***

  “Now that we’ve rested, we should prepare to switch locations,” Atro says leaning against the wall, lifting his hat from his eyes.

  Against the other wall, Beam sits in a meditative pose. “You heard something Karme & Kaarme?”

  The snakes don’t answer, just observe the two with intrigue.

  Atro pries himself off the wall in a smooth motion. “Let’s move.”

  “Move? Where?” Frank asks, still chairbound, his arms tied to his side and his legs together from multiple spots.

  The white string starts to get a little looser with time, though, it only makes him a little less uncomfortable, rather than aiding in any escape efforts.

  “None of your business.” Atro’s arm picks up the massive sword from next to him.

  “Where will you take me?”

  “Can somebody gag him back up? Karme?”

  Crash!

  As Beam and Karme & Kaarme are about to act on Atro’s words, a loud crash interrupts them, though nothing changes in their room, it seems to have come from elsewhere.

  “What was that?” Beam says.

  “I’ll check it out. Beam, secure the window. K & K guard Frank, and shut him up, will you?” Atro says and leaves the room through the door.

  Karme & Kaarme continue to sit on their chair, looking calm, snacking on their cubes.

  Beam’s sneakers squeak slightly as she sneaks up to the window, apart from that, a quiet has landed, it’s as if the crash never happened.

  She grabs the thick curtain and as soon as she pulls it out of the way to see what’s going on outside, the window explodes.

  Amethyst crashes through the glass, sending Beam flying out of her way across the room.

  She shakes her head, shedding shards of glass from her hair, the window behind her practically blown open, the windowsill bent out of shape.

  “Frank!”

  “Amethyst!” Frank shouts and jumps up, almost falling due to his tied-together legs.

  Karme & Kaarme start to get up from their chair, the heads squirm agitated, and the bigger one opens its mouth toward Amethyst.

  Amethyst barrels forward, and kicks them and their chair, the old man with his snake heads is thrown down, and the sound of something cracking echoes.

  “Our back...!”

  “Agh- Why-!?”

  The snakes wheeze as their necks are flattened underneath their human body.

  Amethyst gets to Frank, cuts through his bindings with a precise hand, and lifts him into her arms.

  “Let’s go.”

  “Yeah! Quickly!” Frank grabs hold of Amethyst’s shoulder.

  Beam starts rising from the ground holding her head, she has bloody scrapes across her arms and legs.

  Atro slams the door open with his laser pistol drawn, makes sense of the situation with just a glance, and shoots.

  Amethyst tries to turn away from him, but she’s too slow. The shot hits Frank's body, which recoils on her arms, colliding against her chest armor.

  “Frank! Are you-?”

  “Go, Amethyst!” Frank shouts with his teeth held together, his other hand holding his chest.

  Amethyst starts running, with her wings still opened up and ready for flight.

  Atro violates the trigger repeatedly, but no more shots come out.

  He curses and smacks the pistol against his palm flinging the empty battery out of it, he’d forgotten to recharge it after their last encounter.

  “Karme! Kaarme! Capture them!”

  The snake’s body crawls up with difficulty and Karme shoots a white net from his mouth at Amethyst, missing her.

  “Brother...” Kaarme looks at his sibling.

  “What! How did you miss? You never miss!” Atro shouts. “Whatever, Kaarme!”

  His little brother shoots a web as well, and misses, further webbing up the back wall.

  The two snakes look at each other, like having a silent conversation just with their eyes, which is clearly more important than the unfolding events.

  Amethyst is almost to the window.

  “This is- ridiculous! They’re a massive target-! Beam, shoot them!” Atro shouts and fumbles with a backup battery.

  “But the mission!”

  “Screw the mission, just kill them!”

  “B-but-!”

  It’s too late, as Amethyst takes flight through the window to the night sky, the arguing voices of the criminals fade away.

  Some onlookers in the streets look up in wonder at the soaring Tyrchid, among which, a familiar shadow tucked away in a corner taking notes.

  “Ah…” Frank strains to speak. “Amethyst, how’d you find me?”

  “With my sense of smell and hearing, though, I mistook the room you were in the first time… but that’s not important right now. How badly are you hurt?”

