Nova led the way to central command with Neo on her heels, silent and unfocused in his steps and breathing. Izerva met them outside the transit station. "Admiral Mythrai is in a meeting in the communications center," they signed and flicked their tail. "I'm to bring you straight to them to explain the situation in the droid bay. It went down at the same time we received several reports of aggression in Habitation."

Nova waited for Neo to pipe up, but he never spoke, so she took charge instead, "What of the personnel? Is Ulin there?"

"Programmer Ulin is safely in the medical tower."

"Why are they there?"

Neo jolted back to life. "Speaking of which, Nova was attacked... by Thuni." He cringed at the words which left his mouth next, "I... I had to—I had to neutralize him." Each word came out shaken and choked. "I would really like to request a doctor to take a look at Nova to make sure there are no internal injuries.

"You aren't going to relax until I get checked, are you?" Nova questioned.

He smiled, a pale reflection of before. The Neo before the death he'd never remember — stained in the shadow of death. "I'll rest easier if you let them take a peek. You shouldn't mess around with strangulation injuries. Or any injury, for that matter."

Nova shrugged while Izerva ushered them onto the transit, their rifle locked and loaded. Their ears flicked in different directions, and Nova sat down with Neo. Exhaustion weighed her into the seat and embers danced in her throat.

"I'll explain the situation to the senior research team and Admiral Mythrai," Neo said, and Nova leaned on his shoulder to support, and for her own support. "Can you-can you tell Ulin I'm... I'm sorry that we couldn't save Thuni." He dug his fingers into his knees and gazed into space.

Izerva huffed and signed with a tilt of their head, "Thuni was another struck with aggression?" With a large whoosh of their tail, they released a sigh through their nose. "He is not the only casualty, Scientist Neo." Their ears flattened against their head. "Admiral Mythrai wanted to talk them down or suppress them. Neither worked."

Neo's shoulders sagged. "How many?"

Nova rubbed his back.

Izerva replied, "I am not sure. The Admiral lost many trained personnel trying to reign in the aggression without resorting to violence in turn."

Neo groaned into his hands. "Nova?"

"Yeah?"

Neo rubbed his nose and closed his eyes. "Why... why do I feel like this is my fault?"

"How could it be your fault?"

Neo trembled against her. "I just feel like it is. That this wouldn't be happening if I..." He faltered. "I don't know."

If I've learned anything from this its the fault of the IAR for sending us out to find the D.S Butterfly without explanation of what they were looking for in the first place. Everything has a consequence, a line of dominos. Nova wrapped her arm around his. Isn't that the theory of the universe's chaos? Everything can change with the softest wingbeat of a butterfly across the seas. It's hard to pin blame when so many little things led to this. Do I blame the IAR? Do I blame this on Neo getting picked for the internship?

... Do I really blame him for wanting an answer to the question he's had since the disappearance of the D.S Butterfly?

The transit beeped for their arrival, and Izerva escorted them through armed personnel.

"Take her to the medbay," Neo told Izerva, then nodded at her. "I'll check on you once the meeting is over — or you'll be released and can join in." He shrugged, a weight running across his lithe frame. "I'll see you."

"Don't get into—"

"Trouble?" Neo finished with a weary, questioning smile, barely lighting up his face. "I won't, not without you there at least." He retreated down the corridor and disappeared into the anomaly laboratories.

Izerva narrowed their eyes at his departure.

"What is it?" Nova asked.

Izerva's tail gave the tiniest twitch at the end. "Scientist Neo carries many burdens that he lifts with a smile, but this is the first time I have seen him so crushed by it."

Nova rubbed her guilty throat. "I think he's still processing what he had to do to Thuni. I'd be dead if it wasn't for him."

"Heavier is the weapon in the hands of one who seeks peace, forced to violence to protect who they love."

Nova shuffled along with Izerva to the medical tower, tucked through heavy reinforcements of the defensive platforms. "He was always like that," she whispered. "I've always appreciated that about him. We're surrounded by cosmic anomalies we sometimes use as power sources. Some of them turned into weaponry." Nova stopped at the medical reception. "He always believed that a scientist should seek to discover the universe, to better the lives of those within it — not to ruin them or take them."

