The first thing Leo noticed was the silence. Not the dead silence of space or the lonely quiet of a shutdown server, but the patient silence of something waiting. After six months drifting in the cryo-sleep of the Ark-7 , the sudden hush of the terraformed colony ship’s main atrium was jarring.

The transport pod hissed open, releasing a cloud of sterile air into the balmy, ocean-scented breeze. Leo stepped onto a beach of powdered pink coral. Palm trees heavy with golden fruit swayed in a gentle rhythm. It was postcard-perfect. Too perfect.

A figure emerged. She was petite, with large, violet eyes and long, auburn hair tied in twin loops. Two black, cat-like ears twitched atop her head, and a slender, sickle-tipped tail swayed behind her. She wore a simple sundress patterned with white and red spheres. She was an Espeon-type Pokegirl, model E-7: designed for psychic empathy and "affectionate engagement."