A sharp, metallic KNOCK rattled through the hull.

  Zero froze mid-step.

  Felicia’s ear twitched.

  Sirif’s hand went instantly to her curved blade.

  Murph’s tail bristled, shoulders stiffening with instinct.

  Another knock. Slower this time.

  Heavier.

  “Someone’s outside,” Felicia whispered.

  Zero hissed softly, “Stay with the kid. I’ll check.”

  But Sirif stepped forward, quiet and steady.

  “My fur’s dead already. They’ll sense you three — not me.”

  She slipped her shadowy hood up and moved toward the rear hatch.

  Zero didn’t argue. She just clenched her jaw and stood near the cockpit, scythes ready but unanswered questions twisting in her gut.

  Felicia moved beside her, pulse rifle half-raised.

  Murph placed a hand on the panel to lower the ramp.

  Sirif descended first, ghostlike in the humid air.

  The ramp hissed open.

  A single figure stood at the bottom. Cloaked. Broad-shouldered.

  Armor matte black with bright, pulsing orange lines.

  A triangular visor glowed like molten glass.

  Zero’s tail stiffened the instant she saw what he held:

  A beacon — blinking red in a steady, rhythmic pulse.

  Sirif’s voice carried up the ramp.

  “…Identify yourself.”

  The figure didn’t answer.

  Instead, he lifted the beacon.

  And it projected the girl’s biological signature into the air — a full pulse scan, unmistakable.

  Zero’s eyes widened. “That’s—”

  Murph whispered, horrified, “A genetic lock tracker. They only work if the target was tagged beforehand.”

  Felicia’s breath caught. “But we never—”

  The beacon’s red pulse sped up.

  The figure finally spoke, voice modulated, inhuman and cold:

  “Null Beast detected. Hand over the specimen.”

  Sirif moved like lightning, blade resting at the figure’s throat.

  “You’re hunting a child.”

  “Correct,” he replied calmly. “Step aside.”

  Zero snarled. “Murph—close the ramp. NOW.”

  Murph slapped the panel.

  Sirif jumped back just as the doors slammed shut between her and the tracker.

  The ship sealed with a metallic thud.

  But through the steel, they heard it—

  the rhythmic, accelerating beeping of the tracker locking onto its target inside the ship.

  Felicia’s voice shook. “They’re tracking her biologically. We can’t hide.”

  Zero cursed under her breath. “Damn it—damn it—DAMN IT.”

  Murph bolted to the cockpit.

  “Get us airborne!”

  Felicia pulled Sirif aboard the moment the locks sealed.

  Zero leaped into the pilot seat and slammed the throttle.

  The engines roared to life.

  Outside, the cloaked hunter didn’t run.

  Didn’t shout.

  Didn’t even look surprised.

  He simply tilted his head…

  …as if listening to something far in the distance…

  …and the beacon in his hand pulsed in perfect sync with the girl’s heartbeat.

  Zero yanked the ship up with enough force to rattle bones.

  “Hold on!” she barked.

  The ship blasted off the ground, ripping through vines and branches.

  Trees toppled under the engine thrust as they rocketed upward.

  Alarms blared—

  Murph scrambled to shut them off—

  Felicia secured the girl in her seat—

  Sirif watched the rear monitors with sharp undead eyes—

  And Zero piloted like a demon, every muscle coiled.

  Felicia whispered, “Zero… what do we do now?”

  Zero didn’t look back.

  Didn’t hesitate.

  Her voice was low, fierce, and uncharacteristically emotional:

  “…Whatever it takes. No one’s taking her.”

  The ship vanished into the clouds—

  the beacon still blinking in the hunter’s hand.

  Zero kept the ship drifting between quiet patches of empty space until every scanner showed nothing—no tails, no signals, no heat signatures that didn’t belong to them. Only then did she ease the throttle back and exhale.

  “…Alright,” she muttered. “We’re clear.”

  Felicia glanced over her shoulder at the girl still buckled into the co-pilot seat. “You okay, little one?”

  The girl nodded softly. Her eyes were big, calm, but tired.

  Zero stayed silent for a few seconds, trying to find the right words.

  She hated this sort of thing. Small talk. Feelings. Asking questions that weren’t tactical.

  But she had to.

  “…Kid,” Zero said finally, turning slightly toward her. “You got a name?”

  The girl perked up a little, then nodded.

  “…Syraella.”

  Zero repeated it quietly. “Syraella…”

  Murph scribbled the name into his datapad. “Unique. Not from Solara. Not from Astra Major either.”

  Zero ignored him.

