"I begin to see a pattern."

Eden's voice was humorous and took some of the tension within the group. Hongjoong gave him a distorted smile as he helped Jongho heave one of the crates with equipment onto a shelf. The fellow biologist dusted his hands off as he went to fetch another one. He passed Seonghwa in the doorframe and gave him a little pat on the shoulder as he squeezed past him.

"Seonghwa at least got back onto his feet pretty quickly. And we fixed San."

"At least no Reaper was involved this time." Eden watched the exchange between Seonghwa and Hongjoong as the android wrapped his arms around the smaller male carefully. He left a faint kiss on the man's cheeks before returning to his work. He was back to full functionality without any issues, and Hongjoong had been endlessly relieved to see him rise like always two days after the incident with Seungyoun.

"I'm glad things went smoothly. Even if I still can't believe how the situation turned out." He nodded at Hongjoong to follow him as he wandered back out onto the bridge. The ship he had come with was rather small and only had four more people on board apart from him. They had been quick in helping the team collect their belongings. Two of their androids were still out at the moment to fetch the other group of scientists that worked in Sector Zero. They would take off in the afternoon and return to their space station within the next days.

Hongjoong took a seat opposite of Eden at a little coffee table tucked in the corner of the bridge when they had arrived. Both of them had brought their mugs and sipped on their respective hot beverages quietly for a moment.

"So, tell me what happened with Seungyoun. I dug around for information, but couldn't find much. His success as a kid blinded the need to ask about his person."

Hongjoong leaned back as he warmed his hands on his mug.

"I told you that he tried to revive the Frozen Leviathan, right? I'm still not sure if it will be possible for him, but he did it as a biologist. He argued that this planet was not for humans to overtake, and God forbid me as I say this, but he's right. We don't belong here."

Eden took another sip without taking his eyes off Hongjoong. His dark hair fell into his eyes distractingly.

"Yeah, you mentioned that. But well, that won't fulfil his wish. Of course, humans use up all of the resources around them and destroy their environment. But that is what we are searching for. We need planets to sustain us. And from what I have heard, the immense danger on 4546B is the only issue with it after we have defeated the virus. A danger that can be resolved with weapons and machines."

Hongjoong narrowed his eyes at him, waiting. He could hear Jongho and Wooyoung laughing somewhere, and the tapping of Seonghwa's footsteps as he stayed somewhere close to Hongjoong inside the ship and worked there. The pattern of his steps was familiar to Hongjoong's ears.

"Don't get me wrong; I understand your point. I also get what Seungyoun was trying to do. But this is what the solution will look like for the government. Your word does not weigh a whole planet and its resources." Eden tapped his fingers on his mug, his eyes stern. He had accepted their call for mission abort easily, but now he needed a good explanation of why.

"But would he, theoretically speaking, be able to wake the beast? And would it make a difference?"

"You tell me. You are the expert."

Hongjoong pondered it for a second. Freezing living organisms and waking them up decades or even centuries later had been a technique they had used since forever. He didn't doubt that it would be possible, depending on how the creature had died and how well it had been preserved. In the leviathan's case, it was extremely well, if not for the virus that seemed to have frozen, too.

"He probably can. If he is still out there, that is."

Eden scratched his head. He looked like an exhausted old man with the deep bags underneath his eyes, but Hongjoong knew that he would work hard for their case. They all would.

"Look, Alterra will be thankful for the news that he might be dead. But since the beast is not roaming free, I'm afraid they won't cease their first tries to settle here. You will not go back and finish what he has started. That will get you life in jail."

Hongjoong hastily shook his head. In the distance, curses got loud after some crash.

"I won't. I don't live or die for this planet, and I won't touch that thing. I get what you mean, though. But I will say this apart from Seungyoun: it is in my own interest to give an honest update. They shouldn't go there. I hated living there with the knowledge of that thing being nearby, dead or not."

Eden hummed before emptying the rest of his coffee by dramatically throwing his head back. Hongjoong chuckled at him when the man pushed his messy hair back and then rose, leaving the cup behind.

"I won't mention Seungyoun towards my higher-ups. I will tell them your honest opinion on the matter and see how they react. If that boy is still alive down there somewhere, though, he might as well be the danger they should fear. He let you go, but I don't think he will let off anyone after you."

With that, Eden gave a nod in greeting and wandered off while mumbling to himself. Hongjoong stayed behind to nurse his drink.

The team finished with their tasks soon. It didn't take much time given that they took only a few parts of the equipment and their personal items with them. So when Seonghwa walked in to sit down opposite of Hongjoong, the human gave him a knowing little smile.

"How did the talk with Eden go?" Seonghwa sunk on his chair elegantly and crossed his long legs next to the table. With a sigh, Hongjoong turned towards him and let his feet jiggle against Seonghwa's. The man mindlessly copied the gesture.

"Good, but not as good as I hoped. As good as it could be, though. We will go home, and he will tell them our opinion."

"But they will be egoistic and power-hungry and try anyway." Seonghwa finished with a blank face. Hongjoong gave a tired nod.

