─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

SEASON 3 EPISODE 3

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

System: Volii

Faction: Freestar Collective

Planet: Volii Alpha

Place: Neon

☆☆☆

Jimin

"The three girls lived happily ever after. The end."

Jimin shut the fairy tale book named The Tale of the Unicorns and rested it on Cora's nightstand, but when he went to get up, she huffed and pouted like a baby as she curled up on his chest.

Cora's room on the ship was across from Sam's, and the doors to both quarters stayed open so Sam had clear view of them. Sam had headphones on and his cowboy hat off to show his messy blonde locks. Like Jimin's, they had gotten longer. Sam's room had a chestnut color scheme. Meanwhile, Cora's space had beige walls, which seemed cruel for a kid's room, but she made up for it by doodling on the walls. Each one had more color than the flashiest clubs on Neon.

"Kid, I promised one bedtime story. We're on number five. How many more do you want?" Jimin asked, and she closed her eyes as she rested on him.

"Twenty."

"Cora, that's-"

"Million."

He couldn't help but chuckle at that. Her frizzy hair rubbed against his neck, the neck holding Hoseok's scarf. As much as Cora was warm and a sweet kid, he needed to sleep in his room with his wife's Vanguard jacket tied around him. It was the last thing of hers he had that still smelled like strawberries.

Their cat, Marbles, trotted in and jumped on the bed with them. It was common occurrence for the young cat to go wherever Jimin was. She nuzzled up on his left calf and rubbed her head against his pants.

Cora whacked his chest. "See? Marbles wants you to stay."

"No, Marbles wants food and attention. You want me to stay."

She peeked up at him and frowned. "Will you?"

He gazed at her pouty face and puppy eyes. In a way, they resembled his. His whenever he had wanted his wife to stay five more minutes instead of going on a Vanguard mission. His whenever he had asked his wife for an extra bowl of cereal. His whenever his wife had held him and guided his head on her soft chest.

Uttering a squeak of an apology, he shifted his body away. Cora whined, but he ignored her to instead launch himself out of the area. Sam, who sat in his room with a sniper magazine in his grasp, glanced up. Jimin hesitated as he passed by, but Sam nodded. Jimin returned the gesture and stomped his way to his bedroom, slamming the door as soon as he got there.

Blurred lines filled his vision. Tears stabbed at the corners of his eyelids, and snot clogged his burning nostrils. His clammy hands grabbed at the fabric of his scarf and pulled and pulled and pulled, but no results came. Delgado didn't return. Hoseok didn't.

Y/n didn't.

He collapsed on his bed that had her Vanguard jacket as his pillow. No sobs came; hiccups erupted inside him, but no tears passed his pupils. All he felt was the rumble of his shriveled lungs and the sniffle from his stuffed nose. He slathered mucus across the sleeve of the jacket and didn't care. It wasn't like he washed it anyway, so no point worrying about how dirty it got.

The same applied to the scarf. It flapped in his face thanks to the awkward position he sat in. It didn't help that the AC had been repaired a week ago, so it was on full blast to combat the insulated metal walls. Said insulation caused no noise to travel between the quarters. Not long before Y/n had gone missing, he had reinforced the walls so they could have adult time together, but it didn't matter anymore. With the newfound thickness of the cage surrounding him, it made it so he couldn't hear his crew—Sarah, Barrett, Sam, no one. No one spoke to him. No one showed any signs of life-

Knock knock knock

Without replying, he got up and hid the jacket under his blanket. He knew his cheeks were rosy and his eyes puffy, but no moisture stained his face to show any signs of weakness. He patted himself down to ensure no dust stayed on him. By the time he finished, he cleared his throat and stood. Right in time for Jeon Jungkook to enter.

The taller male remained in the doorway with his metal arm shining in the dim light. Jimin scanned over every nook and cranny the prosthetic offered. Around the elbow waited a crack from when the boy had slammed his new limb into a corner by accident. That was in the beginning, back when he had been getting used to the strength and speed of it.

A million sentences flicked over the tip of Jimin's tongue. His mouth opened to scream them, maybe even cry them, but a weak, "Is there a problem?" came out instead.

"Someone's hailing us, claiming they want to speak to the captain."

Like normal, Jungkook's voice fired out at the speed of light to the point where it took Jimin several seconds to process them. When he did, he acknowledged them by strolling by the ex-SysDef officer. Before he could exit, Jungkook gripped his shoulder to hold him in place. As always, he used his metal arm.

