“So that’s how it went down.” I twirl the paper straw in my sangria, staring into the drink I’ve been nursing the whole time I talked about the Shadow Master. Even though the sunlight is bright on my back deck, the stiff spring breeze cools me.
“Wow.” Petra shakes her head. “That’s some Encounter, all right.”
“What do you think CECI wanted?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “But I bet this isn’t an isolated incident.”
“How do you figure?” Petra sips her lemonade.
“Because Herc must have had something similar happen when CECI realized he was dying.”
“Makes sense.” Blake pats the hand I’m resting on the table. “So, that means this sort of thing is going to happen again. What do you think she wants, anyway?”
“To understand.” I grin. “I mean, CECI said as much. And it makes sense.”
“Yeah, it does.” Petra nods. “Emerging intelligence always tries to make sense of things. At least that’s what all the theory in my First Contact training taught.”
“You think we’ll find intelligent life out there?” I wave a hand at the sky.
“I think so.” Blake smiles. “I mean, we just found it in the NeuroNet. Why not orbiting a distant star?”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Good point.”
“I’ve got duty in an hour.” Petra stands. “Got to get going. Thanks for having me over. Next time, we’ll have to chat virtually.”
“Thanks for coming by. And yes. Don’t be a stranger.”
We all stand. Petra extends her hand for a shake but Blake holds out his arms. After that, it turns into a group hug. That reminds me of the kids, who are off on another recruitment event.
As I see Petra out around the corner of the house and into the robotic car, I think about how I got on a stream early that morning to tell all the E-sports people I wasn’t coming back to pro gaming. While they were shocked that I’d gone casual, they got used to the idea pretty quickly.
I sit back down at the patio table with Blake. We end up holding hands, talking about where we’ll go to dinner later that night. It’s so easy to just be with him, I almost want to say we should stay in and burn down a few Challenges instead. But I realize that it doesn’t really matter exactly what we decide to do.
We’re making memories together, of each other and the worlds we live in, after all.
The End