Technically, Vasti wasn't allowed to pilot a shuttle. Ceraphos would be shocked if her could see her now. But there was something out there, and she knew these shuttles inside and out. She'd studied at the Academy too, though her course was geared towards preparing her for support roles. That hadn't stopped her from soaking up as much knowledge as she could, both from books and from the males who performed the roles they wouldn't give her. She'd tinkered with a few systems too, when others weren't looking. She could make it to the debris field and back. As long as no one saw her, it would be fine.

Something out there made her bones jingle. It called to her in her sleep, and reached out for her as she lay in her hydration pod. Even now, she felt its presence. It was comforting and promised peace.

Maybe if she met this... this sentience...and basked in its secrets, they would let people like her pilot shuttles all the time. She never shared her vision for a new Vortexia with others. It felt like no one really wanted what she did, not even Ceraphos, who was one of the few people who bothered to talk to her. The world she dreamed of was nothing but a deep sea tale to them, a story of things that didn't, and would never, exist. But it could exist if people wanted it to. If she took the first steps, the road would reveal itself.

She didn't know what she'd find among the glimmering stones, but she had to find it.

It was hard to miss the debris field. The stones, hundreds of them, hung in the darkness like tiny flames encased in crystal. When she got closer she could see that some of the stones were larger, like small glowing boulders. The place was light itself, light and magic. Crystal and fire. Vasti was mesmerised.

Then she heard it.

At first she thought the stones themselves were singing. The voice was pure as crystal, as smooth as the ocean's caress, and as ethereal as a passing dream.

She stepped into her suit, and lowered the bubble helmet over her head. With everything hooked up and switched on, she was ready to go.

She followed the singing, which wasn't coming from the crystals, float-hopping from one glimmering stone to the next. Every footfall buzzed with magic.

And there she was.

Resting amongst the crystals was a woman who was not merely beautiful. She was the universe.

Her skin was the earth, her eyes the ocean. Her hair was stardust, and her hips bore waterfalls.

Vasti blinked. She wasn't seeing things. The woman's hair was indeed a milky blaze of lilac and emerald stardust, trailing behind her as if she towed the fabric of space in her wake. Her skin was sand-coloured, weathered but strong, and her eyes were bright blue. Water did fall from her hips, and her torso reflected the stars. The singing was coming from her.

Vasti didn't know why, but she trusted this woman completely. There was an innate gentleness to her. In her serene gaze was a mother's love.

"My child?"

The singing came to an abrupt halt.

Vasti turned on her microphone. "Hello?" she tried.

The woman's face fell. "I thought you were my child, but you are not." Sadness misted her eyes.

"Is your child here with you?" Vasti asked her.

The woman's sadness ached in Vasti's own bones. "I am looking for my children. Have you seen them?"

"What do they look like? What are their names?"

The woman looked lost. "I do not remember. We were separated. I must find them. They cannot survive without me."

"I will help you find them."

Vasti didn't know why she made the promise. She hadn't even considered first if it was one she could keep.

The woman laid her head on a crystal. She closed her eyes, seemingly in bliss. "It is such a lovely feeling," she hummed, "to be alive again." She shuddered. "I have been dead for so long."

Another person may have asked her to explain why she thought she'd been dead, or to provide proof. Not Vasti.

"What's it like? To be dead."

"Like the world is a ghost," the woman replied, "and there is only you."

Vasti reached a hand out, then let it hover and fall. In front of her was not a person, but the ocean and the stars and the earth from which green things grew. At the touch of something mortal, this being might break apart into dreams.

"What's your name?" Vasti asked instead.

The woman thought for a while. "Phaedra," she said. "I am Phaedra."

Phaedra, Vasti thought. The name of a lost planet.

A tiny beast settled on the woman's finger. It was an insect, Vasti realised. An insect with wings of the same bright blue as the woman's eyes.

Vasti had not seen such a delicate, fluttering thing before. "Does it...belong to you?" she asked, taking a step backwards in case it was dangerous.

The woman laughed gently. "We all have these," she said.

Vasti shook her head frills. "I don't have those."

But the woman just smiled. She placed an earthen hand over her chest. "In here."

Then Vasti truly saw the winged insect. It vibrated with a blue that was more than just the colour. It was pure magical energy. Vasti's eyes roamed from the magic insect to the woman's hand, still clasped over her chest.

"The soul," she said. "That's what we all have, isn't it? I've never seen my soul before."

The woman closed her eyes again. She wore no bubble helmet, but she breathed in the light from the stones as easily as water passes through gills. "Your soul is bright and ferocious," she told Vasti. "You are precious. You are beautiful."

Her words were warm, warmer than the crystals' firelight.

"I am alive," she whispered. "I am alive again. But these stones will not last forever. When they bleach, I shall be dead once more. Will you bury me, my beautiful child?"

She needed the stones. They were sustaining her somehow. Vasti didn't pretend to understand why. She had to tell Pallades. He couldn't take the stones away, not unless he was taking this woman with them.

"I won't need to bury you," Vasti said. "You will be here for a long, long time."

She meant it. She didn't want any harm to befall this gentle creature or her winged insect. She would protect them.

A shadow crested the horizon.

The Cypod was here.