They are getting worse.

I moved my face closer to the mirror to inspect the scars that striked my right cheek more thoroughly. Not only they were tearing through my skin deeper than before, but were also now approaching my eye. What would have happened if they reached it? Would my sight also leave me, following my sense of touch and taste?

During my time in the Iron Cavalry I had only heard rumors about what late stage Entropy Loss Syndrome would entail. Of course, at the time, I had bought into the lies we had been fed about it being a condition caused by the continuous use of our armors. And I believed that, at the end of the war, when the time came for us soldiers to live a peaceful life, its symptoms would've improved till one day disappearing.

But now I knew: it was just a fairytale. Peace would never come for us. The Mighty Empire of Glamoth we swore to protect was only a tiny, insignificant Republic that didn't even see us as humans. Her Majesty Titania was only a tool used to sway our hearts into obedience.

So, those horror stories were probably true. After all, looking at it with a mind no longer thwarted by propaganda, everything made so much sense.

While most of the Iron Cavaliers died during their first year of service, a few would survive long enough to be considered veterans. These lucky individuals were usually taken out of frontline service and given special assignments. During my missions, for example, I had the opportunity to interact with some of them who were serving as personal escorts for senior officials. I remember admiring their shiny Firefly Type-V armor, hoping to one day also pilot one. But now I realised that they weren't given such positions in honour of their long and loyal service to Glamoth. No, separating them from us common soldiers was probably just a way of hiding from our eyes their inevitable and cruel demise at the hands of ELS. A bit like cattle being taken out of the barn to be slaughtered, they were isolated so that they could pass in silence.

But that didn't stop those horrible stories from spreading. We were just all too indoctrinated to believe them. Apparently, when the entropy loss became too much, some Iron Cavaliers resorted to self-mutilation. Pain, it seemed, was somewhat comforting to someone who had completely lost every single sensation in their body. In the worst cases, some would throw themselves into the fire, just to enjoy a little warmth in the cold embrace of death.

Was that the end I was rapidly approaching? If it hadn't been for the end of the war and the demise of Glamoth, I would have been considered a veteran soon enough. Instead of my SAM, I'd now have my coveted Firefly Type-V.

I wonder if Stelle would have liked that model better... Stelle...

I looked at my scars again.

ELS may tear my body apart... but I won't let it break my spirit.

Back then I probably would've died alone in some forgotten corner of the universe, but now? I had companions who cared about me and a wonderful girlfriend who was trying her best to help me.

I slapped my cheeks to drive the dark thoughts away.

"Ara, you are really excited about this mission, Sam."

This time I was somewhat prepared for the sudden intrusion into my room, but still, hearing Kafka's voice immediately made me nervous.

For some reason it was easier for me to perceive her footsteps than the heavy and bold ones of Blade bringing me tea or the sluggish ones of Silver Wolf sneaking into the kitchen to get some snacks for her gaming sessions. Maybe because of the way I was trained, I couldn't really ignore a sound so similar to that of a predator creeping up on its prey, ready to pounce.

But that wasn't why I was so tense as I watched Kafka approach me in the mirror. No, it was what had happened that morning during the unveiling of the new script.

Faced with my silence, my Stellaron Hunter companion smiled at my reflection and moved closer. She placed a hand on my cheek from behind. Her touch was so gentle for someone so dangerous.

"They're getting deeper," she commented, running a gloved finger lightly over my scars, "are you worried about how Stelle might feel about them? Don't be silly, that girl's going to think they're cool, like she used to."

"That's not the problem right now..." I replied in a cold tone, trying my best to brush off the very real concern that Kafka had so easily read from my heart, "Stelle won't see my real body in the Dreamscape anyway."

"That much is true," Kafka said, "then perhaps you are worried about disappearing soon? You should trust Elio more, Sam. Try to think of the present, not the future. Your last journey taught you that much, didn't it? There is much more to you than your condition and your armor."

Those words had been perfectly chosen to ease my worries. But the tone in which they had been spoken lacked any kind of passion. It was almost as if Kafka was reading from a book called 'How to Calm Firefly'.

Just as I thought... I really don't understand her.

