PART 1
Alicia went to the room she'd got on Rochester. After flying through the Omicrons, Rochester looked like a playground. But she'd noticed something about her ship: A blue light was coming out of the edges of the glove compartment. Alicia hadn't been near the thing since. But when she went to sleep, it came. The voice was beautiful and alien, but it was just... not right. Like a phantom of the opera...
PART 2 (Longer this time)
Alicia tried not to think about it. But the night after, when the bar had a singing contest, she was dared by the bartender in to singing. It was an old one, from Earth, called The Phantom of the Opera. Alicia remembered the words from one time her mother had visited. But this one was more... metal. Singing the part of the phantom was sung by a transport captain who claimed to have seen The Shrine. But the voice she sang in was like the one in the dream, alien and beautiful.
After the performance, the captain looked at her and started speaking. "When I saw The Shrine, I heard the song of the Nomads, and that was... just like it," Alicia just returned to her room.
Later that night, the voice returned, again like a phantom of the opera. It was calling her name.
PART 3
The voice was still there. Alicia knew what to do. She took a pistol, went to her ship, and opened the glove compartment. Sure enough, the thing inside was a Nomad. She shot it until it was dead and got the dustpan and brush. Alicia emptied it into the dustpan, and shot it out of the airlock. The voice started screaming.
What are you doing?
Alicia reeled in terror.
Amaranth... You killed the last chance... Find The Shrine...
Who was this 'Amaranth'? Alicia stayed in her room for several days, not knowing what to do. But eventually, she decided to set off for The Shrine.
![[Image: rPQpZ1j.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/rPQpZ1j.jpg)