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1. A Ordinary Day, Suddenly Severed
"Good work today, sis. We finished the debris collection twenty percent ahead of schedule. As expected."
"Thank you. Your targeting accuracy has been improving — that made the difference."
Job complete. Payment processed. The two of them were heading back to the ship when the voice came from behind.
"Ledea Mace. Don't move."
They turned.
A semicircle of heavily armed station security had formed around them while they weren't looking.
"...Yes, that's me. Is something wrong?"
Ledea's voice came out slightly higher than usual.
"You are suspected of data theft from a military sector last month. We're asking you to come with us."
"Data theft—?! That's impossible. My sister would never—"
Shutia stepped forward. Every weapon in the semicircle came up simultaneously.
"Stand down. You're not under suspicion, but obstruction of official duties carries immediate detention — or, if necessary, authorization to shoot. Don't."
"Shutia... it's all right." Ledea's voice had gone quiet. "It's a misunderstanding. I'll be back soon. I promise."
She was led away. Around a corner. Gone.
The moment she disappeared from view, everything left Shutia's eyes.
What replaced it had no temperature.
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2. The Face in the Mirror Disappears
Back at the dock, Shutia went directly to a concealed storage container she hadn't opened in some time.
"...Sis." Her voice was very calm. "I decided I would never let you disappear in front of me again."
She applied a gel-like device to her face. A light-refractive biometric skin. Within seconds, the reflection in the mirror was no longer Shutia. It was a stranger — silver-waved hair, cold precision in the features, belonging to no one in particular.
She picked up an encrypted terminal she hadn't used since before the reunion.
"I won't leave you in their hands for one second longer than necessary."
Into her pocket went a document that couldn't be obtained through any legitimate channel — credentials for a fictitious identity. Someone named Meiru Noa, carrying special non-intervention authority from a central oversight body that did not ask questions.
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3. An Unauthorized Negotiation
Meiru — Shutia — walked into the station management office and hit the desk without breaking stride.
"I'm here to collect Ledea Mace. Now."
The officer looked up, already annoyed. Then he saw the holographic credentials she was holding, and the annoyance curdled into something else entirely.
"This is — Central Audit Authority, special exemption clearance — why would someone with this clearance be at a station like—"
"That information is above your access level. The suspicion against this individual has been reviewed and resolved. I'll be handling her case through my office. Open the door." A pause. "Or I can file a report on this department's procedural failures. Your choice."
No hesitation. No softening. The officer's hands were shaking when he reached for the lock release.
"Y-yes, of course. She hasn't been questioned harshly — she was actually scheduled for release tomorrow morning—"
"Tomorrow morning is too late. It's too late by approximately twelve hours."
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4. Rescue, and an Unanswered Question
Ledea looked up when the door opened.
A stranger. Silver hair in waves, features sharp enough to cut, an air of authority that filled the room before she did.
"...Who are you?"
The stranger took her arm — not rough, but firm. And there was something in the grip that was almost careful. Like handling something irreplaceable.
"You're free. Come with me."
She was half-led, half-pulled through the station's corridors to a quiet equipment bay far from the main concourse. The stranger released her there.
"Wait here. Don't move."
Then she walked into the shadows between two storage units and was gone.
Ledea stood alone.
*(That woman... her face was completely different. Her voice too. So why does something feel...)*
She was still trying to untangle it when footsteps came pounding toward her from the corridor.
"SIS!! SIIIS—!!"
Shutia hit her at full speed, arms wrapping around her before she'd fully registered who it was, face pressing into her shoulder, already crying.
"Shutia—"
"I didn't know what to do, I was so scared, I was so scared—"
She was shaking. Genuinely, completely, falling apart in a way she almost never allowed.
Ledea held her back.
And thought about the woman with the silver hair.
*(The face was different. The voice was different. Everything was different. So why—)*
"It's okay now, sis." Shutia's voice came muffled from her shoulder, slowly steadying. "I'll sweep away anything that tries to hurt you. To the edge of the galaxy if I have to. Every last trace of it."
The words were gentle. They were also something else — absolute, unquestioning, the kind of devotion that had no bottom to it.
Ledea felt safe.
She also felt, very clearly, that the safety she was standing in had no walls she could see.