  “You remember anything about your past?” she asked. “Anyone? Anything? The forest tribe? Before I found you?”

  Syraella hesitated.

  Her fingers curled in her lap.

  Her voice trembled softly:

  “…Only pieces. Just… trees. Animals. Voices in the wind. Sometimes the roots would whisper. And I’d feel… safe.”

  Zero blinked slowly. “…That’s all?”

  The girl nodded.

  Before Zero could ask more—

  every monitor in the cockpit screamed red.

  Murph spun. “Incoming object—fast—rear vector—”

  A sudden jolt rocked the ship sideways.

  Felicia grabbed the wall. “We’re hit!”

  Zero snarled and slammed her hands onto the controls. “No—we’re being chased.”

  The rear camera flickered—

  and the tracker hunter’s ship snapped into view, sleek, matte black, its engines burning bright orange.

  Murph hissed, “He put a beacon on us. Must’ve slapped it under the hull when Sirif confronted him.”

  Sirif growled, “Step aside—I’m removing it now—”

  Zero cut her off with a sharp bark: “SIT. We’re in space, Sirif—open that hatch and you’ll be shredded.”

  Another blast rocked the rear.

  Syraella whimpered softly.

  Zero’s ears flattened. “Felicia—keep her steady back there. Murph—charge the railgun.”

  The black-orange ship swooped around for another hit, this one aimed at the engines.

  Zero snarled. “Not this time.”

  She jerked the joystick up, twisting the ship into a tight spiral that pressed everyone into their seats. The enemy fighter overshot—

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  —and Zero slammed the boosters, lining up behind him.

  Murph shouted, “FIRE!”

  The railgun blasted a white-hot streak through the vacuum—

  the tracker’s shields flared—

  the ship spun violently, losing control—

  And Zero locked onto the exposed underside.

  “One more,” she growled.

  Felicia hit the trigger.

  The second shot tore through the hunter’s stabilizers.

  The black-orange fighter spiraled aimlessly, then erupted in a bright, silent blossom of flame.

  The debris scattered like glitter across the void.

  Silence fell inside the cockpit.

  Zero breathed hard through her nose. “…He won’t be the last.”

  Murph nodded grimly. “Especially with the beacon still on our hull.”

  Zero didn’t waste a second.

  “Setting course for Luna,” she said. “Nearest safe rock to crawl under.”

  Luna — Astra Major’s Moon

  They landed in a barren crater, the gray dust rising in soft plumes beneath the landing gear. The stars were sharp above them, Astra Major a blue-white giant filling half the sky.

  The hatch hissed open.

  Sirif stepped toward it.

  Felicia grabbed her arm. “You sure?”

  Sirif’s gray undead eyes glimmered faintly. “I don’t breathe, I don’t freeze, and I don’t rot. I’ll manage.”

  Zero nodded once. “Be quick.”

  Sirif stepped out onto the moon’s surface, boots sinking into powdery dust. No helmet. No suit. No hesitation. Her cloak drifted in silent lunar breeze as she walked under the ship.

  Inside, Syraella hugged her knees.

  “…Will she be okay?” she whispered.

  Felicia crouched beside her. “She’s undead, sweetheart. The void can’t take what’s already gone.”

  Zero only grunted but flicked her ears in agreement.

  Through the floor, they heard faint metallic tapping as Sirif tore off paneling.

  Murph squinted at his pad. “Signal strength dropping… dropping… almost—”

  A final loud CLANK.

  Sirif’s voice echoed over comm: “Tracker removed.”

  Zero exhaled. “…Good. Get back in.”

  As Sirif strode up the ramp, brushing gray dust from her gloves, Zero took a long breath and turned to the others.

  “Next move,” she said.

  Felicia answered first. “We need help. Someone who knows human physiology. Someone we can trust.”

  Murph sighed. “That’s a short list.”

  Zero leaned back, tail tapping impatiently. But her voice was steady:

  “We go to Garantroz. Big human population. Smugglers. Scientists off the grid. Someone there has to know something about a human growing like she is… or why she’s being hunted.”

  Syraella looked up at them, eyes hopeful and afraid.

  “…Are we going now?”

  Zero didn’t soften. But her voice was gentler than before.

  “Yeah, kid. We’re going.”

  Murph plugged in the coordinates. Felicia secured the cabin.

  Zero lifted them off Luna’s surface, engines burning bright as the barren landscape shrank beneath them.

  Their new destination: Garantroz — and whatever answers waited there.