"Scientist Neo holds the wisdom of several lifetimes," Izerva observed.

You have no idea how many times he's lived and died... it wouldn't be a stretch to say maybe he has lived several lifetimes.

Doctors bustled around when they entered. Izerva nudged her with a nod. One doctor shuffled over to take her. "What's the problem?" they asked, not unkind.

Izerva signed, "Victim of another aggressive attack."

"I was... nearly strangled," she forced out her admittance.

"I shall check your throat." The doctor nudged her into an examination room, and Izerva disappeared down the corridor outside. Nova tried to distract herself, but winced when they checked it. "How's your breathing?"

"It's fine, just a little sore. Is Ulin here?"

"They are in Room A-10," the doctor replied with a curious frown. "You're a part of their team, right? If you wish to talk to them, you may."

Medication in her hands, Nova stayed out of the way of scrambling doctors and nurses. Izerva waved her down, then pointed at the door leading into Room A-10. "Ulin?" Nova asked the shape sitting cross-legged on the bed, and sighed in relief when Izerva closed the door behind her.

Ulin jumped. "Spacyn!" they exclaimed, but held their side, and she frowned at the bandages wrapping around their chest and arms. "I must look like a mess, but I'm better off than some of the people in here who got dragged in with me." They shuddered. "I can't believe it. I should've stayed in the droid bay with Thuni, but I guess he hasn't arrived yet."

Nova readied herself and sat down in the chair beside them. "I'm not sure that would've been any better. I went to the droid bay during the lockdown." Bag between her feet, she tugged out the golden core to rest it in her lap. "I managed to get this."

Ulin frowned at it. "What? What makes you say that?" They hesitated. "Why are you here, Spacyn? You look banged up yourself."

"You might want to lie back down for this."

Ulin followed her instruction, though continued to wait in expectation. Nova chewed her lip, then pushed forward for Neo, "I went to the droid bay to check on Thuni and to ask about the core," she said a half-truth, and forced herself through the crimson webs of her failed words. "He attacked me. He wasn't himself, Ulin, and... I think he was already dead." Waiting for the first sign of pani, Ulin frowned, but never made any outward reaction. "I would've died if Neo hadn't—hadn't shot him. I'm sorry, Ulin."

"Fuck," they rasped and rested their arm against their brow. "I knew I should've convinced him to come with me, but I should've known there was something off about him after the briefing. He started acting weird when you and Teimea left."

"What do you mean?"

"He had this dogged insistence at getting our core and taking a look at it, but he wouldn't explain why," Ulin explained. "It was terrifying how focused he was on it — like nothing else around him mattered. 'I need to make sense of this', those were the last words he said to me."

I've let this happen, and forced Neo into a horrible position. Nova held the core close. "There's something going on in this station that's controlling and killing people. I think I can use your core to prevent more deaths."

Ulin gazed at her. "You say that like you've been through this before. Thuni had the exact same tone."

Nova frowned and tested the words she wanted to scream on her tongue. "I'm just good at guessing," she lied, stuck in a field of starry butterflies. "Ulin, whatever you take from this, don't blame Neo. It's my fault."

"I'm not blaming anyone. I was there during the western attack," Ulin pointed out. "... damn you, Horizol."

Stars damn you, Neo.

"I hope we can get this sorted out." Nova put the core back in the bag. Ideas bounced in her temples when she followed Izerva out of the medtower. I think maybe if I can reflect the energy output and capture a single point of resonance between the core and the anomaly, maybe... It would take a powercell capable of holding that much energy in the first place, even for a small amount of time. A ticking time bomb. Lots of things that could go wrong. Nova chewed on the end. I have a plan, and this time, I know how to explain it.

