Luna was restrained almost instantly, a consequence of her gene pool modification.
Without the modification, after becoming a Supreme Being, she could have quickly escaped.
However, this didn't mean she had no chance to fight back.
The instant her body was controlled, she released the Metacellular restrictions. Her entire body swelled, and she retaliated, striking at her opponent.
The opponent quickly retreated, hiding in the shadows.
Luna activated her sensors but couldn't detect the opponent's location.
Fortunately, the city's power grid was active, allowing her to use the city's surveillance system.
To her left.
From a height of 20 meters, Luna swung her arm.
She hit her opponent, but her strength was inferior; the blow was blocked.
Her opponent, using some kind of propulsion, moved another 20 meters upward in mid-air. A cold glint appeared in her hand, which rapidly approached Luna's eyes, stopping less than a centimeter away.
"Your reflexes are still so poor. No improvement at all, Luna."
A clear, melodious voice echoed.
Her opponent retracted a metal chain and landed lightly on the ground like a cat.
She was a woman in a form-fitting black mecha suit. Tall and slender, her long black hair was braided and hung down to the floor.
Half of her face was covered by a circular metal visor, more like a truncated cone—a ring without an apex, covering only her nose and forehead.
It was a specialized piece of high-tech equipment, with advanced scanning and data analysis capabilities.
From a purely aesthetic perspective, she could be considered beautiful.
But if Luna saw her without the visor, she'd likely be terrified.
Her opponent wasn't human, but a Multi-eyed. Her skin, if one looked closely, was transparent, lacking blood vessels. All the Multi-eyed's eyes were located on the upper half of her head.
Luna ordered her quark robots to eliminate the excess Metacellular, restoring her original form.
Standing before her opponent, she appeared much smaller now.
This woman was approximately 3.2 meters tall.
"Freri, so this is what you meant by 'handling things'?"
The hunter who had brought Luna into this situation was the woman before her.
She had originally operated on the border battlefields, collecting information. The Multi-eyed body was too cumbersome, so she sought a robust, agile, and powerful physical form. Humans were a suitable choice among the numerous races in the Federation.
After parting ways with this individual, Luna felt no sadness; in fact, she felt a sense of relief.
This woman was incredibly reckless, capable of anything for a story—infiltrating the heart of battlefields, ambushing military commanders, even transferring her consciousness into various artificial beings.
Her most famous exploit was posing as the wife of a Federation Commander for over 700 years before being identified as an artificial being during a Federation spy test. Her identity was subsequently exposed.
She was imprisoned for espionage, then released by the Commander out of nostalgia, though their relationship ended.
To border soldiers, she was a legend.
In reality, she wasn't merely a story hunter but a member of the Mortality Selection, with an E-rank. While far from a true Divine, she was overwhelmingly powerful compared to ordinary humans.
Especially to Luna, who had almost no combat training.
"Excellent."
"We seem to have quite the connection; you actually found this place."
"When I first saw you, I couldn't believe it. I just wanted to see how much your abilities had improved."
"I didn't expect you to solve everything here so quickly. I've been stuck here for over 20 years with no progress."
"Well done."
Luna and Freri had interacted for 36 years and had a deep bond.
But Luna wouldn't completely trust Freri. She could be here for the Mortality Selection, and for a mission, she wouldn't hesitate to kill her.
"Over 20 years? I heard no one returns after entering the City of Death."
"The last group was a few years ago."
"If it were safe here, you wouldn't have killed them, would you?"
Luna turned towards the activating Dark Energy Mine; the server was booting up.
Such a large server took twenty or thirty minutes to start.
However, it started in stages.
The server had many modules; she could already connect to the main computational module.
Freri chuckled. "Of course not. You know me."
"If they really came, I'd take good care of them, letting them inspect everything here for me."
"Unfortunately, there are things here, things that kill them."
"I can't see these things, but they seem to be conscious."
"Your vigilance has already noticed. There are no bodies here; they move the bodies."
"You're very brave. I've never dared to come here, but you entered directly."
Luna noticed that Freri's body was tense. On the border battlefield, she was usually relaxed; she'd never been this stiff.
"You mean, the bodies are dragged here?"
Freri didn't answer, but her silence was an answer.
At this moment, the entire Dark Energy Mine's internal systems activated; Luna monitored the process.
