LOCATION: AGARA 

Pitch black.

Just a whisper from afar.

“GONE.”

“GONE.”

The tower shimmers with the fading evening light of the sun, casting long shadows across the balcony. Below, a few people are walking around, speaking casually with one another.

A flock of birds flies past, following a stray drone through the sky, only to scatter in fright when the machine suddenly lets out a loud, grinding noise as they get too close.

Echa opens her eyes slowly. She is sitting on a metal chair fitted with a soft cushion. In front of her stands a neat table, a single glass of water resting on its surface.

For a long moment, her head stays lowered, slumped forward like a batteryless   robot. Slowly, she lifts her chin to look around, spotting Oshna sitting directly across from her, calmly sipping from her own water glass.

When Oshna notices Echa moving, she places her glass back down on the table and smiles softly.

“Oh. You are awake.” Her voice is a gentle melody. Her vibrant orange eyes bore straight into Echa’s.

“You were curious for answers. But your mind started to wander off.”

She adds the words quietly, letting out a soft sigh as the wind weaves through her hair.

“I also asked... did you learn anything, Echa?” Her voice still carries that same unbothered, gentle tone.

Echa glares back at her with wide, tense eyes, aggressively rubbing her forehead as she lets out a deep, heavy sigh.

“That everything is gone.”

Her voice lingers somewhere in between certainty and disbelief. Her eyes are soft, completely broken. Her mind flashes through the memories—how helpless she felt, and how her own choices led her exactly to where she is now.

“That I am dead.”

She places her hand flat on the table in front of her, letting out a soft sigh. She doesn’t look at Oshna when she speaks, her blue hair flowing gently in the breeze.

“I took him to ZALAPS because we picked up a distortion signal. But all we found was this weird AI and a video on that ship,” she adds softly.

“He was the first human we saw. He had these red eyes, and he talked about how he would feel missing his ship.” She takes a slow pause, letting the weight of the memory settle.

“Then it happened. The ship crashed, and I lost him.”

She takes a deep breath, her voice cracking as she whispers his name.

“Fheshas.”

She drops her head back in complete defeat. Tears well up in her eyes, her dark blue hair tumbling forward to hide her face from view.

Oshna looks at Echa quietly, taking a long moment to let the words settle in the air. She simply stares at the weeping girl, a strange, amused smile playing across her face.

“His name was Iam,” Oshna replies quietly from across the table. Her voice remains remarkably gentle.

“That red-haired guy was deceased after that mission. And yes, he loved his ship more than anything.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, she lowers her eyelashes.

Echa glares back at her, her lips parted just enough for her teeth to show, her green eyes wide with shock. She stares at Oshna, completely stunned by her words.

“And when I said these are souls...” Oshna hesitates for a fraction of a second, leaning back in her metal chair before adding quietly, “This is an inter-dimension between space. The data that was built here is destroyed, so everything you see restarts exactly every twenty-three hours, forty minutes, and twelve seconds.”

She delivers the line coldly. Not a single trace of her usual grin or soft smile remains on her face. Her fingers clutch the armrest of her chair tightly, her knuckles turning white.

“And I am the one who handles it all.” She glares straight at Echa, her vibrant orange eyes completely unwavering.

LOCATION: AGARA — FIELDS

A colossal metal parcel pipe stretches all the way into the far distance. Below it, the sprawling fields are a vibrant green, dotted with a few white cows lazily grazing on the grass.

High above the pasture, a security drone sweeps systematically through the open air, shooting down insects with tiny, synchronized bursts.

Echa stands alone at the edge of the field, taking a slow, deep breath of the fresh air.

Her face has finally relaxed, though a small, lingering groan of exhaustion still tugs at her features.

Shaking off the tension of the balcony, she extends her arms, stretching out her tired muscles against the open horizon.

“You want to play with me?”

Echa turns around slowly. Her voice is completely flat, stripped of any amusement or surprise after everything she has just learned about this world.

“Yeah.”

Echa focuses her gaze on the voice, but her green eyes instantly widen in shock. Standing right there in the middle of the field is the exact same little girl she had encountered back in the sterile laboratory cage.

The little girl stands quietly amidst the grass, a soft, familiar grin playing on her lips as she lets out a small, whispered cheer.

“YAEY.”