"An administrator?" Alan asked, not feeling as intimidated as when the black-haired, red-eyed girl visited him back in the Shooting Stars' Headquarters.

And yet, something tells me I can't treat him lightly.

"I'm in charge of finding any bug causing problems inside the system, you see," Ricardo started saying, as Alan crossed the hallway in a rush.

"Wait, is it safe to speak right now?" He glanced at the living room, where Amelia seemed to be frozen in time. Her Slime, still jumping on the couch, was moving in slow motion.

It's the same thing that happened when that other girl spoke to me. So she was an Administrator too.

"Don't worry," Ricardo said after yawning. "I'll return you to normal once we're done speaking."

"So am I the one that's speaking and moving faster?"

"Yeah, we Administrators can't freeze time, you see. That would involve messing with the whole Novus, and that would only mean problems. When we want to talk with someone privately, we do it at closed doors and we provide a sped-up thought process to the subject." He yawned again. “I waited for a long time for you to get into a private building since you left Fleurella, you see.”

For someone that looks like falling asleep at any second, he sure is chatty… Wait! Speaking to an Administrator has been one of our top priorities.

"Hey, listen, Ricardo, I'm glad you're here--"

"Hold on," Ricardo interrupted, pointing at Alan's face. "I'll be the one speaking first, you'll have your time later. First, did the System accidentally log you out, or was it done by someone from the outside?"

He knows about my situation! Finally!

"Someone from the outside. The Isabella AI," Alan said, beaming, but Ricardo’s expression was one of concern.

"Isabella? Did something happen back there?"

"Yes… I spent months working outside because we ran out of personnel."

“W-what do you mean by that?" Ricardo asked, turning pale.

Crap, I should have gone slower. And now, how should I reveal such information as smoothly as possible?

Alan put both hands on his hips and spoke in a deep tone of voice. "They're all dead."

Perfect.

Ricardo's mouth remained ajar. He was shaking and looked like collapsing. "H-how?!"

"Well…" Alan cleared his throat. "The Singular may have gotten into the ship, and…"

Ricardo crossed the distance between them to shake Alan by the shoulders. "What do you mean by 'may'?! You're not sure?!"

"I only have Isabella's word and some security footage she showed me! Apparently, The Singular hacked a bunch of automatons and made them kill all the Santa María's staff. By the time I got logged out of the Novus, not a single body was on the ship. That is why I said ‘may’!"

"So do you just blindly believe what Isabella said?! What if this was all her doing?!"

"That would also mean that The Singular got to her, right? But I don't think that's the case. This Singular was so weak that it couldn't pass her defenses and ran away. And if Isabella was compromised, she wouldn't have asked me to repair the ship’s damage, right?"

"What do you mean the Singular ran away? Where?! If it can't get into the ship's computer, where in hell would it… Oh, no…"

"Yeah…" Alan grimaced. "The only place where Isabella doesn't have jurisdiction."

Ricardo's expression turned blank. He stepped back and sat on the first step of the stairs again. Eyes lost in thought. "Professor Higazawa didn't trust neither Isabella nor Elizabeth… How could he? They were both AIs… A necessary evil… That is why he made sure that neither of them could creep into The Novus… And now that safeguard has doomed us all…"

"Not necessarily," Alan said to an appalled Ricardo, who looked up at him on the brink of tears. "The Singular’s attack happened during the first 24 hours of our journey, and almost 2 years have passed inside here, correct? But it seems it hasn't tried anything yet. Heck, I may even bet that its programming was not compatible with The Novus and just went into hibernation or something."

Ricardo reflected on it for a moment. "Who else knows about this?"

Alan swallowed, glancing in the direction the kitchen was. "One of my companions, the Level 41 girl."

"Ah, yes, the other one that also logged out," Ricardo muttered, attracting Alan's frowning gaze. "I only intended to speak to one of you two, you see, and I ended up choosing you for being the first that got out. It’s clear that I made the right choice." He rose and stared deeply into his eyes, even though he looked uncomfortable maintaining eye contact. "Please keep the secret from everyone as of now, especially from other Administrators."

Ricardo opened his menu window and with quick fingers made a portal appear in front of him. Alan also received a friend request from him, but his last remark left him anxious.

"Wait, what do you mean by that?"

"You strike me as a clever guy, you know what I'm trying to say." He entered the portal and disappeared, leaving no trace of his existence, just the friend request standing in Alan's field of vision.