  Frank holds his left hand on the right side of the chest, but blood comes out from between his fingers.

  “I’ve been better… That way to the hospital.” He breathes laboriously and coughs as he extends a hand.

  “O-okay! Hold on, I’ll get you there!”

  Amethyst unfurls her head wings, despite her creeping exhaustion, and takes a sleeker posture, accelerating her flight.

  Frank grips her tighter and leans his head against her chest armor.

  “Amethyst... I’m so proud of you...”

  “Y-you are?”

  “I was more worried if you’d be okay, than about myself, but... you found me all on your own. You’re even stronger than I thought.” He laughs weakly.

  “I did get some help, but-”

  “You’ve grown so much... I’m glad I got to see you like this.”

  “H-hey now! Please, don’t speak like you’re leaving me!”

  “You need to go to the court...” He coughs up blood, that splatters on Amethyst’s chest. “Convince ISSA...”

  “B-but, I’ll go there with you!” Amethyst looks between the city-scape horizon and Frank, who’s growing paler and his clothes redder by the second.

  “Promise me... You’ll go... Otherwise... Intergalactic...”

  “No, I can’t- I won’t promise that! Hang on, Frank! We’re almost at the hospital!”

  They’re flying close to Passion’s edge, approaching the middle of Metropolis. With her incredible sight, Amethyst sees the Hospital sign looming far on the horizon, on the side of Compassion.

  Blood drips down during their flight, into the forest of Sacrifice, into the trees of Blood.

  It rains down into the river of Innocence and Purity that meet in the middle of The Mercy.

  Frank's lifeforce falls on the statue of the Red Goddess, slathering her hair bright sanguine in a way the spotlights never could.

  The fountain statue holding Metropolis’ sun, forever crying out misty water, now with a touch of red in her tears.

  Amethyst touches down in front of the large white Hospital building, her legs leaving large scrapes on the asphalt.

  “Frank, we’re here! Frank-?”

  His eyes are closed, an arm still around Amethyst’s shoulder, but the hand touching her neck has no grip.

  “No!”

  She dashes inside, almost colliding with the too-slow-to-open automatic glass doors, the limp Frank in her arms.

  “Somebody help, please!”

  Her desperate plea springs the staff inside into action, the receptionist gets her a hover stretcher immediately for her to lay Frank onto, and a team of doctors and nurses arrive at the scene despite the late hour.

  Frank is immediately carted away, but Amethyst is stopped from following by the main desk receptionist.

  “You can’t go there, you’ll only be in the way, okay? It’s tough, but you’ll stay behind and let them do their best, won’t you?

  In the meantime, can you tell me what happened?”

  Amethyst continues staring in the direction he was taken in, at the doors with round glass windows, her mind elsewhere.

  “I can tell how much he means to you, but we must do what we can for him in this moment too. Tell me, please, how did things end up this way?”

  Her head pounds as sounds around her slur together.

  When did I get here?

  Where is... here?

  Amethyst finds herself in a strange space, a large circular lobby with bright lights.

  Right... I rescued Frank, but he got shot...

  I was taking him to the hospital...

  The white space distorts, and the lights blur and stretch.

  Is this...?

  Yeah... I got him... to the hospital...

  I'm so glad...

  “Miss? Are you okay?”

  Amethyst's wings fold inside her armor, shattering countless shards onto the floor as she collapses among them.

  ***

  “Frank!”

  Amethyst awakens with a jolt in a room decorated with tranquil pastel colors, and lights that are just right.

  She’s lying in a hospital bed, which feels oddly homely and safe.

  “Oh, sounds like your neighbor is awake.” On the other side of her bed is a white-gray curtain.

  It’s pulled open, and a gentle woman’s face peeks at her.

  “Hello. How are you feeling?”

  She opens the cloth divider wider, revealing a bed with a small boy tucked in behind her.

  “Okay... I think. Where am I?”

  “You’re in the hospital ward. I heard you caused quite a commotion bringing your lover here and then collapsing yourself.” She chuckles in an understanding way.

  “Ah... how did you know that about Frank...”

