Hey everyone! You all know me by now, my name is Erika Saito. I'm the girl who changed schools due to my father getting a better job in a different city. I was terrified of making friends at a new school full of people I had never known, but that's when I met my three best friends, Byte, Reiji and Yua. You already know most of their story, but let me tell you how it ends, it all started during the summer after our first year of highschool ended. After Byte and I almost got expelled at the dirty hands of Bytes ex, I talked Byte into moving back into my home with my parents and I. Everything went well for a while, until around the second week of summer. Bytes was starting to have recurring flashbacks from events from the time before he came to Earth, and although he told me that he was having the flashbacks, he never discussed what they entailed.

One evening I decided to see if Reiji and Yua would want to come spend the night with Byte and I, thinking maybe it would help to keep his mind off of his flashbacks and to help him have some fun with our friends. We had fun for a while, playing games and watching movies, talking about other fun times we had together, but as the night progressed, Byte seemed to drift off into a daze, like he was lost in a deep fog, he was there physically, but emotionally he was somewhere else. I started to get anxious, and I wanted to pull him aside and talk to him for a second but it was hard to do since these two were here. After a while even Yua and Reiji got concerned and started poking questions at him trying to figure out what was going on. Byte would just fire back with the standard ‘Im fine’ or ‘I'm just sleepy’ which they both seemed to buy, but I didn't.

After we all fell asleep that night, I could hear a slight rustling in the room. I tried to get myself to stir so I could see what was causing the noise but weariness plagued me, I couldn't get myself to open my eyes fully. By the time I got up and looked around the room, I noticed that Byte was gone. I lazily walked down the stairs to see if he was on the couch in the living room, which is where I thought he would be, but to my surprise, he wasn't. I started to freak out and checked all corners of the house that he possibly could have been in, but he was nowhere to be found. I hurried up and put on my shoes and walked outside to look for him, which I didn't have to look far. I saw him standing out in the front of my house, with someone else standing directly in front of him. He was a man of a larger muscular build, wearing a black and white suit, with sunglasses. His hair was cut short and his skin was the same grayish complexion as Byte’s was.

“Byte who is this man? Why are you out here talking to him, c-come inside” I beckoned him.

“Prince, it's time for you to return to Homeworld, you are needed there, you are next in line to be king!” the man dictated.

“And if I don't?” Byte questioned.

“You know well they will bring you back, one way or another. I just wanted to give you the chance to come peacefully, you know the others won't give you that opportunity” the man replied as he shook his head. “Well, I'll be off then, Dasher will be here tomorrow by the rise of this planet's sun. If you wish to cooperate by then, just tell him when he arrives” the man said as he made his way into the woods.

After the man was completely gone, I rushed over to Byte and hugged him as I started to tear up. “Byte, what was that about what's going on?” I cried.

“I'll explain everything when we get back inside, I'm gonna have to explain to them too” Byte said as he pointed up. I looked up to see where he was pointing to see that Yua and Reiji had been watching us from the window. When we got inside Byte explained how I had encountered him after his small ship crashed on Earth. It took them some time to process the fact that Byte wasn't human and a lot of things up until now, including his name, were put in place to keep his real origin under wraps.

“So, who was he?” Reiji asked as he looked at Byte.

“He is designated as B5-64 “Shadow” but most just know him as Shadow. He is the leader of the B5 unit, also known as the Salvagers. Their job is to track down those who desert our homeworld and bring them back. Shadow is a negotiator, he's usually the first one sent, he tries for a peaceful resolution to the problem before things get dirty” Byte explained.

“Why did you leave?” Yua asked as she tilted her head.

“I was groomed to be king, which means that I didn't have any friends. I wasn't really allowed to. Not to mention my parents weren't really parents to me, they were more like instructors. All they cared about was passing on their lineage, I wanted to go somewhere where I could find out what it means to have true friends and family, that's why I came here. They don't want me to come back because they miss me, they just need to make sure there's someone in line to rule” Byte explained.

“That's awful” I mumbled.

“Well you aren't going back! You belong here!” Yua asserted.

“I certainly hope that's the case, but it won't be that simple, the others from B5 are going to try to make me submit by subduing me, I'll have to fight back. Not to mention they have abilities that give them great advantages when it comes to battle” Byte said as he flexed his hand.

“And you dont?” Reiji questioned.

“I do, but I never realized its full potential” Byte replied.

“What can you do?” I asked.

“My ability is called, OverDrive” Byte explained to the three of us.