I’m not sure how many times it is now. Running away from the men with the black masks has become an oddly common activity during this last year. And the truth is that I’ve become good enough to not even worry about them anymore. The poor guys don’t even stand a chance. I know Caso’s alleyways and secret passages like the back of my hand.

I keep turning my head to check on them, but they don’t show any sign of exhaustion. It’s almost unnatural how easily they keep up with me. They keep running, keep coming at me like they’re robots, never tired and never giving up.

Honestly, I wish I could just stop and take them on. But Cross was downright clear about it. He doesn’t want me fighting them.

He always tells me to run and try to lose them in one of Caso’s labyrinthine alleys. That’s the reason why we decided to move in this colony in the first place after all.

I stop thinking nonsense for a moment and look around me. The subterranean city of Caso is one of the most badly planned cities of the entire galaxy. Honest to god, there are some paths that start on one side of the city and end up on the totally wrong side like they don’t follow the rules of nature at all. I don’t know what is wrong or why, but being one of the first human settlements, my theory is that it still retains that archaic, somewhat sketchy, urban planning of the early human endeavors.

Caso is an underground mining station on planet Xioria. It’s the first planet of the Known Galaxy that we moved into since the start of this intergalactic chase between me, Cross, and the black-maskers. The plan was to stay in the Uncharted Region for as long as possible, expecting that they wouldn’t find us there.

But, they always did.

You make a mistake by using online transactions, they find you the next day. You share your name with one of the commoners, they find you the next hour. Honestly, I don’t know how the fuck they do it, but if it wasn’t for Cross, I wouldn’t be able to keep up with them. I wouldn’t be able to survive for a whole year without him, to be honest.

Nowadays, though, and after I had completed a great part of my training next to him, we decided to return to the Known Galaxy. I’ve asked Cross many times why we did that, but I think he avoids sharing his plan with me.

Back to the present, the three men finally seem to have trouble keeping up with me. I can sense them move slower now so I start looking around for a quick way out. I’m still in the lead, and it’ll be difficult for them to catch me if I’m careful. Running for a whole year now strengthened my feet and made me fast to react. My senses have been sharpened, and I’m in no way the helpless girl I was a year ago.

Especially that time when I lost them...all of them.

I take a steep turn to the right and on the next alleyway I find a concealed entrance into one of the local, abandoned factories. Nowadays, this place has been turned into a warehouse, with many local companies utilizing the free storage space to their favor. Still, not sure if the black-maskers will follow me in here, I keep running deeper into the old factory. I can’t stop until I’m sure they’ve lost me

Once, Cross told me that these men are mercenaries. Using state-of-the-art technology, they can trace the sound of my footsteps or use thermo-cams to locate my thermal signature. Even though it felt better knowing they’re just humans (for a long time I thought they were cold-blooded robots), I couldn’t get out of our hiding spot without shivering from fear.

However, Cross also told me that hiding all the time wasn’t a viable solution. And, I couldn’t let Cross do all the dirty work for me.

Unfortunately, today I managed to stumble onto the clever kind of grunts. They quickly find my entrance to the factory and follow me inside. I run upstairs and search for a way out from the upper floor. Even though most of these places are still used as warehouses, Caso is a city of outlaws. You can bet your ass that there are secret passages everywhere.

One time, while I was again running away from another persistent batch of black-maskers, I ended up inside one of those warehouses on the other side of the city. My pursuers were getting dangerously close to me, and I was running out of options. That was until I stepped onto one of the many platforms lying on the floor. This one though was connected to a pulley on the roof with a balanced counterweight on the other side of the building.

Suddenly, I’m on the air, heading straight to the skylight on the ceiling and out of the warehouse, the three men below me standing still, trying to find a way to follow me. It was awesome, but only now I see that it was truly dangerous and risky.

I keep searching around me for a sign that will lead me to freedom, but I can’t find anything. I try to keep my cool, but the soldiers push me deeper into the warehouse. Things have taken a turn for the worst, and I’m not sure I can avoid fighting them this time.

