7 years later.

A lonely private jet zipped across a hazy sky. Within its opulent hall decorated with luxurious items, a man sat motionlessly.

He dressed in a costly polo-tee and shorts with neat comb-over blond hair. His Amethyst-like eyes and a sharp jawline could sway any passing ladies.

He fit perfectly into the lavishly decorated hall around him, like a rich second-generation rich kid on his private jet, visiting his mates across the world.

Yet, his face only bared sadness. Tears trickled down his eyes and landed on the tablet on the table. His eyes, however, never left the tablet.

The tablet had been replaying the same video for the past half hour.

The video started with a convoy of futuristic Astral-capable ships entering a colossal Astral gate in an orderly fashion.

The gate that the convoy was entering was floating 100 metres in the air, off the coast of Cyprus.

The camera then panned out, showing the complete view around the gate. Artificial platforms sprawled beneath, carrying primarily gate stabilisers and safety devices whilst the rest hosted viewing areas and amenities.

Today was the launch of the first phase of Operation New World, a UN mission to colonise the only habitable planet through the Astral Gates, Titos.

With the United States and China at the helm of the joint operation, leading the other countries, everything was expected to go smoothly.

Spectators, streamers, commentators and news agencies flooded the viewing areas to stream mankind’s first ascension to the Astral Gate.

The process went smoothly.

However, it didn’t last that long as one of the last supply ships passed halfway through the Astral Gate. It exploded.

The blast instantly detonated all the ships behind it. As the released shockwave expanded, it touched the outer frame of the Astral Gate. The gate started to regress in size.

Eliot gate stabilisers immediately kicked in, attacking the gate with counter-acting energy. However, the unstable hole was shrinking faster than the stabiliser could steady it.

Seeing that the situation was spiralling out of control, Eliot security personnel and national security forces started to evacuate officials and civilians.

Before they could get all the civilians out, the gate imploded. The resulting shockwave instantly wiped out all of the Eliot Gate Stabilisers. The video feed followed shortly afterwards.

***

The man wiped his tears and laid his head against the backrest. After a while, he sighed and staggered upwards.

He had been sitting there for the past half hour and was extremely dehydrated.

He wobbled towards the expensive bar a few metres away from the couch. Looking at the outrageous list of alcohol, he randomly grabbed a 25-year-old bottle of whiskey.

After retrieving a bucket of ice and a whiskey glass, he staggered back to his seat. The man slowly poured his glass and decorated it with a large piece of neatly cut ice.

Staring the alcohol-filled glass in his hand, he sighed, “You said you will always protect me. So tell me, what should I do now, brother?”

He leaned his head on the backrest and slowly emptied the cup. The man choked a bit. However, he quickly steadied himself and continued drinking.

One glass led to two glasses then to three.

After the fifth glass, he angrily threw the glass away and yelled, “What should I do now, brother? I’m not even done with my uni yet. I’m just a kid who sits on his bum and plays games. What about the company that is your life work? How am I supposed to hold it together!”

Tears continuously rolled down his face as his thrown glass shattered against the aeroplane window.

The man picked up the bottle and started drinking it whilst dipping his other hand into the ice bucket.

***

The aeroplane slowly stopped. A feminine voice spoke through the plane announcement.

“We have arrived in Eliottown. Welcome home, master Alexander!”

Yet Alexander, surrounded by emptied bottles of whiskeys, was unresponsive.

***

Alexander woke up. He held his hand against his head to ease the head pain and looked around.

He was no longer on the plane but in the backseat of a moving vehicle. His driver was presumably a female with long brown hair.

Alexander looked to his left and found an old man in an aged overcoat preparing some tea. His face was riddled with wrinkles whilst a dark spot claimed the underneath of his eyes. He looked extremely worn out by time yet still calmly preparing tea.

Drunk Alexander lunged at the old man. He hugged him and cried, “Uncle Brandt. Hic hic. I’m home.” Alexander didn’t notice that Brandt’s coat was still damp and continued to wail.

The old man gave a fatherly chuckle and stroked the boy’s head, “Yes! Welcome home, Master Alex. I’m glad that you have grown up so well in Singapore. Please give me a moment as I prepare some tea; to help you clear your mind.”

After calming down and drinking the detox tea, Brandt asked, “How are you faring, Master Alex?”

Alexander put down his tea and sighed, “I don’t know, uncle Brandt. Now Cillian is gone, what will happen to everything he left behind? I don’t want to mess up his life work. And how’s the investigation for the perpetrators? I just don’t know. There are so many things!”

Brandt calmly replied to the worried boy, “Master Alex, you shouldn’t worry so much. Master Cillian has made arrangements before his departure. Lady Emilie has been running the company for the past five years, so everything is in order. You don’t have to worry so much about it.”

Hearing her name, his body repulsed. He angrily retorted, “Who knows, she might be here for my brother's inheritance!”

Brandt's eyes moved with disappointment, yet he didn’t show it on his face. He calmly answered, “Master Alex, I know that you don’t get along with Lady Emilie. However, you can’t reject that she puts as much effort into Eliot Industries as Master Cillian.”

Alexander looked down at his teacup, not daring to look at the old man.

Brant continued in a calm voice, “I know that you oppose Master Cillian's marriage with Lady Emilie. However, you can’t let anger cloud your judgement and reject the truth.”

Alexander softly replied, “I’m sorry. I’ll take note,” quickly changing the topic. “Where is she now, by the way?”

Brandt softly smiles, seeing that his words still got to his master, “Lady Emilie is currently in conference regarding the terrorist event.”

Interested in the new information, Alexander queried, “Why is it classified as a terrorist event?”

Brandt calmly replied, “Master Alex must have only watched the press video until it cuts off when the gates exploded.”

Alexander nodded.

“After the gates exploded, Lady Emilie deployed Zeus, an Eliot Industries satellite specialising in handling out of control gates. Zeus fired a beam of concentrated energy down at the imploding gate to calm it. Whilst Eliot security personnel at the site deployed emergency protective shields. They did all they could, reducing the casualties to 25 people and 144 injured.”

After topping up Alexander’s empty cup, Brandt continued, “This attack was claimed by the terrorist group known as Gaia.”

Alexander sipped his tea, “I thought they were an activist group. That always protest against Astral Gates mining and exploitation.”

Brandt nodded and replied, “For the past few years, there was a split in Gaia leadership. The moderate left to form a new group called Terra due to the increasing radicalisation in the group.”

Brandt's face frowned for a second before returning to its normal tranquil state. “The group mostly targets weakly defended Astral gates. However, they never target Eliot until today.”

Alexander suddenly got a revelation from Brandt's words and cut in, “They got help!”

Brandt looked at Alexander with a fatherly smile, “Yes, Master Alex, we suspected that they got help as the bomb they used was the first of its kind. Even we at Eliot Industries don’t have the technology for that.”

Alexander frowned, “This will be a tough time for Eliot Industries.”

Brandt nodded and affirmed, “You don’t have to worry so much, Master Alex. Lady Emilie can handle it. However, if you want to know more, I recommend you have a conversation with Lady Emilie. She said that she would be home within the hour.”

The rest of the ride was spent catching up with Brandt.