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![AI art 'Aftershocks [Stardust Crossing - Episode 2]' with user description 'Runie had spent most of her day with a growing sense of unease. Something had woken her up in the middle of the night. A voice, of some kind. She thought at first that someone was shouting outside her dorm room or worse, outside the window. But as she looked around the dark room, all was quiet. Even Gooey was sound asleep, and the little slime would jump at any little thing.
To be honest, it had felt like something was wrong for a little over two weeks now. She had felt the star again that night, that strange light in the sky that felt so important though she couldn't say why. It appeared every so often, just another part of living in this weird and wonderful city. But it never feltā¦ wrong before. That nagging feeling had kept her from focusing on her studies and that was perhaps a bigger problem than her sleep schedule. That quiz in Arcane Metallurgy wasn't going to pass itself even if she could enchant the pencil.
Then the whispered voice hit her dreams like an ASMR line beamed directly into her head. There was only one thing to do at a time like this and that was call the old Andromeda High School Occult Club President, Valerie. Though, she went by a nickname these days.
Sweetheart picked up before the first ring even finished. āYou heard it too?ā
Runie paused. That confirmed her suspicions, but raised several more questions.
āThe voice? The other night. I can't get it out of my head, I was just about to call you about it.ā
āSo we both heard it. Do you think everyone did or just us?,ā Runie said, her voice low and trembling just a bit from her nerves.
āI don't hear anyone freaking out next door, at least. Given how calm it is outside, Iād wager only some people could hear it.ā
Runie turned her ears to the world outside her dorm room, but the night was quiet. āGood point. Ummā¦ what did it say to you?ā
Sweetheart was quiet for a moment. āIt saidā¦ āCan you hear me?ā, plain as day. You heard the same words?ā
Runie affirmed that she had. They went over a few more details until they were satisfied their stories aligned. It reminded Runie of their high school days, before they went off to separate colleges.
āSo, what do we do about it?ā
Sweetheart laughed softly to herself. āWhat else? Meet up tomorrow at the park and we start investigating. Consider the case of the Midnight Voice officially open.ā
+++
SC-009 watched Subject 002 pace around her bedroom on the thermal cam while her audio bug tapped the entire phone call. This was interesting. 001 and 002 knew each other. That wasn't in the briefing, which meant it was either a new development (unlikely, given the familiar tone of the call) or the briefing was missing intel.
She added this development to her notes, but frowned as she wound up staring at the transcript of the call. āCan you hear me?ā
They heard it too. The Subjects known to be under the effect of this siteās anomaly. Did that mean she was already under its spell too?
She tapped her pen against the page as she mulled her options. The anxiety was still an unfamiliar feeling and it made these choices harder than they needed to be. Her training said to ask for more intel. Her operation guide said to proceed as planned and report the incident, which she still hadn't done. Because her heart was telling her she had to talk to these two. She was scheduled to watch Subject 003 tomorrow. It would have to wait, sheād be paying the park a visit.
+++
SC-009 watched the two Subjects approach from the discreet location of a nearby park bench. She had extrapolated the most likely spot in the park for the two of to meet, judging by their respective routes to get here from their homes, and was pleased that she had picked a spot to stake out close enough to spot them meeting.
Subject 001 and Subject 002. Or, rather, Runie Caldwell and Valerie "Sweetheart" Estarosa. In some ways, those two were where the entire investigation began. Their interaction with the wishing star was simply too big to ignore.
She watched the two girls carefully from her safe distance, looking for a good opportunity to approach them without being too suspicious. The two were here to interview passerbys after all, to see if anyone else heard the strange voice. It would be best to let them start interviewing, then approach a few minutes later after they had talked to a few people.
"I know why you're here~" a jubilant voice teased from behind her.
SC-009 didnt jump. Her nerves were stronger than that. She turned slowly, regarding to newcomer curiously even though she already recognized the voice.
Subject 005, Vega Astrid, stood behind her in her full fortune teller costume, a knowing smile on her lips and her finger raised teasingly.
SC replied calmly, "Did you predict this with your gift?"
Vega's smile didn't budge. "You could say that. You want to go talk to those two over there. But that wont be necessary. Because I heard the voice too, and I know what it means."'](https://image.betterwaifu.com/kmTmAFDdHP02hNDFw6QicIvXHspBoBgSZFGr2o6qHAs/resize:fit:3840:0/quality:60/sharpen:0.5/plain/s3://betterwaifu/ccd6251e-97f0-4868-b3db-56efc69ba5bc/dqTa7pujfqYRZ7uYTpzk.webp@webp)
![AI art 'New Assignment [Stardust Crossing Episode 1]' with user description '// MISSION BRIEFING
Location: Site 117-A
Timeframe: Indefinite
Operation Start: 6/27/XXXX
Objectives:
Establish visual identification of Subjects 001 - 010.
