It has been three hours since everybody split up to their own rooms. The Thread is preparing for the wormhole transportation into Hoshinara, and the Scuti system. Hoshinara is 1,300 light years away from Earth, and only 1,500 light years from Almatia.
Rain is in her room, laying on the bed and playing a video game.
"You win! Current streak: 403", spews out the phone with an exciting voice, showing Rain her win streak in a Match-3 video game.
Rain turns her phone off.
"I wonder what the others are up to…", says Rain, standing up from her bed and stretching like a cat.
After the stretch, Rain opens her room's door and sees that it's empty in the hallway.
She goes left to Zarya's room, listening to her sing to "Sheni's4th Album", a new release by Zarya's favorite music artist, Sheni, who's a famous singer from Scutia, Hoshinara's biggest city.
She goes even further left, to Mailen's room, door fully open. She peeks inside and does not find him. Suddenly, a shout "yes!" is heard from Aeternum's room. Rain recognizes Mailen's voice and knocks on Aeternum's door.
"Come in!", shouts Aeternum from his room.
Rain walks in and sees Aeternum and Mailen playing with building blocks. It would make sense that two nerds, aged 32 and 28 respectively, play with building blocks, right?
"That looks… fun! What are you guys… uhm… building?", asks Rain, circling around their build, nearly as tall as her.
"Skyscraper.", says Aeternum simply. He is completely focused on the building.
"Uhm… okay! I'll… uhm… go to the control center now. Gotta finish Hoshinara preparations.", says Rain, looking at the build in awe, wondering what these boys don't like at this point.
She leaves the room, and sees Zarya in front of her, leaving the room as well.
"Oh, hey there, Rainy!", says Zarya excitedly. "Do you know the music artist 'Sheni'?"
Rain thinks for a second. "I do not know any music artist outside of Earth.. I haven't listened to much music except on the Interstellar Radio", she says, still thinking.
"It may be possible you heard one of her songs then! We should visit her concert at my birthday next month!", exclaims Zarya, her eyes sparkling and her body moving closer to Rain.
"Hm… We could check with the boys, and Xita. Xita is sure to be down, but the boys… uhm…", Rain stops speaking, and hesitates to say the following sentence, but says it anyway. "…they may be busy acting like kids and play with building blocks."
"I see. They're just goobers, you know! Silly little guys!", says Zarya, going towards their door.
Zarya just opens the door without knocking, and bursts into the room.
Aeternum and Mailen jump and nearly knock the build down.
"Zarya! Please knock on the door before you enter! You scared us!", exclaims Mailen.
"Взрослые играют в конструкторы? Как мило... (Adults playing with building blocks? How cute…)", says Zarya in her native language.
"W- what?", asks Mailen.
"I just called you guys cute for playing with building blocks.", teases Zarya. She steps back and leaves the room. The boys, completely confused about what just happened, finish their building just before the wormhole finishes setting up.
The communication speakers turn on, and the entire Astral Thread sounds: "Destination: Hoshinara. Wormhole creation progress: 100%. Please stand by for the warp in 1 minute."
Mailen and Aeternum come back from Aeternum's room into the command center.
"Well, everyone's here. Let's head to Hoshinara!", exclaims Rain. Everyone is in the room: Xita, Aeternum, Mailen, Zarya and Rain.
The Thread warps into the Scuti system and is sitting 1 Astronomical Unit from Hoshinara.
"Rain, did you know that Hoshinara has built a special landing space for the Thread?"
"How??", says Rain.
"Well, Hoshinara is a planet designed for tourism, right? Some Scientists go and take a vacation there, too.", says Mailen. "They spread the news of the Thread before you came, and Hoshinara has built a platform hoping you arrive once."
"…and when exactly was that?", asks Rain.
"Like, around 10 years ago?", answers Mailen with uncertainty. "The data bank says it was built between 2162 and 2167 2SE, so between 13 and 8 years ago."
"Oh, that's recent. I hope we don't run into a Scientist.", says Rain, with worry on her face.
Xita takes the Thread into Hoshinara, and lands onto the platform.
On Hoshinara, hundreds of people notice the Thread landing nearby. They all rush into the station, where the Thread Platform is found.
The crew are discussing their plans for the vacation, while suddenly the Thread starts to shake with the amount of people trying to get in and around it to take pictures.
"It seems we are famous here.", says Rain.
"I just got Hoshinaran reception… Uhm… The news are covering our destruction of the Driftspace. Maybe that's why?", says Zarya, showing her phone on the big screen in the command center.
"Oh.", says Rain. "It makes sense now."
The outside communication device gets called. "It's a Hoshinaran number… Who is it?", says Aeternum.
Aeternum answers the call and waits for a voice.
"Hey there, Astral Thread. Welcome to Hoshinara. My name is Futurum, and I am guessing you are Aeternum behind this line. I recognize your voice~", says a female voice behind the line.
"Futurum? As in… my spouse, Futurum? I know your voice, that IS you!", asks Aeternum, completely shocked. "I thought you were in Proxima!"