  “I could clearly hear it in your voice when you shouted his name,”

  The woman tears up and rubs her eyes, Amethyst can just about make out a sky-blue flickering halo above her head.

  “Ah... Sorry. I get emotional.”

  “Mom... don’t cry.” The small boy says weakly.

  “No, it’s okay. You know how Mommy gets.”

  “Yeah, your Mom’s a Radiant, right? It’s only natural.”

  The lady is surprised but smiles at Amethyst, her eyes narrowed from her wide grin, the tears now flowing down her cheeks.

  “Right, it’s cute how you are still so worried for me, but I’ll be fine. Please, try to get some more sleep.” She speaks with a wavering voice, without looking at the boy.

  “Okay…” The boy closes his eyes and seems to fall asleep immediately. Her Mom takes the opportunity to wipe her eyes with a napkin.

  “I have to apologize, I was so preoccupied, that I completely forgot to tell you. The doctors said you were just fatigued, and once you’d wake up, they hoped you’d eat something.

  They weren’t really sure what else they could do for you for now. They’ve never treated a Tyrchid before.”

  Amethyst spots a bowl full of fruit on the side table for her.

  She starts eating, stabbing them with her dagger hands, most swallowing whole without reservation, despite never having seen any of the fruits before.

  “Do you know how Frank is doing?” Amethyst asks in between fruits, her hunger satiating.

  “Not exactly, but the doctors and nurses who have come to check on you have all seemed hopeful, even if they didn’t say anything.”

  “That’s good…” Amethyst lays back on the bed and looks to the ceiling, organizing her thoughts, and trying to relax if even just a little bit.

  “How long was I out?”

  “I’m not sure. You were here before we arrived an hour ago. But, given that it’s six in the morning, you probably slept the night.”

  “Ah...”

  The ISSA court appointment is today.

  The little boy coughs and wakes up.

  “Are you okay?” His mother asks.

  “Y-yeah...”

  “Good. Try and rest up more if you can.”

  “Okay…” The boy goes back to sleep in under a minute, while the Radiant lady pets his blond hair.

  “Is he okay? Why are you here?” Amethyst asks as carefully as she can.

  “Oh, I’m not sure what to say. Little Neumo is hanging in there, I think. I just hope he’s strong enough to endure the years still to come.”

  “What do you mean…?”

  “Where are my manners, I’m Klear.”

  As she introduces herself, her otherwise red-brown hair glows slightly blue, shimmering like a candle flame.

  “My Son, he’s had bad lungs for all his life, but he’s too young for the big surgery, so they just patch him up little by little until he’s old enough to undergo the whole operation.”

  “His whole life?” Amethyst estimates the kid to be somewhere between eight and eleven years old, though the basis for her estimation is lost on her.

  “That sounds rough.”

  “Yeah, it is.” Klear breathes sharply and manages to suppress bursting into tears.

  “Despite the Heaven’s Clay being effective, it is also quite taxing on the body, especially for children.”

  “Heaven’s Clay?”

  “Oh, sorry, you wouldn’t know that. It’s the substance used by the Patcher to close wounds and rebuild internal organs.

  Don’t ask me how it works, though, I’m not sure if you can find anyone who can tell you that. Not yet at least.”

  She pauses, looks around the room, at her sleeping son, and then back at Amethyst, with a glint in her glowing blue eyes.

  “That’s due to its production technology predating even the city of Metropolis itself, fortunately, we understand enough to keep the facility running if nothing else.

  That’s all a bit of a secret though, so don’t go shouting it around. I don’t think the other Pillar Families would approve.” She winks and giggles lightly.

  “Okay...”

  Hardly anything of the explanation makes sense to Amethyst, but she lets it slide.

  “I hope the best for you both, but I think I should get going.” She gets off the bed, and onto her feet that feel that much more steadier now.

  “Thank you, but are you sure? Nobody’s even had the time to yet check on you.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Well, if you say so.” Klear’s halo flickers as does her hair, as she closes her eyes momentarily.

  “If you take the hallway to the left, you’ll find the ward’s reception, I’m sure they can tell you how Frank’s doing.”

