The Girl in the Gym

The Crew

Present Day...

The Zerowian spaceship was still stationed at their old spot, but this was the end of the line. They had been instructed to pull out by the end of the year. They had spent more than thirteen years trying to track down the missing Zerowian girl, Inaya. But all signals had gone blank the minute they died. They were able to determine that Hemnath and Chitra had died. Of Inaya, there had been no trace.

Until today.

One of their screens beeped. It was so unexpected that they were all momentarily surprised.

The image of a magazine cover popped up along with a computer-generated message.

Searches related to Inaya, aged 20, from Udaigad.

Results: 01

"We found her captain!"

"That is definitely her. She had distinct Zerowian features!"

"Run a scan, find out everything about her before we pull her into a portal."

"We're not sure whether she had the beacon or not."

"Zoom in, check her neck. She's wearing it! She must not know how it works."

"It is a magazine article. She calls the beacon her fidget spinner."

The crew was jubilant. Their mission had been saved at the very last moment. They all turned to read the data on the screen to find out who Inaya had grown up to be.

"Before taking any action, let's run through all the possibilities and deduce the perfect way to communicate with her. Find out what she may know, and what she has been up to thus far," the captain ordered.

For the first time in many years, the crew had actionable intelligence to work upon. They began immediately.

More than a light-year away, Inaya was playing with her fidget spinner, when Jack asked her. "Can I look at it in my lab if you don't mind? It seems to be made of some kind of indestructible metal. It could unlock the secret to your past."