The sun had made its daily appearance in Merval’s sky and the third moon faded into the background. Juruno and Ren walked leisurely through the just awakening city on the long road that ran its entire length, leading to a warp gate on one end and the Vaeveron castle at the other.

“You really went to Cor Centros and met Quilofer too, what was he like?” asked Ren through a yawn.

“He was…..intimidating.” Juruno replied still keeping his gaze to his front as they walked.

“Where the people as uptight as they say? I bet they were.”

“I didn’t interact with that many people to confirm that.” Juruno replied. He’d had very few interactions on Cor Centros all of which were shortlived. But Ren’s talk of uptight people brought the haughty commander he’d encountered to mind. Galanthus was his name as Juruno could recall. He was rude and condescending, treating Juruno like nothing more than a common criminal. What had been his problem?

The warp gate was only a short distance away now, a few minutes till they got to the foot of the platform. Juruno pushed down the unpleasant memory and began mentally preparing himself for the day’s ordeal.

They quickly scale the steps and arrive at the top where the warp gate rested. Two voyagers were stationed at the warp gate, discussing in casual tones. They turn to face Juruno and Ren as they appeared at the top of the platform.

“Good morning, Juruno.” greeted one of them in a friendly tone to which Juruno replied the same. He walks past the guards, Ren behind him, and stops in front of the gate. Several taps on the control board and a few moments later the both of them are transported, to find their next team mate.

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LOCATION : RANDOM FOREST ON A RANDOM PLANET

The information surrounding the current whereabouts of the first potential recruit wasn’t precise, all that was available were potential locations where they might be residing. Juruno and Ren had gone through one of them already and where now at the second. Their search had brought them to a large forest situated quite far from human populace on a certain planet.

They silently made their way through through the forest heading in no particular direction, simply searching for any sign of human activity in this wild world that had barely been explored. The trees that inhabited the forest were decently tall, averaging around twenty meters in height. The canopy of the forest’s trees was very dense allowing very little sunlight to streak through.

Occasionally an insect would drop from a branch right on either one of their heads. Juruno would simply swat them away each time but Ren would hiss and curse loudly at every single one of them, getting more agitated each time it happened.

“This guy, girl or whatever, what’re they like? Are you sure they’re normal?” asked Ren sounding really annoyed now.

“Information on them doesn’t say anything odd about them, why do you ask?”

“Anyone who decides to live in this jungle can’t be ok.” replied Ren.

“We don’t know if they live here yet.” said Juruno.

“It’s not like the other place was exactly normal either. If we don’t find then here where is next?” asked Ren.

“An empty desert at the edge of a danger zone.”

“See what I said? Who lives next to a danger zone?” complained Ren before swatting another insect following the action with a hiss.

“I don’t think were they live is really important.” said Juruno.

This actually wasn’t all that strange for a voyager. Voyagers lived long and sometimes did things one could consider bizarre. Though that wasn’t really the case here, their target had merely wanted seclusion by choosing these places.

They circled the forest and approached the center by walking a path that spiralled inwardly. They eventually arrived at a large clearing in the middle of the forest. Sufficient lighting illuminated an unnatural absence of trees and plant life, accommodating a structure that felt very much out of place in the forest.

“Well, living in this jungle isn’t that bad if you live in this thing.” Said Ren as he and Juruno got the edge of the

In the clearing was a large greenhouse shaped like one half of a cylinder. And as you’d expect the structure was filled with plant life. Someone was currently inside, Juruno could sense them now that they were this close.

The both of them approached the building from the right side. The entrance was a square space closed by two rectangular doors.

“Juruno, is the person a man or woman?” asked Ren.

“A woman.” Juruno answered.

“Should’ve said so.”

“You didn’t ask.”

One of the doors slides open and the sole resident of the greenhouse steps out. Her skin was dark and her eyes were a deep shade of blue. She had black hair cut at neck length and there was a streak of blue on a single bang in front of her face. She looked slightly annoyed at their arrival, they might’ve just interrupted something important.

“If you came all the way in here you probably came looking for me.” she said then turned around to head back inside.

“You can come in.” she said while gesturing with her hand. “Please don’t touch anything.”

Juruno and Ren are stunned for a second before stepping inside, following right behind her. They follow through the midsection of the greenhouse surrounded by plants on either side them. There were many different species of plants each one arranged in specific sections with varying conditions for growth.

