On the outside, the building looked like an abandoned warehouse. Rust decorated every exterior wall and jagged shards of rubble were abundant around the building.

  However, there were several things that didn't make much sense about the place. For a place that looked like it had been abandoned, there was very little dust or signs of time passing. Nature had not retaken the building. Even more surprising, in the slums where the majority of buildings had been razed to the ground by the Celestials in the ongoing stargate cascade, this one remained standing.

  The answer as to why would be found on the inside of the building, which looked closer to a hotel lobby spliced with a police station. Originally, it was just a basic warehouse, but thanks to the help of a high ranking spatial specialist Starborn who regularly worked with the Association, the interior had changed vastly. With all of the furniture provided, it was clear that not all of it would be used. Especially with only six people in the building, and a third of those detained in the Starborn prison cells downstairs.

  One of the Starborn was sitting in a comfortable leather chair staring up at the ceiling. She was staring up in a daze, with a can of spaghetti in one hand and a fork in the other.

  Cirai heaved a weary sigh as she thought about the events of the last couple days.

  She was roused from sleep in the middle of the night by the Association's draft to help with the cascade a few nights ago. Back then, sleep was hard to come by as she was already worried sick about Arden after seeing his bounty. Then she had to step up for the sake of others like Arden, trying to defend the slums as it threatened to collapse from the weight of Celestials and corruption.

  She was not a combat focused Starborn. She had one ability, and it allowed to know when someone was lying. It wouldn't be of any use in a fight against Celestials, so she resigned herself to working administrative duties. That was why she worked as a receptionist.

  She didn't mind it though.

  She wasn't cut out for fighting. Going into her first trial, she was petrified. She was scared, and that fear was passed on to her parents when she entered her golden stargate. It was only thanks to the ease of her trial that she was able to come back alive.

  She wasn't good with violence, whether inflicting it, taking it, or seeing it. That fear only worsened over the past few days. The first few stargates had already ruptured, so she and many other Starborn had no choice but to fight back against the oncoming scourge if they wanted to survive.

  She saw a lot of people die, both mundane and Starborn. The only thing that kept her moving forward was an even greater fear of something happening to her loved ones if the Celestials made it through.

  She already resolved herself to the life of an innocuous red protostar. She didn't need to get stronger. She didn't want to attempt a second trial or increase her rank.

  She was weak. She knew it. Her companions knew it.

  But she didn't care. She never wanted to be strong. All she wanted was to survive with a roof over her head, eat food, and live a happy life.

  She believed that was why she found a kindred spirit in Arden. He was like her. So long as he did more than survive, he would be happy.

  But she realized there was a difference between her and her friend.

  She had everything that they both wanted, but she wasn't happy. She wasn't depressed per se, but she was filled with a profound emptiness.

  Over the years, she noticed that Arden never lost the spark in his eyes. No matter how much he was persecuted by the others in the slums, no matter how much his sister suffered in silence as a Blight Walker. He still continued.

  Even now.

  Arden was locked up with the person that she introduced him to. But he didn't mind. She realized that while it could have been the belief that he was safer here than outside, she didn't think it was the case.

  Cirai watched the footage of the pair in their cell over the past day. At first she didn't know what to think when she saw Vera tenderly caress Arden’s body. But between then and now, Cirai came to the realization that she was teaching him a circulation technique.

  He was trying to get stronger.

  He just cleared a stargate as a mundane, and he was spending his downtime training. Even though he wasn’t a Starborn, Arden was receiving training like he was. There was no guarantee that someone would awaken as a Starborn, but that didn’t stop him.

  The discussion when they reunited still ran on loop in Cirai’s head.

  Arden wasn’t scared of the stargate. Sya wasn’t either. They were both excited. They weren’t Starborn, but they both found the prospect of raiding a stargate to be fun.

  “What’s the difference between us?” Cirai mumbled to herself.

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  She never thought that there would be a day where she would feel envious of Arden. She never thought that would be in the cards for her.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  Cirai turned around and saw the black eyed Sya walking towards her in a baggy shirt and sweatpants holding a can of ground meat. Cirai wondered why she ate more of that than anything else.

  “Nothing,” Cirai said with a shake of her head. “Just your brother.”

  A smile pulled at the ends of Sya’s mouth.

  “Oh?”

  She wasn’t planning on having lunch with Cirai, but she could put up reading for this. No matter how much Sya loved to read, this was something that held infinitely more appeal to her. She pulled up a chair so she could sit across from Cirai like a therapist. A little bit of gossip regarding her brother and the person who he claimed shared no romantic feelings? This was more delicious then her beef.

