The walk from my house to the town of Serenity takes about 20 minutes. The path winds around a small cliff with sharp rocks sticking out and a drop-off of about 100 feet into the ocean, so it's not something that you can sprint through. It has many areas with loose ground; if you are not careful, you can step on one and fall through.

“Come on, D, let's get our ass into motion before it gets darker,” I say, paying attention to the dirt path in front of me.

After walking for about 20 minutes, I see the lights of the town coming into view just over the hill in front of me.

“Finally,” I say, sighing.

It is close to 7:30 p.m., so my first stop is Invictus, the second-hand hardware store owned by Mr. Rozzali and his son Glen.

Here in Serenity, they buy and sell second-hand military and civilian hardware. Our small town doesn’t get much new technology, so people have to make do with what is around, which, thanks to stores like Invictus, is excellent second-hand tech.

“Boy, it is already late; I didn’t think you were going to make it in today,” says Mr. Rozzali as he watches me out of the corner of his eye.

“Yeah, D, what took you so long this week? Were you chasing ghosts again or what,” says Glen with some sarcasm in his voice.

“No such thing as ghosts, kid,” I say to Glen as I walk into the store.

“Really? So, what were those things that we saw behind your house the other night that my dad and I went to look for you,” he said with a questioning look.

“Not sure what you are talking about, but I haven’t seen anything unusual around my house for a while now,” I say as I get up to the counter where Mr. Rozzali is sitting, watching something on his portable TV. I put my backpack on top of the counter.

Glen stares at me disbelievingly as he walks up to the counter to examine the backpack.

Glen is only ten years old but is much smarter than his age would suggest. He is also extremely tech-savvy since he usually oversees the store's second-hand purchases. So, his knowledge only keeps increasing with every piece of second-hand hardware he can access.

“What do you have for us today, D,” he says with anticipation as he stares intently at the backpack as if trying to guess what’s inside.

“Hmm, I have two pieces of hardware, but I’m going to need your old man to look at them,” I say as I bring out the node module first.

“Ohhh, it's a C-type node module,” said Glen intrigued, picking up the node module.

He quickly walks over to a test machine that sits firmly against the wall behind the counter. It’s four feet tall and two feet wide, with a small shelf in the middle. A display pad in the upper right-hand corner has different connector-type plugs and wires hanging down from it.

“These things are so cool,” says Glen with a smile as he puts the node module on the shelf and starts working the different connector plugs to hook the module to the machine.

“Do you know that this type of integrated circuitry was first used around 100 years ago on big space transports? They were in high demand, especially after the war; they could fetch a pretty high price back then,” says Glen, full of excitement as he dabbles with the connectors, trying to find the right ones for the module.

“Really? You don’t say,” I quipped back with just a smudge of sarcasm.

“Hey, kid, should you be playing with such an expensive piece of hardware then,” I said mockingly.

Glen just half turned his head and gave me the dirtiest glance I had seen in a long while. I could even swear I saw him mouth the words,” Fuck You,” before he turned back to continue what he was doing.

This is coming from a 10-year-old boy.

“Don’t worry, Daemon. Glen is good at this kind of stuff; I’m sure he won't break it or anything,” said Mr Razzoli as he finally put down the portable TV and grabbed the backpack on the counter.

“You said you brought two pieces of equipment, so let’s see what the other is,” he questioned as he opened the backpack and removed the scanner.

“By golly, this is a Stellar Beast Tracker & Scanner device. It's even a Zenith brand, which is top of the line,” commented Mr. Rozzali with surprise and excitement as he inspected the scanner from top to bottom.

“Yeah, but I think it's broken,” I said, a little down.

Mr. Rozzali picked up his eyes and looked at me for a second before continuing to inspect the scanner. “What makes you say that? As far as I know, these scanners are hardy and hardly fail. They are meant to take a beating out in the field.”

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“Well, I don’t know much about that, but I do know when I turned it on earlier today, it was telling me it detected beasts in a 200-mile radius, and as far as I know, there haven’t been any beast in Titan since the gate was destroyed over 100 years ago.”

“Hmm, that is interesting,” said Mr Razzoli, scratching his head, “We’ll find out more as soon as we turn it on, and as long as it lights up, we’ll buy it.”

“Ok,” I nodded in agreement.

“Glen, come over here and test this scanner to see if it works,” said Mr. Rozzali as he placed it back on the counter.

“Isn’t D worried that I’ll break the scanner also,” chimed Glen in a snarky tone.

“Stop being a baby and come over here and test the scanner out,” commanded Mr.Rozzali.

“I'm Sorry, Daemon. He’s just been a big baby, but don’t worry; he will check it out correctly,” Mr. Rozzali said as he looked at Daemon with an embarrassed look.

“I trust you,” I said.

Glen had no choice but to come back and pick up the scanner, but he still sulked as he approached the counter.

“Dad, what's so great about this piece of crap scanner? We don’t even have any Stellar Beast here, so what's the point of buying it,” said Glen, annoyed, as he picked up the scanner from the counter and returned to the test bench.

