Giant Machine

"Boss? Boss?"

It was not until Jessica waved her slender hand back and forth in front of him that Richard came back to his senses.

Holding a soft paper cup, Jessica took a hard sip of milk tea through the straw. Pale milk tea mixed with black tapioca pearls flowed up the straw and into her mouth.

They were sitting beneath the outdoor parasols outside a milk tea shop. Gwen sat beside them, sipping an iced drink while playing on her phone.

Jessica narrowed her eyes and looked at Richard suspiciously.

"You zoned out again just now," she said.

"I was just thinking about something."

"Something on Earth, or something beyond Earth?" Jessica asked.

Richard rolled his eyes at her.

"I was thinking about production matters," he said irritably. "The Ultraman movies are about to become a series. We're planning to introduce new characters, and there are a lot of details to worry about."

"Oh." Jessica answered, then continued drinking her milk tea without another word.

Who knew? Maybe he was thinking about some missing purple little girl again?

Jessica was sure she was not the only one who had noticed. She was simply the only one who had said it aloud—Mr. Li had been in a bad mood ever since Galacta left.

She did not know who Galacta was, where she had come from, or what had happened between her and Mr. Li during his time in space. But she could see that they understood each other, and she could see even more clearly that the adorably clueless cosmic girl was definitely important to Mr. Li—even if he might not have realized it himself.

"By the way," Richard said, "didn't I say I was only coming out to buy groceries? Why did you two follow me?"

Gwen put down