Everyone had made it back to the ship safely. Osakawa was in the medical bay, having apparently collapsed into unconsciousness. Captain Douglas had brought back with him a story of strange spider-like creatures with long whip-like tails. One had attacked him, and gotten stomped for its trouble. Another, dead and stiff, had been near Osakawa when the Captain had found him. However, he seemed to be fine now.

The ship had blasted its way off of the planet as soon as they could leave, and were now approaching the mystery ship floating in orbit.

Hitomi gazed out the front view port. "I was right. It's the Epimetheus. Our sister ship."

Douglas stood beside her, arms folded across his chest. "I don't like this, but we have to go in. Check on them. At least find out what happened."

Hitomi nodded. "You and me will go aboard with Madoka and Mami. I'll go get them. You make sure we're attached properly, then join us at the airlock." She turned and looked across the bridge. "Kyosuke, you're in charge while we're over there."

She quickly left the bridge, heading down to the cargo hold where Madoka and the others were still in the rover. Akamiya had brought some more clothes for Kyoko and Sayaka, so they were considered decent, but she had claimed that it was best for them to remain quarantined in case they had carried any diseases with them. Really, she just didn't want to be there when Sayaka found out she was married to Kyosuke.

Climbing up the side of the rover, she opened the hatch on the top and leaned in. "Alright, quarantine is over. We're docking with the Epimetheus. I want Madoka and Mami to come over with us. Sayaka and Kyoko I want on the bridge keeping tabs on us."

Sayaka climbed out first, sliding down the front of the rover and landing hard on the metal grated floor. The others followed, only they climbed down the normal way. Hitomi led them out of the cargo bay and into a long corridor, pointing Sayaka and Kyoko towards the bridge before continuing to lead the other two down the the airlock. There she found that she had to physically put Mami's pressure suit on. Madoka seemed to be able to figure it out on her own, but Mami was clueless. Captain Douglas stood by waiting patiently the whole time.

Sealing her helmet, Madoka turned to Hitomi. "Why do we need these?"

Douglas answered for her. "The ship we're going to has no atmosphere. No oxygen and no gravity, as well as minimal power. The crew could have survived in stasis... well, seven of them, anyway."

Hitomi fastened the belt around Mami's waist. "Okay, hold your hands out at your sides."

Mami did as she was told, blushing. "This is really embarrassing."

Hitomi sighed. "Just stop moving. All you need now is your helmet." Picking up the large clear dome, Hitomi sealed it over Mami's head and went about quickly putting her own suit on. "Everyone, check your radios. Make sure you're hooked up properly."

Douglas went first, simply speaking into his helmet. "This is Black Leader. Do you copy?"

Sayaka's voice came back. "Black Leader, we copy."

Kyoko butted in immediately after. "Black Leader? What kind of name is that?"

Fitting her helmet on, Hitomi went next. "Green Leader here. Check."

Sayaka, who had probably shoved Kyoko away from the console, responded again. "We read you, Green Leader."

Mami looked to Hitomi, her face hopeful. "Yellow Leader?"

Hitomi shook her head and pointed at the Captain. "Black Two."

"Oh..." Mami cleared her throat. "Uh... Black Two?"

"You only wish you were black, Mami. I told you. You can't rap."

"Kyoko, shut up. Go watch the cameras. Black Two, we read you."

Madoka quickly gave Hitomi a thumbs up. "Green Two here. Do you read me? This is Green Two. Can you hear me? Can you hear me? I said, can you hear me? Do you read me? This is Green Two."

"Someone slap her. Madoka, we fuckin' hear you. Now shut up. Black Team, Green Team, you are go for boarding. Head into the airlock for depressurization."

The door opened and the four of them moved into the airlock. It sealed behind them, and a slow hiss signaled the depressurization. Once it finished, the door ahead of them opened to reveal a dark hallway. They stepped in, lights on their helmets illuminating the derelict ship.