"But maybe you should stop spending so much time outside of SAM... Bladie told me you were always out of it lately, fiddling around or talking on the phone," Kafka continued as her finger slipped off my jaw.

Do you think you are my parents or something?

That was the answer I wanted to give her in my current irritated state. But I ate it up. It wouldn't have been fair to them. I knew how much Blade cared about me, even if he tried to hide it behind a grumpy facade. And even if she could speak so coldly, I knew that Kafka had always been kind to me.

Or at least that's how I read her actions.

So I just mumbled:

"I want Stelle to hear my real voice... and now I'm only out of it to get into my suit, like you wanted."

One of Kafka's rare personal orders was that when we went on a mission together, we were to wear this kind of formal attire.

"We're not some kind of third-rate villains. Style is important in all aspects of life, even if you are a criminal," she had said when Silver Wolf had complained loudly about it. But Kafka had been adamant that she wouldn't budge. And if there was anyone Wolfie listened to, it was her.

I suspected that Stelle's obsession with catch phrases and one-liners had come directly from this woman's so-called style.

And now she has passed it on to me... I wonder what Kafka would think of 'I will set the seas ablaze'.

I really didn't want to find out. Kafka chuckled as she helped me straighten my tie.

"And it fits you really well, as usual. It's not as cute as the outfit you chose for yourself last time, but I'm sure my sweet apprentice will find it quite alluring."

Even through ELS I felt a certain warmth in my cheeks, but I did my best not to show that her words had caused me to become flustered.

Kafka gently ran her hands through my hair.

"You're still angry with me."

It wasn't a question. But I had no intention of lying anyway.

"I'm not mad, just annoyed."

Kafka chuckled again as she picked up a hairbrush from my desk.

"Annoyed, I see... I thought you liked your script to be rather brief," she said as she began to comb my hair.

"Kafka... with brief, I didn't mean 'don't tell me anything aside from the destination'. Why are you hiding what we are going to do from me, Kafka? Is this Elio's punishment for the mess I made last time?"

That was the only explanation I could find for why Kafka had put the script back in the envelope and refused to say anything more. She had then told Blade and Silver Wolf that she would explain the details to them in private, leaving me completely in the dark.

For some reason, Kafka found my speculation very funny:

"Sam, Sam, Sam... always bickering with the boss," she giggled, "he won't punish you, don't worry. In fact, you completed your mission with flying colours and he was quite happy with the way things turned out with the Astral Express. You can only blame me for this decision."

I looked at her with my eyes wide open in surprise.

"You're the one who wants to keep me in the dark? Is this some kind of joke or... don't tell me, is it... because of Stelle?" I asked as an idea struck me.

Kafka pulled my hair back neatly before answering:

"You seem to be getting good at reading people. I wonder, if it is my influence or Stelle's?"

"Kafka!" I shouted, shaking my head to get rid of her grip, "do you really don't trust me?! Do you think I'd tell our secrets to the Express and jeopardise our mission? "

Of course, I loved Stelle. But that was one of the reasons I had decided to continue my duties as a Stellaron Hunter, with all that entailed. I would've done my best to support her in the way only I could. Even if it meant keeping some secrets or following Elio's crazy scripts. I was sure that she would understand, even though I had promised to be more honest with her.

Kafka's smile widened at my outburst.

"Calm down, Sam, that's exactly why I'm doing this," she said, taking hold of my hair again.

"Why you're doing this?" I repeated, confused.

"I trust you. Maybe it's because of your past life, but I know you can be loyal to a fault, passionately so. You'd never betray us, not even at the cost of your life. That's why I wanted to set your mind at ease."

She smiled at my obvious bewilderment.

"How can this ease my mind, you'll ask? It's simple, you told me that keeping your identity hidden during the last mission caused a lot of trouble between you and Stelle. Well, this time you won't have that problem. You'll have a nice date without having to worry about lying to her. "

I was left with my mouth half open.

"Kafka... you..."

I didn't know what to say. Did she really expect me not to worry and enjoy my time with Stelle, when I didn't know what kind of trouble we would cause in Penacony?

