A hard smack against metal tore her out of her doze at her droid terminal, trying to find an answer to her mistakes. Thuni fared no better at his own, with Ulin at the undercarriage, half their body gone inside the droid's carapace. "At least tell me something can be salvaged," he called down to the landing pad. "Anything would be nice, Ulin."

Nova tapped her I-Pen on her datascroll and tried to ignore the tension within the hangar. Everyone kept to themselves and tried to clean the mess without a strict cause or explanation apart from one single truth — the droids didn't land. They crashed. Nova offered herself to repair any damage, but Thuni waved her off with a warning to let the rest of the senior engineers handle it. It sank her heart into the pits of a black hole at his frazzled temper, though never appeared directed at her. Thuni slumped back in front of his terminal and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

But where did I go wrong? Something went wrong, I know that, but what? Her mind full of calculations and measurements of her droid blueprints, none of it made sense with her failsafes and emergency backdoors, she made further adjustments to the tab on her datascroll as the other two worked at their ruined droid, covered in tarry gruel.

It was Neo who came to grab a sample the engineers gathered inside the workshop, but his silence spoke more volumes than his words, though he gave her a nod of acknowledgement before bustling out of the facility with the crate of samples in hand. He rejected her silent offer of help when she held out her arms to help him carry it to center command with nothing but a smile of what she suspected was his attempt at easing the uncertainty inside them both. It was a small comfort, and the longer she found herself stuck on the missing piece, the more his smile turned into a grimace.

And I haven't heard from him since then. I guess they have everyone in the labs working overtime now.

Nova tilted to Thuni and Ulin when the latter slipped out of the undercarriage, face covered in a metal shield, hands under thick heavy gloves and every inch of skin blocked from damage or indeterminate liquid. Thuni hauled himself out of his chair. "Well?"

"The endoskeleton is completely corroded," Ulin reported and climbed onto their level. "Stars, you'd think your droid flew into the belly of a space whale. Wiring is frayed. Your exhaust ports are full of ooze. Interior's rusted as well."

"Excellent," Thuni said with a scowl. "Anything else?"

Ulin took off the metal mask with a huff. "Your core is intact, though I'm not sure about the augments. I can get it out and check but I'd need the all clear from Station Command."

Nova raised her head to the bulkhead when Izerva walked through it with quiet steps, their tail flicking from side to side in apparent agitation. "Engineer Spacyn." Their head bobbed in her direction, and their ears followed the movement. "Miss Zynaia wishes to speak with you in the Observatory."

Now what...? Nova glanced at Thuni and Ulin before following the Xelnodian warrior out of the south sector. "Why does the Chief Scientist of all people want to talk to me?" And why do I have a feeling this is somehow Neo's doing?

Izerva drew their shoulders into a shrug, leading her to the tram station within the south which went straight into the heart of the central communication towers. It dragged on, and Nova checked her datascroll once more to prepare some sort of explanation for those who asked endless questions to discover the truth. Ready to explain any mistake or shortcoming on her droid's landing procedures and sequences. Inside central command, her legs turned into jelly with every scientist she passed, arms full of datascrolls and codexes at their waists full of observations on anomalies. Izerva rounded into a massive corridor. Holoboards stuck to the walls and directed them into the anomaly labs and connected observatories, all the way to the end to the Level Z Labs — for only the most dangerous anomalies.

A couple of scientists slipped their keycards into the doors to clock themselves for duty. Others whispered findings and comparisons of data, ignoring her and Izerva both, engrossed in their theories and hypotheses.

Her head spun, but she braced herself for the ceaseless questioning — Neo gave her practice, after all. It was to be expected on a space station meant for scientific research on anomalies. The situation itself was strange, and anything strange brought questions.

Questions I'm not ready to answer.

Izerva opened the door into the decontamination section into the Class Z lab, but directed her into the observatory off to the side. Cabinets lined with Anomalous Codex's filled most of the back wall. Lines of desks with researchers taking measurements and noting down any observations on the graphs. Reinforced glass protected those inside from the powerful anomalies on the other side.