Hitomi pointed down the corridor to the left. "Madoka and me will head this way and check out the bridge. Captain, you and Mami check the cargo hold. See if anyone's still in the stasis pods."

Sayaka sat on the bridge of the Prometheus, staring at the camera feeds in front of her. Kyoko, beside her, was more focused on fiddling with the headset she was wearing. Sayaka glanced up, looking across the bridge at Kyosuke. He hadn't said a word to her since she arrived on the bridge, instead just standing and staring out the window at the bridge of the ship beside them. Behind them, she knew Akamiya and Nakashima were monitoring their instruments and listening for anything from the team on the Epimetheus.

Kyoko finally figured out a way to hold the headset on without being uncomfortable or simply having them fall off her head. She returned attention to the camera feeds, then quickly tapped Sayaka on the shoulder. "Hey, what does that light mean?" She pointed to a red light blinking beneath Mami's feed.

Sayaka squinted at the light, then looked down at the manual in her lap. "That's... I think that means her radio is off."

Kyoko frowned. "Why would her radio be off?"

Sayaka groaned. "She's an idiot. That's why." She grabbed her mic and held it closer to her mouth. "Black Two, do you read me? Mami? Black Leader, Mami's radio is out."

Kyoko reached over and poked another light. A red light under the Captain's feed. "His is out too."

"The hell?" She looked at Madoka and Hitomi's feeds. Their lights were green. "Green Team, be advised we've lost radio contact with Black Team. Check your radios."

"Green Leader here. Nothing wrong with our radios. We're almost at the bridge. We'll wave."

Kyoko looked over at Kyosuke. "So that's what he's waiting for."

Sayaka slammed the manual closed and shoved it into Kyoko's arms, leaning onto the console and growling as she buried her head in her arms. "Why the hell would they turn off their radios?"

Tyrone stopped in front of the wide door to the cargo bay. He had pulled their radios and attached their suits in a way that they could actually speak to each other directly. Mami had protested for only a moment before she realized what he was doing. He turned to face her. "I heard your explanation of what happened over the radio. You explained it pretty well, and I believe you."

Mami gave a slight smile. "Hitomi had the radio on?"

He nodded. "Guess so. Look, when you all left Earth... did you leave a family behind?"

Mami nodded, looking down. It was something she was trying to avoid dwelling on. "My daughter."

He looked surprised. "Daughter? What's her name?"

"Charlotte. We both started using my maiden name after my husband died."

He gave a sad sigh. "I'm sorry. But, Charlotte... I like that name. It's good. So, uh... your husband. What happened to him?"

"Lung cancer, actually." She swallowed hard. "Uh... it hit him out of nowhere. Charlotte was two."

The Captain seemed stricken for a moment, but quickly shook it off. "Ouch. Glad I quit three years ago. Well... thirty, counting years in stasis. Ever since this ship was officially declared missing. I couldn't... My wife was on this ship."

Mami, who had taken a moment to look up at the door in front of them, slowly turned down to look back at him. "...I know."

After a few moments of silence, Tyrone turned back to the door. "Alright, let's get this thing open." He reached over to a control panel on the wall beside the door, tapping in a key code. The door obediently lifted out of the way without much complaint. He grinned. "Everything went better than expected. Maybe she's still alive, you know?"

Mami watched the room before them slowly reveal itself. "I... I think you shouldn't get your hopes up."

A rotted skeletal corpse lay on the floor in the middle of the cargo bay, frozen stiff from exposure to cold space. On the far end, they could see three stasis pods that were closed and cold, the glass frosted over. Two of them were dark.

Tyrone let out a long sigh. "One. This ship is a tomb. There's only one left."

They made their way slowly to the body in the middle of the room and knelt down beside it, rolling it over. Mami wiped years of dust and grime off of the name tag. "...Douglas."

He shook his head. "I guess... I guess I knew. The moment the ship was declared missing, I knew she was gone, but... There's always hope, right? Well... usually... until now. But... well, at least I can still say goodbye. The way I should have."

