The last glimmer of simulated sunset light was completely swallowed by the shadow of Side-7's vast dome, leaving the cold starlight and the crisscrossing navigational light strips within the colony as the dominant force. The scorching smell of the electronics workshop still lingered. Amuro Ray's piercing gaze, piercing through his lenses, and Frau Bo's anxious figure, approaching from the window, were like two invisible nooses, strangling Aiden and nearly suffocating him.

"Amuro! Aiden!" Frau's voice was breathless and filled with barely concealed worry. She practically ran to the workshop door, her light brown hair a little disheveled. "Are you... are you all right? Just now... I thought I heard a strange alarm going off over here?" She glanced over Aiden's shoulder, taking in the devastated scene inside—smoking servers, tangled cables, a lingering odor—and her pupils constricted.

Aiden's heart raced, his throat dry, words barely forming. Was she exposed? How much did she know? "The circuits are overloaded, and they've burned up some old machines," Amuro's voice sounded flat. He had quietly put away the deadly blue data card and, with his back to the door, was sorting through the charred components, his movements as calm and composed as if the shocking scene had never happened. "It's nothing, it's common." He tilted his head, his glasses reflecting Frau's figure, and his tone was almost cold. "What's wrong?"

Frau's eyes flickered between Amuro's overly calm face and Aiden's pale face. The incongruous "normality" only deepened her suspicions. She bit her lip, but ultimately didn't inquire about the workshop's anomaly. Instead, she lowered her voice anxiously, "It's Kai! His father... Uncle Bob. Something happened at the port!"

"What?" Aiden and Amuro turned their heads simultaneously. "A crane lost control and nearly hit him! Some say it was... sabotage! Security has cordoned off the area, and Gai rushed over after hearing the news! He's very emotional..." Frau's voice was tinged with fear. "I'm worried about him..."