By the windowsill of the guest room, Ina and Sana sat side by side. A bag of sliced bread laid deflated between them, half-empty and counting down. Ina took slices of bread out from the bag two at a time, placing them on tiny saucers, spreading pimento cheese on them before passing it onto Sana who watched the rising tower of pimento cheese sandwiches on her plate rise like a NASA rocket being propped up onto the launchpad.

Ina passed the saucer and the three sandwiches piled high to Sana who took them in her hands with her jaw dropped in awe.

"Sandwiches…!" Sana held up the saucer like it was some sort of holy relic.

"They're just sandwiches, Sana." Ina noted plainly, making a fourth sandwich for herself.

"Yeah." Sana pouted. Then, she smiled, "But you made these for me, so they're special!"

The pimento cheese-stained butterknife nearly slipped from Ina's hands. Ina slouched forward, hiding her blushing face from Sana. Not that that would have hidden anything from the perceptive empath that was Sana. The space alien smiled knowingly and started digging into her sandwiches.

In exchange, Sana told Ina her story under the light of the setting sun.

…

"I still remember it like it was yesterday, Ina." Sana started, wolfing down her first sandwich, "I was part of something greater. Much, much greater." She looked out the window to the orange afternoon sky and spoke with a longing sigh, "In the far reaches of Space, there is a being that, in human language, I would call 'The Nebulous One'."

"The Nebulous One?" Ina asked, nibbling on her sandwich while she watched Sana move on to another sandwich.

"Mhm." Sana nodded, flourishing her plate again. "You see, it's a great but formless being that floats through Space, existing. Perceiving. Wandering." She slowly tore her sandwich in half and continued, letting the crumbs fall down to a saucer plate on her lap, "But it's also a host of many, individual consciousnesses that wander together, going wherever the starlight leads us. A Multitude."

"Is that so?" Ina hummed. "One of those, uh, consciousnesses of the Multitude would be you, then."

"That's right!" Sana nodded again, flashing Ina a smile with crumbs and pimento cheese spread on her lips.

Ina smiled back and wiped the cheese and crumbs from Sana's lips.

"So what happened?" Ina asked, looking into Sana's eyes, "How did you end up here on Earth? Where's the rest of your Multitude?" Ina shuddered and her face suddenly went pale. She sat upright and frantically gussied up, "A-are they… are they in this room right with us now and I can't see them or something!?"

Sana's smile mellowed. Then, she shook her head.

"No, no." Sana answered, "The Nebulous One and its Multitude… my Multitude is not here." Her lips twisted into a frown, "As a matter of fact, I can't sense it anywhere nearby. I've already searched lightyears away." She squished the sandwich in her hand with a titanic grip, compressing it at the atomic level, "And it's my fault."

Ina gasped, eyeing the nearly-pulverized, atomically compressed sandwich. But Ina raised her eyes and saw the mighty space alien's lips twisted and her brows furrowed in a puzzling way.

Though Ina wasn't an empath, she sensed frustration in Sana's fidgeting hands and the shadows over her brow. Anxiety too. But the longing shimmer in Sana's golden eyes broadcast a signal that even Ina could interpret without a doubt.

Loneliness.

Seeing this, Ina took a deep breath. Then, she set her hand atop Sana's shaking one, tapping her as lightly as a feather.

' Go on. I'm here to listen.' Ina said without speaking a word. Or at least, those were the words Ina wanted to say.

Nonetheless, Sana's fidgeting stopped.

"You think very loudly." Sana revealed.

"Ah…!" Ina stopped in her tracks, deflating like a balloon, "Aha-ahahaha…"

"But you are very kind. Thinking about me ." Sana promptly added, emphasizing the 'me'. She eyed her atomically-condensed sandwich between her fingers, "In the Multitude, even though there are countless consciousnesses, we kept to ourselves. We observe the universe as a whole, after all. Not ourselves. Not individuals. This is what the Nebulous One itself told me." She scoffed, "I'm probably one of the very few exceptions."