During my previous stay, I had grown to love the Land of Dreams. It was a very special place for me. It had allowed me to live my life as a normal girl and to reconnect with Stelle. Even though I knew that behind the golden veil lay corruption and power struggles, I still saw it as a magical place where anything could be possible. A place where the Harmony could welcome people like me who would be rejected in most corners of the universe. And here I was, about to meet such kindness with fire and destruction. Even without knowing the details, the fact that all four of us were going to Penacony spoke volumes about the magnitude of the chaos we were about to cause.

This script... has something to do with the person Elio met with.

As for their identity, I had only one main suspect.

Miss Jade.

Elio had just giggled when I had extended to him the invitation she had given me on Radiant Feldspar. But... did he actually accept it?

Of course, I had no illusions that he had done so to find out the details of the so-called silver lining about my condition. Even though I trusted him to keep his end of the bargain, I knew he wouldn't have done so until the script was finished and my time as a Stellaron Hunter was over.

But if not for that... what would bring Elio to meet one of the Stonehearts? And what does Jade want from us?

I was pretty sure I'd find out soon enough.

"It won't be like Jepella," Kafka interrupted my train of thought, "Penacony will not be burned to the ground by your flames, Sam. Although the climate there will probably get a bit hotter in the coming days."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

I watched as she took a hair tie from her coat pocket and arranged my hair into a ponytail.

"Sweet. I'm sure this will make her heart skip a beat," she commented, admiring her finished work.

"Kafka..."

My irritation towards her had completely disappeared by now. Although, as usual, Kafka's methods were completely beyond me, she really did seem to have my best interests at heart.

"In the end, you are free to consider this little family trip of ours as a continuation of our vacation. Just be warned that things around here might change a bit afterwards."

A family trip...

Lately I'd come to think of Silver Wolf almost as a sister. She teased me endlessly about every silly thing she could think of, but I knew she would always have my back when I needed it. And I would've done everything I could to make sure she could continue to enjoy her life in her usual carefree way.

As for Blade, he'd probably have scolded me if I'd said it out loud, but I'd begun to think of him as a very moody and gloomy uncle. One who, despite his tough guy attitude, really cared about my well-being. Our lives couldn't have gone in more opposite directions, but maybe that's why we bonded over our different but equally painful hardships.

Buf Kafka... what about Kafka?

She was the one who had found me floating among the stars. She had carried me in her arms inside her ship. She was the first voice I had heard and the first smile I had seen when I awoke from my deep long sleep.

I still remembered the words she had spoken to me:

"Do you believe in fate? Those who walk in the same direction will eventually find their peers, and now... here we meet".

And so we had begun our journey together. A journey towards the destruction of the universe, a destruction that we Stellaron Hunters would thwart under Terminus' gaze, according to Elio's script.

After a life spent as a tool, Kafka had taught me what it meant to be human. If I could barely pass as a normal person now, it was because of her. And I truly admired her. Kafka was kind to me, but she was also strict. She could be gentle, as she was being right now, but inflexible when I was about to do something stupid.

All these things... it almost sounds like...

Regular humans were born of a mother. I knew that much, even though my time in this world had begun in a tube filled with ice-cold liquid, so different from a woman's womb. The arms that had lifted me had been solid metal, not flesh. And I hadn't been given the innocence of a childhood.

But... hadn't I been reborn? In a way, meeting Kafka had started a completely new life for me. So...

Do I see Kafka... as my mother?

Of course I could not be sure. Someone born as a weapon shouldn't even think about such things. Even falling in love had taken me so long to accept. But there Stelle was by my side. Her warm embrace had seeped into me and made me realise how I felt.

With Kafka... it was different. Even though she had always treated me well, just like today, I couldn't help but think that she always pushed me away as soon as I got too close. Even though she was right here, just a step behind me, it felt like there was an insurmountable distance between us. One that definitely shouldn't be there in a mother-daughter relationship. Kafka always came to see me, looked after me, did things for me. But when I reached out to her, all I grasped on was empty air.

So what were we? A family? Friends? Colleagues? Or was I just a little toy for her to play with and laugh at my silly problems?