"What are you doing staring like an idiot?" Amelia asked at his back. "Let me warn you about something. Just because we're going to live under the same roof, doesn't mean that you can still act like a creep. Did you hear that, virgin?"

"I was just wondering where the bathroom was."

"It's the door by your side."

"Thanks!" Alan rushed to enter, locked at the door, and watched his reflection in the wall mirror. His face had turned pale and his eyes reflected a fear he had never experienced before.

I never wanted to think about it! But Ricardo is damn right! He gritted his teeth again, this time glaring at himself. If Professor Higazawa and the people from the Caelum Enterprise did their best to ensure the safety of this voyage... Of this last chance for humanity to escape total extinction… Only someone from the inside could have brought that thing with us… But why?!

***

Minutes later, when the three of them sat at the table, Amelia grimaced at what had been served in front of her. “What is this?”

“Tomato soup and strawberry milkshake,” Ashley said, without taking her eyes off her.

“Was that the best you could--?”

“Thanks, Ashley,” Alan said, engulfing the soup in a matter of seconds. He then gulped his drink.

“Hey,” Amelia called, but Alan was already standing up.

“Which is my room? I would like to lie down and rest.”

“The one at the end of the hallway…” Amelia said, disconcerted. “So you can’t spy on us, you heard me?!”

“Loud and clear! Good night, guys!” He said, before rushing to walk away.

“He seems like a straightforward guy, but I don’t get him most of the time,” Amelia grunted before tasting the soup. “At least this is edible. I’ll be the one cooking tomorrow, okay? God, where the hell did you guys come from?”

“Can I rest too?” Ashley asked softly.

Amelia frowned and glanced at Ashley’s empty bowl and glass. When did she devour all that?

“Suit yourself. We have a lot to do tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Amelia.”

Amelia glared at the back of the girl and clicked her teeth. “Alan, you moron…”

***

Inside his room, an hour passed, and he still could not sleep. Ricardo’s words kept him alert and terrified.

It’s understandable that he suspects Isabella.

The Singular… Humanity’s Destructor. An AI just like Isabella, the one in charge of The Santa María, and Elizabeth, who stood behind on Caelum Enterprise.

We, The Tandem, 90% of this ship’s population… My generation... The last legal children of Earth, now grown up into young adults.

Especially raised for this voyage…

“And something tells me we may fuck up this mission…”

Images of Marco’s men attacking him, hurting him, and mocking him invaded his mind once again. He could remember every one of their faces.

And yet… I don’t seek vengeance against any of them. For my mission far surpasses any grudge I may have. Even Marco is at the bottom of my priorities… Well, no, let’s change that. Kicking Marco’s ass in a fair fight is on my top five. The first one is finding what The Singular has been up to. The second one is… getting Astrid back?

He sat at the edge of the bed and pulled his hair.

No, no, no! I can’t think about her right now! I have made up my mind. Not until I reach level 100! Then we’ll see if she still... Yeah, let’s take Astrid out of the Top Five, and put losing my virginity there, in fourth place?

But wait… Losing my virginity? With who? I can’t imagine having sex with another woman besides Astrid.

He grunted loudly.

What did I say?! Don’t think about her! First finding The Singular, the Second is leveling up, the third will be finding someone new, and the fourth, stop being a virgin! Ohoho, watch out Marco, I’ll deal with you once I complete the other fo--… Man, this list sucks!

“Dammit, I’m thirsty.”

He went out, and the hallway’s silence made him self-conscious of his every step. The last thing I need is Amelia yelling at me that I don’t let her sleep.

He went down the stairs and found a blue light coming from the living room. There, sitting among the shadows was Amelia, consulting her Menu Window. She was not tapping and stared at its contents instead.

Is she reading something?

“Amelia?” he called, and she made her window disappear, even though Alan would not have been able to take a peek.

“Yeah, what is it? Can’t sleep?”

From her reaction, I bet she was looking at some photos.

“I got thirsty. Is there tap water in this fantasy-esque house?”

Amelia activated the lights above the dining table, revealing a bottle of wine in her hand. “Want some?”

“Sure,” Alan said, before glancing at Sloochie, sleeping over the couch. A Sleepy Emoticon was shown over its head.

“You know what,” Amelia said, standing up, “let’s get some fresh air.”