Gabriel

Bringing the ship in to dock, Avalon tried not to laugh at the looks the three Mental Models had. Atago was steadfastly refusing to be impressed after her initial outburst. But considering how her gaze wandered over everything, he wasn't sold on it. Takao, however, was acting like a little kid as she looked at the various ships. The one that seemed to grab her attention the most was a larger ship in the berth next to them. It was several times bigger than the Ptolemaios, shaped kind of like a T and clearly designed for war.

402 was the only real outlier, since she didn't look terribly impressed. But, at the same time Avalon was sure she was taking in all of the sights considering how intently she was staring at various things. He also noticed that she was clutching the strap of her bag tighter.

"What kind of ship is that?" Takao asked as she pointed at the larger warship.

"A Battlecruiser," he replied as the ship was finally secured, "Something I don't get to touch, since it's not from my Realm."

"But, that's no fun!" she protested, "Why can't we get something like that? What about your people's warships?"

"…There aren't any left," he said slowly as he got out of the chair. Another thing they'd learned was that this station was generating its own gravity, so they couldn't float around anymore.

After several turns, they came to the main airlock as a transparent bridge sealed to the other side. After cycling through, he couldn't help but smile again as Takao looked through the walls at the other ships around them. The dock contained everything from single-person transports and dropships up to warships that made their neighbor look small. The firepower gathered here was something he'd given up calculating a long time ago, so Avalon just accepted it as normal as they continued walking.

Once they reached the end, the doors cycled open to reveal something Takao could only think of as organized chaos. There were dozens of species moving about a surprisingly open space, moving crates and other materials around for purposes she could only guess at. Some of what she saw looked like standard munitions for warships, but once again she was also seeing things that were completely foreign to her. For example; she saw several small probes with a massive eye in their center moving several large blue crystals without actually touching them. What they were and where they were going were things she could only guess at, but it was still fascinating to watch.

At any other time, she probably would have spent hours just watching everything going on. But Avalon put one hand on her shoulder and pushed her forward, earning him a moan of protest as she tried to keep watching.

"Avalon…"

"We have things we need to do," he said without loosening his grip.

Atago seemed grateful to be moving on, considering the nervous looks she was giving all of the different species in their immediate area. Before she could really speak up, he led them to what appeared to be one of the main control areas. It was a circular station with dozens of holographic screens arrayed around it. The console also had a myriad of physical controls and keyboards, but that wasn't what drew their attention. Even 402 couldn't help but stare at what was sitting before them.

The creature was sitting on a large cushion with its four legs folded up underneath it. Even then, it was likely more than seven feet tall. It also had four arms, which were currently manipulating various controls and screens as it spoke in what they could only assume was its language. Its skin was tan, and they could see two rather large teeth that almost looked like tusks sticking out of its mouth from the lower jaw. It was also wearing some kind of helmet with several lenses folded up near the top. Finishing off this rather absurd appearance was what looked like a pipe sticking out of its mouth with smoke lightly wafting from it. It was, without a doubt, the oddest thing they had ever seen.

Taking his hand off of Takao's shoulder, Avalon approached the creature while the Mental Models stood back and watched in a mixture of awe, awkwardness and slight intimidation. How something like that came to be was beyond any of them, and Takao and Atago were willing to bet it could be fairly dangerous if provoked. It didn't help that while it had a rather large belly, it was also very muscular.

"Jay," Avalon greeted lightly, causing Atago and Takao to tense up as it turned to regard them.

The eyes just added to the picture of utter wrong before them; while appropriately sized for the creature, they appeared to be solid black with a blue dot where the pupil likely was. Taking a long drag from its pipe, it blew the smoke to the side before tapping out the ash in a nearby tray.

"Avalon Blade," it rumbled slowly in a gravelly, masculine voice while leaning forward and propping one arm on the console, "What do you need now?"

"What, I can't just say high to the Forgemaster?"

Leaning further forward so they were practically eye-to-eye, it continued, "In all the time you have been here, you have never bothered with small-talk. Why would that change now?"

"…Because I felt guilty?" Avalon offered.

They just stared at each other for several tense seconds, and after a while Takao started to worry they were going to see just how strong this creature was. And then, after all of that build-up, it simply laughed. Leaning back, it rested one hand on its stomach as it just laughed hard. Watching this unfold, it seemed like Avalon was the only other person privy to whatever the hell was happening.

