A heavy fog rolled through the ore-vein source zone today, leaving the air damp and everything slick with moisture.
Eldera crouched beside an exposed Originium seam, a clipboard in hand, carefully writing down her observations.
The morning mist still hadn't lifted. Fine droplets had gathered along her white horns—sticky, clammy, and unpleasant.
She'd been here for three hours.
She'd come out with her clipboard while the sky was still dark. Earlier, she'd taken responsibility for the mineral survey of this region, but because she'd been worried Bai Ling might run into danger if he acted alone, she'd delayed the work for a while.
So these past two days, she'd decided to make up for everything at once.
Footsteps sounded in the distance.
Eldera didn't look up, continuing to write the details of what she'd just confirmed.
At this hour, anyone outside the isolation perimeter of the ore-vein zone would normally be workers heading toward the energy highlands. They rarely bothered her when she worked.
But today was different.
The footsteps drew closer and closer, then stopped not far behind her.
Eldera's hand paused.
These steps… weren't quite right. Lighter than a worker's. Slower than a patrolman's. And—
The right foot is slightly heavier than the left.
The thought surfaced out of nowhere, and she turned on instinct.
"Eldera."
A familiar voice cut through the fog.
Standing there in the morning mist was Bai Ling, a paper bag dangling from his hand, dew clinging to his hair.
"Senior Bai Ling?" She rose to her feet. "Why are you out so early—"
"Breakfast for you." Bai Ling walked over and handed her the bag. "Buns. Fresh from the camp. Angelina said you've been surveying geology in the ore-vein source zone these last couple days, so… I figured I'd try my luck."
Eldera accepted the bag and peeked inside. The buns were still steaming—he'd clearly come in a hurry.
She looked up at him.
Bai Ling looked the same as always—calm, almost careless. He was already scanning the area, studying the veins and the rebuilt transport district farther off.
"Thank you, Senior."
"Mm." He nodded. "Keep working. I'll look around."
And he actually did.
He wandered off to the side, sat down on a rock, and stared toward the Generational Cradle in the distance.
Eldera remained where she stood, watching Bai Ling's silhouette without meaning to.
The fog drifted around him, blurring his outline into a faint shadow.
She lowered her gaze to the warm buns in her hands.
She picked one up and took a bite.
The savory sauce and meat burst across her tongue, dragging the hunger she'd been suppressing straight to the surface. She found herself eating faster than she intended.
As she ate, she kept glancing at Bai Ling's back.
He sat there, perfectly still—like he was sightseeing, or like he'd simply drifted into a daze.
A pale beam of morning light slipped through the clouds above the Generational Cradle and landed with uncanny precision right here, illuminating the two of them.
Eldera suddenly remembered the first time she'd seen him.
She'd just returned from a mission and was eating in the cafeteria. She'd felt someone watching her. When she looked up, Bai Ling was sitting in a corner with a piece of hard bread in hand, staring blankly at her.
His gaze had been… strange.
Not the kind of scrutiny that made her uncomfortable. More like something complicated—an emotion-weighted stare, as if he was looking at her, and also looking at someone else through her.
But one thing was certain:
Bai Ling had never once treated her as Eyjafjalla.
To him, Eldera was always simply Eldera.
"Eldera."
Bai Ling's voice pulled her out of the memory.
She realized he'd come back at some point and was standing right in front of her.
"What is it?"
"Done eating?" He gestured at the paper bag in her hands. "If you're done, get back to work. Don't let the real business slip."
Eldera glanced down.
The buns were gone. Only an empty paper bag remained.
"…Mm."
She tucked the bag away, crouched back down in front of the vein, and picked up her clipboard again.
Bai Ling didn't leave.
He stood beside her.
After a quiet stretch, Eldera spoke softly.
"Senior."
"Mm?"
"It's just… when you walked up earlier…" She hesitated, voice dropping lower and lower. "I think I could… recognize your footsteps."
Bai Ling's reply stalled for a few seconds.
"And?"
