Back at the hall, Dr. Himiko Tanaka continued speaking. He was a 24 year old young Asian man that had soft blue eyes, straight mid length hair and a somewhat skinny build. He came to the banquet in a white suit and black tie and a Rolex watch. He had somewhat sharp facial features, and exuded a fairly innocent aura.
He was more than 40 minutes into his speech, talking about his results, his childhood, and how he never expected to come so far. It was pretty generic, and it almost sounded like he was an old person talking to his grandchildren about his life experiences.
He was always known as talkative by the people who knew him, so they got used to it.
But, there weren't many people who knew him in the hall. As such, many people got bored, some were yawning, and some were even sleeping! However, everyone there was hoping for Astra to come back, with many being worried for her!
"Hehe. I remember when I first thought of my very first machine. It was like yesterday…" Tanaka said enthusiastically. The feeling was not mutual…
Normally, the moderator would advise him to stop. But since they didn't know how long Astra was going to take, they allowed him to talk for up to an hour.
"I believe I have 2 more life experiences I want to talk about left…either way, stalling for Dr. Sera seems pretty fun, so I think I should think of more…" Tanaka was fully aware of the fact that the moderators gave him more time, and loved the fact that he was able to talk for so long.
Like most scientists around his age, he looked up to Astra and her work, despite criticizing it. Doing this for her was an honor!
Suddenly, a moderator came up from behind him and whispered something into his ear.
"Dr. Tanaka, you have 10 minutes left."
"Really? I shouldn't have less than 20 minutes…it seems like they want to continue on with the rest of the program…or is it because I'm boring everyone? Fascinating…" Tanaka added inside his head as he simply nodded in response on the outside.
…
Aria began to approach the door that acted as the entrance, with Xavier right behind her. There were some security, janitors and assistants who were confused about why two scientists were heading outside in formal attire when a snowstorm was on its way.
A middle aged, thick security guard who was at the entrance, stopped them.
"Ma'am, sir, where are you two going in that clothing? It's dangerous…"
Xavier hesitated slightly, before Aria spoke up.
"We left something outside. We're going to look for it," Aria spoke with no hesitation, as if she was an experienced liar.
"What can you leave outside at this hour that you're just now noticing…?" The security raised an eyebrow as his voice expressed his disbelief.
Aria notices this, and persists. "Listen, we don't have much time…can we leave to get our stuff please?" Aria's brows furrowed at the security, showcasing her annoyance.
The security decided not to continue blocking them further. It wasn't any of his business, anyway. He was experienced!
Xavier and Aria then stepped out into the biting cold, the wind slashing against their skin like invisible knives. Dressed in formal attire, completely unprepared for the freezing storm, they instinctively hugged themselves for warmth. Aria particularly hugged her pink purse, trying to use its conducive material for warmth.
Such weather made them instinctively worry for Astra—she most likely did not go into such conditions with proper equipment.
The snow crunched underfoot as they moved down the ceramic stairs and toward the parking lot. Artificial trees lined the dimly lit path, their branches weighed down with snow. The facility glowed behind them, its neon light strips casting long shadows across the frosty ground.
They glanced at the illumination of the Milky Way. Upon seeing the rushing storm clouds, the chills in their stomach had momentarily replaced the chills they experienced on their skin.
"This is insane!" Xavier muttered, teeth chattering. "Seriously, we're going to freeze before we even get five meters outside the facility…"
"There!" Aria hurriedly pointed in a certain direction. "The security booth!"
The booth sat near the entrance gate like a small outpost, bathed in soft fluorescent light. They hurried toward it, their footwear skidding slightly on the icy path. As they got within a few meters, a female voice called out from inside.
"Where are you two going? Planning to leave the premises?"
"No, we're looking for someone," Xavier responded while shivering.
There was a pause. The coworkers couldn't see her, but they knew she had a face of complete and utter confusion.
"In this weather?" the guard asked skeptically, her confused tone slipping out. "Who?"
"Dr. Astra Sera," Xavier said, getting straight to the point. "She left a little while ago. We think she's still outside."
"…I didn't see anyone leave," the guard replied, not hiding her confusion. "No one passed through here."
Xavier questioned inwardly. Even the cold didn't mask his astonishment as he raised an eyebrow. "If the security booth didn't see anyone leaving, then how did Astra get out…?"
Aria's brow furrowed, thinking the same thoughts as Xavier.