"Got it out of your system yet?" Avalon asked, crossing his arms and looking amused.

"I apologize, but you are just too serious sometimes," 'Jay' replied as he calmed down, "But truly, why are you here? You know I can make the repairs without you looking over my shoulder."

"It's not that," he said, gesturing to the Mental Models behind him, "It's just I thought you should meet, considering they're going to be working with me."

"That is a little presumptuous, don't you think?" Jay asked as he finally looked at the three girls properly. Reaching up, he folded one of the lenses down before adjusting a small dial near it. "Hmm… artificial constructs made from cellular nano-machines, and based around a quantum core. That is an interesting choice of crew, even if they lack a certain amount of creativity in their design."

"And what's that supposed to mean?!" Atago demanded, briefly forgetting she was addressing something much, much bigger than her, "Just who do you think you are to judge us, huh?!"

Looking at Avalon with something close to pity, he returned his gaze to them as he replied, "I am Aval'Jay Noresh, Forgemaster and Chief Engineer for this dock. I have lived for at least four hundred years, little construct, and I have seen your kind in more variations than I care to remember. So, yes, I can safely say your form lacks a kind of creativity. Any species could imagine creating superficial replicas of their own kind."

"We're much more than that!"

"I know," he said evenly, bringing her up short, "You are related to the 'Fog,' correct?"

"…H-How did…?" she stammered, now completely lost.

"One of your kind came here not too long ago from another iteration of your Realm," he told her, turning to regard one of his screens, "Apparently, she was brought here after her world was destroyed. She said something about a war spiraling out of control and the misuse of Graviton weapons, but I honestly wasn't listening too closely."

"Wh…what?"

"More importantly," Jay said, turning his attention back to Avalon, "You are going to need to go see the doctor, Avalon. That arm is not in great shape. Just how long have you been going with the bare minimum?"

"…Well, you see…" he replied, looking nervously away, "I just thought that it would be fine if I fixed it myself. It is really durable, after all."

"The misaligned neural connections say otherwise," Jay retorted before returning to his work, "I will have your machines repaired in short order, Blade. Just let me know if you actually need me."

"Thanks, Jay," Avalon said as he turned and led the way towards the back of the docks.

After they'd walked out of earshot, Atago quickly moved to catch up with Avalon. There were just too many questions too soon for her to ignore.

"Okay, who was that?" she asked before shaking her head, "Actually, let's start with what was that?"

"Jay is a Rel'Kesh," Avalon told them as he waved his hand over a control panel. The doors before them parted silently, revealing a network of interconnected walkways that were also bustling with activity. "The closest comparison for humans would be a kind of cross between an Orc and Centaur," he explained even as he led them to one of the cars, "Intelligent, strong and with long life spans. They grew to inhabit their entire star system in a relatively short period of time, and were well on their way to mastering interstellar travel."

"If they're so great, then why's he here?"

"…That's not my place to say," he said slowly as he led the way down some of the smaller paths, "Let's just say that here, my position isn't that unique."

From the tone, she could tell that just touching that subject was almost too much for him. She'd heard from the others about his confrontation with Kongou after they'd recovered him, but a part of her still felt his tale to be too outlandish. Even after seeing what she had of this station, she had a hard time believing him. There was no way that a people like his could have been wiped out, not by those ELS things. True, they'd given the Fog an actual challenge, but that had only been possible due to clever tricks. There was no way they could have stood up to them in a real fight, and by all accounts Avalon's people were about as powerful as the Fog. For them to lose to something that seemed so weak was questionable at best.

After a while, she noticed that he was leading them to a building built into the far wall. In fact, she saw that there were multiple buildings built into the wall, each on a slightly different level from the rest and all of them linked with the same walkways. The one building he was heading for specifically looked like two structures merged into one. The main structure appeared to be a sphere with the door built into the 'middle,' while immediately to its side was a large rectangular structure that likely had multiple levels. There were also several glowing signs outside it in various alien scripts, but the one over the door was the easiest to recognize; a red cross on a white background.

Stopping at the door, he turned to address the others. "Okay, no matter what happens, try to stay calm," he advised.

"Why, what's going to happen?" Takao asked.

"Well-"

"Avalon!" cried a feminine voice from inside. Before he could do more than grimace, something shot out of the door and grabbed him before pulling him back inside. Crying out in shock, Takao quickly pushed the doors open to follow only to freeze in shock.

