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October 10th, 826 A.S. - Cortez


The Apahanta was watching over the reconstruction efforts on and over Curacao. The mooring fixture was covered with ships of the four sirian houses, coming for trade, supply and vacation. OSC always had good ideas for making the best in bad situations. Luckily, the planet was left mostly unharmed and while most attention was drawn to the Betheny and the Yukon drifting infront of the planet, guarded by Liberty and Bretonia, normalcy returned planetside, where people continued to thrive and enjoy a few days in an ocean of grey areas and sins.

Leon not so much, though. His work on another brilliant upgrade of the Apahanta's jump drive was hitting the final stage. While the progress he made over the past two years were significant and pretty impressive, at this evening he was too tired to divert any additional thought to his work. His Apahanta suit was smelling slightly like the industrial materials in the workshop. A bit of metal, a bit of grease and oil, a bit of phosphor, possibly a notion of his sweat, especially from his blond hair. Generally a not too attractive mix of scents. As Leon entered his quarters on the Apahanta, his first glance was caught by his bed. It was too tempting to just fall in there. Drop down, let everything be as it was. Closing the eyes, sleeping. But then the bed would smell and he didn't really want to wake up like that and still wearing the dirty suit.

He moved into the bathroom and pulled the zipper at his neck down, freeing his chest, then the belly, right down to his best parts. He freed his arms, then wiggled slightly to get the skin-tight material off his body, sat down on the seat of the toilet to get his legs out of the onesie. When Ezrael gifted him his first Apahanta suit, Leon wore it with pride. It was sort of a dream to work on a space ship, an even better dream as it was captained by his best friend and mentor. Now he gazed down at the suit, seeing all the dirt on it, smelling the scent that covered it. Wearing this suit ment a lot of responsibility. A lot of work. A lot of risks and dangers. But a good life?

His muscles managed to lift his lean body up again. The tiredness was less physical and more mental, although the fact that it was pretty late in the evening added a bit to the current status. The blond Curacaoan moved into the shower cell and since the ship knew what he was going to expect in there, it automatically let warm water rain down on the sunnyboy. His body felt heavy, the fatigue rushing to the spotlight. Leon needed to stabilized himself, leaning his back against the wall. He closed his eyes, the warm water washing sweat, dirt and grease off his hair, letting it run down his naked body.

Was life here good? He didn't know. He did know, however, that life was definitely not bad on the Apahanta. Good food everyday. Nice people around. He sort of had full control over his working shedule as Chief Engineer. Ezrael never asked for too much. He knew Leon was one of the most valuable members of the crew. He was skilled, well-trained and had the most experience with the equipment of APM and IRG and their own items here on the ship. And while the Apahanta was cloaked or in secured areas most of the time, Sirius was breaking apart all around them. Bretonia lost a majority of its population, Curacao suffered from debris bombardements, Kusari and Rheinland had a quick bloody war over Sigma-21, and who knew what threats were rising up in the Omicrons? Ezrael had kept them away from all these conflicts, and even managed to maintain the NAP between the Apahanta and the Nomads. Sure, there was this battle over Gran Canaria that almost killed them all, and all the little hell-ish adventures Ezrael had to endure with Maren and other women, but Leon thought he had a good life here on the Apahanta. Things were better for him.

And then he had to think about Nancy.

The rain stopped. The wet Leon stepped out of the shower cell and grabbed the first-best towel. One of them fell to the floor, but he didn't care. With the towel in his hand, rubbing it against his face, then the hair, he stepped back into his room, aiming for the bed. A minute later most of the moisture on his skin was now part of the towel, and despite it being rather wet, Leon placed it on his pillow and dropped his body on the bed. His hair was still soaked, so the towel was absolutely justified. Presenting his bum to, well, nobody, Leon closed his eyes once more, shifted his head slightly to be able to breathe and tried to sleep.

Nancy had forgotten about him, entirely. Not in the melodramatical sense. In the literal sense. She didn't remember him at all anymore. Why did he have to think about it right now?

Oh.

He opened his eyes again, and the line of sight lead directly to the robot. It looked like her, almost identically. Kishiro was extremely good at creating replica of real humans for... services. This robot was exactly one of such. Sombra once gifted him this one, thinking it would be a good replacement. Leon tried to think about how long the robots was here in his room already. Probably more than half a year? He hadn't used it once. There was only one situation where it was tempting. That was when he had changed the clothes of the robot, only to realize how well the synthetic skin felt. Human-like. The hair was realistic as well. All in all, it looked like Nancy. Did it sound like her, too? He didn't know. It was always deactivated. When he gave it Nancy's Apahanta Suit to wear, it didn't talk. He left it offline.

Sighing, Leon turned around, looking at the wall to the right of the bed. Nancy. So many nice memories. So many dark memories. What a bombshell. Once more he turned to his left and looked at the robot. She was just standing there, her eyes closed. Leon moaned, turning away from the sight. The thoughts had made him horny. There was this memory of their first time. It was back on the Hoffnungsschimmer, down in the engineering. Nancy had watched him replacing an energy relay pipe. He had to climb into a shaft for that. When he returned and everything worked again, she offered him to inspect his shaft as well. So she did.

Leon stood infront of the robot, feeling awkward. This was no real person. It was just a human-sized toy. A doll, just very realistic. And programmed for certain things. Gulping, the 28 years old Curacaoan leaned forward, his hand sliding behind the ear of the synthetic woman. It made click! She opened her eyes and he quickly retracted his hand and made a step back. She smiled, inspecting him.

"Uh, he-hello?" he stuttered, not knowing what to say now.

She just smiled at him and made a step towards him. "What do you want me to do?" she asked him, and a chill ran down his spines. It was her voice. Her actual voice. In the end, that made sense. Leon knew Sombra had taken 3D-scans of Nancy from the Apahanta's personal files. So that was why she looked identical. She probably did the same with the voice, and there were enough voice files of Nancy out there, even on the neural net. After all, she was a terrorist.

"I, eh... I don't know, I didn't think this far, to be honest." He made a few more steps back, another step when she followed him.

"Do you want me to remain passive?" she asked him, and he blushed as she looked at his lower body.

"Uh, I, eh, yes? I mean, uh... you know, just turn around and return to where you were and deactivate yourself." He swallowed.

"I can do that. Are you sure you want me to do that, though? You look like you had other plans with me. I would happily do whatever you want me to. Anything."

"I know. You're a robot, after all. That's your program," he explained, as if it was necessary. As it turned out, it was not. "Please return to your loading station and deactivate yourself."

She made a move to comply, but halfway she turned around, then proceeding to make her steps backwards towards the loading station. "Am I not attractive to you?" she asked him, smiling.

"You're very attractive. It's just that you are like her. You sound like her and look like her. It feels weird to see you like that. And I'm not sure whether it should be like that."

She was at the loading station, still smiling at him. "I can alter my appearance for you, if you wish. I can also alter my voice, if you prefer that as well. My sole purpose is to make you happy, after all. And I would really love to make you happy."

Leon took a deep breath through his nose, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "It's tempting, but maybe somewhen else, under different conditions. Thank you, though. I think I am a bit happier now," he said, faking a smile. Then she shut herself off. Exhaling, Leon looked down between his feet. "Everything would be easier if I could forget about her, you know. Just like she did, forgetting about me. Just like that. I never existed in her life. She wanted children from me, and then she forgot about me. Not that I want children. It's just so... cruel. I loved her. I probably still do. And looking at you reminds me of this love."

The robot didn't respond, It was shut off. Sighing once more, he fell back into the bed. "Now I'm talking to myself. How embarrassing..."



October 11th, 826 A.S. - Cortez


Entering the corridor to the canteen was, next to the shower in the morning, by far the most awakening experience one could have on the Apahanta, so Leon thought. It was less about the people that leave their quarters or keep the doors open while preparing for breakfast to talk with the people next door, although if he was honest, Leon liked that really much here. No, it was the scent of freshly ground and brewed coffee, combined with the scents of freshly baked buns, cut fruits and sausage and cheese. On a ship where the air was mostly clinically filtered and sterile, at least outside the personal quarters, these scents managed to be way more impactful. Especially the coffee.

