Ronan showed no reaction to Doctor Tao Xian's scrutiny and continued operating.
Then Doctor Tao Xian saw the humanoid Light Spots, each corresponding to a person in the station, increase in resolution once more, taking on more intricate forms.
Each "light spot" was originally composed of light points of varying sizes—or "stars." They were scattered unevenly, their brightness fluctuating. As the Maintenance Station's layout faded into the background and its divisions vanished, it increasingly resembled an ancient Constellation Chart. Every person was a constellation, alike yet distinct, ultimately gathering into a Starry Sky within the projection area.
She had seen a similar scene before.
This Starry Sky should have been still, shouldn't it?
Before Doctor Tao Xian could finish the thought, the stars seemed to begin moving and flowing, rearranging themselves. Their radiance intertwined, their forms shifted, as though they were about to piece together a passage of text...
It had to be text.
Just as the textual passage formed from the stars was nearly complete, time suddenly reversed, and it returned to the appearance of a Constellation Chart.
Sixty-three people... excluding Ronan, sixty-two. Every one of them was a constellation, all within the grasp of this young commanding officer.
The Constellation Chart continued tracing backward until it finally returned to the version divided by the Maintenance Station's internal structure. Yet none of them were Light Spots anymore; they were still constellations.
As for Ronan himself, strictly speaking, he was represented there as well according to his position. At first glance, he was still a somewhat blurry light spot, but on closer inspection, he seemed to be an especially dense and complicated structure. Dots, strokes, lines, and radiance radiated outward and interwove, making it impossible to discern what it truly was.
Yet for some reason, it seemed a little familiar.