Levin lurched in his seat, pushed around as the vehicle he sat in rocked around on its path. He should have been used to the rough jerking motions by now, having ridden this exact craft and this exact route so many times before, but today each bump just seemed to upset him more and more. After all, his destination today was far from usual.

Near to him, the other passengers shied away, eyeing him warily. He couldn’t blame them – the Sky Piercer had a tendency to separate first-time riders from their lunches. And today, Levin certainly bore all the hallmarks of a newcomer to space travel as he sat on the edge of his seat, clenching it with whitened knuckles and wearing a queasy expression on his face while he shifted his weight around awkwardly.

He decided to turn, looking out the window directly to his right. Far below, it was as though Earth itself was falling away, growing smaller and smaller in his view as the craft shot straight up into the air. Pulled along by an electromagnetic cabling supported by carbon nanotubes, this space elevator was the first humanity had ever constructed in their pursuit of the stars. Even if it had been a monumental achievement when built, that did mean it was smaller, slower, and bumpier than its newer and sleeker siblings. 

But at this moment, Levin was grateful for those shortcomings. The lower speed meant he had more time to mentally prepare, and the shorter height gave him a better view of the Earth’s surface, far below. His home. Humanity had stretched itself far beyond this little rock that once cradled them, but Levin himself had never traveled further than Earth’s moon.

And why should he? No place in the galaxy could compare to Earth. Sprawling megacities dotted its land, covering continents in interlocking urban sprawl and vibrant farmland, blending the line between man and nature. It was a lesson humanity had learned early in its history, when their cities had first started to dominate the planet; for humanity to thrive, Earth must thrive. Human cities now grew with nature, creating a harmonic, symbiotic relationship, a world of dirt and water and metal. Indeed, it was the crown jewel of an entire galaxy-dominating species.

Looking down at his home, taking in the familiar sights, Levin’s grip relaxed somewhat, and he leaned back a little into the cushions of his seat. He normally wouldn’t have spent the extra for a seat with this good a view, but he hadn’t been the one to buy his ticket today. Andrew, that damned rascal, at least had enough common decency not to stick him in a middle seat after forcing him to ride the Sky Piercer on his own. Levin tried to distract himself from thoughts of the dashing, golden-haired rogue by examining the beautiful surface of Earth exposed before his eyes, but he couldn’t keep his anxiety from bubbling to the surface. What Andrew had gotten himself involved in, the place he was currently sending Levin off to – it all still baffled him. And somehow a legend like him had decided to recruit Levin, of all people.

Levin gulped uncomfortably, tasting his mouth flush with warm saliva. Maybe he really was going to be sick. Soothing as the scenery below was, it couldn’t prevent the faces of the men and women he was about to meet from floating into his mind alongside Andrew’s. This was to be a gathering of scientists and engineers, thieves and smugglers, bounty hunters and bounties, all of them renowned throughout the galaxy. And soon, him. Levin. Even at thirty-two years of age, he still felt like a child – and with the highly elongated lifespans of humans living on Earth nowadays, he was still considered a child as well. At least some patches of stubble were finally beginning to appear on his chin. 

He reviewed the words he had prepared to say to these people, to convince them why he belonged amongst them, but they all sounded weak. He knew logically that there weren’t many like him in the galaxy, but it was a cold comfort in the face of these truly unique, exceptional individuals. But even if he could force himself to acknowledge his qualifications, his resume was nearly entirely blank beyond that, like a graduate with a degree but no work experience. Did Andrew really want someone like him to join this elite group?

Levin felt his stomach churn as his thoughts ran wild. Or maybe that was just the sensation of the space elevator slowing down as they approached Armstrong Station, situated at the peak of the Sky Piercer. The mechanical carriage was pulled along its track into the expansive structure, replacing the beautiful sight of Earth with the metallic walls of a space station tethered to the ground in a geosynchronous orbit. An automated message played as they came to a stop, one that Levin had begun tuning out many years ago. This was not his final destination yet, fortunately, just a launching point for further space travel, and a place where Andrew could pick him up.

He hurried through the station, anchored down by artificial gravity as he made his way towards the docking area for personal craft, an area normally occupied by only the wealthy elite that could afford personal space-faring vehicles. The exact route there was unfamiliar to Levin, having only ever departed Armstrong Station on public transit, but he was familiar enough with the station to have no problems following the signs to the location Andrew had agreed to meet him.