She took her atomically-condensed sandwich and ate it. Then, she turned to Ina again and continued.

"Against the 'wisdom' of the Nebulous One, I took an interest in the Earth." Sana explained, picking up her third sandwich, "I took form and I caught wind of the Earth's radio broadcasts. Deciphered them too. Not very well, mind you. But I tried."

"Ah right…" Ina piped up, "In your dream, you were picking up radio stations - listening to them too."

"Mhm!" Sana confirmed, "I've been doing that for a long, long time. Or rather, I've picked up a wide range of broadcasts - from the very first broadcast that came from this blue planet many Earth-years ago… to last week's music stations from Australia. My Multitude travels long distances, after all." She leaned back against the wall and bit into her third sandwich, "Every broadcast told me that the Multitudes of this planet were learning to communicate. They were reaching me!"

Ina's purple eyes shone with curiosity. A myriad of questions popped up in her head, testing the batteries of scientific principles she had studied on her path to becoming a NASA technician.

'How did Sana pick up those signals? '

' Does her form have a transistor, perhaps? '

' What other broadcasts has she intercepted? '

But Ina held her tongue and shook her head. She smiled and urged Sana to continue her tale. The space alien gladly obliged.

"The Earth fascinated me, Ina. The broadcasts of its Multitude - its… people - enamored me." Sana admitted, "So, when the Nebulous One willed to move on from this system, I broke free from my Multitude and lingered. I wanted to keep listening to the broadcasts - have my fill of them." She finished off her sandwich and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, "Then, when I'm ready, I'd give up my form, return to the Nebulous One and continue my journey with them."

"I see…" Ina nibbled on her own sandwich, mulling through Sana's story, "But you just wanted to keep listening to broadcasts, right?" She turned her eyes to Sana, "What made you want to come here to the earth?"

"Ah…" Sana sighed, turning away from Ina.

The lonely, longing gaze returned to her golden eyes.

"It was because of a broadcast… or rather a myriad of broadcasts: a cacophony from six Earth-months ago, but it only reached me very recently." Sana pursed her lips while she chose her words carefully, "I heard so many people in panic… in pain. So much shouting - so much weeping. It was so intense and so sudden that the Nebulous One was startled and promptly moved out of this solar system, leaving me behind." She clutched the fabric of her astral dress over her chest, wincing as she recalled what she had heard, "I was startled too. I didn't fully understand what was going on. I was left with a form I don't really know how to use."

"Sana…" Ina's lips twisted.

"But, among those many voices, I heard yours, Ina." Sana continued.

"... me?" Ina asked.

"I remember your voice from broadcasts you made many Earth-years ago." Sana confirmed, "You and your conscience-kin…your 'sister' talked so fondly of Space."

"Oh… the amateur ham radio broadcasts I made with Anenis. " Ina thought out loud, "Back when we used to travel to Florida a lot."

Sana nodded.

"Hearing your voice, which was once so fond of space, drowning in the agony of that cacophony…" Sana clenched her fist, "I knew deep inside that I had to soothe your pain." She chuckled, "And since my Multitude had left me behind, I had nowhere else to go."

"So you sought me out." Ina guessed.

"And I met you that night at the beach." Sana smiled.

Yes. The images of Sana landing on the shores of Cape Kennedy were still fresh in Ina's mind. From the moment their eyes met, Ina felt like Sana was looking at her - looking for her. Now, Ina started to understand why.

Ina managed to wear a small smile.

"If soothing my pain was your purpose for coming here, t-then…" Ina dared to glance at Sana again, "T-then, you've done a wonderful job."

"I'm glad." Sana smiled back, "I heard much anguish and pain from that cacophony. So, if I was able to help you, then my journey here to the Earth wasn't a waste." Her smile shimmered brightly like the sun. Then, she reached for Ina's hand and held it gently in hers, "Seeing you happy lifts a great weight off of my shoulders."

