From Far Away

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IBMFGI is ~30 chapters ahead on other platforms that you can find on my website.

Edited by RedPandaChick

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Sanae stood in the middle of the dancing studio. She had just finished reading what she had written for her song out loud when I stood up from the chair to let her sit next to the girls again. They had asked for the reading to be private, so it was only them and me in the room.

Now I stood in front of them, speechless. Each of the girls had read out loud a story about their pasts and the mood had become bittersweet, to say the least.

"I don't know what to say," I said. "All of your stories are… sad. It's nice knowing you didn't give up and how far you've come."

"You also have a couple of stories of your own," Aki said. I knew exactly what she was talking about, while the girls only got half of the picture.

"Yeah. Umi, do you think the stories can be turned into songs?"

"Of course, they are all interesting. Especially Astra's. Not to underestimate the others."

"I agree," Risa smiled and the girls nodded. "Astra's story is out of this world. Literally."

Astra giggled.

"I have so many questions, but I guess you have them too," Sanae said.

"I do," Astra nodded. "The government has already inspected every single screw of the capsule to see what they could find, but they didn't find much. They are actually doing me a favor by keeping it safe in a warehouse. I could take you there to see it if you want."

"Really?!" Umi burst.

We stared at her in confusion, yet she didn't back up.

"Seeing it from up close would give me a lot of inspiration not only for your song but for Blostars in general."

"She's right," I said. "Jun could get inspiration from it to make more artwork. Actually, everyone could give it a look to get inspiration from something that comes from another part of the universe. That is, if you're okay with it, Astra. I know you want to leave your past behind."

"I do, but I'm not ashamed of it. It would be awesome for the world to see creations inspired by something that my dad built."

I smiled, "That's good to hear. Tell us when you can take us to see it."

"Tonight after work," she replied.

"Eh? Already? Don't you need to ask for permission or something?"

She shook her head. "I told you it's very secure. There are no guards since only researchers and people with access can enter the warehouse when its security system recognizes us."

"Alright. I'll tell Jun, then. He and Umi can take pictures for the rest of us to see."

"What do you mean? Isn't everyone coming?"

"No? It would get quite cramped if we all came."

"But the warehouse is huge, there's space for everyone."

"I meant…. Sure, I'll tell everyone to come."

Astra's grin couldn't get any wider. "It'll be like a school trip!"

The workday flew by. Except for the newcomer accountant, everyone agreed to come to check the capsule since it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

There were twelve of us and only Aya had a car, meaning only four people could go with her. Tomokazu immediately suggested having a quick rock-paper-scissors tournament to decide who would go with Aya. Of course, Jun backed him up, so I had to be quick to stop them.

For no specific reason, I chose Astra, Sanae, Risa, and Umi to go with Aya. The rest of us had to take the monorail to the location Astra sent to my glasses. It was located on the outskirts of the city, so it took fifteen minutes to reach it from the Trading District. Aya, Astra, Sanae, Risa, and Umi had only arrived a couple of minutes before us.

The building was dull and tall, and it was fenced off by a white wall that obstructed the entrance and the view of the ground floor. There was no sign or barbed wire to indicate that it was a restricted property, yet it still felt like we shouldn't go in.

Astra didn't care and approached the also-solid gate. She hadn't even touched its handle when it unlocked and opened on its own. She walked through with the biggest of grins, making us worry less about following her.

We walked through, just to see an empty parking lot whose entrance was nowhere to be seen. Astra didn't stop and stepped into the building after unlocking yet another door.

We kept following her as she navigated the empty hallways with ease until we reached an elevator. It was absurdly big and a sign on the wall showed that it had a capacity of up to twenty-five people, so we took it together. Astra selected the third basement floor on the panel and the doors slid close for the elevator to start moving down.

The doors opened again several seconds later and we stepped out into another hallway. It was strange to see a group of twelve people walking past giant gates, to say the least.

Finally, we stopped in front of the gate with the number three displayed on a huge panel. However, Astra approached what seemed like a plain wall, but it actually was a smaller door hidden in plain sight. It moved back a little and slid sideways to make a way into the warehouse unit.

We entered one by one. I waited to be the last one and was received by a huge empty room only lit by long strips of lights on the ceiling. A small sphere of rusted metal, pipes, and cables sat in the middle of the tile floor, suspended in the air with five columns beneath it, only became visible when I walked down the stairs.

I couldn't help but think it was disappointing, given the expectations I had, but I didn't say that out loud.

"I present to you my second home!" Astra grinned once we all stood next to the capsule.

"Second?" I wondered.

She nodded. "The first one was with my dad on my home planet. Earth's my third one."

"Makes sense."

Umi had already started walking around the capsule in circles. "I didn't expect it to be this small."

"Well, I was only four when I escaped in it. I'm still tiny to this day," she giggled.

"How did it even move?"

"There's no gravity in space, so it didn't need legs or anything like that."

"I know that, but there are no… propellers or thrusters."

"Yeah, the researchers aren't sure how it worked either. They are almost certain that, whatever it was, it must've fallen off after being used since it wasn't needed anymore. That or I was extremely lucky that it stayed on long enough for me to fly away from the supernova."

Umi turned toward her. "You say supernova like it's nothing, but they are massive and happen in an instant."

"That's right," Astra nodded.

"Then how did you escape it? By the looks of the capsule, it doesn't seem like your species were that advanced to build something that was faster than a supernova."

Astra laughed nervously, "That's what the researchers want to know too. I don't know. My dad always hid things from me and he simply didn't tell me. I don't even know anything about my mom and I never will. At least he stored many pictures and videos in the capsule. Do you want to see them?"

Umi's eyes sparkled. "Yes!"

Why is she so excited?

Astra proceeded to project the pictures and videos out of her glasses for all of us to see. She told us the researchers managed to make a copy and sent them to her.

She showed us several pictures first, where she was playing with strangely-shaped toys and drawing weird things. It was unexpected to see a few similarities with humans, like Astra wearing clothes, the buildings with shapes almost identical to antique buildings on Earth, her drawings having a sun and trees, and the water being blue. On the other hand, the grass and leaves were purple, while the trunks of the trees were crimson red.

She then showed us two videos. Sadly, the quality was much to be desired, but I could still make out most of what was happening.

In the first one, it seemed like her dad was giving her a bath in a circular bathtub made of a brown material. The even-tinier Astra then jumped out of it like a kangaroo and ran out of frame. Her dad followed her, but the camera was fixed, so we didn't see more.

Astra changed the video since nothing more happened. For some reason, her face had become red as a tomato. We hadn't realized we had just seen her naked, although it didn't really mean anything to us since she was a little kid and from another species.

However, she then confessed that she had never told anyone that she had a tail. Aki immediately shouted at her to play the video again and pause it. It was barely visible, but there indeed was a small bump on the lower part of Astra's back. Aki jumped at her to squeeze her.

The second video was even shorter. In it, Astra ran and jumped around in what seemed like a workshop. Her dad was barely visible on the right of the frame, which repeatedly became bright as sparks floated down from there. It was obvious he was working on something, but we couldn't see what; he might've hidden it on purpose. Again, Astra's dad ran off after her.

It was time to watch the third video. It was a close-up of Astra's dad staring at the camera, which was a bit unsettling. He then closed his eyes and started singing in a strange language; only then did it become soothing.

Suddenly, the video was paused and Astra remained silent. She was crying. Risa was quick to hug her, then the rest of the girls joined.

I suggested going home, but Astra insisted on us staying so she could tell us the little stories she remembered from home.