The being holding Avalon was clearly female, considering the rather voluptuous chest she was currently suffocating him with. But what was really concerning was that, while her upper body appeared somewhat human, below her waist and flowing out from her green dress were what appeared to be tentacles. Each of them ended in something of a bulb with four lines down it, and as they watched several of them split along those lines to reveal grippers. All of this was further compounded by her dark blue skin, and the fact that her 'hair' looked more like it was some kind of vegetation. She also appeared to have some sort of collar around her neck with a large bulb on each side.

Currently, she was holding Avalon with two surprisingly human arms and at least three of her… legs? Takao wasn't really sure what to call them just yet. At the moment, however, she seemed content to gush over the boy in her arms.

"Oh, it's been too long!" she said, ignoring his muffled please, "I was so worried when you took off. I told you it wasn't safe to just run off without taking the proper precautions, and look at you now! All beaten up and ragged."

"…Carile, please!" he said after finally managing to push himself far enough away, "I need to breathe!"

"Huh? Oh, right!" she said, releasing him and sliding back while looking slightly embarrassed. Finally noticing the girls that had entered the building, she quickly brightened up again. "Oh, who's this?" she asked as she came over to examine them, "Av, have you been making friends?"

"…I guess?" he said before taking a breath, "This is Takao, Atago and 402, Mental Models from the Fleet of Fog." Gesturing to the strange woman, he continued, "Everyone, this is Carile Naseeh, Head Medical Advisor. She's also a master surgeon, psychiatrist and generally decent person."

"Oh, stop, you're making me blush," Carile said as her cheeks seemed to turn purple, "I'm not that great, really."

"Considering you try to suffocate me every time I come by, I think I can agree to that."

"But it's only because you hardly ever come by!"

"Because you always try to smother me!"

Before things could devolve any further, 402 walked up to Carile and started staring at her intently. Noticing this, Carile slowly leaned over so she was looking at the Mental Model.

"Hello there, dear," she greeted warmly, "Is there something you need?"

"…You're a fish," 402 said, actually sounding confused.

For the briefest of moments, Atago and Takao were worried that 402 was about to get launched out the door and sent plummeting to whatever ground lay bellow the walkway network outside. After all, it's what they would do had she said it to either of them. However, rather than lashing out, Carile just giggled while placing one hand on 402's head.

"Well, my people did evolve on an ocean world," she said, "We couldn't really live on land, now could we?"

"…How can you be a surgeon with these limbs?" 402 asked, motioning to Carile's tentacles.

"They don't look like much, do they?" Carile asked, bringing one up for 402 to examine. She then opened it before flexing the individual digits. "You people have an animal called an octopus, correct?" she explained, "My biology is similar. I don't have a whole lot of bones besides my skull, ribs and physical arms. Even those last ones are only because of genetic modification; not everything here can be used by suckers."

"So, you're literally all muscle?" Atago asked, actually sounding curious now.

"Carile can, and has, moved several times her own weight," Avalon explained as he stepped forward before pulling his jacket off, "But, before we get further off-track; I need you for something, Carile."

"Oh, Avalon, it's so sudden!" she said suddenly, shooting straight up as she brought her hands to her cheeks, "I'm not sure my heart is ready, this is just moving too fast!"

"That's not what I meant!" he retorted, already imagining how Atago will interpret this, "My arm's messed up, and I need you to take a look at it."

"Oh, that is serious," Carile said, suddenly dropping her previous tone as she moved over and took his prosthetic in her hands before gently moving it, "Yes, I can already tell it's taken more than it can handle. You really need to get better about maintaining this, Avalon."

"Yeah, yeah," he said tiredly, "Can you fix it? I have a lot of things to do."

"I can, but it will take time."

"Then it appears I have come at the right time," Takao heard from behind her, causing her to whirl around. And what she saw literally took her breath away.

The only thing she could think of was that she was seeing a literal angel. Her skin was white, flawless and smooth, her hair golden. The robes she wore were a pure white with gold laced through it in geometric patterns and alien symbols. Her eyes were a deep green, and they held an absolutely gentle gaze. In fact, everything about this being just radiated peace and kindness. She could never imagine someone like this hurting another person, or ever allowing them to be hurt.

"Gabriel, I wasn't-" Avalon began, actually sounding nervous.

"I had heard you were bringing in potential recruits," she said evenly, regarding each Model in turn, "I wished to speak with them, and with you should time permit it. May I?"

