(Material realm - Zed city)

It was a sunny afternoon in the bustling megalopolis and anyone was bound to complain about the strangely high temperature. That was not the case however, as a transparent dome appeared over the central city to regulate the weather conditions within it anytime it was quite unfavourable.

Not many people knew how it worked exactly but in a world where technology was abundant, anyone would simply pass it off as one of the many wonders of a successfully evolving civilization.

A certain girl stood next to the street as the hover cars sped past the green lights of the levitating traffic post. She had an aura of majesty as the ornamental necklace and earrings she wore reflected in the sunlight. She wore a simple white t-shirt that had the inscription 'ALWAYS POSITIVE' printed on it as well as a pair of blue-black jeans.

Izumi passed her hands through her silky black hair for the tenth time and then proceeded to fidget with her purse.

Her friend and bodyguard, Aku, stared at the Pearl of Hamasaki's awkward mannerisms and gave a bland expression. She wore a plain shirt and a red skirt.

"You know you're being nervous for no reason, right?", Aku nonchalantly said.

"H- Huh!?", the nervous girl jolted slightly. "N- No, it's not that. It's just… I mean, this is the Epoch Industries we're talking about!"

Aku sighed, "No matter how you put it, you're nervous as heck. You should calm down else you'll end up doing something dumb once you get into their site."

Izumi took in a few deep breaths, "I know"

Her minor movements had seized and that seemed to somehow put Aku at ease. That is, until she noticed her best friend suddenly sweating profusely. At that point, Aku said nothing and just stared at the bold imprint on Izumi's shirt with a blank expression.

'This girl', Aku thought as she pulled out a small device and swiftly tapped a few buttons.

Just then, a rectangular portion of the road immediately before them sunk into the ground with a smooth mechanical whir and soon, a vehicle emerged from within the ground.

"I've ordered a ride", she smiled and then grabbed Izumi's hand. "Now stop acting like a child and get in."

Both ladies entered the vehicle and before they knew it, they were zooming through the active city, bypassing an almost uncountable number of vehicles that levitated about their daily activities. Despite the numerous vehicles in the air, coordination was at its peak perfection as each of them were built with state-of-the-art sensory systems.

Izumi stared at the mesmerising flow through the city and sighed as she saw an all too familiar symbol that glowed on the bonnet of a passing vehicle. The symbol contained three golden stars and an eye in the centre of the middle star.

A few minutes passed by and soon their vehicle slowed down and parked at the side of an enormous structure built on an extensive piece of land.

The land had neatly levelled grass laid on it and it gave the air some kind of refreshing smell. Many people in suits could be seen trooping into and out of the building and each of them were in great haste.

Both Izumi and Aku stepped out of the vehicle and right after Aku had paid for its service, it gently sank beneath the ground.

"Well, here we are!", Aku clapped cheerfully. "Wow, Epoch Industries' main branch is way bigger than I expected. I mean, look at that sleek architecture!"

"..."

The black-haired girl refused to utter a word as she stared at the building before. Well, instead of saying she refused to speak, it was more of an oblivious behaviour she was exhibiting at that point.

A brief memory suddenly flashed across Izumi's mind as she intently kept staring.

Had she been there before?

No, that couldn't be. That was her first time there and she was sure of it.

"Hey Izumi"

Izumi snapped out of her daze as Aku gently shook her and commanded her attention.

"You okay? I realised I was pushing you to do something you were uncomfortable with", the concerned bodyguard warmly said. "You don't have to worry yourself about going in now. We're actually two hours early. We could even return to the mansion if you want."

"No", Izumi turned to Aku and smiled. "I'm good. Let's go in!"

Izumi's sudden change in demeanour made Aku slightly confused, but she immediately composed herself and both of them then entered the ultramodern building.

Upon entry, they were greeted by an astonishing view of the highly expansive reception. Every single area was filled with people busily going about their day-to-day duties. In addition to that, hardworking robots levitated from place to place, fulfilling the needs of any visitor.

One of such robots approached Aku and Izumi. It had a shiny white sheen to it as it beeped twice.

[Bot: Welcome to Epoch Industries; Home of revolutionary technology, how may I be of assistance?]

"Um, we're here for a programme?", Izumi slowly uttered.

[Bot: There is only one programme for the entire day; the Student Internship Programme. May I see any form of verification?]

The black-haired girl quickly checked her purse and pulled out a small black card. Soft blue light then emanated from the robot's eyes and brushed over the card twice in quick succession.

It then beeped once

[Bot: Hamasaki Izumi, student of Holy Oaks High. Your invitation has been verified. You are free to explore until the programme begins. Your escort will not be able to join you once the time is due however. Enjoy your stay]

With that, the robot gently hovered over to the next set of visitors.

Aku sighed, "Well isn't that rather unfortunate?"

"Hmm?", Izumi raised an eyebrow.

"I was hoping I'd be able to get in as your escort", Izumi's best friend held her hips. "Leaving you in my blind spot doesn't make me feel good at all you know?"

Izumi chuckled.

"W- What's so funny?", Aku smiled lightly.

"Don't worry about me too much, I'm a hundred percent sure we're gonna be safe once we're in here", a calm aura wafted around Izumi. "Let's go look around! I heard they have an aquarium somewhere!"

