The bay hums low, distant engines rolling like a storm on the horizon. Outside, the fractured light of the Moon still bleeds into the black, casting a thin light across the deck.

Sai is standing near the boarding ramp, his attention split between the glow of his gauntlet display and the distant shimmer of the DREAMCraft’s ramp.

Jon Carmichael V steps out from the shadowed gangway. His shoes strike the metal deck in deliberate, slow steps — not rushing, but cutting through the moment like he owns it. In his hand, a wafer-thin datachip glints in the half-light.

Jon (softly): “You’re heading into a part of space where voices get… lost.”

Sai looks up, eyes narrowing as Jon closes the gap. No smile. No flourish. Just a subtle turn of his wrist as he slides the chip forward between two fingers.

Jon: “This is so I can keep in touch with you. Direct. No relays. No interference.”

Sai takes it, holding the chip in his palm for a beat. It’s lighter than he expected — almost nothing in weight — but it hums faintly, like a pulse.

Without a word, Sai reaches back, pulling aside the edge of the neural port on the side of his neck. The chip clicks in with a satisfying snap. A shimmer of code runs down the veins in his forearm, fading under the skin.

Sai (quiet): “You’ll know where I am. Always.”

Jon gives a single nod — an understanding, not a promise — and steps back.

The Traveler beckons Sai onto the DREAMCraft.

Jon turns away first, his silhouette breaking into the glare of the boarding corridor.

Sai touches the back of his neck once, just to feel the chip settle.

The ramp closes. The ship launches, and for a moment the Traveler notices Sai’s silence.

Traveler: What was that about?

Sai: Just a reconnection with an old friend…

Sabine: I guess you could say we’re all together again, hey Sai?

Sai looks up at the fast approaching moon in the DREAMCraft’s bridge monitor.

Sai: Looks just like we left it.

The DREAMCraft initiates the Dark Reality Echo Accelerator Matrix, and begins surfing the fabric of space.