The rows of plants came to an end around three-fourths the length of the building leading into a wide work space that doubled as a home. Juruno discreetly observed the space, only moving his eyes to view the entire area. Ren on the other hand had no problem being obvious about checking out the place. He swung his head dramatically from one side to another, looking at every inch of the space and kept nodding his head in approval.

To the right in the corner of the building was a walled off section which Juruno assumed to be a kitchen among other things needed to live. A bit in front of that was a bed, a table and a few chairs. The living area took up most of the right half. To the left was the work area. There were several monitors, high raised work tables with complex equipment placed on them.

They walk not too far in before their host abruptly stops and turns around to ask “Why did you come here?”

“Are you Vizavel Yule?” asked Juruno. He obviously could tell that she was the one they had come for but he thought it was a good way to start. Ren stood next to him not paying attention to the conversation, he’d told Ren earlier that he would handle the talking.

“Yes.” Vizavel replied and stopped there. She arched her brow and maintained silence, waiting for her not so welcome visitors to state their purpose. Her body language gave off passive hostility that made Juruno a bundle of nerves.

He looked at Ren from the corner of his eye and he’d stopped looking around, his eyes were on Vizavel now, the look on his face said he was impressed. His presence and ability to be casual in most situations was why Juruno had brought him along.

Juruno took a deep breath, expelled the air and calmed himself before finally speaking.

“My name is Juruno Vaeveron and this is Ren Hackett.” says Juruno pointing at Ren who then waves at Vizavel .

“I’ve been give a mandate from Quilofer-“ The mention of that name caused Vizavel to fidget for a second and her eyebrows furrowed slightly “to recruit voyagers for a team that is to work alongside Centros’ Stygian division on a special case. We’re here to offer you a position on that team.”

“…. Quilofer…. Stygian….” Vizavel muttered, her eyes to the ground. She looks up at Juruno again and he continues.

“I’ll be the one heading this team, though we’re not much of a team yet…” said Juruno a bit weakly then paused, waiting for her reply.

Vizavel stood still for a moment thinking then suddenly changed expressions and gave her answer.

“I decline.” she said firmly, turned around and headed for her work area.

Juruno followed after, leaving Ren behind. He was surprised at the sudden change in demeanour, one second she seemed to be thinking on the offer and a heartbeat later she gave a very certain sounding refusal. He was expecting her to be difficult to convince from her profile but it looked like it’d be harder than he thought.

But he wasn’t going to stop trying yet, Vizavel was really high on his list of potential recruits, it’d be disappointing not to have her on his team and he had a possible way of getting her on board in mind.

“Are you really going to turn down a request from Centros? From Quilofer.” said Juruno trailing behind her.

“I don’t care who it’s from.” she replied without hesitation.

She was certainly brave, not many people had the guts to say something that defiant. A welcome trait. Vizavel made her way to the work area, took a seat and resumed whatever it was she was doing before Juruno and Ren came along.

“There’s a benefit in having the favour of Centros.” said Juruno trying to sound as persuasive as possible.

“I won’t be joining you, nothing you say will change that.” Replied Vizavel “I can’t leave here.”

“I see…. “ said Juruno in defeat. She wasn’t going to budge any time soon, it was best to drop it for now. However he wouldn’t leave just yet.

“Is it possible for us to rest here for a while before leaving?” asked Juruno.

“You have till tomorrow.” replied Vizavel. “Stay wherever you want, don’t interrupt me, don’t touch anything.”

“Thank you.”

Juruno took a seat around the work area a table away from Vizavel and tried to remain as inconspicuous as possible, waiting for a better time to make his offer.

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Time progressed sluggishly as Juruno sat idly. Only an hour had gone by since Vizavel had turned down his offer. Neither of them spoke a word to the other, Vizavel went about her work like there no one but her was in the area which left Juruno nothing to do besides watch was she did.

Her activities consisted of carrying out tests on samples from plants, viewing specimen with a microscope which was then projected on the screen and documenting her findings. It was interesting to watch but he couldn’t quite follow it properly not knowing the exact details.

“This place is neat.” came a voice from behind. Juruno turned to see who it was. It was Ren, back from wherever he had wandered off to.

He walked over to where Juruno sat then asked in a much lower tone “How did it go with her?” pointing at her with his thumb.

“She turned down the offer.” Juruno replied.

“Why are we still here then?” asked Ren.

“We’ll wait for a while, it’s too early to give up.” said Juruno.

Ren nods in acceptance. He turns to face Vizavel who was looking intensely at one of the screens speaks.

“This place is nice. Better than what I imagined. But why do you live out here? What is all this for?” he asks while gesturing at the whole building.

