Glass Ceiling

Chapter 2-2. Research Centre

At that moment, the glass in the windows of the research center quivered slightly but remained intact. One of the metal panes rang with a clear sound.

"Quiet," Marour sternly and loudly addressed somewhere into space, as if speaking to the pane that behaved so strangely. It was indeed odd... All the windows and doors were designed to withstand any cosmic, magical, malevolent—anything!—force. That's why some researchers would occasionally call the research center the "Titanic," explaining that it was a vessel named after mighty gods.

However, they never mentioned where exactly it sailed and how often it descended into the water... It was enough to ask those travelers about it, and suddenly all of them fell silent, looking bewildered.

The pane seemed to have obeyed and gradually, somewhat threateningly, stopped trembling.

"Is this voice control? Already?" Yanif exclaimed in surprise.

"No," Marour quickly replied, looking worriedly at the newcomer, who had just arrived at the center and was trying to catch his breath, leaning against the wall. "It was just the first thing that came to my mind."

Silence fell, as the noise from the malfunctioning devices had become quite a familiar background noise and didn't bother anyone. Here, it was considered real silence.

"Our people are disappearing," the newcomer finally spoke, barely uttering the words, and slumped into another chair next to Yanif.

"Who this time?" Yanif sighed in annoyance, tilting his head back and squinting his eyes.

"What do you mean? Aren't you bothered?" the newcomer's hands trembled as he spoke. "Understand, lately, we haven't been able to keep track of every step of every member of our team. A wonderful team, mind you! The signal and communication with anyone can suddenly vanish! Do you understand? Do you realize that? And with this system... everything is all mixed up. You know how long we've been trying to unravel this mess, and there seems to be no end to it!"

Marour sat on a stool in front of the sensor panel, bowing his head sadly. He understood what the man was saying. Meanwhile, the newcomer continued, "If the connection with someone is severed, it's almost everything... We won't be able to do anything. We won't be able to help if the need arises! These aren't just residents of the center, these are our friends!"

Yanif suddenly straightened up, clenching his fists.

In the air, something seemed to tense again, and Marour reached for his bottle. Tears glistened in Yanif's eyes.

"Oh," the newcomer said in a low voice.

"Giron probably didn't mean to say that," Marour said, taking several sips and closing the bottle. "We all know what happens when the connection is lost. But again... Giron! Haven't you noticed how Yanif is feeling?"

Giron sat perplexed in his chair, barely moving his lips as if continuing his passionate speech.

Yanif turned his back to him and quickly walked towards one of the huge machines with a bunch of levers nearby. He pressed a button and began to examine the screen that turned on.

"Yanif," Giron softly called, but Yanif waved his hand dismissively.

"Please, don't argue," Marour said seriously. "It's strange. Your sensitivity has decreased much faster than 300 astronomical years ago."

"Faster than yesterday," Giron added. "I noticed that my physical body hardly feels pain."

He raised his shirt sleeve and showed his burned arm, almost to the bone.

"If not for Samira, I would have burned completely," Giron added.

"What were you doing?" Marour asked, looking concerned at his companion.

Giron shrugged. "Nothing special... I was flying to take a look at Axiora, and there it was... Right at the border! Just as I got out of the starryscooter, even turned off the engine, and suddenly some gas-like liquid splashed on me."

"Was it targeted at you? Or what?" Marour asked.

Giron hesitated for a moment before answering, "Well, what do you think? Scan it. Axiora is in our dimension, after all."

"I can't," Giron replied. "I can't see anything, it won't scan."

"Since when?" Marour inquired.

"Since yesterday. And before that, things were gradually getting worse... I thought I was just tired, needed some time to recover, but now I can't see anything at all."

"Guys," Marour sighed. "Where did this unnecessary and even foolish heroism come from?"

"What about me?" Yanif retorted.

"Unlike you, my sensitivity is intact," Marour replied. "And I see that you are struggling as well. Today, I'm asking both of you to visit the regeneration department. Let them check what's happening to you and see what can be done."

"I won't go," Yanif refused. "As if I needed my brain to be scrambled."

"What are you thinking?" Giron asked in surprise.

"Well, whatever! Just tell me how you survived. Suppose someone wanted to kill you, so they shot or directed that substance at you. Did you escape?"

"Not quite," Giron brightened a little, relieved that Yanif was no longer upset with him. Offense... where did all these emotions and feelings come from? "I told you, Samira saved me. She called out to me from behind. I turned around, and the main part of that burning stuff passed me by."

"And then?" Marour inquired.

Giron shrugged, "What then? Then we struggled a bit, and then she borrowed my starryscooter because she forgot hers at home."

Giron recalled that after that, he somehow ended up on one of the small cosmic mounds they called "islets" - empty small clusters of rock, stardust, and various debris where travelers would occasionally stop to rest on their long journeys. He lay there, almost dying from some internal pain, feeling as if his heart was breaking. It seemed like he couldn't even cry, perhaps because, in his physical body, his lungs couldn't absorb enough oxygen, but he didn't feel that. He just felt his consciousness drifting away. Tears just flowed.

Who knows how he ended up on his home planet after such an adventure? And the starryscooter was probably still with Samira, and she would return it later, as she promised. "I wonder how I managed to travel such a distance without it," the thought flashed through Giron's mind.

Giron suddenly realized that Marour could see his entire adventure, and he grinned, but there was no point—Marour was listening attentively while also observing the numbers on the large screen of the sensor panel. It seemed that he had only heard the words from everything Giron had told him. So, he knew only about arriving on Axiora, about the hot liquid, and about Samira's help.

"There's a certain inconsistency here," Yanif cautiously said. "Samira doesn't use starryscooters."

"You mean I'm lying?!" Giron flared up. "Come on, let's go to her. She's here, at home. She'll tell you..."

"I ask you not to disturb her," Marour said wearily, still attentively and very concentrated on observing the numbers. He was inputting some new data using his fingerprint impressions and checking the changes that were happening. "She's just coming to her senses."

"To her senses? And she arrived on Axiora for more adventures?" Yanif teased. "Wasn't Earth enough for her?"

"Hey, at least show some respect. Do you need a reminder of whom you're talking about?" Giron calmly replied. Yanif suddenly lowered his eyes and exhaled in embarrassment.

Silence fell.