Once there, he knew finding his way to Andrew would be trivial – Levin just had to look for the best dressed man in the area. Most people walking by wore tight-fitting single-layer clothing that was well-suited for space travel, but Andrew’s eccentricities would not permit such simple attire. Levin was quickly able to find his target, who stood out with his well-tailored suit, slicked back hair, and white-gloved hands, holding up a sign that said “Levin Miyamoto.” As if that was necessary.

This man was not Andrew, but simply his butler, here to meet Levin. Andrew did love doing things the old-fashioned way, but he also had other reasons, personal reasons, not to be appearing in a highly public Earth space station. And sending out a highly fashionable butler in his place certainly fit Andrew’s public persona of a wealthy yet strange and reclusive space traveler. 

“Master Miyamoto,” the man said, recognizing Levin as he approached.

“Hello, Fang Mu,” Levin said. He had never met this man, but Andrew had mentioned his name in passing once. That was all Levin needed to greet Fang Mu by name; he didn't forget anymore, no matter how small a detail. One of the reasons Andrew liked him.

Levin felt too nervous to really hear the small talk with the butler as he led the way towards their dock. Andrew’s craft was a typical two-seater, named so for the amount of seats in the cockpit and not the actual maximum occupancy, which was about a dozen. Outwardly, there was little special about the spaceship, with its bulky twin engines hanging off the rear and outdated RCS thrusters dotting the craft like acne on a teenager. Surrounded by colossal mega-ships owned by the wealthiest men and women living on the wealthiest planet in charted space, Andrew’s quaint ship looked like a life raft floating between yachts. That just made it easily recognizable within the circle of galactic elites he belonged to, something Levin knew Andrew took great pride in.

But despite its size, Levin could guess that it was a far more powerful machine under the hood than it appeared to be. He didn’t know that for sure, but in the short few years he had known Andrew, Levin found that the young man never did anything in half-measures. That was probably why this outlandish experiment Andrew was dragging him into was both exciting and terrifying, and also why Levin knew it would be futile to try and get out of it. Not that he wanted to.

It was with no small amount of trepidation that Levin followed the butler down into one of the station’s airlocks, which had been connected to a similar lock on the outside of Andrew’s ship – the only external piece of the craft that looked modern, a product of simple necessity. They crossed the vacuum-sealed threshold into the belly of the craft, a small, cramped cargo hold filled with miscellaneous items, some useful, most garbage. At least, garbage by a normal person’s standards. 

“Why does he have a model of a nineteenth-century car back here?” Levin thought to himself, examining a strange three-wheeled contraption about the size of his hand tucked into a box in the corner. Probably just something that caught Andrew’s eye, up until the point it belonged to him.

Inside, beyond the cargo hold, the ship was only a single tight passageway with a few rooms each on either side, with the cockpit at the far end. He glanced into the rooms as they walked by, noting the locations of the engine room, med bay, and a dark room containing four immobile, familiar lumps, all the while paying attention to the size of the interior. The craft felt much smaller on the inside, but most people would just assume they were imagining it. However, Levin didn’t do much imagining at all anymore – not the ordinary kind, at least.

In his mind’s eye, Levin brought up a mental image of the ship from the outside, a perfect replica formed from his own memory of its exterior taken just moments ago. Yet, this was no mere memory, and no mere mental image. The data Levin was looking for flowed into his mind through self-made electrical pathways, connecting his mind to a complete cutting-edge computing system embedded all down his spine, shielded by the bone. And despite being small enough to fit in his body, this was a full-power computer with his own brain serving as the monitor, mouse, and keyboard.

These enhancements could be engaged at will, and he did so now, layering his digitally-stored memories of the ship’s exterior with an image of the interior he currently walked through. With computer-aided precision, there was no need to estimate the measurements and wonder if the inside was too small for the outside; Levin could say with complete confidence that it was, in several distinct spots on the ship. Now, whatever that space was being used for, he could only guess.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“And I probably only noticed the discrepancy in the first place because I know Andrew’s real identity,” Levin thought to himself.

But when he thought of who Andrew really was, Levin couldn’t help but remember all those equally illustrious figures he was about to meet in person, and the anxiety delivered another punch to his gut. He could still scarcely believe the absurd series of events that had led to becoming friends with Andrew in the first place, much less what was happening now.

“Master Seritahz,” Fang Mu called, knocking on the door to the cockpit. Without waiting for an answer, he slid the door open before stepping aside to allow Levin entrance.

