.
The Almatian atmosphere bloomed. Rain was at a loss of words after they entered Almatia. The buildings – more than a few miles tall, were filling the planet's skyscape. The city itself also had low-rise buildings in specific areas. The crew landed, and a man came up to them.
"Welcome to Almatia. May I see your UHC lockdown bypass card?", asks the man.
Mailen hands the man the document that the UHC sent on the Thread. The man just nods and says: "Alright. You're free to roam Almatia and its moon-city, Latuya. You all need protection from the virus though. We are trying to stop it from spreading."
The crew takes a weird face mask, each with a specific theme. Rain takes a pink mask, Zarya and Mailen take a white mask, and Aeternum takes a black mask.
Afterwards, they move to the main street of the city. It's stunning with several high-rise skyscrapers – you can't even see the top from the ground! A few restaurants in Universal script, something Rain can understand compared to the last planet's script. The city is lively with people wearing masks and it's filled with techy items, which make Zarya stop and be fully in awe – locked into the tech, trying to 'visually scan' every detail. The cars are flying everywhere, there's a lot of advertisements (like Earth's Times Square and Shibuya Crossing) and there's many accommodations that can fit any person.
They walked into a restaurant with a funny name: "Food for life". They decide to do their planning there, and maybe have it as their 'main area' for Almatia. It has everything they love – food, games, drinks, social life and also a reading room. This restaurant isn't just a restaurant, but a small arcade mall as well.
Zarya and Rain decide to order their food while Mailen and Aeternum get locked into videogames. Their planning idea went out the window – they all forgot. However, a few minutes later, they all decided to actually sit down and talk.
"Alright. Where are we, plan-wise?", asks Zarya, sipping her orange juice.
"We have no plan. Almatia's under lockdown with nearly a trillion cases of this unknown virus, and the cure is taking forever. We should start by helping the UHC get the cure. Afterwards... I don't know.", says Aeternum, looking at the rest of the crew one by one, thinking that maybe somebody else has an idea.
Nobody seems to do any movement – indicating that nobody has any better ideas. They decide to follow Aeternum's plan, and build it accordingly to their progress.
"Alright. Aeternum, we are going with your plan. We will have to contact the UHC that we will help them develop the cure and finish the spread of the virus – killing it for good.", says Rain confidently, while tapping Mailen's shoulder: "Could you call your people on UHC?"
Mailen quickly lets Rain know that he was only a Rank 1 out of 100 in UHC – the lowest rank in the corporation, and can't contact the true higher-ups in charge of Almatia. However, as the Thread crew is here to 'help out', he may be able to do something – in the name of the Thread.
Mailen picks up the phone, and calls his ex-boss: "Hello? Miss Vega? This is Mailen Kurpun, ex-member of the Universal Holder Corporation, and current member of the allied Astral Thread. I'd like to request a helping hand at creating the cure for Almatia's virus outbreak, and to get rid of the source behind it – if there is one."
Mailen puts his phone loud enough so that the crew can hear, but silent enough so that nobody else can hear.
"Hello, Mr. Kurpun. Vega here, Rank 14 of the UHC Board. I will forward you to the Almatian Board for Health and Defense.", says the woman on the phone.
Suddenly, a beep is heard. The call has been transferred to another line.
"Hello there. You're on the line with the Almatian Health and Defense Board. I am Asten, Rank 30 of the UHC Board. What can I do for you, Astral Thread?", says a man, with a grumpy, yet calm voice.
"Hi. I would love to request helping you at creating the cure for Almatia's virus outbreak, and to help destroying the source, if there is one.", repeats Mailen – what he told to Vega – to Asten.
"Ah... Yes, we were waiting for you. I will send over a UHC member to help you guide the planet, and help you learn everything you need. Welcome to Almatia, and I hope you have a great time here.", says Asten through the phone.
Shortly afterwards, the crew gets a call from an officer. He looks like he's tired of his job, and that he just wants to go home.
"Hello there. Please come outside with me. The UHC is waiting for you.", says the officer, completely tired and lifeless.
