CHAPTER 33: CHAPTER 33: ESCAPE

Jace pushed the rooftop door open and stepped back inside, his footsteps slow as he descended the first flight of stairs.

The quiet of the building wrapped around him, the lingering taste of smoke still on his tongue.

Halfway down, a sharp scream cut through the silence. It wasn’t Eva’s voice, that much he knew instantly, but it was close enough to send his pulse jumping.

He froze for half a second, his mind running through possibilities.

Then his pace shifted. Slow, steady steps turned into a quick descent, boots pounding against the stairs as he closed the distance.

By the second scream, he was already running, his hand brushing the wall for balance as he took the turn toward the hallway.

Jace barged into the apartment to find the alien girl sitting upright on the couch, trembling.

Eva was on the floor, hands clamped over her ears as she groaned in pain.

"What was that?" Jace asked, scanning between the two of them.

Zin answered in his usual calm tone. [Well, the Areni are semi-aquatic. That scream is more of a call for help than anything.]

"You saying she’s calling her kind?"

[Unlikely. She looks scared. Maybe a nightmare.]

"Aliens have nightmares... huh."

[Of course. Any sentient being capable of dreaming can have both good and bad experiences.]

Jace waved his hand dismissively as if Zin were physically in front of him.

He crouched beside Eva, helping her to her feet. She met his eyes, still unsettled. "What was that?"

"I’m sorry... it was her."

"Jac—"

"I know. I’ll talk to her. You should rest."

"No. I want to hear," she said firmly.

Jace exhaled and gave a short nod. "Alright." He turned toward the sofa, muttering under his breath, "Time to find out what’s up with our alien friend."

Jace sat on the couch beside her, but the moment he did, the alien girl suddenly threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.

He froze, dazed by the unexpected gesture, only to be snapped back when Eva cleared her throat from across the room.

"Uhm... yeah," he muttered, gently pushing the girl back to give her space. "Zin, you can help with translation, right?"

[Of course. Just speak to her and I’ll relay what she says.]

Jace felt the pressure of her chest against him, a sensation he hadn’t realized he missed. He shook his head, forcing the thought away.

"Alright..." he exhaled, leaning back slightly. "Let’s start with the basics."

[Go ahead, I’ll translate.] Zin’s voice hummed in his ear.

Jace nodded toward the girl. "What’s your name?"

The alien girl tilted her head, speaking in soft, liquid tones. Zin quickly relayed, [She says her name doesn’t translate well into your language as i said before. The closest equivalent would be ’Sera.’]

"Sera, huh? Alright... where are you from?"

She answered again, her voice carrying a strange rhythm.

[Aren-viir, one of the aquatic worlds in the Inner Rings.]

Jace frowned. "And what were you doing here on Earth?"

The girl hesitated this time, her gaze flicking to the floor before she replied.

The girl’s voice faltered, her words rolling in that same liquid, unfamiliar rhythm.

Zin’s translation followed a moment later, his tone dipping lower than usual.

[She... she says she was imprisoned. In the largest prison ship.]

Jace straightened. "What do you mean, ’largest’?"

Before Zin could respond, Eva spoke from across the room, curiosity edging into suspicion. "Prison ship?"

[Yes,] Zin said. [The largest prison ship in known space is called the Dox Nova. My archived data on it is limited, possibly corrupted, but it’s one of the most significant entries I retained. Imagine a vessel so large it dwarfs your entire planet. That’s the Dox Nova. It houses only the most dangerous aliens in the galaxy.]

Jace glanced at the alien girl, noting the way her hands curled into the fabric of the couch, knuckles pale. "Dangerous... like murderers and warlords?"

[Worse. The ship is not a single structure but a vast assembly. Multiple megaships, Dox Nova #1, Dox Nova #2, and so on, interlock to form the Mother Ship. Together, they’re referred to as the Nova Prisonship. Entire sectors of it are dedicated to different species, each one designed to suppress unique abilities.]

Eva crossed her arms, her tone sharp. "So she was in there? That doesn’t happen for no reason. Obviously she’s dangerous."

The alien girl met Eva’s gaze but didn’t speak until Jace motioned for her to answer. Her reply was quiet, but it carried a weight that made Zin hesitate before translating.

[She says... she was imprisoned for leaving her own planet.]

Jace blinked. "That’s it? Just for leaving?"

[That is what she claims,] Zin confirmed. [If true, it means her people treat leaving their homeworld as a high crime. On some worlds, it’s considered treason. On others... an act of abandonment that marks you as a permanent exile.]

The girl’s eyes lowered again, her hands tightening in her lap. Whatever her story was, Jace could tell this was only the surface.

Eva’s eyes narrowed. "She still hasn’t told us why she’s on Earth, how she got here, and why that thing attacked her."

Jace gave a short nod, glancing at Zin. "Ask her."

Zin translated, and the reaction was immediate. The girl straightened, her trembling easing just enough to speak in a rush of sharp, fluid syllables.

[She says she was going about her day inside the prison when the ship began to shake, violently, as if something had crashed into it. The tremors didn’t stop. Within moments, systems started failing. The power suppression fields that kept the inmates’ abilities locked away began to drop. Without those restraints, chaos erupted.]

Zin’s voice deepened as he continued. [She claims her sector held mostly non-hostile aliens, but word spread quickly: prisoners from other ships in the Nova assembly were breaching into hers. And those... were not the peaceful kind. Fighting broke out between the wardens and the inmates. Entire sections of the prison were overrun. She says the battles grew so intense the structural integrity began to fail. Parts of the ship were falling apart.]

Jace leaned forward, brow furrowed. "Falling apart? You mean—"

[Yes. She says the ship, or at least the part she was on, was crashing. The Dox Nova had kept them locked away for years, but a few days ago, without warning, the containment cells opened. Doors, barriers, everything. Some ran without looking back. Others turned violent immediately. And when the debris settled... they were on Earth.]

Eva folded her arms, her skepticism unmoved. "And now those aliens are scattered here. Great."

[She says some are peaceful, just trying to survive. But many... are hostile.]

Jace absorbed the weight of it, then asked the question that had been sitting in his mind since she started. "Why did it open, though?"

Zin translated. The alien girl lowered her gaze, her lips parting slightly before she spoke a single word in her language.

[She says... she doesn’t know.]