Irene was walking to the Chemistry Division which was on the other side of the recreation and dormitory areas. Greeted only by custodial droids on her way. She passed by a hallway that was dimly lit. The ceiling lights down this hallway had gone out, and as protocol Irene notified a droid to come and fix them. Before leaving she used her eyepatch to open the facility map to see what this hallway was. It was the Recognition Hall, and it contained photographs of every staff member that ever worked on EDEN. It also lead to the hanger where ships designs are being built and the landing crater which has the station’s only long distance space ships.

“Oh Irene, what are you doing here?” a voice came from the hallway.

Upon turning Irene recognized Dr. Xilar of Wenndai, an Oorinth. The Oorinth are a race of Avians with many sub species all throughout the galaxy. Many of these subspecies have evolved into being more humanoid in body structure, and some like Dr. Xilar have developed more hand-like wings.

“I was heading to the Chemistry Division for some help” Irene said

“Ah, well a lot of them are very busy at the moment. Some of our synthesizers are acting up. I feel that we are in need of some upgrades around here.”

“You can say that again. Damn, I hoped something would work out today”

“Oh what’s the matter?”

“I need to find a material that’s cheap, but is capable of meeting the standards of the Series 9 H.E.P.S.”

“Go talk to Zendir about this.”

“I was just about to do that Doctor”

“Alright I’ll be on my way then. I’m just heading to the exercise room to stretch out my bones”

The two split ways. Irene walked into the Chemistry Division to the sight of multiple repair droids working on the chemical synthesizers within multiple lab rooms. The Chemists’ green coats were covered in a variety of stains from their work stood in the hall. It seemed that a lot of their equipment were on the fritz. Out of the crowd Irene could spot Zendir as he was the only Carparian, a fishkind species related to Koi fish. Zendir’s colors were easy to spot with his light red and dirty white scales. His head though was much more Human-like, if you were to ignore the lack of nostrils and the whiskers above his lip.

“Hey Zendir!” Irene called out.

“Ah Irene, Ronin contacted me about your problem”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s head in my lab to talk about this.”

Zendir lead Irene into his team’s laboratory. A set of various liquids in different tanks are being observed by some chemists.

“Is this the engine fuel that you’ve been working on?”

“That’s right. We’ve submitted our formula, and now we are waiting for them to be approved from the council. So about your predicament...”

“Yeah. How long do you think it’ll take for you to whip something up?”

“If I had known how dire it was, probably a week to create something here. The fastest way is if we select a handful of known materials and test them to see if they work.”

“Shoot. Well let me send you the list of what we have already tried.”

Using her eyepatch she sends him their log of already used materials.

“Excellent.” Zendir replied.

“Alright I better head on back to my station. Tell Rob what are situation is.”

“Ok. I’ll probably have a narrowed down list before dinner.”

“Thanks Zendir. I owe you one.”

“Don’t worry about it”

A small beeping can be heard on a monitor on the other side of the room

“Zendir you might want to look at this.” said one of Zendir’s assistants

“Well I’ll see you later Irene” as he walked with a brisk pace towards the commotion.

Irene began to see herself out of the Chemistry Division. A message came from Emily.

Emily Starr: Irene where are you right now?

Irene Ukasi: I’m at the Chem Division. Why?

Emily Starr: Your station’s lights were off.

Irene Ukasi: What? Do you see Robert?

Emily Starr: No, I just woke up from a nap. I think he might be doing the same.

Irene Ukasi: Please check up on him Emily.

Emily Starr: Alright, but I’m going to use the restroom first.

Irene Ukasi: Fine, just tell me what’s up as soon as possible

Emily Starr: Alright.

Irene then received a message from Ronin.

Ronin Cotts: Hey, do you have a second?

Irene Ukasi: Kind of. I need to get over to my station.

Ronin Cotts: Is something wrong?

Irene Ukasi: Yeah. The lights are off there.

Ronin Cotts: Oh

Irene Ukasi: Listen, you are on your way up there. Could you check up on Robert for me?

Ronin Cotts: I can’t actually.

Irene Ukasi: What do you mean? Aren’t you heading back to the Invention Division?

Ronin Cotts: I got side tracked that’s all. I am not near an elevator either.

Irene Ukasi: Ok that’s fine. Emily was going to investigate anyways. What did you need?

Ronin Cotts: Forget about it. I’ll ask you at lunch in person.

Irene Ukasi: Alright.

Emily sent another message which flashed a notification for Irene who was entering an elevator.

Irene Ukasi: Emily is messaging me. I’ll talk to you at lunch.

Ronin Cotts: Ok. See you then.

Emily Starr: Robert is gone.

Irene Ukasi: What???

Emily Starr: I turned on the lights and he wasn’t in the room at all.

Irene Ukasi: Check the restroom.

Emily Starr: Nope. I knocked and there was no answer.

Irene Ukasi: Where the hell did he go? What the hell is that moron doing?

Emily Starr: Should I report him to the security department?

Irene Ukasi: No. I’ll try to look for him. Why don’t you go and check near the hanger for him, see if he’s screwing around with something over there.

Emily Starr: Ok. I’ll be on my way.

Irene Ukasi: Keep me posted.

Irene then attempted to message Robert as she went back to her workstation.