  “Thank you, that’s exactly what I need.” Amethyst passes by their bed and looks back from the door.

  “It was nice to meet you, Klear.”

  “Likewise, all the best, Amethyst.”

  “See ya.”

  She enters the hallway of numerous doors, and from the end of it, finds a glass booth-like reception with a male Sinel manning it.

  “Oh, it’s you, how are you feeling?”

  “Have we met? I’m okay now, I think.”

  “I’ve met you, but I don’t think you’ve met me, so to say. We nurses have taken turns to check on you, that’s why.”

  “Right.”

  “What can I help you with then? You’re free to leave now if you feel better.”

  “I brought my husband here with me before I collapsed, who was very injured. Can you tell me how he’s doing?”

  “Let me check.” He types on the computer for a while, then shakes his head.

  “I’m afraid not, his condition hasn’t been updated in our systems yet.

  If you want to get an up-to-date projection from a doctor, it’ll take a little bit.

  You can go wait for him in the second-floor waiting room if you wish, I’ll drop him a message to expect you there.”

  “Thank you! I’ll do just that.”

  “And before you leave! I’ll let the Galactic Police know they can come and question you about what happened.

  We are under obligation to let law enforcement know when patients come in who are likely the victims of a crime.”

  “Oh-!” It had completely slipped her mind.

  What if the kidnappers come back? What if they’ve already-?

  “Have you been-?”

  “We’ve stationed one of our security guards to guard Frank’s room. From the laser wound and the state of you both, we deemed it to be an important precaution.”

  “Thank you, that's a relief.”

  Amethyst leaves the ward and follows the signs around to find the correct waiting room.

  Soon enough, a Galactic Police Officer she hasn’t met before comes to take up the details.

  Amethyst tells him all about it: the attack at the alley, the note not to tell anyone, and how she managed to save Frank.

  She describes the culprits to the best of her ability, throwing the suspicion of Intergalactic out there again, though, she does not elaborate on their possible motive.

  The Officer chides Amethyst for not coming to the Police, regardless of what the note said, but understands her situation.

  He assures her of Frank's safety, as they will assign an officer to watch over him with the security guard as well.

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  Additionally, they will go and investigate the B.B.B.B. establishment, though it’s likely far too late to catch the culprits there anymore.

  The Officer wishes Frank a swift recovery, thanks her for her cooperation, and they say their goodbyes.

  Amethyst is left alone again, sitting on the soft, cushioned, lounging chair.

  There are a few other people and Sapients around, and the G-TV on the wall is on low volume, keeping the quiet peace in the space.

  Amethyst has a lot to think about but tries to avoid diving too deep into them to keep herself from succumbing to despair.

  She can’t do anything other than wait, so she tries to be content in doing just that.

  She needs to know how Frank is doing before anything else.

  Fretting about Intergalactic’s pursuit, worrying about today’s ISSA court, and bursting her head with all the other issues and mysteries still open...

  It’s all important, but secondary to information about Frank’s state.

  An hour passes but the doctor is nowhere in sight. A receptionist comes to work and starts her shift in the waiting room’s glass box.

  Amethyst asks her about the doctor and Frank, but she just tells her that the doctor is still busy.

  More people and Sapients arrive, only to get called in and then leave after their business here is done. An endless rotation that Amethyst is left out of.

  Breaking the monotony of waiting, a man gets up and shambles across the lobby, starting to cough with a wheezy breath. He goes up to the receptionist in her glass cubicle.

  “I- I don’t... feel so good.”

  As soon as he finishes the sentence, something flops to the floor.

  It’s his right leg.

  It lies on the ground, decapitated, rotten from the knee, pushing out blood onto the checkered floor.

  The man falls, and hits himself on the counter on the way down, partly catching him with his hands before hitting the floor.

  The loose leg starts to flatten, like a punctured balloon before it just turns to dust before Amethyst’s very eyes.

  “Aaagh!” The man shouts in unthinkable agony, coughing and wheezing.

  The receptionist stands up but doesn’t go help the man.

  “Everyone! Go to waiting room three across the hall!” She points and shouts.