Jungkook lowered his voice to a whisper. "You wanna talk about it yet?"

That time, Jimin didn't bother ripping himself out of Jungkook's grasp. He didn't speak and allowed the creak of the air conditioner to bounce around them. It dialed down a beat later, and Jimin met Jungkook's eyes.

"No."

He slipped by him after saying that, then diverted his attention to the cockpit that shined a dark crimson. The repaired VASCO with golden patches over his lanky limbs greeted him, and Jimin returned the sentiments as he hopped inside the space. The comm panel glowed to show they had received a hail. He plopped in the pilot's seat and clicked on it with the heel of his boot before settling his feet on the dashboard.

"Captain Park speaking. Who is this and what's your business here?"

"Here" wasn't a fantastic word to use considering they were floating in the orbit of Volii Omega, one of the planets in the Volii system close enough to Volii Alpha, where Neon was. Jimin and his crew didn't own the place, the Freestar did. Granted, no Freestar patrols bothered going out that far, hence why Jimin parked them there, but still. Wasn't Jimin's territory, it was Freestar's.

"I apologize for intruding," a female voice said. She had to be in her sixties based on the scratchiness of her words. Or maybe that was comm interference; it wasn't like he was on top of comm repairs. "I'm making another run out of New Atlantis, taking Universals out in the stars."

Oh. It was a Universal transport ship.

Jimin placed his feet back on the ground and leaned forward, sweat forming on his forehead. "New Atlantis? What are UC dogs doing out here?"

"Universals are growing in the Freestar, Captain Park. We're here to recruit, but don't worry, that's not why I hailed you. We're here to get closer to God and appreciate the galaxy and all its majesty. We're going around gathering information from strangers, Universal or not, but preferably not. That's where you come in. Have you ever felt something spiritual while traveling the stars? I've jumped dozen of times, and I don't know if I've had the revelation Keeper Aquilus describes."

He tightened his grip on the sides of the panel and gazed out at the stars. The orbs of light sprinkled the otherwise dark horizon, and there he spotted the Universal ship. It had strong engines but no weapons matched with shields so dominant they had a navy blue hue covering the gray exterior. A Universal symbol hid under the right engine. Identical to the one on Y/n's jacket.

If she were there, or even if Matteo were there, they'd spew religious nonsense about God waiting for them in the shadows. Maybe not in the shadows, but somewhere. A spiritual awakening was in plain sight, and it was up to them to peel away the layers and find what was underneath. Jimin couldn't. That wasn't his job. Yet, as the Universal ship awaited his answer, Matteo and Y/n didn't show up to speak with them.

The responsibility fell on Jimin.

"I don't believe in that stuff," he said, glancing at the black horizon and taking in the sights. Volii Omega had a rocky texture and was the size of Pluto. Some Freestar considered it a planet, others waved it off as a dwarf and called it a day. Seeing as he wasn't a scientist, Jimin didn't have an opinion on the controversy. Neon street rats had other things to worry about.

"Oh, I see. Thank you for your time."

Despite the concluding statement, the woman didn't shut off the hail. He heard the chatter behind her, but no specific sentences reached his ears. The voices sounded cheerful. Peaceful. Kind. All traits Y/n had. As he sat there with his gaze focusing on the stars, he sighed, rubbed his head, and banged his gloved hand down over the comm button to speak.

"But that doesn't mean I haven't felt anything out here."

The single sentence caused the background noise to freeze. All at once, Jimin had the full attention of the Universal ship, including the woman he had engaged with a minute prior. She pleaded with him to continue, and he cleared his throat and tugged on his scarf before doing so.

"There's something out there. Some greater power, I know it. I feel it. Every time I jump to a new world, something calls to me." He broke off and nibbled on his nails. Through the bites, he spoke. "I'm from Neon, y'know. That means I'm a terrible person who's done terrible things, but for some reason, this voice is keeping me alive. It tells me to keep going. I wish I knew why."

Silence followed, and Jimin found himself tearing up. All those hours of holding them back crumbled before his eyes, and moisture stained his cheeks as he slumped back in his seat and felt the cushions engulf him. He pulled his hand away from his mouth, yet his voice came out more garbled than when he had his nails between his teeth.

"I don't deserve it, but it believes in me anyway. There's something out there, and if you keep jumping, I know you'll find it."

