When Eva got back to Helios, the first thing she did was head back to her pad and changed into a new set of clothes. Well, technically they were the same design as her set of black, except this one had some grey highlights.
It was plain, but stylish.
She realized that she had coughed up 1,000 credits for a simple "reskin" and balked for a moment at the cost. It felt as though she had been robbed via microtransaction. Then she vowed to make more interesting choices next time, to make the cost worth it.
Miko sent her a ping on her DI just as she had finished up, and they ended up meeting at a nearby arcade.
Both of them had frequented arcades back in their old lives, and were very fond of them.
Miko had gone to those
This is the start of the third arc ‘The Stream’. It’s going to be pretty rich with drama, but thinner on action. Lots of great character development and plenty of emotionally tough scenes.
After their trip to the arcade, Eva retired back to her pad to chill out and to do a little research. Except every time she tried to get into something, Miko’s words came bounding into her head. She wondered why Miko said she was beautiful. Was it a joke? Was she trying to give her confidence or something? Eva had never believed herself to be attractive, and so couldn’t really believe anyone when they told her she was “pretty” or “cute” or “beautiful”. But to hear Miko say it so resolutely shook her a little. I’m not beautiful at all! What the hell?! In this universe, mirrors were a thing of the past. It was simply because their DI’s could mirror their faces for them. So Eva had her DI recreate her face perfectl
Eva shook with anger, disappointment, and heartache as Mack sat there with his mouth agape. Her heart was a whirl while his was flat. He broke the silence after too long of a moment, his voice soft and timid. “I’m sorry,” he said. “And I do love you, it’s just…” He trailed off, unable to say the rest, and let his words hang in the air. Eva’s brow furrowed, and her agitation barely abated at his words. "It's just that you're a selfish prick," she said. "You don't love me. All you care about is yourself! Everything you do is only so you can feel good. Who cares what happens to me, right? Who cares that you were never there? Who cares that my heart was constantly broken?"
In one of the rougher areas somewhere on Helios, a group of men sat around a table as they chatted and played a game. In their hands were a half dozen cards. There were complex symbols on each of them, and all were unique. There were more cards in the middle of the table, and they were arranged in a grid. However, they were laid out similar to dominoes, where they chained into each other and made an interesting, sprawling pattern going in every direction. Hovering above the cards was a transparent hologram that displayed the current size of the pot. It was high. It got even higher when one of the card players increased his bet a great amount. “Pallas,” he said.
The Dartmouth eased itself out of the orbital station’s docking collar. Orange lights swirled all around as the crew at the end of that collar peered through large pressurized viewports and waved goodbye at the crew on the Dartmouth. The cruiser had finished loading and unloading some of its cargo, and wrapped up its business at its second trading stop. She was a short-haul trader and was filled to the brim with a variety of juicy cargo. She had also refilled her fuel in preparation for the third stop, which was on the other side of Lombard IX, the planet they were orbiting. The entire Lombard system had sixteen planets, and more than half of them were populated. Each of those populated planets had multitudes of orbital stations that served as the main su
Unable to stream through their DI’s, Eva and Miko instead opted to go the traditional route. Or at least, the route most others used to film their streams - by using cameras. They had acquired three EyeCast drones, which essentially followed the two of them around and recorded everything they did. Well, not all the time - only when they wanted them to. The drones were palm-sized lenses that were ringed with electronics and dotted with small hover jets. They instantly transmitted their footage through the pair’s DIs, and immediately recorded on storage devices that they both wore. Not only did the footage go through their DIs, they could even directly control them with it. They had even spent a little time practicing how to properly maneuver them with just a thought.
After much organization and planning and scheduling, Eva, Miko, and Mack reconvened a couple of cycles later. They were joined by Eva’s grandparents, who were positively ecstatic to hear that Eva was still alive. The two of them looked like your typical caucasian grandparents - they were in their 60s and had completely grey hair. They were both thin and frail, but their eyes were full of life. All three of them cried when they saw each other - the strain of their loss was difficult to bear. They thought she had died, and she thought she was never going to see them again. “Grandpa! Grandma!” Eva cried. “Eva darling!” replied her grandma. “It’s so good to see you again! We were so fraught when you disappeared… But now everything is right again! You’re alive!”
Mack, who had been completely quiet this entire time, had watched the two families. Although he wasn’t able to fully understand or identify with their problems, it didn’t mean he couldn’t comprehend what they were going through. In fact, he was rather broke himself, and his trust fund was running damn near empty. More than that, he had undergone a few changes after realizing how much he had hurt Eva. In the process, he had re-awakened his sense of empathy, which now tugged at his heart. He felt a desire to help. Especially after having experienced Eva’s unyielding declaration earlier. She was inspiring. Both of the girls were. He had been useless most of his life, and ruined a great many things because of that.
The bluish light of a white dwarf star broke the dawn on the purple planet far below. Meanwhile, stars glittered in the vast darkness of space above. A fighter screamed by, its guns blazing. It was very quickly followed by nearly a dozen more, all of which were similarly designed and bore the same logos - a sun surrounded by three rings. The fighters intercepted another fighter group, whose logos were of a purple four-pointed star, and entered into a vicious skirmish. Behind them were a smattering of ships, from frigates to cruisers. All of them were in mixed formations, and it was clear one side was fighting against another. Weapons fire was being exchanged between all of them. The battle seemed pitched, and for every casualty one side suffered, the other had