"Luuuuukkkke!!!!!"
A shout tore through the building.
"Ugh... again, this morning?"
"Are we ever going to have peace in this office?"
"Hahaha, the Captain's going to die early at this rate."
"What a waste of such a beautiful face."
A handsome young man stormed into the large room — a staffroom crowded with desks, computers, and stacks of paper stamped CONFIDENTIAL. Men and women sat or stood in loose clusters around the desks; some were dressed in similar clothes resembling uniforms of police officers with guns hanging around their waist. It was the ordinary hum of a police office. This is was no ordinary police district though.
The man who had just stormed in had bright red hair that grew upward, curling like little tongues of flame.
"Captain?" One of the people in the staffroom asked.
"Luke!! Where's Luke?!" Nathan shouted, storming through the room and swinging a fistful of papers in one hand. The flames on his head burned brighter — at some point in the last few seconds, his red hair had become fire.
Everyone in the room turned in the same direction, toward a small glass-walled office tucked in one corner. The door was transparent but blurred, making it hard to see clearly what was happening inside.
Captain Nathan stormed across the room through the clusters of tables into the glass office. Inside was a large couch and equally large table. Lukas — a young man who looked barely into his twenties — sat asleep on the desk. He wore a white shirt and black pants; a black coat lined with white stitching draped over the couch beside him. Nathan looked down at him.
"Hey, Luke!! What is this?!" he shouted, slamming the papers onto the desk. The flames on his head flared brighter still.
"Ugh... can't a man get some rest anymore? Heh, Captain?" Lukas groaned, sluggishly lifting his head and sitting up to meet his captain's glare with tired eyes.
He had a face that would've been striking even with the dark circles under his eyes — long, whitish-grey hair tied into a bun, a few loose strands falling at the sides. It looked less like his hair had always been that colour, and more like white hair that simply hadn't been washed in far too long. He had probably taken more from his mother because he had a bit of feminine charm.
"You can rest once you actually do your job!"
"But I already sent the report."
Nathan swung the papers across Lukas's face. "Report? You call this a report?!" He grabbed his own face with both hands and collapsed onto the couch, the fire on his head shrinking, revealing patches of his natural red hair beneath. He lay there, unmoving.
"Captain? You're not dead, are you? You should really rest more — your flames aren't burning as bright as usual. You're losing hair from all the stress," Lukas said lazily, watching the exhausted man in front of him.
Nathan's mouth twitched, and the flames on his head shot back up. "And whose fault do you think that is?!"
He sighed and pointed at the papers on the table. "You can't even write a proper report. Look — there's a letter for you in there." The flames on his head flickered blue, then went out entirely.
Lukas flipped through the papers until he found the envelope tucked between them. He tore it open; familiar words swam into view.
"Mr. Lukas, Congratulations. You've been selected for the opportunity of a lifetime. Do you want to see and explore the stars? Join the Space Wanderers now for a thrilling adventure!!!"
Lukas set the letter down and yawned.
Nathan stared at him for a moment. "That's the first time I've ever seen you get a letter. Who's it from — a girl? She must be pretty influential if she can send you something this confidential." He wore an amused little smile.
Silence.
Lukas just looked at him the way one looks at a fool.
Nathan's lips twitched.
"It's not a girl," Lukas finally said, and Nathan immediately snapped back.
"That was a joke. Of course, I know it's not a girl. What kind of girl even sends letters — what happened to texting? Besides, you spend all your time holed up in here, and with your personality, there's no way you're getting a girl."
"That's hurtful."
"It's the truth."
"..."
"So, who's it from? Family?"
"The Tower."
"The Tower?" Surprise flickered across Nathan's face. He picked up the letter, read it, and looked back at Lukas with something more serious in his eyes.
"You don't want to be a Space Wanderer? It's the dream of the galaxy — fame, money, adventure. You get to wander the cosmos. Space. And if the Tower is personally inviting you, you might even end up an Enforcer."
Lukas paused, then said quietly, "Space is scary ...I'm scared of the dark."
The corner of Nathan's mouth twitched. "You're really a pain in the neck, Luke."
He sat up, looking Lukas over as if appraising him before turning to walk away.
"Did something happen today, Captain?" Lukas asking causing Nathan to stop in his track.