"But she did leave. Are you sure she didn't take another route?" She voiced a reasonable question.
"No one left this way. That's for sure!" The guard studied them extensively, then sighed. "You both look like you're about to pass out. Come in before you turn into popsicles."
With a heavy click, the booth door opened. Warmth spilled out, and the two scientists practically ran inside.
The relief was instant as the duo heard a heater humming in the corner. The air inside felt like a hot spring compared to the winter outside.
"Thank you," Xavier said, exhaling visibly as he rubbed his hands.
"No problem." The guard said as she stepped aside to close the door.
She wore a classic dark blue security guard uniform. She was somewhat young and had above average looks. She had a slightly chubby build, but her thickness was in her hips and chest. This made her figure look rather decent and feminine, which was aided by her cute face. She was only slightly taller than Aria. She had black hair rolled up in a bun and black eyes with caucasian skin.
"You two can go inside the bedroom for now. I'll wait until you guys are warmed up-"
Aria interrupted her. "No, we can't wait. We have to look for her now." Aria said, her tone hurried.
"Okay." The security understood Aria's intentions immediately. "Then I'll go inside of the closet and get some proper equipment for you two. While I'm doing that, please explain the situation to me." The security guard was quite cooperative.
Xavier and Aria exchanged a glance, and then nodded. Then, Xavier began to explain, omitting Astra's pale transformation but covering the essentials.
"Did you guys call her?" The lady asked as she slipped on a heavy coat.
"Sure did." Xavier replied.
"Strange…so, what I'm hearing is that you're trying to look for her…so that you can help her while she's in a vulnerable moment? I'm confused, why would you not call for help?" The security pestered.
"Because she'd feel overwhelmed again and it wouldn't solve the problem at all…plus, it'd only be natural for us to help her since we barged into her room in the first place." Aria replied.
"And, if we do ask for help, the banquet would most likely be canceled, which would probably make her feel even more overwhelmed." Xavier continued from Aria's thought.
"I feel like that shouldn't make you not want to ask for help in such a situation," The security sighed.
Looking at them both, she nodded.
"This is Astra Sera we're talking about. We cannot keep this attitude forever, especially in a dire situation like this. So, if we can't find her in the next few minutes, I'm going to ask for extra help. I hope that's fine with both of you." The security then began to grab her keys, put on an extra layer of clothing, and prepared to go out of the door that was in the kitchen.
"That's fine." Xavier said.
"Same," Aria continued.
"When you're done, come through this door. I'll be waiting in the vehicle." The lady said with a commanding voice as she left through the door that was in the kitchen.
"Make sure to be quick. We can't lose a brilliant mind like her in this environment."
Aria let out a breath of disappointment.
"Astra really is a handful. Would she do all of this just to look at the night sky? Wasn't her room available? We have to go through all of this just to find her. I even missed my food…" She said out of frustration.
"Don't be mad, you were the one that insisted we look for her." Xavier clapped back.
"You were the one who insisted that we go outside. Did you forget about that?" Aria asked with quite an annoyed look on her face.
Xavier clicked his tongue. "Yeah, okay. Anyway, this is just another one of her antics that we don't understand, right? Sigh, only this time, it ended up being something dangerous…!"
"Though it seems weird to me. Why would she be outside instead of in her room…? What's something that she has to be outside for…?" Xavier thought to himself as he placed winter goggles in his pocket.
Fully and appropriately dressed, Aria's voice rang out. "You ready?" She asked Xavier as she placed her pink purse on the security's desk.
"Yes." Xavier said while fitting his thick glove on his hand.
"Then let's go," Aria said as her expression sharpened. She walked out of the door, leaving the warmth of the booth behind her.
…
In a desert, not more than 500 meters away from the Atacama Observatory.
The conditions were terrible. Snow and hail began to drop furiously, while the tumultuous winds raced through the atmosphere.
Dark, heavy clouds were beginning to wipe through the landscape with heavy thunder roaring faintly in the background.
The snow and hail were coming down by such a quantity that a fog began to form, limiting visibility greatly, enveloping the already present darkness with a ghastly transparent haze. The only source of illumination was the faint blonde-velvet glow of The Milky Way, and the timid light blue light from the dome shaped facility in the distance.
Despite this, a figure had outlined itself. Her sunglasses that were once there was thrown on the ground next to her. She had slightly curly blonde hair that began to get messy as it flew unceremoniously through the wind. Her laboratory coat—which replaced her purple robe—was also flowing chaotically.