Vizavel doesn’t reply him and maintains focus on her work. Seeing that she wouldn’t give him an answer, Ren shrugged then walked over to the living area and put himself in a chair.

More time passes by and as it did Vizavel slowly became more agitated. She still remained silent but the frustration and annoyance was visible on her face. Her brows were deeply furrowed and face was now a menacing scowl. Things didn’t look to be working out so well.

“You could get help with your work if you took my offer.” Juruno suggested.

Vizavel turned to face him at that remark, stared for a moment then said “You sound like a salesman with very little experience.”

That was painfully accurate, he did have no experience whatsoever recruiting people and somehow the great Quilofer seemed to think he’d do fine with it.

“The pay is great, and Juruno would make a good leader. But I’d take his offer for the money.” added Ren from the living area. He was reclined on a chair with his eyes closed. After making his remark he got up and wandered off again.

Vizavel resumed working while muttering something about tomorrow coming quicker and Juruno went silent again.

Ten minutes after Ren left the living area a loud noise came from the plant area, the sound of something cracking followed by a boom from something falling. Both Vizavel and Juruno are startled.

Vizavel’s face becomes worry filled, she drops everything she was working on and rushes to the scene, Juruno right behind her.

They make their way through the mid section of the greenhouse and get to the earlier parts of the building where the noise had come from.

The scene they’re met with was strange to Juruno. What had happened here?

All the plants in one section had hardened till they were like rock and were all falling apart, parts of them cracking and breaking off, falling to the ground and crumbling to dust. Ren stood in front of it looking equally shocked and confused, he turned to face Juruno and Vizavel, trying to explain himself.

“Wait, wait! I just tapped it a little, how did this happen?!” said Ren frantically.

Vizavel stood frozen a few steps in front of Juruno, her face filled with horror at the sight before her eyes. She didn’t move a muscle and just kept staring like she was in a trance.

Ren tried to say something which broke Vizavel out of her trance. She snapped her head in his direction, her expression switching from horror to anger in an instant.

“Wait, just listen-“ pleaded Ren.

Ren’s pleas only succeeded making her even more angry,

“I told you not to touch anything.” said Vizavel, her voice filled with ice.

Juruno was at loss on what to do. There was nothing left of the plants, this wasn’t something they could easily salvage. Vizavel had become a mass of murderous intent and didn’t seem like she’d be giving anyone an ear.

“Vizavel-“ Juruno began to say just as Vizavel finally snapped. She rushed at Ren at incredible speeds with high kick aimed at his head.

She’s fast. It was completely unexpected so he could barely react to it. Ren on the other hand was completely unable to, and that kick was deadly, even if Ren survived he’d take considerable damage.

Juruno heads for Ren in response, pushes him out of the way with his left hand and blocks the kick using his right forearm. The resulting shockwave disintegrates the rest of the plants, scattering dust through out the air.

It wasn’t till Juruno had successfully defended against the attack that Ren was able to respond to what was happening. He jumped back in shock, putting up his guard to shield himself and looked to see what had happened. A second later it became clear to him what had taken place and his eyes widened, his face paler than before.

“Wait!” cried Juruno. “You’re angry and that’s understandable. We came into your home unexpectedly, imposed on you and now we’ve caused you damages and I sincerely apologize for that. We might not be able to restore what you’ve lost but we’ll try. But I can’t let you harm Ren, he’s a team member and in important friend. I won’t hesitate to retaliate if I must.”

Vizavel still had her leg up in the air, maintaining a kicking stance. She looks Juruno in the eye then glares at Ren standing to the right. She slowly returns her leg to the floor and storms out of the greenhouse.

Juruno breathed a sigh of relief, they’d managed to avoid physical conflict at least.

“What did you?” Juruno asked, facing Ren now.

“I just…. touched it, a little bit, that was all.” Replied Ren still looking shaken.

“And it crumbled just from that? That’s a really strange plant.” Vizavel’s warnings turned out to be more serious than they’d thought. Even he could have made that mistake.

“We’ll have to give up, there’s no way she’ll agree to join us. Not after this.” said Ren sounding guilty. “I’m sorry about this.”

“Not yet.” replied Juruno. Rather than being discouraged he looked even more determined. “Just stay here in the greenhouse, I’ll go after Vizavel.”

“Alright.”

Juruno walked out of the greenhouse at a brisk pace to find Vizavel, piecing his thoughts together as he moved. He’d try again, much more directly this time.