  The ship glided through the thin atmosphere of Garantroz, its surface a vast expanse of red stone, canyons carved by ancient winds, and sprawling industrial domes that shimmered under a copper sky. Towers of neon metal rose from the dust, markets buzzing beneath their shadows.

  Zero guided them toward the outer docking ring — a quieter port, less attention, fewer eyes.

  Murph unbuckled first, tail flicking nervously. “Place is crawling with all kinds. Nobody’ll notice us.”

  Felicia secured Syraella’s hood. “Let’s hope so. Humans aren’t rare here, but… kids with her profile definitely are.”

  Zero checked her weapons, then crouched to Syraella’s eye level. “You stay close. No wandering. If someone asks who you are, you don’t answer.”

  Syraella nodded quickly. “Okay.”

  Sirif lifted her cloak, hood shadowing her undead eyes. “I’ll watch the rear.”

  The streets were alive with noise. Vendors shouted in ten languages. Hover skiffs hummed overhead. The scent of metal, roasted spices, and ozone filled the air.

  Every species imaginable walked the red-dust streets — Avarans, Mycorans, Terrans, reptilian traders with metallic scales, floating crystalline intelligences.

  But Zero kept her focus narrow: Find a human. One who talks science. Off-grid. Quiet. Not Alliance-affiliated.

  Felicia leaned close. “Zero, how do we even start?”

  Zero’s eye scanned the crowds. “Look for clean gear in a dirty place.”

  Murph snorted. “That’s vague as hell.”

  “Works every time,” Zero replied flatly.

  And then— Syraella tugged Zero’s sleeve gently.

  “…Her,” she whispered.

  Zero followed the girl’s gaze.

  Standing by a rusted vendor stall was a woman — mid-20s in appearance, aqua blue hair tied loosely, blue eyes glowing too softly to be natural. Her clothes were clean despite the dust, a simple white jacket over dark plating. She examined old machine parts laid out on a tarp as if searching for something specific.

  She looked human.

  Mostly.

  Felicia whispered, “…She stands out.”

  Murph eyed her cautiously. “Off-world accent. Body language’s weird.”

  Sirif murmured, “No breath condensation in this cold air.”

  Zero glared. “Meaning?”

  Sirif’s eyes flickered. “Not alive. Not dead. Something in between.”

  Zero’s tail twitched irritably. “Great. Last thing we need is a machine.”

  Before the others could respond, the woman turned— and locked eyes with Syraella.

  Not with Zero. Not with the armed hunters.

  With Syraella.

  And her expression changed — confusion first, then something like awe.

  She stepped closer, voice soft but resonant:

  “…Your resonance is… impossible.”

  Zero immediately moved Syraella behind her, hand on her scythes. “Back off.”

  The woman blinked, startled. “Apologies. I’m not a threat.”

  Felicia narrowed her eyes. “Name?”

  The woman hesitated only a moment.

  “…Azuria.”

  Murph scoffed. “Never heard of you.”

  “Most haven’t,” she replied gently. “I’m not registered.”

  Sirif whispered under her breath, “She’s telling the truth.”

  Zero frowned deeply. “You’re… human?”

  Azuria tilted her head slightly, as if computing the question.

  “…I was built to be.”

  Felicia’s ears perked. “Built—?”

  Azuria ignored the question and instead crouched slowly to Syraella’s height, keeping her hands visible.

  “You’re… anomalous,” she said softly. “Your biology reads as human. Your soul-signature reads as something else.”

  Murph hissed. “You can detect that?”

  Azuria nodded. “I am an Adaptive Human Companion Model. Designed in the late common era, during the old collapse. My systems are… old. But not obsolete.”

  Zero’s scowl deepened. “We didn’t come for an android.”

  Azuria looked at her calmly. “You came for someone who understands humans — better than humans understand themselves.”

  Felicia and Murph exchanged looks. Sirif stayed silent.

  Azuria reached out, not touching Syraella, just offering a hand for her to decide.

  Syraella stepped forward on her own.

  “I… feel like I know you,” the girl whispered.

  Azuria’s expression softened almost imperceptibly.

  “You don’t,” she said gently. “But you will.”

  Zero’s jaw clenched.

  “…Can you help her or not?”

  Azuria looked up — eyes glowing faintly, impossibly deep — and answered:

  “Yes. But if I help her… you must understand something first.”

  Felicia raised a brow. “Which is?”

  Azuria’s voice lowered to a whisper:

  “She is not just hunted. She is claimed.”

  Zero’s fur bristled. “By who?”

  Azuria stood slowly, gazing out across the bustling red-dust streets of Garantroz.

  “By something ancient,” she murmured. “Something older than this system.”

