The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

REMI looked up at the flickering neon sign – 'Siren'. It's the name of the bar he was about to enter. Their current target – Kit Brooks – frequent this establishment. The plan was for him to befriend the other, try to gain his trust, and then enter his inner circle. Once he accomplished that, the real con would begin.

Last week, a new client reached out to them, asking for them to destroy Kit Brooks. The method of reaching them was rather, well, unique. After all, what they were doing was technically a crime. They set up ads all over [Starnet] and [Cyberspace], the kind that only the most desperate would dare to click.

After clicking the link, they would be automatically sent to the dark web. Specifically, to the site made by Remi. There, they would have to answer a questionnaire. And only those who gave the right answer would pass it. Of course, that's not the only thing involved.

Remi had set up a system that would automatically investigate the person based on the answers they wrote on the questionnaire. That would be easy enough as long as they wrote their name and date and place of birth. He set up this kind of system so they could determine whether their client was truly a victim and deserving of their help.

Once the person passed, he would be able to enter their official site. There, they would list the name of the person/people/group that they wanted to take revenge on. They also had to list that their object of revenge had done. Their team would then check if what the potential client listed was the truth.

Once confirmed to be true, they would send an encrypted message to the client, telling them that they accept their request. Then they would make a plan to deal with the target.

The client who contacted them last week was a university professor. Last year, his younger sister suddenly disappeared. He and his parents naturally went to the police to help them search for her. The result of the investigation of the police was that his sister ran away. Which, of course, they didn't believe.

His sister was a bright young lady, studying art. She never caused any headaches to her parents growing up. Their family might not be extremely wealthy but they still had enough money to last them decades even if none of them worked. His sister didn't lack anything. Her mental state was also not in any way negative. The last time they saw each other, his sister was even telling him how excited she was of an art exhibition which she would participate in. It's simply not how someone planning to run away would act. So, he knew that there must be something wrong.

Even with the result of the police's investigation, their family still continued their search for his sister. At first, they were still full of hope. But as days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months, that hope slowly withered and was replaced by grief. And just a month ago, their worst nightmare had come.

They received a call from another planet. It was from the morgue of a certain police station. They asked them to identify a corpse that was thrown in a metal dump site. When they saw the picture of the corpse, his mother immediately fainted. His father also almost had a heart attack. If not for the advanced medical technology, he might have died then. But even so, his parents weren't the same anymore after that. Especially after knowing the cause of his sister's death.

According to the investigation, she died of drug overdosed. That was not the end of it, according to the police, she was working as a paid escort, a polite term for prostitute. He couldn't accept such a thing. Why would his sister with a bright future ahead of her do such a thing? Unless, she was forced to do so.

He used all his savings to investigate what really happened to his sister. Since she was no longer missing, he thought the investigation would be much smoother. But contrary to his belief, things weren't easy at all. But through the perseverance of the private investigator he hired, he found out that the one who put his sister at a bar to work as an escort was someone named Kit Brooks.

He quickly took the evidence to the police department of the planet where his sister was found. Telling them that the person responsible for his sister's death was this Kit Brooks. The police said that they would look into it. Who knew that it would only be lip service?

It didn't even take them a week to declare that Kit Brooks was not responsible for his sister's death. After that, he completely lost faith in the police. And that's when he found the advertisement of Themis.

Now, Remi was here. At the bar that Kit Brooks frequented.

He walked to the bar and casually ordered whiskey.

[Target on your three o'clock.] – said the voice from an almost unnoticeable earpiece he's wearing.

He turned to that direction in a casual manner as if he was simply looking around. He saw a tall and muscular man about to climb the second floor. Then he put his arm around the shoulder of another man. Remi then only noticed this person who was standing beside Kit Brooks.

He could only see the other's back, but somehow this image made him freeze on the spot. A myriad of emotions flashed on his face – shock, disbelief, sadness, fear, longing, and… hope. A hope that what he's seeing now was not simply a trick of the light or his own wishful thinking.

In an almost inaudible voice, he found himself saying, "Noa…"

After subconsciously calling that name, his mind was suddenly transported to that time many years ago. Back when he was 10 years old. The day that he met the person who would greatly influence the trajectory of his life.