Stellar Colony 7, at 2000 hours
As the crew on Stellar Colony 7 settled into their evening routines, Aric felt a gnawing hunger that he couldn't ignore. He stepped out of his quarters and made his way to a small mess hall on the lower deck. He was a regular there.
The cost of living on Stellar Colony 7 wasn't low, but there were still mess halls with reasonably priced meals deep within the station.
Aric normally had a large serving of protein noodles, a plate of synth-tofu, and a rehydrated meat stick, which was plenty.
However, today, he ordered three full servings of protein noodles, two vegetable dishes, and five meat sticks, and later on, he extravagantly added a plate of freeze-dried beef and nutrient paste to fill his stomach.
In the end, he ordered two more servings of soup noodles before he finally felt full.
He then paid using his station credit and ignored the mess attendant's surprised look.
The moment he stepped out of the mess hall, an idea struck him. "I just paid using station credits. Could I somehow access those in the virtual space as well?"
It seemed that he needed to figure out what the anomaly could offer him as soon as possible.
First of all, he needed to understand whether the anomaly was linked to his comm device or if it was something within him that had changed.
Sitting under a bright station light, he carefully examined his comm device, then his left hand. He was left-handed, and his comm device had been in his left hand when the energy surge occurred.
There was slight swelling in his left palm, but he wasn't sure if it was from the energy surge or from the intense virtual labor he had done in the holo-farm.
At least everything looked normal on the surface.
When he flipped his wrist, he was surprised to find a faint, light blue mark on the forearm near the back of his hand. "No way, where is my crystal band?"
During his internship at the institute three years ago, he and a group of classmates went on a field trip to the Gamma Quadrant. In a remote asteroid field, there was an abandoned mining outpost. At that time, they were a bunch of young and adventurous students and decided to explore the area together.
There was a dilapidated watchtower in the outpost. It was said to have been there for centuries. Aric had found an indigo crystal band there.
The crystal band was smooth and had an outer diameter of about two centimeters and an inner diameter of almost three millimeters. It was cool to the touch and quite heavy, almost as heavy as metal.
This crystal band didn't have an impressive appearance, but it had the advantage of being cool, especially in the heat of the Gamma Quadrant.
Aric picked it up just for fun, and he could have easily left it behind. However, when he brought the crystal band back to the institute, he discovered that it helped him stay cool in the extreme heat of the planet.
The slight cooling sensation was likely just a psychological effect, but Aric disliked the heat and thought it was helpful. He then wore it with a red strap on his wrist and wouldn't even take it off when he slept.
Now, the crystal band was mysteriously missing, and the red strap was also gone. Combined with the light blue mark on his wrist, Aric believed that the crystal band must have undergone some kind of transformation after the energy surge.
He didn't know what the transformation was, but he thought it was highly possible that the crystal band had merged with his body.
This explanation was far from scientific, but an anomaly was an anomaly!
It wouldn't be an anomaly if science could explain it.
After piecing together the events, Aric decisively gave up on trying to understand the source. He believed that he wouldn't be able to find another crystal band like that anytime soon.
He made up his mind to figure out what this anomaly could bring him first. It had to be something more than just harvesting virtual crystals.
First of all, he needed to find a place without surveillance systems to replicate the strange feeling he had just experienced.
He wasn't sure whether his body followed his consciousness into the virtual farm.
On this station, full of security cameras, it might cause a lot of unnecessary trouble if a person suddenly vanished from view.
Aric disliked trouble, and he didn't want to risk his anomaly being discovered by others.
It wasn't difficult to find such a place, and the maintenance bay of Nebula Station 7 was a good choice.
The solar flare in the afternoon had caused a temporary power failure, but fortunately, the station had backup generators. There were also many crew members who worked late shifts, so the generators were humming quietly.
Aric hadn't been scheduled to work this afternoon. Several colleagues knew it, but no one stopped him from heading to the maintenance bay. In this age, many crew members came by for minor repairs, so could he.
The maintenance bay on Nebula Station 7 was well-equipped in order to match the station's reputation. At the very least, it had workstations and private lockers that could be locked securely.
Aric entered a workstation and walked out with a gloomy face half an hour later.
Nothing happened, and he failed to enter the virtual space of his holo-farm again. He could only reluctantly start a new batch of rare crystals.