If my relationship with Stelle has taught me anything... it is that sometimes the easiest way is to say things out loud.

"Kafka... what am I to you?" I asked, looking straight into her eyes through the mirror.

Kafka was silent for a second, but didn't show any surprise.

"Ara, you have become quite direct, Sam. I can see Stelle's shade behind your words," she said with a small giggle.

Then she stood behind me again and put her hands on my shoulders. Her slight smile contrasted with my serious expression:

"Of course, you are my dear, hardworking junior," she explained, giving me a light squeeze.

"A junior... so you just see me as a younger colleague? Is that why you keep calling me Sam even when we are at home?" I sighed, unable to hide my disappointment.

"So you have noticed. I don't want to hurt your feelings Sam, I just don't want to give you false hopes," she said, turning around.

"False hopes? You mean I don't have to hope... that one day I'll just be Firefly?" I asked.

But I heard Kafka chuckling softly:

"You have the ability to always assume I mean the worst. Sometimes I wonder if you and Wolf really hate me deep inside."

"Of course we don't."

"I know," she said, looking at my collection of photos on the wall next to my bed, "tell me, Sam, you really love Stelle, don't you?"

"I do," I replied immediately.

"I thought I felt the same way. Not the romantic kind of love mind you, but she and I spent a lot of time together during her training, so I thought it would be natural for me to care a lot about her. Seeing her again, being her usual chaotic self, brought me a lot of joy. I'm sure you can understand that."

I remained silent. I could tell that wasn't all Kafka was going to say.

"But there's something you feel that I can't understand, Sam," Kafka said, running her finger gently over the framed photograph of me and Stelle on the rooftop, "You're afraid that you won't be able to enjoy her company because you're both busy with your different lives. You're afraid that you'll disappear soon and never see her again. You are frightened at the thought of her leaving you behind. You fear that one day her Stellaron will take over her consciousness. You're afraid, Sam, and I can't understand what that means."

This time it was Kafka who looked into the eyes of my reflection.There was no trace of sadness in her gaze. After all, how can you be sad about missing something you couldn't even comprehend?

Besides, like me, she was not the type to mope around. Curious about what it meant to be afraid, she set out to find out. That's why she had given up being a Devil hunter to become a Stellaron one.

Her eyes moved back to the photo to meet my girlfriend's golden ones.

"That Stelle came into my life like a hurricane and then left, turning everything upside down, but still... I can't worry about her being away from me. The thought that she might die doesn't faze me at all. Pretty awful, isn't it? I asked Silver Wolf to look after her with you because it seemed like the most logical thing to do. Of course I'll be sad if something happens to her, but... can you even say you love someone if your heart doesn't ache for them?"

"Kafka..."

"And the same goes for how I feel about you, Sam. When I told you to not spend too much time out of your armor, I was just giving you what I thought was the best advice. This is what I mean about not giving you false hopes... I can't give you what you want, Sam, because I'm not capable of it," she said, coming to my side.

What I want... no, I think what she means is what she wants...

"Come on, Bladie and Wolf are waiting for us in the hangar," she urged me as she helped me up from the chair.

Then she looked at me from top to bottom:

"Even though you look the same, I can feel that you've grown a lot. Should you really be bothering with old Kafka?" she asked with her usual light smile,

"But if you want me to put our relationship into words, I guess... all we can do is keep each other company... for a while. Is that all right with you, Stellaron Hunter... Firefly?" she asked.

She didn't even blink as I got into my armour in front of her.

"As you wish, Kafka. I don't know how long our journey together will last, but let’s do our best going forward together.”

In the end if she wanted to keep that distance between us, I could only respect it. And anyway, mother, friend, colleague… did it even matter what I called her? As long as we cared for each other, we could’ve still kept walking side by side towards our own destinies.

“Ara, spoke just like an Astral Express member. I shall use this family trip as an excuse to bring you closer to the dark side yet again,” she chuckled as her lips curved in a larger smile.

Now that I was looking at them directly I realized they were more pink than usual.

She… she’s using the lipstick I brought for her from Penacony! I thought as she was about to leave the room.

Kafka turned around at the door:

“Planning to stay here all day, Firefly?”

