But, no.

"Syrille!"

"Stop!"

Within the blurry image of run down hubs, the voice of a woman desperately shouted, as two figures sprinted at a speed in which normal humans could not possibly achieve. Liquids diligently gathered in the cavities on the ground were violently disturbed, and splashed into the walls when the two zapped pass them.

After rounding up a corner, the chase came to an abrupt halt. The woman did not let her guard down, slowly approaching the young boy of about 6 years of age, wearing a ragged adult coat on top of an already worn out void-grade suit, grimes covering his face and his black hair with strands of blue and violet.

"Syrille, you are a son of the trinity. You do not deserve to live your life like this here in this independent faction." The woman gently explained. Suspicious that the kid would try to outsmart her for the second time, her captivating eyes narrowed  - irises with a peculiar hue of amber sprinkled with green. Her shoulder length dark-brown hair was highlighted by the young starlight in the early moment of the day.

She had learned from the locals that a strange kid with a federation emblem hanging around his neck was roaming the streets. Other orphans whom the child had mingled with called him 'Syrille'. After a brief search in the slums, she found the young boy. By some reason, he rejected her offers, and so, she hunted him down across the rural area, climbing up on top of the poorly maintained structures, and jumping across buildings with their enhanced body. The chase only regressed to the ground when the kid realized that his body did not have enough sustenance to maintain such heavy demand on his physique, and he would eventually run out of juice.

Flanked on both sides with the dirty walls of two collapsed commercial buildings, and to the rear was a perimeter wall punctured by the steady effort of time with small holes, the kid had nowhere to go. If he tried to climb up to the rear using the small indentations - penetrated by the rays of morning, she would be able to grab him on the way up, something the kid already knew.

The lack of escape route gave the woman confidence to make the child listen to her more clearly. Extending a hand, she stated as calm as she can, "Come with me.. back to our home faction."

The young boy's tense posture loosened, his hostile eyes gradually losing its fieriness. After a moment of hesitation, he reached out to the offered hand.

When their skins made contact, the woman relaxed, but it also gave the child enough time to slip past her. When her senses came back, the young boy already made a good distance away from her once again.

"You little..!"

--

The images and sounds faded away, and replaced by a new segment.

"Approaching nebula cluster. Expect interference to all comms"

"Sensors are offline. Switching to continuum scanner."

Electronic techs lined up the ECM Suite, coordinating with the bridge of the exploration vessel.

Half a dozen meters away, the woman and the child, a year older than before, stood in eerie silence.

"I want to come with you. I'll earn my keep in the ship." Young Syrille stated with determined eyes. The posture of his body was firm, his fists clenched.

"Someday, Sy." The woman responded, pinching the boy's cheek, causing a small reaction, "One day.. when you are ready."

She leisurely dropped on one knee, taking the boy's hand in the process, and flashing a highly concentrated green light on his smallest finger. With that, her wrist gently reached to the emblem around his neck, saying, "You are from a nameless lineage of Pioneers. Therefore, I shall bestow you my own. I already imprinted on you so that you will have an easier way around the federation. Henceforth, you are Syrille Verdin."

After a brief pause and a weak smile, she continued, "When you are finally ready to leave our home faction, you will engrave your name into this emblem. May our destinies in the void intertwine."

-----

"Sera Verdin.."

Sy muttered the name as he opened his eyes, clutching the left side of his head from a sudden headache. After a moment, he recovered and started wondering. Sera would only visit his dreams once in a while. This time, however, the blurry memories of his younger self was clearer than before. Perhaps his higher intelligence contributed to this.

Looking around his apartment, he saw the new packages he bought yesterday. The System had warned him that generating the three peak designs would be a laborious task, and it might affect him. The advice was that he should rest first.

He stood up and made his way outside. It was already 7 AM, but the desert planet's star had yet to peek out from the horizon. Looking up, distant stars were still visible, littering the sky.

After a few minutes of stargazing, Sy dredged up a memory when he was still on a federal planet. The peaceful dawn sky of Logria suddenly became so much livelier in his sight. Hundreds of starships were making their way toward the Starport, consisting of Star Traders, Naval Packs, Transports, and so on. He could just go to their point of congregation and hop into one of their ships - begin his journey to the void.

'Sera.. where are you now? I can't wait to hear about your new tales, and the immense data you accumulated in the void.'

-

Reaching the second floor below early in the morning, Emma swept his gaze into the corridor. It's been a while since she went for her early trudge. She wore a mask and goggles on her face as protection for the early breeze on the streets, containing small particles of dust. Below, she wore a green sweat suit. Her bright yellow hair was strapped in a ponytail.

She was surprised to see Sy leaning on the railings, and gazing up into the sky. With her acute observation, she determined that he was happy for some reason. Curiosity surfaced inside her.

In order to socialize with the man, she chose to use the stair on the other side, removing the strap of her mask from an ear and let it hang on the other while she made her way toward him.

"Morning, Sy." She greeted when she passed him.

"I see you found nothing 'good' at the moment." Sy automatically responded. With his mind daydreaming, he realized a bit too late that his response was intellectually flirtatious. Since it was Emma who had the wit to capitalize on this mistake, he secretly winced as the woman stopped on her track.

'I should upgrade my focus.' He mentally noted.

"I'm gonna stay near the Starport nowadays, but I'll be coming back to my apartment here every now and then. Would you like to come with me in my new place?" Emma asked, eyes in anticipation while stifling a smile.

Since the die was cast, Sy went along, responding, "We shall miss your absence here. I'd like to. But, no."

Emma chuckled as the man contradicted himself. She added, "Whenever I come back here, it would be you I'm personally visiting."

Parting with the metal railing, Sy turned to the yellow hair, and was amazed to find her more alluring than before. Her attire, although loose, highlighted the beautiful curves underneath it. With her hair out of the way, he can see the beautiful structure of her face. Perfect jawline, thin lips. The goggles covered the upper part of her face, and he could only see the attractive yellow eyes behind it.

Sy thought that this was a very pleasing way to start the day. He uttered, ".. 'Good' morning."

Already aware of how the man observed her from bottom to top, and the way he emphasized the word, Emma laughed as she put the mask back on, then went down the stair.

Smiling, Sy leaned back on the railing and watched her jog on the street, disappearing from view after taking a corner. A few hover crafts were already up and running, signalling the start of the day for the people of Logria as the star had finally shown itself in the horizon.

Unbeknownst to Sy, the woman meant what she said about her personal visit to him. The new design for the city that he gave to David was now being studied by a group of high level specialists gathered by Emma. With most of the layout hollowed out for new infrastructures, she will need his personal advice for this.

Meanwhile, Sy's attention was drawn to a hover cab, stopping in front of the building. A few seconds later, a teenager exited and paid her ride. It was Laira Runerie. He could only assumed that she just came from the Little Auxillary Division situated in Logria.

When the teenager climbed up to the second floor, her face brightened after seeing Sy. She hurriedly made her way to the man with a huge grin on her face.