Butterflies of the Dark Star

56 (REVISED)

"We have to go, Engineer Nova." Izerva twitched their tail towards the door.

I know. Nova pressed her cheek against Neo's burning one, and his eyelids fluttered open to study her. "I'm going to be right back. I need you to stay here and not get into anything," she assured and let him rest. I'd rather not leave Neo alone longer than I have to, but if I can get Izerva to read that writing, it might have an answer. At least, Neo believes it. I have to get these back to Thuni and Ulin — check if their core is still in my droid. I hope it didn't reset now of all times...

"Wait," he mumbled, and slid a shaky hand into his coat before pressing the keypass into her hands. "Take it... you won't be able to get in otherwise."

Keypass tucked into her pocket, she brushed his hand. "Get some rest. I'll come back," she repeated. Out of Eastern Medical Tower, she followed Izerva to the transit station.

Nova led Izerva through the transit maintenance tunnels to avoid watchful eyes. Below them, the station reactor core, rumbling through loops. Nova hesitated by the ladder. "Izerva, do you have access to security?"

"Yes, but it is the anomaly labs I don't have access to, Scientist Neo's keycard will have to be enough."

And then there's the guards... An idea struck her. "Could you make a false alarm for an A-Level Lockdown?" she asked. "I understand if you don't want to do it, but that's all I have."

"Considering how well-guarded the unknown anomaly is, it might be our best option to divert attention." Izerva paced a small circuit around the maintenance ladder. "How would you suggest this approach? Do you wish for me to send the station into full lockdown — or make it seem like a power fault?"

Nova nodded at the improvement to her hasty idea. "If you make it look like a power slip, it would make central engineers go down to the core and it'd give us more time." Tension cracked through her bones when she checked her wristpad. And not too long for the real thing, if it's going to happen again. Her stomach dropped from realization and heaviness. I have a funny feeling it will, or I might be playing right into their hands, but I don't have another option. Nova nodded at the ladder. "We'll go with that," she said and shuffled along her toolbelt for a power capacitor to hand it to Izerva. "You have to connect this to the main power. It'll force a switch to auxiliary the moment it detects a fault. It should be enough to send an alert."

"What of you?" Izerva pocketed the capacitor. "Have you thought of what to do after we've observed the anomaly?"

"I'm going to head to Droid Bay A," she explained. "Quickly. I don't want to leave Neo like he is." But, for better or for worse, he doesn't have the strength to move. "We shouldn't waste time in the lab once they notice it's a power fault. We'll discuss more once we're back to Neo."

"Sounds good, Engineer Nova. Let us meet in Laboratory Z once the alert goes out." Izerva brought their fingers to point upwards, then climbed the ladder. Nova snuck behind them to slip into the central corridors. Guards stood at junctions, but it took no effort to act like she belonged, especially with Izerva at her side.

In sight of the anomaly labs, guards stood at each side. Nova smiled when Izerva rushed down a separate hall. Into one of the storage holds to keep herself hidden from scientists, she waited for the vital moment. And maybe I can find something here. Always be prepared. Always have back-ups and ways to circumvent any issues that arise. Nova leaned against the door and listened for the alarm. Time ticked closer to lockdown, and her heart slammed against her ribcage. But something always goes wrong. I need to be ready.

Always, I can't trust it to go exactly how I want it to.

Unable to focus on anything but her plan, she hid in the shadows of the storage closet to watch researchers pass her with their hands full of infodrives. Some of them went from lab to lab, before disappearing into the communication tower lift.