“I’m right behind you, Kafka!”

----------------------------------------

I almost fell down laughing when we reached the hangar and saw Wolf standing at the side of the stairs leading up to the airship's hatch.

"Stop laughing! You sound like an oversized vacuum cleaner when you do it inside SAM!" she yelled, fiddling with the collar of her shirt while looking very uncomfortable.

I had almost forgotten how angry she got when Kafka made her wear her suit. Last time she had got away with wearing a casual one with shorts, but this time it looked like Kafka had no mercy.

"You look like you're ready to go to school for 'dress up as your parents' day'!" I gasped between giggles.

"SHUT UP! Besides, how do you even know about that stuff?! Was it in some of the manga I got you? Nice way of thanking me, girl," she complained.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I tried to say. But in my heart, I was happy to get a little revenge for the whole Wardance impostor incident. Maybe the influence of Kafka's dark side was already working on me.

"I'm sure you are," Wolfie replied sarcastically, "but man, this sucks. I'm sure I'm getting a malus to my stats just by wearing this stuff."

Looking down at her skirt, I realised she was wearing spats underneath. Kafka, who was now inspecting the back of the airship, would have been very unhappy if she'd found out.

Better get up before she notices.

"Let's go in, Wolfie!" I exclaimed.

"All right," she sighed, sounding defeated.

But then, as she started up the stairs ahead of me, she seemed to cheer up a little:

"Ah well, at least we can take this toy for a ride again."

The sleek, dark purple airship we were boarding had been state of the art since Kafka had bought it when the Stellaron Hunters were just her and Elio. But with Silver Wolf's constant modifications, it was now a true technological marvel. According to her, thanks to its stealth systems, we could've travelled in the middle of an IPC fleet without being detected. Its jamming systems could also make it easy to board and take over target ships without making a ruckus. Of course, it didn't have the mystical aura of the Astral Express, but travelling through space on it was still quite an experience. From its huge observation deck you could see the stars from either side of the ship and feel like you were swimming in the cosmos.

If we'd come to sell it, we'd probably have made enough to pay for at least one of our bounties. But of all the problems the Stellaron Hunters had as an organisation, money wasn't one of them. It turned out that having a leader who could foresee the future made it very easy to amass wealth.

I wonder how Terminus feels about their Emanator using his powers to manipulate stocks and cheat on bets, I thought as I watched Silver Wolf look at the shiny chassis of the airship with dreamy eyes.

"Jepella, that was the last time we boarded it," I said.

"Ugh, that's right..." Silver Wolf scoffed, "I remember having to take about five showers to get rid of that awful smell of burnt animal fur. At least this time should be much better!"

As I followed her through the airship hatch, I remained silent, not wanting to interrupt her. Maybe I was about to find out the reason for our trip through Wolfie's careless chatter.

"Such a cool script this time! Almost like a movie! I mean, we came close on the Xianzhou, but so far we never got to - OH!!"

Silver Wolf turned to me with a guilty look on his face:

"I just felt a chill run down my spine... Why didn't you stop me? Do you want Kafka to kill me or something?" she said and gave SAM a little punch in the chest.

"Sorry... but can you blame me? I'm going to be nervous for the whole trip... can you tell me a little-"

But I stopped. I could hear Kafka climbing the stairs behind us. In a moment she appeared in the ship and smiled at us:

"What are you doing standing in the way? Come on, let's go to the main deck."

The tone of her voice gave me goosebumps.

"Yes ma'am!" Wolfie and I shouted in unison.

We began to follow her through the elegant ship's corridor, its stark black walls adorned with the symbol of the Stellaron Hunter in purple. Neither of us dared speak. But we were about to emerge onto the flight deck when a small voice rang out inside my helmet.

"Don't worry, you will get your time alone with Stelle. Just be prepared for Kafka to start messing with both of you after a while. Just relax and enjoy the trip."

I felt Silver Wolf's elbow gently nudge Sam's thigh. I smiled in my cockpit, even though she couldn't see it.

Blade was waiting for us in one of the black leather seats in front of the ship's console. Unlike Wolfie, he looked like he'd been born to wear a suit, so much so that he could easily have passed for a model.

