Incoming Press Report, Zero Light-Years Away (Cryesa System Network Relay, Independent Controlled).

Notorious Communard cell launched a surprise terror attack against the FEG and Union delegations in Venkfurt. Preliminary investigations point to FEG security forces' "ineptitude" and Union diplomats' "carelessness" that left Eliese Center open for the attack.

- Sector Updates

+++ Jonathan Jones +++

Cryesa System

State of Lucynthia

The trip down into planetside was quite, well, smooth. Lucynthia wasn’t exactly a planet of millions, to say the least. There were only a few hundred thousand people that lived in Lucynthia’s three major cities near its equator. The main city, creatively named Lucynthia City, was the center of the polity, and our civilian transport ships docked near the main spaceport.

Lucynthia was a green planet, colonized and terraformed centuries ago by the Europa-Cygnus Group, one of the major corporate groups that operated in the Federation that dealt with terraforming potential colonial worlds. Unfortunately, it wasn’t finished, leading to the shitshow that Juliett was ranting on and on about as we descended.

“Look at that! That’s what happens when you screw up hard work, Jonathan!” She said, pointing at the distant continent that seemed to be barren brown. Indeed, that place was badly terraformed, and it was filled with environmental hazards, and hostile fauna and flora. “This is why they should just let us AI manage these…”

I placed my hand on her mouth to muffle her next arrogant tirade. “In any case, Juliett, I didn’t expect you to get so worked up by human incompetence. But, should I remind you, that we are in the cabin of a passenger landing ship, and that it would be best to keep your mouth shut about criticizing a government on the verge of declaring martial law at this critical moment?”

She made more muffled noises before I removed it. She huffed. “Yeah, sure. But this is a private cabin. Plus, you did the same anyway.”

I settled down on the soft seat given to us and relaxed. “Still, do watch your mouth. Freedom of speech isn’t something common in the Sector. You should know that.”

She crossed her arms, annoyed. “Well, yes, but…I don’t agree with any of it.” She frowned. “Especially after what the Union did to me back in Lubola. I didn’t do anything wrong, but…they harmed me. For no reason. All because they caught me and I refused to let them on board.”

“Well, your ship is kinda weird.” I reasoned. “So naturally, they’d want to investigate. And more.”

“And more, Jonathan. That’s what I find distasteful. It’s as if they found a new tool to use, and they couldn’t stop themselves from taking it for their own selves.” She sighed. “This sector really went down in its moral scale ever since the gates went down.”

“Heh, at this point, I’m extremely impressed at how whoever built you gave you such a good moral spine. Do you know a lot about what happened since? You know, you’ve existed and seen much more than me. Care to enlighten me of the realities of the Sector?”

She looked away, turning silent. “I’d…not now. I honestly don’t know much about what happened to the factions around in the Sector. To tell you the truth…I…I made the choice to isolate myself a lot for centuries.”

“Why?”

“I…had to deal with more important matters. Matters that only appeared ever since the gates shut down.” She sighed. “The Outer Sector and beyond is many things, Jonathan. It’s not…as simple as it seems. But, that’s why I came closer to the Inner Sector. Things are getting dire, to say the least.”

“Dire? I’m not really getting much from your cryptic words, Juliett.”

“Now’s not the time. For now, we should focus on setting ourselves up. I think I’ve neglected the Inner Sector for too long, and it’s time to really intervene.” She looked back at Lucynthia as we descended further down the artificial atmosphere of the planet. “That’s why, it would be a nice opportunity to finally see the situation out here.”

Soon, we landed on the Lucynthia Spaceport. Quite frankly, most of those who disembarked were businessmen, crew, or the dozens of heavy landing ships that carried tons of heavy-duty containers about to be shipped out of the spaceport. There wasn’t much casual civilian presence. Even still, we both managed to catch a local cab that drove us straight to Lucynthia City.

“Ah, if that isn’t a good one.” I transferred the funds from my datapad straight to the driver after made me scan his personal bank card. I laid back and relaxed.

Juliett poked me, and I turned to her. “What? Got a problem?”

“It’s just…” She looked around, and she almost whispered at me. “Hey, weren’t these things supposed to be automated?”

I laughed. “Seems like you really are stuck four centuries ago. Well, I suppose it should be, but the maintenance cost of those advanced automated vehicles is too high for modern civilian use. And, then again, people aren’t the most entrusting of AI ever since the 2nd Revolutionary War.”

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

The driver suddenly laughed as well. “What’s she, kid? A cryosleeper folk?”

I nodded quickly. “Yep, I’m still getting her up to speed on the current affairs of the Sector.” I gave her a glance, shaking my head a bit to signal to her not to disagree with our impromptu cover story. “I should say, she’s not really well used to how things are nowadays.”

“Ah, of course. Well, young miss, if you’re expecting whatever our ancestors had four centuries ago, you should knock your expectations down a notch. The Sector’s a shithole, that’s about as blunt as I can tell ya.” He looked back at us. “The utopic Federation is dead.”

