Lunai’s first alarm woke her up at 0430. She didn't get up for the first alarm, falling back asleep and being awoken at 0530 by her second alarm. This time she dragged herself up. Looking through her digital history, she saw the incomplete MyUniverse practice set. She opened the app to quickly finish what she had started and to get a few extra minutes sitting in bed. Her mini-exam score turned up as 60% compared to the 63% average amongst other interns.

  Just slightly below average, as always.

  Cromble trilled at her feet and quickly escalated to full-on shrieking. She did this every morning, excited to see her owner wake up. Lunai knelt next to her and started scratching her back. Cromble purred and plopped to her side. She was dismayed when Lunai turned away from her and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

  Lunai knew she needed to look her best today. Cromble had to stay outside so she wouldn’t get caught in any of Lunai’s clippers. She cried at the door, pawing under it to get at Lunai’s roots. Though distracted, she went over her morning routine twice, making sure she didn’t miss any loose branches or bugs. She looked at the pesticide bottle in the medicine cabinet and hesitantly grabbed it.

  “Sorry, little buggies…I can’t take you to work with me.”

  She sprayed herself down before entering the shower, sadly washing away the creatures that lived in her bark. The bathroom door opened and Cromble followed her over to her closet, running inside as she opened the door. Luckily, she would not need to wear any fancy dress; her costume was appropriate for events involving the media.

  I still have half an hour before I have to go. I’ll review the case and maybe write down a few notes. I hope Bliss won’t be mad if I answer some questions. I’ll look like an idiot if I don’t reply to anything.

  Lunai prepared her notecards and left the case notes open in the app in case she needed to look at them again. She kissed Cromble goodbye and left the apartment, heading for the main office building. All press conferences were held in the main building’s conference hall. She had watched so many press conferences from the agency when she was in school. Now, she would finally be a part of one. While her father would not be able to watch the news report, she hoped to make him proud, and couldn’t wait to tell him all about it on her next visit home.

  When she arrived at the building’s lobby, she was greeted by security detail at the front. They checked her badge and bag for any contraband. She was allowed through, passing the normal security guard at the desk and heading straight down the hallway. The conference hall was the one easy part of the building to find, just down the hall in the lobby. She entered the room and saw empty seats and a podium up front. Bliss was there, sitting in the front row. He turned around to face her and seemed to shove something into his cape.

  Does his cape have pockets? I want cape pockets….Maybe it’s a perk of being a senior.

  “Hey there; I hope you're ready for this. It'll be low stress for you, just let me handle the questions.”

  Lunai gave a shy smile. “Sure, but I did review the case and I have a few notes. If they ask me anything directly about my involvement, I think it would be appropriate if I answered. Of course, I would only try it if I was really confident in my answer!”

  Bliss playfully rolled his eyes. “I knew you were going to say something like that. You know, they say you should see something done before you try doing it.”

  “Oh, but Bliss I’ve seen this so many times! They made us watch them in school. I even watched them for fun sometimes! What difference would being there in person make?”

  “Ok, ok. Look, I want to be a good teacher. I think experiencing a press conference in person is different than just watching one on a screen. That being said, you have been surprisingly good at talking with others, so if you can tame your nerves, I’ll let you talk.”

  Lunai jumped in the air. “YES! Ok, you won’t regret it! I’ll make you look really good; I’ll tell them about how you saved me in space!”

  “Don’t go too crazy, focus on the mission, not on us.”

  She nodded and dropped her stuff on top of one of the reserved front seats. Her CellPulse turned on and she meticulously re-read the case report, determined not to make a single mistake or fumble any of the details. She took notes on her involvement specifically, deciding she would only answer questions directly related to her. Anything else should be deferred to Bliss.

  Lunai and Bliss sat in silence as he stared at the ceiling. She was too invested in her studying to notice the silence. The sound of the door opening grabbed her attention, and she saw Argalax enter the room. She excitedly waved to him and gestured for him to sit next to her, leaning closer to his ear.

  “Hey, I asked Bliss and he said I could answer some questions if I felt confident. Maybe you should ask if you can do that too. You brought the subject back to the agency, so maybe you could answer questions related to that,” she whispered.

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  He shook his head. “I’m not sure, you seem to be much better with people than me. I think I would be a little too nervous to handle it properly.”

  “Ah, I get it. Still, if you think you’re feeling it and you get the right moment, I’d say to just go for it! I don’t think Bliss would be mad unless you mess up, so only do it if you’re confident!”

  Argalax shrugged off her suggestion, but Lunai noticed him opening the Legend app on his wrist. She handed him some extra notecards she made of his involvement in the case and winked. She wanted them to both have their moments today.

  Fifteen minutes before the start time, Dr. Crux and some familiar faces entered the room. He was accompanied by two members of the agency’s board, Ms. Yrsela and Ms. Tiyora. They took their seats in the front and began discussing the case.

  Crux turned to Bliss. “Make sure you really get into the human trafficking angle. Human sedatives and children’s items paint a clear picture. Remember, you were injected with an unknown substance and our labs are hard at work analyzing it. You found human sedatives on the ship instead.”

