It's a present, one picked out by Astesia for her sister. By now, it's been a whole year since she asked the workshop her sister frequented for a full set of clock parts. The blueprint for the completed thing is her own design, down to the types and itty-bitty details of the parts, but the whole thing was entrusted to the mentor Astgenne trusted most. It was meant for Astesia to personally give to Astgenne at their birthday party, but the silly girl hasn't celebrated her birthday at home in ages. So she waits, for the right moment. And in the end, she gifts it to Astgenne as a farewell present, the day she sends her off to university. She knows Astgenne is bound to like it. Elena likes it indeed, and would love to assemble it. But looking at this pile of fragments, each a piece of art, she's struck by the feeling that she shouldn't complete it on her own. She needs to find some free time—and take up a little of her older sister's—when they can assemble it together. ...Or so she intends. She makes a note to herself on her pad before diving headfirst into her endless university courses and projects. It's always on her mind, always. Every time she meets her sister, Astgenne wants to yank her over to the dorms, so they can complete the gift she gave her together. But she blinks, and deadline for her thesis, and the requisites for her defense, and the pressure of her projects all loom, sucking away all her spare time. Every time she thinks of it, the crush of reality suppresses her urge. Some desires are untempered by time, but life and work are more than capable of postponing the realization of a wish, indefinitely ....... Owing to some circumstances, she's now been sent out by Rhine Lab and become a Rhodes Island Operator. Her Rhine Lab colleagues helped her pack everything, and she now stands in her brand new vacuum of a room, unpacking that minor mountain of personal belongings and experimental equipment, bit by bit. She finds a box laden with dust, and those dolts back at the lab didn't even pack her a dusting cloth. With no better option, she sounds the bell on the dorm room next door, first to say hi to her new neighbor, and second to borrow a rag to wipe off the dust. The door opens. And there's Astesia, who stuffs clean wet wipes and an all-purpose toolbox into her dumbstruck little sister's hands. ...... One wonders if perhaps, after the sisters have finished sorting out the room, that's the sound of a clock we can hear.