Apollonia found she loved the VR training. While the lectures seemed like they might drone on forever, they were actually somewhat brief, hitting the main points and then emphasizing them with activities that underscored them well.

Cleaning a room in VR was rather gamified, and it was actually enjoyable enough that she found herself having some fun. Figuring out spots she missed helped her score grow.

It didn't exactly have a steep learning curve, but just as it was starting to wear out its welcome she was moved onto a new lecture, a new concept, with its own well thought-out gaming practice.

After some hours of it, though, she did find herself getting bored.

"It's not a good idea to spray disinfectant on a person," the digital doctor told her as she spritzed his head. After enough scrubbing she had found that his hair rubbed off like on a doll that had been played with too much.

Now his head was entirely hairless, and very shiny.

"While I understand you are just having a laugh, it is important to remember that cleaning chemicals can be harsh on the skin, or even cause burns," the doctor said patiently as she continued to rub his head. It made a very satisfying squeak of cleanliness.

"I can assure you, cleaning my head is far easier than cleaning a real person's," the doctor told her.

Laughing, Apollonia pulled off her headset.

Zey was standing right there.

"Did you see all that?" Apollonia asked, face turning red, as she realized the nurse might have spent the last 20 minutes watching her rub the fake doctor's scalp.

"I saw enough," Zey said. She did not seem upset.

"You know, a lot of people end up doing that. I think that's why they added the ability for his hair to rub off."

"They do? Did you?" Apollonia asked.

"Oh, hell yeah. That doctor's head was squeaking like you wouldn't believe by the time I was done!" She leaned in closer, conspiratorially. "I got his eyebrows, too."

Apollonia laughed. "Oh, thank the Dark, I thought I'd seem crazy."

"Just a little," Zey said. "But a good kind." She hesitated, as if she had been about to say something but thought better of it.

"What?" Appollonia asked.

"I was just thinking - you're a lot more likable than you seem from a distance. You've got this . . . seriousness about you."

"I do?"

"Yeah. Like you're carrying the universe on your shoulders. We all thought you were spending too much time with the Captain."

"Does he do that?"

"Girl, look at him! Man is a great captain, a mayor who . . . well, he exists, and that's kind of enough, but he's also wound up as tight as a watch spring."

"What's a watch spring?" Apollonia asked.

"Point is, you're fun and chill. It's good to see that about you."

Apollonia felt, for the second time today, supremely happy inside. "I am a little crazy, though. I mean, I told an admiral I had rabies once."

"Really? Who?" Zey asked.

"Ugh . . . I think his name was Vandoss?"

"System Admiral Vandoss?" Zey said, mouth dropping. "Space, girl, you are nuts!"

Apollonia shifted. "Is he really that important?"

"Yeah, he's the admiral for the Sol System. Like the highest rank commander of humanity. He led us to victory in two wars."

"Oh," Apollonia said. "To be fair, he did laugh."

Zey shook her head. "You're just not afraid of anything, are you?"

That floored her. She laughed once, derisively. Then she realized that Zey was serious.

"I'm afraid all the time," she said.

Zey's face went to genuine surprise. "You never seem it."

Apollonia wasn't sure what to say to that. She changed the topic. "You said you and others . . . talk about me?"

"Yeah, just regular conversation, nothing bad," Zey replied quickly. "I mean, you're kind of big news. You came in so suddenly, were spending time with the big officers . . . and everytime weird stuff happens, it's like you just walk in and it turns out okay." Zey regarded her with something approaching awe. "I kind of want to know how you do it, but I also don't."

"I'm just surprised people view me well," Apollonia admitted. "Where I came from . . . people just all thought I was a witch. They hated me. In the Union they don't seem to do that."

"I've heard some stuff like that. It's not just being from the Union that changes people, it's just a mindset, I think. Me, I'm from Gohhi, and it wasn't even a bad part, but living in the Union gives you something that no one, not even those rich assholes can have; security. Not even like physical protection, it's just - you know that you can live a decent life. You're not going to die because you got hurt and can't work, or go homeless because the landlord jacks up the rent."

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Apollonia found herself still trying to comprehend the fact of Zey's origins. "You're from Gohhi?"

"Yep. Station Gallows!"

"Gallows? That's grim . . ."

"Just what it was called, somebody's name. Wasn't the worst place in Gohhi to live - I look back on it with fondness. Not that you'd ever find me going back there."

"How'd you end up here if you're from Gohhi? I didn't think people could really move back and forth . . ."

"Dr. Zyzus recruited me, I was a nurse on Gohhi and he worked there in the Union embassy. He saw my work, was impressed, I guess, and offered me a way into the Union and out of Gohhi, so I took it. Really, though, there's a lot of migration of people into and out of the Union."

"Why the hell would someone leave the Union?" Apollonia asked, shocked.

"Sometimes people get convinced that if they just lived under capitalism they'd be a predator who'd make a mountain of creds and live like a king. Most of 'em are just gonna end up getting eaten by somebody else, if you ask me. Space, people don't just move to Gohhi, there's migration into Glorian worlds, sometimes. Not as much out; they really control that tight. But they allow some people to move in if they have useful skills."

Apollonia could hardly understand that, but couldn't think of anything useful to say about it.

She put the headset aside and started to take off the gloves and stickers. "I hope I can take a break now?"

"Oh, Apple, your day is done. I'm on call, but you only train for four hours a day."

"You mean I can do whatever I want with the rest of my time?"

"Yep. Though going ashore requires a special permission from Commander Cenz. It's dangerous."