"He was just about to get a long overdue checkup," Carile said, her eyes lowered so she was looking at the ground.

"Then I will speak with you when you are healed, Avalon Blade," she said before turning and motioning for the Mental Models to follow her, "Shall we?"

"S-sure," Takao stammered, shooting a glance at Avalon.

He was her only guide for what to do here, and she really didn't want to get separated from him now. However, he just smiled and nodded. Whoever this was, he clearly trusted her. However, he seemed less trusting of the woman that was steadily leading him deeper into the building with a smile that was just a tad too happy.

Once outside, Takao took a look around and noticed that all of the nearby walkways had emptied. The nearest people were a good distance away, and they seemed to be going out of their way to put distance between themselves and Gabriel.

"Now, then," she said, turning to the three Models and smiling, "Why don't we start with why you decided to follow one of my Guardians here."

"Your what?" Atago asked, doing her best to not be impressed with this woman.

"Oh, my…" she said, looking at them with something almost like… pity? "He hasn't told you anything, has he?"

When they all nodded, she just smiled and shook her head.

"You will have to forgive him, but… Avalon finds it rather hard to open up to people."

"He seemed to trust you well enough," Takao replied.

"Well, I was the one to save his life," Gabriel said, smiling at them, "I believe that earned me some good standing. Now, to answer the questions I'm sure are plaguing you."

Motioning to their surroundings, she finally gave them a glimpse of her hand. It actually looked more like a bird's claw than an actual hand, and seeing it shattered Takao's assumptions as to what Gabriel was.

"You are standing within the Nexus station," she began, "It has existed since long before my tenure as Overseer, and will be here long after I have returned to the cosmic cycle. Within its walls are millions of people from thousands of different worlds. All of them, refugees from failed Realm Threads and war-torn planets. Among them are the Guardians; people like Avalon Blade who are dispatched to fight against the chaos."

"How can you fight chaos?" Atago asked, now completely lost, "Or are you telling me it's actually a thing, too?"

"If it were that simple, we'd have driven it back by now," Gabriel replied, "No, what I refer to as chaos is the reckless mingling of Realms. Putting life into Realms where it has no right to be, and twisting what is already there into something it was never meant to become. Such a waste of life is something I find unforgivable." Turning to them, she does something completely unexpected; she bows. "I am truly sorry that our conflict has spilled into your Realm," she apologized, "And while I am glad that it was contained, I am also deeply sorry for the lives that were lost because of it."

"Uh…It's alright…" Takao managed, now feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

"Hold on, back up," Atago said suddenly, stepping forward, "You said your tenure, right? So, this station isn't yours?"

"Oh, no, my people could never create something like this," Gabriel said, "We were much more focused on our spiritual needs, so we never made it off our home world." Turning to regard the vast space before them again, she continued, "In truth, only one may know who built this place. However, he has since locked that knowledge away for the sake of everyone here. The prevailing theory is some highly advanced race stumbled across a way to travel between Realms, and that they constructed this station to act as a resupply point."

"So, where did they go?" Atago pressed.

"No one knows," was Gabriel's reply, "Most think they died out naturally. Others believe that they fell victim to some of the horrors that lurk in the darker Threads." Turning to face them fully again, she said, "However, that is not what is important for you now. You came here to join Avalon's ship and aid him in his fight, correct?"

"Of course we did," Takao said, "I left everything to come here and put an end to those things. I'm not about to back out now."

"The ELS have disgraced the Fog," 402 continued, "They have earned our wrath, and I will see it carried out."

"And I'm not about to let that pervert have his way with either of them," Atago added, only to have Takao smack the back of her head.

"Well… I cannot say that I agree with your assertions, nor do I suspect they are the real reason you chose to come," Gabriel replied, smiling even as Atago glared at her sister. "But, you must understand something," she continued, growing serious, "Accepting the mantel of Guardian is not a decision you should make lightly. If you do accept, then the burden of protecting the life of an entire Realm will fall to you. Billions of lives will depend on your actions, both on and off the battlefield. The mark you leave will forever alter the fate of the people you interact with. Knowing this, do you still wish to serve?"

Hearing what it actually meant, Takao couldn't help but gulp at the immensity of the task. She'd just assumed that Avalon and his comrades would be simple warriors; people sent in to destroy an enemy before returning home. But it was clearly so much bigger than that. She would have an impact on an entire planet with everything she said and did, and even with the things she didn't do. It was a level of responsibility so far beyond what she'd been used to before, she wasn't quite sure she could properly grasp it.