Miss. Zynaia stood at the window, and Nova glanced at the massive containment unit in the center of the lab. Her heart thrummed at the soft, crimson hue slipping around the gyro which spun around a metallic sphere. Izerva clapped their foot against the ground, drawing Miss Zynaia's attention to them. "Thank you, Lieutenant. Ms. Spacyn, please sit down." She pointed at a chair at the nearest table, and Nova obeyed her command.

"I'm not in trouble?" she asked for one last attempt at assurance.

"No, I'm just waiting for some information," Miss Zynaia said and leaned on the table. "You were not there when the droids crashed in the bay, correct?"

"That's right." Nova frowned at the containment unit. "Is that what the droids brought in?"

"Yes." Miss Zynaia turned her gaze to it. "It was attached between the droids. We have yet to regain contact with the scout. We are also trying to determine its origins."

The door behind her slid open, and when Nova turned, Neo stood there with his datascroll in hand. Miss Zynaia smiled at him. "Ah, Mr. Teimea. Do you have the report from the Medtower?"

Nova caught his steel gaze. He sighed through his nose and approached them. "Yes," he said and passed the datascroll to her. "It's as we suspected." He studied her, but returned his attention in full to Zynaia. "Most of the doctors confirmed that the damage caused was not consistent with an emergency crash landing. There were several tests done on the blood and compared with the anomalous liquid inside the droids," he said without hesitation or falter. "As for the single fatality, we were unable to find the debris which caused the blow. But it also doesn't make sense that there weren't any other injuries onsite."

"What?" Nova rasped.

Neo went on as if he hadn't heard her, cold and consistent, "I don't think debris has a habit of just walking away, so something else had to have caused the accident. It was not the direct action of the droids or the landing sequence. Whatever happened, it was out of anyone's control." He set his hands back at his sides. "So, shall we start, Miss Zynaia?"

"Yes, you may proceed with the preliminary test. Thank you for bringing me this."

Nova blinked when Neo trembled in his customary excitement when given reign to conduct tests, though hidden underneath a shield of calculating grace. He tipped his head at her, heading into the decontamination unit to join the scientists at the terminals around the containment unit.

Neo? Nova turned back to the anomaly to observe the next moments as Neo entered the room, past the terminals and to the stage of the anomaly.

"Can you hear me, Teimea?" Miss Zynaia asked with her hand on a button.

"I can," he replied and drew closer to the containment field and it echoed his footsteps. He came to another stop. "It was first brought in with noticeable burning on the gyro." Neo pointed at it as Miss Zynaia wrote stuff down, and left her to sit in the chair. "It appears to be hieroglyphs, though of what we are unable to determine at this time. It appears to be some sort of ancient Xel'nod from my previous cross-referencing..." He brought his cheek into his hand.

"Very well. Open it," Miss Zynaia ordered.

Nova choked on air when the gyro spun and slipped into its own puzzle. It released a pressure of air, but the metallic sphere never gave the scientists their answer. Miss Zynaia eyed Neo. "Any change?"

It rang with a heartbeat.

Neo tipped his head at one of the closest terminals, where the graphs spiked in consistent waves. "These readings are consistent with a lifeform," he responded.

"Organic anomaly?" one of the scientists as the desk asked. "Is the new kid certain about that?"

Nova dug her fingers into her pants and listened when her heartbeat matched the pace of the one on the other side of the glass.

"There's certainly a pressure coming off of it," Neo said. "I don't see a way to open the sphere." He crept closer to the smaller holographic image in front of him. "There is no writing on its surface either."

An alarm beeped with the pulse of crimson along the surface of the sphere, cracking through the metal and screaming with the distress signal. Nova rubbed her ears out of her nightmare, but frowned when Neo went silent, brushing the heel of his palm against his temple. It pounded in her throat, straight to her chest with a fearful quickness.

"Are you alright, Mr. Teimea?" Miss Zynaia checked.

"I'm okay," he confirmed and set his hand back on his side. "More than likely there is something inside the sphere which suppresses the worst of the pressure," he explained and took out his codex to write something down. "I think it best we study the hieroglyphs before attempting to open the sphere. It may tell us more of what's inside." Neo twisted back, an almost familiar smile crawling along his lips. "As such, the best comparison to make about the anomaly is that it is a double-layered chrysalis."

