She walked through one of Valhalla’s transit galleries with her mind distracted by a thousand and one thoughts and analyses. She would pass members of the crew, but as soon as she saw them, she would lightly return their greetings without really being aware of who she had crossed paths with. Everyone had gotten used to her oddities and didn’t give it any importance. Eskandal was like that, they said. She preferred to lock herself in her engineering control center or, at most, work in the hangars on the Gungnir and its incredible accessories. But sometimes she had to visit the bridge or the captain’s cabin. In those last few days, a new destination had been added to her list of points of interest with which to make an exception.

She reached the door of the Valhalla Medical Bay. She activated the security checkpoint and entered inside. She ignored the medical team working with several patients and headed straight for a restricted room at the back. Two einherjars guarded its door with an undaunted look. As she approached them, they greeted her by putting their fists to their chests and opened the door. She greeted them and went inside. She found Alexandra, immersed in a projection with Luis’s genetic and biochemical data. He was unconscious inside a regeneration tank. 

“Hi Alexandra, how is the boy?” Eskandal asked, getting closer to her.

Alexandra looked up and instantly smiled.

“Healing at breakneck speed. Check it out for yourself,” she said, showing her a new projection.

Eskandal watched carefully and nodded in satisfaction. The boy was regenerating at an unprecedented speed, faster than it normally took for a spawn tank.

“Do you mind if I stay with him for a while?”

“Not at all. In fact, it’s good for me, I have to go visit my other patients. I’ll be back in a while,” Alexandra said goodbye with another of her irresistible smiles as she left the door of the room.

Eskandal approached the tank. Luis seemed to be sleeping soundly. He was naked, completely submerged in the yellowish liquid of the regenerative compound. Large scabs covered numerous parts of its body. She marveled that he could still be alive. She still remembered how battered he was when he was taken to Valhalla. Completely pale, almost without the slightest hint of life. Despite being unconscious, his body had regained the tone and strength she remembered. She really wanted him to be completely recovered so she could talk to him. She wanted him to tell her everything he had done and experienced, although she knew that in theory it was forbidden to tell anything related to the Trial. In addition, she had to do a multitude of analyses and tests to check in depth the state of his symbiote and the increasingly incredible bound with the Gungnir.

How could a boy like that be so unique? It was the recurring question she had when she saw him. When she spoke to Luis, he seemed to her a very normal person. Sometimes shy, other times it seemed that he was regaining the spark that he had surely had before everything changed for him. His voracity to know everything related to their technology was incredible. He always listened attentively, with his eyes wide open, constantly interrupting her to ask a thousand questions. She still remembered one day, long before they returned to Borealis Prime, when he wanted to know everything about inertia inhibitors…

“I still don’t understand, Eskandal. Your spaceships and those of the Hekkar are capable of accelerations impossible for us. Right now, here in Valhalla, gravity should tear us apart. How is it possible that we have not turned into mush?”

“That’s why we have inertia inhibitors, in addition to gravitational generators that offer us the gravity you’re experiencing right now.”

“Inertia inhibitors? How is it possible that you can alter the inertia? That’s impossible!” he exclaimed skeptically.

Eskandal smiled and began to draw strokes on a holographic projection.

“You still have a lot to learn from the universe the people from Midgard. The state of a body, whether in its acceleration or deceleration, can be altered and mitigated. Long ago, possibly inherited from the first hekkars who exiled us, we figured out how to do it. A system that allowed us to manipulate the fluctuations of what you think you call quantum foam, which causes the momentum and inertia of an object. If I remember correctly, it is similar to the concept of the particle that your people call Boson-Higgs. Yes, don’t look at me like that. You’re not the only one who wants to know things about others. I have been studying all the data captured by our sensors for a long time. You have no idea how much information you spread through space,” she explained with a smile as she showed him several representations she had drawn.

“But then you’re telling me that you’re able to alter the inertia of objects so that they’re not affected by sudden accelerations and decelerations?”

“Exactly, thanks to the inertia inhibition modules, our vehicles can carry out all kinds of maneuvers without killing or incapacitating pilots and crews. I know it may seem like magic, as you would say, but that technology, together with that of gravitational generators, allows you to have the sensation of being on the surface of your planet instead of floating in the middle of space at impossible speeds. This is what means that we can make atmospheric entries with very tight angles or that energy or ballistic impacts do not tear us apart at first.

“It sounds like cheating, but the truth is that it is fascinating. The Gungnir also has those technologies, doesn’t it?”

“That’s right and with much more. The Gungnir is a whole box of surprises and mysteries. Despite all the time I’ve been working with it, I still feel like I’ve only just begun to scratch the surface. I’m sure that when you can pilot it again, you’ll help me unravel all its secrets,” she challenged him with a smile.

“I wish, Eskandal, but I still don’t see myself able to get back up…” Luis lowered his head, letting his sad thoughts dominate him again.

It seemed that an eternity had passed, after those pessimistic words of Luis. Yet there he was, yes, badly wounded, but strong, powerful, and having shown that he could overcome his fears. Yes, together they had unraveled many features of the Gungnir, but when he was fully recovered, they were going to do much more. She was crazy to show Luis the new accessories she had prepared for the Gungnir. Soon they would be ready to continue their talks and explore together what more secrets were hidden in the most mythical weapon that the Great Father had created.