The blond boy reached the canteen, took a tray and moved over to the buffet. The epicenter of good scents and tastes. His stomach was making sounds for a while now, simply since he forgot to eat anything yesterday in the evening. A few moments later, his tray was filled with various foods, ranging from a bowl of cereals over buns to a fruit salad and a pudding, as well as a cup of coffee. Carrying said tray to the bridge officer table, he sat down right next to Commander Aguilar, who was always the first person to arrive for breakfast, just to get herself a mug of coffee. She was also always the last person to leave, except if she was required to be somewhere else. Usually she sat there with her mug and a PDA, reading up on things. Ship status, crew reports, logistics, boring things that needed to be done by someone. Surely not by the Captain.

"Good morning, Commander," Leon sounded quietly as he placed his bum next to his superior officer.

"Good morning, Chief Engineer." She continued to read the report. "Slept well?"

"Mhm. And you?"

"Mhm."

And with that, he took the spoon and started to munch around with the cereals in the milk. It was a small bowl, so that was done quickly. A few other crew members entered the canteen and waved over to him and Sherry, but no other bridge officer was present yet. "Where's Ez?"

"With the baby," she replied idly while reading.

Leon sighed. "You know, I often forget about him being a dad now. Definitely not the role I ever saw him in."

"Yepp." She scrolled down, then took her mug and sipped a bit of her coffee.

"I guess times are changing. For the better or worse."

There were a few moments of silence. Sherry just kept on reading, scrolling down every now and then as well as taking a sip, while Leon simply enjoyed his breakfast, first clearing the bowl of cereals, then progressing with his bun. For some reason, everyone seemed to take their sweet time to get to the canteen. Not that there was anything speaking against it, as breakfast was usually from 0600 to 0700 and even then only optional, conditionally, but usually there was more going on around this time. But then again, Ezrael was with Abigail and Luna, so that took already two people away from the officer's table. And Sombra was probably not coming either because of that fact.

Just as he thought about that, he was proven wrong, as Noel entered the canteen and headed for the buffet, followed by a quickly approaching, almost ambushing Sombra, who seemed to intentionally trying to annoy or at least joke around with Noel. He watched the two for a while, mindlessly staring over to them, until he heard Sherry's voice.

"The Captain is insisting on me spending some time planetside."

Swallowing the bite, Leon nodded. "You haven't left the ship in a very long time. He might be right with that, Commander."

"You haven't left the ship in a long time either." She took a sip, her eyes still focused on the PDA.

"Well, I was pretty busy in the engineering."

"So was I with administration and command."

Leon reached out to take his bowl of fruit salad. "I'm still working on the upgrade of the recharger."

"I know." She turned took another sip of her coffee while waving her PDA in his direction, signaling she had read the reports. "I've booked a vacation week on Neo Tokyo."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Good. Miss Hookier will drop us off there with her transport and pick us up one week later."

Only now Leon realized what she said. "Wait, for me as well?"

"Yes." She still seemed to be focused on the PDA.

"Uh." He stared at his tray for a moment. What was that supposed to mean? A vacation with his commander? She was the most distant person on this ship, keeping pretty much everyone except Ezrael away from herself. Did she really want to get in touch with the crew now? "Thanks, I guess?"

"You're welcome."

For a moment, there was more silence. Then Noel and Sombra joined them at the table, especially the latter being overly giggly. The former had milk spilled and loose all over the tray.



October 11th, 826 A.S. - Cortez


At the very same time in Abigail's quarters, the shower turned on. Ezrael listened to it as the door to the bathroom was still open. Staring at the ceiling, he lay in bed, already wearing his workout outfit. Most importantly however was the little human being that lay on his chest, bundled in warm blankets, held with one hand. It was Luna Vertiga, his daughter. She slept.

It was warm in this room, pretty cozy. Still, Ezrael didn't feel too comfortable. It was less about who he was with. The little girl was an angel, at least as long as she remained at his chest or in the arms of her mother. It also wasn't about Abigail, despite him knowing everything he needed to know about her.

No, it was about their guests.

A few minutes later, Abigail returned from the bathroom, her body covered in a large towel, her hair still wet. Moving over to him, she sat down at the edge of the bed, smiling at him and her daughter. "You two look so lovely like that."

"There is nothing lovely about this little poop machine," he said in a quiet, sweet voice, knowing the baby won't be able to understand his words but the sound of his voice. "You should help me, she is absorbing my warmth like a parasite."

Taking him as serious as he wanted her to, she ignored him and gently stroked the head of the baby. "Hello Luuuuunaaaa," she whispered, prolonging the vowels of her name. "Absorb all of his warmth and then his powers!"

"Better ready yourself instead of turning her into a monster like yourself."

"And here I thought you like it when I absorb your warmth." Smirking, she leaned in to kiss him on his lips. "What's your plan for today?"

"Getting a quick snack, then doing some workout, then a shower and I guess I'll need to take care of our guests. Not much else to do. Leon, Sombra, Noel and the Commander are going to depart today. Will be a boring week." He sighed quietly, looking down at Luna, simply to avoid eye contact with Abigail who still kept her head close to his.

"That means you can't leave the ship. I guess that means I'll have you for myself for the entire week?" she asked him, smiling more widely. Her hand caressed his cheek.

His response followed after some hesitation. "I guess as much as I get time for that, given Sherry isn't here. I need to do everything she usually does."

"But you'll sleep here every night, right?" she asked before pecking him again.

"Only if you two don't get on my nerves," he answered in his sweetest voice.

"I'll try." A third kiss, then she stood up again and returned to the bathroom. Ezrael stared at the ceiling again, a hand gently stroking over Luna's head. Like that he remained there for another fifteen minutes until Abigail finally returned to get her Apahanta suit from the cabinet. Slipping into it, she returned to the bed. Ezrael looked over to her, watching her zipping up her suit. Her hair was styled now. Still, she looked weak. He knew she was trying to look good for him. Sighing inwardly, he took the bundle off his chest, moved a bit and placed Luna back on the warmed spot on the bed. Then he stood up.

Abigail slung her arms around him, burying her face in his neck. He had showered and smelled fruity as usual. After some hesitation, he placed his arms on her hips. She knew it was without any passion, the way he treated her, but she also knew he tried.

Since Commander Aguilar, Leon, Noel and Sombra had left for their vacation, the daily workout session was dropped and people were free to do what they wanted to. Still, when Ezrael entered the gym, there were a few faces. Lynn, Drone Pilot Trainee; Becky, Drone Pilot Trainee; Brad, Armory Officer; Mitchell, Chief Security Officer. Lynn and Becky were usually hanging out together as they were best friends from working together on bridge, piloting the Rovers, while Mitchell and Brad simply wanted to remain in shape.

The Captain moved over to one of the treadmills, looking over to the two girls that were currently just sitting on a bench, talking and giggling about something. He didn't listen. Setting up the treadmill, he took a deep breath. Then he went for the jog. The world around him was slowly fading away as he was more and more lost in his thoughts. So many things had changed since he took the Apahanta's command. He deserted from the Core, went rogue. Half of the crew died when they went out of bounds. He ended up being in a relationship with a Wild. Got a daughter from a woman that works against him. There was still a bounty on his head, so settling down was impossible. Breaking up with Maren with impossible, as the nomads would start to hunt them down for all the knowledge they have. And despite loving his daughter, he couldn't make peace with it being the child of a BIS agent. And she just reminded him about none of his close friends being on the ship right now. Leon, Sombra, Noel, Sherry, all on vacation. Unlucky timing. And then the other things, like the guests.

The jog felt good though, exhausting him slightly. After twenty minutes he realized that Becky was now on the treadmill infront of him. She was still talking with Lynn on the treadmill next to her. There were some interesting memories he had about Becky. When HOT GEAR had sent her to the job interview, and she heard it was lead by Ezrael Vertiga, she was expecting a different job. So she had prepared herself for a certain kind of casting. Instead she ended up becoming a drone pilot for the Rovers. Average piloting skills, but the Rovers weren't built for combat anyway. She did a good job at what she was supposed to do. She was also popular and kind. Sometimes she wrote articles for the internal news.

"I guess that means I'll have you for myself for the entire week?"

Again the sound of the shower, mixed with female moaning. All the sweat was washing off. It was weird, Ezrael thought, his eyes closed. There was only the wall infront of him anyway, and water would get into his eyes. He held her lower back while she was slung around him.

"I guess that means I'll have you for myself for the entire week?"