Ina's cheeks flushed red. Goosebumps rose on her skin, radiating from her hand sandwiched between Sana's.

"Y-you mentioned other voices in the cacophony." Ina mumbled to break the silence, "Are you planning to help them too?"

"If possible, I would." Sana let go of Ina's hand and spoke frankly, "But I do not know how this world works, so I don't know how well I can soothe another human person's pains - or what those pains are." Her eyes turned to the flags of the US and Georgia State flying outside their window, "And I don't know if I'm in a position to help anyone. We can't exactly leave the Sheriff's house, after all."

"I-in that case…" Ina stammered, drawing Sana's attention, "In that case, when Sheriff Calli gives us the all-clear, I'll do what I can to teach you about us humans. T-that would… that would help you calm down those voices, right?"

"You would accompany me?" Sana's eyes brightened, "You would teach me more about this world?"

"I don't know how much I can teach you." Ina turned away, fidgeting under Sana's gaze, "But I'll do my best - t-to repay you for the kindness you've shown me." She started running her hand through her own hair, playing with her purple locks between her fingers, "You lifted up my spirits, s-so I… so I would be happy if you let me help you lift yours."

"In that case, I look forward to learning even more things from you, Ina!" Sana cheered.

A number of questions still swirled in Ina's heart and mind, but Sana's bright and eager smile quelled them for now. That - and Sana's stomach grumbled yet again.

Ina chuckled and reached for the bag of sliced bread.

"Let me whip you up another sand…wich." Ina stopped.

The bag of sliced bread was already empty.

' There was less bread left than I thought, huh…? '

Just as Ina started to fret, the squeaky noise of pulleys from outside caught her attention. She and Sana looked out the window. There, they saw the two flags descend before the sunset.

Further down below, on the front lawn, they saw Vesper and Calli folding the two flags quickly but neatly. Calli noticed the pair of eyes watching them from above, so she smiled at them and waved.

"We're gonna get ready for dinner soon, you two." Calli announced, cupping her hands over her mouth, "Come down and help me and Ves get ready."

' Saved by the bell, huh? ' Ina thought.

She nodded back to Calli and folded up the emptied bag of sliced bread. Then, with their tray of snacks in tow, Ina and Sana went downstairs.

…

Epilogue

That same afternoon, just before sunset, a black sedan eased into the parking slots outside the main workshop of NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The black sedan, while technically new, bore multiple scratches of various depths all over its body, a banged-up side view mirror held together by duct tape and a chassis that squeaked and grinded gears.

Kaela Kovalskia stepped out of that car and regarded her vehicle's battle scars. She looked at her reflection in the side view mirror and tried in vain to comb down the split ends of her golden locks with her bare hands. Then, when a gust of sea breeze blew in from the ocean, the side view mirror fell straight off the hinge and onto the gravel by Kaela's feet.

"I'm gonna need a new car." Kaela scoffed. She kicked the fallen mirror under her car, wrinkled her lips and thought, ' But at least I got away. '

She recounted the arduous journey all the way from the Florida-Georgia state border, tracing all of the paths and alternate routes she took - each one more wooded, rugged and treacherous than the last. A journey that no city-going sedan should have ever been subjected to.

To Kaela's surprise, after the first few hours, she managed to evade her pursuers - an impressive feat given her handicap. How she was able to shake Florida State Police, she didn't know. Why the guards at the entrance to Cape Kennedy, for some reason, didn't so much as inconvenience her for her NASA ID, she didn't know either.

All that mattered to her was that she got back to the workshop in one piece.

' Maybe they realized my donations are paying for their salaries. ' Kaela snorted.

Satisfied, for the most part, Kaela stretched, rubbed her tired eyes and marched on into the workshop. That was when the first signs of trouble became clear.

