"...."

"What?" Astra spoke up, seeing the look on his face, "are you embarrassed?"

"No," Nox answered, his face still holding the same expression, "but isn't this basically sexual assault?"

The two were currently in what seemed like a lab, one that Astra had been granted permission to.

Nox was currently laying on a bed similar to the ones in the medbay, naked.

Well, almost, save for the really short shorts he had on, which would've worked to make him embarrassed, if he wasn't nervous.

Of all the things he expected, when she said he was going to be his lab rat for the day, her bare palm on his chest was not something he expected.

Though, between her palm and his chest was some kind of sensor which was relaying data to the screen by her side.

Still, he couldn't help but make the sexual assault comments since the sensor barely stopped her palm from reaching his skin, and she was moving it all over his chest.

"I told you before," Astra said as she continued moving the sensor, "you're cute, but not my type."

Nox wanted to argue that he wasn't cute, especially after coming out of the rift and letting his hair grow, he was as manly as can be.

But he had a feeling that the situation would only worsen if he tried saying anything, he he just relaxed and let her do what she wanted.

Fortunately, after a short while Astra lifted her hand away and straightened up, her attention moving fully to the data on the screen.

The pressure on Nox's chest vanished, and with it, most of his tension.

"You can sit up," she said absently. "I've got what I need."

He didn't need to be told twice, Nox grabbed his shirt that was hanging on the side of the bed before turning to Astra.

"So," he started, "are you finally going to tell me why we're suddenly doing this?"

Astra looked at the data for a while longer before lifting her head and looking at him.

"The blind bat stated that I should properly understand SE in the sense that it's divine energy in order to break through to the next rank," She said, "and what better way to do that, than studying a walking solar battery."

By solar battery, she meant him, another nickname he didn't appreciate but could do nothing about it.

"So, do you understand it yet?" Nox watched as Ayla turned back to the screen before roads it to him,

"Not in the least bit."

"...." With a sigh, Nox looked at the screen tossed to him, there were parameters like output, density, and a lot more mumbo jumbo he couldn't understand.

He stared at it for a few seconds.

Then a few more.

"…You know," he said slowly, "I'm starting to think you didn't actually expect me to understand this."

With a sigh, Astra explained, "that's supposed to be a SE core reader, but in your case, it's showing how much SE your body is producing by the second."

"I see," Nox nodded, "and this was supposed to help you understand the true nature of SE how?"

"Well, we just hoped it would work," she answered, "but I guess it didn't."

She walked to the side, picked up a familiar object and handed it to him, "here."

It was his necklace, and again, he hadn't realized when she took it off him.

"Where did you get this?" She asked as he took the necklace from him.

Nox looked at the pattern on the necklace, a sun partially covered by shadow, before putting it back on his neck.

He might not feel anything special from it , but he still had to take care of it, and he couldn't keep losing it.

"It has been with me for as long as I can remember," Nox answered after a while, "apparently, it was the only thing my parents left with me before disappearing."

Astra thought about it for a while, before asking, "do you know who they were? Your parents?"

Nox simply shook his head, looking down at the floor, "they dumped me in an orphanage back in the slums when I was a baby, one which I escaped from when I turned ten."

"Escaped?" Astra asked.

"Hmm," Nox nodded before chuckling, "their food was terrible, and I thought I'd escape my nightmares if I left that place, but I guess I was wrong."

The two were quiet for a while.

'Come on, say something to the kid,' the voices in Astra's head said, 'anything.'

Astra looked at Nox for a while before sighing, "I also didn't know who my parents were."

'Not your sob story, idiot.'

She didn't mind the voices as she just continued.

"The Dawns matriarch adopted me from the streets when I was six," she continued.

Nox looked up at her, a little surprised that she was opening up about herself, but he didn't interrupt

"I don't remember much from before that," she went on in a calm tone, almost as if she was speaking of someone else, "just hunger, days of hunger and cold."

"…Sounds familiar," Nox with a small smile.

She gave him a brief glance before walking and sitting down on the other end of the bed, "the Dawns weren't kind people. Not really. They were powerful, influential, obsessed with progress and results. But they gave me a roof, food, education. In exchange, they expected excellence."

"And I did," Astra muttered, "even more so than they expected."

"You became an Ascended rank," Nox said and she nodded.

"One they couldn't control any longer," she added with a chuckle, "though they don't need to, after all, I still owe them a lot."

"..."

There was silence in the lab for a short while before Astra suddenly stood up and turned to him, "anyway, we're done here, you can go back to your dorm room."

Nox looked at her for a while before nodding and putting the rest of his uniform on. The moment he reached the door, he stopped and turned back to her.

"Do you ever wonder who they were?" He asked.

"Hmm?" Astra asked.

"Your parents," he repeated, the same question he had asked Ayla earlier, "did you ever try finding out who they were?"

Astra was silent for a while before shaking her head,

"No."

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