Finn, Lena, and Blake finished their breakfast before noon, and without another word about Kepler Space Program or the lost ship, the room's cold atmosphere left heavily.

Regardless of Finn having lost the photograph of Roby and his wife, he was sitting in front of his computer, reading through the screenshot he had taken, on a search for an address. He wanted to visit and talk to Roby despite it all, to see if the old man could help them in any way. It was worth a try.

While Finn was busy reading in his room, Lena and Blake sat together on the sofa, discussing Pluviam and Kepler with equal interest from both sides.

    "So you can't ever leave the city?" Blake asked her after she had described Tempestas and its rules and laws.

    "You can, but there's nothing out there. And it's not very survivable anywhere other than where the city is built. You're better off staying inside."

    "I would hate feeling so trapped."

    "But aren't you guys pretty much living after the same rules? Finn told me you aren't supposed to leave the city."

    "Yes, but—"

    "How is that any different?"

    "I suppose, it isn't."

    "And it's worse for you. Kepler is so beautiful and you don't even get to explore it. Have you ever been to the mountains?"

    "The lake is as far as I'll go. And that alone can get me sent to Pluviam."

    Lena's mind had drifted off. The view was too incredible to stay ignored; in the daylight, Lena could see how big Westlake City truly was. It seemed to have no beginning and no end.

Between the tip of two buildings, she was seeing a green area but was unable to imagine what it could be. She noticed a circular gap of architecture behind those two skyscrapers, making her all the more curious about the hidden layers of Westlake.

    "Lena?" Blake spoke in a tone that let her assume it was one of many attempts to reach her ears. "Did you hear me?"

    "Sorry, what?" Lena said, wrenching her eyes from the neighboring buildings and the blue sky that reflected upon its dark glass.

    "I asked you which planet you like the most."

    "Oh. I don't really have a preference."

    "I'm surprised to hear that. You made Tempestas sound worse than hell itself."

    "It is," she said, adding to Blake's confusion. "But it wasn't so bad once I met Finn."

    "So you guys are dating," Blake concluded, sounding convinced and gruntled. "I knew it!"

    "No!" she denied, her voice coming out more squeaky than intended.

    "But you like him."

Her face burned up in a radiant color that was surpassing red by a behemoth's leap.

"You do!" Blake blasted, full of excitement. His voice traveled the hollow room and, at the speed of light, Lena pressed her flat hand against Blake's mocking grin.

    "No, I don't!" she whispered frantically, shifting glances from Blake's smug face to Finn's unlatched door.

Lena listened patiently. As did Blake. A quiet, barely audible typing noise told them that Finn was still working to collect information. Steadily, Lena retreated her hand. Still redder than the ripest tomato, she chewed her lip as she waited for Blake to speak first.

"You can't fool me. A blind person could see that you're head over heels! Don't worry, I think it's great."

    Blake's boastful smirk pushed her to prove him wrong.

    "He likes someone else."

    Blake's jaw dropped to the floor. "No—way! Two girls? What's happened to him?"

    "Be quiet! Please!"

    "Who is she?"

    "She was a passenger of that ship we tried to find. Her name was—"

    "Nitha." Blake's excitement died directly.

    "You knew her?"

    "Knew her? We were all really close friends."

    "Then you must know that she is Finn's girlfriend."

    "Was," rectified Blake. "She was Finn's girlfriend. They are long broken up."

"What?" Lena smiled, but only for a second. "It doesn't matter. He still likes her."

    "She's gone. I have no belief that they will meet again."

"Finn believes. He won't give up."

Lena's credence was unshakeable. She knew to believe what she saw as true. And that was that Finn, despite Blake's contradicting confidence, was indeed taken.

"Before Finn left for Pluviam, he could not stop talking about Nitha. But since he's been back, he hasn't mentioned her once. Not once! So don't be so reluctant of the idea that Finn—"

    "Shh!"

"I noticed the looks he gives you," Blake said in muted tones.

    "What looks?" she was eager to know.

    "The same that you give him. Are you telling me he doesn't know?" Something snapped in Blake's mind. "That's why he hasn't confessed yet."

    "Confessed? Don't be preposterous! We don't keep secrets from each other. If he had anything to say to me, he would have done so already."

    "Not to you. To himself. Words evade him when it comes to his own feelings."

"So he's told me." She thought about their private talk on Thrake's peak.

"Yes. Finn is rejective of them. Always has been, and lately more than ever. But—he's different around you."

"Different how?" Lena's heart was racing, trying to run, but where to?

"Ten years I've been his best friend, and in all this time I have never seen him this content. Even with Nitha, they'd argue a lot. With you, he seems just happy. You're the spark that ignites something in him. He used to be stuck in the past, wishing for a future. Now I see him finally living in the present. If I believed, I'd call it a miracle."

"S—so you think—" Lena's voice dwindled more and more, her heartbeat pounding painfully faster, "—that, that Finn—he could actually—"

"Why are you guys whispering?" Finn said, suddenly standing at the railing upstairs, looking down at the two. "Are you guys talking about me?" he laughed, unmindful of his joke's accuracy to the truth.

"Of course!" Blake flung back, causing Lena's nausea to clamber up her throat. She tried to swallowed her fear but it had clawed itself into her throat. Blake had emphasized his answer in such exaggeration that Finn understood it as sarcasm and disregarded it directly.

"I found an address," Finn announced proudly, waving with a piece of paper. "Let's go!"

Lena stood up without delay, and remained standing awkwardly stiff and straight while Blake reclined on the sofa.

"I wouldn't go today if I were you," he advised Finn. "It's Saturday. The streets are bustling like crazy. Someone will recognize you, even with the hat."

"This can't wait!"

"Finn, I know it's important, but people will be very suspicious once they see you walking around Westlake when you shouldn't even be on Kepler. You won't be able to blame anything on Arrakis if you're seen. They'll recognize that you've been fine and that you could have asked for help if Arrakis did threaten you, and—"

"Alright, I got it," Finn heckled. "We'll go tomorrow. But tomorrow for sure."

"Um, Finn?" Blake said in empathetic earnest. "Tomorrow is the twentieth."

"So?"

"June, Finn, it's June."

His eyes cracked open. "It can't be! Is it really? Of course it is, you're right. How could I forget?"

"You couldn't have known. It's okay. I just thought I'd inform you, in case you wanted to visit."

"Thanks, Blake. I want to. Yes, I think I will."

Lena had no clue what they were talking about, but she said nothing, for she was glad that the focus was no longer her relationship with Finn.