"She's alive… Nara is alive! We have to go, we have to go find her now!" Enaros said as he began to gather his things trying to leave in a hurry.
Kaito stepped partially in front of him, blocking his path.
"You got to calm down. I know you're worried, but rushing out there blindly isn't the smartest thing to do."
Navru raised his hand trying to calm Enaros down as well.
"Enaros, you must listen to them. If this is indeed a trap, your desperation may cost us dearly. You must think this through clearly."
Enaros pondered on what he said for a moment before turning back to him.
"I'm sorry but I can't sit here and do nothing. I'll get the recon team to find the location of that so-called broadcast thing. If you're right and it's a trap… then so be it. Let's go Nix."
Without waiting for a response, he grabbed Nix and walked around Kaeline before storming through the door.
"I apologize for Enaros. His heart is in the right place, but his mind is clouded in this current moment." Navru said, shaking his head.
"No need to apologize… I get it. If it were my family, I'd probably do the same thing." Kaito said before walking over.
Navru turned and began to walk out of the room.
"Please excuse me, I must notify the others and see if I am able to talk some sense into him."
Kaito nodded as he left.
"Trap or not, I'm not about to let that weirdo string lady keep our crew. She's got an ass-kicking with her name on it." Talon said.
"Count me in! Nothing like a good rescue mission to get the circuits buzzing!" Viro chimed in.
"Viro, did you find their location?" Kaeline asked.
Viro pressed a button on his chest and his faceplate projected a holographic map of the small continent they're on.
"Of course! Those amateurs didn't even try to cover their tracks!" He said enthusiastically.
"That's because they want us to find them, you tin can idiot." Talon said dryly.
Kaito, who had been standing off to the side, was deep in thought.
"Those starborne troupe guys, they're no joke as goofy as they may act. Every single one of them is a monster in their own right. Shit! What should I do? They're leagues ahead of me in terms of power." He thought to himself.
Suddenly, a memory crossed his mind—a moment from the Grand Sirius Tournament.
"That's it!" Kaito blurted out, startling everyone in the room, especially Talon.
"What are you babbling about now you idiot?" Talon asked.
Kaito turned to her with sparkles in his eyes.
"Myzen! During the tournament, he transformed…like his essence went crazy and he was on a whole different level. What if that's something I can do too?" He asked.
Kaeline's eyes widened slightly as she realized what he was talking about.
"You mean… a resonance transformation?"
Kaito blinked, puzzled.
"A what now?"
"A resonance transformation is a rare phenomenon where a person's soul and their cosmic essence resonate at the same frequency." She replied.
"Resonate… on the same frequency?" Kaito repeated, even more perplexed than he was before, his head tilting to the side a bit.
"Yes. It's usually achieved by rigorous training–physically, mentally, and/or spiritually– or an intense emotional event. When it happens, the flow of cosmic essence through your body amplifies exponentially, granting you new and enhanced abilities, conjuring powerful weapons and/or armor, and increasing your CPI times five."
"Times five!? That's crazy… No wonder Myzen's strength felt so overwhelming. If we can do that then those starborne guys should be a piece of cake!"
"You're wrong Kaito. It's not easy to achieve, let alone control. Most people who experience it do so by accident. And even if they manage it, the strain on the body can be immense. Not to mention, the form is temporary."
"So… is it possible for me to do this resonance thing?"
"Possible? Yes. Practical? No. You've barely begun to grasp how to control your essence, let alone resonate it with your soul. It's not something you just pick up overnight. Out of all of the star travelers in the known universe, less than a percent can perform the transformation."
"Less than a percent? Of course, I should've known it wasn't going to be that easy." He thought to himself as he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Okay, so I can't do it yet. What about the rest of you?" He continued with.
"Out of everyone in the crew, there are only two who have shown the potential to transform, the captain, and…" She glanced to her side.
"Talon."
Kaito's head whipped around so fast, he almost broke his neck. Talon's tail flickered around and a faint blush crept onto her face.
