Tokyo, Shibuya, Japan. Year: 3049

Rena remembers two years ago, when she saw her brother walk out the door. She remembers their exchange. His promise to return to her. But she didn’t realize that would be the last time they would speak. Since that day, Rena is waiting for him to return. Time passes. Days that turned into weeks. Weeks that turn into months. Something isn’t right. She feels it. But she holds onto hope that he would return.

It was only a year ago, when she finally heard news about her brother. But the news she expected crashes into any sense of hope that she clings to. The phone call her family receives from the AIHA headquarters that Sunflare and his team were missing. Their enemy demolished the headquarters in JI-829. They fought as they could, but they suffer heavily in losses. Those who survived retreated to a safer location until reinforcement arrives. Sunflare and his team reached the location, but their transmission got cut off.

The last transmission they received was Spectre giving an update that Sunflare went to face the enemy head on alone.

“I’m so sorry,” he apologizes, bowing in the holographic video feed. “But I assure you. I will send a team to locate them.”

Rena’s mother nearly faint after hearing the news. Rena stood there. Her mind pacing as the information sinks in. She stares vacantly at the screen where Mr. Misao was speaking, but his words soon feel deaf on her ears. But she held onto hope. Her brother was alive. He has to be. He promises he’ll return. She was certain.

“Don’t worry, mom! He’ll come back! I’m sure they’ll find him!” Rena said those words to comfort her mother.

But deep down, she knows they are meant for her, so she would not break down.

The team sent out searches for her brother. But they came up with no results. There was no evidence of his team’s presence. Nor have they found any bodies to pronounce them dead. So, they’ve announced that team Sunflare has been missing in action and still have requests of any information to be sent to their headquarters of any news of their whereabouts.

Time passed since then. Now at eighteen-years-old with her black hair in twin braids, a baseball cap with stars on the front covering her face, and the courage to stand at the doorway in front of the main in Tokyo of the AIHA headquarters. Daunbe blue eyes sparkling with a new resolve. After mulling over it for so long, she makes a decision. Since no one will find her brother, she will do herself. She’ll become a space guardian and find out the truth. She’ll find Togi.

That thought gravitates in her mind. She enters the sliding doors of the gigantic building, heading into the office. Her eyes widen at the activity bustling inside. She caught the eyes of some heroes she recognizes that protect the city in Togi’s place. Her stomach twists in knots as she swallows. Her hands grip tightly on her backpack.

I can do this. I have no choice.

Becoming her own personal inner cheerleader, Rena strides towards the receptionist. A woman dress plainly in a black female business attire. The only thing that stood out about her was her wild, turquoise colored locks. The woman hacks away at the transparent keyboard and the screen before her. At first, she didn’t seem to acknowledge Rena.

“Um, excuse me…” Rena calls for her attention.

The typing ceases. The woman looks up at her. Her expression is disinterested as she stares at the younger girl dressed in a plain white t-shirt, denim shorts, and high top, white and green sneakers. Rena can only picture what she thought at the moment, but she doesn’t allow it to get to her.

“Yes, how can I help you?” The woman inquires with a slightly snobby tone in her voice.

“I’m here to apply for an application as a Space Guardian.” Rena told her.

“Do you have any experience?”

“No. But I’m willing to learn!” She chimes with a mellow, cheerful pitch. Her form didn’t show any wavering. After all, she needs to show her she was confident. That was serious.

“Sorry, but you need to have some training.”

“I’ve heard that some people can get training at the academy once they’re selected.”

“Yes, but those people have a recommendation from school to go into this field. Not just anyone can just become a Space Guardian. There are some special requirements and one of them is a recommendation. If you’re here to play around, this isn’t the place to do so.”

The rejection stings at Rena. She slightly bites her lip. She knew she was losing the battle before she can get her foot in the door. But she won’t give up. She can’t.

“Wait! My brother was a Space Guardian here!” Her voice quivering as she has a firmer grip on the stripes of her backpack.

“I’m sure he is…” The woman rolls her eyes. “Please leave before I call security.”

“I’m serious! He was Space Guardian Sunflare! I’m his younger sister, Kuromoto Rena. I want to become a guardian so that I can find my brother!”

The woman pauses immediately when she heard the name. It wasn’t long before she sighs, reaching to digital communicator to contact her boss. After he appears through the projector, he turns to Rena.

