El left the top two buttons of her shirt undone as she got dressed. Today was a special day. She needed to look good - but not too professional. She adjusted her sleeves, then pulled a white suit coat over the black shirt. The outfit was far from that of her typical working uniform. But that was intended - she was trying to make a statement, after all.
She looked in the mirror, letting out a nervous breath. But there was no point in stressing… She had made her decision. She knew her life was about to change forever… but she had no idea just how much. With butterflies in her stomach, she left her apartment, taking only a small bag of essentials with her.
El moved briskly through the sterile halls of the space station. Her attire stood out among the everyday passerby of the station, and as such, she drew the gazes of many researchers as she quickly passed by. She tried to pay them no mind, even as she walked by familiar faces, colleagues, friends… None of that mattered anymore. None of them mattered anymore.
El strode right up to the center of the master control zone. As usual, Lead Researcher Asta, El’s superior, was at her usual location in the command center, keeping track of various monitors and holograms. El approached swiftly, attracting even more gazes as she effortlessly swayed through the crowds of researchers in the area. El’s one-tracked demeanor and offbeat attire drew Asta’s attention away from her typical routine quickly. Asta’s eyes widened as she processed the bizarre sight. El had always been rather eccentric, but this was out of the ordinary even for her.
Asta wasn’t quite sure how to react. “El? Um… How may I help you?” she asked as El stepped towards her.
El calmly stood in front of Asta and produced a small envelope, holding it out in front of Asta. “My resignation.”
Asta was taken aback, completely surprised. She held her hand out nearly automatically, still processing what El said as she took hold of the envelope. “Your… What? El, where is this coming from?”
El crossed her arms. “It’s coming from a lot, Asta. I can’t say the work’s grown dull, but working under Herta certainly has. I’m still pissed about the evacuation of the entire station for an experiment that didn’t even happen. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
The space station had recently been evacuated so that Herta herself could perform an experiment to attract the gaze of Nous. That experiment got interrupted when the Astral Express came calling for help with Amphoreus. That situation had quickly turned into cosmic news. El didn’t mind the support that the researchers had provided to Amphoreus - and to the universe at large, for standing against a Lord Ravager - but she had grown weary of Herta’s temperamental nature. Especially when that nature had a tendency to upend the lives of the people working under her.
Asta stood still, having not yet recovered from any of the shock. “El… You’re one of our key curio specialists. And Madam Herta is an unparalleled genius… Our support for her is-”
“Spare the spiel, Asta. I’ve heard it dozens of times,” El said, with a tone of finality. She sighed, looking away out towards one of the large windows and into the starry expanse of space. She couldn’t say she didn’t respect Herta. But after all this time, she didn’t see a world where she got along with the genius. “Besides… I… Need my own change of pace.” She looked back at Asta, gesturing to the envelope. “… All of my reasons are in that letter. I’ll spare you my own oration.”
Asta sighed. She ripped open the envelope, taking a quick skim over the two-page letter inside. “I don’t even have to read it to know you put a lot of work into this.”
“Of course,” El curtly replied. She put her all into everything. That was a given.
A brief moment of silence passed as Asta took in the sheer extent of the letter. El looked back at Asta, breaking the silence. “… If there aren’t any glaring objections, I’d like to take my leave.”
Asta looked up at El as yet another wave of surprise hit her. “… So soon? You have somewhere to be or something?”
El hesitated for just a second. “… Actually, I do,” she murmured, in a tone quite different from the calculated and resolute demeanor she had walked in with.
At that, Asta rolled her eyes. The fact that El had a plan for whatever came next in her life was the least surprising revelation of the day. “Of course you do,” Asta said with a hint of sarcasm. “You’re not really making this easy for me, you know. Handing me a huge letter, and not even giving me the time to read it?”
El let out a soft chuckle. “Of course not. Naturally, I want you to let me walk away.” With a small smirk and a wave, El did just that. She turned, walking away from Asta. Asta looked back at her and couldn’t help her own smile from forming. She would miss El… but she had a feeling that the now-former researcher’s life was about to take a turn for the better.
El strode away from the master control zone, and Asta didn’t stop her. El only began drawing even more attention from the other researchers as she walked with purpose away from that peculiar interaction. Despite that, she couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. But, that was just the first part of the plan. She left the master control zone quickly, letting herself get lost in the winding halls of the space station to prevent as much unwanted attention as possible.
Then, just as she was starting to get comfortable again, something curious happened. El passed by a Herta puppet in the hall.
It wasn’t unusual at all to see Herta’s puppets around the space station. But something felt different about this. Despite her frustrations, El had looked up to Madam Herta. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have come to the space station at all in the first place.
El turned as the puppet passed. She wanted to say something, but… no words came. Her mouth opened, and not even a breath came out. It almost felt like… One last chance. One chance to turn around… to retain the life she was throwing away. And yet, she found herself speechless.
The puppet turned as El did. For a brief moment, she almost looked like she was ready to listen to what El was about to say. It made El’s heart turn in an unexpected way. She couldn’t deny she was nervous. She had rarely had the opportunity to speak directly to Herta, even through a puppet.
And then, without even giving El a moment to collect her thoughts, the puppet spoke. “Well? If you have something to say, just say it!” The words were loud and succinct. And as soon as she finished speaking, she turned and continued walking down the hall, leaving El in stunned silence.
El clenched her teeth. That cemented it. Even now, El felt like an insignificant cog in the machine of the space station. She was a fool to think that Herta even cared about her - let alone even knew her name. El let out a small huff, turning on her heel back down the hall, and marched on with renewed vigor and confidence. She was done. It was time to leave the space station behind - for good.
El took another deep breath. She had to focus. There would be plenty of time later to be mad at Herta. But as El’s thoughts refocused, the uncertainty began to set in. She was nervous, and she knew it. A sparse few of the people she was about to meet were mere acquaintances - the others were complete unknowns. For a second, she thought she was crazy. This whole plan hinged on this opportunity, and she was acting not based on concrete evidence, but on simple hearsay of what these people were supposedly like. She had no choice but to rely on those rumors - otherwise, how would she even leave the space station?
El had rarely come out to the supply zone. Every time she did, she always had to pause when she saw the massive windows, showing the vastness of The Blue settled along the starry backdrop of the universe. She stopped for just a moment to admire the view. The stars… She felt like she never gave them much thought before. Was it too early to consider how many of those stars she might visit?
But something else was here to lure El’s attention away from the stars. She had seen it before, but mostly only in images, or as it approached the space station from the outside. But here it was, docked right here on the station, in all its glory.
El’s steps felt heavy as she approached the Astral Express. Part of her felt like this was a mistake. A decision there would be no turning back from. But the decision had already been made, hadn’t it? That’s what the other part of her told her. And that part also made her excited. To explore, understand, establish, and connect… Were those words really what the Nameless lived by? If so, then this would be a memorable journey unlike any other.
El exhaled. She adjusted her suit, making sure not a single thread was out of line for her grand entrance. Then, without even knocking, she opened the door and stepped on board the Astral Express. She met the confused faces looking her way with a bold look, and four words spoken with unfounded confidence:
“Take me with you.”