"Well, I came back to Hoshinara, and Kael gave me the Thread's private contact number. I thought I should call it after you landed in Hoshinara.", says Futurum.
"Gotcha. Well, we could talk later. We're… kind of in a pickle right now.", says Aeternum. "There's hundreds of people around the Thread."
"Gotcha. Don't worry. Maybe the police will deal with them!", says Futurum before hanging up.
Zarya, who was listening to the entire call, came up to Aeternum. "YOU HAVE A WIFE? YOU ARE MARRIED?Gosh, you're old."
"I'm only 32… ", says Aeternum.
"Unc.", replies Zarya, smirking. Aeternum just looks neutral. Rain and Mailen chuckle at the conversation.
"Like you two aren't any older", says Aeternum, giving Rain and Mailen a reality check. "Y'all aren't teenagers anymore, you know. You're twenty-six, Rain, and you're twenty-eight, Mailen.", he adds. Then he chuckles: "What am I even saying, I was playing with building blocks with Mailen just a few minutes ago!"
The crew was stalling to step foot into Hoshinara, mostly because the police still hasn't arrived to clear the area for them.
"We're getting another call. Now I'll pick up.", says Zarya, taking the communication device.
"Hello there, my name is Star, the president of Aozora, the capital of Hoshinara. We have set a waypoint for you, which you can use to exit the Thread safely. I am sending the coordinates via the text function.", says the female voice.
The crew, including Xita, teleport onto the waypoint into an office. They're high up inside an office building.
"Welcome to Hoshinara. Hopefully, the people weren't of much trouble, right?", says Star with a big batch of flowers in her hands.
"They weren't a problem, thanks for asking. It was just a minor hiccup not letting us leave.", says Mailen.
"Good, good. Also, these flowers are for you! They're called the Kazehana, translated to 'Wind Flower' from Japanese, Hoshinaran Native Language.", says Star, before handing out flowers to everyone but Xita, because it does not have any hands.
"We have heard from the Scientists abroad over here that the Thread members died after landing on Kephar, but we also heard from officials that the Thread was in Almatia. We thought you'd come here after Almatia, to take a break. I'll personally make sure you stay safe from the Scientists.", says Star, sitting down and using a remote to create a few chairs for the crew to sit down.
"Correct.", says Rain. "Xita and I are pronounced dead in the Solar System. I heard that from my mother."
Star starts writing something down, and hands the note to Rain. "This is the address of the hotel you'll stay in."
Rain thanks Star and leaves with the rest of the crew.
The police escort them. However, all the ruckus across Hoshinara gave suspicion to the Scientists on the planet. Thanks to civilian gossip, the Scientists learned that the Thread landed on Hoshinara.
Two Scientists are in a café and are hearing this gossip.
"Call the big guys. Miss Usen and Xita are alive. The Thread is in Hoshinara.", says a scientist.
Back with the Thread, the crew successfully made it into their hotel. They got checked and entered their room. Xita, Aeternum, Mailen, Zarya and Rain are awaited by a lady with pink hair.
"Hello there, Weavers! I am Futurum, Aeternum's wife, and member #3,396 of the Intelligence Network!", says Futurum, finally getting to meet the rest of the crew.
"Kärn. Fae is waiting in the living room. It's been 4 months since she last saw you… I'm glad you're doing okay.", adds Futurum, hugging Aeternum. Aeternum returns the hug, caressing Futurum's hair.
Zarya just chuckles. "It's already surprising you have a wife, but also a child??"
Aeternum gives Zarya a sharp look. Zarya stops and looks shocked. Rain shakes Futurum's hand and greets her. "I am Rain Usen, leader of the Astral Thread. That is Mailen, the Thread's strategist, and Zarya… she's just Zarya."
Zarya looks at Rain and looks at Futurum back. Then back at Rain. Then at Futurum. She is just looking at them, then saying: "I don't have a title?? Girl, I'm the strongest here!"
Futurum chuckles: "How cute."
Zarya also notices something with Futurum. "Mrs. Futurum… You have different colored eyes?"
Futurum recognizes Zarya's sharp eyes and says: "Yep! My right eye is pink, while my other eye is a light blue~"
Zarya stands next to Aeternum, and whispers: "You've got taste, old man."
Aeternum just stares at Zarya like she said something unhinged, but he's just shocked at her daily dose of calling him "old".
After a long chat, they enter the living room. Fae, Aeternum's and Futurum's 5-year-old daughter, is waiting on the couch, watching child cartoons.
Fae looks at Aeternum, and shouts: "Dad! Dad! Hiiiiiiii~", says Fae, jumping off the couch and hugging Aeternum's legs.
"Fae missed you!!! Welcome back!!", says Fae, pulling Aeternum's shirt to show him something.
"Look! I made something when you were away! It's us!", says Fae, showing him a drawing of her, Aeternum and Futurum.
Aeternum looked at it and started to tear up. "Thank you, dear."
He hugged Fae and placed the painting back down.
After the family reunion, the crew settled in the room.
"Alright. Hoshinara. Really beautiful planet. Let's prepare for Zarya's 18th birthday soon!", says Mailen excitedly.