“Ms. Rena, is it?” He calls to her.

Rena recognized the man. It was Mr. Misao. After a year, he still hasn’t returned with any news to find her brother. The man on the screen looks exhausted, but he spoke with a sternness that she couldn’t forget.

“Miss Rena, you must accept the fact your brother is dead.”

His response held such a coldness, as if he can confirm that he was dead. Her hands tremble, she opens her mouth only for her voice to be loud enough to catch the attention of all those in the room.

“ He’s not dead! You haven’t even found a body! Togi isn’t dead! After all, he…”

Her voice caught in the throat. She knows she sounds hysterical. But she was desperate. Why is that everyone is telling her that her brother is dead? Even her own parents given up hope. She overheard them making plans to prepare for Togi’s funeral. But she can’t accept that. She won’t accept it.

“Please, I beg of you. I will do whatever it takes. I want to find my brother. So please, let me apply to become a hero. I promise I can find him. If you just give me a chance—”

“I’m apologize. But we can’t put you endanger for a wild goose chase,” Mr. Misao reiterates as he places a hand over his forehead, shaking his head in disbelief. “Please leave before I have security escort you out.”

She felt her entire world shatter at his refusal. At this moment, she knew she’s defeated. No other demands she could give can waver his decision. Bowing her head, she turns away, rushing out of the building.

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Everything felt like a blur. She doesn’t focus on the people or the sounds of the surrounding cars. She is certain she hears loud horns blowing at her after recklessly dashing into the streets. Her tears clouds her vision as they felt hot rolling down her face. She ran until she ran out of breath. Stopping as she hyperventilates, allowing her body to regain oxygen.

“Why…” She mutters to herself.

She questions why all this has to happen to her. Why couldn’t anyone give her a chance? There she stood by an empty parking lot. She felt so lonely despite it was so many people around her. The ache in her heart didn’t feel like it would subside soon.

“I guess I should give up…” Rena whimpers, wiping her tears with her arm.

She inhales once more before she changes her course of returning home. Gripping into her backpack, her feet drag along the pavement. Ignoring the world around her, she only sought comfort in her own thoughts.

As she walks, she heard another pair of footsteps behind her. At first she thought she imagines it. But the footsteps continue behind her after a distance. It click to her immediately that she was being followed.

But who could follow her? She felt afraid to turn around to see who it could have been. She picks up her pace in the walk. Hurrying faster down the emptiness of the street. But the footsteps behind her doesn’t seem to slow down. Her heart pounds against her chest, feeling as if she was in danger. Could it be one of the Kaibutsu?

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The chances of being attacked by them aren’t unheard of. They can slip through the cracks of the defense grid and attack unarmed citizens. But she didn’t want to die. She couldn’t when she still has to find her brother.

She stops fleeing, turning around as she was about to take off her backpack to use as a weapon. But the moment she turns around, she sees the figure of the person who was following her.

A woman that was slightly short than her. Her skin was fluorescence as the city lights. Long hair in an ombre of shades of blue and navy, with white glimmering lights embedded in the strands. In her view, it looks like stars in the night sky. The woman wore a long, white lab coat, a collared shirt with a blue tie, a pair of shorts with stockings and dull brown ankle boots with zippers on the side.

Rena never saw a woman so celestial in appearance in her life. She wore plain clothes, but her features were unforgettable. Rena forgotten how to speak at the moment. It was the woman who spoke first. Her tone was low, monotonous as she stares at Rena with piercing navy blue eyes filled with disinterest.

“My apologizes, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” the strange woman told her. “I’ve overheard your conversation at the agency. You wish to register as a Space Guardian at an intelligence agency, correct?”

“Um…yeah that’s right…” Rena answers clumsily.

“I can already tell you now that it’ll be impossible for you.” The woman was blunt, her hands slides into the pockets of her lab coat. Her expression doesn’t change.

Still, the emptiness in her voice as she reminds Rena of the inevitable truth—it only frustrated Rena even more.

Rena bites her lower lips that quivers. “I know that already!” She shouts. “I don’t need a stranger to tell me to give up! But… I still won’t give up. Even if I have to go to every agency in this universe until they accept me!”