"Talon!? You can do that crazy transformation thing?" He asked, now all in her face.
"Wh-wh-wh-what are you looking at, rookie?! Back up!" She said in a slight panic.
"So you've been holding out on us huh? And you call Jinx and I slackers… hypocrite."
"Sh-shut up! I don't even know how to do it willingly, okay? So stop looking at me like that… you stupid rookie."
"Eh…?"
"You heard me."
Kaito leaned in closer to her.
"So Talon, you're saying you don't know how to transform on your own? Like, at all? Even with all your 'I'm so much better than everyone. Everyone is so stupid compared to me.' attitude?"
Talon's eye twitched.
"What's your point?"
"Well, it's just… I thought the high and mighty Talon would have mastered something like that by now. I mean, aren't you supposed to be a prodigy princess of some special clan or something? Or is all that just hype?"
Talon's tail thrashed around behind her, and she jabbed a finger into his chest.
"Listen here you walking catastrophe! Just because I don't know how to do it yet doesn't mean I can't wipe the floor with you as I am! And I don't need some stupid transformation to do it either! And who even told you about my clan!? Was it that little orange thing? I swear–"
"Uh-huh, sure. Sounds like an excuse to me. Maybe you're just scared to try because…oh, I don't know… you might fail?"
"You're this close to finding out what failure feels like, rookie."
"Oh please, like you can handle someone as cool as muah."
"Cool?! You couldn't even handle our last sparring session without tripping over your own feet!"
"I told you I wasn't ready… you know what? You're just jealous of my natural charisma."
"HUUUHHHH!?? Charisma? You're about as charismatic as Kaeline reading her stupid history books!"
"For the love of the cosmos, can you two stop acting like children? We have actual problems to deal with." Kaeline said.
Talon whipped her head around to Kaeline and pointed her finger to Kaito.
"Tell him to stop being such an insufferable idiot then!"
"Me?! She's the one who started this with all her 'rOokIe' nonsense! If she didn't have a stick permanently shoved—"
"DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE!"
Kaeline finally stepped forward between the two, trying to stop their arguing.
"Alright! Enough. You're both giving me a headache. Kaito, Talon doesn't need her resonance transformation to take down someone like Sera. She's more than capable as she is."
Kaito froze for a second, caught completely off guard.
"Wait, is she actually serious?" He glanced at Talon who's visibly still irritated, her tail thrashing around behind her violently.
"Is Talon actually that strong?"
"I'm glad you brought up the Myzen fight, because there is something I need to talk to you about." Kaeline said.
Kaito turned to her with a somewhat confused look on his face.
"Do you remember how your fight with Myzen ended?" She continued with.
"Uh… not really. I remember him shooting off that massive energy blast and then… nothing. That's the last thing I recall."
"He doesn't remember anything after that point? But how? He was certainly conscious… wasn't he?" Kaeline thought to herself.
"Stop messing around rookie. Just tell us what really happened." Talon interrupted.
"I'm serious! That's what happened, you all saw that…right?"
"No. That's not what happened. After the blast, you were still standing. But you weren't… yourself." Kaeline said
"What… do you mean I wasn't myself? Are you messing with me or something?"
"This is no joke Kaito. You started… humming. A weird song… You walked toward Myzen and your essence began to spike to ridiculous levels. But it wasn't just that—it felt… different. Like it wasn't just yours." Talon said.
"I… I was humming? My essence spiked? Not mine? I don't… remember any of this. Not a single bit. Wh-what does this mean? Am I going to be okay?" Kaito asked, slightly concerned now.
"What it means is whatever happened during that moment, it wasn't normal. Afterward, your essence flow changed. It was… altered. That's why we took precautions. Elysia and Jinx created a device for you. It's embedded within you now, designed to regulate your essence and prevent you from reaching those levels again until we understand what's happening to you."
"You… put a device inside me? When?"
