Meteora returned to his lab, not with relief, but with a soft ache as the sounds of just the lab greeted him.

  Meteora walked over to his project-it was a massive saltwater aquarium that held the raw aetherium ore that was now covered in algae and had many bites in it. the culprit? The Green Humphead Parrotfish he had brought in which was named 'Chomper', per Seris's messy scrawl on the tank.

  The memory of naming the fish brought a small smile to Meteora's face.

  "Guess it'll be just you and me for the next few years, big guy." He stated to the fish before getting to work on the systems, making sure the sand collecting system was okay along with what inhabited the container.

  The setup was simple. Feed the ore to the fish, the fish expelled the ore-now turned sand-into the collection area at the bottom of the tank, where it was then put into another tank that was filled with worms that would then eat all the particulate, only leaving the raw aetherium ore sand. It still wasn't processed, but the purity grade was undeniable, and very sustainable.

  Just as he finished his checks, his holo-computer chimed with a notification.

  "Curious, I am not expecting anyone to be reaching out to me for the next three months, well, aside from Tori, Sonny and Merida checking on me to make sure I take care of my place and do grocery runs with me." He muttered checking the notification. This past year had brought many changes he accepted more readily than he thought possible.

  "Probably because I am so tired" He muttered as the file opened, showing a beaming Seris and Elowen who had also managed a small smile despite her usual aloof and dignified nature.

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  "Hiiiiii~ Meo-chan!" Came Seris's loud excited voice. "We are recording this in your lab to make sure you receive it on time!" He stated as a matter of fact. "We just want you to know that we will be gone for three years for a gate crawl with our family. But we will always be thinking about you!"

  Meteroa chuckled at her words, muttering a soft 'better' as the video continued.

  "Don't worry though! We will make sure to be there for your graduation! So don't sleep through it like you probably did ours!" Came a teasing remark.

  "Screw you! I was there and wide awake!" Meteora retorted indignantly as if Seris could hear him.

  "In all seriousness, don't give up, you are doing amazing. And we can't wait to see how far you have come when we meet once more." Came Elowen's elegant and melodic voice, causing Meteora to pause mid outburst and settle down almost instantly.

  "Just make sure you lock your door when you need absolute privacy." Came a supportive follow up from Seris, giving Meteora pause as he wondered how much did he know, or realize.

  "Perceptive butthead" Meteora muttered.

  "Well we better hop off! You will be returning soon from homeroom! Never forget, we both cherish you!" Seris lead the sentence, and they both finished the last part together, the video pausing with them standing in front of Chomper and the worm tank where the sand was.

  Before he realized it, he had rewound the video to the last bit, only to pause it and gasp, zooming in on the the worm bin, then run over to the actual receptacle.

  "Of course! That explains why getting the purity to one hundred percent took so long!" He exclaimed, carefully digging through the sand till he found what he was looking for.

  There, in the center, had to be hundreds of worms.

  They weren't the worms he had originally put in, however.

  They had reproduced.

  They had evolved.

  He carefully picked one up, the little creature wriggling in his hand as he gently placed it on his palm.

  There, plain as day, it wriggled and glowed a faint silver, just like-

  Before he could finish the thought, he reflexively called out.

  "Tori!!!!!"