"And…" Eldera lowered her head, eyes fixed on her clipboard. Her fingers rubbed the corner unconsciously. "I don't know. It just… came to me."
What she didn't say was that when she realized it, something strange had stirred in her chest.
Not pain.
Not happiness.
Just something light—faint—indescribable.
Bai Ling didn't speak.
He simply stood there, quietly watching her.
So much time passed that Eldera began to think he wouldn't answer at all.
Then he finally said, "That's a good thing."
Eldera looked up.
Bai Ling's face was still as calm as ever, but his tone carried something she couldn't quite parse.
"If you can remember someone's footsteps," he said, "it means they have a place in your heart."
Eldera froze.
Bai Ling didn't add anything else. He turned away, returning to his "scenery" as if nothing had happened.
Eldera stayed crouched, staring at his back.
The fog had thinned; sunlight poured in, bright and warm.
Her face suddenly felt hot.
"…Honestly, Senior." she muttered under her breath, then hid her face behind her clipboard.
Bai Ling stood on a slab of rock, looking toward the Generational Cradle. The breeze tugged gently at the hem of his clothes.
Eldera stole another glance at him, then lowered her head and tried to write again.
But she didn't even know what she was writing.
Her pen scratched across the page, leaving crooked, meaningless lines.
She stared at them for a moment, sighed, flipped to a fresh page, and started over.
The sun grew warmer.
In the distance, the construction site came alive—workers moving, machines roaring faintly through the wind, echoing across the empty ruins of the abandoned mining zone.
Eldera wrote for a while, then couldn't help lifting her head again.
Bai Ling was still there.
Still not moving.
Like a piece of wood.
She remembered something Angelina had said while delivering letters.
"Mr. Bai Ling… he always looks like he's alone. Even when he's surrounded by people, he still gives off this feeling of… 'I'm on my own.'"
Back then, Eldera hadn't understood.
Now, she thought she did.
She lowered her head and kept writing. The pen hissed softly over paper.
After a while, she paused and took a small object from her pocket.
A tiny golden shard of Originium—something she'd picked up near the Generational Cradle.
She'd originally planned to keep it as a research sample, but for some reason she'd never had the heart to use it.
Now she simply stared at it for a moment, then tucked it away again and went back to work.
The sun climbed from the east… then quietly slipped toward the west.
And at last, Eldera's work was done.
She stood up and flexed her numb legs, then turned—without thinking—to look toward where Bai Ling had been.
He was still there.
But now he wasn't standing to "watch the view." He was sitting on the rock, a bottle of soda in hand, sipping slowly.
Eldera walked over.
"Senior… I finished writing everything."
Bai Ling turned his head and glanced at her.
"Finished? Then let's go back."
He rose, slipped the empty soda bottle into his pocket, and walked toward her.
No extra words.
The two of them headed back side by side.
It wasn't morning anymore, not quite evening yet—but the light had dimmed. Dusk was beginning to creep in.
After walking a bit, Eldera asked suddenly, almost as if the words slipped out on their own.
"Senior… did you come here today specifically to find me?"
Bai Ling's steps paused for the briefest moment—then continued.
"…Yeah."
Eldera blinked. She hadn't expected him to answer so directly.
"W-why?"
He didn't answer right away. He walked a few more steps, then spoke in the same flat tone.
"Angelina said you've been in the ore-vein source zone for days. You haven't gone back to the Hub District, and you haven't gone back to the Dijiang either." He sounded matter-of-fact. "She said you might be hiding from something."
Eldera went quiet.
"I'm not hiding…" she said softly. "I just… wanted to be alone for a while."
"Mm."
Bai Ling didn't press.
They kept walking. The sky grew darker, and dusk settled in.
When they reached the gate at the edge of the ore-vein isolation perimeter—just about to step into the camp—Eldera stopped.
"Senior."
Bai Ling turned back.
Eldera kept her head lowered, fingers twisting together.
"Sometimes… I catch myself thinking… if I were Eyjafjalla, what would I do?"
Bai Ling stayed silent, simply listening.