At 14:48:23, the first person in the mine fell.
He asked, "Are you sure?"
Only then did Freri respond, her voice laced with irritation.
"What? You don't trust me?"
"I can obtain information with a simple glance. I wouldn't mislead you about this, would I?"
She sighed.
"Luna, little girl, I've seriously misjudged you."
"Just a few hundred years apart, and you're already so cold towards me. I shouldn't have been so nice to you before."
Freri always liked calling her "little girl".
Individuals in the Mortality Selection don't die of old age. Luna had checked Freri's information; she had survived over 1300 years in the Mortality Selection, plus her original lifespan of over 800 years, making her over 2100 years old.
Luna ignored her chatter and carefully studied the timing.
The first death in the Dark Energy Mine was noticeably later than the first death at Hertel Technologies.
Therefore, this couldn't be where those things emerged from.
Freri said they dragged the bodies here; it could be a lair.
Luna accessed all surveillance feeds.
Nothing unusual, except for several malfunctioning cameras.
These malfunctioning cameras were all in the same location.
It was on a power transmission line; there was nothing special about that location.
"Want to find out the truth? Then follow me."
"Perhaps we'll face those things next."
Luna headed towards the location indicated by the inspection.
Freri watched Luna venture deeper; she was extremely reluctant.
"Truly, ignorance is bliss. You haven't seen those things kill; it's completely silent."
"Are you sure about this? We might not have any way to fight back."
By the time she finished speaking, Luna was already far away; she could no longer see her.
But considering her mission and Luna's safety, she decided to follow.
"Hey, Luna, little girl, wait for me!"
"I didn't expect you to be such a skilled hacker, able to infiltrate the city server so quickly."
"You wouldn't have obtained any special permissions, would you? Or perhaps you're originally from here?"
"That kind of 'searching for the truth and returning to one's hometown to solve problems' plot—it's old, but still compelling."
Freri kept talking.
Only those who've spent a long time with her know she's a restless person.
Worse, she becomes excessively talkative when stressed.
"You've been here for over 20 years. You must have other gains."
"Tell me."
The damaged surveillance cameras were quite far away.
The entire Dark Energy Mine was far larger than it appeared.
To store energy, the central part of the entire Star City was filled with "batteries."
Luna and her companion were heading towards one of these battery junctions.
"Want intelligence so quickly? That's not good."
"You still haven't answered my question."
Freri wouldn't divulge information simply because of her relationship with Luna.
Even the previous exploration was a calculation; if Luna were weaker, Freri would have acted differently.
Like letting Luna rest here permanently.
She was a dangerous woman.
The Mortality Selection was ruthless.
Every mission involved unspeakable torment, both physical and emotional.
Abuse was commonplace; killing and cannibalism amongst peers was even more frequent.
Every new recruit in the Mortality Selection underwent a survival-of-the-fittest battle; only one in a hundred survived.
An E-rank might seem weak, but they had endured 1300 years of training, traversing hundreds of worlds.
"I was invited here to investigate. I met the Kehua Star City leadership, and they granted me access."
"Once the server starts, I can investigate everything in this Star City."
"Thorough preparation is good. Unlike your recklessness, surviving here for over 20 years is quite fortunate."
Luna fabricated a plausible story.
Not that Freri didn't believe her.
She had previously scanned Luna, finding no identifying information, making Luna's claims plausible.
"Typical you. I met that old man before; he was a tough nut to crack."
"I could only enter alone."
"I did make some gains."
"Luna, little girl, you should know that after the incident, the military sent people in."
"Some scholars accompanied the military. They lasted 13 days and discovered several things."
"Based on their measurements, they mentioned waves."
"Not the kind of waves women make, but quantum-level waves."
Who asked you?
Luna fell into thought.
Quantum-level waves—that referred to the wave-like nature of particles.
It most likely referred to wave functions.
A wave function is simply a mathematical description of the state of a microscopic system.
Fundamental particles exhibit wave-particle duality. When unobserved, they are waves; when observed, they become particles with fixed positions.
A wave function appears to determine a particle's position, but in reality, it cannot. It only calculates the probability of a particle appearing at a given location.
A particle is a wave, meaning it can exist simultaneously at points a, b, c, d…
Imagine water waves; each ripple is a particle's position. On a vast ocean, countless waves imply the particle exists anywhere on that sea.
