Torio closed his eyes and counted. The emergency generator would have to start up in a few seconds, otherwise there would only be enough air to breathe for a short time. A horror scenario, which he survived with flying colors in the simulations on earth, never reacting wrong or losing his nerve.

"Flop, flop, flop... tak, tak...

„9, ...... 10, ..."

"Tak, tak." It buzzed and it got light again. His first glance fell upon himself. With one thrust he hovered up to the ceiling and put his palm on the thick steel wall.

"Is it you, doe eyes?" He smiled at his own words. How could he be so childish and carefree in such a situation?

"Dong, dong, dong!" He was banging on the ceiling and listening intently. Nothing happened for a while.

"Don't be afraid... come on... answer me," and as he kept on talking he knocked again.

"Dong, dong, dong!"

"Tak... tak..." It came back timidly. Torio's excitement rose and he glided his fingers across the ceiling towards the observation hatch as if he wanted to pull this something out there with him. He felt it, this time even stronger and in his head appeared the big dark eyes he had seen days ago, just for a short moment.

"A little more," he whispered and put both hands on the glass.

'You are there, ... I am so sure. Excited, he looked into the infinite depths of space, forgetting everything around him, only concentrating on...

Hair! ... long, wavy and confused', waved into the astronaut's field of vision.

"I don't believe... you are not an illusion. You're here, sweetheart." Torio's deep voice seemed to attract the creature. Thin fingers sucked against the glass and disappeared completely behind the expectant man's large hands. And suddenly they were in front of him. Wide open almond-shaped eyes, so deep brown and beautiful, fixed Torio.

„..."

He was speechless, captivated by this intimate look, fascinated and unable to think. However, the whole thing lasted only a few breaths when the astronaut felt the heat on his palms. It burned like fire, but he could not let go. He was used to pain, so he tried to withstand it, but after a few seconds his limit was reached.

"Arg, ... don't, ... stop, ... please," he pressed through his clenched teeth and tears ran down his reddened cheeks.

"Ahhh! No!" The scream brought the two robots out of their rigidity and they immediately headed for Torio, alarmed and excitedly ranting. Meanwhile, the man had managed to free himself from the window pane, but still kept his gaze fixed on the hatch, which showed nothing but darkness.

"Holy shit! We're going to burn up, explode, deflagrate and be scattered into space," Ryota lamented and looked horrified at Torio's hands.

"Don't talk rubbish, you'd better kill something... God, it burns like fire!" Tomoya had long since recognized the situation and wrapped cold varnish around the injured areas.

"I couldn't let go. It was...

"It"? No kidding? ... I'm telling you, it's not a good sign if the casing of our space capsule is hot as a baked potato. ... And this sudden loss of power? Somehow we've been drained of our juice." The robot shook the tin head in confusion. "Ryo! Quit stalling and check the onboard computer! Go! In no time at all, as fast as it could in a weightless room, the still somewhat shocked sidekick set to work. The astronaut, on the other hand, was less interested in her present condition.

"I'm going out there now... help me into the suit, Tomo. There is something out there and I will find it. Even if our radar can "t pick it up, I know it "s here. It's been tracking us for a long time. His painful face gave the Companions pause for thought. He wanted to speak out against it, because it would be irresponsible and careless, but he would not succeed. Torio was stubborn as a mule. Even his blood-red palms did not stop him. The only sensible thing he could do was to buy time.

"I will go with you. But not until all systems are working properly." The young man just nodded, was satisfied with his robot's answer and let his gaze wander again longingly out of the small round window. Instead of worrying about his life, his thoughts hung only around those unique eyes. No, ... it was no illusion, he had proof of it. He looked reverently at his burns and breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't crazy, this time it wasn't an illusion.

Tomo, on the other hand, already doubted his owner's sanity a bit, but he did not want to contradict him under any circumstances. He could now only present facts that would prove him wrong.

"We are completely off course! Our engines are at a standstill, yet we are flying towards something at an enormous speed. ...and... you won't believe me, we're getting closer...", Ryota glanced. "A... skull?!"

"What?! Tomoya immediately took the opportunity to find a passable reason for the heat from the window where Torio had burned himself. "We may have already passed through the atmosphere of our base, which is why..."

"You don't believe me?" the young astronaut interrupted him grumpy. "I'll prove it to you. Where are we? I want to get out of here and check the engines.

"Heaven forbid! I can't find our coordinates. It's all gone. It's all black. There's nothing on the radar but this.

"Skull! What the hell are you talking about, Ryo?" Torio took his place and stared at the screen What he saw made him pale at first. But not from fear and panic, oh no. Curiously, he tapped the image that presented itself to him with his throbbing finger.

"A new planet? Or an alien base? What or who brought us here? Have we been abducted? ... Can we make contact? ... does anyone respond?" The man maltreated his assistants with questions, but before either of them could answer, another voice came up.

"Earth to Torio. Where in three devils' names are you? We can no longer track you! ... Yamatoosh! What is the matter? Suddenly the radar couldn't find you. Can you hear us? There was a bang and a whoosh on the line. "Give your data to the space station. You were practically on their doorstep. They'll find you. Do you hear me? They'll bring you down safely. Torio. Come in.

"Boss? Ryota was already vibrating with tension. "Why aren't you answering them? What are you doing?

"We're waiting! The only thing that came from the astronaut staring at the approaching spherical skull as if hypnotized

"Wait for what?" complained the skinny robot loudly to attract his master's attention. "If you don't do it... I will..."

"Shhh..." A slap on the tintype ended the attempt to act.

"Tak, tak... Pop, pop, pop, flop, flop."

"It's back, you hear? Torio pushed himself off his seat and floated to the hatch. He ignored the two robots. Tomo had been very quiet the whole time. He suspected something, and he didn't like it at all. He had only seen Torio so obsessed during the lectures at the university. As if he had found something here to study. Not even the professors who taught him believed in that. But when the young man, who was trapped on earth in a wheelchair, got something into his head, it was as good as decided.

While the two assistants tried to determine the location of their rocket in a different way, Torio followed the sounds above him. He avoided touching the walls, though he was 100% sure they were cold. For a while he floated back and forth, up and down, to be as close as possible to the creature. But without the touch he could not move it towards the window. It seemed like a shy animal constantly evading. When he finally raised his hand throbbing in pain to make another attempt, Tomo cried out alarmingly: "Stop! Stop! Have you gone completely mad? Do you want to lose your hands as well? Aren't your legs enough? I'm not talking about your mind." A silence arose and the blond man only glanced at the chubby Tomoya. He automatically moved back a little, for fear of being hit on the cap. He didn't want to be so cheeky, but how else could he protect his master, except with hard and honest words.

"You know as well as I do, our rocket would have melted into itself long ago if we had these temperatures here inside. "The heat comes from this unique being. I... Tomo? ...do you think... It took him a long time to bring these words over his lips. Never in his life did he want to utter them, no person would fit ... he thought.

"Do you believe in love at first sight?"