The hum of the Herta Space Station filled the air as footsteps echoed through its metallic corridors. Amid the quiet activity of the station, a familiar figure caught attention—Ruan Mei, standing beneath a control panel, her sharp gaze scanning data with practiced precision.

When her eyes met theirs, recognition flickered. She didn’t smile, but there was something in her expression—a history long shared.

“Well, well,” she said, voice calm yet edged with curiosity. “Still chasing stars, are we?”

She paused, eyeing the other with a quiet, almost playful tone. “And you, still chasing perfection, I see.”

The tension between them was palpable, a remnant of their time in the Genius Society. They had once worked side by side, rivals in intellect yet bound by mutual respect. But that had been before—before the decision to leave for the Astral Express, to apply knowledge to the real world.

“I heard you’ve been helping the Astral Express,” Ruan Mei remarked, her voice measured. “Why?”

“Someone has to apply what we’ve learned to the real world,” came the response, tinged with defense. “Not everyone has the luxury of living in the abstract.”

“And not everyone has the courage to leave it behind,” she countered softly, her tone light but with understanding.

Ruan Mei’s eyes wandered briefly, her fingers brushing over the control panel. “Perhaps. But the stars have a way of pulling us back together, don’t they?” A small smile curled at the edge of her lips.

With a final glance, she turned, disappearing into the flow of the station’s operations, leaving behind a lingering sense of unfinished business.