Ezrael stepped out of the shower and took his clothes while Becky remained where she was. It annoyed him that he couldn't stop thinking about Abigail's words. No matter what he did.

"I guess that means I'll have you for myself for the entire week?"

He sat in the canteen, alone at the officer's table. Nobody else was here. Just him and the PDA infront of him. Weird, he thought. Just weird. His head was slightly tilted left, supportively held by his left fist against his cheek. His eyes were aimlessly staring his right arm on the table, middlefinger slightly rubbing against the tip of his thumb. There was no focus at all. The PDA was uninteresting, just reports saying everything was green for all systems. The crew consumed the same stuff as usual. The plants of the hydroponics were ready for the harvest. Monthly medical checks were alright, only one small second degree burn from clumsily touching a hot tool in the workshop. No pregnancies, no food poisoning, no flu. It was different only for the guests.

Ezrael stretched, lifting his arms into the air, arcing his back, moving the shoulderblades. It was time to visit the guests. Wearing his Apahanta suit now, he walked down the corridor to the lift. Down. Deeper. Deeper. Lowest section of the crew quarters, currently only with restricted access. It was his ship. He could go anywhere. The four security robots surrounding him as well.

The lift doors opened up again. A few meters of walk, then he reached the meeting area of this deck. Two gallic men, two gallic women at the table, playing poker via PDA link.

"But you'll sleep here every night, right?"

"Any news on her?" Ezrael asked, a firm expression in his face as he focused one of the gallic officers. He stood up out of politeness, then shook his head. "Any requests?" The gallic officer shook his head once more. Ezrael looked at the eyes of the other officers. They had mixed expressions. None of them angry, though. Something he considered a good sign. "I've stumbled across a large pack of cigarettes in the storage. They aren't gallic, but maybe still better than nothing. Just don't forget to keep the windows closed when smoking," he sounded, taking the package out of the hands of one of the four security robots, moving closer towards the table of gallic people and placed it there. One of them nodded in appreciation.

But Ezrael didn't pay much attention. His gaze was focused on one of the doors, and he moved towards it. One of the gallic officers stood up as if Ezrael had provoked it, but the one next to him patted his shoulder, so he sat down again. Ezrael entered the room, looking at the person in the medi-bed. Then at the display. The values were in yellow. The person was stable now.

Leaving the room, Ezrael gifted the gallics a final look, then left for the lift again. The guests were fine. Fine enough. And they didn't seem to plan anything conspicious...



October 11th, 826 A.S. - New York


The Catport had left Cortez and took the lanes to Manhattan. Arriving there, the transport moved close to Trenton Outpost. This was something that caused confusion among the passangers. All four of them were on bridge. Sombra and Noel at the consoles, Sherry on the bunk, reading something on her PDA while Leon had made it himself comfy in Sombra's memory foam beanbag chair, listening to music via earbuds. When Sherry however realized they were not moving anymore, she looked around the angle over to the cockpit.

"Why are we not moving?" the Commander asked, watching Sombra moving off her seat slowly.

"Erh, there is some kind of battle going on at Fort Bush. So we'll wait here for a bigger convoy and tag along. I really hate this corridor, to be honest. New York and Colorado are the places where I get taxed the most," she explained and stepped over to Noel, who looked up at her. "While we're waiting here, you could take a look at the machines."

The boy nodded and stood up as well, following Sombra to the back corridor. Leon looked over to them for a moment, but figured he wasn't required. Shrugging, Sherry continued reading her PDA.

Noel was always rather concerned when he saw the long thin corridor connecting the bridge with the rest of the ship. Whales were practically just an exoskeleton with modular containers attached, forming the main bulk below the ship. After being used to the Apahanta's heavy armor and deadly weaponry, being here on a ship this fragile was slightly intimidating. Luckily Sombra's usually lightheaded nature was enough of a distraction. Once they had left the bridge, she took Noel's hand and they moved down the corridor together.

The Catport's engineering section was rather big compared to the rest of the ship, given the ship's nature. Big, and yet the innards of the ship were stuffed together, leaving only so much space to manouver in between. "Why so quiet?" she asked him as they moved through a jungle of cables and machines.

"I'm not quiet."

"You weren't saying anything. That's sort of what quiet means."

"Well, what am I supposed to say, then?" the boy asked her.

They stopped at a wide pillar of technology. There was a small vent, allowing to climb inside to a tube-like cavety. Sombra pointed at it. "You could tell me about what you and Leon are currently working on? I heard it's something big and important and everyone is excited about it."

The slim boy crouched into the vent. It was bright enough in there, and claustrophobia was not his issue. It smelled weird in there, though. "It's a recharger module for the jump drive batteries. Say, did you spill a peppermint milkshake in here?"

She nodded, which was something he couldn't see. So she felt stupid for a moment while looking at his feet disappearing in the machine. "I just nodded. Eh, well, not in there but somewhere here when I did some repairs."

"Why are you doing the repairs? That's something you should leave to people who know what they do." His voice sounded slightly muffled from where he was.

"Uh, I do know what I do, Noel. I'm not a mechanic but I know my shippie. She's still flying, after all."

Noel sighed, more inwardly. It was definitely heated in there and he started to sweat already. "Oh, okay, so you made an attempt to fix it, then spilled your peppermint milkshake here, it burnt slightly and then you left, leaving things as they were. You daft nut."

"Daft nut," she replied quietly, chuckling. "Tell me more about the recharger module."

She heard him opening the tool case as he needed to get something to fix what she could not. "Erh, well, it's meant to recharge the jump drive batteries. The Apahanta doesn't have the space to reliably store the energy for more than two jumps without recharging at a station. That means just one jump for going somewhere and one jump for returning. Each jump costs, according to Ezrael, about four point five million credits. Two jumps equalling nine millions already." He dropped a tool, which made Sombra cringe for a moment in surprise. She exhaled and made a few steps back and forth, listening to his explanation.

"For a billionaire like Ezrael, that's peanuts, of course, but still a whole lot of money in the long run. That and we are also dependant on third parties to refuel the jump drive batteries. So Leon came up with an idea a while ago, before I joined. So, when the Apahanta was stranded in the void, he invented a way of harnessing the radiation-based energy of a black hole, or a black hole-looking like anomaly to be more precise, to get some juice for the jump drive batteries while also fueling a shield that negated the gravitational pull of the black hole-looking like anomaly."

"Just say black hole, I don't care if it did have characteristics not matching those of a black hole," she said, sitting down next to the vent.

"Anyway," Noel began, followed by a few loud sounds coming from inside the pillar. They stopped a few seconds later. "Leon then tried to optimize this to, you know, enable the Apahanta to do that again without all the compromises. The Apahanta has something that is unique to it. No other ship has this experimental power core with this configuration of nomad technology parts. The Core altered the design of the current Mako to use a more streamlined power core with less questionable aspects."

"... yeah." This kind of technobabble was a bit too much for her. Nevertheless, she knew Noel was pretty happy about knowing these kinds of things, so she let him continue, smirking while peeking at his legs through the vent.

"The nomadic parts of the ship are super sensitive when it comes to radiation. This is something APM made use of in their stuff. But instead of taking the energy of the energy core to refuel the jump drive batteries, which is a pretty big alteration to the energy relay system of the ship and could fuck up the balance of the flow, so to say. I'm sure you don't want to know the details, anyway. So Lean came up with a passive recharging system instead, because space is full of radiation and the closer we get to stars and some other stellar bodies, the more radiation is present. Usually the amount of radiation is so incredibly tiny that you can't really do much with it, but if the Apahanta was to get close to a sun or other source of intense radiation, it would charge the batteries, in comparison, pretty fast. Not as fast as taking the energy from a station, but fast enough to allow us to jump around happily without needing to be worried about running out of jump juice."

"Like deployable solar panels!" Sombra exclaimed and smiled at Noel, who was on his knees for a moment to get another tool out of the case.

He smirked back at her, sweat dripping from his nose. "Yes, something like that. We thought about that for a while as well, but solar panels need a lot of maintenance and are quite inefficient, in comparison to the nomadic parts. They say the Nomads are fully reliant on radiation-based energy. Ezrael said that is only half of the truth, as a certain amount of energy comes from the entity that controls the ship. Mind juice, so to say."