"Yep. I kinda hope they build something in the Arctic Spires and a certain wormy friend just drills a huge melting hole in it."

They giggled for a moment to cope with the horrible memory. Then, Seonghwa quickly changed the topic to a more serious one.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't awake to check on Seungyoun's vitals, Hongjoong. I know you would have liked to know him safe, but..."

With a bright smile, Hongjoong reached over the table to take one of Seonghwa's hands in his. The android held onto his fingers softly, his skin warm.

"It's fine. You worked hard that day, and I'm glad you are okay now. You did your best; we are not responsible for him."

Seonghwa smiled crookedly and looking sorry still, but he dropped the gloomy facade soon after. Instead, he nodded down the bridge.

"Do you want to say bye to Yunho and Mingi? I think this time a regular goodbye is appropriate."

Laughing, Hongjoong rose in his chair and brought his and Eden's mugs over to the machine to get them cleaned. After the robot had accepted them, he slung his arm around Seonghwa's to walk down the corridor together with him.

"This time, we actually have the opportunity. Man, I'm glad they are going back. I don't want to play favourites, but I think I prefer the leviathans over there."

"They are more used to them anyway. Out of the four currently known and alive leviathan class species in the Crater, two are peaceful. It's only the Reapers and Ghost Leviathans that endanger them. And even those ignore them for most of the time since they have derived from an even bigger leviathan."

Hongjoong shuddered as they made their way past the medbay where Wooyoung was chatting with San, who was still bound to the bed until they had more spare pieces to build him back together with. They rounded the corner to the storage area where Yunho and Mingi had their little tank.

"Better than in Sector Zero with five species, one of them frozen, but only one passive."

"Oh, there is another passive one that we met on our way to Delta Island back then. Glow Whales. They are big enough to classify as leviathans, but just like our whales, they are peaceful and even offered us a ride. I wished you would have seen them."

"Glad they lifted the bar. Still, four is better than six."

"Affirmative." They caught up to the tank where Salty, Waddles, Yunho, and Mingi were swimming around and playing with each other like the best of friends. Upon their approach, Yunho turned towards them first and pressed his body up against the glass.

"Hey, guys! Salty really sounds as if she wants to stay with you two, are you sure you want to send her back?"

Hongjoong threw the expressionless fish an apologetic smile. Waddles looked at her as if he wanted to eat her.

"Yeah. Honestly, I would like to leave everything that reminds me of this damn planet behind, but since Seonghwa already convinced me of keeping Waddles, we have our hands full."

"That's fine; we can be her friends. I really don't know how to keep a penguin as a pet, though, so good luck with that, Hongjoong." Mingi joined the conversation with a lazy grin as he leaned against the glass, too. Waddles and Salty swam circles around each other in the back.

"Thanks for looking after her, it means a lot." Hongjoong leaned into Seonghwa as the man pulled him closer around his hip. He rested comfortably against his lover, making the two men in the tank coo.

"Ah, by the way, did San mention what happened to Yohan? We were curious, but he never came around to tell us."

"According to San, he fled before he could hold him back. The poor man had no idea why he was being attacked in the first place anyway." Hongjoong shook his head, trying not to imagine getting attacked by a beast he counted as a friend.

But then again, the same had happened between him and Mingi once, too.

"What a bummer. He was a good guy. A terrible pet, sure, but a good friend nonetheless."

"If you're Seungyoun, yeah."

Hongjoong and Yunho eyed each other warily. Then, they both broke out in laughter.

"So, this is the final goodbye then, huh? It's sad seeing you guys go."

"Well, it's nothing we could stall for much longer. If they ask me one more time to come back here, I'll retire." Hongjoong pouted against Seonghwa's shoulder as the group laughed heartily.

"Well, you have someone at home who is worth staying with, that means a lot already. If you do ever swing by, though, let us know. We can meet," Mingi offered with gleaming eyes, making Hongjoong stick his tongue out at him.

"No way. I'll be with Seonghwa. Maybe I can send some drone over and record a message, though. That would be nice. I will ask Yeosang about it."

"Good idea."

Seonghwa quietly raised his voice, his expression gentle.

"I also hope that Alterra won't bother you with their further disruptions. The people that will come there in the future will probably be less agreeable than we are."

Yunho barked a laugh.

"Well, free lunch, then! Just kidding." He smirked at their shocked faces. "We will keep our distance. From how it seems, they are more interested in Sector Zero anyway. The climate is horrible, but they have more space to build there. Well, and the Crater is still a graveyard."

"Weird, imagine coming here for the holidays and one day you swim past this ship full of corpses." Mingi shuddered, immediately getting slapped against the scaly chest by Yunho.

At peace, they all looked each other up and down again.

"Well, it's goodbye then. We will get the others, and then we will drop you off soon to return to known waters, alright?"

The mutants grinned brightly at them.

"Yes, please. Can't wait to eat our own Peepers again for lunch."

"They taste way better than the Arctic ones."

Hongjoong agreed. They weren't wrong.