Inside, Andrew had his head buried underneath the center console, wires sticking out all around him as he tinkered with the ship. When the door opened, he pulled his head out, turning to look at Levin with a grease-stained face and a pair of wire clippers in hand. Scattered around him, various other tools lay about the place haphazardly, and Levin decided to wait outside the cockpit for now.

“Levin!” Andrew exclaimed, springing up and around in a flash. 

Andrew pulled Levin into a bear hug, and Levin recoiled from his grease-stained face, weakly returning the embrace with a few pats to the larger man's side, though some of the tension in his muscles did release. Andrew pulled back, holding Levin at arm's length as he examined him with a wide grin that exposed deep dimples. 

Drifting about Andrew's face were stray strands of hair pulled free of the tie that held the rest of his long golden locks into a simple ponytail, but he didn't seem to mind the grime as he brushed them out of the way. In contrast to the mess on his head, Levin's own simple and ordinary straight black hair seemed like the pinnacle of style. 

Fang Mu proffered a moistened towelette, and Andrew took it, using it to wipe down his face and hands, though the small cloth wasn’t nearly enough. After handing it back, Andrew turned into a blur as he swept all the scattered tools and components laying about the cockpit off the floor, clearing the small room in a flash. Levin was always impressed at how fast Andrew’s enhancements made him, even during such menial tasks.

With everything back in place, Levin finally stepped into the cockpit and settled down in the co-pilot’s seat. He didn’t ask what Andrew had been working on just below the main controls of the ship – Levin decided he would rather be blissfully unaware of whatever problems this ship had. He wouldn’t be on this clunker for very long anyhow.

Andrew went straight to business, firing up the ship’s systems, silent as he focused on the craft. Levin waited in silence, looking out the cockpit window at the station walls as he forced himself to lean back and settle into the seat. There was no beautiful scenery to distract him here, so he focused on his breathing, trying to maintain a placid expression in front of Andrew.

It was only a matter of minutes before they were off, Armstrong Station in their rear as they shot out into the void of space. From here, there was little more for Andrew to do until it came time to land, and he looked away from the gauges and knobs of his dashboard and out to the stars visible through the cockpit window.

“You don’t have to be so nervous, you know,” Andrew said with an amused chuckle.

“It’s that obvious?” Levin asked with a wry smile. “I thought I was handling it pretty well. You should have seen me on the Piercer.”

“The technology is pretty safe, you know. We’ve already sent unmanned probes through, and they came back without issue. We’ve figured out how to lock onto planets with specific conditions too, even if we can’t pick them out exactly. Either way, we won’t be getting dropped into a sun or a black hole, you can be assured of that,” Andrew said.

Levin nodded along, but he wasn’t concerned about his safety during the experiment, not with Andrew leading the expedition and not with the galaxy’s top scientific elite behind the technology. But goodness, what would they all be like? Would Levin be able to fit in with them?

“Oh, of course. I almost forgot. Your payment,” Andrew said, holding a thin, wafer-like block towards Levin.

Levin’s expression lit up at the sight. “You were actually able to get it early!?” he exclaimed, taking the device gingerly into his own hands.

“Don’t you know who I am? Whenever I want something, I always get it.”

Levin ignored Andrew, tapping his finger on the top of the sleek black surface. It exploded into light, projecting a square holographic screen into the air about the size of Levin’s head. Contained in the image was a blueprint, detailing a heavily modified version of a popular commercially-available energy reactor. 

Levin glanced at the image for a moment, recording it in perfect accuracy within his digital storage. Lifting his arm, he then inserted his finger into the projected image before him and swiped it to the left, causing the blueprint to disappear and another to take its place.

Contained within the device were hundreds of similar images and documentation, proper engineering diagrams depicting each component of a project that was simply enormous in scope. Even a talented, experienced engineer would have extreme difficulty parsing the overall function of this device just from descriptions of its components, and even then it would require deep multidisciplinary experience and a genius intellect. Levin was not hampered by such limits of the mind; he could simply record the data, and let his processors sort out where everything goes.

Not that it would be easy. His enhancements could elevate him to genius-level in any subject with ease, but they placed significant strain on his mind in the process. Levin wouldn’t try to fully parse a project of this magnitude unless he absolutely had to, and for now he was ecstatic to simply copy the data into his memory. Another addition to his collection.