After hearing what his son said, Mr. Rozzali instantly turned red with anger and embarrassment. He quickly got up, went behind his son, and slapped him in the back of the head.

SLAP.

“Ouch. What was that for?” said Glen as he almost fell forward from the slap.

“That’s so you understand to keep your mouth shut, boy; I don’t mind you having an opinion, but remember this is a business, and you will respect the customers,” said Mr. Rozzali as he returned to the counter.

Glen just eyed his father briefly before turning to me and giving me another dirty look. This time I could clearly see the words “I’ll remember this asshole,” mouthed by Glen.

I couldn’t help but grin at him as he looked at me. He then turned around and went to the workbench to try the scanner.

“Sorry, Daemon, but like I said before, Glen is a good boy; he just sometimes gets a little moody. I think he got it from his mom; God rest her soul.”

“I’m good, Mr. Rozzali. I’m the one who should be apologizing, as it seems I ticked your son off; I didn’t mean to,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

“Nah, this is all him; you don’t have to worry. Eventually, when you get one of your own, you’ll understand,” said Mr. Rozzali as he looked at Glen working the scanner on the testbench.

I stood there, not knowing what to say, and Mr. Rozzali quickly picked up on the awkwardness.

“Nothing on that front yet, huh?” he said in a low voice.

I glanced at him briefly before returning to look at Glen, who was still working on the scanner. The atmosphere was like one of those father-son chats. I remember my first and only one with my dad when I was 13.

“Daemon, you’ve been here for three years now, and not once have I seen you talk to anyone else but us. That’s not healthy or natural for a young man your age, son,” said Mr. Rozzali as he turned and stared at me.

“Here it comes,” was the only thing I could think of after hearing him talk.

“You need to socialize more with persons your age. I know our town is not as big as the city you originally came from, but I bet you can still find a few people in your age group. I, for one, know of one person who would love to spend some time with you,” he continued, trying to anticipate my reaction.

I was awestruck for a second before I realized what he was implying.

“Mr. Rozzali, I appreciate the concern, but I’m fine as I am right now. I’m not looking to make more friends, nor am I looking for any other type of relationship with anyone at the moment,” I said in a serious but friendly tone.

“I don’t know, Daemon; people are not meant to be hermits; just look at history. We have always lived in groups, and the need to trust is part of who we are as humans. That can sometimes lead to bad things, but more often than not, it usually ends in a good thing,” he refuted.

“I understand, Mr. Rozzali, but I’m not ready or willing to take that step now. I feel like I need to find myself first before I can start adding people back into my life. I’m not trying to be rude, as I know you have your niece Claire’s best interest at heart, but I don’t think I’m ready for that now,” I chimed back as I stared at his unwavering face.

We had a staring contest for quite a few minutes before a smirk appeared on his face.

“I still don’t get it, Daemon. You know my niece likes you, and here on this rock, in this town, finding a woman like that is hard. She is pretty and keeps fit, so it's not like she is not attractive.”

He stared at me before a mischievous grin appeared on his face.

“Or are you trying to say you are happier being by yourself than with a woman, Daemon? You know that excessive self-abuse can lead to blindness, so why make the bald man cry all the time when you can have a beautiful young lady at your side instead to cater to your every whim,” he said with a devilish grin.

I was taken aback by how personal the conversation had turned instantly.

“Do we want to go down this route, Tony?” I said, a little irked. Tony was Mr. Rozzali’s first name, but I always addressed him as Mr. Rozzali out of respect.

“No. My apologies, Daemon, I overstepped.”

“Understood. I know you mean well, but like I said before, I don’t want or particularly need anyone at the moment. It doesn’t mean that I won't change my mind in the future, but for now, I’m good just how I am,” I said, returning my gaze to Glen.

“I guess I can understand what you are trying to say, but I don’t know if my niece will agree. She is as stubborn as they come, and when she gets something stuck in her head, it's almost impossible to change her mind,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“And right now, YOU are in her head. Just trying to make you aware,” he finished saying as he got up and started walking toward Glen.

“Hey boy, aren’t you done already?” he asked in a fatherly voice.

“Yeah, both of them turned on, but for whatever reason, the scanner keeps saying there are stellar beasts within a 200-mile radius. Isn’t that kind of weird dad?” said Glen.

“Yeah, Daemon had already mentioned that, so we might need to open it up later and see if anything is broken or burned,” he said as he patted Glen on the head.

Mr. Rozzali and Glen returned to the counter with the scanner and module on hand.

“Do we have a deal?” I asked.

“Yeah, I'll buy both of them,” said Mr. Rozzali, looking at the scanner and module on the counter.

“How about 200 credits for the module and 400 credits for the scanner,” he said, peering at me from behind the counter.

I was shocked. I thought I would get a maximum of 300 credits for them, but here, they were offering me 600 credits.

I nodded in agreement as I tried to contain my excitement.

“Good, I just have one condition,” said Mr. Rozzali,

“You probably want the money to buy a ticket to view the fight this weekend, right?” he said.

I looked at him for a second before nodding yes with some hesitation.

“Ok. So, my one condition is that you take Claire with you to see the fight this weekend,” he said with a smile.