Izumi began to rush towards a certain section of the area.

"W- Wait! Where did you even hear that from!?", Aku rushed in her friend's direction. "Goodness, does she even know where it is? She'll only end up lost"

Meanwhile, at the higher levels of the same building, where the top members of staff operated, a middle-aged woman sluggishly awoke to the high-pitched alarm that rang from her still running laptop.

The lady awoke, quite groggily and then lazily proceeded to press a button on the keyboard. The alarm sounds were turned off and she gave herself a light stretch as she stared at the time with half blurred vision.

"Hmm? It's still not time yet?", she muttered and then stood up from her seat.

The room in which she was in was extremely neat with everything put in its place the right way. There were a few exquisite paintings hung on the walls and the soft lights made the grey walls seem vibrant.

It was common to find most of the higher offices in such a state as Epoch industries valued high efficiency in all of its areas.

The Lady yawned as she adjusted her white shirt and black skirt. She placed her feet into her glossy high heels and then moved over to her laptop.

Her face contorted to express disgust.

There was a small window opened on her pc and it displayed an incoming call.

"Goddamnit, I just woke up and the first thing I get is a call from an annoying jerk", she reluctantly pressed on the 'Accept' button.

The call was answered and the voice of a man was heard almost immediately.

[Man: Really Freya?Really!?]

"Ugh, here we go again", she whispered to herself and rolled her eyes.

[Man: Who says you have the right to SLACK OFF when there is so much to be done!? There are well over ONE HUNDRED tasks that we need to overcome! And I don't care how you're going to get it done before the end of the month, but you'll need to get that SORRY ASS to work if you want to keep this job!! OH or maybe you've forgotten what tasks you need to complete! Well let me LIST them out for-]

*Click*

The man's voice was suddenly cut off as Freya abruptly ended the call. She sighed and then cleared her ears as she turned around and nonchalantly walked towards the exit.

"I need to clear my head", she fixed her short reddish brown hair and grabbed her white lab coat off the hanger next to the door.

Once she exited the room, she found herself in a well-lit hallway, one that got way too old for her despite the frequent maintenance job that the industry performed. Freya walked down the near-empty hallway until she got to an elevator.

She walked into it and slowly descended to the floor just beneath her. That floor was supposed to host a group of students that were selected from the top schools in the God's Love zone to be part of an internship programme that Epoch Industries was hosting.

Apparently, Freya had been selected to head the programme by her demanding boss. She may have been the lazy type but when she actually felt like doing her work, she did it and did it well.

*Ding*

The doors to the elevator swung open and the lady walked out into the winding hallways.

She moved through the winding maze with the least effort since she had memorised the building's layout from A-Z.

Just as she was about to touch the doors of a particular room, an awkward feeling pulled her back. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the area around her.

There was no one in sight

It was silent as well, an eerie kind of silence that made Freya highly uncomfortable.

She turned around and then stared intensely at a particular edge of the hallway far from her. Her gaze grew even more powerful and it felt as if that portion was the only thing that was existing at the moment.

"Did you see all those rare animals!? To think they'd be rearing Serval cats or Sugar gliders!"

The intense air was suddenly shattered as the voice of a girl erupted from nowhere. Freya noticed the shadows of two people appearing from the wall opposite the spot she had her eyes on.

Her facial expression then changed

"Funny", she muttered. "Thought I was being followed."

Two girls emerged and walked in her direction. One of them was a bit younger and had long silky black hair; her hazel eyes made her stand out as they made her appear quite vibrant. The other girl had short brown hair and her aura seemed to represent that of a strong person.

"I'll go on ahead", the back-haired girl sprinted towards Freya with a spring in her steps.

"N- Not again! Hey Izumi, slow down!", her companion froze as she noticed the person standing before the door. "Watch where you're running dumdum!"

Izumi didn't seem to get the message early as she bumped into Freya with a light thud. The black-haired girl took a staggering step back.

"Uh- I'm-"

"I'm so sorry!", the brown-haired lady quickly appeared at the scene. "She honestly did not mean it."

Freya simply smiled, "It's okay. She seems quite happy to be here."

She took a good look at the girl who bumped into her and at that moment, a cold expression appeared in her eyes. However, it was too quick to be noticed.

'Who exactly is this girl?', she thought to herself as she began to speak again. "Your name's Izumi, correct?"

"Huh?", Izumi stood on alert. "How did you know my name?"

Aku lightly facepalmed, "I must've uttered your name without realising it."

Freya picked up a small device from her pockets and then promptly checked through it.

"Well, it doesn't really matter since I would've known about it anyways", she showed them the information on her device.

It was information regarding Izumi's specifics

Aku immediately pushed Izumi behind her and glared, "Who are you?"

The lady before them smirked, "You may call me Freya. Head Scientist of Epoch Industries' recent technological advancements and the one in charge of today's internship programme."

Aku's expression immediately changed, "Head Scientist?"

"You're in charge of today's programme??", Izumi was a bit stunned.

The person who stood before her didn't look the least bit motivated to be there for the programme.

"Now Now Now", sweat began to run down the sides of Freya's face.

Several thoughts began to surface in the head scientist's mind. She took one more look at Izumi and agreed to something within.

She had seen something in her

Something very very promising.