"Please come to the main room. Let's start our vote for the next destination.", says Rain. The Thread has finally finished their mission on Kephar, and is ready to depart to another planet. Currently, the crew is flying towards nowhere, in the middle of the Altair system – where Kephar is located.
Mailen, Zarya, Xita and Aeternum have come to the main room together with Rain, and they've all started discussing their planet ideas:
"Alright. Currently, our choices are Mayik, recommended by Mailen and Aeternum, and Hoshinara, recommended by Mailen. There's also the planet of Almatia, that I recommend. Xita, Zarya, what about you folks?", asks Rain, taking the digital data bank that Aeternum made for easy access. "Make sure that it's not too far."
Zarya sits down, and looks at Xita. "I don't know", says Zarya, shrugging her shoulders. Xita, a robot-bartender for the Thread, recommended the planets he saw on the news.
"I watched the cosmic news earlier. There were several planets mentioned that could use our help, for example Astoria, to help unravel their stuff, and let them continue as normal from that huge event.", says Xita, bringing up uploaded images of trash, problematic views, and overall bad experiences from the event area, all from after the event.
"Alright. So, we have four planets on the plate. Almatia, Mayik, Hoshinara and Astoria.", says Rain.
The crew goes to sit at a round table that Rain set up all the way back when she left Earth.
"Alright, who votes for Mayik", asks Rain, waiting for the crew to raise their hand.
Aeternum raises his hand. Result: Mayik 1, Hoshinara 0, Astoria 0, Almatia 0.
"Hoshinara?"
Zarya and Mailen raise their hands. Result: Mayik 1, Hoshinara 2, Astoria 0, Almatia 0.
"Astoria?"
Nobody raises their hands. Result: Mayik 1, Hoshinara 2, Astoria 0, Almatia 0.
"Almatia?"
Rain and Xita raise their hands. Result: Mayik 1, Hoshinara 2, Astoria 0, Almatia 2.
"The votes are tied", says Rain, looking at Aeternum. "It's up to you. Almatia or Hoshinara?"
Aeternum wanted his first proper mission to be a lively one, and not something peaceful like a break. His thought process always kept leaning towards Almatia, but due to his home planet of Mayik being an option – he wanted to visit that planet.
Aeternum stands up. "May you give me a second to think about it? Both are extremely good choices."
"Yes, of course.", says Rain, preparing the coordinate system for wormhole creation.
After a few minutes, Aeternum comes back. "Alright. Hoshinara would give us a small break, but to be honest, we didn't do much on Kephar for us to need a break right now. We could go to Hoshinara afterwards, but I personally think Almatia is our best choice."
Result: Hoshinara 2 – Almatia 3. Aeternum broke the tie.
"Great! I'll put the coordinates in, and you all get ready for departure.", says Rain, grabbing the console and typing in a coordinate that's near Almatia, to create a wormhole.
"Wormhole creation progress... 7%. Distance from Earth: 579.39 light years. Distance from current location: 580.26 light years. Time until teleportation: 2 hours.", spews out the main console. The Thread, a large spaceship the size of a skyscraper, starts glowing in blue. The Thread is preparing for a wormhole warp.
Suddenly, Mailen comes up to Rain in the main room, and tells her that they have to speak privately.
"You're aware that Almatia is under lockdown, right?", asks Mailen, looking at Rain with a warning face.
"Yeah. We can get there anyway, we just can't land without UHC's approval, right?", replies Rain, knowing what Mailen is up to.
"Precisely. This is why I want to ask you to request the UHC to approve our landing on the planet, that we want to help them fight the outbreak.", says Mailen, requesting Rain to contact the UHC.
"Why don't you do that though??", whines Rain, suddenly acting lazy and tired.
"Ugh... fine. Give me an hour.", replies Mailen, knowing that from now on, he will have to deal with Rain's and Zarya's funny doings.
Mailen leaves the room, and goes to the contact center. That is the only way to contact the universe anywhere instantly.
"Hello? This is Mailen Kurpun, member of the Astral Thread. I am contacting you from Altair's star system, requesting landing at Almatia. We are currently creating a wormhole and will be there in approximately 2 hours.", says Mailen through the device, contacting UHC's main channel.
The UHC responds that they have to look at the Thread's reputation first and that they will have to wait a while.
After around half an hour, a female voice can be heard: "This is the UHC's Representative Section. Almatia is currently under lockdown. What is your state of visit?". She sounds suspicious, especially because the Thread is new, and on their side. They didn't expect them to get involved with Almatia.
"We want to help the Almatian people fight the virus outbreak. We heard the news on the cosmic television, and want to pop in. You can send somebody from the Defense Sector for inspection before landing, that's the protocol.", replies Mailen. He knows the entire UHC protocol, because he was a part of UHC until he joined the Thread and gained UHC's approval.
"Give me around 2 minutes to check with the supervisors of Almatia.", says the representative.
Mailen confirms the wait, and a few minutes later, the representative comes back on the line.
"Your visit has been approved. You may land in Almatia. Please follow the rules of Almatia, and enjoy your stay. The UHC is going to wait for you at the entrance of Almatia.", says the representative before sending Mailen the physical copy of the document that approves the Thread's arrival on Almatia.
The call ends, and Mailen grabs the piece of paper that was lying on the mail machine.
Suddenly, right after that, the Thread starts pulsing.
"The Astral Thread's temporary wormhole to Almatia has been created. Please standby and sit or lay somewhere for your safety.", spews out the communications box.
The Thread teleports near Almatia through the wormhole, and the crew starts their meeting.
"Alright. The Dismantling Device is now ready for takeoff to the entrance. Mailen, you got the approval papers?", says Rain, trying to look for Mailen, who was just behind her, trying to scare her – ultimately failing.
"Yup, all here! Let's go.", says Mailen excitedly.
Zarya jumped towards the device, with her 'tool purse' ready.
Aeternum quickly got his important things, such as his phone, weapon, and other necessities and entered the device.
"Dismantling device, ready for takeoff... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Launch."
Meanwhile, in an unknown area in Almatia, an important figure is fighting off a huge pulsating heart-shaped object, failing to destroy it. They have been hit with the virus, straight from the heart, and fled.