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, for one, you're not shouting at me nearly as much as usual."
"That's your whole reason for being suspicious?" Nathan asked, the sides of his mouth twitching again.
"It's reason enough."
"... Well. I'm curious, you know. I've known you eight years now, and the only thing I can say is that you're one of my best detectives. It feels just like when you can to me for a job, like I only just met you. I don't know a single thing about you, or where you're from."
"..I'm just a kid," Lukas said after a bit of silence.
Nathan's mouth twitched again. "A kid? I've known you eight years, and you look exactly the same as you did back then. You haven't aged a day."
"Neither have you."
"I'm a mythical creature. Everyone knows about my long lifespan. But you..."
Lukas smiled again. "Is that why you don't call me 'kid' the way you do the others?"
"Yes. I don't even know what race you are. For all I know, you could be older than me." Nathan stood, gathering the papers, and walked toward the door. "I've said this before but seriously have Noelle write your reports from now on. Just — stop trying to write them yourself. You'll actually kill me one of these days."
He pushed his hair back and opened the door.
"Captain... you've clearly been thinking about this for a while. So why bring it up today? Perhaps— Did someone ask about me?"
Nathan stopped in the doorway. "I hate how observant you are sometimes Luke. It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
Lukas was quiet a moment, then said, "Captain, you already know everything you need to know about me."
Nathan raised a brow.
"Really? I'm guessing that doesn't include your name." Nathan pointed at the letter, where Lukas's name was printed clearly, then turned to leave. "Lukas, huh? I still think Luke suits you better."
"..."
Lukas sighed and picked up his coat. Checking his watch, he murmured, "It's been eight years..."
"..."
Lukas walked out of the small glass office and into the main staffroom.
"Big brother!!"
A large, fluffy white ball hurtled into his arms.
"Hm? Ava?"
The white ball uncurled to reveal the face and body of a girl, maybe eight years old, with hair as white as snow.
"Big brother, big sister Ann keeps bullying me!" Ava said, and promptly curled back into a ball.
"Hey, Ava! Get off Luke! Tch — I'm not bringing you to work again." A black-haired woman in a white shirt and black trousers strode over, poking irritably at the white ball. Lukas's mouth curved into a small smile.
"Hey Luke. The captain scolded you again today?" Someone said causing an array of laughter across the room.
"Hoi, Luke, ya locked yaself in that little room so long the captain had ta come drag ya out. Tsk, tsk."
An old dwarf in a black coat walked up, hands clasped behind his back, shaking his head as he spoke. Lukas's smile widened. He pulled up a chair, sat, and set the fluffy white ball in his lap. Ava giggled a little before she started pulling at his hair, causing him to lean his head downward.
"Little rascal, I see ya smilin'. Somethin' tells me today's gonna be a bad one."
"Old Ben, you really shouldn't say things like that at your age."
"What d'ya know 'bout me age? Hmph. Spill it, rascal — what're ya plannin'?" Old Ben the dwarf asked moving closer to Lukas.
Lukas leaned back in his chair, gently patting the white ball on his lap. After a while he muttered.
"I'm leaving, Old Ben."
The entire room went silent.
"Hm?" Lukas looked around and realized every eye in the room was on him. Even the little white ball in his lap had stopped pulling at his hair.
"Little rascal, you're retirin'?" Old Ben asked.
"Yes. I was just about to ask Noelle to write my letter—"
"WHAT?!"
"Why?"
"Senior Luke is leaving?"
A chorus of shouts rang through the room as everyone abandoned their desks and crowded around Lukas.
"Wait, Luke, you're really leaving?"
"Hold on—"
Lukas was cut off by a blaring alarm as red light flooded the room. Everyone scrambled back to their stations with seriousness on their faces.
"We've got a situation."
"It's a breach — someone's trying to force open an unauthorized portal."
"Unauthorized? What do you mean unauthorized, you moron. This is a free zone. Anyone can open a portal anywhere."
"Well — except in supervised areas."
"Supervised?"
"You know, places like banks, museums..."
"We have those?"
"You fool, how long have you worked here and never noticed we had supervised places?"
"Well, we've never actually been breached before, have we?"
"Less talking. Find out what the breach is," Old Ben said.
