✧ Chapter 64 ✧

The three Judgment Warriors, Styra, Cherry, and Eternika, found themselves exploring the abysmal conditions of Abyssal Apocalypse. Each of them reflected on how poor the environment was, despite the colorful coral reef bridge which seemed to be the only thing that survived the drought.

The dead banshee-like skeletons crowding the boggy water made it even more unbearable.

After finding their way into Liquatics Laboratory, Cherry helped them pass through multiple rooms and hallways until they finally entered the planetarium’s premises.

It did however make the group wonder why UVOCA would even build a space show for an audience that would have to travel miles across the water to see it.

“Wow… This is Pearl Planetarium? Looks a lot better than that weird coral reef cave. Still confused as to how those plants can even survive without water anyway,” commented Styra.

No matter how they looked at it, there was a sense of boundless excitement to be had with a place so spacious. If only it had not been owned by UVOCA, things would have looked up for this place.

At least, that was what a majority of the group thought to themselves.

Even then, the fact that the scent of hotdogs and popcorn from her uncovered memories was still present made this experience just as lively as when she first arrived here. The confusion of how exactly they would get to visually see the space show was their biggest hurdle.

“Do you know more about how this thing works, or does it just come on by itself?” asked Styra.

“The projector normally turned itself on every two hours. Since it’s been abandoned, we might need to turn it on ourselves,” replied Cherry.

“Hmm, okay then. I only have vague memories about this area now. Are there any details you can fill us in on about how the shows work? All I remember is when it was starting in 10 minutes before I got to see it.”

“If I recall correctly, they would begin at 10 AM. Throughout the day, there were five different breaks to even out the hourly runtime. That brings all showings to an end at 6:30 PM. Realistically, this would have been the first or second show of today…”

Cherry decided to look at the planetarium’s digital clock which she remembered was located underneath the vents that touched a hard metal ceiling.

The time was around 11:56.

“Guess we’ll have to dissect the machine or try going somewhere else,” she added.

As the two of them looked around at the projector alongside Eternika who was on edge about where they were, Cherry started to nudge a little more nearer to Styra. Her thoughts concerning what they said and did in Niantom made their relationship feel a lot more delicate than a typical best friend or even a relatively close sibling.

“Styra, can I tell you something?” asked Cherry.

Upon looking over at Cherry who was squatting down, Styra noticed her rubbing the projector with a deep fondness for it.

“When I was little, I grew up in a privileged household that I felt quite indifferent to. The maids were probably the closest people I could trust there and that is what made me admire them. My parents on the other hand… I never got to know that much about them outside of their names. Halbert and Lisa Brooks.”

“Interesting… Last I recalled, when I was listening in on the conversation between Hisa and Flight through Compass, those were the first names of Flight’s parents. Well… Halbert specifically,” mentioned Styra.

A shuddering feeling rippled through Cherry’s heart as what was said suddenly opened her eyes to the truth.

“So, the parents I remembered having, were not my real family? That means…”

Standing up to this realization, Cherry stood staring at the dark empty screen in front of her, questioning her life before she was supposedly born.

“What was I even really made for?” she asked while turning her head to face Styra.

In the midst of this moment, a strange noise erupted from the projector before it culminated into the form of a familiar cube-like being.

“Greetings everyone. My name is Ambit, your digital host for today's spectacular event in the most notorious place on your planet. Pearl Planetarium is home to one of the best space shows on Earth! UVOCA holds these facilities to teach past and future generations of what lies beyond our little world. Get ready for the greatest full-length feature of all time.”

This shocked the three of them, as they listened intensely to what the artificially intelligent hologram had to say.

“Ever since the dawn of human civilization, the drive to innovate has been the leading frontier to changing the world. From the caves of the past to the skyscraping towers of today, humanity’s future still lies on the potential colonization of other planets far away.”

With the room giving off this sensation of standing amongst an immersive view of outer space beyond the stars, Styra, Cherry, and Eternika saw a simulated black hole form across from them.

“The journey to travel past distant galaxies is a treacherous path that requires the smartest of minds to navigate it. In comes the leading founder of UVOCA, President Keath Daylight, the first person to pioneer advancements in space exploration. By setting his sights on making connections to other alien civilizations, the collaborative creation of the Auxom Space Satellite was born.”

Reflecting on this information made the trio curious. Keath Daylight? Auxom Space Satellite? What was it about these two things that could possibly correlate to their pasts?

It had yet to be revealed as the space show went on further.