You have to find it was what he didn't add. It had been well over a year since he had joined Constellation, yet no solutions presented themselves. That was why the words have to plagued him. He had to find Y/n. He had to find the voice in his head. He had to unlock the mysteries of the universe. If he didn't, he wouldn't know what to do. Without Y/n, his sole purpose was to help Constellation. Somehow, he had driven them further away, and he had a feeling that wouldn't change anytime soon.

"You sound... so sure," the woman said, her voice lighter than before. Like it had de-aged by twenty years, or like she had been freed from shackles for the first time in decades. "Thank you. I'm going to keep jumping, and if I find what I'm looking for, Captain Park will be the first to know."

The hail shut off, and Jimin watched the ship boot up its grav drive. The galaxy curved around the hull of the vehicle before it warped out of existence, leaving nothingness in its place.

He dropped his voice to a trembling whisper. "I'm holding you to that."

The luminance outside painted his face in a golden hue. Warmth flooded his cheeks and nose, and he closed his eyes to embrace it. Instead, it embraced him, wrapping its long arms around him and squeezing. He hoped it'd squeeze until his lungs lost all their air. At least that way he'd be with Y/n again. But no, he had made her a promise. A promise he never thought he'd have to fulfill. Not once did he imagine his future without her, yet there he sat, alone. No jokes came from the co-pilot's seat. No cute snickers, no delicate hums, no soft kisses on the cheek, no shared giggles every time they made eye contact—nothing. The cockpit was like space; an abyss where the nearest hope was thousands of miles away.

"You never told me that," Jungkook's voice said from behind him.

The ex-SysDef officer interrupted the quiet Jimin basked in. He strolled in and invaded the seat that belonged to Y/n. Well, if Jimin were technical, the pilot's seat belonged to Y/n, but any spot in the cockpit was hers. It was supposed to be, anyway.

After a beat, Jungkook cleared his throat. "You know that voice isn't the only one who believes in you, right?"

"Y/n believed in me."

Jungkook nodded once. Twice. "You ever gonna talk about it?"

Jimin clenched his jaw until his teeth slapped off one another and screamed at him to stop. The ringing of his teeth's nerves infected his numb mind. Despite the sound existing to him and not the rest of the world, he felt like Jungkook could hear every holler his mouth shot into his brain. If Jungkook noticed his hesitation, he didn't comment on it.

"No." Jimin coughed. Not because he wanted to, but because he felt he had to. "You wouldn't understand."

"I could try."

He tapped his finger against his cheek and didn't bother meeting Jungkook's eyes. "I'd rather burn Neon to the ground than talk about my feelings, Jungkook."

"Then burn it down and come talk to me after. You'd be doing them a favor."

He couldn't argue with that. Back during the Colony War, little Jimin would have loved for Neon to get blown up. For him to get blown up. It would've saved his sanity.

"No." Jimin clicked his tongue and wished he had gum, but he had forgotten it in his room. That left him with the tangy taste of his wet tongue. It had more moisture than his tears. "I appreciate you taking the world's biggest bullet for me with the arm, but it looks like you did it for nothing. I died that day anyway, so there's nothing to talk about."

Jungkook frowned and rested his metal hand over Jimin's gloved one. "She's alive, Jimin. I know she is, and we'll get her out. That's why you need to talk about it. It'll help. If you're like this when we find her, she'll-"

"Hate me?" Jimin interrupted, and Jungkook snapped his mouth shut at that. "She's gonna hate me anyway."

Jungkook retracted his hand. Despite it being metal, Jimin swore he saw the prosthetic tremble.

"Jimin..." Jungkook's voice fell into a chasm of cracks and stutters. Still, he managed to fire out his words as fast as he was known for. "What are you looking for on Neon?"

"I think you know."

"Then tell me I'm wrong. What are you looking for?"

Jimin shoved his fingers against his temple and felt the way his skin wrinkled up under the harsh touch. "The last functioning war mech. Ryujin has it."

"Jesus Christ. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I know." Jimin held up his hand to cut him off. "But it's either that or wait six more months for the microbe to work, and God dammit, I'm tired of crying myself to sleep at night. I'm tired of waking up without her. I'm tired of not watching her do little twirls in her alpaca pajamas and laughing when I smile. I..." He broke off as his lower lip quivered. "I miss her."

The words were so simple, maybe even basic and cliche, yet they summarized the past six months better than full monologues could.