"Hai, boss!"
"Is it a bank? Which one?"
"Who tries to open a spatial portal to rob at this time of day?"
"Couldn't they just climb the fence or something?
"Oi, whose side are you even on?"
"Does that guy even work here?"
Old Ben glanced up at the large screen mounted on the far wall. Surprise flashed across his face.
"Wait — this ain't a spatial portal!" His body swelled taller as he shoved the nearest technician aside and leaned into the monitor himself. He turned to Lukas. "It's a time portal." Shock rippled through the room before everyone scattered into motion. "Someone notify the captain!!"
Old Ben spun back to the keyboard, muttering as he typed. "A time breach? Where's it comin' from?"
"The captain went out just a few moments ago."
Lukas's furrowed his brows as a dozen thoughts collided at once. A time breach, right after the Tower sends me a message? No — if 'he' found me, that would mean—
Boom!!!
A violent explosion tore through the building. Lukas and everyone around him were thrown in every direction — the blast had ignited in the middle of the room, right in front of him.
"Cough — cough..."
Lukas crawled out from beneath a shattered pillar, checking the white ball he'd instinctively pressed to his chest. "Ava? Are You okay?"
Ava's head poked out from the ball. "Cough... I'm fine, big brother."
A dull ringing filled Lukas's ears as he turned to take in his surroundings. The building had been gutted, its walls shoved outward, leaving the center clear. Old Ben — now far larger than before — knelt on one knee, facing a swirling green-and-black portal.
It spun with a low, resonant hum.
"The supervised zone... was our building?"
Lukas scanned the wreckage and spotted Ann. He ran to her, hauling her out from under the rubble.
"Ugh, this is officially the worst bring-your-cousin-to-work day in history," Ann muttered as Lukas pulled her up.
"Here — take Ava somewhere safe. We don't know what's going to come out of that portal."
Well... actually, I do, Lukas added silently.
Once Ava was safely in Ann's arms, Lukas ran to Old Ben's side.
"Oi, za Captain's out. And from ze aura comin' off that portal, I'd say there's at least an Arcane-level bein' in there." Ben glanced back at the others, still helping each other out of the debris. "Those guys won't be any help here."
"No — that thing's higher than Arcane. It's Indescribable rank."
Old Ben froze.
"Ha! An Indescribable? Might as well let us all off ourselves now, why would an indes—" He caught the look on Lukas's face and stopped laughing cold. "Ya serious, kid?"
Lukas nodded.
"OI!!! MOVE!! EVERYONE OUT!! IT'S A BSS!!" The moment Old Ben's voice cut through the area; fear flashed across every face turned toward the portal.
A BSS — a Beyond-Scale Situation — was declared when a threat was so far past the local jurisdiction's ability to handle that even the officers in charge needed rescuing. A beyond-scale alert didn't mean send backup. It meant send saviors. The others scrambled to their feet, helping each other and moving as far from the swirling portal as the wreckage would allow.
As expected of a seasoned veteran, Lukas thought, watching Old Ben work. He didn't even ask how I knew. Straight to keeping everyone safe.
He turned back toward the portal. What do I do? This is bad. Just when I was finally about to retire and leave like a normal person. The portal's already open — it'll be a real problem if 'they' start coming through. Is there really only one way to stop this?
"Ben?!" A massive flaming bird dropped out of the sky in front of the portal, shifting mid-fall into the shape of Captain Nathan. His hair, hands, and feet were engulfed in fire. Even his shoes had burned away leaving only his shirt and trouser which seemed to be made of special materials.
"Ben!! Luke!! What's the situation?!"
"Time portal. Motive unknown. Danger level: Indescribable," Old Ben answered immediately.
Nathan's face darkened. "Indescribable? How do you know that?"
"Little rascal said so. Ya sure picked a hell of a day to retire, boy." Ben kept his eyes locked on the portal.
"Luke? Retire?" Nathan looked at Lukas for a long moment before turning back to the portal. "We'll talk about that later. A spatial dome's already been deployed to keep this contained — we need to get a portal disruptor in there. With any luck it collapses on itse—"
Nathan went still, snapping to full alert. Luke and Old Ben did the same.
Out of the portal, an arm had just appeared.