  Everyone does as they are told, Amethyst is the last to leave. She stays to watch behind the closed glass door, horrified.

  The man is on all fours, trying to get up, but his arms snap, and he hits face first onto the white and black tile floor.

  His screaming ends.

  Like some invisible force pressed down on his body, blood, and mush start to leak from within.

  His bones are revealed, but... they dissolve too, white bone marrow boiling.

  The rest of the body starts to diminish, shedding flakes, and shortly... there’s nothing left, but a pile of empty clothes, a wooden bracelet, and dust: gray, brown, and white.

  No way...

  He’s gone...

  As Amethyst looks back to the receptionist, gone is her office uniform, replaced with hazmat suit-like protective overalls.

  The receptionist steps out of her protective cubicle, armed with a lidded dustpan and a broom, both of which look specially made for the occasion, they are metallic, and look easy to clean.

  She picks up the clothes one by one into a trash bag, the dust flows out from inside of them. With them out of the way, she starts sweeping his remains into the large dustpan.

  As she does, from another room, two more people come out with similar outfits and start to disinfect the place, one starting where the man sat, and the other moving toward where he perished.

  The receptionist pours the dustpan’s contents into a clay pot and seals it with a cork, she spots Amethyst and looks at her.

  Suddenly, she feels out of place, sickened at herself, for watching all this, torn on deciding if she should be chided for sating her morbid curiosity, or patted on the back, for being there to see the man’s last moments.

  At least, she would be sure to remember him, remember this sight and experience for the rest of her life.

  Amethyst goes into the other waiting space and sits down on a bench row without anyone else nearby.

  Fidgeting, restless, and in shock at what just transpired.

  It was so sudden...

  Now, that man is gone. Forever.

  I didn’t even know his name.

  ...

  How can life be so fleeting?

  I could have been him.

  And Frank... I... I really- he must survive.

  I don’t know what I’d do...

  “That look in your eyes.”

  Who… who’s speaking?

  “You’re new here, aren’t you?”

  Amethyst looks to the seat next to her, which was supposed to be empty, a floating mist of light blue hovers above the chair quite high up.

  It’s like a loose shape of a beautiful woman, but it’s... mangled and somehow wrong.

  Ethereal drips of smoke hang and drip from the otherwise perfectly formed head, dissipating as soon as they leave the vicinity of the misshapen body.

  “Y-yes.”

  “Oh! I apologize if I frightened you. My focus must have wavered, I forgot to maintain proper form.”

  She shimmers brighter for a moment, and the smoke coalesces around, which soon expands into the immaculate shape of a woman, a silhouette without the most intricate details, no fingernails or blood vessels on her skin, no bones inside the smoke.

  Her face remains the same, but with now mist-made glasses, without lenses, and a long open coat made of herself, but black, behind her.

  “I am what is called in this common tongue, a Svuvah, a personification... of smoke, or mist, whichever you prefer.

  This is the form I use when I am working or out in public, people seem rather fond of it.”

  “I... see. Nice to meet you-”

  “You can call me Phantolia.” The Svuvah's words are like a gentle breath of wind, airy and clear.

  Puffs of smoke rise from between her lips as she speaks, rising past her head until rejoining her body, flowing into her black hair that defied gravity.

  “What a terrible incident that was... Is this your first time seeing a person perish to Dust Sentence?”

  “So that’s what that was... So he really is... dead?”

  “Yes, very much so, I fear we may be on the cusp of another outbreak... But don’t worry, for the moment we should be safe, unless you had any prior contact with him.

  “No, no, I didn’t...”

  I sort of wish I did... that poor man...

  “That’s good to hear... even if nearly everything about the disease is shrouded in mystery, it at least seems to not spread in that late stage.”

  “You seem to know a lot about it... what is Dust Sentence?”

  “That’s a difficult question. Like I said, it’s not well known what it is apart from the obvious, but I can give you a rundown of what I know.”

  Phantolia's smoky empty eyes change into purple, as she looks at Amethyst.

  “An infection is most likely transmitted via contact with the skin or clothes of a carrier, or bodily fluids like the person’s sweat.