"I know," Jungkook whispered, his voice hiccupping over the know. "That's why you need to talk to us. We're your family, we're here for you. Please, let us in, let us help you get Y/n back. We can solve it together."

Jimin ripped his teary eyes away from the horizon to instead stare at Jungkook. "And what do you suggest? We wait it out?"

"No." Jungkook paused to sigh. "But no mechs. If you rescue her with that thing, she'll never forgive you. You know that."

"I don't care. I'd rather her be alive and hate me than dead." Jimin chuckled with no humor in his tone. "Besides, you know she'd do the same for me. She'd build the damn mech herself if it meant saving me."

"Maybe that's true, but that doesn't mean you should go based off theories. You're our captain, Jimin. We want to help you, and look around at what you got. You have Sam Coe, an ex-Ranger with killer aim. Sarah Morgan, the smartest woman any of us know and an ex-military tactician. Barrett, an expert gunner and explorer who knows more about the Settled Systems than anyone else. Andreja, the stealth queen who can steal anything you need. Walter, who can buy all of Neon without making a dent in his bank account. Must I go on?"

Jimin snorted. "Sam's a father who shouldn't be dragged into this, Sarah is busy running Constellation, Barrett would rather make jokes than help me, Andreja's a fucking Va'ruun zealot, and Walter would rather shoot himself than talk to anyone for more than five minutes. Must I go on?"

Jungkook brought his brows together. "But... what do you mean Andreja's a Va'ruun zealot? She's a member of Constellation."

"She sounds like a snake, Jeon. What faction sounds like that other than House Va'ruun?"

Jimin had no clue what Andreja's intentions were, but based on her voice, personality, and loner work ethic, he knew she was a Va'ruun zealot. Whether or not she was evil was up for debate, but that didn't change the truth.

"She can't be. Why would House Va'ruun take interest in Constellation?"

Jimin rolled his eyes. "Gee, I don't know, maybe because we talk to magical alien sex toys and have a superpowered member?"

"Okay..." Jungkook huffed and leaned back in his chair. "Fair point, but that doesn't change that she'd help you. All of us would. I'll look into Andreja and get back to you, but in the meantime, sleep and talk to us when you're ready."

"So, never?"

Jungkook hesitated. "Just get some sleep. I'll handle it from here and wake you up for your interview."

Jimin obeyed. He departed the cockpit and stomped his way to his quarters, passing a quiet Barrett who stood by an also quiet VASCO. Sarah vacated to her personal space when Jimin strolled by, and he didn't bother asking why.

After getting past half his crew, he made it to his bedroom, hovering his finger over the button to open the door. He stood there, waiting as if that'd bring the answer he sought. Funny; he didn't know what answer he wanted, but he wanted it nonetheless.

The door didn't call to him. It didn't beg to be opened. His bed didn't plead with him to curl up under its covers and pass out. So, he backed away and sucked in a breath before swiveling on his feet and traversing the corridors. That time, he didn't bump into any crewmates. At least, not until the end, when he strolled by Sam's room to enter Cora's.

The young girl was awake and playing with the ends of her curly hair. She beamed and sat up with a little bounce in her movements.

"You're back!"

Marbles, who rested on Cora's chest, meowed in a high-pitch and jumped at Jimin. He scooped her up and settled into the bed beside Cora. The girl joined him and nuzzled on his jacket, shutting her eyes. Jimin twirled her locks with one hand and stroked Marbles' fur with the other. Another book lay on the nightstand, and he paused his petting crusade to instead grab it.

"Hey," he whispered, nudging Cora. She peeped up at him, and he showed her the children's story. It was about a knight who climbed a tower to rescue his princess. "One more?"

Cora gifted him with a toothy grin that reminded him of Sam. He glanced over and saw the father watching with a chuckle. When they locked gazes, Sam nodded, and Jimin took it as permission to spend the night with Cora. As much as he preferred cuddling with his wife's jacket and inhaling her strawberry scent, a break could get his mind off the past six months. Even if it was for one second, maybe it'd give him a second wind to fight harder for the mech. To fight harder for Y/n.

He opened the book and showed Cora the vibrant pictures inside, and she giggled before snuggling up on his scarf with her curls tickling his jaw and almost getting into his mouth. She made a soft hum noise that rumbled through her lungs and hugged his aching bones. Then, she spoke.

"One more."

☆☆☆

It was time for Jimin's "interview."