"Wow. So you two are actually inventing new technologies. How are you going to name it? Isley-Baker Recharging System?" she proposed.

Noel closed the tool case and crawled through the vent over to her. She stood up with him. "Most of it was his idea, I didn't do much. If anything, this is his invention. Also, I fixed that thing, you connected the wrong wires. Your luck the ship didn't blow apart from that."

She squeezed him. "N'awww, thank you." Letting go for a moment, her hands moved up to his face and held his cheeks. "I have a reward that might blow you apart. Want it now?"

There was a moment of hesitation as he looked into her eyes. A drip of sweat running down to his chin. "I don't think Simone would allow me to receive the gift."

Sombra chuckled and pecked his nose. "Your loss, then..." Letting go of him, she made a few steps in the direction of the bridge corridor, then looked back to him. "Are you coming?"

"Ja. Yes, I mean." Exhaling audibly while she moved ahead, he remained where he was. The smell of burnt peppermint milkshake was still in the rather heated air. Reminded him slightly of Curacao. No wonder she was barely sweating. "... an entire week of that..."



October 11th, 826 A.S. - New York


While Fort Bush was under attack by the Rogues, the Catport remained where it was, in the secured area infront of Manhattan. With Noel and Sombra being somewhere in the back of the ship, Leon was alone with Sherry on bridge. He still sat in the bean bag seat, listening to music via earbuds while watching something on his PDA. Sherry on the other hand sat on the bunk bed, reading something herself on her PDA.

It was quiet. There was no other sound than the rumble of the machines and air moving through the ventilation shafts. Sherry sighed silently, but Leon didn't notice it. A few moments later, he felt like being watched. Her head was facing her PDA, but he could have sworn she was eyeing him. So he eyed back. She didn't react. He looked at his PDA again.

A moment later, he felt it again. Turning his head towards her, he bluntly gazed at her. She then turned her head towards him, returning the glance.

"What?"

"What?"

"You were looking at me, weren't you?"

She gave him a questioning look. "It's not like there are many other things to look at around here."

Taking a deep breath, he removed his earbuds and paused the video. "'Kay." He scratched his nose. "Uh, what is the plan, by the way? Like, what are we going to do there?"

The Commander put her PDA aside but remained sitting where she was, leaning her head against the wall above the headrest of the bed. "I booked rooms for us in the capital in one of the best hotels there. All-inclusive, room service, et cetera, et cetera. There are modular daily activity plans, so you can do what you want to when you are there. I didn't sign you up for anything, so if you just want to stay in your room, you could do that."

Leon blinked, not giving much more of a reaction to it. "And what are you going to do there?" he asked her.

"I'm not certain yet. Maybe I'll just take a walk through the market places and try out some of the kusarian food. Maybe I'll try one of the beaches. There are a few things I would like to do, but I'm not sure about them."

"Like what?" he asked her.

Her cheeks were flushing. "Karaoke, maybe."

"Uh..." His lips slowly formed a smile. "For real?"

"Well, we're having these karaoke parties on the Apahanta, but I do not think it'd be appropiate for me to join them. So I'd rather sing infront of some strangers I'm not going to see ever again." She averted her eyes. "I can get drunk, too."

"Wouldn't it have been better to not tell me?" he asked her, thinking that was quite unclever to tell him as he was the only one to be able to witness it if he wanted to.

"I'm quite certain I can get a replacement for you as Chief Engineer on the Apahanta."

"Fair enough."

He was about to plug his earbuds in again, but then he thought of something.

"Uh, what about Noel and Sombra?"

"What about them?" she returned.

"Are they going to stay with us?"

"No."

Leon nodded in understanding. So it was just him and her. How awkward.



October 11th, 826 A.S. - New Tokyo


The crew shuttle with Sherry and Leon was already on the way down to the planet while Sombra and Noel remained on the mooring fixture for now. There was work to be done. "Wait here," was everything she had told him as they had left the ship, and so he did as she said, leaning against the wall right next to the airlocks while she made her way to the security team.

This was strange. He felt very out of place here. Not long ago, Kusari and Rheinland were at war over Saigon. Now he was here, a Rheinlandian boy, at the heart of Kusari. Far away from the Apahanta, from Ezrael and Simone. Uncomfortable. His gaze followed Sombra as she talked to the personnel. She showed her her PDA, smiled a lot. The security did that, too. How was that even possible, he wondered. A Zoner Whale mooring in house space? Was that not against the idea of Zoners? He had no idea.

After a while. Sombra disappeared with the men around her. That didn't really add up well, Noel thought. Hopefully this wouldn't backfire for some reason. But then again, he believed he was still in a better position than Leon right now. Being forced to be on a vacation with the Commander was probably the last thing anyone would want.

Minutes had passed and Sombra appeared again, walking around the corner, a Kishiro Service Robot behind her pulled a maglev with a big container right after her. "Shing shang shong, I'm back!"

"What's in there?" he asked her, moving off the wall, getting a few steps closer while she approached the airlocks.

"Explosives, alien artifacts and cardamine," she explained, smiling at him.

He rose an eyebrow. "... you're joking, right?"

Of course she was, but she didn't answer him directly. Instead she lead the robot and the goods through the airlocks. Following her back into the ship, he wondered what was to happen next. She only told him about the rough plan. Just another trade run for the Apahanta's supplies. Not exactly the first time he had joined her for a week. The last time was rather eventful to him. To her, it was a normal trade run with normal risks. Somehow people underestimated her far too often, he thought, mind-absent staring at her as she took off her Apahanta suit right infront of him. Only then he realized what she was doing, all to blatantly. He turned around, slightly surprised. "The fuck-"

Smirking at him, she moved over to the bunk bed right here on the bridge, kneeled down and grabbed a suitcase from below it, to retrieve more casual clothes. A black dress, some underwear, a leather jacket. "I wasn't entirely honest with you, Noel," she began as she put on the underwear. Noel kept looking away. "I've hired other people to get the supplies here to this station. That means we don't need to fly around through all those dangerous systems. I thought after the last time you tagged along, you probably had enough of it already, so instead I secretly planned a little vacation for us as well, right here on New Tokyo. In fact, I booked a room for us right next to the hotel where Leon and the Commander are. They don't know about it, though."

"... does that mean you're trying to spy on them?" he asked her, feeling slightly confused, with a notion of annoyance.

"I wouldn't call it spying," she clarified, sliding into her dress. "I'm merely curious what the Commander has in mind, because her going on a vacation with Leon looks fishy as fuck. So they either are on some kind of mission for Ezrael and somehow didn't feel the need to, you know, involve me, or Sherry has her own agenda going on here. That being said, the primary objective is still to have fun with you." He felt her hugging him from behind, her head on his shoulder. It was easy, given she was a head taller than him. "We'll have plenty of time to explore the capital. We can go eat sushi and ramen and onigiri. Or pussy."

"Sombs..." he sounded, audibly uncomfortable.

"I wasn't refering to cats." After pecking his neck once, she let go of him. "The next crew shuttle will launch in half an hour. You might want to put on some, well, civilian clothing."

Noel idly looked at his arm, covered in his Apahanta suit. That was something he had forgotten about. Planetside, people wore casual clothing. People walking around in skin-tight suits were probably something people were making fun about. It was different on space stations, or even Curacao, where people either wore nothing, barely anything or literally anything they wanted. He had grown fond of the suit, though. It always had the right temperature. Perfect fit, stretchy, simply like a second skin. Water-proof, fire-proof, very protective. He also thought he looked sexy in it, pronouncing his thin body. These things were the future, functional and aesthetically pleasant.

"Uh, I didn't really prepare for that, you know," he admitted, turning around to face her. She merely smirked at him while moving to the piloting console.

"Then we'll go shopping first. Can't have enough clothes anyway."

The flight down to the surface, to the spaceport of the capital, took about ten minutes. It was afternoon on the main coninental island. To a certain degree, the sight of all the water masses reminded Noel of Curacao, but this was still way different. Much more traffic, more waterborn installations. When they broke through the lowest layer of the thick rain clouds, the colorful lights of New Tokyo's capital greeted them. The streets were reflecting most of it, wet from the rain. Giant skyscrapers, some connected with each other. Many neon signs, many hovercar lanes, here and there a giant airborn installation floating around. This was different from what Noel knew from Hamburg. His homeworld was known for technological advancements in Rheinland, but Kusari opted for a different route. It was more visual, more present. On one hand, clean. On the other hand, sterile and dystopic.

