Room 23 was quiet.
The red carpet stretched across the floor like a calm ocean of velvet, soft and undisturbed. Two beds rested on opposite sides of the room, perfectly made, their white sheets untouched by time.
A glass window allowed Saturn's artificial daylight to spill inside, illuminating the room in a pale, artificial warmth.
Beyond it, flying vehicles drifted silently between towering structures, their distant hum barely audible.
Vagan sat on the edge of one of the beds.
She wore red shorts and a white crop top, her legs crossed comfortably as she held a book in her hands.
The cover read: Dynamics of Time
She had found it at the CENTER while waiting.
Her eyes moved slowly across the pages, focused and calm, absorbing each word with quiet curiosity. Saturn fascinated her , not just its lights or machines, but its thinking. Its ideas. Its understanding of existence itself.
Behind her, inside the shower room, Rim stood before the mirror.
He stared at himself.
His reflection stared back.
Spiky black hair. Dark circles beneath his eyes. Pale skin. A young face that looked no older than sixteen. His expression was empty , emotionless, still.
He wore a white shirt and white pants, both marked with the emblem of the CENTER on the chest. Clean , Perfect , Human.
But he did not feel human.
He lifted his hand slowly, watching his reflection mimic him perfectly.
No delay.
No mechanical hesitation , just movement , just life.
From the other room, Vagan's voice broke the silence.
"Are you okay, Rim?"
Rim's eyes shifted toward the door.
He stared at it quietly for a moment before answering.
"Yes," he said calmly. "I am."
He turned away from the mirror and walked out of the shower room.
His footsteps were soft against the red carpet.
Vagan briefly glanced at him before returning her eyes to the book.
He stood there for a moment , still , silent.
Then he walked to the bed beside her and sat down.
The mattress sank slightly beneath his weight.
He stared forward.
"…Do I look normal?" he asked.
Vagan paused her reading.
She looked at him fully now.
Studied him.
His face , his posture , his stillness.
"Well," she said gently, "you look human. So I think that's normal."
Rim said nothing.
He simply nodded once, slowly.
Then he lay down on the bed, turning slightly away from her. His eyes remained open for a few seconds longer, staring at nothing.
Then he closed them.
He did not move again.
Beside him, Vagan continued reading.
The pages turned softly in the quiet room.
Outside the window, Saturn continued to exist , alive, artificial, endless.
Far away from the city, beyond its lights and glass towers, the ship floated silently on the open sea.
The waters was calm and the sky was bright.
Pluto layed on the deck, his body still, his face turned toward the sun. The warmth touched his skin gently as the ship hovered without movement. His breathing was slow. Peaceful.
He was not meditating , he was resting.
The sea stretched endlessly around him, and above, the sky watched in silence.
And Pluto remained there , closing he's eyes and smiling
End of chapter 93