"While you were unconscious after the tournament. It's subtle, but effective. It limits your CPI to a safe threshold so your body doesn't push itself beyond its limits like it did before."
"And how exactly does this thing work? Do I have to activate it?"
"No you won't have to activate it, it monitors your essence flow autonomously. If it detects instability or a surge that could overwhelm you, it acts as a buffer to keep your levels in check. Jinx handled most of the mechanics, with Elysia making sure that it was compatible with your human biology."
"So, don't be an idiot when we go rescue the captain. Stick to the plan and don't try to play hero." Talon interrupted with.
Kaito pondered on what she said for a moment before he responded back to her.
"...What about Enaros and his daughter? Are we just going to ignore them?" He asked calmly.
"Our priority is rescuing Elara. That's not up for debate." Kaeline said with a blunt tone to her voice.
Kaito glanced at Talon hoping that she'd side with him, but she avoided eye contact as much as she could.
"Talon?" He called for her.
She didn't look at him, instead kept her head down and replied.
"Kaeline's right. We can't save everyone at once. The crew comes first."
Kaito started to become frustrated after hearing her answer. He tried to speak up but Kaeline beat him to it.
"Kaito, listen to me. This is what it means to be a star traveler. Out here, choices aren't easy and they're rarely fair. Prioritizing the captain and the crew isn't just a decision—it's the right decision. Without them, everything we worked for fails entirely, and more lives are lost, not just here but across entire systems."
Kaito remained silent, but Kaeline took a breath and continued.
"The villagers? I'm not saying their lives don't matter. But this isn't about morality—it's about strategy. If we waste resources and time trying to save everyone we encounter, we'll fail… every time. This is the harsh reality we live in. It's not easy, and it's not supposed to be. But that's what separates us from the people we're trying to protect. We bear the burden of these impossible decisions. So, you need to decide now. Are you with us? If you can't make these tough calls… you don't belong in this crew."
Kaeline crossed her arms and waited for his response. Talon looked at Kaito as he remained silent staring down at the floor.
Then, he finally looked up and spoke.
"Okay…" He said calmly.
"Good. So—"
"I'm not helping you."
Both Kaeline and Talon stared at him stunned.
"What? What do you mean, 'you're not helping'?" Kaeline asked, slightly shocked.
"I mean I'm not going to stand by while you leave innocent people to die. If that's the kind of decision you think makes you better than them, then you're just as bad as the monsters we're fighting."
Kaeline tried to say something, but Kaito spoke over her.
"You talk about survival, about sacrifices, like it justifies abandoning people who need us. Anyone who abandons others in their time of need might survive, but they lose something far more important. They lose their dignity. You think that's what it means to be a star traveler? To be some cold hearted machine? That's not strength—that's called being a damn coward."
He stepped closer to Kaeline as his essence began to flare around him slightly.
"These people need us. Whether you want to see it or not, we're all in this together. And if you can't see that, maybe you're the ones who don't belong here."
Talon's face shot pure red and her tail began to whip around behind her quickly.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait. What is happening right now? Why is my heart beating like this? Why is my body getting warm? Why does Kaito sound…so cool? N-N-N-No, no way. This is Kaito we're talking about. He's a bonafide idiot. But…
She shook her head a little to get her shit together.
"Come on Talon, get your shit together… Kaito? Cool? Yeah right! He's about as cool as a neutron star!"
Kaeline finally sighed after realizing she wasn't going to change his mind, but as she did, a small smirk crept onto her face just for a brief moment, unseen by anyone.
"Alright, alright, you've made your point… You've got guts, I'll give you that kid. Talon, Viro and I will go to the location of the captain. You'll go after Enaros, Nix, and his daughter with the rest of the villagers. But you better not screw this up Kaito."
"I understand, I won't." Kaito answered calm and confidently.
Kaeline's eyes became serious again as she began to speak to everyone.
"Alright you three, listen up. Here's the plan…"