  “I was under the impression that your feelings towards each other were platonic.” Sya said.

  “They are.”

  Sya searched the Starborn’s body language for any sign that she was lying, but came up empty. There was no blush, no looking away, and no stammered words. Sya clicked her tongue in disappointment.

  “Well that’s boring,” Sya said. “No drama.”

  “Isn’t it better this way? Arden and Vera appear rather close. You saw the footage too yesterday. If Arden became the center of a love triangle wouldn’t that mess with the group dynamic?”

  “If Arden became the center of a love triangle, the universe would be ending ahead of schedule. That is something that should not happen. So while it's better for monogamy to rule the day, it's more boring for me.”

  Cirai gave off a rather perplexed look.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Sya said. “Why’s Arden on your mind then?”

  “I just don’t understand him. He confuses me.”

  Sya nodded along knowing what she meant. She lived with him after all.

  “He seems confusing at first, but in reality he is incredibly simple. He has only one desire, and it's to live well. That’s why he defends me, why he came out to get food for us when I was unable to leave the house, even if he was despised for it. It was all to get the semblance of a normal life.”

  “That part I get,” Cirai said. “It's how I live as well. I was able to recognize it. What I don’t get is why he’s doing stuff right now, and how he’s fine doing it.”

  “Like raiding a stargate?”

  “Yes! I don't get how you, your brother, and Vera were able to do it, or how you found the ordeal to be exciting! If it were me in that position, I don't know what I would have done. Either way, I would've gotten killed. If I tried to find shelter, I would have been killed, and if I tried to raid a weak stargate, I would have been killed too. Even if it happened to me now, as a protostar, my fate wouldn't have changed.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  Cirai answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

  “Because I'm weak. I can't fight. I have knives that I don't know how to use. My power isn't something that can help me get stronger.”

  “You're misunderstanding something,” Sya said. “You do realize that powers don't make you strong right? There are no bad powers, just bad users. Vera told us that.”

  “Then I'm a bad user, plain and simple.” She saw Sya about to say something, but Cirai cut her off before she could speak. “You don't need to try and comfort me. I know that I'm weak. I don't want to become strong. I just want to know what makes Arden strong. What makes him different from me.”

  “What makes him strong?” Sya repeated.

  “Yes. Even as a Starborn, I don't measure up to him. I don't even measure up to you.”

  Sya thought about it. She knew what it was that made Arden able to fight, but she couldn't just tell Cirai. Cirai was on good terms with all of them, but Sya wasn't just going to reveal the secrets of the group. Not only would it be a massive breach of trust, but Sya didn't know just what Cirai would do with the knowledge.

  But even with that handicap, Sya was able to think of something to say that wasn't quite the truth, but was also not a lie. The best lies had elements of truth mixed in after all.

  “There’s your problem, Cirai. You’re too preoccupied with thinking in terms of strong or weak.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You think that we are strong mundanes or that you are a weak Starborn. Take a step back. Ignore all of that strength crap. You’ll just get stuck in your head otherwise. We never cared about it. Before being strong or weak, we’re human first.”

  “Is that it? That’s the secret to being strong? To not care? That’s underwhelming.”

  Sya leaned forward and flicked Cirai in the forehead.

  “What was that for?” Cirai asked, rubbing where she was flicked.

  “You were doing it again. Being weak or strong doesn't matter. Look at me, Arden, and Vera. Me and Arden are both malnourished slum rats. I don’t know what Vera is, but it doesn't matter. It was us who survived. What I told you wasn’t the key to being strong. It’s the secret to living.”

  “But only the strong survive.”

  Sya smirked and folded her arms, leaning back in her chair. She finally had a chance to parrot back something she read.

  “It’s not the strong that survive. But the ones who survive will undoubtedly be strong. Just get out of your head. It’ll do you some good.”

  Sya stood up from her chair and began to walk away to a better place to eat. Cirai was great and all, but the conversation had kind of ruined the atmosphere. Before she could leave, Cirai asked one last question.

  “If I do that, will I become strong like you and Arden?”

  Sya sighed and responded.

  “In the 19 years of my life, I have never once thought of Arden as strong. I never thought of him as weak either. He’s just him. The only person to ever think Arden was weak was himself. You’re the same way. You survived your trial, and now you're helping out with the cascade. That makes you strong. So for the love of god, stop thinking in terms of being strong or weak. You’ll get nowhere.”

  Sya looked at Cirai’s face, and noted that she was deep in thought. A small smile appeared on Sya’s face and she continued walking away, humming. It felt good to do some good.