The backwaters H5 were left to decay.

While the inner cities and the larger settlements saw people flock near and far to begin reparation efforts, the smaller slices of paradise saw their streets become flooded with rubble and trash brought by broken canals.

The innards of homes spilled onto the streets like guts as possessions laid rotting in hazardous clumps, hiding the murky depths underneath their fragile façade.

The Guilds made a tremendous effort to equally disperse Adventurers to aid with the restoration of all settlements, but the fact of the matter was that those that lived away from the cities and larger towns were doomed to fend for themselves. Either that, or help arrived far too late when cribs were left abandoned, and homes inhabited only by the churned cadavers of their owners.

The channels that ran throughout the City of Hearts were not natural. They were engineered by Caldera Industries, supported by their Gravity Engine and the Subderma Layer that neatly held everything up. The collapse of the Eyes had damaged the waterways, causing mass flooding.

Low-level areas turned into lakes overnight, valleys into canyons, and villages swept away until their mangled corpses mashed against the walls of a faraway dam. The majority of the City of Hearts was mostly ok, but H5 all the way down to H3 saw the most significant damage in regard to the waterways.

Those that could control water using magic were invaluable. Children were rescued as hands made from water plucked them from rapids, moments before wooden beams would split them in half; and entire walls of water blocked by a team to buy time for evacuations.

It was a developing issue, and Caldera Industries personnel – the Surveyors and Retro Engineers could be seen roaming affected areas where water gushed like a geyser, fragmenting town squares into hundreds of elevated and sunken pieces.

The Surveyors were armed with a giant backpack more than four times larger than themselves, and were carried by short-statured, beardless dwarves who poked around with a two-hundred-kilogram divining rod. It was shaped like an ordinary cow prodder with the sole purpose to detect gravitational anomalies and sources.

Depending on the vibrations, they could tell if one of the Upper Anchors was damaged. Anchors were the places connected to the top of a Pillar from the Root-Pillar Complex, and usually housed other major instruments, namely pipes that transported water across the City of Hearts from a reservoir covered by CogitO.

A minor Reality Manifester – the High Fabricator – pumped the city with water but was firstly cleansed before it could be used by the public. The cleansing process caused these impurities to become embedded into the ground, increasing the stability crust that held the entirety of the Nex Megalopolis, and allowing its residents to harvest said metal locally to be used however they saw fit.

The impurities were seen as a valuable byproduct that greatly aided in the restoration efforts, for there was already a surplus of material in reserve. But the issue was never one of materials.

It was always the lack of manpower.

Or rather, the motive to help. Reward was always the motive that drove people’s hearts. This was especially the case for Adventurers. Those that couldn’t give back were left to die alone calling out to the willfully deaf. That was not to say they weren’t people that helped out of the kindness of their hearts.

Smaller groups and some big-named Adventurers lent their hand wherever possible. Recognition to them was nothing compared to the gratitude of those in need. Their names were never bound to be found, whereas those that helped in the major cities for a large sum of gold would forever be remembered as heroes.

However, at least there was someone to acknowledge their good deeds. But they were only reflected upon the murky gutter waters, seen only by the green eyes of a strange fellow.

“I remember why I despised our common blood.” A man dressed in beautiful pale robes spoke to himself as he walked along the abandoned, flooded ruins of a dilapidated town. “The despair flows like the rivers, unseen towards a heart that nobody seems to listen to. How unfortunate.”

How he was able to see these people was bizarre. However, so long as the Nexus was in clear view of a Star and another place, then they could see it as though the Nexus were their eyes. This was how Stars were able to determine precisely who or where they needed to visit.

This was also why many Stars chose to keep their eyes sealed shut, for using their eyes when the Nexus functional served as theirs was seen as an insult to their sacred rock.

The crest of a golden star could be found on his shoulders, and a star-shaped pin kept his coat clipped together by his chest. He was a tall man with efflorescent, yellow hair, like that of a sunflower.

It had a faint glow and as he entered a tunnel where the possessions of children were left impaled on the legs of chairs, his hair appeared like a star.

Ripples did not form when he stepped on water. The world seemed to ignore his presence as he moved with closed eyes and a head held high in the direction of the magnificent pale rock that spoke to him like a higher power.

“As you wish, Amalgam. I’ve already been dispatched by your Will.” His impassioned whisper would have sent chills down the backs of an onlooker. One of the perks of being a Star was that they never made themselves known to more than a handful of people at a time.

They were like specters walking the world, driven only by voice of the Nexus. Of course, they had their own aspirations, but this was mostly thwarted for nothing brought them more pleasure than to serve the Advent that changed the world.

“Indeed. Misery breeds misery. O Amalgam. Why are you so wise? Just as the Nexus has always guided us you pull us along with such driven instructions.” He recited, his melodic voice echoing throughout the tunnel as he trampled over the belongings of the fallen, yet miraculously never damaging them.

Stars had an innate ability to keep a part of their physical form within the Subcut Layer. So while their bodies were visibly present, it was elsewhere in reality. This however did not make them impervious to all damage, but it most certainly made them appear untouchable to the masses.

That was if they were lucky enough to come across one in the first place.

His faith eventually led him to a compound surrounded by tall buildings, and a wall that cordoned off all. Within was a Retrofitter’s Site, but it was left unprotected for the Retrofitters have long been removed.

So why was he here then?

He stood before the towering concrete wall, wearing a subtle smile before he unexpectedly took a step forward. The wall did not collapse or break. Neither did he make contact with it. Rather, his body phased through the wall like a wraith, spooking a leftover City Defender who jolted at the sight.

As this was ImpulseWork’s territory, their personnel were ordered to protect it irregardles of what remained. His mouth parted, his chest puffing up as he was so close to shouting at the Star until suddenly, a metal hand cupped his mouth shut.

“Don’t speak to it.”

The muffled voice of an Aquatid, who was fitted inside of a metal diving suit, cautiously warned as condensation dripped from the glass bowl covering his head.

“Don’t look at it. That thing… pretend it’s not there.” He further begged, pulling his companion aside as they faced the front gate, turning their backs to the Star who ignored their presence and casually strolled along, his target the concrete bunker in the center of the compound. “That’s one of them. One of those things from up there. Not a Moon or Exalted. That thing is a Star of the Nexus.”

Their fear seemed irrational. The Star posed no threat, and yet the Aquatid reacted in a manner that made it seem like the Star was more malevolent than the Impurtias Hearts.

That couldn’t be right… could it?

“That’s a Star…?” The human man questioned, able to speak once the Star disappeared through gaping opening and descend deep into the Retrofitter’s chamber. “W-what’s the matter with you? Isn’t it an honor to see one in person?”

“You’ve been reading glorified legends since you were a child… You have no idea just what they’re capable of. Children of this city know only of the Stars depicted by legends. So much so that they desperately wish to be included in our nights.” The Aquatid’s green complexion became pale, refusing to return to its natural color as though he had come face to face with death itself. “… So long as we don’t impede their mission then we are fine. You almost cost us our lives. Those Stars are unpredictable. Luminal Synchrony got on the bad side of the Stars and paid the price. Or so I’ve heard.

Fuck… I still remember when their rigs plummeted off the coast of Caldera.”