Chapter 24: The Navigator's Trail and Joey's Unease
The Saturday morning sun had already established itself, but for Joey, the atmosphere at home remained charged. The irritation of his father, Roberto, after returning from the police station, hung like a dense cloud.
He grumbled about police incompetence and the city's "growing strangeness" as he distractedly flipped through the newspaper, clearly more disturbed by the substation incident than he let on.
Léo, on the other hand, seemed to have found new fuel for his conspiracy theories, connecting the substation vandalism to the other "mysteries of city" with an enthusiasm that made Joey cringe internally.
Joey, in his room, felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. Concern for Pip, the memory of the silence with Lyra, and now the news of his father's involvement in the substation investigation – it all mixed into a knot of anxiety and a responsibility he had never asked for.
The brief point of light he'd seen in the sky earlier was still a vivid image in his mind. Was it another visitor? Or his imagination playing tricks again?
He felt increasingly attuned to these anomalies, as if his own dreams of a different world had made him a lightning rod for the inexplicable.
Meanwhile, in the isolated pasture area where her probe had landed, Himeko began her assessment. With the calm and precision of an experienced scientist, she activated a series of sensors on her probe, collecting atmospheric data, energy readings, and scanning local radio waves.
Her tablet displayed a holographic map of the region, with small markers indicating the dimensional fluctuations that had drawn her to this solar system and, more specifically, to this point on the planet.
"The residual tachyon concentrations are higher in the direction of that urban area," Himeko observed to herself, her fingers sliding across the tablet screen. "And there are multiple energy signatures that don't match the local technological baseline. Some are erratic, almost organic... others indicate technological control that, while not at the level of the Astral Express, is clearly exogenous."
She thought of the stories Welt had told about his own unexpected journeys. The universe was, indeed, a place of infinite surprises.
Her initial priority was to understand the nature of the distortions and the situation of any possible "travelers" who might have been caught in them. She wasn't a rescue force, but as the navigator of the Astral Express, she felt an inherent responsibility to understand phenomena that could affect Trailblazing routes.
And, of course, there was the pure scientific curiosity that had always driven her.
With a faint smile, Himeko adjusted a small device on her wrist. "Pom-Pom, this is Himeko. Can you hear me?"
A somewhat shrill, static-filled voice replied from the device: "Himeko! Finally! The readings went all wonky for a moment! The Express is safe, but this region of space is... choppy! Lots of bumps!"
"I noticed, Pom-Pom," Himeko said, her smile widening. "I'm planetside. It appears to be a habitable Class M planet, with a humanoid civilization at a pre-mass space travel technological stage. However, there are a number of localized dimensional anomalies. I'm going to investigate. Keep the Express in a discreet geosynchronous orbit and continue monitoring the fluctuations. I'll send data as soon as possible."
"Understood, Himeko! Be careful! And don't forget to bring back some local coffee samples, if you find any!"
Himeko laughed softly. "Will do, Pom-Pom. Himeko, signing off."
She put away the communicator and looked again towards the city. She decided a discreet approach would be the best course of action. The probe had limited camouflage capabilities, but she preferred direct, personal observation initially.
She checked the utilities on her belt – a small analysis kit, an energy-based personal defense device, and, of course, a foldable thermal mug, because one never knew when one might find an opportunity for good coffee.
Kael, the Tracker, from his elevated position, had triangulated the approximate origin of Himeko's arrival energy signature. It was a new variable, sophisticated and controlled. Unlike Zylar's chaotic arrival or the more organic entries like Lyra's.
He adjusted his plans. He needed to identify the nature and intentions of this new player before the situation became even more unpredictable.
Joey's presence near so many of these events continued to intrigue and worry Kael. Was the young man a catalyst or a simple victim of circumstance?
At Joey's house, Saturday morning dragged on. Roberto finally calmed down enough to lock himself in his office and start dealing with the substation bureaucracy.
Léo, after bombarding Joey with more questions about why he was so "weird" and "defensive of weirdos," eventually left to meet his friends, probably to share the "news" about the substation and weave new theories.
Joey was left alone with his thoughts and the growing weight of his secrets. He thought of Lyra. Had she found something to eat? Was she safe from the "vigils" and the city's curiosity?
The need to see her, to make sure she was okay, began to grow within him, stronger than the fear the encounter with Léo the previous night had instilled.
He looked at the small gear and leather fragment Pip had left, now stored in a drawer of his desk. Small links to vast, unknown worlds.
His dream of a world without evil seemed so distant, but maybe, just maybe, protecting these lost beings was a way to start building it, one small act of kindness at a time, in his own small city.
That gleam in the morning sky... was it someone else needing help? Or something completely different?
Joey's only certainty was that his world would never be the same.
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