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Stella walked through the hallway of the ship. Usually, the halls were filled with noise due to everyone’s loud and boisterous energy and chaos, but going for a walk this late at night was soothing in a way. Knowing that everyone was probably asleep, savouring the tranquility nighttime brought.
She closed her eyes, savouring the peace and quiet. Stella truly loved everyone on this ship, but they could all be a bit… much… at times. She liked when it was quiet like this.
“Stella!” A voice from behind her yelled.
Stella jumped, quickly turning around and staring wide-eyed at the person who had disrupted the silence.
“Heya!” Comet waved. “Sorry for startling you! But you’re just the person I was looking for!”
“It’s… fine.” Stella sighed. “Is there something you need my help with? I’m always happy to help everyone here.”
Comet giggled. “Well… you know Raqio’s backpack thingy? That’s connected to their headphones?”
Stella thought for a moment. “I assume it’s some sort of device that has the capability to play audio. Why?”
“I was wondering if you could help me with a prank? Do you think you can hack their backpack-whatever so it plays a specific song into their headphones?”
“I… suppose I could, but that doesn’t sound like a good idea.”
Comet looked up at her, expression akin to a puppy begging for its favorite treat. “Please? It’ll be so funny, you have no idea… Please. I’ll never ask you for anything again! Please, Stella.”
“I don’t…” Stella sighed. “Alright, fine. I’ll see what I can do.”
Comet’s face lit up. “For real?”
“I’ll see. I can’t make any promises, though.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
The following day, everyone was gathered in the main control room for the discussion.
“So,” Setsu started off the discussion. “Sha-Ming was targeted by the Gnosia. A tragedy.”
Comet had the discussion fully tuned out. She was frequently glancing in Raqio’s direction, eyes full of glee. Raqio noticed her stare, frowning in her direction. She quickly looked away, not wanting to ruin it.
“Logically speaking, you were the most at odds with him, Setsu.”
She turned her head towards Stella, vaguely gesturing towards Raqio.
“I want to believe Setsu. Raqio, on the other hand…”
‘Soon.’ Stella mouthed.
“I agree. Raqio’s the most suspicious one here.”
Comet let out a giggle, before remembering where she was and clamping a hand over her mouth.
“What could possibly be so funny, Comet?” Raqio asked, viewing her with suspicion. “Perhaps, as one of the Gnosia, you’re attempting to derail this discussion?”
“Like, OMG Raqio. Shut up.”
“Um... I think Raqio is a little suspicious.”
“What? You’re all incorrigible. You think I’m Gnosia? Get a grip.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Comet could see Stella waving at her. Upon making eye contact, she sharply nodded her head towards Raqio.
Holy shit. It was time.
Comet noticed Raqio frown, cupping a hand over one of their headphones. “Huh?”
She bit her lip as hard as she needed to prevent herself from laughing out loud again. Everyone else was looking at Raqio with equal parts confusion and suspicion.
“Uhh, Raqio? Everyone already, like, agrees that you’re totally guilty! We’re not going to, like, get distracted by that, you know?”
Raqio’s face quickly shifted from confusion to realization to anger, ripping their headphones off of their ears and slamming it down on the table in front of them. With everyone so close together, and with the headphones being at a quite high volume, they could all hear what was playing.
“Oh my god…”
“What the hell?”
“...never gonna run around, and desert you. Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye, never gonna tell a lie, and hurt you.”
“Did Raqio just, like, Rickroll us all?”
Raqio was sent to cold sleep.