Omega

A day after Goro proposed his master plan to Jinni to transform the time singularity into a weapon to control time, the two were engrossed in its craft for hours without interruption. Sophie would occasionally watch Goro take advantage of his high intellect and talent of craft to piece together instruments and tools that Jinni blueprinted down for a precise, efficient, and long-lasting design.

Jinni's blueprints were masterfully illustrated down to the brim. She illustrated everything large such as the gadget's chassis, to everything small such as the miniature screws and forthcoming cooling system to regulate the singularity's temperature system. Each piece of the design was illustrated with a purpose that Goro followed along with, ensuring that each bit of her talent was procured. Despite them acquainting for less than a day, their teamwork was something Sophie hadn't expected.

While occasionally checking on Star's condition during her coma, Sophie would see Nana and Rux taking care of her during her comatose state. They fed and hydrated her daily while ensuring she remained in a comfortable living space. Sophie was reluctant to intervene, believing that their support was enough while her intervention was not skillful enough to protect someone in a coma.

The following afternoon, while Goro and Jinni continued to build the time-singularity device, Sophie received a text message from Naoto stating that he would return home much later. Significant and unexpected business came abruptly, and Sophie knew that this would potentially last a week or two. Seeing this made Sophie greatly long to see her brother, wanting her family to support her on this nail-biting plan that may or may not backfire.

Another day passed, and Goro and Jinni continued to engross their time in creating the weapon. Another set of highly detailed and classified blueprints had been drawn and posted on a board for Goro to model, detailing a piece of technology that only advanced Sunlight operatives could behold and craft it.

Out of all of the nanosuits provided for Sunlight operatives, no other alternate combat suit could succeed an omega-class carbon fiber suit. Sophie had no idea how forbidden the omega-class carbon suit was, considering her time in Sunlight as a caretaker never invested her into the details of the classified. Only an operative with the knowledge about the omega-class suit and the crafter with the capacity to build it would be able to pull it off.

The omega-class carbon suit was a legendary carbon-fiber woven suit that had physical properties that surpassed the classic nanosuit. Its high-resistant armored plates were created from a rare alloy known as Megiddo, a combination of intricate capacitors and rare energy-discharging ore from extremely rarer mining spots in Aries. Its capacitors discharge and disintegrate the strongest blows possible, reducing damage and pain to the wearer by an atomic margin.

Jinni's omega-class blueprint also hinted at a potential custom chip specifically designed to enhance the neural system beyond the scope of a normal nanosuit. Her illustrations were specific with the right sizing and materials to aim to provide near instant access to its neural interface systems. Because all nanosuits require seconds to process the wearer's thoughts to utilize its ignition and mag booster, the chip would reduce the delay by a full second, becoming crucial when battling enemies with the quickest attacks imaginable.

Goro scribbled a set of words in cursive on the side of their instructional board when Jinni had taken a break from their craft, believing that the energy source for creating the omega-class suit was nearly impossible to replicate. Only a handful of omega-class suits were even capable of lasting long enough before malfunction; their destructive capabilities had a backfire rate of nearly ninety percent, leading to the wearer's self-destruction via chip detonation. This led to the suit's forbidden nature and eventual ban, succeeding them with a downgraded nanosuit.

But for someone as prideful and egotistical as Goro, he wanted to achieve the unimaginable with the brilliance and intellect of a prodigy crafter. His dedication to his work was outmatched by his chances of failure, believing all odds should be tested for the smallest probability of success.

By the fifth day, Sophie observing Goro and Jinni was a studious task that began to deeply worry her. They would stay in the evidence room and hangar for hours without breaks, creating a plan together that would utilize both the omega-class suit and the singularity to its full potential. When Sophie had checked on them for the final time on the fifth night, the omega-class suit's chassis and armored plates were in the prototype stage, worrying that their overall dedication would lead to failure.

By the seventh day, the room remained sealed off without notice. Sophie attempted knocking on the room's entrance, but to no avail, none of the two had responded. Noises could be heard on the opposite side, but their craft was hidden from everyone else.

