Lunai sat on city-hall’s bench and went to town picking at the bark making up her fingers. It had been hours since Dr. Crux went inside. She heard them finish their conversation but the man still hadn’t left the building. She didn’t know too much about what happened after that, but her ear had found Bliss, and he absolutely needed it. That wasn’t a good sign, though she was happy her little stunt brought him some comfort.

  Entropi’s incessant CellPulse messages didn’t help her calm down. Lunai made the mistake of calling her to let her know she would be sending her ear to keep Bliss company indefinitely. Entropi knew that meant she’d know if he was in danger during his captivity. The dozens of missed phone calls and messages made that very clear.

  [Lunai]: He finished his conversation with Dr. Crux. The GSA is going to conduct its own investigation.

  [Entropi]: I could’ve told you that myself. How is he doing?

  [Lunai]: Not great, but I don’t want to get into the details. I was already invading his privacy. Just know that he has me there and I think he appreciates that fact.

  [Entropi]: Does it feel like he’s been injected with reality glue?

  [Lunai]: If that happened, wouldn’t he burst into flames and burn my finger?

  [Entropi]: Not if the dose was low enough. Then it acts more like a standard sedative.

  That was not on a list of things Lunai wanted to hear that day. Maybe it was an irrational fear, but it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that Novrun acquired some glue at some point. She could imagine the minister concocting a lengthy argument about why the prisoner needed to be sedated so he couldn’t use his powers to escape.

  [Lunai]: Do they have any legal standing to do that?

  [Entropi]: They can do whatever the fuck they want. Crux would fight it, but he can only act after the fact. Even then, it’d look bad to have the GSA essentially invading the planet to retrieve their golden boy.

  The chat went silent for a minute. Lunai’s blood ran cold as she stared at the messages.

  [Entropi]: That’s why you need to tell me if it feels like something’s off and he’s been drugged. I’ll go get him myself. It’ll be clean; I’d pop in remove him before anyone even noticed me. I don’t care what sanctions they’ll slap on me after the fact.

  [Lunai]: I’ll let you know as long as you promise no one would get hurt.

  [Entropi]: No one except maybe the minister at a later date.

  [Lunai]: I can live with that ^_^

  Her dark pact with Entropi was sealed just in time for the gleam of sunlight on Dr. Crux’s ice shards to reach Lunai’s eyes. She let go of a breath she didn’t even realize she was holding and let her body go limp on the bench.

  You were waiting here the whole time?

  “I couldn’t bring myself to leave. My roots wouldn’t stand.”

  Everything will be alright. He put his hand on her shoulder, a gesture Lunai was starting to get sick of. The little piece of bark you planted on me was delivered safely.

  “Oh…”

  Quite the bold move. Unfortunately, it’s a bit difficult to get something past my…eyes. Senses. My senses.

  “I didn’t want Bliss to be alone. Not after the way I left him.”

  Don’t be too hard on yourself. Your senior’s mental health is not your responsibility, it is mine.

  “Forgive me if this is too blunt, but you’re not doing a very good job with that.”

  Yes, but let me assure you, the thing Bliss hates above all else is being treated like he’s delicate. If that wasn’t the case, he would’ve quit long ago.

  “You still have a lot to explain to me. You knew about Armageddon.”

  Yes, I did. I’m sorry. That’s all I can say to you.

  “And I think I need a new mentor,” she added.

  Of course. Let’s head back to the hotel and see if I can stop Entropi from going on a rampage.

  Dr. Crux didn’t arrange for any sort of transportation. They simply walked back just as Lunai had arrived. She almost avoided checking the news on the way back, but she caved just as they reached the hotel steps. As she scrolled, there was one link that caught her eye: Nova Mode’s new issue. Bliss sat on the front page, posed on a concrete step like the perfect ornament to attract tourists.

  “Bliss was shooting with Nova Mode the entire week, right?” she asked. “They released the issue early…”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Dr. Crux actually stopped in his tracks and looked down at her CellPulse. That is…concerning. Entropi is never going to let me hear the end of it.

  “They have to know. They have to know he’s not available anymore, that’s why they released early!”

  And Novrun let them. They arrested him for murder just to use his photo the very next day for tourists.

  The entire elevator ride to the eighth floor consisted of Lunai running through her theories with Dr. Crux. Bliss was currently a prisoner on a planet that was all too happy to use him for good publicity in spite of that. Her worst-case scenario was a human trafficking-adjacent situation where they planned to keep Bliss there indefinitely, partially inspired by Entropi’s reality glue tirade. Best case was a lazy attempt to get more tourists before Novrun had to disclose the arrest to the public, accepting the fallout that would inevitably follow the news.

  I hate to think it, but the worst case sounds more plausible. Don’t worry Bliss, I have Entropi on speed-dial.

  The two of them opened the room door to find Kelang and Argalax sitting around the room with Entropi. The door to the adjacent room was open, and Kelang was fidgeting on the desk chair in the corner. His entire face was tensed up and he was furiously typing on his CellPulse. Argalax sat politely in the recliner while Entropi stood up with her arms crossed and her helmet back in its rightful place.

  “Kelang’s planning a protest,” she said.

  “I can get a thousand, no, TEN thousand fans here in a day tops!”