Upon observation, most waves disappear, leaving only one ripple.
This is the wonder of the quantum world.
A wave function, in simplified terms, calculates the probability of which wave among many will become the final ripple, usually involving other values for observation.
The reason is that science cannot observe the state of a particle before observation. The wave function itself is a purely theoretical concept—it only knows the outcome, not the process.
Even with the Federation's current technology, this problem remains unsolved.
Because knowing requires observation; how else can one understand?
Furthermore, observation doesn't necessarily mean observing with the human eye. Observation refers to any physical interaction—an influence.
A particle affected by another particle or force, changing its state, is considered observed.
To truly understand a particle's state before observation, one would need a completely undisturbed environment—a perfect vacuum, and an observation method that doesn't affect the particle's state.
This is incredibly difficult.
Many Federation scholars have researched this, ultimately abandoning their efforts.
But how does this relate to the events here?
Luna couldn't fathom it.
She needed to see the full picture. She asked Freri to copy the data for her.
She quickly read through it.
It mentioned fluctuations; the scholars had detected unknown fluctuations in the air within Star City 88.
However, these fluctuations weren't at the microscopic level but the macroscopic level.
The wave-like nature of matter isn't determined by size. While most fluctuations occur at the atomic level, they can also occur at the molecular level.
Macroscopic fluctuations of some kind of macroscopic object are also possible.
There simply wasn't enough research data.
The universe is vast; anything is possible.
"If it's truly fluctuation, we'll be in trouble," Luna said.
She continued walking.
Freri stared blankly.
"Hey, Luna, little girl, explain what kind of trouble you're talking about."
She was anxious.
Luna rarely used the word "trouble" lightly.
When she used it, it meant serious trouble.
Because this was a completely dark zone for human civilization.
She didn't elaborate; she didn't know the specifics.
When she and Freri reached the location of the malfunctioning surveillance cameras, they found only a power source leak. It seemed an outdated energy storage device had cracked, resulting in an extremely powerful electromagnetic field that had fried the cameras.
"A wasted trip. It seems there's nothing here," Freri sighed in relief.
She actually regretted coming here to look for a story.
But she didn't leave; the mystery here intrigued her. Perhaps it was in her blood.
Luna, however, continued to stare at the leak.
She didn't believe there was nothing here.
The energy leak itself was telling.
If the leak had occurred before the incident, it would have been quickly repaired.
The continued existence of this leak implied it happened around the time of the mass casualty event.
Was this a coincidence?
This was a crucial question.
"Crack!"
At that moment, the energy leak and sparking disappeared.
Luna said to Freri, "Open a hole here; let's take a look."
"Huh!?"
Freri was perplexed. Did they think what they were searching for might be inside?
There was nothing visible here; maybe exploring would reveal something.
But…
Was this girl treating herself as cannon fodder?
Although she'd shown inexplicable audacity before.
Freri complied.
Her hand transformed into a plasma cutter, beginning to cut.
Sparks flew; after half a day, she'd only cut one centimeter deep.
"This is tough?"
Freri, unconvinced, increased her power, but the progress remained slow.
Three days later, she finally created a hole large enough for a person to enter.
"What is this thing made of? My arm is killing me!"
Freri collapsed to the side, refusing to move.
No wonder.
This was the heart of the city's energy storage.
If this energy exploded, it could annihilate tens or hundreds of billions of people. Therefore, the Federation was incredibly meticulous about the containment devices, exceeding the structural strength of many spacecraft hulls.
Luna entered the device's interior; at its center was a massive metal rod, over 50 meters in diameter.
This was the true energy storage medium. The area where she stood was actually the vacuum layer within the energy storage device.
Every 500 meters, there was a partition to ensure the vacuum layer wouldn't dissipate during normal operation.
The vacuum layer wasn't wide, about 8 meters. Luna activated the internal inspection lights, revealing an empty space.
"Nothing here. We wasted so much time," Freri entered.
Luna carefully searched the area.
She then observed a layer of dust on the metal walls.
She touched the dust, collecting some on her fingertip, and then used her quark robots and mecha to analyze it.
"High concentrations of carbon."
"Carbon shouldn't exist here. Where did it come from?"
Luna looked at Freri.
Freri wasn't stupid.
"You mean, the bodies dragged here are inside?"