He'll make a lot of heads turn at the Golden Hour.

The Golden Hour... right... him attracting attention wasn't a good thing at all! Now that we were about to leave, I realised that I hadn't thought about the implications of this trip. How were Kafka and Blade going to get into the Dreamscape? Of course, they couldn't just get a room in the Reverie. But besides that, unlike me, who had a secret identity, or Wolf, who could use Aether Editing to infiltrate as an undetectable hologram, their very notorious faces, plastered on wanted posters all over the galaxy, were bound to be a problem.

Are they going to use a disguise? That doesn't seem like Kafka's style.

I decided to take a deep breath and try not to think about it. I would trust Wolf and do my best to enjoy the trip. However things turned out, I just hoped I'd had the chance to show Kafka and Blade around the sleepless city I'd come to love so much.

We could go shopping together, like I did with March last time... and we could get some freshly baked Oak Cake Rolls!

At last I was able to smile in a truly carefree manner as I looked at Wolf jumping into the pilot's seat. Her legs didn't even touch the ground. Kafka, on the other hand, sat elegantly by my side in the back seats.

"So you guys, ready?" asked Silver Wolf as the sound of the airship's engine began to grow around us.

"Stellaron Hunters, we are taking off. A restless night awaits Penacony. When the time comes to wake up, the Land of Dreams will hope it was all just a nightmare," Kafka declared, crossing her legs.

I thought I was used to her theatric by now, but I couldn't help but feel a bit in awe.

"Yeah, yeah, make sure your seat belts are really tight if your name isn't Firefly!" Silver Wolf announced.

By the time the last syllable had left her mouth, we were already in deep space. The Stellaron Hunter base was a tiny dot behind us, indistinguishable from the stars.

"Perfectly executed jump, as usual!" Wolfie exclaimed smugly, kicking the console to push her seat back. But when she tried to sit cross-legged after pulling out her handheld, her skirt got in the way, which made me chuckle.

"How long till we get to the Asdana star system?" asked Kafka. Luckily she was busy removing her seatbelt and didn't notice Silver Wolf's hidden shorts.

"About 12 hours," Blade replied, looking at the astral map on one of the ship's screens.

"You heard that?" Kafka said as she turned to me, "If I lent you this ship, you could go on dates with Stelle every day."

"Kafka..."

Physical distance was only one of the main issues in our relationship. In the age of advanced space travel in which I'd been awakened, journeys that would once have taken a lifetime were now over in the blink of an eye. And Penacony happened to be quite close to our base, as luck would have it. But that wouldn't have helped when Stelle and I were both busy with our roles as Stellaron Hunter and Trailblazer. Besides, there were places like Amphoreus where even a super cool spaceship like this one wouldn't have gotten you.

Still...

"Thank you Kafka, I might take you up on that offer sometime!" I said with a big smile.

"You're out of your mind if you think I'm going to leave my baby alone with that girl!" Silver Wolf shouted, spreading her arms out as if to protect the ship from me, "she can't even drive straight when playing Hanu Kart! How the hell is she going to pilot something like this?"

"I see... you're right," I said, pretending to be worried, "then... Blade, you have a licence, right? Could you help me out?"

Blade looked away from the ship's main screen with a serious expression on his face.

"My licence is only for cars, but I don't see the problem. This vehicle shouldn't be much harder to operate," he replied calmly.

Silver Wolf looked at him with her mouth half open:

"I'm not even going to comment on that. Forgive me for saying so, but I trust Mr KMS even less than I trust the Scoarched Earth robot!"

"Ara, then I suppose you are offering to accompany her on her dates yourself, Silver Wolf? I didn't know you liked being a third wheel. But I can't say I'm surprised," Kafka said as she took a sip of wine from a glass.

"What are you talking about?! Where did you even get that wine?!"

As I nearly died of laughter, I felt a warm feeling spreading through my chest. It was similar to the one I felt when talking to Stelle but still a bit different. My heart wasn't racing, it was beating in a calm and reassuring rhythm.

I think I might enjoy this trip after all.