Bern recoiled slightly as he met Gira’s gaze, a pang of guilt tightening in his chest. He felt foolish for even hesitating. After a moment, he placed a steady hand on Gira’s shoulder and pulled him into a quiet hug.

“You’re not,” he said, the words simple but firm.

Gira eased for a moment. Letting go of his anxiety, he sat there. With Bern still hugging him.

Seconds ticked by.

This is awkward…why won’t he let go? He wondered as he froze in place like a wet cat.

Conversely, Bern’s thoughts were spiraling in a similar direction. Why won’t the kid let go... He, too, felt a flicker of panic rising, realizing he was now stuck in this strangely prolonged embrace. It’s been like 20 seconds too long.

The awkward hug lingered far too long before K-11 appeared above, his mechanical head poking into view as he observed the two humans in silence. Tilting his head, he studied their prolonged embrace, clearly puzzled.

Neither moved, each trapped in the silent, mutual confusion of an embrace that had well outstayed its welcome.

Bern noticed K-11 and, feeling a new wave of discomfort, tried signaling him with a pleading look.

K-11 stared back, his scaled features managing to convey a surprising hint of disgust on his reptilian face. “What is this display?” he called out to the two.

YOU LEGEND! Gira shouted within his mind as he began to pull away.

I’ll never feed you table scraps again, you beautiful Dragon! Bern cheered in his mind.

The two finally separated from the embrace, each stepping back with a mixture of relief and lingering awkwardness. Their gazes darted anywhere but at each other, as if silently agreeing to never speak of this moment again.

Bern cleared his throat, straightening as if to regain control of the conversation. “Anyways. Let’s talk about the Steel Dragon.” he gestured with a swing of his arms.

“Oh right, I feel like that keeps coming up.” Gira replied, his tone light as he let the awkwardness melt away.

With a loud thud, K-11 landed beside them, his reptilian gaze shifting between the two. “May I aid in explaining?” he asked, tilting his head slightly.

“Of course!” Bern said, already moving to his desk.

Gira watched Bern fumble around his desk. I’m still kind of upset he thought I’d eat him. Seriously, why the hell did he show me that video earlier? He stared at Bern longer. Eh… no point in worrying about it. But there is a point you little—uhh, anyway, Bern finally seemed to find the set of images he wanted to present Gira.

On the projection, an image of a cloudless sky stretched endlessly, a serene, almost hypnotic expanse of deep blue. Against the infinite backdrop, a faint, elongated shape hovered in the distance, barely discernible.

“That’s the Steel Dragon.” Bern announced enthusiastically, pointing at the blurry little gray blurb.

Gira squinted, trying to make out the image, his face straining a little before he turned to give Bern an unimpressed look. “Are you making fun of me somehow?”

“What? No!” Bern shot back, gesturing insistently toward the screen. “That little gray mark right there? That’s the Steel Dragon. It’s just… super far away.”

“Right…” Gira said slowly, his confusion deepening as he eyed the comedically small gray speck. “So what does that tiny thing have to do with anything?”

“That’s whe—” Bern began, only to be cut off.

“That’s the ship that houses all Rak’da,” K-11 interjected, his voice calm and matter-of-fact. “My brood refuses to land due to fear of infection and is demanding resources in exchange for refraining from bombarding Krreat from orbit.”

“K-11!” Bern exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “I had this whole thing ready! Slides, images…”

“Apologies, Mr. Mourns, but I grow hungry…” K-11 said, his voice cold and detached.

Bern looked at his watch, 1313 (1:13 PM), “Right, it is lunch time…” he muttered, more to himself.

Meanwhile, Gira’s eyes stayed on K-11, his expression shifting as realization dawned. He raised one hand, forming a fist, then brought the base of his other palm down onto it with a light thud, as if physically connecting the pieces in his mind. “Ohhh,” he said, the motion punctuating his words. “So that’s why you’ve been stuck down here—because they scared of turning into the weird fleshy Rak’da.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Correct,” K-11 replied with a curt nod. “They plan to leave the Esthes System but currently lack the resources to enter deep space.It is likely that they intend to depart by year’s end.

“Ohhhh… when’s that?” Gira asked, glancing between the two.

K-11’s gaze shifted toward the darkened ceiling, a faint glint in his reptilian eyes. “Soon.”

Bern sifted through a series of grainy photos, each depicting the gray blur from various angles. The light shifted with each slide, cycling through cool blues and fiery reds, capturing the vague silhouette under changing skies. At last, the projection settled on a more distinct, familiar scene. Bern tapped the console and turned toward Gira with a raised brow.

“Gira, did you notice the massive tower on top of Krreat?”

“Oh yeah—umm, Holly told me its name...” Gira muttered, his hair bits twitching as he strained to recall. “The Erma-something elevator, right?”

