Jx rapped his fingers against the comm. panel, waiting for a reply. The console whirred and the screen shifted to pixels, gradually clearing to display the face of a young female cat at the Reception Center on Regis.

"We'll be at Regis within the hour, please advise," Jx spoke.

"You are the evacuation party from Station Delta?" she glanced down at a console.

"Yes." Jx nodded. "Are you ready for us?"

She read from the console. "We've prepared a landing spot for you. No medical facilities are available yet, but we do have a small aid team."

Jx ran a hand across his scalp. "That'll have to do… We have a healer aboard too, so we're in fair condition. What about lodgings?"

She shook her head. "Booked. We're working to get a refugee camp set up now."

Jx closed his eyes and nodded. "Alright. Send landing coordinates and we'll figure it out from there."

She lowered her head and the screen blinked off, replaced with a map and a string of coordinate numbers.

"You look upset." Amity stepped beside him and set her fingers on his shoulder.

"It's just… not going that well." He smiled nervously and turned, breaking contact with her and sitting down, then faced her. "I do have some questions about you, if you don't mind."

She shrugged her hands and leaned against the wall console. "Shoot."

"How'd you get to be on the station?"

She smirked. "Ammehkuc didn't tell you?"

He grinned and shook his head. "Nope."

"Well," she stared at the floor. "I was born on Cerinia, spent most of my life there, then…" Her expression drooped and her eyes went blank.

Jx lowered his head. "I know it's hard. I heard about Cerinia."

Amity looked up. "Did you?" She turned to the window. "No, of course you did." She sighed. "I loved that place. It was so beautiful, and so warm." She smiled. "I lived in the palace, handmaid to Princess Krystal. We must've explored that place a hundred times. So many rooms…" She snorted. "And we got into so much trouble, sticking our noses where they didn't belong. But it was fun…"

Jx nodded and watched her.

"But yeah," Amity closed her eyes and turned back to him. "It's gone now. Earthquake destroyed the city, then a tidal wave finished the job. Frankly, I don't know how I made it out."

"And you went to the station from there?"

Amity shrugged. "I must have. It's getting a bit fuzzy."

"Repressed memory?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea… probably."

Jx let out a breath and grinned. "Don't worry, it'll come to you."

"Yeah," she forced a smile, staring out the window again. "Think I'll go check on Vincent."

xXxXx

Stepping into the cargo hold, Amity glanced over at the sounded and noticed them all lying motionless. Athena stood over them by the wall. "Are they all right?" Amity asked.

Athena turned her head. "Yes, they are fine. My technique provokes the nervous system into focusing the body's attention on healing the wound, so all other functions are diminished. The result is they can do little but rest and heal, but they will heal far more quickly."

"So they're not dead or anything?" Amity stared skeptically.

Athena's brow tightened, then relaxed. "No, I assure you. They are under my care."

Amity looked over the group again, then proceeded to the engine room.

xXxXx

Closing the thick iron door behind her, she peered around the chamber, searching for Vincent. The walls were lined with vertical pipes, coupled together across the ceiling. She heard a clanging further down and stepped carefully over the scattered nuts and bolts on the floor, breathing in the strong scent of motor oil and machinery.

Vincent stood over the engine coils, wrench in hand. He turned his head at Amity's approach. "Hey."

"Everything going fine here?" she asked, setting a hand on her hip and brushing her bangs with her free hand.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Well enough. Engine's junk, but it runs."

"Thanks to you?" Amity grinned.

"Probably." He leaned into an opening in the machine and glanced around.

Amity pursed her lips and glanced at the wall, then back to Vincent. "We're almost at Regis."

"Good," he replied, not looking up. "Make some solid repairs there."

She paused, then folded her arms. "Well, be seeing you."

"Seeya." He waved blindly.

She watched him a moment, then turned to leave.

"See you still have that sword," he spoke suddenly.

She wrapped her fingers around the hilt. "Yeah, came in handy during the escape."

"I bet." He reached further into the opening, digging around, voice beginning to echo. "Heck of a time getting out of the shop. Debris blocked the front door, so I had to use the back."

Amity raised an eyebrow. "We had a back door?"

He shrugged. "I made one. Saw that train of yours and boarded, but you'd run off by then."

"Well, glad you made it," she replied.

He crawled out of the compartment and wiped his brow, then faced her. "So back on the train, what attacked us? I heard commotion."

"Nega." She frowned.

"I see," he said after a pause, returning to his work.

"That's all they told me," she continued. "Well, that and he's an Ethereal. And apparently pure evil."

Vincent grunted and reached for his toolbox.

"I don't know what to think," Amity stared at the floor. "Everything happening all at once, none of it makes sense…" She glanced at him and smirked. "And you, so calm about it all! It's sickening."

He snorted. "I've got my tools, I've got a job. Guess I'm content."

"And I'm jealous!" Amity laughed, then sighed. "Well, better see if Jx is looking for me."

"You and him, huh?" He didn't look up from his work.

Amity stared at him a moment, raising a confused eyebrow, then her eyes widened. "Wait, you think-!"

He shrugged. "Never seen you smile that much."

Amity flushed and crossed her arms. "We just met. It's nothing like that."

"Okay then." He pulled on a pair of goggles and revved his drill.

"You don't sound convinced." She frowned.

He shrugged and went back to his work.

xXxXx

Amity sat at her chair in the cockpit and let out a breath.

"Something up?" Jx looked up from his seat at the front.

Amity touched her warm face. "No, everything's fine. Vincent's got the engine running well enough to get us to Regis. Says he'll make more repairs there."

"Good to hear." Jx turned back to his console. "Yeah, still figuring out what we'll do after we get settled there." He typed something, then continued. "So you say you know him?"

"Who?"

"The penguin. Vincent."

"Oh, him." Amity loosened slightly. "Yeah, met him when I first got to the station. Gave me a job stocking and managing his shop." She chuckled. "Might've noticed he's not much with social skills."

Jx snickered and continued typing. "Yeah."

Amity smiled and stared out the window, then turned to Jx. "I have a strange question for you."

"Oh?" He stopped typing and leaned his arm over the seat to face her.

"What do you think of me?"

"He stared at her, at a loss for words. "Well, I… I really haven't known you that long."

"I know," she smirked. "Just first impression."

"Well…" he glanced out the window. "You're nice. You're, umm…" He looked at her again. "Brave? What you did back there on the station was pretty impressive."

"Thanks," she grinned.

"So what about me?"

"Huh?" She looked up.

Jx smirked. "Well, it's only fair you say what you think of me now."

"Well," Amity crossed her arms and thought. "You're knowledgeable. You keep your cool pretty well. You're… annoyingly vague." She smiled.

"Sorry about that." He scratched the back of his head, then glanced at the console. "Well, we're cleared for landing, so better strap in."