"You know, it would be very nice if you provide some help over here instead of just staring at other people minding their business," said Jane to Blake, who was tasked to take things that could be saved from the ruins of Unit 5 with her.
Blake turned to the girl behind him. He stopped looking at Jake and Eric around the ruins of Units 6 & 7 for the first time in 5 minutes. Without saying a word, the boy started to do his task and helped Jane.
The Savior Station had a length of 298 meters from front to end. In the simplest depiction, it resembled a white, metallic, giant centipede with six legs. Each side of the station had three legs that were 75 meters long. The legs all ended with a spaceship that was parked there. These spaceships were further called 'units'. The right side had Units 2, 4, and 6, while the left side had Units 3, 5, and 7. Unit 1 was the station itself. But that was before the mysterious explosion happened.
The explosion turned the back of the station into debris, including Units 6 and 7. Units 4 and 5, located in the middle part of the station, were also severely affected. However, there were still many items that could be taken from these two units. Jane and Blake were assigned to collect items from Unit 5.
"It's no use," Blake told Jane through the radio inside his helmet as they were collecting things that were spread around the shattered Unit 5.
"What do you mean?" Jane frowned, looking at the 19-year-old.
"They won't find anything. We would've detected it if it was a comet or any space debris, but the explosion happened out of nowhere. Trying to solve what it was isn't a good move. With so many things we've lost, we have to get down this planet as soon as possible," Blake stated, referring to the Earth, which was right in front of them.
Jane sighed, "Just focus on your task, Blake. Although most of these… have no use, indeed."
What they found were mostly Cheryl's belongings, starting from her collection of shoes, clothing, makeup, jewelry, and even purses.
"I'm not even going to be surprised if that girl is the first to die," Jane added.
***
"No way…" Aksel said with a barely audible voice. He was shocked upon looking at the ruins of half of the station from the window inside the second leg.
"I know," Jordan, in behind, responded to her stepson.
"Flynn said there was nothing wrong with the machines. He also didn't detect any material coming towards this station before it happened. It just… happened," she continued, "The damage would have also been worse if Flynn wasn't in the cockpit when it happened. He made a quick decision and separated this front part of the station from its back."
Aksel showed no further reaction. In his wheelchair, he sat quietly, staring at the debris of what was once Unit 6, still with a shocked look in his light-brown eyes.
"How will he react to this?" He questioned Jordan after a few moments. His eyes were still fixed on the super thick glass in front of his glasses.
Jordan was quiet for a couple of seconds.
"You don't have to make it always about him," she told him gently as she moved to his right and then knelt with one knee.
She grabbed his right hand.
"I'm worried, Jordan," Aksel turned to his stepmother, "I don't want to disappoint him."
"No, you won't disappoint anyone," Jordan smiled at him. "Look, I think you just overthink the fact that you were two months late to wake. Believe me, it's all alright. You have nothing to worry about."
"But it's father. You know him," said Aksel.
"I do. That's why I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about."
Afterward, Aksel didn't say anything anymore. He couldn't hide it, he seemed to be still worried. But Jordan kept on smiling at him, which made him hesitant to ruin her confidence.
"Alright. I think we still have plenty of time to waste while they handle the mess. In the meantime, I'll take you on a little tour around the station," Jordan concluded the conversation there. She got up and started to push Aksel's wheelchair towards the space between the second and third legs.
The space had additional space that seemed like its tail now that the station lost its middle and end parts. This additional space was 15 meters in length. It functioned as a gangway connection and was used to connect the space between the second and third legs with the space between the fourth and fifth legs. It was the part Flynn used to save the station from total damage by detaching the second and third legs from it.
Two main entrances to the station were also placed in this gangway connection. One was at its end on the right side, while the other one was on the left, near the second leg.
Jane and Blake dropped the things they collected from Unit 5 to the right entrance. As the entrance was double doors, they would only drop the items in the narrow space between the two doors to make their task easier. Finally, it would be Curtis and Cheryl's part to bring in the items after Jane or Blake closed the outside door.
The same scenario was also applied to the left entrance. Sean and Cole were charged with the same responsibility as Jane and Blake in Unit 4, while Curtis and Cheryl's roles were done by Chandler and Rosemarie.
"Hey," Chandler greeted Aksel in a friendly manner as Jordan brought him closer to the left entrance. They had not talked yet since Aksel woke up as he was busy with his tasks of bringing in and sorting items.