“Close,” Bern replied, a hint of amusement in his tone. “It’s called the Ermacles Space Elevator—a superstructure that stretches up to a platform hovering in low orbit. The whole thing is tethered to the ground across the region, and it’s got a pretty inte—”

“Wait!” Gira cut in, throwing his hands up dramatically. “Do I really need to know this right now? I’m super bored, and honestly, I’m kind of hungry…” He pressed a palm against his forehead, feeling the faint warmth of his skin. “My brain is melting, Mr. Dad Bern. So, can I please call it a day?”

Bern blinked, caught off guard. “Mr. Dad?”

“Mhm,” Gira confirmed, nodding rapidly in succession as he began inching closer and closer to K-11.

A smile crept across Bern’s face. “I can live with that name.”

“Good, because that’s what I’m calling you from now on,” Gira said with a grin. Without missing a beat, he turned toward K-11. “K-11! Can you give me a ride?”

“Yes, but—”

“To where?!” Bern interrupted.

“Anywhere but here!” Gira cried out, a mischievous grin spreading across his face as he scrambled onto K-11 with practiced ease. His hands gripped the biomechanical creature’s ridged plating, and within seconds, he perched confidently atop its massive frame.

“But wait! There’s so much more I need to show you!” Bern protested, his voice rising in pitch as he bolted toward them, arms waving in a mix of urgency and exasperation.

“Save it for another day!” Gira shouted, tapping K-11’s side with a playful grin. “Let’s go, best bud—to anywhere but here! Preferably somewhere with food, though…” he added, clutching his stomach dramatically as if to emphasize the urgency of his hunger.

K-11 nodded with a mechanical grace, his massive tail swinging around in a wide arc—narrowly missing Bern, who stumbled back. The biomechanical creature crouched slightly, then leaped with impressive power, landing on his roost with a thunderous impact. As he settled, a hidden doorway slid open, its edges outlined in a faint glow, revealing an exit that led to the building's rooftop.

“WAIT!” Bern bellowed, flames igniting around him as he summoned his blazing Kyyr to propel himself upward in a fiery arc.

“AAH! Let’s get outta here!” Gira yelped, clinging to K-11’s plating as he watched Bern’s flaming form closing in fast.

K-11 thundered across the rooftop on all fours, his biomechanical limbs propelling him effortlessly toward the building's edge.

“K-11! Stop, this is an order!” Bern shouted, his voice sharp and commanding as flames flickered around him.

K-11 skidded to a halt, his massive frame turning with an almost eerie precision. His glowing eyes locked onto Bern, and his synthesized voice reverberated.

“Sorry, Mr. Mourns,” K-11 said with calm finality, “but I obey the apex of the food chain.”

Bern froze, his gaze locked on the goofy-looking young man perched on K-11’s back, furiously tapping the creature’s plating and pleading for an escape. For a moment, the scene almost seemed absurd—

But Bern’s focus sharpened, his eyes narrowing on the faint, unnatural stillness surrounding Gira’s Kyyr. His breath caught in his throat, and his heart sank as the realization hit him. How didn’t I notice?

The vile aura coiling around Gira seemed to pull Bern backward in time—to his youth spent studying old ENN.KORR war footage and the haunting imagery of the Calamity Entities. The memories rushed in: blackened skies fractured by chaotic light, monstrous forms twisting and writhing, and the shadow of the abyss—a looming presence that hung above the First Expansion War. His eyes lingered on Gira as the echoes of then seemed to reverberate through the eerie silence of his Kyyr.

He shook his head, snapping himself out of the spiral. “Gira, take this!” he shouted, pulling a small crystal device from his pocket and hurling it toward Gira.

Gira turned, his gaze catching the glint of the crystalline device as it sparkled under the harsh glare of the sun. Before he had time to think, his body reacted instinctively. In a single, fluid motion, he leaped off K-11, his hand outstretched. The device’s smooth, cool surface met his palm as he caught it midair, his feet landing with a thud on the rooftop below.

“It’s a crystalcomm,” Bern said, his voice softening slightly. “Use it to come home. Xi—your mom—would like us to have dinner together as a family.”

Gira stared at the small device in his hand for a moment before turning to Bern, his face lighting up with a big, carefree smile. “Cya later, Mr. Dad!” he called out, his voice brimming with excitement.

Without waiting for a response, he sprinted back toward K-11, the massive Rak’da already crouched low, muscles coiling in preparation for the leap. Gira clambered onto its back with practiced ease, gripping the biomechanical plating as the creature shifted its weight, ready to spring into action.

With a final wave, Gira and K-11 launched off the building, vanishing into the streets below in a blur of motion.

Bern stood at the edge, his gaze fixed on the shrinking figures as K-11 sprinted toward his feeding ground. A soft sigh escaped his lips. “Maybe it’s best I didn’t show him all those terrible things… but…” he murmured, his voice trailing off into the warm breeze.

The wind stirred his silky, deep blue hair, carrying with it the faint scent of sunbaked stone. His eyes lingered on the horizon, but his mind was far away, drawn into the haunting memories of what they’d uncovered aboard the dark vessel—the violence, the hate of the abyssal anomaly.

The Cause of it all. He felt a chill wrap around him despite the sun’s heat.