"You do not need to give me an answer now," Gabriel said, smiling again as she placed one hand on Takao's shoulder and the other on Atago. Surprisingly, it was fairly warm. "Take your time," she advised, "Speak with the others here. Not everyone is a Guardian, nor do we need them to be. This is a serious decision, and you should not rush into it." Stepping back, she returned her hands to the insides of her sleeves as she said, "Until we meet again."

Turning, she actually stepped into the open air only to have the fabric on her back ripple. Before she even began to fall, three pairs of wings unfolded through slits in her robes before carrying her towards the upper levels. Watching her retreating form, Takao couldn't help but gape in awe.

"…She's a strange one," 402 commented as she watched the retreating form.

"Name one thing here that's not strange," Atago retorted.

Takao found she had to agree. She'd known this would be a whole new experience from the start, but she hadn't quite appreciated just how different it would be until now. And Avalon came here regularly, interacting with these people. Glancing back at the entrance, she wondered just what other strange things were in store for them.

"They seem like nice girls," Carile said as she worked.

She'd opened several of the panels on Avalon's arm while he lay suspended in a gravity well. He'd stripped down to his underclothes, leaving his still-healing wounds exposed. Even as Carile's main arms grabbed tools and worked on the interior of his arm, her tentacles were gathering other equipment and setting it up around her. Two of them were even cleaning one of his more nasty cuts, smearing a clear jell into and around the wound. He knew it had some kind of anesthetic mixed in, since anything else would burn like hell.

"I guess," he replied half-heartedly as his mind wandered, "I'm still not sure this is a good idea. And now they can't go home, even if they decide not to join me."

"Oh, I doubt they're going to take it back," she said with a small smile, "They don't seem the type to sit back and watch."

"This your womanly intuition or your psychiatric experience talking?"

"Both," she said, her smile growing bigger before she looked at him seriously, "And regardless of how things go, I'm glad you're gathering a crew."

"…Yeah," was all he had to say as he looked away.

Truth be told, he really didn't want to talk about it; at least, not until he'd actually figured out his own feelings on it. For her part, Carile just looked at him with pity and concern. She'd seen this so many times, and yet it still made her heart break each and every time. She knew about the front he put up, how he acted like everything was normal. And while she was encouraged by the fact that he could at least talk briefly about what had happened, the fact remained that he had yet to really deal with it. She sincerely hoped that he would be able to soon, because she'd seen these kinds of burdens break far too many people.

"Well, at the very least you'll gain some flexibility," she said as she realigned some of the connections in his arm, "No matter how good you are alone, having more people is always better."

"Says the woman who keeps the bare-minimum of staff," he retorted dryly, "Seriously, aren't buildings like this supposed to have, like, 20 or 30 people staffing it?"

"If it was a hospital built by humans, for humans, then yes," she said evenly as she closed up his prosthetic. Waving her hand over a series of controls, she gently lowered him to the ground before deactivating the gravity field. "Now, then, your arm should be in working order again," she said as he stood up before flexing his left arm to test, "I'd tell you not to do whatever you did again, but…"

"But you know better," he said, looking at her and smirking.

"However," she added, her voice going from light to stern in a heartbeat, "Your other injuries have yet to properly heal. You clearly didn't spend enough time in your healing chamber, so unless you wish to return to it and be immobile, you will spend the next several days doing light duty."

"…I had other-"

"Then push them to a later date," she said sternly, inching closer and glaring for emphasis, "You were several hard maneuvers away from tearing open the gash in your side, Avalon. And this time, it may very well have caused you to bleed out. You will take it easy. Am. I. Clear?"

He opened his mouth to protest, a dozen things coming to the front of his mind. He didn't have the time to rest, not after what'd happened. He needed to learn more about the ELS. He needed to train Takao, Atago and 402 so they would be able to assist him. He needed to make sure the Ptolemaios was fully stocked for the next excursion, as well as making sure the Exia would be ready for combat. Not to mention figuring out just what this other ability he possessed was, and just how far he might be able to take it. There was too much to do to just sit on his ass for a few days.

But…one look into Carile's eyes told him this was not up for debate. There was only one person on this entire station that could override her, and he sincerely doubted Gabriel would take his side in this. And if half of the stories about Carile were true, he really, really didn't want to piss her off. Besides, he did feel more than a little sore after that last battle.