Wearing his typical navy blue and black outfit with Hoseok's scarf flying behind him, Jimin blew a bubble from his watermelon gum and stepped inside the AC-obsessed skyscraper belonging to Ryujin. As soon as he entered, a blast of cold air contrasted the sweltering steam vents from the sparkling city.

The color scheme was like an oxymoron to Neon; the interior had white floors and crimson walls with the Ryujin logo plastered on every new room in sight. He assumed it was a Japanese symbol of some kind based on the way the maroon lines curved like they danced with one another at the Astral Lounge on weekends.

Ryujin customers wore suits worth more credits than the Legacy had had. Inside Ryujin awaited an EM weapons store, a coffee shop, and an elevator leading to the various divisions in Ryujin Tower, like the DRONE division that sold... well, drones. The other departments handled hot tech like neuroamps, spaceships, and more Jimin didn't know about. Although he had grown up on Neon, Ryujin evaded him. Too rich and fancy for him.

He didn't bother greeting Ryujin security or the receptionist. Instead, he hurried to the elevator and went to the floor labeled "operations." The metal box of doom sealed its doors and lifted him to the desired story, and he noticed how despite the amount of customers in the lobby, none joined him in the elevator. No workers, security guards, or customers did. That gave him the alone time needed to kick the walls and curse at the beast for daring to shake and wobble as it ascended.

The doors parted once more to show the fake trees on the left and right side of the operations lobby. Behind the desk sat a male employee with his nose buried in a Ryujin computer. Unlike most computers, Ryujin had fast models with no noises from fans or other processing components. The sleek white exterior had the Ryujin logo on the back of it and a keyboard that sounded creamy like milk instead of clanky and loud.

Jimin avoided the social interaction by turning himself invisible. The room connected to the lobby by an archway and tiny staircase was the main event. Ryujin operatives drank coffee and lounged on the red and white cushioned benches scattered across the massive floor. In the center was a meeting room closed off by a set of double doors, and another staircase waited in the back. It had four steps, and he approached them and spotted Ryujin security patrolling the halls.

Bright lights shined down on him, cleaning drones zipped by to polish the shimmering floors and flood the air with a bleach smell, and operatives had the rich laugh that made Jimin want to punch them in the face. He spared them for the time being. If he got bored, he'd reconsider his decision.

The room on the left was Imogene Salzo's office, where he'd receive an interview. It had a rectangular window overseeing the operatives dicking around outside, but Imogene didn't seem to care. She sat behind her desk with her gloved hands folded together on the red and black surface. The bare office had a single seat with no back to it placed in front of Imogene, and Jimin entered and turned visible before plopping down on it.

The woman peeked up but didn't question his entrance. Her eye color mimicked his, as did her hair. The difference was hers was cut close to her head and covered her forehead. Her ears that lacked earrings showed, and her thin lips had no cracks or moles nearby, and they had pink lip gloss decorating them. Other than the gloss and black eyeshadow, Imogene wore no makeup and opted to show her flawless skin. The single mishap was a dark spot under her left eye and next to her sharp nose.

"Park Jimin?"

Her voice was as smooth as her pale skin, though maybe the obnoxious lighting was to thank for her flesh appearing as white as the walls. No dips or trembles infected her speech, as expected from a Ryujin mutt. According to Jimin's research, Imogene Salzo was the head of operations, meaning she overlooked the operatives and ensured they performed their illegal tasks.

Jimin's job as an operative would be to steal, hack, and manipulate whatever data he could to give Ryujin an advantage. All without getting caught, of course. Their PR team would murder him if he got caught. The authorities didn't care as much as Ryujin PR did.

"That's me." He crossed one leg over his other and straightened his shoulders. "Should we skip to the part that says I'm hired, or are we gonna drag this out?"

"Dragging it out," she said, her tone falling flat with a scratch making its way in there. "Why do you want to work for Ryujin?"

Jimin held up his hands as if they were a ruler. "Big ass mech that goes boom."

"Funny. Any other reason?"

"Nope." Jimin popped the 'p' and grinned. "Can you give me my first task, please? The quicker I do my tasks, the quicker I find my wife."

Imogene leaned forward and scanned over his face. "Look, I have a million other things I could be doing, but Bayu selected me to interview you since I'm your new boss. More than you know, I sympathize with your situation, and I want to help, so please help me help you. Finish the interview. Be serious. It gives me the information I need to know about you. The more I know about your abilities, the more I can make informed decisions about what assignments to give you to get our product on the market faster."