Everyone within the observatory relaxed in unison, but nothing about Neo's words served to assure her. Her legs quaked with the heartbeat's power. It pulsed against her breath, where the distress signal haunted her and reminded her of the crimson symphony between the stars. Neo's gaze fell to his feet, an unspoken thought as he turned back to face the metallic heart.

The alarm intensified with the next crimson pulse.

Nova gasped when the station lurched, her last sight of Neo before her chair tossed her to the floor was his own stumbling to catch himself. Miss Zynaia grabbed the table, hitting another button.

"Admiral!" she snapped. "What happened?"

It fritzed.

Another scientist at the window to the outside gasped. "Miss! It's the nebula!"

Nova used the table to drag herself to her feet to check on Neo, who held onto a terminal and his head, so she investigated the scientists words. Her heart stopped when tendrils crawled along the space station in rainbow clouds. It gripped around the tram lines. It crawled into the outside engines, where it sputtered with its power. "What the fuck?" she whispered.

A soldier ran in from the corridor. "We're being dragged in! Our communications are down!"

Miss Zynaia blinked, then scowled. "Find a way to get in contact with the north sector and have the reactors at full throttle," she said. "Tell the Admiral at north command to shift our route back to Movium 1XH."

The soldier gave her a quick bow as the space station moaned on all sides and Miss Zynaia rushed back to the observatory terminal. "Is everyone alright in there?" she asked once more.

A chorus of affirmation responded, but she didn't hear Neo's voice among them. He continued to sit by the terminal he caught, resting his head against it with his back to her.

"Teimea?"

"I'm alright," he confirmed.

"Get out of there," Miss Zynaia instructed. "We're being pulled into the nebula."

In time with her words, every scientist by the anomaly lifted their heads. Neo crawled back onto his feet and peered at the screen.

"Observations can wait, Teimea," Miss Zynaia insisted. "Get back to the eastern quarters." Nova leaped when she turned to her. "You too, Miss Spacyn. I want everyone accounted for and to be out of the way of the Admiral's forces." In her rush, she ran full tilt into Neo in the decontamination unit. No words went between them as they hurried out of the anomaly labs.

"Oh, stars..." Nova stopped by another window out into space, as the jaws of the nebula lowered their gaseous clouds around them.

Neo frowned, but brought a hand to his temple. His previous excitement died with discomfort.

"Neo, are you alright?" she asked for the answer he'd give no one else.

"Just a headache," he admitted. "Come on, Nova. We need to get back to the eastern quarters before they shut down the place." He motioned for her to take the lead, but hesitation slammed into her knees at the uncertain answer. "We can talk once we're back there."

People rushed along the corridors. A fight and a half to reach the tram station, directed by several soldiers onto working ones before shutting it behind them. Interns scrambled back into their pods, and Neo closed the door of theirs as the alarms beeped and light died.

"We're being dragged in..." Nova tried to peek outside their window, frowning at the lack of response from the rotary engines. "By the nebula. I don't understand." Her heart hammered, but never echoed.

"Is it some gravitational force?" Neo questioned.

His voice woke her from the nightmare.

Nova stumbled to him and held onto his arms when he raised them. "Neo, they're not going to get those engines to start. They'd have to put the reactor into overdrive — and I know what happens when anomalous energy clashes with overclocked reactors." Her fingers dug into his bones, but he remained immovable. "Neo, something isn't adding up."

Neo's cold expression broke. "What do you mean?"

"Think about what you said," she explained. "Is that all the hazard team found around the droids?"

"Yes." He considered her, but then widened his eyes.

"They never found what killed that person, did they?" Nova held on tighter when the hues pulsed and intensified, reflected off metal.

Multi-coloured clouds wrapped around the window and shielded their sight from the certainty of the star-flecked void. "Was there anything you didn't mention to the head scientist?" she asked.

Neo mumbled, "I didn't really get a chance to finish my observations."

Nova came closer to him. "I heard it."

"You what?"

"I heard it," she insisted. "I heard its heartbeat."

Neo frowned at her. "Is that what you heard?"

Nova drew out of his arms. "You heard it too?"

Inside the wings of his butterfly necklace, the clouds grew along the glass tips. "No, not a heartbeat, but I started to hear some sort of oscillation while the nebula dragged us in." He leaned closer. "Humming."

... humming?

It expanded a star across the necklace, lost in the pulse of crimson as the nebula swallowed them all.