"…Fine," he said with a sigh as he started pulling his clothes on, "I'll avoid anything strenuous. But, I do still have to make a trip."

"If it's anywhere off the station, then it's not going to happen," she said, already moving to block the door.

"I need to speak with Index," he said without turning around, although he could imagine her reaction.

After pulling his shirt on, he turned to see that he was right; she had grown very still as she looked at him with a mix of fear and sadness.

"Ar-are you sure?" she asked, clutching her hands in front of her, "That's…not something to take lightly… Not to mention the stress on your-"

"I swear I will only talk with…it," he said as he tossed his coat over one shoulder, "I'm not about to agree to any of its experiments if I can help it. Besides, Takao will be there, and I'm pretty sure she's still in an over-protective mode."

"Well, young girls will be young girls," Carile said with a small laugh, "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were cheating on me."

"…I'm just going to ignore that," he said quietly as he made his way to the door.

"Avalon?" Carile called out as he was about to leave the room, causing him to turn and look at her, "Welcome back."

He just smirked at her as he finally left. Pulling his coat on as he stepped back outside, he saw that Atago and Takao had made themselves comfortable on a nearby bench. 402, meanwhile, was looking at the other buildings built into the walls and the different species moving between them.

"So, she fixed you up, then?" Takao asked as she got up and walked over.

"Yeah, she did," he replied, lifting his left arm to prove it, "You know, one of these days I'm going to break this damned thing."

"I'm surprised it hasn't already happened," Atago commented from where she sat.

"So…how was your chat with Gabriel?" he asked, looking between them as Takao shifted nervously.

"It was…interesting," she finally said, "She told us things I hadn't really considered before and… It's a much bigger decision than we thought, isn't it? Joining you and becoming a Guardian…"

Looking down, he wasn't sure if he should be mad at Gabriel for dumping it on them, because he knew that she did, or grateful that they at least knew more about why he was hesitant to bring them along. Making that kind of a decision wasn't easy, except for maybe a few of the Guardians here. Granted, he was part of that exception, but his situation had been completely different.

"I…understand if any of you are having second thoughts," he said slowly, "But…you should know that you can't go back now. The moment we were Recalled, you would have been flagged in the systems here."

"So, if we don't go with you then we'd be trapped on this station," Atago surmised, standing up and dusting herself off, "And you wonder why I didn't want you to go, Takao."

"You didn't know, either!" Takao shot back before turning back to Avalon, "But… Well, this changes things…"

"We will need more before we can make a final decision," 402 said from off to the side before turning to look Avalon in the eye, "Regardless of what they decide, I have my orders, Captain."

"Well… if it's more information you want, then my next errand will probably clear a few things up," he said as he began walking again, "Although, I really hate going to that…place."

"…Okay, I'll bite," Atago said with a huff, even as she and the others followed, "Why do you hate it?"

"It's… hard to describe…" he said slowly as he stopped before a lift. After waiting for the doors to open, they stepped in as he continued, "I need to speak with a being called 'Index.' It's the most intelligent being here, by far, but…"

"But?"

"It'll be easier for you to see it," he said finally as he hit one of the buttons for an upper floor.

As they rode in silence, Avalon tried to stamp out his anxiety over what was coming. He'd already made a deal with Index, so this shouldn't be too hard. But… what he was going to ask for was likely to be much more costly than his standing request, and he wasn't looking forward to what Index would demand in return for such information. At the same time, he couldn't see a good end if he didn't do this. In the end, it wasn't that much of a choice; suffer a minor irritation for potentially game-changing information, or walk away and hope the ELS didn't escalate things.

'Yeah, that's not likely to happen,' he thought as the doors opened, revealing the interior of the Habitat.

Determined to understand his enemy, Avalon makes a deal that will cost him more than he bargained for. At the same time, he's forced to face something he'd much rather avoid.

Next chapter; The Archive

In all of existence, there is always one constant; nothing is gained for free.

A/N; Did I just check off several character tropes with this chapter, as well as pulling from other media for some of what they saw? Yes, yes I did. Do I feel ashamed? Not one bit. In all seriousness, I do hope you can bear with me for this bit, cause I'm probably going to exercise my inner nerd with some of the individuals they see and/or meet while on the station. And in case you're thinking it; no, my Index is not the same as the girl from A Certain Magical Index.