Jimin kicked at the floor and huffed. "Fine, but just so you know, I've never done a job interview before, so don't expect fantastic answers."

"Be honest and you'll be fine. I think you answered my next question with that, but what work experience do you have?"

"I was a UC Vanguard captain for a while. Up until good ole Logan kicked me out. I was arrested by the Freestar and forced to work in a mine for over two hundred days, and now, I'm in Constellation working as an artifact collector. No operative experience, but I can turn myself invisible, so I think I'll do fine."

"I concur." She pulled a tablet from out of one of her drawers. The screen glowed as she inserted what he assumed was data about him. "What are your abilities?"

"Too many to count in one interview, but the two you should know about are my invisibility and my time control. I can slow down time for a few seconds, and I turn invisible for about thirty seconds per use or until I cancel it. My powers have gotten stronger, but I still can't use too many at once or I'll faint. My scientist tells me I could die if I overexert myself, so let's try not to do that."

"Understood." She jotted down more notes on her tablet before peeking up at him. Unlike his eyes, hers were like steel—unbreakable and monochrome. "How motivated are you to succeed?"

"Miss Salzo, I'm doing this for my wife. How motivated am I to succeed? I'll give you three guesses, and two of them don't count."

She sighed. "What did we say about being serious?"

"I am. You say you understand, but you don't. My wife is in a Terrormorph nest buried underneath Londinion. It's been six months. No one but my crew and I think she's alive, so how do you think that feels, Imogene? My wife is waiting for me to rescue her, but all I've done is sit here and wallow. Ryujin is my first chance at saving her, and if I have to destroy entire solar systems to get my hands on that mech, I will."

Imogene nodded twice before setting the tablet down. "Ularu will like you, I'll make sure you two meet soon. In the meantime, you're hired. Happy?"

He resisted the urge to bite his nails and instead answered her. "Very."

"Good. You're not going to destroy any solar systems, but we need to put you through trial assignments so you know what it means to be an operative." She reached into her drawer again and planted a digipick on the table alongside a slate. "This slate contains malware. Your first task is to sneak into CeltCorp in the Trade Tower and upload the malware to any available computer in the office. You'll need the digipick to hack into them, but I'm guessing their locks are novice level."

"Ma'am, I'm a hacker, it can be a master lock and I'd crack it in thirty seconds tops."

"So I've heard," she said, her voice lowering by the second. "Report to me after it's done. If you get caught, we can't help you."

That meant don't get caught, which Jimin anticipated. He didn't know much about operative work outside of them needing to stay off the radar and do illegal practices to give their companies a leg up on their competition. AKA: Cheating.

"Why CeltCorp?" he asked, and she snorted.

"Why not? Any company is a competitor whether they're in the tech field or not. This malware will spread to all CeltCorp computers and set them back weeks if not months. That a good enough reason for you?"

"Miss Salzo, no one likes a cheater. Ryujin should win fair and square."

"We are." She slid the contents across the surface and closer to Jimin. "Go make sure it stays that way."

He snatched the slate and tugged it in his jacket's pocket. The digipick he kept out since CeltCorp wasn't far, and he planned to turn invisible and sneak in. The Trade Tower was on the other side of Neon Core, directly across from Ryujin Tower. It was a three minute walk at most, though he planned to run to make it one or two.

With that, Jimin went to the doorway, but before he could depart, Imogene cleared her throat to call attention to herself. He turned back and met her piercing stare.

"Don't assume." She paused to rub her hand over her left ring finger. "I've had to watch my loved ones suffer too, Mr. Park. Bayu told me you hate rich people, but for whatever it's worth, this rich person understands what you're going through. I'll help you. I mean it."

For some reason, he believed her, but instead of admitting that, he walked out without replying. He went back down the metal box of doom and exited Ryujin. The steam vents hissed by his face and warmed him up from the blasting AC inside the tower behind him. Next stop: Trade Tower.

As he traversed the crowded Neon streets, he watched security guards ignore shoplifters and pickpockets. He watched them continue chattering and not bothering to speak to the naked citizens high on Aurora with Eon pistols in their hands. For what it was worth, they didn't shoot, but they didn't look like friendly teddy bears either.