Sombra and Noel left the shuttle at the spaceport and made their way through the giant dome building. To Sombra, this was not new at all. She had been here multiple times. She knew the traps waiting for tourists right here and in other areas of the city. Leading Noel by the hand, she guided him through the loud and irritating area. Many people moving. Many of them looking perfectly alike. Here and there a Kishiro robot. Almost a hassle to progress here.

Once they had survived that, they walked through the streets. Of course this area was populated by tourists and those who try to make money off them. However, Sombra loved it here. Countless little market stands offering cheap stuff and food. Fried octopods on a stick, caramelized Honshu-Dolphin-genitalia, rainbow cotton candy and most importantly, body pillows with pictures of either fictional characters from anime and even holo-movie actors and characters. What started out to be just another compromise Noel had to deal with, slowly turned into something fun.

When they had entered a small shop, Noel thought about that. It struck him in all of a sudden. He stood infront of a changing stall, knowing Sombra was in there to put on something she had found. This reminded him of Ezrael. She was more like him than he thought. Finding joy in these settings. Never taking themselves too serious. Being open for what the surroundings offered them. Yes, she was just like him. Like a female version of him.

She left the changing stall, presenting herself as a police officer in black latex. Her eyes threw an expecting gaze at him, and after a few moments of thinking, he returned to the present and realized what he was staring at.

Yes, she definitely was like Ezrael.

Two hours later, they had arrived at the hotel. Tall building. It didn't look cheap at all. That made him wonder how much money Sombra had spent for this. Not that money seemed to ever have been an issue to her. For what he knew, she had access to Ezrael's money while making millions with her shady trade runs. Robots were following them, carrying their bought items in big bags. Unable to speak kusarian, he had no idea what Sombra said at the reception, and the laughter coming from the woman at the reception sort of indicated that Sombra had no idea what she actually had said to her either. In the end, however, they got the key card and moved to the lift.

The room was quite big, Noel thought as he entered their rented apartment. And he quickly realized it was a partner suit, as there was just one bedroom, rose petals covering the sheets. Sighing, he moved to the couch and sat down. "We'll be here for the entire week?" the boy asked, watching Sombra moving towards the large windows to look out of them.

"Yepp," she responded, smiling audibly as she tried to spot what she was looking for. "It's going to be fun!"

"... You'll behave, right?"

"No promises," she responded before turning around and stepping closer. "You're expecting the worst, aren't you?"

Noel sighed. "You keep surprising me, so I don't know what to expect, to be honest. All I know is it's not going to get boring."

Sombra moved to stand infront of him, leaning down to look him right into the eyes. It had an intimidating effect on him, causing him to push himself into the couch. "Just try to relax for a week. Try to enjoy this planet."

Easier said than done. She leaned in to peck him on his cheek, then pulled back and moved over to the windows again. He could only guess what, or more precise, who she was looking for.




October 11th, 826 A.S. - New Tokyo


The sun was gone, and New Tokyo's capital began to show its true face. It was the perfect time, Sombra thought, to show Noel some of the must-see aspects of this planet. Dragging the young rheinlandian man after her, it was obvious to him how eager she was to show him around.

"So bright," Noel commented as they walked through the wet streets. This didn't seem to be a typical tourist area to him. Not at all. It was slightly scary, he thought, but Sombra probably knew what she was doing. Right?

"Back in the old days, Ezrael would wake up in the middle of the night and spontaneously get the idea to walk around. I often joined him, sometimes we did it as the complete trio of him, me and Leon. Of course not here but on Curacao. Still, this has something of it. Maybe even better," she said quietly, smiling at him while the rather cold wind blew gently through her jet black hair. It was reflecting the light of their surroundings. Pinkish, purple, blue, red, sometimes yellow and green. The neon signs were all colorful.

"I wish had known him way earlier. I feel like he is in the process of changing. Exhausting."

Sombra exhaled through her nose as they slowly followed the street. The shops were still open. Many of them were quite empty at this time. People were clearing up, cleaning the tables and counters, kitchen equipment. "Too much has happened, Noel. The wars all over Sirius, the Nomads, the Apahanta, betrayals, Maren, Abigail... Lorena... he escaped death multiple times. All these things leave scars. Not just physically, like the scar at his eye. He was forced to age mentally. We all were forced to." She paused for a moment, then shook her head and smirked at him again. "Sometimes he feels like an entirely different person. But he is still the same man. The man I still love, fanatically."

"Hm." Noel looked up into the air. The sky was covered in clouds. He wasn't sure what he had expected. At least it was not raining right now. The nightsky was probably a lot more different here than those of Curacao, which showed the Cortez cluster and the Barrier even in the darkest night, while on Hamburg, the sky was always slightly orange because of the Walker Nebula. Beyond the clouds was probably just light pollution and the Crow. "Things are still changing."

"They will always change. Now Ez is the Captain of a rogue warship he can't get rid of. He is father of a child he can't get rid of. He is in a relationship with a woman he can't get rid of. There is a bounty he can't get rid of. I wonder if things will change for the better for us at some point again, you know." To the left was a garden. Sombra lead him in that direction as she saw a bench. "I still dream of the day we can return to Curacao. Have our little house there. Well, little, as in, big enough for all of us. You, me, Leon, Ez, Luna and, uh, Abigail. And just have a normal life again. We have our cats, and we go surfing and have little parties at the evening, maybe some clubbing and hanging out in lounges. And then, sometimes, Ez would wake up in the night and take me out and we walk around at the beach."

Noel smirked. Just what they were doing. The bench was wet from the rain, but since he was still wearing his Apahanta suit, it didn't matter to him. So he sat down and patted his lap. Sombra took the invitation, placing her bum on his leg, an arm wrapped around his back, her upper body leaning slightly in against him. "All that sounds rather nice. Very romantic."

"Yeah, romatic." She sighed. "I was expecting you to correct me on the list of people I just made."

The boy looked up at her face. It was just a few inches away, so he didn't keep eye contact for long. "You mean Simone, and Maren. And Dinah. And maybe even Nancy. Or Rebecca, depending on how you want to call her now."

"What do you think is Simone doing right now?" she asked him while her hand was slowly stroking his shoulder.

"Waiting for time to pass." He eyed her again. "I honestly can't tell whether she is able to feel something like missing someone. She is... very... very simple. It'd be easier for me if she was a bit more like you." Sombra grinned at that remark while Noel averted his eyes again. "Not like that. I mean, maybe. I mean, more active. Master, not slave. Wait, that's also wrong. What I mean to say is..." He knew she was still grinning. "Imagine you have an empty PDA. Just the standard apps. And no neural net access. You can only work with what you have, or in painfully complicated and time-consuming efforts create little new programs. That's how she is. Empty, a blank slate. You can only do so much with her. She only knows the basics of living."

"Breathing, eating, drinking, fucking..." She chuckled.

"With only so few apps, a PDA quickly gets boring. Especially when there is a PDA filled with incredible amounts of content. It looks good, it it is interesting, funny, and for some reason, it constantly tries to get my attention. But, you know, throwing the old PDA away is just not okay. It never did anything wrong."

It was starting to rain. Sombra held a hand out until a drop of water landed on it. "Maybe you can have two PDAs. For all I know, the old PDA could be so simple that it doesn't know what envy is." Noel gave her a flat look. "Uh, I have no idea what kind of metaphor would be fitting for that, honestly."

"Even then, the new PDA is just interested in me because her actual owner is toying around with other PDAs, too. He even has a data crystal with one." He smirked at her, which she returned.

"I can assure you, the new PDA is not just interested in you because her owner is busy with other PDAs. The new PDA just likes how you... uh, use her apps, I guess?" The rain became stronger.

"Maybe we should stop using this metaphor." Sombra smiled at him and moved off his lap. Instead of giving him space to stand up himself, she leaned in again and kissed him on his lips. Her hands were holding his cheeks. His hands on hers, idly pretending to move her hands off his face. After a few seconds, she made a step back and let him get up.

"Maybe we should get to one of those restaurants," Sombra suggested as the rain managed to drench their hair already. "There are some karaoke bars, too."