  Please tell me you haven’t posted anything publicly.

  Kelang stopped typing and set his wrist down, looking to Dr. Crux with tears starting to form in his eyes. “Not yet, but-“

  Good. We’re not making this public yet. Bliss wouldn’t want that, not yet, at least.

  “Nova Mode,” Entropi said, as if those two words could end the discussion by themselves.

  Kelang hit the desk. “It’s not right! They can’t just use him like that!”

  Entropi knew how to work a fanboy to her advantage. Lunai was impressed at the level of tolerance she had displayed throughout the entire trip. If Lunai’s worst fears were true, they would need an army of fanboys and girls just as devoted as Kelang on their side.

  Once agent Bliss is out and safe we will discuss legal repercussions with Novrun. My primary focus right now is exonerating Bliss…if he is actually innocent.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Kelang stood up and started walking towards Dr. Crux. “Obviously he didn’t do it! Bliss doesn’t kill random tour guides in khakis!”

  Dr. Crux looked at Kelang’s CellPulse, still lit up with the unsent post detailing Bliss’s arrest. He opened his own device and pressed a few buttons, leading to Kelang’s wrist going dark. The fanboy repeatedly looked down at it, then back up at Dr. Crux with his mouth agape.

  “Did you just-“

  Yes. Yes I did. Now. Sit. Down.

  Dr. Crux’s voice blasted through all of them with a sharp ringing noise that lingered in their minds, making Lunai feel a sting of pain behind her eyes. Kelang’s deep blue skin turned five shades lighter as he took a few steps back. Everyone in the room took a seat except for Dr. Crux and Entropi.

  Kelang. You are going to leave this planet and get back to your assigned team. You will not be returning to the mission to locate Nula. Argalax, we still haven’t addressed your non-excused mission deviation. You are benched. You will return to the Rebirth System until I decide what to do with you. Lunai, you may stay on this planet. If this issue isn’t resolved in five days, you will depart for space once again to search for Nula. Now Entropi.

  The woman’s face was covered, but her face was tilted down just slightly to be able to stare directly at Dr. Crux’s face. Lunai never seemed to see the two of them do anything but argue. She hoped it wasn’t always like this. The last month was a bundle of catastrophes delivered one after the other. Maybe they got along when things were quiet?

  Entropi. You can stay on this planet and give up on finding Nula. You can let Lunai and a random attending go get Placebo for you. If your worst fears are correct, if they try to use reality glue on Bliss, you may carefully extract him. Otherwise, he is perfectly capable of defending himself, perfectly capable of escaping if he wanted to, and he will have the full force of my investigation team working to figure this out.

  “I’m staying here,” she responded.

  Fine then. Lunai, you can help me choose a replacement attending for your mission. We will also discuss your request to change mentors, which I would be happy to grant. Now, any other questions before I send the two interns back to the Rebirth System?

  “If Lunai is being transferred to a new mentor, could I take her place as Bliss’s intern?”

  Dr. Crux stared at Kelang. Entropi stared at Kelang. Argalax and Lunai both stared at Kelang. His audacity was almost respectable.

  No. No you cannot. You fucking idiot.

  Lunai now averted her eyes as Kelang seemed to turn a shade of pink. That was the first time she heard Dr. Crux swear. That was the first time he acted with something that wasn’t patience and grace to someone other than Entropi or Bliss.

  No more questions. Argalax and Kelang, follow me and I’ll bring you to the nearest GSA transport pod.

  Both interns shuffled out as if they lost a great battle. Lunai was still trying to look at the floor, uncomfortable with her place as the golden intern in Dr. Crux’s eyes…senses. In his senses. She never wanted to be a gunner, but apparently being polite and not acting like a wild card every five seconds put you a step above the rest. It didn’t hurt that he seemed very interested in her connection with the designer plants.

  “What’s your ear telling you right now?”

  Entropi really didn’t let her have one second of rest before going back to the questions. Lunai tried to settle her thoughts and get the residual ringing out of her head before tuning into her missing ear’s senses. It felt about the same as it did an hour ago, damp and lonely.

  “Nothing new. He’s okay. Okay-ish.”

  She took her helmet off and sat down on the bed across from Lunai. “I’m sorry I’m bailing on the Nula mission. Win that rematch for me, kid.”

  “You have high hopes for me.” Lunai smiled, but started turning away.

  “Why wouldn’t I?” She tilted her head and pet Cromble, who had scrambled onto the bed and crawled into her lap. “You’re a heap of solid earth and she’s just a puddle of water. The science is clear. You have a chance.”

  A bright green flush of blood raced to her cheeks. “I-I was only a hero a month ago. I don’t think I’m going to be soloing notorious crime-lords anytime soon.”

  “You’re missing the point.” Entropi stood up and crouched right in front of her. Lunai noticed a single grey hair mixed in with the black. The lines on her face moved with the confident smile she displayed. “There’s no such thing as certain defeat. Even Crux doesn’t deal in absolutes.” She straightened up again, looking down at Lunai. “The worst thing you could do is go in and assume you’ll lose. Maybe 10 out of 100 times you win. Find those ten times. Find what makes those ten times and turn them into the one. All you need is one.”

  Character Art:

  Bliss's Nova Mode Cover!