"But as you can see, the outer metal layer is incredibly strong, and the hole isn't large. How is that possible?"
Freri even checked outside; there was no carbon residue.
It was impossible.
How were the bodies transported here, and why here? There was no logical explanation.
"Let's leave," Luna said.
She had found what she was looking for.
After returning to the Dark Energy Mine, Freri noticed the entire city's power had been restored.
"Did you find something?"
With the Star City power restored, Luna could access more information.
She carefully compared the timing of the first deaths in different sectors of Star City 88 and found a pattern.
Theoretically, those things originated from the same source.
"We're leaving Star City 88 to handle something else," Luna said.
This wasn't simple.
It was impossible to determine the true nature of those things here.
She needed further confirmation.
Freri spoke, "This place is called the City of Death. Why? Because no one returns. You still want to leave?"
"Why do you think I stayed here for over 20 years?"
There was something here, something preventing her from leaving.
She had witnessed three groups enter. The second group, over a hundred explorers, thought they could find riches in the city, but they encountered those things, each one dying.
When they tried to escape into the sky, the entire sky turned blue, and their bodies fell.
Similar events were recorded in the information Freri had obtained from those soldiers.
"Don't worry. Those things won't stop us from leaving,"
Luna said calmly.
She headed towards the ground and then flew straight upwards.
Freri watched from below, activating all her sensory equipment. As Luna ascended, the entire Star City began to change.
These changes weren't detectable by any sensory system, only perceptible in the mind.
Suddenly, Freri remembered the waves mentioned earlier and the idea proposed by a human named Neumann: "Wave function collapse can originate from the observer's consciousness."
In simple terms, consciousness, without other forms of observation, could cause a wave function to collapse from countless ripples into a single ripple. This phenomenon is also called wave function collapse.
She didn't have sophisticated measuring equipment.
However, her subjective experience suggested her hypothesis might be correct.
If consciousness can influence wave functions, then conversely, could wave functions influence consciousness?
Consciousness is now recognized as a real phenomenon. Therefore, a microscopic phenomenon like a wave function influencing consciousness isn't impossible.
This observation was incredibly subtle.
Freri concealed herself, believing Luna wouldn't be able to predict what those things would do to her.
But the next instant, the city's energy systems suddenly began operating at full capacity, primarily the Dark Energy Mine.
Star City 88 had more than one mine; almost all mines activated simultaneously.
Freri felt the abnormal wave functions suddenly intensify.
"Energy!"
"Damn it!"
Freri flew straight upwards without hesitation.
Looking down, she saw blue rings enveloping all the Dark Energy Mines in the city.
If she had been a moment later, she would have died.
She connected to Luna's communication channel.
Luna's voice came through: "Not bad timing!"
Freri was furious.
"If you had told me earlier that their target was energy, why would I have waited below?"
Luna remained unaffected by her outburst. Just as Freri could kill her, she could abandon Freri.
They had no emotional attachment; their collaboration was purely transactional.
Freri had initially used Luna as a story hunter because she needed a cover, and Luna could create one; what Luna wanted was precisely that cover.
"Consider this a lesson in not trusting me."
"If you want to uncover the next story, you better keep up."
Luna flew towards the transit pipeline.
Freri ultimately followed Luna, entering the transit pipeline.
Their speed was incredible; they quickly arrived at another Star City—Star City 57.
This Star City looked strange; it was square, with its surface inward.
Entering the interior, a massive energy storage device could be seen at the center, emitting a soft light that illuminated the space.
This was a clever solution. Since wireless power transmission was highly advanced, storing energy as an internal miniature sun was more efficient than creating an artificial sky.
Kehua Star City, and perhaps the entire Federation, had diverse Star City designs.
These were custom designs, a form of competitive differentiation.
If a Star City's design was impressive, others would be more inclined to live there.
Of course, the differences extended beyond appearance, but appearance was the most easily noticeable aspect.
Luna wasn't here to observe these differences.
"So, where are we going now?" Freri followed behind Luna.
Although her physique was slender and tall, she wasn't particularly outstanding within the Star City; there were taller beings present.
Luna led her to a moving walkway.
"Those things—I haven't named them yet. According to my surveillance data, they first appeared at Hertel Technologies."
"Then, radiating outwards from Hertel Technologies."
"I didn't find any useful information in the Hertel Technologies DataNode, but I made a new discovery in the city system."