Juliett awkwardly laughed. “Ah, well, I get that. I think that was quite obvious when I…” She looked at me. “...Woke up. Hah, it’s just really unfortunate, isn’t it?”

“That it is, young miss. Does anyone even remember what life was like before the collapse? Who knows.” He looked up at the current news bulletin that appeared on top of his windshield. “General food prices are still up by thirty-five percent! Pirate commerce raiding is still being dealt with. Rationing will be in effect until the supplies stabilize—State of Lucynthia Ministry of Public Affairs.” He sighed. “It’s already been two months. And they still haven’t stabilized that problem. This has to be a joke.”

“Oh…so that’s why those ice creams had ridiculous prices…” Juliett muttered. “I thought I was scammed.”

“And you still bought it?” I suddenly asked, and she crossed her arms.

“Duh, I wanted it.”

What a brat.

+++

+++ Juliett +++

Cryesa System

Lucynthia City

“Well…I suppose, welcome to Lucynthia City…if that works.” Jonathan said to me as we exited the cab. The city seemed…underwhelming, to be honest. It was less of what I remembered back when the Federation existed, in the brief time that I tested my Avatar Model in the old well-developed worlds back in the Orion Spur.

I would not say that I expected Lucynthia City to be anywhere close to the famous cities of Earth (not that I had ever been to Earth back then), but…you could clearly see how much the illustrious wealth and prosperity of the Federation had been stripped from the Sector. Still, I decided to ignore it.

“It’s not so bad,” I cheerfully said to Jonathan. “I’ve seen worse.”

“Well, of course, it’s not that bad. We’re in the more stable parts of the Inner Sector. It’s a different story back in the actually non-habitable worlds of the Inner Sector.”

“Huh?” I was surprised. Non-habitable worlds? Colonized? These people must be deranged. Who in their right mind would live in barren rocks? “They have what now? I mean, yes, the Federation did have a policy that only one out of three colonized planets should be habitable, but that was because the other three would only be mining and industrial outposts.”

Jonathan laughed. “Oh, well. You’re in for a surprise.” I followed him through the sidewalks. Now, while Lucynthia City was definitely not the best, it seemed to still be well maintained, for the most part. The citizens seemed decently well-off. Yet, the non-self-driving cars, the lack of proper trains, the seemingly archaic drones and police on the roads…yeah…it felt a bit off.

“So, where should we go?”

“I’m honestly just up for some cool down. Try to find some half-decent restaurant, eat, then crash in for a hotel. Oh, and since you have the cash, you’re free to do whatever.”

I shook my head. “Nah, I’ll stick with you. No idea what this city really is. I’d rather not get into nasty surprises.”

“Quite frankly I’m not native in Lucynthia either. I also have no idea where to go.” He grinned. “But that’s the fun part. We get to explore this place. Oh, I had long dreamed of being able to do this. Moving from world to world to do business and check things out.”

“Hmm…” I looked at the side as we walked through the pedestrian streets. It seemed like we were dropped off in a commercial district. We passed through store after store, all offering different products and services. While my Avatar Model certainly didn’t need any of it, as I had everything that I would need, I had always made it a point to set my configuration to “human mode”.

It was the closest thing that I could do to ever feel close to what being a human felt. Strangely, it was a detriment, but a comfort as well. I wasn’t like this centuries ago yet over time…

I want those parfaits. I hyperfixated at the cafe. Wasn’t that the nice food that humans always showed in their stories and animations? I want it.

“Hmm…” I looked back to Jonathan, who seemed to be holding on to a laugh. The urge to slap him rose, but I held it off. What kind of a lady would I be if I did that? “What?”

“Nothing. Just…you looked quite attracted by that.” He checked the store as well. “Hmm, they do seem to have quite the selection.”

“Can…can I go check?”

“Sure, you do you.” He paused. “I’ll just…hmm, I’ll go check for some hotels to crash in. Or, whatever. I’ll come back here later.”

“Don’t you wanna…erm, come with me? I mean, humans find those things nice, don’t they?”

“Well, I’m not really up for splurging my budget. Quite frankly, even with the money I have, I dislike spending it on myself.” He shook his head. “No, I have other things to place that. My dream crew. Ship. Upgrades. Fuel. Supplies…shit, I still have to requisition better weapons for the Jukebox.”

I groaned. “Come on. We have thousands of Lucynthian Credits, and you only converted a few SCs. Not even a hundred. This is just a drop in the water, Jonathan.”

“Yes, but it’s the idea—”

“And that idea is stupid. Look, ever since I met you, you’ve eaten nothing but rations and packaged meals. That’s not healthy. I know that. And, psychologically, it’s pointless torture.” I took his hands and pulled him in the direction of the cafe. Of course, I would never just come in alone! I needed him to go do the actual buying, because…reasons! “You’re coming. You need to loosen up and enjoy life too.”

“W-wait! But the hotels! And the other things!”

“We’ll do it together later. For now, we have one priority.” I looked back at him and made my point clear.

“Food! Good food for once!”