That midnight, the crafting room reopened again with Goro and Jinni sleeping at their desks, losing all strength and energy to continue further. Sophie closed the door and gave them the space they needed to rest.

Sophie visited Star's room after Nana and Rux finished supporting her with her daily nutrition and hydration needs. Star's warmed body tucked into a surplus of soft quilted blankets resting on a feathery pillow made Sophie fret less about her condition.

But her anxiety about being responsible for utilizing the time-singularity for combat made her afraid of being the only person capable of retrieving her memory fragment.

Sophie grabbed the nearest office chair and sat on it reverse-sided, burying her mouth on the top rail. She slid the chair toward Star's cushiony bed and gently placed her hand on Star's warm palm. Faint memories of Star's kind smile and bubbly affection transferred through their touch together, giving Sophie a glimpse of hope for the future of her rescue. Their time together through the past months could never be forgotten, at least not for Sophie who believed every sentimental time spent with someone meant the world to her.

"Hey, dolphin..." Sophie affectionately greeted her with a low mumble. She raised her head to look into Star's face, remaining fast asleep in her comatose state. "That's the nickname that I just made up. Just for you. I know you probably wouldn't like it because you'd be confused if I was talking about you or your plush, but because you're asleep, I'm sticking with it."

She began recalling her memories similar to hers with Ash Meguro, believing that there was a link between Star's arrival in her life. It was a premonition that she could not ignore. "I know that sometimes I keep calling you Ash," Sophie said. "And for that, I'm sorry. It's just that... whenever I see you, I can't stop thinking about her. You two were just so similar. Both curious in every way possible. Both cute to the point of me wanting to squeeze the life out of you. Both being someone that I wanted to protect with my life."

She wished that Star would awaken from her coma and understand her perspective. "I haven't gotten over what I did to Ash. She was at her most vulnerable state, and I let her go. I made her feel useless. I made her feel weak and like trash. And for that, I deserve hell to pay," Sophie said. "But... instead of paying... I decided to treat you just like what I would have done if she were in my arms. I would have protected her with my life. That's why... I can't let you go."

Sophie held Star's small hand even tighter. "I know we're not related," She said. "I know we're not siblings, I'm not your mother, and I'm not even fit to be with you with how I treat you sometimes. How I forget your name, how I yell at you, how I think you're still a part of Ash... but I want to throw all of that away and focus on you. Just you. That's why I will save you, and I'll make you happy again."

Sophie's mind was exhausted. She released Star's hand and scooted back in her office chair. She wrapped her arms around the top rail of her chair and laid the side of her head on it to relax. Most of her concerns and worries were removed with her short confession, and it was moderately effective in reducing her stress. She closed her eyes and wanted to rest a little more before moving to her bedroom for the night.

But something took her unnoticed attention out of control. Her smartphone buzzed, indicating a notification from someone or something. Believing it to be a notification of Naoto, all of her expectations shattered when an improbable effect struck her. She believed that it was the work of the heavens above, listening to her every word spoken out of her heart like a prayer.

It was a notification from Ash Meguro that arrived from her old smartphone that they had used to text when they were in high school. Sophie's heart quivered, believing her to be in an ethereal dream. But when she checked her condition by touching her surroundings, she was certain that she was not dreaming. Sophie swiped up on her phone and checked the texts; two words came from Ash Meguro's caller identification:

"I'm Here"

Below the text message were GPS coordinates to Ash Meguro's location in Aries. It was approximately five miles away from Sunlight, redirecting a path towards Taut.

Sophie's fingers trembled, believing the message to be a poor or mismanaged prank. But what kind of prank would say such an eerie message to Sophie, and out of all people, be from Sophie's closest childhood friend? The odds were stacked against her, and Sophie knew that this would be something she had to decide at the moment.

With Goro, Jinni, and the rest of Sunlight asleep, Sophie played her chips to take the gamble. She held in her breath and exited Star's room, moving toward the entrance with a clear conscience to be alert at all times when meeting "Ash Meguro." As she slipped into her black jacket and white dress shirt, she departed with her vehicle toward the destination provided in the text.

Nightfall only made the moment much more untrustworthy.