“Is that so? ” The woman sighs. She closes her eyes for a moment. “Are you saying you’ll do whatever it takes? Do you realize that mean putting your life at risk? The possibility that you may end up being in the same circumstance of your brother? Is that how much you’re willing to give up, even if it means you must accept the truth if your brother is truly incapacitated? ”

Rena doesn’t answer right away. Allowing the woman’s question to sink into her mind. Risking her life to find the truth? Can she truly be capable of doing so? Doubt creeps into her mind for a moment. But memories of her brother overwhelm her. Including the last one she has of him. She already knows her answer.

“Yes. If it means I have to risk all that,” she closes her yes, hugging herself. “I just want to find him. Or at least find the truth.”

“I understand.” The woman slowly opens her eyes. Her expression still lacking any emotion to the younger girl’s reaction. “I shall help you.”

“What?” Rena blinks. “But why?”

Confusion sweeps over her face. It wasn’t the answer that expects from the strange woman. However, the bigger question that poses into her mind: How can she help her?

As if the woman could read Rena’s thoughts, she came up with an answer. “You’re wondering how I can provide my help, correct? Well, I know far more about what is required for you to become a space guardian. But in exchange, assist me with my goal.”

“Your goal?”

“Yes. I shall tell you that only if you agree.”

“Why should I trust you?” Rena demands.

The offer seems too good to be true. Especially after the woman just told her it was impossible. How can she help her when everyone else turns her away? This woman must be crazy or some kind of con artist. After all, she was odd in both looks and how she acts. Rena can’t read her as she doesn’t show any expressions as she speaks.

She’s probably working with some shady people, for all I know.

“I understand that you probably don’t trust me,” the woman spoke again. “I don’t ask you to, nor I ever will. But actions speak louder than words. I can show better than what I can ever sit here and debate. But the choice is up to you.”

For a moment, Rena is conflicted about accepting the woman’s offer. There is a chance that she can help her and another chance that she might be deceiving her. Who can turn down an offer so tempting? But Rena doesn’t know anything about this woman. Not even her name. So what do this woman gain by having Rena help her? What was her goal that she’s can’t tell her unless she accepts the offer? It sounds all too fishy to Rena. She should turn around and go home. But…

“You promise you can help me? Even though the only thing I want is to find my brother?”

“Yes, you have my word.”

“Then I accept. I don’t care what the cost is. I’ll help you if it means finding my brother.”

The woman says nothing at first. Instead, she offers her hand to Rena. Rena stares at her hand, feeling uneasy about taking it. But her hand moves as she reaches out to grasp it in a handshake.

“My name is Professor Midnight Lucesco.” The woman introduced. “ Please refer to me as Professor Lucesco. I’m a research scientist that is studying Anima. Or as you may call it, “The Awakening Stone.”

“A research scientist?” Rena asks confused before releasing her hand. “But why do you need my help?”

“I’ll explain more at a later time,” Professor Lucesco states as she rummages inside the pocket of her lab coat. She takes out a small, round compact device and hands it to Rena. “Use this to find the coordinates to my lab. This will be our means of communication from now on.”

“Um… thank you…” Rena feels none of this is real. But she accepts the device and stares at it.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, Kuromoto Rena.” The woman said before she takes her turn to take her leave.

It didn’t click until the woman was already out of her sight. How was it that woman knows her name even though she never told her?

“Professor Lucesco…” Rena recalls her name. The impression of the woman remains fresh in her thoughts.

Who on earth are you?

Rena ponders as she stares at the empty space where she's left behind. She glances down at the compact device that was in her hand. It was neon green, in shape of a sphere. This device doesn’t look like anything Rena has seen before. Rena sighs. She puts the device in her backpack.

It was already too late to turn back. She will just have to trust this professor and hope that she can help her find her brother.

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The next morning, Rena woke up the moment the sunlight peeks through her window. She stirs, yawns and stretches before she gets up and head to the bathroom to clean herself up and start her day. She got dressed in a loose, long sleeve sweatshirt, wore a pair of jeans, and comfortable converse sneakers. Rena grabs another baseball cap—after she ties her hair in another pair of loose braids—and places it on her head.

She was ready to set off and meet the professor. Rena takes out the device as she examines it. Now she thinks of it. The professor didn’t tell her exactly how to use this device. She said this would be their means of communication and she can find the coordinates of her lab with it. A sigh left her lips. She wishes she at least gave her manual.

“ Does she think I’m some type of tech geek and I’ll know what it does by looking at it?” Rena mumbles, frowning as she twirls the sphere in her hand to examine it more.

