Miya’s pupils squint beneath her eyelids, too heavy to move but desperate enough to try and see. She can only make out a faint light above her and two hazy figures.

“… I-Is she going to be alright Vivi?” One of the hazy figures asks with unease.

The second figure comes closer. She can make out their concerned expression as she feels something soft and warm glide along my cheek.

A tightness forms around her lungs, remembering the girl who flew and plunged her face into the water.

… Where am I? Did they take me again? Am I being…

Miya’s eyes jolt open, a crimson gleam encircling her brown pupils. She locks eyes with a young woman wearing a black lab coat covering a red turtleneck and skinny jeans. A piece of her black hair moves from the side of her ear as she stares back at her.

Vivi winces and looks over to her fingers caressing Miya’s face. Her wrist was being clasped by Miya while her other hand had pointed fingers slightly dug into her abdomen.

“It’s only… You…” Miya mutters and lays her head back down.

Her head finally digs into the softness of the pillow below her head and feels the warmth of the white covers on top of her. The faint light from before was a blue display above her head stating all of her health conditions, from her heartbeat to the amount of water she had in her system.

Miya looks around at all of the other empty beds and coughs while laying her head back on the pillow.

“We’re… Back in the medical bay… Your underground bunker…”

Vivi nods her head with a reassuring smile. “Yes dear, we are. We heard about… About what happened… I’m so sorry.”

“Loliel… Is she… Okay…?”

Koko walks over to the other side of Miya’s bed and puts a hand on her shoulder. “Yep, she’s super. Why don’t you try and get some rest, okay?”

Miya nods and rolls onto her side, tugging the white blanket over her head while in the fetal position.

Adalae and Maxim standing near the door of the medical bay, exchange glances with Koko as they walk outside the room.

Maxim leans on the railing to the lower deck and sighs while scratching his head. “Never seen her without her spunk. Kind of depressing mate.”

Koko leans her back against the glass of the medical bay, looking to the side at Miya, still curled under the covers.

“Captain said that she got into it with some girl that fought with some advanced tech. She must’ve been a huge threat, because I’ve seen her take out two creeps in the same day. I wonder who could’ve made her like this though.”

Adalae rolls her eyes with a shrug. “Oh please, she’s alright. She’s going to be acting smug and high-and-mighty by the time she wakes up again.”

“I don’t know about that.” Maxim disagrees with a side glance. “Did you notice how she asked about Loliel? I never seen her call any of us by our names before, let alone give any concern.”

They all glance in separate directions for a few seconds. Koko sighs and walks down the steps to the second bridge while waving her hand in the air.

“I’ll go tell the captain to talk to her. She’s probably just in shock.” Koko assures, then continues walking down the stairs.

“… I’m telling you the truth! Why don’t you believe me?”

“… Because it’s far-fetched, we saw her pass years ago Loliel! You need to let it—!”

Ashihei and Loliel cease their arguing and look up at Koko at the top of the stairs. Koko looks to the side with a scratch of her cheek, then points to the medical bay doors.

“She’s awake now… So if you wanted to talk, she’s there… Is all I have to say.”

Koko then strides down the upper stairwell and goes through the quarters holding. Loliel slouches her tense shoulders and looks up to Ashihei with a nod.

“If there’s nothing more to say, I want to talk to Miya.”

Ashihei nods and turns around to exit through the double-hatch doors on an upper stairwell. Loliel clenches her fist and walks up the stairs, catching the gazes of Adalae and Maxim, now talking with Vivi outside the room.

Loliel walks beside Vivi with a dip of her head. “How’s she doing? I heard she’s conscious, been a while.”

“Yes, she woke up a few moments ago. But… She’s a bit more, repressed, than usual.” Vivi answers.

“That’s an understatement. She asked about you, you know?” Maxim adds.

Loliel looks into the medical bay window at Miya, now turned to the side under her covers.

“Give me a few minutes with her, I’ve got some things I want to talk about.”

Loliel walks past them and watches as the silver bay door flies open. She then knocks on a nearby desk and sits in the floating white office chair beside Miya’s bed.

“I know it was you who saved me… So thank you.” Miya murmurs from under the covers.

Loliel chuckles and presses a hand onto the bed. “You had me scared for a second there, I—“

She mistakenly touches Miya’s thigh beneath the covers, feeling Miya jolt with a soft gasp. Loliel snatches her hand back and stands up from her chair.

“H-hey… It wasn’t all that bad—“

Miya pops her head from beneath the covers and shakes her head. “I shouldn’t make my problems yours, I’m sorry. You have questions about that girl, don’t you?”

Loliel’s eyes widen. “Uh, yeah… How… How did you….”

“I have pretty good hearing, even through these dense metal walls. You and your father had an disagreement.”

“Yeah, we did… It’s just, I know what I saw! She looks exactly like Val, besides the weird colored hair and jet engines on her back. There has to be some sort of connection!”