Chapter 41 of 50 in the Under Deepspace arc
Characters across this arc
Main Character Xavier Zayne Tara Rafayel Caleb Jenna Josephine Radio Host Hunters Association President
Other chapters in this arc
Under Deepspace · Under Twilight · 04-02
Interlude
The Main Character and Caleb go to investigate an energy fluctuation source near home; to keep the mission secret, she sends him off to buy vinegar at the store as an excuse to split up. Scouting the block alone, she spots a suspicious man in a cap emerging from an alley, seemingly hiding something; her Hunter's Watch vibrates, showing rising Metaflux in the area exactly as he moves. Suspecting he's the source, the Main Character begins tailing him — and during the encounter, the man wounds her arm, while she senses a strange Metaflux emanating directly from him, leaving her to wonder whether it's from some Protocore he's carrying, or whether he himself is the source. Only Caleb appears alongside the Main Character in this chapter, planting the still-unsolved mystery of the 'man in the cap,' continuing directly from the warm family setting of 04-01, and building the tension that leads into the tragedy about to strike in 04-03.