  It’s most viral for the first few days as it is carried and gradually loses its infectious potential within three to seven days.

  After which the disease enters its second phase and shows its first symptoms, which can be nearly anything as the victim's body is minutes away from spontaneously becoming dust.

  Needless to say, at that point it's too late.

  If we only knew what to even look for, so we could shift through the whole population, as arduous of an undertaking as that would be, I believe it would be worth it.

  Maybe then we could find some solution...”

  Within Phantolia’s smoke, Amethyst notices a small wooden slab, on it a metal plate with her name, reminiscent of Amethyst’s bracelet.

  “Can even... uh, Svuvah be infected?”

  “Yes. That is what makes it so peculiar, and terrifying. We don’t have internal organs reminiscent of most other Sapient species, and yet it can affect us just the same.

  Except for us, not even dust is left behind.”

  The blue smoke, somewhat reminiscent of a flame flickering dims down, as they place a hand below their chin and look to the floor with empty one-colored blue eyes.

  “Nobody is safe.”

  A silence falls between them, Amethyst doesn’t know what to say.

  A person just died before her not long ago... And Frank... it all feels so very heavy.

  “You were in Pioneer’s show too, right? I think I recognize you from the news.” Her eyes turn a gentle pink color.

  “Right, that’s me.”

  “I see. I feel sorry for everything that’s transpired earlier, and especially recently. I heard about Frank. I hope he can make a full recovery soon.”

  “Thanks, I hope so too...”

  “What do you think of Pioneer?” Phantolia floats down, to sit right next to Amethyst, like a high school girl gossiping.

  “Pioneer…? Why?”

  “He helped our race overcome prejudice.

  People were afraid to be around us, seeing us as beings that could violently force their way inside their lungs, and suffocate them whenever we wanted: in one’s sleep, float around from behind...

  The Galaxy was terrified of us when we made contact.”

  Her eyes fade into empty sockets for a while again, until they light up into deep purple.

  “But then we made a contract with ISSA, and Pioneer came, he interacted with us like we were his kin, didn’t show fear, and showed us to the Galaxy in a new light.

  He debunked the fears of the public, we can’t actually suffocate anyone, we have a solid core inside of us, that prevents us from squeezing through tight spaces like smoke itself could.”

  “That’s interesting.”

  Amethyst hesitates for a moment, she hasn’t had many conversations, especially with strangers.

  However, her recent experiences give her the courage to continue: “It must have been hard. To be seen as dangerous, as something you’re not. I think I can relate to what it must have been like.”

  The smoke’s neutral expression breaks into a smile for the first time in their conversation.

  “And… you asked what I thought of Pioneer? I think he’s a good person, a bit awkward at times, and self-absorbed in his role, but he helped us… Tyrchids too.”

  I think I understand him a bit better now, why he played along with us, even when I thought he saw through my and Frank’s act.

  He’s helped the Svuvah and is still helping even the Sinel.

  “If I may ask… why are you here at the hospital? Are you waiting for someone? You look healthy?”

  Phantolia’s laugh is like a coal plant’s chimney, sputtering and billowing. “Not at all, and I am not healthy. See these spots?”

  She points around her smoky being, spots that are darker, gray and some even approaching black can be seen in her visage.

  “As we Svuvah are rather... airy beings, we are especially susceptible to pollution. These are all impurities from the air that have become trapped in my body.

  They are actively making my condition worse and worse and when a Svuvah becomes 50% polluted, they start to lose their sense of self.

  If not treated quickly, they become unstable and become Svurax, a state of permanent corruption, where we regress to the state of violent wild animals.”

  “That’s horrible…”

  “We discovered this malady on our own planet, when we advanced our technology, but could not overcome it, so we had to find alternative ways for power, and production.

  And now, to exist here, we must take monthly treatments in these wondrous hospitals to avoid that fate.”

  “Woah...”

  Phantolia looks toward the ceiling with an unreadable expression.

  “I hope Metropolis can keep its direction and not increase pollutants, I like it here, but if it starts the sharp climb that many planets do, I won’t be able to continue living here.