"—I'm not going to send any more of my people to their deaths," Admiral Mythrai growled on the other side, and she walked with Izerva into the communications ground level. Neo stood off to the side, lost in the distance. "Our best course of action is to find the source of the aggression." His tail whipped in one stiff motion. "We've picked up readings of an anomalous breach and centered on our current position. We have no means of communicating with the IAR."

It's baiting, but this time, it's different.

"I might have an idea," Nova spoke up, and she held herself strong when everyone turned to her. "It might be dangerous and I'd have to activate it manually." She dropped the golden core on the table. "I went to the droid bay and was attacked by the anomalous force masquerading as Thuni Horizol," she explained. "I think we can match the anomaly's oscillation to make a bomb on the same frequency."

Ms Zynaia tipped her head, but Admiral Mythrai narrowed his eyes. "Are you certain that's possible, Spacyn?"

"I'll need a back-up reactor cell," she went on. "Two, along with any samples of the anomaly we picked up. I just need cover while I set it up." Nova met Admiral Mythrai's unblinking stare and steadied herself on her feet, certain of her plan. "I'm not in the position to ask you and your personnel to risk your lives anymore. We need to set up this bomb in Habitation. It might be our best chance to neutralize the breach."

Before we loop again.

Admiral Mythrai opened his mouth, but Miss Zynaia mused, "What is our warp charge at?"

"We have an hour until full charge," a communications officer piped up.

"I see." Miss Zynaia went silent, then gazed at her. "You understand the risks of this?"

"I do, as long as you keep the anomaly safe."

And keep him safe.

Both Neo and Admiral Mythrai stared at her in utter disbelief. "It is one thing to ask myself and my personnel to get in the line of fire," Admiral Mythrai growled. "It is quite another to ask an intern to put themselves in danger." He eyed Miss Zynaia, who refused to look at them. "If you saw what was going on in the western facilities, you would not be so ready to let an engineering intern do something like this."

"I know what I'm doing," Nova said before someone silenced her, over and over again. "I know it's a lot to ask, but I know how to do this. If all goes to plan, I might get clear of the blast." Although I doubt it. "If you won't let me, I'll go anyway. I have seen what's happening in the space station. I came here to learn, yes, but we are all in danger."

Admiral Mythrai's scales shivered as he eyed Miss Zynaia and another scientist. "This was supposed to be an outer bounds collection," he hissed through his nose. "We should've turned back the moment we had readings of the nebula pulling us in."

"We had our orders from the IAR, you think they would've let us turn back?" Zynaia asked with a pained, but wry smile. "I'm afraid once they've lost contact with us, they assumed we shared the same fate as the D.S Butterfly, which would've told them all they needed to know."

Neo froze in shattered ideals, and he lifted his head. "What?" He stepped closer. "Why would they have sent us if they thought this would happen?"

Miss Zynaia frowned at him. "When they first sent the D.S Butterfly to set up a research point at the Ushavex nebula, it was Mx. Orili who argued against a full ram of the wall. They were one of the greatest minds for anomalies, but I doubt even they could've guessed what this would turn out to be. I was there when we lost contact with the D.S Butterfly, leaving only their distress beacon."

Admiral Mythrai straightened out. "I wasn't told this."

"None of us were," Miss Zynaia whispered. "We had the intention of staying outside the boundary, but I doubt the IAR will complain if we were to find ourselves on the same path. I'm just theorising on that part."

Time stopped with a broken heart.

"None of that matters right now," Nova snapped. "If we're going to get out of here, you have to let me try. The energy output will not affect the integrity of the station. I cannot say the same for biological matter, but whatever this anomaly is, it's a lifeform. It will be affected."

Words left to the air of responsibility, Miss Zynaia frowned. "Researcher Teimea, take her to the storage room and see she gets everything she needs."

"I..." Nova heard the argument growing on his tongue, but he motioned for her to follow. His silence screamed with the heaviness of a thousand words as they reached the anomalous labs. He opened a storage hold with his keypass.

"Neo?"

He said nothing when the door opened, so Nova headed among the stacks to check compartments.

The door clicked closed, and she twisted back to him.

Emptiness filled the greys, but he frowned and glared at her. "I don't like this idea."

