— A Few Hours Earlier —
Inside the colossal structure.
A boundless expanse of darkness had trapped eight individuals.
No one knew what had just happened.
Vinh's eyes snapped open.
"What the hell is going on?!"
"Why did the ship shut down?!"
"The gravity's gone too!"
The entire cabin erupted into chaos.
Every unsecured object began drifting through the air.
Hongco pushed herself toward the control console, where HE78 was already inspecting the ship's systems.
"Can you reconnect it?"
HE78 rapidly scanned the control panel.
"Cause unknown."
"Fuel depletion is not the problem."
"During the last inspection, fuel reserves were approximately five percent."
"My internal energy reserves remain at seventy-five percent."
"Attempting to restart the system."
His metallic fingers swept across the console at incredible speed.
One indicator after another flickered back to life.
Then...
The ship's systems came back online.
The forward floodlights slowly powered up.
Twin beams of white light tore through the endless darkness ahead.
Everyone turned toward the front of the ship.
No one spoke.
Right in front of them...
Was a monster.
No one believed the object before them was a living creature.
To them, it was nothing more than a lifeless mass of metal drifting through the endless void.
HE78's familiar mechanical voice broke the silence.
"The ship's energy reserves are nearly depleted."
"I will maneuver the ship around that object."
"After that, the entire system will shut down."
"We will continue moving on inertia alone."
Apoloziro gripped a metal support tightly, keeping himself from drifting away.
"You've got to be kidding me."
"And then what? We just sit here and wait to die?"
No one answered.
Yet deep down, everyone understood.
If the ship ran out of power...
This place would become their tomb.
Hongco pulled her eyes away from the control panel and looked at Vinh.
"Come with me."
Vinh looked up.
"Where?"
"Just follow me."
Hongco pushed herself toward the rear section of the ship.
After a brief hesitation, Vinh followed.
Levi glanced at the two of them.
"Where are you going?"
Vinh turned back.
"Nowhere..."
"I'm just checking if there's anything useful near the rear compartment."
Levi nodded.
"Be careful."
The two continued drifting deeper into the ship.
The only remaining light came from a few faint warning indicators embedded in the walls.
Hongco reached out, sliding her hand along the freezing metal surface.
Suddenly—
She touched something.
She instantly pulled her hand back.
Vinh, drifting directly behind her, had no time to react before Hongco's foot accidentally struck him.
"What the hell was that?"
Hongco turned around.
"Sorry."
"I just touched... something."
A small object floated past Vinh's face.
He instinctively reached out and caught it.
"What is this?"
His fingers slowly traced its surface.
Then they stopped on a small raised button.
He pressed it.
Click.
A beam of white light burst to life, illuminating the darkness behind them.
Vinh blinked.
"So... it's a flashlight."
Hongco looked at the beam and let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"At least we won't have to feel our way through the dark anymore."
Vinh raised the flashlight toward the passage ahead.
The two continued toward the rear of the ship.
The beam reached only a few meters into the darkness.
Beyond its edge...
There was nothing but blackness.
And Hongco couldn't shake the feeling...
That the darkness wasn't empty.
Hongco raised a hand, signaling Vinh to stop.
"We're at the end."
In front of them stood a heavy metal door, separating the shuttle from the endless darkness outside.
Vinh pushed himself toward the small observation window.
Beyond the glass, countless fragments of metal drifted silently through space.
Hongco floated beside him, her eyes fixed on the view outside.
"Where did that thing go?"
Vinh turned to her.
"What thing?"
"That massive chunk of metal."
Vinh looked back through the window.
The vast emptiness beneath the structure's outer shell stretched endlessly before them.
Broken pieces of metal still floated aimlessly.
But the enormous metallic mass that HE78 had steered the shuttle around...
Was gone.
Not a single trace remained.
Silence filled the cabin.
Vinh swallowed.
"What should we do?"
Hongco kept staring outside.
"...Stay quiet."
"I think that's our best option."
She finally looked away from the window and noticed another door on the right.
Unlike the first one, it had no viewing window.
Only a button and a large mechanical lever.
Hongco gently pushed herself toward it.
She pressed the button.
Nothing happened.
Her gaze shifted to the lever.
She grabbed it and pulled.
Instead of moving the lever, the force sent her body drifting backward while the mechanism barely moved.
Hongco changed her position.
She planted both feet against the ceiling, using it as support before pulling again.
The lever slowly moved downward.
Halfway...
She could no longer reach it.
Seeing this, Vinh grabbed a nearby support pole and used all his strength to pull the lever the rest of the way down.
Click.
The locking mechanism engaged.
Hongco pushed herself back toward the floor.
Immediately, the metal door slowly slid open.
The two of them floated inside.
Hongco took a deep breath.
"HE78 needs to see this."
"Go get him."
"And don't let Levi or Apoloziro notice."
Vinh nodded.
He immediately pushed himself out of the compartment and drifted back toward the cockpit.
"HE78."
"I've found something."
HE78 stepped away from the control panel.
He turned toward Levi and Apoloziro.
"You two watch the shuttle."
"I'll be back shortly."
As they headed toward the rear compartment, Vinh suddenly noticed something strange.
Unlike everyone else, HE78 wasn't floating.
He was walking normally across the floor.
Vinh stared at him.
"How are you walking?"
HE78 continued forward without slowing down.
"I do not rely on the shuttle's artificial gravity."
"My feet are equipped with electromagnetic soles."
Only a few seconds later...
The two of them arrived at the rear compartment.
Hongco was already waiting for them.