Aksel smiled.
"I have missed you so much, buddy," Chandler left his task for a while to hug the weak Aksel.
"You seemed so busy. I didn't want to disturb you," stated Aksel after Chandler released him, referring to earlier when he and Jordan passed through Chandler to get to the second leg.
"Yeah, I was pretty much in chaos after Rosemarie left to help Jordan and Liz take care of you. But it's all under control now. We're also almost done," the blond Chandler replied to his best friend. His confidence went up whenever he was around his long-time best friends, Aksel and Rosemarie. The plus-sized boy was a relatively shy soul with almost no confidence.
"Any updates about my red short skirt?!" Cheryl interrupted them out of the blue. She came over to them, scratching her head and looking so worried. Her eyes wandered here and there, especially around the things her brother and Cole collected.
"Hey, Aksel," the tan-skinned 18-year-old girl greeted Aksel indifferently, not even looking at him.
"W-we haven't found your skirt yet, Miss Cheryl," Rosemarie told the fair, fit-looking girl in her super soft voice. She shared some similar traits with Chandler and Aksel, especially regarding confidence, bravery, and shyness, as the three became friends after being bullied in school.
"Oh, no…," Cheryl squatted, then desperately tried to find her skirt in the piles of items Chandler and Rosemarie had sorted, even though she had done the same thing twice previously, "That's like the most valuable thing I brought from Arcadia."
"For the third time, Cheryl, I swear it…," Curtis was at a loss for words. He had just noticed Cheryl's absence beside him for the same reason, and he seemed to be so over it.
"Just give me a moment, Curt," Cheryl was unbothered by Curt's complaint. She continued what she was doing.
Curtis sighed, eventually drowned in annoyance.
Cheryl was indeed known as high-fashion. If beauty manifested as a human, that would be her. The girl paid a lot of attention to her look. She knew she was more than just pretty, and maintaining it had always become her biggest concern. At times, her attempts to maintain annoyed people a lot.
It was a good thing for Curtis; his crush, Jordan, was also there. He could, at least, put a smile on his face, although Jordan didn't notice it at all.
"Uh?" The muscular young man then turned his eyes to the entrance in front of him. He stared at the small part of the outside door, at the top of it, which was rectangular and glass-made.
'They're back already?' He thought. Curtis was confused upon seeing Jane and Blake approaching the outside door. They just left around three minutes ago. They weren't supposed to come back this fast.
Without wasting any time, the young man brought in all the items in the narrow space between the outside and inside doors. He assumed that they were trying to get inside the station, so he also closed the inside door once he brought all the remaining items in.
Curtis' calculations didn't miss. While Blake was waiting outside, Jane opened the outside door right after Curt closed the inside one. She got into the narrow space immediately. After closing the outside door again, the girl with high cheekbones and monolid eyes opened the inside door and quickly experienced the artificial gravity the station had.
"What happened?" Curtis asked Jane as soon as the long-haired girl took off her helmet.
"Captain ordered an urgent meeting. He told us to stop collecting. We need to gather at the round table, now," Jane informed everyone present there because, by that point, all eyes were on her. She closed the inside door later, allowing Blake to get inside.
"Wait, wait, wait. Jane, Jane," Cheryl panicked after hearing Jane's words. She got up and came over to Jane, who was taking off her suit this time.
"You can't just stop collecting our things. I mean, not only you. Blake, Sean, and Cole, too. You have to keep collecting," she told Jane.
"Your things, Cheryl. Not ours," Jane replied to her, "Besides, an order is an order. I follow what my Captain says."
"I know, I know. But, but you're wrong. Don't you understand? You're not just collecting my things. These are yours, too. We're a team. Everything is ours to share. Nothing is yours only, mine only, Curt's, or anyone else's only at this point," Cheryl desperately tried to assure Jane, who was already very irritated after having to bring back so many of Cheryl's things.
Jane took a few steps away toward the left entrance afterward, as she wanted to make way for Blake.
"That's just gross. I would never take your panties and wear them, thinking they're mine, too," stated Jane. Facing Cheryl and everything about her was so challenging for the dark-brown-eyed girl. She decided to go to the round table at Unit 1 immediately while shaking her head.
Cheryl herself was left speechless for a moment.
"Can anyone back me up and help me?!" she begged, "Curt?" she turned to the well-built young man, who was daydreaming.
