For a moment, all over the Earth, people saw a comet flash, tracing a bluish path across the starry sky.
Near The Boundary, Star squinted her eyes.
Then, she heard a grunt.
With an urgency, she pulled on the metallic rope attaching Skycrawler to ORIGIN.
[We are losing him, Star!] the Chief Medical Officer of ORIGIN screamed in her ears from the space station. [… oh, no…]
Star's heart skipped a beat.
She grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him closer.
Through the glass, she could see his eyes had rolled into his skull, foam coming out from the corner of his mouth. Then there was blood, streaming down from his nose and ears, veins popping on his face like black branches.
And, as she held him, Star didn't need the CMO to tell her that Skycrawler's heart wasn't beating anymore.
Canceling her rule that was increasing Slide and Glide to four times its original strength, she put her hand on the boy's chest once again.
"Koichi Haimawari's heart will start beating again," Star said, using New Order.
Skycrawler's chest thumped.
Then, slowly, the small chest in Star's hands began rising and falling, a sigh entering her ears from ORIGIN.
Now that Skycrawler's heart had begun working again, even if she canceled the rule, he wouldn't return to his cardiac arrest condition.
All New Order had done was to act like a controlled electric shock, restoring the functioning of his heart muscles.
Star looked away from the boy, then.
Far from her, the invisible Boundary stood still, experiencing absolutely no change in its state, despite the monstrous repulsion beam Skycrawler had used upon it from point-blank range.
And if it didn't show a sign even now, then…
…
Skycrawler entered the Control Room and found Star standing under the massive glass wall, looking at the space beyond it at The Boundary.
The moment he saw her, his head fell.
Shame crawled over his spine, making his fingers clench into fists.
Over twenty-four hours had gone by since he had passed out after his last attempt at using Slide and Glide upon The Boundary.
For Star not to approach him and suggest increasing his Quirk's strength to five times to try again, it could only mean one thing.
She didn't think that he could go further.
"There are limits to my Quirk as well, Skycrawler," Star's voice rang, making Koichi snap his head up. Slowly, she looked over her shoulder and showed him a broad smile. "It isn't like you cannot handle another increment in your Quirk. It is I who cannot bestow upon you that power anymore."
Koichi's mouth opened and remained like that for a moment before closing.
He didn't know what to say to that.
"Haha!" Star's laugh boomed across the Control Room. "Why is no one here celebrating?! Jesus! This is good news. We do NOT want to pierce The Boundary. We WANT it to be strong, no?"
Koichi's eyes suddenly lit up.
Yes… Yes! Star was right! They were here to test The Boundary's integrity, not how much force it would take to break through it. But, somewhere in the middle, they seemed to have… forgotten that, going all out anyway.
Koichi felt confused as he realized that.
He could see a hint of that confusion lingering on Star's face as well, carefully hidden behind her laugh.
Because if he hadn't passed out yesterday, then surely they would have tried continuing the experiment by increasing the Slide and Glide to five or even six times its current state.
Even New Order wouldn't have been able to save him then.
Suddenly, as he went through this mixed feeling of confusion and relief and finally smiled, Koichi sensed eyes upon him.
He turned his head and found one of the scientists looking right back at him, carrying not a hint of a smile or relief on his face, unlike the rest of the crew members in the Control Room.
It was him, Koichi remembered.
The scientist who had suggested not to go with this experiment at all.
Star had outright rejected that scientist's suggestion, a suggestion that had made even other crew members uncomfortable.
Ever since then, they hadn't seen the guy anywhere.
Suddenly looking at him made Koichi feel… guilty.
"Alright, everyone!" Star's voice attracted all attention. "First part of the experiment completed. Once Skycrawler has had enough rest, we will continue with the attraction part. The handprint created a depression toward the Earth, not away from it. So, be ready to…"
"I still think this is futile."
Koichi looked as the same scientist stepped forward, the others frowning at him.
Not Star.
She seemed to have expected him to do this, Koichi noticed.
"And why is that?" Star asked, towering above the man.
The scientist looked up toward the Hero unperturbed. "It is already established that The Boundary must have the same properties from the outside and inside," he said, getting a nod from the other scientists. "A repulsion from here should have caused a protrusion outside. But it didn't. Which means replicating the handprint depression wouldn't work either. Because it is not about attraction or repulsion at all, it is about… power."
Koichi saw Star's smile flicker.
Which meant she must have considered this possibility already.
And that made Koichi's heart sink because if even five or six times of Slide and Glide, which could easily replicate the might of a nuclear blast, wasn't enough, then… just how much power could a single handprint have held?!
"The only viable experiment we have," the scientist continued upon seeing his theory go unchallenged, "is to see what kind of threat we are dealing with. Sometimes, it's better to know about the enemy beyond the wall rather than needlessly strengthen it."
Silence.
Koichi saw Star's smile vanish completely.
He couldn't feel the smile on his face, either.
"What's your name?" Star asked, putting a hand on the scientist's shoulder.
"My name is…" the scientist replied, smiling for the very first time. "Dr. Klein Moriarty."
And, with that, the video footage, showcasing all this happening to Gehrman and Alexander, suddenly glitched, instantly displaying a different frame altogether.
A frame that showed Star with her hand on The Boundary…
… with a massive Shadow on the other side that held a pair of indifferent, clear, and emotionless eyes, as if containing the entire universe.