  Bliss didn’t say anything, giving a single thumbs up in response. Ten minutes later, reporters and photographers entered the room. Entropi trailed behind them, taking a seat in the back. Lunai knew that she did this at every press conference. Ever since Bliss officially started as an intern, he appeared in press conferences for her. Before he showed up, she had appeared at the podium once, but Crux had to take over for her after she tried to reject all questions and end the meeting early. Bliss walked up to the stage and took his place at the podium.

  “Good morning. Thank you for attending this conference on the latest appearance of Armageddon. During what we thought was a routine hostage rescue mission, the subject discharged a light signal into space that Armageddon responded to. The area was subsequently evacuated, and there were no civilian casualties. Unfortunately, his crash landing on the planet killed dozens of officers on Kathous. Of course, he also killed the planet's Lord, Podoxec Vitrakh.”

  As soon as Bliss stopped, the crowd started raising their hands and leaning in towards the podium. Bliss gestured for his interns to join him on stage. One stood on each side of the podium.

  “Here I have Hollybrook and Platinum Promise with me, two interns who recently started at the agency. They accompanied me on this mission and played integral roles. There may have been more casualties without them. Of course, Hollybrook also followed me into space despite the great threat awaiting her. I do not know where I would be right now without her.”

  One reporter called out the question they were all thinking. “Bliss, why did Armageddon try to kidnap you?”

  “We are still investigating the matter, but so far, we were able to search Armageddon’s ship. We found several vials of human sedatives and items belonging to children.” The audience gasped. “At this moment, we suspect he is involved in human trafficking. Even though I'm half void siren, human traffickers still follow me from time to time. I believe this is why he was trying to kidnap me.”

  Hushed murmurs filled the audience. Lunai saw some horror and empathy in their eyes directed at Bliss. Reporters continued to raise their hands.

  “Bliss, you were knocked out by a syringe Armageddon injected into you. Is there a new drug that can be used against void sirens now?”

  Bliss held up his hand. “We are still investigating this. My blood is being analyzed in the lab, but don’t worry about me, I’ll remain vigilant. I recovered quickly from the drug, so I am not worried about it.”

  The next reporter looked at Lunai. “Hollybrook, your daring chase into space may have saved your senior, but did you feel it went against protocol at the moment, especially considering it was your first field mission? Couldn’t it have caused more harm than good?”

  Bliss looked at Hollybrook and she gave him a slight nod of confidence. “Yes, it was a very risky move, one I made in the moment. Protocol tells us not to engage in a fight we can’t win, but I didn’t see myself engaging Armageddon. While I did face him briefly, my goal was to stop him from leaving with Bliss. I was just helping him retreat, not engaging a target, but I will go along with any remediation the agency assigns in response to this incident.”

  The questions continued, but the reporters ignored Platinum Promise. Hollybrook felt bad for him, but he seemed content to stand for the pictures and remain out of the limelight. When the room started to die down, Bliss stopped taking questions.

  “Now I would like to end this conference with a few words for Armageddon.” Bliss reached into his pocket for the small cat toy.

  On the distant barren planet, Reu and Lenna watched the press conference in her executive office. Working with Armageddon opened many doors for them, but he brought his baggage with him as well. Onder ran into the room, looking up to the screen. He sat on a couch in the center, intent on watching the whole thing.

  “Onder, it may not be the best idea to watch this.” Reu walked towards him.

  “Don’t start, you know it’s not gonna work.” He shoved her away.

  He managed to sit quietly through most of the conference. The human trafficking allegations bothered him, but he wasn’t surprised that was the angle they were going for. He watched his brother lie for thirty minutes straight, growing angrier at how he was being used. When he said he had a message for him, the hair on his arms started to stand up.

  “Armageddon, I do not know who you are, or why you do what you do. I felt sorry for you at first. You seemed like someone who couldn’t control himself. You destroyed worlds because you didn’t know anything else. I thought you couldn’t possibly know what it’s like to hold something gentle in your arms.” Bliss pulled out the handmade black cat toy.

  “As much as it pains me to admit, you’ve had me fooled this whole time. You’ve been hurting the most gentle and vulnerable people in the galaxy. Your hands are capable of weaving beautiful toys that you use to trick them. You have a gentle side, and it makes you much worse than we thought.”

  Bliss examined the cat toy. “Today, I will make a promise to my people. I will eliminate these tricks. I will make the galaxy a safe place for all of us.”

  The cat toy started to twitch in his hand. The tremors became more violent as the air around it swirled. Edges of the toy started to collapse inward, turning into a small void that dissipated in a flash. The stuffed animal joined the children's' book in oblivion.

  Onder stared at the screen. Reu placed a cup of tea in front of him.

  “That was -- that was the first one I ever made him…he loved it. It was his favorite. Just, why?”

  Reu wordlessly embraced him as he wailed, gripping the sides of her jacket. His sobs were heard throughout the complex. Tears soaked through Reu’s shirt, his eyes producing more water than she could drink in a day. The gentle mercy of sleep eventually dimmed his mind, bringing him a temporary peace that would fade just as soon as it arrived. He would not accept that his brother was gone. He knew he was in there somewhere, and he would drag him back out no matter what it cost him.