"I can't wait to see it," Apollonia said. "I heard there are huge dinosaur-like things out there!"

"Well you can go, I'll stay here," Zey said. "No way I'm going where something can eat me. They say they could swallow a person in one bite."

"Awesome," Apollonia breathed.

Zey looked a little concerned. "I'll be on call here. Just don't do anything stupid."

"Never," Apollonia said, grinning, finding a little bit of enjoyment that she could still unnerve if she wanted to. Even if she did like Zey, she didn't want to lose her edge.

Leaving the medical area, she saw that the sun was setting, though the sky still glowed with the space dust surrounding the world.

She walked towards the gantries at the edge of Outpost Alexa, the ones that let her look down into the water. The winds were still vicious, almost drowning out the colossal crashes of the waves.

Down among the legs that held up the outpost, she marveled that the winds and waters hadn't taken it down. Even hard carbons had to have their limits, right? But then again, maybe not. Hell, maybe this place would even survive the ending of the world, so long as nothing hit it directly.

She imagined some intelligent species coming about millions of years from now, finding these indestructible pillars and wondering just what they meant.

It made her feel glum.

Down in the waters, she realized there was movement.

For a moment, she thought it was Kell, still prowling around under the water.

But then she saw something breach the surface; it was smooth and light bluish-gray. It disappeared back under, but a moment later another one came up, and she saw it split open, revealing a toothy-maw.

It was looking right up at her, and like a dolphin begging for a fish it danced back and forth before going back down with a huge splash.

"It's a . . ." she heard, barely, over the wind.

Turning, she saw Alisher Rasulov. He was leaning close, yelling to be heard over the wind, but she still missed the key word of his sentence.

"What?" she yelled, smiling and brushing her hair to the side. The wind whipped it right back into her face.

He smiled sheepishly and gestured towards a door.

Being inside cut the sound of the wind down to almost nothing.

"That's better," he said. "Sorry. I was saying that those were dolphish."

". . . Dolphish?"

"Yeah, well they're more like really smart fish that resemble dolphins. So we started calling them that."

"It's a dumb name," she said.

"It was my idea," he admitted, looking chagrined.

"Well, I mean, it's cute," she said quickly. "But clearly the better name would have been Porpish."

Rasulov started laughing. "I'm going to make a note of that one. It's not too late to change their entry."

"They seem smart," she commented.

"Yeah, they do. But they're really devious little bastards, and I'm convinced they just really want someone to get close enough to grab."

"To eat?" Apollonia asked.

"Maybe. Or just play with. Won't go well for the person either way." He shook his head. "Makes me concerned for the Ambassador. I heard he dived into the water and hasn't been seen since."

"What, you mean Kell?" Apollonia laughed again.

But Rasulov looked alarmed.

"Oh, you're serious! Yeah, don't worry about Kell. That thing is not going to get eaten by porpishes. Probably the other way around."

"How would he eat them . . . ?"

"He's not a human," she told him. "He's not even remotely like us."

"That doesn't mean he can overpower something that big!"

Apollonia realized to what extent people did not know. She didn't even know all that much about the Shoggoth. But she knew enough. She had seen it kill - both the infant Leviathan that had taken over Michal Denso, and the still-living husk of the Source on the pirate ship.

Nothing mundane would be a danger to a Shoggoth. Nothing could be.

"Just don't worry about the Ambasador," she said. "He'll come back and go right on being his old . . . well, horrible self."

Rasulov nodded. "I suppose you're privy to more about him than I am. I was just on the team assisting him, and well - none of us want to fail."

"What kind of things did he need help with?" Apollonia asked, genuinely puzzled.

"Technically, I'm not allowed to share such things . . . but between you and me, nothing. He never tapped us for help." He shrugged helplessly. "We just found other duties to do in the meantime. I did a lot more studying and training, I think that's why I got chosen to come down on this mission."

"I was so excited to find out I'd get to come down," Apollonia said, grinning. "Those porpish are pretty cool, but I really want to see some of the big stuff on the land! You know, before it's . . . all gone."

"We will be doing some missions to the shore," Rasulov said. "If you get trained up as a medical assistant, you could probably wrangle an invite."

Her eyes lit up. "Really? How would I do that?"

Rasulov hesitated. "You know, I just got off duty and I'm hungry . . ."

"Oh," she said. "Yeah, well - maybe we can talk about it later?"

"Or how about now?" he suggested. "Just with some food in front of us?"

In shock, Apollonia realized that he was asking her out.

She stared for a few moments.

"Sure," she said, her voice coming out in shrill pitch. "Lemme, um. Get changed. And freshen up."

Rasulov smiled, and she felt her cheeks get warmer. "I'll see you in twenty in the cafeteria?"

"Sure," she repeated.

Rasulov stared at her for a moment, and then cleared his throat. "Ah, I need to get past you to get out the door . . ."

"Oh. Oh!" She was blocking him in. Jumping to the side, he went out, smiling back to her again.

Then the door closed, and Apollonia wondered if she was about to have a heart attack.

"Uh . . . am I okay?" she asked her tablet.

It reported that, aside from a higher heartbeat, she was okay. Though it reminded her she needed to put on weight.

"Can I get nicer clothes?" she asked.

A list of optional clothing that could be printed in just five minutes and delivered to her door popped up. The cost in ex was higher than usual, but that was probably because they had limited production options down here.

Oh god, what to pick? She just tapped some stuff that didn't look hideous, and then went back out into the wind to head back to her room, clutching the tablet to her chest the whole way.