"Well, I personally think you've got a point," said Curtis. Cheryl nodded, then turned to Jane again, who couldn't care less.
"Hi, Aksel," Jane greeted Aksel and smiled at him as she passed through him. She stopped for a moment, "Glad to have you back," she continued, touching his left shoulder.
"Thank you," Aksel responded to the girl who was roughly the same height as him.
"I would love to have your panties actually, assuming they're mine, too," Curtis added and shocked Cheryl.
Despite her shock, Cheryl didn't make any comment. Instead, she approached Blake, who had just taken off his suit and helmet.
"Blake?" The dark-haired girl tried to gain help from him.
The emerald-eyed boy was arguably the most indifferent member of the Saviors. This kind of matter was such mere thin air for him. He didn't even bother to look at Cheryl and later started to walk over to the round table. He went with Jordan, Aksel, and Jane, who eventually joined him.
"You know what? I can tell you a story-"
"Stop!" Cheryl shushed Curtis immediately.
"Okay. All right, lady," said Curtis as he raised both of his hands in the air.
***
"First of all, I would like to apologize for how suddenly we held this meeting, and Aksel, it's very nice to have you back here," Jake Valerian, the Captain of the Mission, opened the urgent meeting. While everyone else was sitting on their chair, Jake chose to stand.
Only 10 minutes had passed, and everyone had already gathered at the round table. The table was located in the only hall the station had, right next to the cockpit, which was separated by a door. To get to the hall, one would need to take the stairs, and Aksel was carried by Curtis previously.
The boy responded to the Captain with one nod and a smile.
"Jane informed me that Curtis told her Aksel had awakened, so I figured we need to stop doing all of this immediately and make a quick decision right away," Jake continued, "I want you to note that Units Six and Seven were where we stored almost all of our food supplies. Now that both of these units turned into debris, all we have left are the little supplies we have here in Unit One. Eric, I want you to remind us how little exactly our food supplies are now."
Eric, a 30-year-old crew member who sat next to Jake's left revealed, "At best, the fourteen of us could survive for another three days with our current food supplies."
Cheryl, Rosemarie, and Chandler gasped right after hearing that. They sat next to each other in that order, with Jane and Sean being in between Cheryl and Eric, in that order, too.
"And all you worry about is your ridiculous skirt," Jane muttered while keeping her eyes on Eric.
"Hey! I could hear you," Cheryl protested as she turned her eyes to Jane. The girl was still upset about not finding her red short skirt.
"Miss Jane… Miss Cheryl," murmured Rosemarie. She seemed to be worried that the two girls might be arguing, but she was scared to say something.
"With that being said, most of us have to leave this station as soon as possible. The Mission has to start; I and the rest of the Saviors need to leave this station," declared Jake. Blake turned to Jane upon hearing it, as if trying to convince her about what he had said during their conversation earlier.
The girl herself didn't notice Blake. She was fixed on Jake, and she raised her hand later.
"Yes, Jane?" Jake responded to her.
"When will we leave, Captain?" asked Jane.
"I'm thinking today. Immediately. In a few hours," stated Jake firmly.
"Objection!" asserted Jordan, who sat next to Jake's right. She was the only one who seemed to be so shocked upon hearing Jake's words.
All eyes turned to the 40-year-old woman.
"I'm so sorry, Jake. I understand the situation, but there is no way Aksel will join the Mission in his current state. He's just awakened from a nine-month hibernation, you know that. His mind is not even able to differentiate dreams and reality yet. He's still too vulnerable. I think you should make an exception for him," continued Jordan.
"With all respect, Jordan, I understand your feelings. But Aksel is fine; he's just experiencing some side effects, and that is completely normal; you know it the best. He's going to gain his motoric ability back soon, just like me and the other Saviors," said Jake.
"Um, I'm not really sure about that, Jake. I've noticed it, and maybe Jordan has, too, but it's been almost an hour since Aksel woke up and he hasn't shown any signs of getting his motoric ability back, unlike you and others," Liz joined the conversation, supporting Jordan, "Also, I think the longest anyone has ever gotten their very first daily quest was Blake with ten minutes after waking up. I'm just guessing, but am I right that you haven't received a daily quest yet?" she questioned Aksel, who sat across from her.
Aksel looked at Liz quite in horror, he was silent at first, "No, I haven't," he answered, realizing that everything had been going so strangely for him so far.