"When I run into a problem I can't solve, I think: if it were her, how would she research it? When I can't untangle something, I think: if it were her, how would she think…"
She trailed off.
After spending time with Eyjafjalla, Eldera had loosened one knot in her heart.
But it had also dropped her into another pit.
Because now that she knew what Eyjafjalla was really like, she couldn't stop thinking she still wasn't good enough—
Even though Eyjafjalla had praised her and proved her competence with her own hands.
Bai Ling was quiet for a while, then finally asked,
"Do you know what Eyjafjalla said about you?"
Eldera's head snapped up.
Her eyes—still hazy with emotion—locked onto Bai Ling, as if she wanted to read the truth off his face.
"She said it already… If I'm her future, she thinks I'll do better than she did."
"Really…?"
"Mm." Bai Ling nodded. "She said it herself before she left."
Eldera parted her lips, but no words came out.
She hadn't gotten to say goodbye to Eyjafjalla.
But she also knew Bai Ling wouldn't lie to her.
She lowered her head and blinked hard.
Bai Ling didn't look at her anymore. He quietly turned away, giving her space to steady herself.
He lifted his gaze toward the sky. The sun, already leaning west, continued to sink.
"It's time to go," he said softly. "It'll be dark soon."
He stepped forward first.
Eldera stayed where she was, watching his back.
The sunset painted him in gold—bright, almost dazzling, and yet not unreachable.
Because he was right there, just a few steps ahead.
She raised her sleeve to wipe the corner of her eyes, then hurried after him.
"Senior."
"Mm?"
"Thank you."
"…Mm."
They walked side by side, neither speaking again for a long time.
The sky turned fully black. The moon rose, spilling bright moonlight over the ground.
If they didn't use protocol teleportation, the route from the ore-vein zone back to the Hub District was… long.
Bai Ling walked ahead. Eldera followed behind.
After a while, Eldera quickened her pace, moving up beside him.
"Senior."
"Mm?"
"…Will you come again tomorrow?"
Bai Ling glanced at her.
Under the moonlight, Eldera's eyes shone—hopeful, nervous.
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he walked two more steps forward, subtly making sure Eldera couldn't see his face before he spoke.
"Do you want me to?"
Eldera blinked—then nodded quickly.
"Yes."
This time Bai Ling answered fast, without turning back. His voice was gentle and calm.
"Then I'll come. And… what do you want for breakfast?"
"Anything you bring, Senior… will be good."
"…Then I can't let that trust go to waste."
With that single promise, the calm between them loosened, warmed, came alive.
They kept walking, talking and laughing.
The moonlight stretched their shadows long—so long they overlapped, tangled together, impossible to tell which belonged to whom.
Angelina was sprawled against the observation window, staring out at the two planets beyond.
Footsteps approached behind her.
"You're back?"
"Mm." Jelperta walked to her side and looked out as well.
A quiet moment passed.
Then Angelina asked casually, "So why do you think Mr. Bai Ling went to the ore-vein source zone today?"
Jelperta thought for a moment.
"Probably… to find Miss Eldera."
"Why find her?"
Jelperta didn't answer.
Angelina noticed the shift, studied her for a few seconds, then smiled.
"You know… but you don't want to say?"
Jelperta's ears went red. She turned her face away.
The adorable reaction only made Angelina laugh harder.
"Alright, alright. I won't ask."
As a fox temptress—she already had the answer.
Angelina turned back toward the window.
Outside, the azure planet hung silently in space, its surface covered in brilliant, multicolored streaks.
Angelina stared at it for a long time, then murmured softly,
"How nice."
Jelperta turned quickly to look at her.
Angelina didn't explain—she just wore a small smile.
That man really is trouble. He leaves feelings everywhere he goes.
Back on Terra, he'd made operators unable to let go.
And now, in another world… he was still the same.
She didn't know why, as "re-travelers," they didn't carry his memories—
But the subconscious didn't lie.
After all…
She was just a little fox who'd fallen into the trap too.
....
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