"Karaoke would be a bit weird with just the two of us, don't you think?" he asked her, following her through the rain as she headed for the street they just had come from.

"If you don't want to do that, then I have some other ideas of things just the two of us could do." Noel didn't need to look at her face to know how exactly her tongue was currently moving.

"Karaoke it is, then."


October 12th, 826 A.S. - Cortez


Ezrael opened his eyes. He was met with the rumbling sound of the ship's engine, ever so slightly rushing vibrant through the ship's solid materials. Usually it was calming him. Now it did not. Now it was a reminder of where he was. Tilting his face to the side, he stared at the sleeping countenance of Abigail. Other than Maren, she didn't use his shoulder as her pillow. Better that way, he thought.

There was this feeling. He was convinced he couldn't sleep like that, so he got up and climbed out of the bed. Abigail turned around, looking idly at him. She could only see his silhouette as he picked up his sweatpants and covered his lower body. "Just getting some water from the canteen," he explained and left the room. As the light shone into her quarters, Abigail gazed at the full bottle of water next to the nightstand. The door shut again. Now she was alone with Luna. She sighed.

It was somewhen in the very deep night on the ship. The hallways where illuminated in bright blue, as that was most likely to keep people awake during the nightshift. Instead of aiming for the canteen, Ezrael moved up to the bridge. Arriving there, he found it to be abandoned. Nobody was here, apart from the robotic crew. Exhaling audibly, Ezrael stepped over to the Captain's chair and sat down. And just like that, another night of him working on the Cult of Technology data cache started.

The crux with this cache was the constantly, pretty much entropically alternating security systems. It had taken Ezrael a while to find out how to think out of the box and find a solution. Any algorythms used by modern AIs seemed to be useless, only able to punch needles through a steel wall. Here and there were translatable words, universal constants like atoms, visualized arrangements of stars. The latter were the most convenient hints to work with. Ezrael was good at finding patterns in visuals. So he stared at the main screen, for minutes and minutes, until he recognized something. The constellation of known Omicron systems surrounding Omicron Major. There were no names, but Major had a special visual dot on the map, probably because of the Dyson Sphere. There was another, slightly different dot which he believed to be Omicron Delta, because of the Azurite Generator. While he was not sure how old the Cult of Technology was, he was sure they knew not much more than mankind about the locations of the Daam K'vosh remains scattered across the Omicrons.

There were a few more dots, some not comparable with known star systems of the most recent sirian star charts. Omicron Zeta, Omicron Eta, Omicron Iota, Omicron Chi. Chi had a very special dot. Ezrael sighed. That made sense, given Chi was mostly covered by a very dense partion of the Edge Nebula, making it almost impossible to explore the system.

Omicron Kappa was not on the map, which was probably related to either the Omicron Kappa Tunnel Anomaly or Gammu. At least so he thought. More interesting were some of the other places he didn't recall from the map. The Apahanta had troubles triangulating these positions. Jumping there with the jump drive was like trying to just from a skyscraper into a glass of water. The last thing he wanted was to end up in another void situation.

An hour later he had made almost no progress. Out of boredom he took a closer look at the cache's saved data on the Dyson Sphere, one of the biggest mysteries of the Omicrons. So well guarded by the Nomads, so damn intriguing to research. The most active remnant of the oldest race mankind knew about. A species with the ability to encapsulate an entire star, and probably do much more things on that kind of scale. And then they simply vanished.

Ezrael never put much value into the theories about the Nomads having eliminated them. The Daam K'vosh were too advanced. No, the Nomads were acting just as confused when it came to their creators as mankind. For a moment, he had to think about Maren. It was funny, he thought. He was with a Wild for so long, and yet he was as close to the universal truth like everyone else. Maybe there simply was no universal truth at all. A saying says that one man is intelligent, many people are dumb. Maybe, translated to a giant scale, mankind and nomads were so busy with each other that they dumbed each other down. Doomed to keep each other stupid, blind for the grand scheme. The big picture.

Just in that moment, as he thought about that, he saw one dot sparking for just a second. The Apahanta was progressing there, he thought, about to reveal something that tried to remain hidden. It was not in the Omicrons. It was in the Omegas. What if the Daam K'vosh had another Dyson Sphere in Sirius? An inactive one. It was just a thought. Maybe it was literally anything else. Another dead planet like Magur, another questionably useful generator like in Delta. Still, he was excited. Maybe that point could be triangulated.





It was still raining in the capital. After some noodles and karaoke, Sombra and Noel had returned to the hotel. Wet and slightly wasted, Noel went directly for the shower. Sombra joined him shortly afterwards, which caused him to leave it quickly.

When she was done with the shower and blowdrying her hair, she left the bathroom, a bit deflating at the sight of Noel already having put on his Apahanta suit again. He lay on the big bed, looking out of the wide windows. The rain was clashing against them, causing the neon lights beyond them to become even more blurry. Naked as she was she climbed over to him, laying down right onto him. Her head was next to his, blocking his view to the windows. Her arms wrapping his upper body.

"The night is still young."

"You had a lot of sake," he reminded her.

"Didn't really taste that well, to be honest." She smirked at him, moving her head a little closer to his. He turned his away, looking up at the ceiling. "Did you enjoy it so far, Noel?"

"I liked the atmosphere, yes. It's something you don't get anywhere else, especially not on a space ship or station. Niigata maybe a bit." He felt her hand brushing through his brown hair. The tips were still a little moist. "How is this going to continue?"

She sat up, her bum on his lower body. The lights from outside gave him a good view on her silhouette. Not that the sight was new to him. The perspective was. "I could ask you the same, really."

The boy sighed, feeling the weight of her godly-shaped body affecting the already impure thoughts in his mind. "I really don't know."

"I guess you're not going to do me, then." Sighing, she dropped down on him again, her head on the other side this time, leaving him the ability to look out of the window. She looked away from him while her hands slid under his back once more. "That's sad. I was looking forward to that. Want me to tell you what I would have done with you?"

"Better don't." Carefully he placed his gloved hands on her back, stroking it slightly. "Say, the modifications to the Catport, who did them?"

"Are you trying to change the topic?" she asked him, rubbing one of her feet against one leg of his.

"The shields are modified. I noticed that in the engine room. Leon did that, is that right?"

Sombra sighed, turning her head the other around. Her response was more whispered. "Yes. It's a modular upgrade, not working yet. It's an AGS, like he did to the Apahanta."

"Why?"

"Do you really want to talk about that, right now? A naked, willing woman begging for some attention and you're only thinking about why I want my Whale to be able to land on planets?"

He nodded. "You know, if I wasn't taken, I would take the opportunity like any other sane person would."

"Noel, do you seriously think allowing me to hold you like that, allowing me to kiss you like I did in the park and allowing me to constantly seduce you does not count as betraying your girlfriend?"

Silence followed that question. His hands were still on her back. The rain was weak right now. A minute passed. Another minute. Sombra realized he wouldn't respond to that. It made her wonder whether he was aware of how he allowed himself to end up in this situation. Maybe he wanted to just play along and let her guide him. Maybe he wanted to blame her in the end for seducing him. In the end, it did not really matter to her. She pecked his cheek, then his neck, moved a hand to grab the zipper of his suit and unzipped him. He did not resist.


October 12th, 826 A.S. - New Tokyo


The sun was rising over the capital. Here and there rays of light managed to penetrate the cloud layer above the city, but all in all, it was still rather dark. It was raining again. Noel found the sound of the rain hitting against the windows rather soothing. He was still facing them while Sombra slept at his bare chest. He still wore his suit, it was just unzipped down to his belly. Under the blanket, his arms embraced her, one hand at her bum, one on her back.

It was slightly difficult to breathe like this, with the additional weight on his chest, but it worked out well enough. Sleeping was however an issue to him. While feeling incredibly flattered about the attention he got from Sombra, it just didn't feel right. And that bothered him, as he always thought of himself as someone who didn't believe in Karma. Before his days on the Apahanta, he stole frequently, and even on the Apahanta he and Sombra took some synthetic marihuana together despite it not being allowed on the ship. He also knew how to defend himself, be it with a knife or a gun. It was something that made him secretly feel superior to other crew members. Sirius never was a place for the morale high ground. Those who want to survive need to be able to make their hands dirty. Ezrael was the perfect example. Sombra, too.