Kaela's secretary shot up from her seat when Kaela entered the workshop foyer. The secretary's face was pale white and no words escaped her lips. Not even the standard-issue greeting that she was supposed to give to anyone and everyone who set foot in the workshop.

Kaela's eyes turned to the clock hanging on the wall and she frowned.

' My secretary should have clocked out an hour ago. '

Rather than berate her, Kaela sauntered over to the secretary's desk and whispered.

"What's wrong?"

"Madam…" The secretary started. She leaned over the counter and whispered to Kaela too, "There's someone in your office."

' Someone, huh? ' Kaela pondered.

Kaela gulped. Then, she patted her secretary's shoulder.

"Go home for now. I'll handle this." Kaela whispered, "I'll pay you overtime for your troubles."

"But madam… will you be alright?" The secretary asked.

"I wish I could tell you." Kaela sighed.

The secretary promptly packed up her things and sprinted out of the workshop. Kaela, on the other hand, marched towards the door of her office - which was left ominously ajar.

She stepped inside and saw that 'someone' seated on the Italian leather-coated swivel chair behind her handsome Philippine mahogany desk. The back of this 'someone' was turned to her, but that didn't stop Kaela's unwelcome guest from swatting her hand through the air.

Kaela knew this gesture.

It meant, ' close the door behind you. '

Kaela obliged.

Once Kaela closed the door, the 'someone' turned the swivel chair around and faced her. Seated on that chair was none other than Special Agent Zeta Vestia of the CIA, clad in a sharp black suit and tie. Her pristine silver hair was tied up into cat-like buns and her baby blue eyes shimmered with curious delight.

Then, in Zeta's hands, sat a bottle of the most expensive Scottish Single-Malt whiskeys from Kaela's office credenza. She lifted the bottle up for Kaela to see, before she tapped on the glass bottle twice.

That was yet another unspoken signal.

' Get two glasses. With ice. ' Kaela interpreted.

Kaela marched to her credenza and retrieved the glasses and the ice. Zeta popped open the cap and poured whiskey for the two of them.

"That was supposed to be for special occasions." Kaela remarked, watching her expensive whiskey fill the glasses and lift up the ice.

"Like the success of the Apollo 1 mission?" Zeta tested.

"Oy." Kaela berated.

Zeta shrugged. She passed one of the whiskey-filled glasses to Kaela and mused, "Today is as special of an occasion as any, Kaela. You made it back here safe and sound, after all."

"Is that so?" Kaela gulped. She took the glass of whiskey and looked at her own reflection on the bobbing ice cube, "You had something to do with that, did you?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny." Zeta smiled, swirling the whiskey in her glass.

Kaela scoffed, "You always did like to 'play with your food'." She glanced at Zeta and smirked, "Like a cat."

"I'm not a cat." Zeta stood up and piped up with a pan-flash of anger, but she cleared her throat and sat back down, "I'm not a cat, but I have the power to offer you an extra life of sorts. Depending on what you're willing to tell me about Ina'nis Ninomae and that extraterrestrial you smuggled out of Florida."

"Do the other Feds know about this?" Kaela probed.

"Not yet." Zeta smirked. Her free hand wandered towards the telephone on Kaela's desk, "But that can change in an instant, you see."

Beads of sweat formed on Kaela's brow. She took a sip of the whiskey and set down her glass firmly.

"What are your terms?" Kaela asked.

"We're going to have a nice long conversation." Zeta downed her whiskey and winked at Kaela, "Preferably over dinner. There's a nice Japanese restaurant over in Cocoa City, I've heard."

"I see how it is." Kaela answered, "You know - you could have just told me you missed me and wanted to go on a date."

"Why, I'd never admit to something like that." Zeta's smirk grew wider, her voice turned playful, "Stuff like that is classified, you know."

Kaela scoffed again. She reached for the telephone on her desk.

Then, she called the restaurant to make a reservation.

To Be Continued