Log daily routines of Subjects noting any anomalous behaviors or incidents.
Maintain cover story (Story #6 - "Travel Vlogger")
Do NOT make contact with Subjects outside of necessary interactions to maintain cover story.
Report any anomalous incidents immediately.
// END BRIEFING
SC-009 carefully read the screen before her. It was the same method they always used to contact her, a sudden ping on her secured connection. The only proof that she was still needed.
But this one was different. No assassination target, no secure vault to breach, no strange object to recover or creature to capture. Just a place to investigate. A recon mission, with very little strings attached. She frowned, what little displeasure she was capable of feeling exaggerated as much as possible on her face for the sake of feeling her cheek muscles move.
No defined end goal. No exfill date. Just indefinite parameters. It wasnt her style. The one thing she could pride herself on was getting the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible. The listed timeframe was less an expectation and more a high score to beat. She wanted to know more but she wasnt allowed to ask questions. From the moment her terminal beeped, the mission had already begun. Her approval was nothing more than a formality.
---
The briefing was as short as the e-mail. This wasnt her first assignment, and it certainly wasnt her handler's. She was handed a cover story pamphlet to study on the plane, a satchel full of low-tech gear to fit the cover story, a bodysuit, a single change of clothes (more would be acquired on site), a credit card with fake credentials attached, a key card to access the on-site facility, and a dossier of her observation targets. Then she was loaded onto a plane like any other piece of military hardware and transported to Site-117-A.
12 hours of settling in later, as she was already staking out rooftops, camera in hand, looking for any sign of her targets. No time for anything but the mission. No time, even, to consider the effects of the anamolous zone she found herself in.
She carried on like this for three days. Working out of a tiny apartment, she spent every waking moment scanning the crowds for her targets. And in so doing, began to wonder why her targets were so special.
There were all sorts in this city, and that was putting it mildly. On her first day, she spied a girl with a centipede tail exiting a local convenience store. Last night, she had seen a literal fairy flitting about near the edge of the woods. Just this morning, a lavender furred cat had wandered through her apartment wall like it wasnt even there and kept on going through the opposite wall.
Compared to things like this, what made the college student, the race car driver, or the mechanic girl interesting enough to pick them as targets? Perhaps part of her job was to answer that very question.
---
It was the night of her seventh day in the city of Stardust Crossing when everything changed.
The night was particularly clear and the summer heat had waned just enough to make her bodysuit bearable. She was pearched in a tall tree near the edge of the local park, keeping an eye on the main road into the nearby suburban neighborhood. She had already clocked Subject 002 and Subject 005 as both living nearby and was looking to refine her notes on their schedules.
Then, suddenly, the air shifted and the world fell quiet. The wind ceased all movement. The pedestrians seemed to find somewhere else to be. Even the animals scurried away or held still as the grave. It was like the whole world was holding its breath.
She felt it then, like warm honey dripping across her mind. Four simple words whispered directly into her soul.
"Can you hear me?"
She hadn't realized she had closed her eyes. She opened them to see the night sky aglow with light and color. The Shimmer. She had recorded it once, on the first night she arrived, but hadn't seen it again until now.
It felt so much closer now. Like it wasnt far up in the sky, but merely just above her head. Then, it was gone.
An unfamiliar feeling welled up inside of her. It took her several minutes to realize it was anxiety. She wasnt supposed to be able to feel that anymore. Not after Geas Conditioning.
But the whispered words had knocked something loose in the back of her mind. A rattling piece that wouldn't let her forget about it.
Yes, she thought, to herself or to the voice she couldn't say. I can hear you.
Sleep didnt come easy that night. She went over everything in her dossier five times over, looking for any explanation but finding none. By the time morning came, she had barely slept a wink.
She was supposed to report incidents like this.
But that new feeling told her that would be a bad idea.'](https://image.betterwaifu.com/M9fctLHq0I6Ja_u_NfAiaOAh5LdOVvAnj_dN1uMCqYY/resize:fit:3840:0/quality:60/sharpen:0.5/plain/s3://betterwaifu/ccd6251e-97f0-4868-b3db-56efc69ba5bc/VPSNNKLTfjUfteMwJ6w5.webp@webp)