“This satellite also served as a huge laboratory where he would create the first hybrid human experiment to be born in outer space. Subject Z. Its birth allowed for many other different clones to be made for the sole purpose of helping him to craft the perfect being. During this age of innovation, he then created a powerful item that was capable of allowing any lifeform to travel across the cosmos within seconds without being affected by space radiation. It was called, the Super Stella Cherry.”

Styra began to reflect on the backstory being revealed as it unveiled Subject Z as a mysterious origin point for the experimentations done to her. Even into that thought, she wondered if it was within the realm of possibility to consider that she was Subject Z.

Either way, it was starting to scare her a bit. The likeliness that she was born only to be a soulless experiment. It rubbed her the wrong way in comparison to the life she later lived in Perenorbius. She could certainly piece together that the door she had entered made her go unconscious for a completely undetermined amount of time.

The question however became whether this sparked her ending up in the void of outer space or, if it led to another part of that past that her mind was not yet revealing to her.

Whatever the answer was, there wouldn’t be a reason to deny that UVOCA’s laboratories being abandoned would likely connect to this suspicion.

During the space show though, Eternika was on guard about the strange atmosphere of Pearl Planetarium. This made the weapon a lot more wary as it noticed a dark fog trickling down silently from the vents.

Out of instinct, Eternika created a Kra Forcefield surrounding both Styra and Cherry.

“An intruder is amongst us,” whispered the weapon as a shadowy figure approached casually from behind the group.

This confused both Styra and Cherry since Voltaze had been so adamant about destroying them.

“Turning down my offer was the greatest mistake you ever made. Out of all of the possible choices you could have chosen Omnikra, you sided with the guardians who rejected you.”

Voltaze suddenly glanced over at Styra with a deep sense of bewilderment and frustration.

“And you… I found your past to be touching for awhile Star. Yet, I see what you’ve become now, only to be severely disappointed. You also cowered under those pathetic fools and their deranged loyalty to an unintelligent deity. Of course, I was not expecting much from that after you two didn’t listen. You were as blind as I was once in my youth, only to later learn the hard way.”

“What? We never sided with Prism. Other than that, while some of those guys can be a pain to talk to, not all of them are the same. Emeraldion changed for the better and that was without us even being there. I could list every other guardian that isn’t as bad as you make them out to be. Believe me, I wouldn’t say this if I didn’t actually see it for myself,” replied Styra in a defensive tone.

Hearing her further attempt to persuade him caused Voltaze to lash out in anger.

“I don’t care about what they told you to think! None of them see eye-to-eye with anyone! They will betray anyone to satisfy Prism’s demands. Even if that means making offers that they will later ditch in the process…”

Offers that they would later ditch?

It was starting to click in Styra’s head now. The only guardian Voltaze could even be remotely referring to would have been Spessarion. Even with the apparent exceptions of Sapphirion and almost Diamondion being added into the mix of those that she definitely didn’t trust, to say that Emeraldion, Citrinion, Topazion, or especially Amethion were betraying her sounded completely wrong.

The Eternal Lights revealed through bonding with her that these four guardians genuinely cared about each other and did have a heart for creation itself. She knew deep down that it could be proven if Voltaze were to meet Emeraldion especially.

“We all have had rough beginnings, but you cannot let your painful memories break the real you. At least you know where you came from. Meanwhile, Cherry and I can only suspect that our real families were taken away from us. All that we were left with was this place. Can you at least help us find them?”

These words that hinged on persuading him almost moved Voltaze slightly. If there was anything to go off of, he was still distrusting of the guardians and their motives.

“Dare I say this, but, fine. I’m only siding with you in knowing that I also have had my family stolen from me. Replaced and turned into mindless messengers and slaves. If you can help me in return as well, to get them out of what they once were, I would undoubtedly be grateful.”

Everyone else was stunned after hearing what sounded to be the perfect chance to make amends with a former enemy. There was already a lot more to learn about him and his true intentions, but there was nothing holding Styra back from forming a new friendship.

“I have to say, while I am definitely willing to accept your request, our friends were both killed and even captured by you. Think you can free them for us first?”

Upon seeing her question through his thoughts, Voltaze began to hesitate after recalling that Creperus was one of Prism’s closely associated guardians who he had also held captive.

“I still don’t trust the guardians Styra. I cannot let them go just yet for what they did to me. However, I can release your other human friends in spite of that.”

Holding his hand out onto an empty space within the planetarium’s walls, Voltaze teleported Flight, Hisa, Miri, Hiroto, and Aoki to their location. After reviving them instantaneously, Styra ran over to her rejuvenated friends, hugging each and every one of them with a relieved smile on her face.

Perhaps there was a little hope left to make things right.