The sphere looks ordinary alone. Nothing too special. A large hunk of metal to anyone like Rena. She continues to twirl it around in hope she’ll find some kind of trigger. After staring at the orb for twenty minutes, she gives up before tossing on the bed in front of her in frustration. This was all probably a hoax.

Rena rolls on her side to face the wall. “Ugh. I can’t believe I fell for such a trick. What I am supposed to do? Come up with some sort of password? I doubt it’ll just start up if I said something like “Turn or or Activate.”

It wasn’t long before she heard sound of beeping coming from the sphere, Rena turns her head before the sphere echoes an AI voice to speak with her:

“Welcome to the Optimized Communicator Network Compact… Please set up an access code in order to complete setup…”

“Huh?” Rena’s eyes widen like a deer caught in the headlights.

Frantically, she picks up the sphere, she gazes at the lights that flashed from the center of the hole that emerges from the top. She looks around in case she didn’t accidentally press the hidden button. Yet, she finds nothing. She stares at the device for a moment before it repeated the instructions:

“Please setup an access code in order to complete setup…”

“An access code?” Rena inquires.

Guess that answers her question by coming up with a password. Rena sighs as she wonders what she could use as her access code. Her birthday? No, that’s too obvious anyone can access it if that’s the case. But does it want numbers or can she just use a phrase? Rena mulls over it a bit more before she sighs.

“The access code is Super Stellar.”

The sphere beeps and flashing for several seconds. It stops before it spoke to her once more.

“Access code accepted. Thank you for registering, Kuromoto Rena. You have successfully completed the setup and granted full access.”

Once it stops speaking, the sphere stops flashing before projecting before Rena into what looks like a map. On the map, it shows a dot that blinks on and off. Rena’s eyes sparkles as she felt excitement bubbling up inside of her. She could get the map that she was promised.

“Wow! That’s so cool!” Rena squeaks.

Quickly, she grabs her backpack, taking the sphere in her hand as she heads out into the city. All she has to do is follow the dot on the map, right? She thought it was cool that the professor came up with something so clever. She heads towards the destination with a new glimmer of hope inside of her.

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The tracking was harder to navigate than she imagines. Rena can guess that the scientist is probably the most secretive person she ever met. Rena felt she’s heading towards danger from lightning speed. Faster than her molecules can reassemble through than the E.T. Elevator. The tracker on the map is taking her farther away from neon city and more an isolate landscape with lacking civilization.

“This feels like a bundle of red flags,” Rena grumbles. “I really hope I don’t get kidnapped into some trafficking scheme.”

It doesn’t take long for Rena to arrive at the destination. The tracker stops blinking. From a few feet away, there is a small, white building that reminds her of a small fortress. The exterior lacks windows; the building was completely white on the outside. It almost looks like an abandoned warehouse.

Rena debates if she should press on. The place alone felt more creepy than she wants to admit. Why was this woman so far away from other people? There are many questions Rena wishes to ask the professor. But she had to wait until she arrives there to get her answer. She swallows, continuing onward, gripping the strips of her backpack tightly.

Moments later, she’s standing in front of the doorway. Rena catches a glimpse of a camera gazing down at her. It wasn’t long before the doorway slides open upward allowing Rena passage. As soon as Rena took her steps inside, the door shuts behind her. Ahead of her was long, shallow hallway with nothing by white walls and metallic floors.

“Well, this gives some Ursa Major eerie vibes.” The sound of her voice echoes through the empty halls.

The walk felt like hours, but she has only been walking a few minutes. It wasn’t long before she reaches the end of a double door. The security seems more complex than the front. Outside was a hand scanner, a camera, and a speaker. Upward wards Rena spots two more larger cameras. While she studies the technology, she heard the professor’s voice from above from an intercom.

“I see you’ve made it. I’m impressed you followed through.” The professor compliment.

Or what felt like one, anyhow. It’s hard for Rena to determine by the lack of excitement in the Professor’s tone.

The double doors slide open and there stood the strange scientist wearing the same similar attire than she had the day Rena met with her. Once more, her expression unreadable, but Rena didn’t feel threatened. The scientist says nothing else, but turns her back and walks ahead.

Rena didn’t need words to know that she wants her to follow. And she does, hoping she gets the answers she needs.