"Mmfhgh, Ahdfsh!", mumbles Fae, screaming and crying.
"Can't you genuinely shut the f**k up??! I'll slit your throat!", shouts a Scientist at Fae.
Fae keeps crying. She is just a child; she does not know what slitting a throat means.
The Scientist slaps her. "Shut up.", he says.
Fae stops crying, but is shaking uncontrollably.
In the Thread, Jala notices a spaceship leaving Astoria, heading for the Thread.
Jala also receives a report from Futurum: "Jala, the Scientists infiltrated the Network and have kidnapped Fae! Be careful of any ships leaving Astoria!"
Jala goes to her newly made room and grabs her gun. Just then, the Thread shakes as the Scientists' spaceship collides with the Thread, anchoring itself.
The lights on the Thread turn red, indicating an attack.
"Great. Let's deal with them.", thinks Jala in her head.
The first Scientist breaks into the main kitchen in the Thread. Leading 10 people behind, they shoot at every moving thing, wrecking everything inside the Thread.
The sound of shattering glass echoes through the mostly empty Thread. Jala jumps out and shoots the Scientist officer.
The officer evades the shot and shoots Jala, aiming directly for the fatal headshot.
Jala activates her armor that she got with her gun, shooting at the other Scientists entering the now-damaged Thread.
Meanwhile, in Astoria, the crew is encircled by 5 strong Scientists. Several Intelligents died by the attacks, and Futurum is dealing with healing the entire crew at once.
"Xita, go check if Jala needs help. If she does, help her. Enable Thread's intoxication measure.", says Rain.
Xita teleports to the back of the Thread with the secret administrative controls.
Xita sends Jala a direct voice message to exit the Thread immediately.
Jala, hearing her direct message, teleports away. Fae's cries in the spaceship grow distant. Xita enables all its defensive features and teleports to the kitchen, sealing off the spaceship, where only Fae was in. Every Scientist infiltrated the Thread searching for Jala. Just then, toxic poison filled the Thread, killing everybody trapped inside, but Xita, because it is unable to breathe.
After a few minutes, Xita clears off the smoke, and tells Jala to come back.
In Astoria, the crew escapes the EXPO, which has now become a bloodbath, with over fifty dead.
Samuel goes in and deals with the Scientists himself, proving why he is #1.
"Vis Scientiae!"
A whole black hole forms from his hand. He throws it at the Scientists, spaghettifying them and killing them on the spot.
"Biology Department, deal with reviving these members.", says Samuel on his phone, leaving the place.
"…That was just a fraction of his power, by the way.", says Aeternum.
"Oh my..", says Rain.
"Now, to get to Fae. Xita sent me a message that the Thread will be intoxicated for the time being. It is accessing the spaceship by itself, trying not to poison it, to not kill Fae.", adds Rain.
Jala covers her nose and mouth with her shirt, and holds her breath. She shouts through her shirt, telling Fae to hold her breath for a minute. She goes through the rubble, seeing Xita trying to dig through its defenses. Jala just runs into it, destroying it with her pure bodily strength.
"Hold your breath. I'm teleporting you to mom.", says Jala.
Jala uses the waypoint system on Fae to teleport her to Futurum's position.
After, Jala takes a look inside the spaceship, now unable to work. She is able to open their data bank.
Everything is saved in Solar dates.
"Hm… Let me find if there's anything for Luvin. I am still skeptical of his death.", she says.
Jala searches for the year 4998 of the Solar Space Era with the "Usen" filter.
"…What is this..?", thinks Jala in her head. She sees an article from the leader of the Scientists himself.
"An order to execute Mr. Luvin Usen was successful, framed as a mistake."
"Set explosion murdering Mr. Usen successful."
Jala reads the articles. She figures out that the Scientists set up a trap to make the Core explode on itself when Luvin is nearby, making it all as an 'accidental mistake'.
[Month of Chaos, Day 13, 4998 SE, Earth]
"Remove the oxygen here.", says a Scientist.
"Yeah, but what if he has something to protect himself?", says another Scientist.
"Well, the UHC does not have this technology yet. It's fine. Just get rid of the oxygen here."
"Okay. I'll also destroy the Core just enough so that anything he does, he makes the Core explode."
"Good idea. Let's do it."
A Scientist pulls out a drill, and puts a 7 second timer into it. They run away, and have the drill self-destruct, causing more damage to the Core. After the drill drills into the Core, they slowly clean up their trash.
Luvin arrives to work.
"…I see. So this is my end. Rain, good luck.", thinks Luvin in his head. He noticed the dents in the Core, knowing that if he does anything, he is dead.
He touches the Core, making the entire room glow green and filled with radiation. His blood boils on the spot. Just then, the same Scientists run inside, and call the hospital.
"Finally. He's gone.", says the Scientist to another Scientist.
"These UHC pigs really want to destroy us. He doesn't know we'll turn his daughter against him. What an a**hole."
[Back to today]
"This is enough to have the entire UHC on your a**es like now.", she thinks.
She leaves for Astoria, because she can't stay on the Thread.
After Jala meets with the crew, questions arise.
"Well, what now?", says Rain.
"We can't use the Thread until Xita cleans up the mess from the intoxication. Ugh, that can take up to a few months.", says Jala.
"We need to have a backup means of travel then.", says Mailen. "I'll get to work on it later."
Fae, still crying and shaking after everything, hugs Futurum tightly.
Futurum caresses Fae's head. "It's okay, sweetie, mom is here."
The crew hugs Fae and take care of her.
"No matter the age, nobody deserves to be treated like that. We will show these Scientists what we're made of.", says Aeternum.
Fae stops crying and feels better. "Thank you, guys. I love you all. I will give you ice cream one day, when I grow up and have infinite money!"
Zarya chuckles. "That's the Fae I know. Good girl.". Zarya pats Fae's head.
Fae hugs Zarya. "You're the best, big sis."
"No, you are~", says Zarya.
"I will have to make something for you whenever we are back on the Thread!!", says Fae excitedly.
After a little bit, the crew finally catch a breather, and settle in a nearby hotel, while Mailen goes home to his family.