  She turned back to them, expression unreadable.

  “If you want answers… then follow me. But be warned— once you know the truth, you will never be able to walk away from it.”

  Zero exchanged a tense look with her team.

  Then she nodded once.

  “…Lead. But if this is a trap—”

  Azuria finished her sentence calmly:

  “You’ll kill me. I understand.”

  She turned and walked into a side alley, expecting them to follow.

  Zero exhaled sharply and muttered,

  “…This better be worth it.”

  Syraella quietly slipped her hand into Zero’s again.

  And Zero didn’t pull away.

  Azuria moved through a narrow alley, her steps soundless despite the dusty metal beneath her boots. Zero, Felicia, Murph, Sirif, and Syraella followed in single file, the bustle of Rustfall District fading above them as the alley narrowed, walls closing in, the neon light from the street barely reaching.

  “Where exactly are we going?” Murph whispered, tail flicking nervously.

  Azuria didn’t answer immediately. She slowed, reaching a rusted bulkhead. Without a word, she pressed a series of hidden panels. The wall vibrated, then slid aside with a hiss, revealing a vertical shaft. A ladder descended into darkness.

  Zero’s eyes narrowed. “…Great. A vertical shaft. And we’re supposed to trust this… machine?”

  Azuria turned, voice soft but firm. “Trust is irrelevant. You have no other option if you want answers about her.”

  Syraella glanced up at Zero. “…I can trust her, right?”

  Zero’s scowl softened slightly. “…You’re with me, kid. You’ll be fine.”

  Murph muttered, “…Why does everything we do have to be literal death traps?”

  Sirif simply shrugged, stepping down first. Her cloak trailing behind like a shadow. “Experience. You’ll get used to it.”

  Zero followed carefully, scythe resting at her back. Felicia and Murph kept close to Syraella. The shaft ended in a small platform. Azuria moved to a hidden hatch, pressing a few buttons that activated a series of stairs spiraling downward into the bowels of Garantroz.

  At the bottom, the space opened into a wide, softly lit chamber. It hummed with the quiet pulse of machinery. Vats of liquid shimmered with strange bioluminescence, and screens projected energy readings, biological scans, and maps of flora and fauna across the Solara System.

  Azuria gestured toward a workstation. “Sit her here,” she said, indicating a chair for Syraella, carefully designed with restraint straps that were soft and non-threatening, only to stabilize her for observation.

  Zero crouched near her, scythe across her knees. “…What now?”

  Azuria moved to a console, fingers dancing over controls. “…I need to measure her energy signature fully. So far, what your trackers and instruments picked up is only a fraction. There’s a deeper resonance she emits—something no Null Beast exhibits.”

  Murph’s ears twitched. “…Deeper resonance?”

  Azuria nodded. “Yes. It’s… aligned with nature itself. Her presence communicates with living systems, even from a distance. Flora, fauna… the planetary ecology. Her body is human, but her spirit—” She paused. “…It’s something else entirely.”

  Zero’s ears flattened. “…Something else entirely? That’s your professional analysis?”

  Azuria ignored her, focusing on the scans. “And there’s something more. Dormant potential… extremely rare. If it were to activate, it could… influence ecosystems directly. Not just animals or plants, but energy flows, life cycles.”

  Syraella’s small voice broke the hum of the machines. “…Like the trees talking?”

  Azuria smiled faintly. “…Exactly like the trees talking. You hear them, feel them… you’ll be able to interact with them.”

  Zero’s tail twitched nervously. “…Interact. Great. So now she’s a Null Beast that can whisper to the jungle. Perfect.”

  Felicia gave her a quiet nudge. “…Not helping.”

  Azuria’s gaze darkened. “…She is not just a Null Beast. She is… claimed.”

  The crew froze.

  Zero leaned forward sharply. “…Claimed? By who?”

  Azuria’s eyes flickered to the screens. “…Something ancient. Something that sees her as more than human, more than Null Beast. They track her, tag her… even now, there may be others seeking her across multiple systems. You’ve only encountered the first.”

  Murph’s tail bristled. “…First? There’s more?”

  Azuria nodded. “…They’ve waited centuries for someone like her. Someone with the ability to awaken fully and… command nature in ways no ordinary species can. They are patient, precise, and deadly. And they will come for her again.”

  Syraella’s hand twitched slightly in Zero’s. “…But… I just wanted to be safe.”

  Zero’s ears flattened. “…Yeah. Well, welcome to reality, kid. Safe isn’t a thing anymore.”