Freri felt a chill down her spine after hearing Luna's words.
She had spent some time at Hertel Technologies.
"Wait, you mean you deciphered the information in the Hertel Technologies DataNode? You actually unlocked that thing?"
Freri had tried before.
The encryption was too difficult.
She had returned everything to its original state and abandoned the attempt to find information at Hertel Technologies.
Freri noticed something unusual, and Luna did too.
"You didn't discover me at Hertel Technologies?"
Luna noticed the astonishment on Freri's face.
No answer was needed.
"It seems someone else was at Hertel Technologies. That's interesting."
Someone else, and still alive.
Why, of all places, Hertel Technologies?
Luna flew towards Hertel Technologies' entrance.
Although the headquarters were destroyed, Hertel Technologies hadn't completely collapsed.
Such a large corporation, spanning dozens or hundreds of star systems, could quickly appoint a new CEO even after the previous one's death.
However, Hertel Technologies was affected by the incident in Star City 88; its stock price hadn't risen in over a thousand years.
Even for a massive tech corporation, security was lax.
Luna simply used her credentials and passed through without issue.
She reached the office of the Hertel Technologies representative, Raemin, a board member according to her information.
He owned 7% of Hertel Technologies' shares, making him a major shareholder.
"Who are you?" Raemin, a Gargleblast, asked.
He was surprised by Luna and Freri's sudden appearance. The security here was tight; unauthorized individuals couldn't access his office.
Freri, behind Luna, was also puzzled.
Was Hertel Technologies this confident? The branch office showed no caution, allowing outsiders easy access.
Luna casually sat down.
"We're just story hunters, returning from Star City 88."
Raemin tensed and sent a message.
But Luna intercepted it.
"Intruders…"
"We walked right in, Raemin."
"You don't need to be so nervous. Since we're here, it means we know something."
"What we know, others will know. There's no Boundary God here, but the city server isn't untouchable."
"You should tell us everything."
"According to my information, you were frozen for over 800 years. Before the incident in Star City 88, you owned 11% of Hertel Technologies; now, it's 7%. You sold your shares precisely after the incident."
"Don't tell us that's a coincidence."
Raemin, seeing how easily Luna intercepted his message, relaxed slightly.
"It was inevitable, wasn't it?"
"Initially, I felt fortunate that the information from there was suppressed."
"Since you can trace my share sale, you can also trace where that 4%'s proceeds went."
Raemin had sold his shares to distract Kehua Star City from Star City 88.
Hertel Technologies had invested heavily in finding the truth, and Raemin had sent people to persuade Kehua Star City officials not to interfere.
The initial military deployment had failed, leading Kehua Star City officials to believe Star City 88 was too difficult to solve.
Since Hertel Technologies was willing to handle it, let them.
Hertel Technologies spent money hiring explorers, but all were lost without a trace.
After about 100 years with no progress, Hertel Technologies announced they were abandoning the search, and Kehua Star City officially dropped the matter.
The incident remained quiet for over a thousand years.
"According to my information, you were the only one who sold shares at Hertel Technologies at that time."
"Hertel Technologies originally had two founders, one of whom was you. Although you left Star City 88 just before the incident, you were there for 200 years beforehand."
Luna possessed complete information.
Raemin revealing everything to Luna wasn't surprising.
Raemin was at the end of his third lifespan, with only a little over 100 years left.
Theoretically, he had nothing to fear from death. He had been burdened by this for too long; his 800-year cryosleep was an attempt to alleviate the pressure.
"It was fortunate that a business dispute arose right at the start of the experiment, forcing me to leave."
"It saved my life."
"Actually, the experiment itself had no problems; we weren't trying to violate any taboos. I never anticipated such an outcome."
...
1362 years ago, Hertel Technologies felt that Kehua Star City's energy supply was insufficient.
To create superior artificial elements, they needed more powerful equipment. A star system could satisfy their needs.
But relocating to a star system was prohibitively expensive, and star systems had many restrictions; energy was relatively costly.
In the Federation, the value of energy was stable; transportation costs were the determining factor in energy prices.
The Federation government primarily controlled energy resources.
Industrial fuel was expensive.
In Kehua Star City, most energy was used for civilian and commercial electricity, leaving little surplus even for a wealthy company like Hertel Technologies.
Considering everything, building their own power plant would be significantly better.
