"Tomorrow?" Galo said in a drawn-out tone. "That soon?"

Itzel's finger continued to swipe up through the available offers. "Yeah. That's the only ride that's going to Sano Mosado on time."

Galo looked down, a saddened look across his face. "Oh. That's awfully soon."

"I'm sorry, Dad," Itzel said in a reassuring manner. "I know you haven't been alone in this home since...' She looked up at the ceiling. "Actually, I don't think we've ever left you here by yourself for more than a day."

"Yeah. You're right now that I think about it," Galo replied.

"Scared, about being alone, Dad?"

"No, no. Not at all."

"Lonely?" Gurk asked.

Galo went quiet for a moment. "That might be a small part of it."

Itzel reached over and gave her dad a hug. "If you don't want us to go, we can stay here. Me and Gurk got a lot of followers after that Team Battle with Siergi. Maybe we can work on building an audience in Labrisson."

"Now what kind of father would that make?" Galo shook his head from side to side in short, rapid bursts. "I can't hinder my family's dreams because I'm gonna be lonely, for what? A couple of days?"

"I've got a feeling it's going to be longer than that, Dad. A couple of weeks at the very least. And that's on top of the time until the event starts. It's an exhibition, so they'll have the teams compete against each other over the course of multiple days."

"Oh." Galo leaned back in his seat and started scratching his head. "Well, at least we can call each other!"

"We'll make sure to stay in touch every single day!" Itzel said while smiling. "You'll get updates on everything."

"That makes me feel better."

"And you get the projector of the main room all to yourself. You can watch all of the Deep Galaxy Drifters you want without waiting for Gurk to finish watching his Broadcasts."

"Yeah!" Gurk added.

"You two sure know how to convince someone," Galo replied with a chortle. "But you three need to go on and get ready. You've got a promising future ahead of you. I don't want to get in the way of that. I survived working in the Refinery Sector for all those years. I'll be more than fine living in this place by myself for a few weeks."

"Maybe we can get someone to come check on you every so often," Itzel said. "I don't doubt Ringa and Brielle could bring some food and supplies over every now and then."

"Oh, no, no. I don't wanna be a burden like that. Those two officers are busy."

"Don't worry. After what we did for them and Ven? For free? I'm sure they'd be more than willing to drop stuff off every few days. It’s not like we’re asking them to pay for it."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"If you say so. Just don't want them interrupting anything important to help me out."

"You worry too much, Dad. Ringa and Brielle will be happy to do it."

"Okay. If you're sure about it, I'm fine with taking a helping hand from those two if it means you three can go out and chase your dreams."

“I knew you'd understand, Dad."

"You said the ride leaves tomorrow?" Janus asked. "What time?"

Itzel looked at the entry for the ride again and bit her lip. "First thing in the morning."

Gurk groaned before toppling on his back and looking up. He placed a hand across the underside of his chin. "Need rest."

Itzel stood over the laying crocodile and stared down at him. He opened his eyes and gazed back at her in return. "You heard what your hero Siergi said, right? How he kept talking about how hard work is essential to getting to where you want to be in life?"

"Yeah," Gurk mumbled, still remaining on his back.

"Then that means we gotta keep pushing!"

"I know."

"Good. Now get your stuff ready. You can get some rest on the Transporter." Itzel pressed a button on her screen. "There. I just bought us all tickets to Sano Mosado. We're locked in now. That means it's time to start packing." She then looked at Gurk. Then at his blanket and jacket. "Good thing you don't have much to begin with."

Janus took his jacket and folded it. "Same here," he said.

"I'm going to get my stuff ready too. Shouldn't take me too long either." Itzel vanished into her room. Once she had left the main area, Gurk closed his eyes again and let out a loud and steady snore. Janus looked at sleeping crocodile and laughed.

"I envy you Gurk. I really do."

"He's been able to do that ever since we found him," Galo said with a hint of laughter. "Back when he was smaller than Itzel, he could just fall asleep whenever he wanted. Wherever he wanted."

"It's a surprisingly valuable skill," Janus said. "Being able to get some shut eye on command."

"You can say that again." There was a brief silence save for Gurk's snoring. Galo's eyes then met Janus'. "How do you feel about all this, Janus?"

Janus looked startled. "What do I think of this? You mean Gurk's sleeping? Or this Rumble Circuit thing?"

"Rumble Circuit. You said you were here to do some marketing research, right?"

"Oh!" Janus let out a stilted chuckle. "That. I have plenty of time to do the research I was sent here for."

"Even if it's for a few weeks? Seems like an awfully long time to be away from your job." Galo stroked his chin. "Something isn't adding up here."

"My company... is lax. Family owned. Or I know the family. They let me do what I want."

"Uh-huh." Galo stood up, clutching onto his crutch with one hand before wobbling a few steps in Janus' direction. He placed a hand on Janus' shoulder. "If you've got a secret, keep it," Galo said quietly. "I trust you. After everything these two have gone through with you over the past few days, I think they'll be fine with a kind fellow such as yourself. And the other way, too. You couldn't have found two better friends to stick with."

"Thank you, Mister de Vuera," Janus replied, giving the old man a comforting a grin in return. Galo continued to look back at him; the old man's eyes were tired and sad. There was a tint of red among his brown eyes as his upper lip began to tremble. "I'm gonna miss them," he continued. "But don't tell them that. You three have a bright future ahead of you. And if Itzel knew how I really felt, she'd cancel those tickets in a heartbeat. I'm telling you because I'm worried. I know those two can get into some trouble when they're not careful. Can you make sure to try to reason with them if things get too dangerous?"

Janus eyed Gurk. The crocodile turned his entire body to the side, resting on his arms as he took in a deep breath and snored even louder. "Yes sir," he said after facing Galo again. "I can do that for you."

"Thank you. They're all I got now. Don't know what I'd do without them." Galo let out a sigh of relief.

"I'll make sure they stay out of trouble."

"That's gonna be hard when you're dealing with Itzel and Gurk! Them getting in trouble is inevitable. I just want to see them back home in one piece."

"Then that'll be my goal." He gave Galo a wink.

"You're a good man, Janus!" Galo took a shaky finger and pointed it towards his chest. "Now I'm gonna hold you to that promise! It's the least you can do after I let you stay in my home!" The old man let out a coarse laugh before hobbling back to his spot on the sofa.

"That's more than a fair trade, sir," Janus replied.