  Azuria moved closer to a scanning console, projecting a 3D image of Syraella’s aura. Waves of faint green and gold pulsed outward. “…I need to monitor her growth, track her energy patterns. The acceleration of her aging… that is highly irregular. Her physiology is advancing faster than normal, and it will plateau as she approaches thirty… but until then, every year counts. Every change matters.”

  Felicia crouched beside Zero. “…So we keep her hidden, but keep monitoring?”

  Zero gritted her teeth. “…Exactly. And if anyone else shows up… we either outrun them, or we make them regret it.”

  Azuria’s voice softened slightly. “…And you must understand: you cannot rely on brute force alone. Her safety depends on understanding her, not just protecting her. You must learn what she can do, what she will become, before others exploit it.”

  Zero exhaled sharply, gripping her scythe tighter. “…Fine. But anyone tries to touch her before we’re ready—”

  “…They die,” Azuria finished calmly.

  Syraella looked up at them, small hand slipping into Zero’s. “…Will I be safe?”

  Zero’s voice softened, just slightly, ears twitching. “…Yeah, kid. You are now.”

  And for the first time since leaving Solara II, Syraella allowed herself to relax just a little—though everyone knew the calm would be brief.

  Zero leaned against the console, scowling. Her tail flicked irritably. “…So, that tracker—can it be removed? Or are we stuck with a glowing ‘come get her’ sign on our backs forever?”

  Azuria didn’t look up immediately, fingers moving over the scanner’s controls. “The tracker is highly sophisticated. Biological lock, encrypted pulse, multi-system integration. It’s embedded at a level designed to resist removal without damaging the host.”

  Zero ground her teeth. “…Meaning?”

  Azuria finally looked at her, calm, precise. “Meaning it cannot be safely removed from her body. Any attempt could trigger a fail-safe or kill the signal entirely… which they would notice immediately. But…” She paused, voice softening, “there is a way to shield her from detection.”

  Murph perked up. “…We’re listening.”

  Azuria tapped a panel, and the holo-screens shifted, showing an underground layout. “There’s a specialised containment bunker I’ve maintained for… sensitive cases. It’s designed to block all organic and bio-resonant trackers. It creates a synthetic shield that scrambles biological signals. Even highly advanced tracking systems will fail.”

  Felicia leaned forward. “…Even a lock implanted in her?”

  Azuria nodded. “…Even that. The shield doesn’t remove the tracker—it renders it blind. For any outside observer, it’s as if she doesn’t exist.”

  Zero’s ears twitched, eyes narrowing. “…And you’re suggesting we just… live there?”

  Azuria’s expression was calm but firm. “For her safety, yes. You cannot risk exposure. Anywhere else, even temporary stops, could be fatal. Here, she can remain under constant observation, and we can begin controlled monitoring of her abilities.”

  Syraella’s small voice piped up from her seat, quiet but curious. “…Will it hurt? Being in the bunker?”

  Zero crouched next to her, scythe resting across her knees. “…No. It’s like… being in a safe room. Think of it as a place where no one can touch you. No trackers. No hunters. No bad surprises.”

  Murph exhaled. “…Sounds like the safest option we’ve had so far.”

  Azuria gestured to a schematic of the bunker’s interior. “It’s self-sustaining, shielded from all major detection methods, and can support several occupants indefinitely. Food, air, climate, and monitoring systems are all integrated. You won’t even need to leave unless absolutely necessary.”

  Zero’s gaze flicked to Syraella, whose eyes were wide, staring at the holomap of the bunker. “…Kid, you okay with that?”

  Syraella nodded softly. “…I just… want to be safe.”

  Zero’s tail flicked once. “…Good. Then that’s where we’re going. Everyone, prep the ship. We move out before anyone realizes we’re here.”

  In the ship, Felicia already began strapping in Syraella. Murph ran final checks. Sirif adjusted her cloak, eyes scanning the lab’s shadows one last time.

  Azuria activated the directional interface. “…The bunker is prepped and waiting. I’ll guide you. It’s on a secured sub-level below the main facilities of this sector. No approach is unmonitored, and the shields engage immediately upon entry.”

  Zero’s jaw clenched. “…Alright. Let’s do this. No mistakes. Everyone stay sharp.”

  The engines hummed, the crew buckled in, and the ship lifted from the Garantroz’s surface and towards the hidden sector.

  Inside the cabin, Zero glanced at Syraella. “…Almost there, kid. Almost home for a while.”

  Syraella squeezed Zero’s hand gently. “…Thank you.”

  Zero’s ears twitched, tail flicking once more. “…Don’t thank me yet. Just survive.”