  And of course, we are a small minority, so we don’t have any sway, or say in the matter, even if we are allowed to vote.”

  She looks back at Amethyst, her eyes shining pink again.

  “But I’m hopeful, Metropolis is different, with its stance with nature, much more different than many other places I’ve visited. I trust that we will make it right.”

  “Me too,” Amethyst says, though feeling like she lacks the insight that Phantolia has on the subject.

  “Amethyst?” A doctor hails and spots her.

  “Oh, excuse me, Phantolia. This is important.”

  “No worries,” Phantolia floats a few seats away and lounges in the air.

  “Come with me.” The doctor directs her to a nearby room.

  “We’ve managed to stabilize Frank, but he’s still unconscious.”

  “Oh, that’s great news!”

  “He had lost a lot of blood, and his lungs and other internal organs were severely damaged by the laser’s burn.

  He’s been in the Patcher room for a good while now, which gradually rebuilds his organs from the inside out, lastly closing out the wound.

  While the material is something humans and Sapient species rarely reject, the treatment isn’t 100%, so allow yourself to hope for the best, but…

  Never mind. I’m sure it’ll be a success, and he’ll be awake and back to normal sooner than you know it.”

  “Thank you…”

  “Will you be staying here waiting, or can we contact you in any way should his condition change?”

  “I... I’m not sure. Though, if I leave, I don’t think it will be possible to contact me.”

  “I see.”

  “But, I will eventually come back and Frank knows where he can find me.”

  “That is probably enough then.” The doctor uses a tablet-like device he’s holding. “Now if that is all, I really should be getting back to work.”

  “Yes, I think so. Thank you for your time.”

  “Mhm,” without lifting his gaze from the device, he opens the door and lets Amethyst out, staying in himself.

  Amethyst just stands outside of the door, conflicted.

  I really don’t want to leave him alone...

  What if he wakes up...?

  What if he...

  N-no, I can’t think that...

  There’s no way around it.

  I have to go to the ISSA court without him, or it’ll all be in vain.

  He did say as much, too.

  Amethyst walks up to the Svuvah floating around.

  “It was nice meeting you, Phantolia. But… I’ve got to go now. I have to be on time for the ISSA court.”

  “Of course,” She floats down, lying in the air before her. “Who knows, maybe we’ll see each other again.”

  “I hope so.” Amethyst smiles her goodbye and turns to leave but gets only a few steps away until she realizes something.

  “Hey, Phantolia.”

  “That was fast. Hello again, Amethyst.”

  “Actually, can you help me out? I need some directions...”

  ***

  Some time ago,

  Intergalactic Space Station.

  “What do you mean, escaped?”

  The leader's harsh voice almost shouts at Ysale, but his decaying body is unable to produce the effort needed.

  “That’s what Squad Delta of the Enforcers reported.” The white-haired secretary responds to the back of his leather chair.

  The leader grumbles, staring through the window into the beauty of space, ignoring his faint reflection.

  “We will expedite our plans... Tell me, surely Plan E is ready?”

  “Yes, it can be deployed soon. The Earth Eater has finished the final round of disinfections and is very nearly done with maintenance.”

  “Perfect. Have the crew stand by.”

  Hugging her tablet, Ysale adjusts her thick-rimmed eyeglasses.

  “Sir, what about ISSA? According to preliminary calculations, the earliest we can have it in position is…

  Well... What if they decide to recognize Tyrchids as a-?”

  “I have accounted for the possibility. Besides, are you suggesting they would somehow succeed in their application?”

  “Apologies, of course not.”

  Prick.

  “You are of course, correct, as always. This we have taken care of, too.”

  “I shall take my leave now.”

  Ysale leaves the leader in his room and sits back at her desk. She brings up a bunch of blueprints and design documents on the screen.

  The Earth Eater... what a magnificent ship...

  I wonder... is it powerful enough to do even that?

  But when would I have the chance to take it for myself?

  The old fool still has their loyalty, his eyes and ears are everywhere...

  She sighs, taps the table with her fingernails, and then closes the document.

  I'm sure I'll figure something out...

  This'll be the second coming of the Crondestons, just you wait, brother.