Helios Fighter

Chapter Thirteen

Suit Up

Talking to Vaio, I felt pretty hypocritical. Baros was ​right there at my door, and I could've talked to her about what I'd just seen, but I felt like I would've been embarrassed anyway. At this point, in my mind, talking to an A.I. seemed less mortifying than that.

Explaining everything on my mind, Vaio was silent, as did calculating what she wanted to say. (Yes, I stuck with the female pronoun.)

"​That's quite a situation,​" she said after a two-minute count. "​Have you told anyone?​" I was again surprised at how genuine her concern was.

"No," I answered. "Not even Baros, and she was just here."

"​Then you should at least tell Ladasha.​"

"Why? No– how?"

"Unclear, but if this matter concerns her, ​she should be in the loop on this.​​"

"Okay, but–"

"​This won't remedy if nothing is said.​"

"I know," I sighed.

"​On a related note–despite being powered off– I continued to monitor the solar phenomenon.​"

"And?"

"​The frequency and force of the solar quakes has increased.​"

"Increased?"

"​One pulse every one-point-five hours at an increased magnitude of fourteen billion ergs.​"

"Increased from?"

"​Twenty-four million ergs.​" I didn't know much about the Richter scale, but I was able to put two and two together, and then divide by six. The data Vaio collected presented more than enough reason for this very facility to exist. First and foremost, the magnitude for the solar quake Vaio gave, assuming I remember that one day from pre-calculus, was almost ​sixty times​ the highest reading on a Richter scale. Secondly, despite being literally a million times the size of our planet, the sun and the Earth are not made of the same things; the Earth, being solid, can handle a level-ten earthquake. The sun, however, it's gaseous, and makes me wonder exactly how much pressure it would take to collapse a star. I didn't want but to know. Finally, these quakes are happening rather frequently. At least, on a galactic scale. Put those things together and ​BAM! ​ our sun could collapse at any given time.

I walked over to my bed, and picked up my access disk. I pressed the open panel that informs me off when a call is coming through. My disk beeped.

"State the name," it said, "or names you wish to call."

"Baros Labo," I said. "Ladasha Ri'Cass, Jhaxius Antimatter, and Galaxia Tesla."

"Stand by." In hindsight, I probably should've called Apollo, too. He was the second person I told about the solar quakes. I don't know why I held off on doing so, but I figured that he'd monitor this if he felt it important.

A moment later, four images​ appeared: Baros, Gally, Jax, and Ladasha.

"Guys," I said.

"Helios," Baros said. "What's wrong?"

"We may or may not be in grave danger."

"What are you talking about?" Jax asked.

"Vaio, restate your observations both from a few hours ago, and just now in regards to the solar quakes."