Through the glass panel outlining the front of New Moon, Luke looked at the massive object suspended in the blackness of space.
Calling it an International Space Station would be an understatement.
It was easily as large as several football fields combined and similarly wide, with hundreds of tube-like modules sprouting in all directions from a central, cylindrical module.
Even from here, Luke could see ORIGIN written vertically on the central module in big, blue letters on a white background.
Looking at the station, he realized just how vastly the Americans had invested in researching The Boundary, or just keeping an eye on it. Perhaps, there were other nations involved in it, too, though so discreetly that none in the current government might know about it.
That felt reasonable, though.
Faking a moon landing wouldn't have been an easy task without a secret nod from the entire world. It was especially so with Quirks that could have brought out the truth within seconds, laying waste to all schemes.
Also, it wasn't like The Boundary was only the USA's headache.
An impenetrable layer that surrounded the entire world, with no hint of its appearance or the reason why it was even there?
Figuring out the answers related to it could be a discovery on par with finding the origin of Quirks themselves.
And that… made it all even more complicated or dangerous.
"Even if they had kept Astronauts here just to monitor The Boundary," Luke said, narrowing his eyes, "the Station — ORIGIN — seems big enough that it can easily support well over two dozen men. Most of them would have Quirks, too, targeted toward minimizing the load on the Station and favoring Emergency Scenarios."
"For not even one of them to send a single reply back to Earth…" Nyx cawed, leaving the sentence unfinished.
Forget about the Astronauts already stationed at ORIGIN.
The most worrisome fact was who the USA had sent on the ship a few weeks ago.
And the more he thought on it, involuntarily decrypting the identity of at least one Astronaut, the more he feared what lay within the Station waiting for them.
"We are half an hour ahead of the retrieval ship," Mushroom-nimi said. "Should We initiate docking, Master?"
Luke held his breath.
Half an hour…
Plenty of time to make a decision…
"The Mission is simple," Luke said, looking at both Nyx and the cyborg. "For the USA to send a retrieval ship, instead of outright blowing up the entire Station, it only means one thing."
The Boundary was a mysterious phenomenon.
It was hard to imagine that the various organizations from Earth, who were jointly managing and manning the Station, didn't have a set of standard protocols to follow upon experiencing a malfunction like this.
It was even harder to imagine that there was no one among the crew of the ORIGIN who could leave the station and go to the planet using a Quirk, or communicate, at least.
So, in case something went wrong, like all the communications from the station's crew going dark for several days, it could only mean one thing.
The ORIGIN was compromised.
To not take their chances with whatever had plagued the massive station, it would be to the benefit of all the world and humankind to sacrifice the crew, blowing the entire station to smithereens.
Luke would not even have needed Decryption to reach that result.
That's how secret organizations, and people who thought they were working for the Grand Picture, worked, to begin with.
It was a lesson life had taught Luke before he had died.
So, for the Americans to send a retrieval ship, sending a monster like Alexander Becking, risking even more destruction if he was compromised as well, it could only mean…
"The USA's No. 1 Hero…" Luke worded solemnly, "… Star and Stripe is stuck at ORIGIN."
And if she was compromised… corrupted…
"We see…" Mushroom-nimi, who had been casually listening to Luke with one ear, fully turned around. "Should We say goodbye to Master before docking, then?"
Luke's lips arched up, Nyx smiling along with him.
The humor was dark, but they had no choice, either.
Who knew if the detonation safeguard within ORIGIN still worked?
Even if it worked, who knew if the firepower would be enough to take down a corrupt Hero… as insanely strong as Star and Stripe?
In that case, they would need an external helping hand.
A nuclear hand.
"If you could consume Potions," Luke praised, "then you would have become an excellent Beyonder of the Seer Pathway."
Mushroom-nimi, like a teen, rubbed the back of their large, mushroom head shyly.
"Let's do it, then," Luke nodded, wishing it would never come to that.
…
Alexander Becking held a frown so ugly on his face that none dared to look at him.
"Sir…"
The Radiant of Gravity looked at one of the three men they had sent with him for the retrieval mission.
The man gulped. "… We will reach ORIGIN in thirty minutes."
Thirty minutes…
That sounded like an eternity.
"No," Alex shook his head.
"… Sir?"
"I said, no," Alex repeated, his voice rumbling across the deck. "Cut it down to ten minutes."
"…" the man looked over his shoulder and glanced at the pilot, whose eyes had also widened in shock.
"We won't have any fuel left to return…" the pilot said, hesitating.
Alex drew a deep breath. "Worry about returning later," he said, noticing his pounding heart. "If we return, we can take fuel from ORIGIN. For now, focus on reaching the station as fast as you can."
The men shared a scared glance among themselves.
That was good.
He needed them to know what kind of suicide mission the oldies had sent them on.
As the crew silently accepted the Captain's commands, Alex looked outside, the Earth shining bluer than he had imagined against the Sun's radiance.
[Are you prepared?] Singularity asked.
I wouldn't have needed to be prepared if you had alerted me about this idiocy before she left! Alex roared within, barely holding onto his rage. Now…
[… Are you?]
The Radiant of Gravity sighed, looking away from the Earth… saying goodbye.