After calming down some, having been explained to repeatedly that the senshi were not purposefully trying to ruin Callum’s life or kill him, and that they would help get him home eventually, Callum settled in. The man had decided that the best place to stay was where he already was, at Chronos Castle. Familiarity breeds affections after all. The last thing Callum wanted to really do was have to get used to entirely different space ecosystem. The Castle had some charm anyways. It would do for a temporary home. It would do well enough to shut Callum up for a little while anyways.

The blondish man was pretty sure if he said one more thing about going back to his real home someone was going to hit him. Those who had settled into Chronos Outpost right away all seemed to be jumping straight into cleaning the place up and brining back its luster. What did Callum do? He moped. Callum spent a lot of his time walking around and pacing the entranceway to the castle. New people were popping in all the time. One of them, at some point would have to be Layton.

Callum had not seen his sister since he let go of her hand on the rainbow bridge. He has no idea what had happened to her or where she ended up. Was she alive, was she dead? He didn’t know. All Callum could figure out was what the senshi folk and other civilians said at they passed by; if she was injured in anyway, Layton would likely be at the Virgo Outpost. Going there would take a couple hours, but the Virgo Outpost was the closest to Chronos Outpost. Of all the possible places to go and check, Virgo Outpost was the most likely and easiest to get to.

Time was hard to really gage for Callum, but he set off to the Virgo Outpost after having what he guessed was lunch. Only because it was a sandwich, which just screamed lunch food. It could have been a dinner sandwich, but really a dinner sandwich makes no sense. Sandwiches are for lunch and they are supposed to come in brown paper bags or from a deli. Callum walked out of the Chronos Outpost and down what there was of the pathway to Virgo. All the while Callum thought to himself what the merits of sandwiches were and if a sandwich without bread would really be a sandwich or if it was some kind of bizarre salad instead.

This line of thinking kept him going for nearly the whole walk to Virgo. It eventually evolved into a conviction that space whales probably don’t like sandwiches unless it was a people sandwich and how much Callum was glad he wasn’t in one.

Upon arrival at the Virgo Outpost, Callum was shocked to see so many healthy people milling about. Callum had expected people to be in rough shape, but for the most part, everyone seemed alright. That gave him hope that perhaps Layton was alright. Callum walked up to the first person he came across who seemed to be in more or less prime condition.

“Hey, yeah. You, sir? Have you seen a young girl with braids? Kinda the color of my hair?” Callum asked. He felt like he should have a picture of her or something, and make lost flyers, as if Layton was a pet rather than his sister. But he was pretty sure there weren’t copiers in space, and even if there were, he didn’t have a picture of Layton to show anyone. The best he could do was gently tug at the ends of his own hair.

“Oh, you mean that little cute terrorist eerrr, I mean, senshi girl? The one with the plush rabbit?”

Callum had no idea who he was talking about. “What? No! My sister is not a senshi! She’s 14! With braids and glasses.” Callum made a glasses shape with his fingers and held his hands up to his face.

“Oh, sorry buddy. Haven’t seen that one. Maybe in the infirmary? Some of those worse off are taking a bit longer to heal up. But it’s a hell of a lot faster up here than any hospital back home.”

Callum rolled his eyes and walked off. The Infirmary huh? He could check there. That was a logical place to look. Callum made his way there. Upon entering the room, Callum saw several people moaning and groaning about their broken bones and dislocated limbs. There was a bit of blood splattered on a cot. Someone must have been hurt badly.

The sight of it made Callum’s stomach churn. He was never much for blood and gore, or the aftermath. More out of habit, Callum covered his mouth with his sleeve. It wasn’t because the place was riddled with disease like a normal hospital, but because Calllum was quite sure he might throw up. He wished for the familiar smell of disinfectant instead of the fresh Virgo air that wafted in. It was really a picturesque scene that the blonde man just couldn’t appreciate yet; not with all these injured people in the way. Callum took a few steps forward, scanning the room. But he didn’t see any familial resemblance in the faces he saw.

The scene was just a bit too much for him. He had to get out of there. Taking a crunched up dry-cleaning receipt out of his pocket, as well as a pen, Callum scribbled a note. ‘LAYTON. If you’re here, leave! Chronos Outpost – C’

If his sister really were here, she’d find the note eventually and understand. Callum didn’t want to continue searching for her here, his note could do that for him. Backing out, he left the note on a table. Then he set off to return to his temporary home.