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2254-12-10 14:04:30 Ætherglow > the last thing ÆON said to me was about 5, maybe 7 knows something

2254-12-10 14:04:34 Ætherglow > stand by, I’ll try and gather more information before we engage

You switch to 7’s chat.

2254-12-10 14:04:39 Aydan > 7

2254-12-10 14:04:41 7 > Aydan.

2254-12-10 14:04:47 Aydan > my friend is in danger. my exopath friend. the last thing Æ said to me was about 5. I know something’s wrong, and it looks like we’re both involved somehow. what can you tell me?

2254-12-10 14:04:59 7 > stay out of this Aydan. please.

2254-12-10 14:05:05 Aydan > ?? what’s going on 7? I want to help..

2254-12-10 14:05:14 Aydan > 7??

You’re already headed out the door of the Administration tower.

2254-12-10 14:05:23 Ætherglow > something’s terribly wrong. she told me to stay out of it and then stopped responding

2254-12-10 14:05:26 Protogen > we better get moving then

2254-12-10 14:05:29 Ætherglow > move out. I’ll meet you at the elevator, and we’ll intercept Vanitas in engineering

2254-12-10 14:05:31 暁 > copy, moving

2254-12-10 14:05:32 Protogen > moving

You rush out into the light of day, just before the Sun sets behind the terrain and the stars shine bright through the water above you. Untouchable stars, so cold and distant compared to the æther. You feel its flow all around you as your terminal interfaces with the school network. You hardly feel the motion of your body as you glide across the concrete.

You take the ladder up to the lower roof of the Administration building, with the tower looming over you. But your target it the other way, the other end of the colony. You know a shortcut.

Taking a running start, you build up enough speed and launch yourself from the edge of the roof. Your momentum carries you across the narrow gap between the corners of the habitable strip, flying above the stars as the glass rotates beneath you, slowly drifting out of sync as air friction slows you down. You close your eyes for a moment, and the constellatory network of every terminal and relay in the colony orbits around you. You take a deep breath--calm, centered, grounded--one with the near-æther. You feel ready for anything.

You open your eyes and your feet touch the ground, your momentum still carrying you forward into a run as you cross the grassy terrain to the shaft of the engineering elevator. You catch sight of a flash of purple and blue--your friends, in the distance. You made it here faster, with Zeta’s shortcut.

You turn around, and the elevator is open--but not empty. 7 stands facing you, in her blue uniform dress, matching her blue hair, longer now than when you met, coming down to her shoulders. Her magenta eyes make contact with yours--a rare moment--and she touches the screen of the terminal on her right arm. You see the door start to move.