“Ahem,” Andrew said aloud, not even bothering to actually clear his throat.

“Yes?” Levin said, his gaze locked steady on the screen before him.

“Now that I’ve fulfilled your request, what, pray tell, are you planning on doing with that?” Andrew said.

Levin blushed. “Well… I hadn’t really considered that.”

Andrew laughed, a raucous noise that only made Levin blush further. 

“I knew you were a man after my own heart, Levin! That’s right, why should the usefulness of what we collect matter? If it appeals to us, we should simply take it!” Andrew said, belly-laughing as his voice echoed about the cramped compartment.

“Spoken like the galaxy’s biggest kleptomaniac,” Levin said.

“You flatter me, my friend, but I prefer to be called a ‘Gentleman Rogue.’ A simple kleptomaniac doesn’t have near the fashion or style, which is essential for proper customer satisfaction.”

Levin smiled, a small laugh nearly escaping his lips. Only Andrew himself could think that he had fashion, but style? That was undeniable. 

“I didn’t know that your victims were ‘customers’ now. Or do you mean the people that hire you? Because I thought you usually steal from them too,” Levin said.

“I consider it vitally important that both groups are equally dissatisfied when my work is complete, as a matter of fact. How could I consider myself a proper gentleman otherwise?”

“It’s a wonder that you still get hired,” Levin said, rolling his eyes.

“That, my friend, has little to do with my gentlemanliness, and everything to do with my skill,” Andrew said, tilting his head back proudly.

Levin had to begrudge him that point. Andrew had orchestrated burglaries of the highest level, breaking into planetary-level fortresses with such alarming regularity that many of the galaxy’s wealthiest had decided the only way to keep a prize from Andrew’s hands was to ensure he never found out about it in the first place. And considering he stole openly from both wealthy elite and underworld crime bosses, only his non-violence kept him from the lofty position of the galaxy’s highest bounty.

But in the short few years Levin had known him, he had only ever been able to see Andrew as the eccentric, goofball collector of memorabilia and not the legend that had wormed his way into the hearts of teenage girls galaxy-wide. Levin wasn’t quite sure what Andrew saw in him, but that mattered little, because Andrew wanted him to join this team of extraordinary individuals. And what Andrew said earlier had been exactly correct – when he wants something, he always gets it.

“You never told me what your payment for this project is,” Levin said, the thought suddenly occurring to him. “If I’m getting schematics created by and available to only a few dozen of the greatest geniuses alive, then you must be getting something really good.”

“I haven’t decided yet,” he said, but Levin could see a familiar mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “But they think it’s just a lot of money.”

Levin chuckled. He knew his friend was incorrigible. He turned away from Andrew to look back out at the vast emptiness sprawling out beyond the edge of their small craft, and to his surprise, found that it wasn’t empty anymore. They had arrived already. 

Before them, a small rock floated in the void of space, coated in a layer of bright orange haze through which only hints of the blackened surface below could be seen. However, even this highly unique location, a moon possessing both water and an atmosphere, was simply a foreground for the main attraction. Even though Levin had seen it from afar before, his breath was still stolen by the magnificent behemoth filling up the cockpit window.

Saturn. Sixth planet of the Solar System. Thousands of ringlets blended together in Levin’s vision, painting a masterpiece of rock and ice atop a stormy yellow-and-brown canvas. Many locations in the galaxy claimed to have a better view than that of Saturn, but none of them could come close to matching its status as a celebrity in humanity’s sky for thousands of years. Very few of them could boast higher tourism numbers, either.

Levin felt a wave of comforting nostalgia, like visiting a childhood home, as he looked at the gas giant, despite viewing it in person for the first time. Earth may be the most beautiful gem of the galaxy, but looking out the window, Levin refused to believe that anything could exist with a more breathtaking view than this.

It was almost enough to distract him from another floating satellite, barely visible in the distance despite being much closer than the two celestial bodies. And unlike the relatively stationary Saturn and its orange moon, Titan, this location was growing larger and larger in their window at an alarming rate. Soon enough, Levin was able to clearly make out the features of the massive space station he and Andrew were hurtling towards.

The euphoric moment passed, and Levin remembered where he was going. He closed his eyes, looking at the beautiful memory of Saturn he had just made, one without a space station in the view. Andrew was occupying himself with the controls of the ship as he brought them in to land, leaving Levin alone in his anxiety. But, there was nothing to be done about that now. They had arrived.