Jimin kept his eyes down and hurried along to get to the Trade Tower. As he did, Imogene's words replayed. Everyone on Neon had lost someone. He didn't care if she had too, but if she was sympathetic toward him like she claimed, he could use that to his advantage. Maybe he could gain her trust and manipulate her into giving him the mech early without the song and dance of investigating whatever it was Bayu wanted investigated. However, that was a plan for another day. He had a virus to upload, and the quicker he did it, the quicker he could think.

While on Neon, he contemplated visiting Taehyung. He hadn't in years, not even after his wife had gone missing. With Y/n gone, maybe a good friend visit was warranted. He plugged that info in the back of his mind while he entered the Trade Tower.

The Trade Tower had various corporations on different floors. In the back and up the staircase was the Astral Lounge he had strip danced in. The Fleet brought back memories, so he pushed the thought out of his brain.

The blasting music of the Astral Lounge echoed down the stairs and infected the lobby. Jimin brushed by it and went to the elevator in the corner, entering and zipping up to CeltCorp, a business he knew nothing about other than it had to do with data mining. He turned himself invisible right before CeltCorp revealed itself to him. The inside was bright green and white, and that color scheme alone convinced Jimin they deserved a virus up their ass.

The employees passing by froze when they saw no one inside the elevator. Jimin used that distraction to his advantage and hopped over the barricade requiring employees to scan their IDs. The lobby had a wide open floor with arrows directing workers to their stations. The office arrow pointed left, past the couches and coffee buffet. As much as he wanted to grab some Terrabrew on the way, he knew he had about fifteen seconds before he became visible again.

He turned left and hid in the shadows to cancel his invisibility. No one spotted him. Not yet, anyway. So, he reignited his powers and cloaked once more, then snuck inside the office that had an archway leading inside.

The click-clacking of keyboards overwhelmed any potential chit-chat happening between the employees. The office had over a dozen cubicles, and Jimin shimmied his way to the nearest one. Occupied. The next one. Occupied. Next. Occupied.

A single security guard strolled up and down the narrow corridors between the cubicles. Good news: plenty of cover. If Jimin popped back into visibility, he could pop back out with no issues. Bad news: everyone showed up to work that day. Not a single cubicle had a vacancy, and he knew he had to wait for someone to go on a lunch break. If CeltCorp workers ate, that was.

He saw a vent above him and, at the risk of blowing his cover, used his grav dash ability to fly up to it. It ran out just as he gripped the sides of it, and he slipped in. His invisibility flickered out a beat later, and he heaved from the exertion. From there, he peeked down and monitored CeltCorp, turning invisible every once in a while to avoid detection. The darkness in the vent helped him hide, but better safe than sorry.

It took an hour of waiting before two people left. Whether it was for the bathroom or a lunch break, he didn't care and took the opportunity to cloak himself and hop down. Since the digipick was in his grasp, it too wasn't visible, and he scampered his way to the first free cubicle he saw and got to work. He hacked the novice lock in less than ten seconds, then uploaded the malware from the slate to the computer. The entire process took a full thirty seconds, and he had to recloak while hiding under the desk and waiting for the file to load on there.

Once it beeped to signal it finished, he pocketed both the empty slate and the used digipick before sneaking out of the cubicle and rushing out of CeltCorp. The elevator took five seconds to open, and he entered and pressed his back against the wall as it shut again. Two seconds later, he popped back into existence. Using his time power could have proven useful, but it costed him more energy, so he argued against it. He'd save it for serious situations. CeltCorp was about as serious as Neon security when they saw pickpockets.

He exited the Trade Tower and stopped so he could admire Ryujin from the distance. The tower shadowed the entirety of Neon, and he knew that design was purposeful. Likely Bayu's doing, too. A statue of Benjamin Bayu was in front of the Trade Tower, covered in gold with him standing atop a throne. His name was carved into the front part of the throne, and Jimin wished he could spit on it, but if one crime was serious on Neon, it was vandalizing the Bayu statue. Two guards waited by it as if daring people to take a shot.

No one did, Jimin included. He willed himself to stalk by. One solar flare could melt the property to the ground. Security would open fire, but no bullets would come close to hitting Park Jimin. However, he had exerted himself. Using his invisibility that often left his senses weak and his fingers tingling with numbness. After checking in with Ryujin, he'd go to Taehyung and take a much-needed break. Then, he'd continue his tasks and get the mech in a month tops. If he played his cards right, he hoped he could get it in a week or two. He controlled time, after all. He controlled everything.

And soon enough, he'd control that mech and find his wife.

☆☆☆

A/N: I wonder what happened to Y/n...