She smiled. "That's a good idea. But first we should check these pods, right?"

"Yeah..." He stood up, prompting her to do the same. "Let me hook the radios back up first."

Kyoko pointed at the Captain's feed. "There. Is he fixing it?"

Sayaka sat up straight. "Oh, uh... looks like it." They both turned their eyes to the red light under Mami's feed. Sure enough, it suddenly turned green.

Kyoko pounced on the mic. "AAARGH! IT'S GOT ME! HEEEEEeeeeelllp..."

Sayaka slapped her away. "Sorry about that. Kyoko needs to go get fucked. Mami, do you read?"

"Hi guys. I would like to apologize for turning off our radios, but we had something to discuss privately."

Sayaka grimaced. "Right. Well, next time, wait to do it on your own time. You freaked us out."

"Right. Won't happen again."

Douglas's voice came next. "What did we miss?"

Sayaka glanced over to Kyoko, who subsequently flinched. "Uh... yeah, Green Team made it to the bridge. Hitomi and Kyosuke waved at each other. They found the navigator and radio operator. That was... Arakawa and Momoe."

"Nagisa? Why didn't Hitomi mention her?"

Hitomi answered directly. "I didn't know it was relevant."

Sayaka continued. "They're searching through the rest of the ship. We can see the pods you have are occupied. Who's in them?"

Kyoko and Sayaka watched carefully as Mami approached one of the dark pods. She reached up and wiped the frost from the glass, revealing a shriveled old corpse.

"The name tag says... Kyono."

They turned their attention to Douglas' feed at the other dark pod.

He read the name tag out loud as soon as he could make it out. "Sakura."

Kyoko quickly got up and stepped away from the console. Powerless to help, Sayaka watched with concern. "Hey. You okay?"

Kyoko briefly looked back. "I..." She shook her head. "I'll be fine. Just... I'm gonna go get something to eat."

Sayaka watched her go. She wasn't used to being actually concerned for Kyoko. Her friend was normally carefree and happy-go-lucky. She would have to check up on Kyoko later, but right now she knew she had to focus on coordinating the teams. "Alright..." She grabbed the mic. "Who's in the middle one?"

"Sayaka?" It was Madoka.

"Give me a second, Madoka. Mami, check the middle pod."

Douglas wiped frost from the middle pod, and the light from inside filled the cargo bay. Inside the pod, illuminated by the backing lights, was a woman in a science expedition uniform. She wasn't anyone Sayaka knew or recognized, but somehow the long black hair seemed strangely familiar.

She mused to herself, looking over the very alive features of the stranger. "Who is..."

Madoka interrupted her train of thought. "Sayaka, I really think you should see this."

Impatiently, she chided her friend. "I said just a second."

Hitomi cut in. "Sayaka, we found Kaname. It's a mess."

Her attention suddenly drawn away from the stasis pods, Sayaka looked over Hitomi and Madoka's feeds. "What? What do you mean?"

Hitomi turned to a table in the middle of the room they were in. "We're in the medical bay. Madoka was here when she... well, like I said. It's a mess. Just look at this." She moved closer, giving Sayaka a good view. A good view she really didn't want. "The rib cage is obliterated, like something burst out of her chest. It was a painful death, that's for sure."

Sayaka bowed her head. It hurt just thinking about it. "And that accounts for the entire crew. That means... that means I was the first one to die, down on the planet in that ship."

On the screens in front of her, Madoka turned to face Hitomi so Sayaka could see her. "So... then who's in the stasis pods?"

Hitomi explained. "Kyoko, Tomoya and... Well, wait... where's..."

Sayaka answered the question Hitomi was having trouble asking. "Black Team found a Douglas on the floor of the cargo bay. I saw the name tag when Mami leaned in to read it."

"Oh." Madoka suddenly looked aghast. "Oh..."

Captain Douglas finally read off the name tag of the last remaining survivor of the Epimetheus. "It's Akemi. Homura's still alive."