1 Chapter 1

Planet Norma was just one of those colonized settlements in one of the remotest boundaries of the Galaxy. A temperate habitable world suitable for human habitation, it had grown a sizable population of seven billion settlers since it was first discovered. While not the most exciting planet to live on, life here was stable. Jobs were aplenty, even if they were mostly planet based jobs in manufacturing, services, agriculture rather than the more prestigious jobs that involved space travel. Most people who lived on Norma probably never left the planet in their entire lives.

Most semi-commercial planets in the Federation were actually in much more denser areas of the galaxy, where star densities and their orbiting planet numbers were higher as well. More astral bodies per cubic light year meant a better efficiency with mining and extracting resources and energy. So, Norma was a bit of an outlier in this aspect. One of the main reasons Norma gained its dramatic improvement in status despite being on such a far corner from the Federation's core was the discovery of an ancient relic on the planet in the early stages of colonization.

This relic was now colloquially named "the hole" by locals of the planet. This giant sinkhole at the north pole of the planet that appeared to head deep almost to the core of the planet seemed to be an artificially carved relic of some alien civilization that became a major research base for the federation and brought in much needed funding for the growth of the planet. Over time, the relic had just become a hole in name, with research stations having completed their tasks and adventurous explorers mapping out the relic in the hopes of finding a treasure. The area around the North Pole was now mostly isolated and preserved as a sanctuary.

In the planet's capital, the Star River Bank, one of the Federation's major Galactic banks, was opening its doors for customers during the day. The only issue was that the customers in the bank were currently frigid with fear and terror in their eyes. A group of people with guns had actually taken them hostage. They actually dared to perform a heist in the branches of a galactic bank!

Inside the bank, part of the group of bank robbers, wearing plain cloth masks over their face had reached the underground locker area of the Bank. The place was sealed by a giant mechanical door made of an extremely thick and resistive alloy that was impossible to melt through or damage in a short period. The leader of the gang turned towards one of the men with a lazy posture and equally lazy eyes. "Can you do this?"

The man with the lazy eyes did not bother replying. He opened his simple backpack and took out a variety of digital and mechanical tools, before setting down to work. The leader of the gang constantly glanced at his watch, for he knew that their group didn't have much time. Once the security corps were notified, they would be crawling all over the place and the gang would be in a death spiral!

A second later, however, a faint buzzing sound enveloped the chamber followed by the sigh of depressurization as the thick door automatically began to open up. The gang leader got visibly excited when he saw the results and began patting the lazy eyed man in happy agitation before rushing in to collect all the valuables that they could. The lazy eyed man frowned at being patted in that aggressive manner, but didn't raise an issue with it. He quietly followed the gang into the locker room, ignoring the frantic packaging of gold and crystals by the others. Instead, he moved towards a corner of the room and arrived in front of an innocuous locker.

A key appeared in the man's hand that fit perfectly into the locker to open it. Inside was a simple package, a thick envelop made of ancient paper that seemed to contain more than just a letter. The lazy eyed man did not check what was inside, he simply stuffed it into his pocket before leaving the locker room. The others were still busy loading their bags with cash and valuables that they took no notice of the lazy eyed man's disappearance. Before anyone knew it, the lazy eyed man had found his way to the cleaners entrance that had been cleared off by the gang behind the bank and left unseen, not before he smashed the alarm button hidden there, triggering a security alert directly at the Security Corps headquarters. He entered the nearby subway and blended away into the frantic crowds.

The aftermath of the heist was brutal. As investigators scanned the scenes at the bank they were completely puzzled. All the security footage was on loop, none of the alarms had triggered and no one was able to activate a distress signal during the heist from within the bank. The witnesses were in too much of a panic to accurately remember how many burglars were there, though estimates guessed more than twelve. The security door manufacturers of the locker were stunned and puzzled about how the door had been opened so easily and the final question was who managed to trigger the alarm? The Corps had managed to arrive before the thieves could flee and the chaos and panic promptly led to a shootout and a subsequent bloodbath. At least ten of the burglars died while trying to escape and at least two others managed to evade the security corps through a planned escaped route. However, investigators were completely befuddled about how a rag tag gang had managed to wreak such havoc and where did they get the technological sophistication to pull it off.

Meanwhile, in a small apartment, the lazy eyes finally had a face to fill. Rather plain looking, with a few freckles and brown hair and brown eyes, the man was actually pretty young. He appeared to be about twenty years of age and sat in front of his aging television screen watching the news about the heist while gorging on a cup of ramen. His apartment was simple, quiet and lacking much décor. The envelop he had taken out from the locker was sitting on the table in front of him, waiting to be opened. He hesitated for a while, before leaving his ramen aside and picking up the envelop.