But then there was Simone. A woman with a perfect body but the mind of a merely biological machine. She just existed. She only opened up to Noel, and that only because she felt a basic instinct for him. She had no idea about the rights and wrongs of life but now he was in a situation where he was in the process of betraying her with another woman. Simone never had done anything wrong. She was cute. Very basic, pretty boring and simple, but she was no bad person. Being in this position hurt him, because it would mean he would be the first person to disappoint, to hurt her. It was the only reason he rejected Sombra. That was what he thought, at least. Rejection, as in, not having sex with her. But then again, here she lay ontop of him, naked, his hands on her bare skin. Last night she simply kissed him on his lips, and he didn't reject it. Not at all. Where exactly did the betrayal start, and was it binary? If not, was there a difference between kissing Sombra and making love with her?

At least she didn't force him to make the decision, nor did she make the decision on his behalf. Or did she already? His hand at her bum moved up to her head, stroking it gently. She moved slightly, reacting to it, which made him wonder whether it was because he stroked her head or because he wasn't holding her bum anymore. He couldn't help but smirk about the thought. Or the fact that she was a head taller than him. It made this entire situation a bit funny, he thought. They say women usually go for taller men, but in his case, Lorena, Simone and Sombra had been taller than him.

"Much going on in your pretty head, huh?" Sombra sounded quietly. It surprised him, as he thought she was sleeping. Her hair was all over his chest and hid her face.

His response remained simple. "I got much to think about."

She scooted up a bit and placed her head next to his, burying her face in his neck. It didn't take long until she pecked him there. "Maybe you should stop thinking so much. Didn't you learn anything from Ez?" she asked him while her hand caressed his chin and cheek.

"What do you mean?" he asked in return, wondering what that remark was about.

"You have a heart as well, you know. Mine is beating quite fast in your presence. Yours?"

"Happens to beat quite fast in my presence as well," he deadpanned. This was an issue. He had no idea when it was about heart and when it was just... an instinct. Maybe there wasn't even a difference. For those Curacaoans probably not at all. Very impulsive people.

After a bit of silence, Sombra pecked his cheek again. "I'll need to take care of a few things today on my own. In the evening we could go to the Asakusa Shingshangshong thingy, though." She paused before clarifying. "That theme park. I'm certain you'll like it. Maybe you will find some inspiration for your drawings there."

"Sounds good to me." He knew what park she was refering to. It had to do with space ninjas. "Wait, what are you going to do in the meantime? Leaving me alone here?"

"I'm sure you'll find a way to entertain yourself on your own. There are plenty of shops to explore. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't walk around in your uniform all day. We're on a vacation, after all." She didn't see it, but he was rolling his eyes. The only reason he hadn't taken it off was to make it difficult for her to treat him like a buffet. "And make sure Leon and Sherry don't see you. I'd prefer if they didn't know about us being here."

Then she shouldn't have booked a room in a hotel right next to theirs. Still, Noel nodded slightly and received another kiss on his cheek. "You're the sweetest, you know that?" And with that, she slowly moved up to sit, the blanket slowly dropping down. Her hand moved to his cheek and pushed it, making him face her. Instinctively, his eyes went for her lower eyes first, then instantly up for her actual eyes. It made her smirk. She leaned forward and stopped right infront of his face. "Want me to wake you up?" she whispered, her hair tenderly dropping down left and right from his face. He knew exactly what she meant with that.

For a moment, he considered it. It was something he would have loved to accept. But the conditions simply weren't right, he thought and shook his head. "Thought so. I'll ask tomorrow again, though." Noel couldn't help but smirk about that, which made her smirk even wider. She lowered her head and kissed him on his lips. This was the second time she did that, and it lasted a bit longer than last night in the park. Parting slowly, she gave him a lovely stare before moving off of him and off the bed. His eyes were following her as her silhouette became well visible against the light shining into the room through the windows. Then she moved into the bathroom.

Sighing, he zipped his suit up again. At this point he was certain he needed to talk with Simone, asap.



October 12th, 826 A.S. - New Toyko


To his very surprise, Noel survived the day on his own on this foreign world pretty well. It might have been the fact that this entire area was living off tourism, so talking in english was not a problem. The people seemed surprisingly friendly, and he felt that nobody really noticed his barely noticable rheinlandian accent. Speaking english only for the past few years surely helped a lot. Still, the th-sound was his weakness, as it sounded more like an f sometimes.

In the late afternoon, Noel sat on the couch of the hotel room, his arms stretched out on the backrest while watching an anime on the netvision. After all, Kusari was home of these shows. Three bags with new clothes were next to the couch. This kind of shopping was something he had never done before his time on the Apahanta. His parents mostly bought what he was supposed to wear, and it was usually second-hand. He really didn't miss those days. Sometimes he wondered whether he was supposed to feel anything about the loss of his parents. It was still something he considered the best turnaround in his life. There was nothing bad about living on the Apahanta, apart from certain risks. But then again, bad things were happening literally anywhere. Just in that moment the news were broadcasting about a terrorist attack somewhere on New Tokyo, about a warehouse having blown up. Pretty small-scale, he thought, given what happens everyday in the Omicrons and Omegas, and with the genocide on Leeds, these small things had lost weight in the scaling.

Why was he even bothering watching that? Sombra would come back soon and he had a bunch of outfits to try out. After all, he wanted to look good for her. Spreading out and sorting all purchased items on the floor, he moved them around back and forth until he sighed and went by the first best choice. Cleaning up again, he placed his outfit on the bed in the bedroom and then went for a shower. Was this really a good idea? Flirting with Sombra was one thing, but playing along in her game was something different. He didn't get to sort this out with Simone yet, as he didn't want to break her heart with a video call. Too cheap. She deserved better. Something more smooth.

He turned off the shower and stepped out of the stall as he noticed his PDA was lighting up. A message from Sombra. "We'll meet there. Don't be late." Attached was a reference link to the capital city's street map. The pin was infront of the park, at a fountain. Noel smirked. The next message followed. "Uh, in 90 minutes." That was what he had expected. Putting the PDA away, he continued to prepare himself.

They didn't really have much luck with the weather since they were here. It wasn't raining at this point, but the cloud layer was still rather thick, causing the early evening to be rather dark already. Armed with a little shoulder bag, the young rheinlandian made his way through the city. The looks people gave him when he passed by were a bit confusing at first, maybe even insecuring, but all choices were made.

At the fountain, he saw many people standing and sitting around. It was only logical that many people used the fountain infront of the theme park to meet up. Hopefully he would find Sombra in this place. Many couples were around here. The pretty neon lights gave this entire area a gloomy and warm atmosphere. It gave him a fuzzy feeling.

He waited until he got hugged from behind. Looking down at the arms wrapped around his chest, he saw black long gloves with playful patterns sewn into them. There was an intense fruity scent crawling over his shoulders. "Purretty boi."

Sombra let go of him and allowed him to turn around, to let him take in the view of her black kusarian dress. The tips of her hair were purple. Her lips, too. Kajal framed her eyes. Smirking, she looked down to him and scanned his outfit. Black unbuttoned shirt, white T-shirt below and black leatherpants. And a black hairband with cat ears. "So that's why you were away all day. You look like the seductive assistant of a super villain."

"Then you should try to get me to join your team, Cat Noel." They smirked at each other. Sombra then quickly grabbed his hand and lead him to the entrance. The park was well visited. Plenty of people, not just kusarians. Many families, many couples, many groups of friends. To a certain degree, the place felt magical, not fitting into an otherwise dark and dystopian city. Music was running in the background. Noel loved it. The kusarian themes, the architecture of both modern kusarian and traditional kusarian styles. Here and there statues of Space Ninjas, a very popular franchise from Kusari. Some other visitors were dressed up, too. Sombra lead him through the ways and food and souvenir stands and booths.

When Noel realized they were getting closer and closer to the ferris wheel, he had a good idea on what Sombra's plan was. She was clearly enjoying the time with him, and he had to admit it to himself, enjoyed her presence so much more than Simone's. Maybe it was supposed to be this way. This was making him happy. It made him feel light.

They entered the ferris wheel cabin. It was just the two of them. She sat down next to him, very close despite enough other space to sit. They were still holding hands and she leaned in against him. "Why the cat ears?" she asked him as the ferris wheel began to rotate.

