Location: Agara, GAL1049 

Time seemed to have stopped for Echa.

Her eyes locked onto the Orynite lying on the lady’s clothing. The woman wore a deep charcoal grey suit over black cloth. Her long silver hair cascaded over one eye, while a second, sharp crimson eye remained visible.

Echa’s lips parted. In her mind, the people around her faded to a dull grey, leaving only the lady in sharp focus. “That’s my Orynite, but she looks too scary to even ask for,” she muttered to herself. A wave of anxiety washed over her.

The lady stood a few meters away in front of a shop before turning to walk.

“Oh no, she is leaving!!” Echa murmured in a panic, starting to follow the lady. It was not until they had gone some distance that the lady stopped quickly on her path and turned directly toward Echa behind her.

Echa froze. “Um…I should act like I am not stalking her,” she whispered; her gloved fingers began to shake violently, acting completely on their own.

The lady’s eyes were fixed on Echa’s with a razor-sharp look, like a knife’s edge. When she noticed Echa’s eyes darting down to the Orynite, her frown deepened slowly.

“I see,” the lady murmured; her red eyes cast a faint, anomalous glow as she began to walk toward Echa directly.

Echa’s jaw clenched at the sight. Her impulse screamed at her to take a step back, but she remained filled with profound wariness. “No, she is walking toward me~ Sid, Index, help!” she gasped.

Her eyelids suddenly felt heavy under the lady’s glowing gaze. Echa stumbled backward, colliding with a random passerby, who grumbled, “Watch where you’re walking.” She attempted to raise a hand to call him out.

“Help…” she whispered, but the man vanished into the crush of the crowd. Suddenly, her legs felt seized by a commanding magnetic force, preventing her from taking another step before she collapsed into unconsciousness.

Thud.

A few minutes passed.

The white-plated roof of the GAL1049 parking bay shimmered beneath the glare of the sun. Below, aircraft occupied every pad; some lifted off gently, while others glided into their spots.

One such vehicle was a sleek black-and-violet aircraft, over which a small maintenance drone sprayed a sheen of sparkling water. Beside it stood a white tent and several metallic crates.

Echa lay flat on top of one of the metal crates. Her eyes were shut, and her face was slick with sweat; she appeared deeply uncomfortable.

When her eyes fluttered open, she met a grey helmet-headed guy with yellow hair sipping a juice can in front of her, perched on a crate.

He slowly turned to look at her with a vacant expression before staggering and losing balance on the back of the crate.

“NOOOO! SHE IS ALIVE! NOOO!” he screamed from the floor, spilling his juice across the pad. At the sight of the mess, the cleaning maintenance drone hovered below, starting to spray the puddle with a completely unbothered look on its sensors.

“Oh, I am taken as a hostage.” Echa got startled by the sudden shriek; she rolled off the edge and fell with a THUD before hiding behind the crate. “Ouch…” she let out a muffled groan from behind.

“DON’T COME ANY CLOSER!!! GUYS!!! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU ALL???” he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Meanwhile, Echa peeked at him from behind the crate. “Why is he yelling like that?” she murmured, then looked around to orient herself. “Aircraft bay? I am still on GAL1049.”

“Hey, look, I am not gonna hurt you,” she said to him in a reassuring tone, slowly rising and steadying herself.

Suddenly, she felt a foot pressed down onto her head, forcing her back down to her knees.

“No, no, you stay down. I will get to you next…” A girl’s high-pitched voice came from behind.

Echa quickly winced and squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the bare foot hit her hair, forcing an involuntary murmur from her: “Ouch, ouch, ouch… ok, ok, ok.”

Seeing the girl, the helmeted guy slowly scrambled off the floor, brushing himself off as he pointed accusingly at her. She sat perched on the pile of crates, her foot still pressing Echa into her knees.

“WHY YOU DIDN’T SAY SHE IS ALIVE, LURIYA!!!” he screamed, leaping right back up onto a cargo crate with wide eyes and a frantic, theatrical shrug.

The girl’s hair was green, and she wore dark green swimsuit-like clothing with an unbothered expression.

“We gave you one job, and you completely ruined it,” Luriya said in a sharp tone, fixing him with a heavily annoyed glare. “Honestly, you make me think Fals3 is the perfect name for you.”

“Quiet.”

A command cut through the air, making Fals3, Luriya, Echa, and even the cleaning drone turn and glare at the spot the voice originated from simultaneously.

A heavy silence passed through the scene, leaving them all wide-eyed and mouths zippered shut.

Under the weight of the chilling gaze from the commanding lady—a presence so imposing that it made Echa faint—seeing her walk towards them made Echa shiver. Luriya quickly yanked her foot away from Echa and leaped down from the crate with a THUD. Fals3 scrambled down from the cargo crate, dread washing over him.

The lady’s red eyes swept over the deck. Beside her stood the performance android, matching her in a black-violet dress, her hands clasped over her back.

Jayya’s gaze settled first on the android, then on Echa, before she spoke with unblinking intensity.

“Divbi, prepare for extraction,” Jayya commanded. Her red eyes remained unwavering.

Divbi nodded from behind. “Understood, Madam Jayya.” Her words were sharp and precise. She walked onto the aircraft with an elegant, measured stride.

Luriya placed a pale hand under her chin before kicking Echa sharply in the butt. “Go, go to the Madam before she kills you, rabbit,” Luriya sneered, her tone infuriated.

“Ouch, that hurts,” Echa murmured to herself, wincing and bristling at Luriya with a maddened look, but quickly redirecting her focus toward Jayya.

“She is definitely gonna chop me,” Echa murmured to herself, taking a slow, cautious step.

Meanwhile, Jayya walked to the edge of the roof and gazed down at the crowd below.