The crew stands up, pays their food, and drinks bill, and leaves with the officer.
Outside the building, a tall, black-haired, well-dressed, and muscular man, is sitting on a motorcycle. The entire street was closed for him.
"Hello there, I am Asparion, Rank 78 of the UHC Board. I am your personal guide to Almatia. I personally came here for you guys, because I knew you would come here.", says the man.
"What the actual f**k is going on here?", asks Rain, completely confused. She thought she was getting a normal guide, not some government-level person.
"Don't worry about it, Miss Usen. I am going to answer all your questions later.", says Asparion, getting out of his motorcycle, putting his helmet away as well.
"I will send you to the UHC's Health Department now. Hop on.", says Asparion, as he taps the seat on the motorcycle behind him.
"What about the rest?", asks Rain, wanting to bring everyone with her.
"Oh, right. Oh well. Boys, get these youngsters in the large car behind me.", says Asparion, commanding his bodyguards.
"This guy is going to be a real pain...", says Zarya, trying to keep herself together, thinking of the high-tech buildings and vehicles on this planet.
The crew gets in the car, and is being transported to the UHC's Health Department building.
Several hours later, the crew comes to the building. A huge, wide skyscraper with a thousand advertisements, with no peak visible. The building goes well beyond the clouds.
Somebody taps Rain to the shoulder and asks: "Hello there, Thread members. Do you have your entry documents?". However, Asparion tells the man: "Don't worry. They're with me.".
The man apologizes and lets the crew and Asparion in.
The inside looks huge. A huge center room with hundreds of doors, and a big globe in the middle, representing Almatia and its nearby planets. There's also a model of an Earthling human, Almatian human, Groll human, and the Mlahyan human. All the "humans" of the Maikita system.
A tall woman walks to the crew, and tells Mailen: "Hello there, Mr. Kurpun. Thank you for bringing the Thread with you. We have awaited you guys since your request to land. Our cure progress has been halted due to a mysterious force deep in the Driftspace, and we need you guys to enter it. The force doesn't let the UHC fleets in, no matter what. Not even locals can help. If you can help us learn on what's going on, and destroy the force, it'll mean a lot."
Mailen quickly replies with: "What does the Driftspace have to do with the cure?"
The woman replies: "We have a bunch of important chemicals that can help cure anything from this virus located there. Some are local to the area that the weird force blocks."
Suddenly, Asparion says: "But Ms. Vega, wouldn't the UHC's defense system deal with it by destroying the force?"
The woman, now recognized as Vega, tells Asparion that the defense system can't deal with it just because it's very unknown to UHC, and possibly something that's from somewhere outside of its service area – possibly from an unknown galaxy.
Rain reassures that the Thread will deal with the force, and that they have their own ways.
Aeternum shows his data bank that he took from Mailen a while ago, and that the data bank covers all known galaxies, planets, and entities, including ones that haven't been recognized by the UHC.
Vega looks at Aeternum, and tells him: "I trust you, Astral Thread. We saw your accomplishments in Kephar, and how quickly you dealt with them. Maybe even too quickly. Especially you, miss Usen."
Rain quickly says "Just call me Rain. No need for formalities towards me."
Zarya, being quiet the whole time and in awe of the technology in Almatia, hears what Rain said and adds on: "She is really humble."
Vega chuckles and sits down on a chair nearby. "I can see that. I love that. She is a good leader, that's for sure."
The crew talks to Vega and Asparion, and decides to head to the Driftspace in a few days.
"What even is the Driftspace?", asks Rain, looking at Aeternum, trying to get his data bank to look.
"It's nothing and everything at once. How do I explain it...", exhales Aeternum, because the sole thought of the Driftspace is overwhelming.
"It's like, like a special... uh... special place, between the void, nothingness, and reality, where we are right now. It basically connects the alive and dead.", says Aeternum, trying to explain it as something Rain would understand.
Rain just nods and looks down at her legs. She was walking but she felt overwhelmed by that answer. She looked back up shortly after.
The UHC gave the crew a large room to share and sleep in, so they went to sleep in the room that the UHC booked for them.