Whorls of dust curled around the crowd, languid and thinning against the fragile forms of the people of the black market. It hurt Astrid to see her city in such a depressing state, alas she would only be here for a few hours and would be gone without causing any trouble while she was there.

Astrid had never truly known her city either though, in the time that she was there. She had only seen it through a politician’s view and that was not enough to keep it together. That in there was part of the reason she had left; the other reason was that once the Phoenix had left her. She needed time to learn everything about being an energy summoner. There was also a lot of things she had found out about her family in the past few months. Her mother had told her everything about her father.

She will admit that the previous system with the myriads was… corrupt to say the least. It seemed even more corrupt now, and she had her suspicions about where it was coming from. She drew out a sharp breath, she had found what she was looking for.

An extrapolator, an interdimensional extrapolator.

Yes, those existed. The discovery of the multiverse was nothing new during this era as it had been discovered nearly two decades ago. There had been only one time that Astrid had visited Dimension-1 and it had not been a willing act. Then, she was a hostage but was rescued who she would now see as a friend. She was glad though that she was out of that situation.

She would have to get it working to get her to the location she wanted to go. She did not mind waiting though as there was much work to be done.

While she was not in her city nor Artemis, Astrid had trained with a group of elite agents who oversaw the most serious operations and were a backup to other agencies.

The role she played was responsibility in the much larger picture it would take society to heal from the last century: she knew for sure that society would not be the same when it happened to come of this.

As to what she was doing in Cruxham, in mid-august at the mercy of the brutal and burning sun. Astrid had been out of Artemis for a year now and she hated asking favors from friends without regaining her relationships first.

Her eyes caught the sight of her destination, Neon Nights. In the front was her friend, Kaz. She did not judge her friends based on their activities. It was their choice of life and beside Kaz was only a thief, but he still had his spying talents from the last year.

She had met Kaz back when she was in Gatlon. Back in the days that she was a Myriad, god, that felt like ages ago. Anyways, back then… he had been somewhat of a mix between an antihero and a criminal at the time. Though, she could be credited to make him a street spy.

“It’s been years,” said Kaz.

“I know,” said Astrid. “I think I have the goodwill not to ask something of you before explaining myself.”

“Does that mean you’re going to tell me where you’ve been for the last five years?” asked Kaz.

Astrid pulled out a huge book. “Before the Phoenix left, she told me I was one of the three sentinels that existed. Also…”

“Ahh… there it is,” said Kaz.

“I have been working with heroes that I have met along the way to deal with the void that has been left since the crisis,” said Astrid.

“Are you preparing for something?” asked Kaz.

“Oh, come on, some secrets need to stay secret, Xiono,” said Astrid.

Kaz nodded. “What can I do for you?”

“Have you heard about Galaxy X?” asked Astrid.

“You mean the almighty organization that mandates what the city does now,” said Kaz.

Astrid visibly winced at that. Before she had left, Galaxy X had merely just been in a small militant criminal organization. Seems as in her absence they had gained more power through some angel backer who could not be traced.

“Sorry,” said Kaz, as he noticed the wince.

Astrid drew in a deep breath glancing at the smoky streets. “You don’t have to apologize, you know. It is all my fault. I left.”

“You are too hard on yourself,” said Kaz. “We all were a part of it, and we could have helped the people once you left.”

“I understand…” said Astrid, as she out a heavy sigh.

“Now off of the depressing topics, what did you want to talk to me about?” asked Kaz.

“I need your help with something,” said Astrid. She pulled out a small flash drive from her pocket. “I’ve been investigating Galaxy X’s connection to the Circle, whom I think is connected to someone else… but the trail runs cold and leads to a dead end.”

“You know that can’t be possible,” said Kaz.

“I taught you that… yeah, of course, I know,” said Astrid. “That’s where the problem is… I don’t know where else to look but it could be possible that they could be getting funding from another planet.”

“You’re not thinking…” said Kaz.

“I’m not sure…” said Astrid. “It may even not be possible. It could be someone else entirely.”

“You want me to check on it,” said Kaz. “You know that would be insane.”

“I want you to look into it, I don’t care how. You don’t have to go into the accursed building to spy on someone,” said Astrid. “Remember I taught there are many other ways to spy on people than through person.”

“Do you have a back-up plan if I don’t find anything or if it’s hidden too well?” asked Kaz.

“I have my theories about who it could be,” said Astrid with a sigh. “And where they could elements only found on comets or asteroids. To test it though, I need more time because if I am right about of what I was thinking about then we are in a lot more trouble than I originally thought we are.”

“You’re not thinking of traveling to the past, are you?” asked Kaz. “Using the extrapolator. You know, we almost got stuck in the past last time we attempted to do that.”

“If I have to, I will use it,” said Astrid. “I’m hoping I won’t have to if you find enough evidence that the circle is working with… you-know-who. Be careful, if they really are involved with him, I don’t want you caught in the crosshairs.”

“You know I am one of the best,” said Kaz. “I’ll be okay.”

“I should expect so, I trained you,” said Astrid.