"It's the only one I have." Nova shoved several capacitors to the side. "You saw what was on that terminal." Over a small lift, she stopped when Neo stopped her from heading deeper into the storage. "Neo."

"Did you not hear what they said?" Neo asked, shrill. "Someone inside the IAR knew this would happen! Besides, what you're suggesting is that we create an energy force that is the equivalent of an unclassed anomaly." He threw his arms up. "Nova, that's not 'just a bomb'. That will vaporize you." He shook his head. "And you intend to be there when it happens, and for what?"

"I don't care about what the IAR intended," Nova grumbled through layered rage. "We're here now, but I'm not going to go quietly like the D.S Butterfly. I have to make sure this goes off." She shoved past him to grab what she needed. "It'll be fine."

"Nova, this is anything but fine!" Neo snapped. "You have no idea what you're planning to do, are you? Do you have any idea what you're up against?"

"Better than you do," she threw at him and grabbed two empty cores. Items in hand, she inserted the modules. "I have to do this, Neo."

"You don't know what this will do," he argued. "You don't even know if this will work."

Nova slapped the sides of the core. "So, it's only okay if you do it?"

"I didn't say that."

"Well, I don't care whoever intended what," she hissed and tried not to drown in anger. "I don't care if they knew how this would turn out, or made the most random guess in the universe. Whether they have some information on the nebula or don't. I don't care. I deal in absolutes." Nova huffed. "I'm here now, and it's better if I do this."

"You must've missed the part where I said you'll get vaporized!" Neo snapped, cold as ice, and Nova jumped. "I know what happens when you mess with the resonance of anomalies. People burst into atoms, or spaghettified. Or just blown up into a million pieces that there's nothing left of them. Or worse, assimilated with the anomaly." Neo came close and grasped her wrists. "You'll die in all the ways that matter."

Nova lost herself in the loops she failed. "It's better me than you," she whispered. "I can't keep failing you over and over again."

It fell silent with her truth, and she returned to her bomb.

"Again?"

Nova found no tears inside her. "I've had this conversation before," she said. "I'm the one constant in whatever is happening to time and space here. So, just maybe, what needs to change is me." Nova checked the modules.

"What are you talking about?" he whispered.

I believe you.

And she tried again.

"We have done this before, Neo," she explained. "We're in a time loop. It started the moment you touched the anomaly... but I think this was inevitable the moment the nebula pulled us in. For some reason, I'm remembering... but I don't think I'm the only one. Everything is connected to this anomaly, Neo... which means it might be connected to you because you touched it," she pointed out. "I think... that might be why it attacks you on sight, but... it refuses to hurt me. Either way, I need to change this. I need to take out the original breach."

As for the second one...

Neo stared at her. Grey stars filled the pupils and showed the teeth of a black hole.

Nova heaved the device into her arms. "You can take that as you will, though. I've told you in another loop, but I'm going to break it here."

As she headed for the end, Neo stepped in front of her. "By you dying? You don't even know what'll happen."

Nova released an agitated huff. "It's not just that. I'm running out of ideas on how to deal with the only other constant in the loop." Tears broke the surface, but she found herself empty of feeling. "I don't want to die, Neo... but more than anything, I don't want you to die. I have watched as you shielded me from death, only to die in my arms. I've watched as you tried to keep someone from killing me, only to die yourself in the attempt. I have watched you drown in your own blood, and I... I stood back with a chance to save you, but I couldn't as Thuni made it easier for... for the other breach to kill you in the process of attacking the original creature."

Neo went silent with wide eyes.

Nova bit down on pain. "I'm willing to take the risk. I might not know what will happen, but I have to try."

"I'm not dead," he bit. "You don't have to risk yourself for something that hasn't even happened yet."

"You will be if I don't do something," Nova whispered. "We're running out of time, and I won't argue this. I'm sorry. The only thing I know now for certain is how this plays out — and I got to make sure it doesn't." Past the boundary of her life, she walked into the event horizon of the black hole.

Neo didn't follow her.