Love and Deepspace - Aether Hearts

Chapter Two: The First Mission

The crisp, sterile air of the UNICORN's HQ buzzed with anticipation as MC walked through the doors of her new workplace. The building, a modern marvel of glass and steel, reflected the ambition and drive of the elite force it housed. Today marked her first day on the Alpha team, a day she had been both dreading and dreaming about for years.

"Hunter's Watch, HOS.11.4. Metaflux detection system has been updated to the latest version. Guidance for each floor has been uploaded. Use of the Slepen Pod has been approved, and access to the VR Training Center has been granted." A robotic voice speaks and appears, following MC through the building. After performing a flurry of dazzling maneuvers on in the air, the spherical robot opens a compartment on its body.

"The system log shows you had less than four hours of sleep last night. The quality was also extremely poor." A console appears from the compartment, and it presents a small pill box.
"A special delivery. One Draumril."

MC touched the dark bags which had formed under her eyes, her mind replaying the scene of the mysterious eye outside her window last night. It just didn't make sense. Was it Wanderers? Or a trick of the mind? After the eye had appeared, MC had forced herself out of bed to scan her surroundings, but she didn't find any abnormal traces of energy fluctuations so she ended up retreating back to her apartment to sleep.
"I'll try and dig up some info from the squad files and keep a look out tonight..." she thought to herself.

Suddenly, a holographic screen appears and interrupts MC's thoughts. The adorable voice resounds in the room once again.

"Alpha Team has special life insurance for its members. Please sign here."
"...Huh?"
"Alpha Team is on the third floor. The office is next to the Movere Bridge. This is so in case of an emergency, you'll be able to arrive anywhere in Linkon City within a few seconds. I need to go now. Have a great day!" The robot spewed out new information without hesitation, barely giving MC time to react.

The robot leaves, and MC was all alone. She turns around and see an empty office. Sunlight shines through the glass walls, illuminating a pile of untouched paperwork.

"A new recruit's equipment should be at their desk, and mine is..."
MC entered the main hall, where the hum of conversations and the clicking of keyboards created a symphony of productivity. She wore her newly minted badge with pride, feeling the weight of responsibility it represented. As she approached the briefing room, she caught sight of her new desk. Making her way towards it, she was stopped in her tracks by a wavering voice.

"...A newbie?" A voice appears from the corner. A figure appears from the shadows, behind three rows of old, widescreen monitors is a man with small eyes scrutinizing MC.
"He must be my teammate." MC thought to herself, "Hello, I'm—"
"S-stay... Stay right there!"

Hesitant, MC doesn't move. She inadvertently looks at the array of dark-colored monitors. It was rare to see such old-fashioned products in an era of rapid technological advancement... MC guessed they were mainly used to avoid small talk. The back of the monitors were plastered with dozens of portraits of Wanderers, big and small.

Handwritten notes containing all sorts of information were taped beside them. Among them is a familiar face.

"Isn't that a Luminivore?" She wondered to herself.
The Wanderers in the records were all rare. It seemed that this person was quite knowledgeable about Wanderers.
"Oh right, what I saw outside my window last night..."

MC walked up to the monitor and gave it a few taps.
"Excuse me, may I ask a question? Do you think there are Wanderers that can turn invisible or just disappear in a split second? It's okay if you don't want to answer..."
"What did you see?"
As if a switch had been flipped, he suddenly sprung up from behind the desk and walked over to MC.
"Well... it's just..."
"Shh, draw it."
His small eyes looked surprisingly bigger as they fixated on MC. He shoved a pen into her hand, its tip a flickering red light.