Rain hears that and adds: "Zarya wants to attend a music festival in Scutia. We can get her there!"
Aeternum quickly reminds the crew that they must evade the Scientists because of Rain and Xita.
"You're right. We'll find a way. Maybe Star can help!", says Zarya.
Rain picks up her phone, and calls Star's number. "Good afternoon, miss Star. I have a small request if it's fine with you?"
"Yep, it's all fine. What's up?", says Star. Astral Thread's fame helped them achieve lots of political power everywhere in the Universe. Hoshinara was no exception. Star, a huge fan of the Thread, would allow the Thread anything.
"We want to go to Scutia, to attend a music festival. Zarya is a major fan of an attending artist, and we want her to celebrate her best birthday ever there.", says Rain via phone. Zarya hears everything, and her eyes start to spark a lot. "Sheni! Sheni! Sheni!", roots Zarya. "I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"No problem. I'll talk to someone from Scutia, and you'll be safe from any Scientists there!", says Star.
"Thank you greatly.", says Rain before ending the call.
Mailen and Aeternum come to Rain, with a proposal they wrote.
"Hey, Rain. During our time alone, we came up with an idea that may be helpful.", says Aeternum, handing out a paper.
The paper mentions the following:
"We propose an idea for the Thread. We were offered to lead Leinata, and we denied it because it was too much for us to deal with a country healing from war. We were offered to co-lead Almatia with the UHC, but we also denied it because we do not want to have a planet for us. What if we get a piece of land in Hoshinara? I heard Star doesn't want to deal with 'Shingetsu', one of Hoshinara's seven moons. It's a decent size, and it doesn't have any issues. We can have someone keep track of our stuff while we save planets."
Rain notices the paper seems very genuine, meaning both Mailen and Aeternum mean it. She looks at both of them, and says: "Okay, but you will talk to Star. Not me."
Aeternum and Mailen go visit Star to take Shingetsu from her.
Meanwhile, Xita, Rain and Zarya take Fae and Futurum from the other room into the Thread.
"It's time to make two new Thread IDs! New members!", exclaims Rain.
"ID: Futurum-KirVen created. Commencing permission obtaining command.", spews out the waypoint phone.
"ID: Fae-Ven created. Commencing permission obtaining command.", spews out the waypoint phone.
Afterwards, they all settle down.
During that time, Aeternum, Mailen and Star talked about the acquirement of Shingetsu.
"Here's the thing. First off, I do not want to lead Shingetsu. It's too much work.", says Star. "Second off, I am physically uncapable of leading it alone."
"Third off, the people there aren't Hoshinaran natives. They're their own entity, which makes it harder for me, a Hoshinaran, to lead them.", says Star.
"What do you mean, it's harder?", asks Mailen. Aeternum quickly replies with a guess: "I'm guessing different views."
"Yes, exactly, Mr. Aeternum. The views of the Eleven Central Nations of Hoshinara do not match Shingetsu's views. They do not like entertainment as much as we do. They prefer the 'peace and quiet'.", says Star.
Mailen's eyes widen. "I'd be the perfect fit for Shingetsu's leader, then!", he says to himself.
"Did you say something?", asks Aeternum.
Mailen quickly nods no.
Star takes out a piece of paper. "Well, then. Let's give the Thread an official place to relax and customize on their own forever. Of course, if the people are fine with it, too."
The paper contains a survey result set by Star a few minutes ago. The answers were mostly filled in instantly. "These people are not joking about getting a new leader, huh. Favor in Star: 0.3%, being 25,932 votes. Thread: 99.7%, being 8,618,068 votes.", says Star.
"These people really do not want a Hoshinaran leader, huh…", says Aeternum. "Well then, let's take the leadership, and tomorrow, we'll all visit them!"
Star nods, and they all sign an executive paper.
During that time, Zarya, Rain, and the rest were in the Thread, finishing Futurum and Fae's introductory trip across the Thread.
"Just make sure that the plant processing room doesn't get into Fae's hands. It was painful to keep Zarya out, she was taking a lot of food when she got here.", says Rain. Zarya chuckles and apologizes.
"Understood. Fae will be either with me or Aeternum at all times.", says Futurum, reassuring Rain.
"Good. Oh? I just got a message from Mailen.", says Rain, taking her phone.
The message came from Mailen, and it says the following: "Hey, Rain. We've acquired ownership of Shingetsu. Please go there right now. We'll move our stuff this instant."
Zarya looks over Rain's shoulder, seeing Rain's screen.
"Why do you have Mailen saved as 'Maily'???", asks Zarya playfully, teasing Rain. Rain turns red, brushing Zarya off. Futurum saw it all and chuckled. "It's just a nickname I gave him!! Like how you call me Rainy!!", exclaims Rain quickly.
"Sure…", says Zarya.
After all the ruckus with Zarya and Rain, they finally go towards Shingetsu. Mailen awaited them with a flower.
"This is a local Shingetsuan flower. It's called 'Gohana', meaning fifth flower, because it grows only on Hoshinara's fifth moon, Shingetsu.", says Mailen.