Fuel production would be guaranteed, and they could profit from surplus energy.
Therefore, Hertel Technologies built a Dark Energy Mine in Star City 88.
However, the Dark Energy Mine's output was far lower than expected—only one-fifth of the projected capacity.
This level of power generation was insufficient.
To increase the Dark Energy Mine's output, Hertel Technologies increased its research investment in dark energy.
They hoped to find new methods for dark energy extraction.
Massive investment led to a breakthrough.
They used their expertise to create an artificial atom to attract dark matter.
Dark matter isn't a single entity; different types of dark matter exist. Some only exert gravitational influence, while others are the "weakly interacting massive particles" of traditional research.
The artificial atom possessed a high weak force, using it to bind dark matter.
This experiment was a success, and Hertel Technologies saw immense potential.
The new artificial atom would bring Hertel Technologies enormous profits.
Therefore, they needed to test the artificial atom's limits. If it didn't meet their standards, its applications would be limited to small-scale power stations.
They conducted dozens of increasingly intense tests. The most powerful test even caused a brief outage at Star City 88's Dark Energy Mine.
This didn't deter Hertel Technologies; instead, it spurred them on.
Hertel Technologies continued testing, reducing the number of artificial atoms but focusing on quality.
Raemin's departure coincided with a routine test—a 5% increase. According to their estimations, they were still 37% from reaching the artificial atom's limit.
That's when it happened.
"So, what exactly were those things in Star City 88?" Freri wanted the crucial information.
While the story's process was important, it lacked drama, lacking any significant ups and downs.
Raemin shook his head. "We don't know."
"All we know is that they were attracted by our experiment."
Freri hadn't expected this answer.
Then what was the point of the entire journey?
She looked at Luna.
Luna, seemingly asleep, hadn't heard the most important point.
"What you said is true, but there are hidden details."
"Such as your actual reason for leaving Star City 88 before the incident."
"Before the incident, you observed a regular pattern of oscillation in the artificial atoms—oscillations that weren't natural."
"You were trying to find the cause, whether something in the Star City was influencing the artificial atoms."
"After the incident, you quickly realized that the oscillations weren't from the Star City but from an alien civilization."
"You studied those oscillations and determined that they were a warning from that civilization. They felt threatened, and the next test completely enraged them, leading to the destruction of Star City 88."
A civilization!
Freri herself had suspected this.
If those things in Star City 88 weren't artificial, then only one possibility remained: an alien civilization.
But she found this inconceivable; it was within Federation territory.
How could an unknown civilization be hidden within the Federation?
Raemin stared at Luna in shock.
He had kept all this secret; how had it been exposed?
But he quickly stopped dwelling on it.
"Since you know everything, what's the point of your visit?" he asked.
Luna smiled.
"To bring justice, of course."
"Dark energy experiments are protected under Federation law. Even if you were wrong, it only disrupted Star City operations, incurring no criminal penalties."
"The civilization's invasion was purely accidental, not directly implicating Hertel Technologies."
"But you subsequently concealed the civilization's existence from the Federation. I suspect you wanted to study this civilization yourself."
"While this civilization is strange, it appears to be at most a Type 2 civilization. The Federation could easily destroy it, but for a corporation, its value is enormous; it might hold the key to dark matter wealth."
"That's grounds for imprisonment."
"Of course, the main reason is that I'm a story hunter; I want to hear more details from you."
As Luna finished speaking, several Hertel Technologies security robots entered.
Raemin felt a surge of relief.
"Quickly, arrest them both."
Raemin had revealed so much information to deceive Luna and Freri, crafting a positive image. Now that this had failed, he wanted to eliminate them.
Freri, upon hearing this, prepared to strike first.
But the security robots moved towards Raemin.
"Mr. Raemin, your actions violate Federation law. I am the Star City server, and I hereby place you under arrest."
"We urge you not to resist. Even if you die, the Federation can restore your consciousness and subject you to punishment."
Unauthorized law enforcement.
The Star City server had taken control of the security robots.
Raemin was now immobile; when the Star City server declared him a lawbreaker, the auxiliary brain and quark robots in his body automatically locked his body.
This was the Federation's absolute control over its citizens.
Luna didn't bother looking at Raemin again and left.
"Let's go. The main event is about to begin. The person I'm waiting for should be here soon."