And I’m right. Only that it was too late for me to see all the signs.

It’s a trap.

The three men behind me were the bait, and I was foolish enough to bite it. They weren’t chasing me, but instead herding me to this place, a place full of black-maskers. They surround me, five of them jumping from above and the remaining three coming from behind.

Out of breath, out of rhythm, not even carrying my weapon with me, there’s only one thought passing through my mind right now: shit, I’m done.

“Who the fuck are you?” I shout, raging over them.

None of them answer to me. I didn’t expect them to. I was just trying to buy me more time to find something to defend myself with. You would expect that in a warehouse which contains goods, there would be something useful against a group of goons. But, surrounded from every possible angle, not able to move a muscle without someone capturing me, even if I could find a weapon, I’m not sure I would be able to get to it fast enough.

I squeeze my palms into fists and relax my stance. I’m not so good at hand-to-hand combat, but it’s better than standing still letting them get me without putting up a fight.

I close my eyes and try to get a clear sense of my weak spots. My back and my right side are vulnerable in a fist fight, but I’ll have to manage by moving my weight to the other side. Cross always says that I have to take the fight to them, so I’m planning to do exactly that. But it’s not that easy. I have a good idea of my surroundings, but still, they’re the ones that set me up in here. There’s a high chance that there are more traps hidden around.

Still, I don’t have time to think it over. They finally decide to make a move before I can come up with a decent plan. Three guys come at me at once, one from behind and two from each side. The other men move closer to me, tightening the circle.

I’m almost certain that there’s nothing I can do. I get ready to kick the one behind me, the one I would have more trouble beating otherwise, but it won’t do me any good. Even if I take him out, and the one coming at me from the right side, simultaneously, it’ll leave me without a way to deal with the other one. The same thing applies to every scenario.

I breath out and relax. I close my eyes and decide to persist with my first choice: take out the one coming at me from behind first and then improvise. I’m done anyway. Taking as many as I can with me is the best course of action right now.

“I told you to never get in a fight with them.” An oddly familiar voice suddenly comes from above.

Abruptly, I look around me and see all the five men surrounding me collapsing on the ground. A shadowy figure with a green mask falls from above, tossing me my weapon in the process. The three men coming at me don’t stop, even though the tables have now turned considerably.

Quickly, I kick the one coming from behind. He manages to dodge my hit, but still, that gives me an opening now. I use my staff to push the other two men out of the way and then I back-step through the opening. After that, the three men stop and cover me and Cross, one in each side. They’re ready to attack, but then they notice that all of their companions are on the ground, knocked out.

They look at each other and nod. They decide to turn and flee for their lives. Reporting to their boss, whoever that guy is, it’s more important than taking us on.

When they’re gone, I toss my staff on the ground and gasp for air. Cross, never taking off his mask, gets closer to me and rests his hand on my back.

“You’re lucky, Eladia. You know that, don’t you? You would have died if I didn’t find you in time,” he said.

He’s right. Fuck, I hate it when he’s right.

“I’m sorry, Cross. They set me up. I couldn’t get away from this,” I say.

“Eladia...I’ve told you many times already, my name is...”

“Don’t read too much into it, Doctor. We’re not friends, even though you’ve saved me too many times already. I just want to find my real friends, that’s all.”

The man nods and huffs. I know I’m rough with him, but after everything I’ve learned about him during this last year, I can’t let him get to me. I have to find Jay; I have to let him know how I feel about him.

“Okay. I understand. You’re right. Anyhow, can you walk?”

“Yes, of course. Why? What’s going on? Where are we going?”

He turns and removes his mask. That perfect face, with those beautifully dangerous blue eyes, looks at me. He has also changed so much throughout this year; I’m not sure I recognize him anymore.

“We’re going home, Eladia. I got news from the Organization. They want us back on Yaerus as soon as possible.”

I try to keep myself from cheering out loud. Finally, this nightmare is over.

I’m going to see him soon.