up of a copper-looking structure of huge windows with a honeycomb design. Inside this dome, there was a skyline similar, albeit smaller, to Lochen City's own.

As the ship slowly approached the entry station, Ben expressed: “I expected it would be elaborate, but it's still bigger than I thought. So what's been happening here?”

“Don't know, they only said we are to leave the foreigner here. But they've been having problems lately.” replied Brigitte.

“Yeah... Apparently, this place was originally meant to be a prison, one that'd be inescapable for any convict. But before they really got into making it, they decided to make it a remote, allegedly mediocre, living space instead.” explained Rob.

“Also... why are you two here? Shouldn't you be, you know... watching the foreigner?” pointed out Brigitte.

Rob defended himself: “Hey, our turn is basically over. It should be your-”

“Just... go and prepare to take the foreigner...” the pink officer interrupted Rob.

Once the Paralus got close enough to the airlock, pistons shifted and the gates opened and it slowly entered the station, landing in a designated spot inside. The airlock closed, gears sealing it shut; the valves opened and the station re-pressurized with a loud hiss.

Brigitte and Maroon exited the ship first and were approached by an automaton guard. It's exterior was shiny, riveted and tin-like; it's torso had the physique of a nikean's, complete with a fancy suit (part of it's metallic frame), a bowler hat and a mustache. It's eyes were a pair of lenses, the mouth was a permanent smile on a metallic grill from which it spoke as it stood, while it's clasped hands resembled pincers. From the waist down it was different, with six crab-like legs to move around. Every movement it made was marked by the sound of ticking.

“Welcome to Habitation J355, officers!!! It is of my understanding you are here to deliver a convicted foreigner, is this correct?” the guard asked as it welcomed the nikeans.

“Yes. This place does have the capabilities to incarcerate one, right?” asked Brigitte.

“Indeed, officer. Now please, bring the convict to confirm the delivery.” replied the automaton.

“Good. Maroon, tell those two to bring the foreigner out.”

Maroon whispered “Finally, can't wait to get home...”, before calling Ben and Rob.

“About that, Officers... there may be a problem.” warned the guard.

Brigitte's face changed to an annoyed look as she sighed and asked: “What is it now?”

The guard replied: “The message of your arrival also states that you will assist EastMak in its current issue.”

“I was afraid you'd tell us that.” Maroon exclaimed.

The Nikean-in-pink whispered “Damn it...”, before saying “Let's do this, then.” in a normal tone.

“The local officers will escort you. Just head to the hallways and keep going forwards. They'll be there.” the robot explained.

Forge was carried out of the ship in (yet again) a cart dragged by Ben and Rob.

“So this is the convicted foreigner... be careful with them!!!” the guard warned.

“Don't worry, we will.” said Ben, as he dragged the cart.

“So... have you got any other convicts sent here?” asked a curious Rob.

“Yours is the first in exactly 10 years, 5 months and 14 days.” the automaton answered.

“I feared as much...” said Brigitte, her suspicions rising even more.

The airlock-station spacious enough for multiple ships. It's walls were metallic and riveted together and with the ceiling they formed a semicircular shape over everyone. Cup-like ceiling lights, similar to the Paralus' own, dimly illuminated the place.

“Wait just a moment, I need to get something first...” said the pink officer, as she went back in the Paralus. She came back, holding a blue umbrella over her shoulder.

“Let's go...” she said, prompting them.

Our officers walked through the hallway, where they literally saw light at the end of the tunnel. This led to the First Level, the city, where two local officers, just outside the entrance, motioned the four officers to follow them.

“Hello, I'm Officer Larkwood and this is Officer York, we'll be guiding you towards the issue at hand. Come.”

“But... what do we do with the foreigner?” asked Ben.

“The jail cells are there too, it's all close.” said Officer York.

“Well, where exactly is this 'issue'?” asked Maroon, trying to get to the point.

“It's not up here, yet. It's below.” explained Officer Larkwood.

“Let's go, then.” Maroon replied.

As they passed by, they saw many tall buildings, similar to Lochen City's own, complete with a network of monorail-like trains connecting the buildings. The whole First Level was illuminated by this planetary system's binary stars shining through the honeycomb of hexagonal windows over the city.

“Ooohhhh, I'm surprised this whole place uses natural light, I thought they used huge lamps.” noted Rob, curious as ever.

“Yes, as this asteroid's 'daytime' lasts months on end, it was decided not to install giant lamps. By itself, the structure is designed to disperse sunslight as much as possible.” Officer York replied.

“Then when is nighttime here?” asked Maroon. 

“During 'nighttime', a mechanism in the windows closes and blocks most of the light every 12 hours. In fact, it should in about... three hours.” explained Officer Larkwood.

“Wait, does this happen suddenly? As in, one moment it's day and then it's night?” asked Brigitte. 

“Kind of.” answered York, while the other added “When the whole place was being built, the complete mechanism for the shutters was supposed to slowly open and close, but when they installed the initial mechanism, they figured it worked fine as it was and never installed the rest.”.

“Well, if it works, it works.” declared Ben, shrugging.

“Won't the sudden sunlight be... jarring? What about the people still sleeping?” questioned Brigitte.

“Not a problem, most of us here have rooms designed to prevent daylight from entering.” detailed Larkwood.

“Then... what happens when the asteroid faces away from the stars?” asked Rob.

York continued explaining: “That's what we call the 'Blackout'. During that time, the city gets very little light, so we simply endure the long night.”

Maroon's eyes widened and she said “So, you mean... it's just always night? No sunlight at all!?”, then looked at Brigitte, who also looked surprised at this.

Larkwood responded with: “I mean, it's just night. We haven't died, have we? It works and it's just standard routine by now. We just need to illuminate the streets and rooms like with any normal night.”

“Well... I guess it's not too bad.” replied a satisfied Maroon.

“That sounds horrid.” whispered Forge from his cart.

Soon after, they reached and entered one of the aforementioned monorails, but this one led them down the second floor below.