He planned to harvest the crystals manually again once they were mature.
Anyway, in the past half an hour, he tried various methods, but nothing surprising happened.
Only 83% of the battery was left in his comm device, and the two circles of the percent sign seemed to be a pair of eyes, coldly mocking him.
I'm just a device. Don't think too highly of me!
However, Aric remained confident, and he didn't think the anomaly he experienced earlier was an illusion.
He must have missed something important!
As a double degree holder, he wasn't lacking in curiosity. In fact, he enjoyed facing challenges.
Aric quickly adjusted his mindset, then walked out of the bay. Just as he was about to leave the station, he ran into a striking woman in her thirties, who was walking briskly.
The woman was tall with a graceful, curvy figure. She was wearing a sleek station uniform, with her well-toned legs and confident stride evident as she moved.
She wasn't wearing any accessories, which showed that she was quite comfortable with her appearance.
Aric stopped and greeted the woman with respect, "Good evening, Director Langston."
The woman was Dr. Mira Langston, the director of Nebula Station 7. She didn't like being called "Director Langston," but she preferred being addressed as "Doctor."
Nebula Station 7 was also known unofficially as "Langston's Outpost."
Dr. Langston had significant influence and connections in the sector, and her background was extremely impressive. She couldn't be a simple woman since she held such a high position in the station, and her reputation in the space industry was unmatched.
It was said that Dr. Langston maintained this station to provide a top-tier research facility for her esteemed colleagues. It was their private retreat, where they could work without distractions and conduct groundbreaking experiments.
Dr. Langston glanced at him when she heard him, but she didn't respond, as if he didn't exist at all. She then quickly walked away.
Aric didn't mind it, because he was already used to his superior's attitude toward the staff. Besides, everyone knew that Dr. Langston was a highly focused individual, and pleasantries weren't part of her routine.
Aric returned to his quarters and spent another two hours thinking about his comm device. When the battery reached 40%, he placed it under his pillow and fell asleep. The last thought in his mind was that he needed to get a new charger tomorrow.
He had made up his mind now, and he would continue to work tomorrow.
The reason was simple. He wasn't sure whether the anomaly had something to do with the station or his current quarters. He wouldn't relocate until he figured out what triggered the anomaly.
Compared with the anomaly, the frustrations he faced at work seemed insignificant.
The next morning, he headed to the maintenance bay to start his shift. He needed to run diagnostics, check the air filtration system, and ensure that all the equipment was sanitized and ready.
By the time he finished all of that, it was 0730 hours, and several crew members were already starting their morning routines.
Aric was about to grab breakfast, so he walked to the mess hall. The young woman at the front counter had just arrived and greeted him as she saw him. "Hey, Double Degree, are you getting breakfast? Grab me something, too."
The young woman's surname was Kane, and she had a decent relationship with him in the past. Although the nickname "Double Degree" was a bit mocking, at least she didn't call him "Professor."
Aric hesitated. Instead of being irritated by the nickname, he suddenly remembered that there was a charging station near the counter, which was a convenient service for crew members. Staff occasionally used it too.
Nevertheless, he didn't ask for a charger. He planned to buy one anyway.
When he finished his breakfast, he brought an extra serving back to Officer Kane. It was almost 0750 hours now, and he had eaten a lot today.
Unfortunately, his old comm device hadn't charged at all that morning, and there was only 12% battery left, which wasn't enough to last the day.
At this hour, some crew members had already finished their exercises and were heading to their stations. Aric walked through the maintenance area he was responsible for and noticed that one of the repair bots had been left out. So he immediately retrieved it and took it to the staff room for servicing.
While he was cleaning the bot, he suddenly saw a light green comm charger on the workstation.
This non-standard charger belonged to Commander Hale. Someone once laughed at him for using such an outdated model, but Commander Hale triumphantly replied, "It's vintage. You're all too young to appreciate the classics."
Since it was Commander Hale's charger, Aric didn't hesitate to use it. He connected one end of the charging cable to his comm device and plugged the charger into the wall outlet.
The next moment, there was a loud bang, and sparks flew everywhere.
Immediately afterward, someone outside shouted loudly, "Damn, the generator was just repaired! Why did it overload again?"