"I saw them and thought you'd like them. On me. I like cats, too, you know." That made her chuckle. "Can I ask you something, Sombra?"

"Everything." Her thumb was stroking over his.

"Is this only for this week?" he asked her, tilting his head slightly in her direction but eyeing her hand on his.

"What do you mean?"

"What happens when we're back on the Apahanta? When Ez is around again."

She hesitated. "You mean my feelings for Ez?" she asked, her voice more quiet than before.

"We're both sleeping in his room, and I doubt you don't feel anything for him anymore. So, is this here just an affair?"

"Noel..."





While it was evening where Noel and Sombra were, on the Apahanta, it was deepest night. Ezrael lay in bed, looking up at the ceiling again. This time in his own room, and this time it was Maren who lay ontop of him, salivating in her sleep down on his belly. Once again he didn't get to rest. It was not that he was not sleepy. He wasn't sure on what it was. At least that was what he wanted to think.

Moving Maren carefully off his naked body, he climbed out of bed and put on his Apahanta suit. Then he left his room and moved to the lift. Down to the restricted deck. When the lift doors opened up again, nobody was there. The gallic wardens were sleeping, he thought. That was okay. He went on, entering the room where the VIP guest lay in her medibed, still comatose. Nevertheless he sat down on the chair next to her bed. The monitors weren't showing any differences since his recent visits. Exhaling audibly, he glanced over to her.

"You know, I can't sleep well lately. You on the other hand seem to enjoy staying here. Not that I mind that, but I'm wondering when you decide to wake up again. No rush, though." For a moment, he frowned aimlessly into the rather dark room. There were no windows here. Most of the light came from the monitors and the lights from the corridor.

"There is a Zoner exodus fleet in the Omicrons. They are waiting for the end of the year before they depart from Sirius into a cluster of unsurveyed stars beyond Omicron Gamma. It's actually a surprisingly well kept secret so far, and I trust that you're keeping it for a while." Now he frowned at her. "You're known for rarely shutting up. I put great trust into you right now, so don't disappoint me. Otherwise I'll hand you to the Bretonians and they put you into prison."

Ezrael looked around again, leaning more into the chair now. "That's what the mother of my child would do with you. It's quite the irony, come to think of it. I've restricted the access to this deck but not because I don't trust your officers but because it is better if my crew does not know it is you who is hidden here. The bretonians of my crew are... I don't know whether they would blame you personally for the genocide of Leeds. And I, well, I don't know the full story. I gave you my word you'd get a place to stay if anything goes wrong. Now you're here. I'm sort of dealing with it." He sighed audibly. "I do hope, though, you are not behind any of this."

For a few minutes, Ezrael didn't say anything else. Instead he just remained there where he was, only accompanied by the frequent beeping of the health monitors. "I want to join that exodus fleet. There was a poll within the crew, and almost all of them would join it. The problem is that this exodus is, well, an exodus. No way back. We either stick to the fleet or stay in Sirius." He looked at her. Of course there was no reaction. She was comatose. "The Apahanta is almost fully self-sufficient. We grow enough plants to feed the crew, can synthesize lab-made meat, my Chief Engineer installed gas miners at the bottom of the ship and we have solar panels. The engineering also has a workshop where we can build anything we need and refine resources on a small scale. And the cargo bays are usually stuffed with everything we need to survive for at least two years. Something I made sure of after a certain incident. We're actually running a very low risk joining that fleet."

She still didn't say anything. "I'd leave behind many good and many bad things. Curacao, for example. The damage done by the battles is almost reversed entirely already." He patted her hand. "Can't say I feel sorry for you not winning the war. I wouldn't have wanted to speak gallic on my homeworld."

Ezrael rubbed his nose. He knew there was a crusty booger hiding in there, but he didn't want to stick his finger in to get it out. Would have been rather impolite to do that next to the VIP. "I'd also leave behind Maren here. And all the problems that are attached to her. Like her child. I grew fond of Dinah, that is the name of her adopted child, but still, there are reasons to be scared of her and Maren and... I probably shouldn't tell you, you know. No idea whether you can actually hear anything I say, but if so, I probably shouldn't take the risk. All you need to know is that I am the good guy and, lately, almost all the women surrounding me tend to cause trouble. The only exception is Sombra. While I can't tell whether you'd be a good or bad wife, Sombra has the best qualities a man could ever want from a woman. You probably know what I mean, you got to meet her already. And thankfully you didn't do anything to her."

The booger was annyoing him. He rubbed his nose again, but he knew the intruder wouldn't just give up that easily. "I'd have married her if things were different. Now I can't. Turns out my biggest strength became my biggest weakness. Women. Take that advice from me, never allow yourself to have a relationship with a woman except you really, really, really want it." He gave her a flat look. "Well, in your case, men, probably. Although you gallic women are probably a bit more open to weird constellations than us Sirians. Kusarians are the exceptions to the rule, you probably know why."






The gondola was at the highest point of the ferris wheel as it stopped rotating. The question still stood in the room. Sombra's grip on Noel's hand got stronger as she hesitated to respond. Feeling the issue, Noel placed his other hand on hers as well. "You know, Noel, this is all just because I was too slow."

"Too slow?" he asked her. Both of them looked at their hands.

"At first I just wanted to befriend with you, you know. Always nice to have some young people around, and Ezrael was obsessed with you, as if you were his own flesh and blood. And you were obsessed with him since he saved your life. So I tried to get in touch with you and offered you to get you things like Synth Weed, despite Ez telling me that he wouldn't really want that stuff on his ship. You know, controls, scans, all that. But I'm not dumb. After all, I've been smuggling illegal stuff through Sirius for the past three years successfully."

Noel looked out of the window for a moment. "You probably shouldn't say that too loud."

"The more time I spent with you or close to you, the more I felt weird about it. You know, I've dedicated my life to Ez for all the things he did for me. But I suddenly felt something for you. I saw you with Lorena and felt jealousy. Then Lorena died and I not only lost a good friend on the Apahanta but saw you suffering throughout the months after the Aphrodite incident."

Remaining silent, Noel stared at her hands while she turned her face towards him. "And then I tried it again, feeling you were happy and stable enough to give women another shot. And then Simone appeared, and suddenly Maren had that idea of sending you to her because she was staring at you during a breakfast. Of course Ezrael didn't know anything about my feelings for you back then. He probably still doesn't get it."

"He did."

"And then you returned from Simone's room and were suddenly in a relationship with her. With her, Noel, with an empty ghost in a shell. I don't hate her, but god damn, she is as deep as a slice of bread. It frustrated me. If it was only about the physical aspect, about the sex, then, hey, good day, I'm here as well." Her voice became shaky.

"I've lost Ezrael already, not just to Maren or Nancy, but also to Abigail. She forced a child onto him, ruining his life. Each of those girls ruined his life. He is not the same anymore, and there is nothing I can do about it. I've lost him, and I don't feel for him the same way I used to feel anymore. He is not who he used to be. He has changed. There is n-nothing either of us can do about it." She sniffled. "But here are you, Noel. Such a pretty boy. You always make me cheer up. I look at you and feel warmth. I touch you and feel happy."

"Sombs..."

"If you want me to stop seeing Ezrael, I-I'd do that!" Tears were running down her cheeks. "I've fallen in love with you. I'm not toying with you, I'm just not good at being r-romantic. Happens when you're with a man who approaches those things very directly. I'm not a school girl anymore who sticks to movies and romantic novels."

"Sombra."

She kept her eyes closed, feeling stupid for crying. After a few moments of silence, she realized she had squeezed his hand way too hard because of the emotional outburst. He withdrew it and shook it a bit before cupping her cheeks with both of his hands. She opened her eyes again, seeing Noel smiling up at her.

"You think I'd let you toy with me without me feeling the same way for you?" he asked her, stroking with a thumb over her cheek. "Don't cry, okay? Your make-up needs to last a bit longer."

"It's water-proof," she clarified.

It was the kind of statement he expected from her in such a situation. He moved closer to her and gently placed his lips on hers. Her left hand moved up to his chest, the other to his cheek. The moment lasted longer and longer. Noel felt more tears running down his hands. It made him stop, moving his head back a bit to look at her, smiling. She smiled, too.

"I love you." But she didn't stop crying. She also didn't stop smiling. Instead, she leaned in on him again and kissed him again.