This figure was none other than Astra Sera. She had sat on a decently sized boulder, looking at the Milky Way that was about to soon be conquered by the rushing clouds.
Despite these conditions, Astra looked at the sky with a smile.
"I'm glad that I'm still able to look at the night sky. It was strange why or how I felt so much pain and it was strange why or how I looked like that earlier…well, I have a hypothesis." Astra began to brainstorm.
"It's obvious that the hallucinations that I had right before I screamed and the hallucinations that I had during the banquet were connected. After all, for both cases, the phrase "DO NOT LOOK AT THE NIGHT SKY" popped up in my head. Given the fact that I didn't even look at the night sky in the second case, and I was able to look at the night sky now, it's reasonable to assume that the "night sky" is code for something. As for why there needs to be a code, I'm not sure. Perhaps it's a message relating to something, like the possibility of the night sky looking back at me…"
"So what does that phrase mean? I believe it's the only thing that matters in regard to this situation. Well, I have a few ideas on how or why this happens."
"First, the hallucinations are the "night sky" in this case, and me interacting with them is me 'looking'. If this is the case, then it's possible that the reason why this is happening is because of a mental illness or sensory overload. I doubt this is likely because there is nothing wrong with my brain…I think. Either way, I don't think that intangible hallucinations can cause my appearance to change. So this wouldn't work."
"Second, instead of the hallucinations being the night sky, the source of the hallucinations are. In this case, the Milky Way would be the night sky, and…the audience would be the night sky also. This is too vague, as it then leads to ask: 'why are these sources causing my head to hurt so bad?' I can answer this with sensory overload again, but this falls into the same problem as before…"
"Third, perhaps this means nothing and this is something that just happens from time to time with my body now. Since my body is completely different from others, I can consider this a possibility. But this is heavily unlikely, as I doubt my hallucinations would tell me any messages as specific as that."
"Fourth. There is some sort of energy that fuels my hallucinations. I can consider this likely for two reasons. One, the fact that my appearance changed to a white color, and two, the fact that my body is different from the body of other people. It's likely that my body composition can allow me to have strange hallucinations and even change my physical appearance. In this case, the phrase can be considered a warning. The only problem with this is that the energy must've come from somewhere…perhaps the heavens bestowed my body with this energy? I'd have to verify this information with rigorous evidence. Either way, this seems the most possible outcome, despite its problems. However, this does pique my curiosity the most, and 'supernatural' incidents can be considered possible to an extent with this potential form of 'energy', including the shift of Polaris." Astra thought all of these things as she began to kick her feet.
Despite the terrible situation she was in, she began to start smiling and enjoyed the fact that there is a possibility of there being some sort of new energy that the heavens bestowed that she hasn't discovered yet.
Bang!
Thunder was starting to become louder. Astra however, was not phased.
But, Astra's feeling of inevitability earlier that caused her unease never ceased. She wasn't worried about it, though, instead, she was excited.
"Hehe," Astra chuckled slightly. "I wonder what you have in store for me now. I felt like you were telling me that something inevitable was going to happen," Astra innocently said to the stars as she ignored the rapidly deteriorating conditions around her.
Bang! Crackle…
Another sound of thunder ruptured through the atmosphere.
Despite this, Astra felt strangely peaceful. She felt a connection to the stars that she never felt when interacting with anyone else.
The freezing cold wind felt like a summer breeze, and the sound of thunder sounded like birds chirping in a lush green field.
At this point, she could've felt the heavens connect with her and her curiosity. She had felt that this was the source of that feeling of uneasiness, and that this meant that the heavens were coming closer.
As for her safety, she was completely fine. She knew her body was able to withstand such conditions.
Also, she knew that at some point, Xavier and Aria would've come to her 'rescue'. She couldn't let anyone else come, because they would've caused a commotion in the banquet. Despite this, she had full confidence in Xavier and Aria—and only them—coming to find her. She knew this because of their emotional states they were in when they saw her after she turned pale.
If she felt as if they would've asked for help, she wasn't going to leave so early.
Astra sighed as she looked straight up. The dark, heavy clouds which occasionally streaked with white flashes almost completely covered the sky. Snow began to fall more rapidly…however.
Instantly, she had seen something strange in the sky.
Polaris was now visible to her eyes!