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I didn’t get any immediate answer to why I had been spared and brought to that cabin. I did, however, get lunch, in the form of a tray with a spread of cheese, ham and bread. I was about to devour it when I realized two things at the same time: I was really hungry, and I was really hungry in a virtual simulation. I hadn’t had time to think about the uncanny reality I was in, what with landing in the wrong world, being captured and tied and verbally sparring with a female pirate captain and then being spared and jailed again. But there were several interesting facts at play, namely:

1 ) I was alive, or however you defined life, in a digital simulation.

2 ) My body had been recreated as a young healthy man, but not only that, my body worked just like a real one. It hurt and felt stomach grumblings and every other bodily sensation.

3 ) I didn’t know where I was or if any of the ship’s crew were real people or AI NPCs, but that distinction started feeling silly as soon as I formed the thought in my head.

4 ) I was kept alive for some reason, and something gnawed at the back of my head. Something about all those wannabes and a simulation with a ship’s crew composed entirely of women.

And as I was lost in thought, someone turned a key and opened the door.

It was one of the crew members, another impossibly beautiful woman with a very impractical uniform that seemed like what you would get if you threw a 19th century Prussian army uniform and a japanese maid outfit into a blender. Curiously, my gaze was drawn to her wrist, as she had some kind of very advanced sextant in it. Looking up at her stern, icy face, I realized she was probably high up in the ship’s hierarchy.

‘Well, hello,’ I said, not waiting for her to uncross her arms and address me. ‘You must be the First Mate or something like that, aren’t you?’

Her scowl made me realize I had hit a sore spot. I made a mental note for later use. I had to use whatever I could as an advantage given the tight situation I was in.

‘I am the First Mate, not something like that,’ she said, breaking her stance. ‘I keep this ship sailing in the right direction.’

‘And that direction would be…’

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

‘Wherever the Captain asks.’

I decided to inquire more, as stalling could only be a good outcome for me, whatever they had planned.

‘The Captain mentioned something about this being a Scouting Ship.’

‘Yes,’ she said, rolling her eyes. ‘She’s an ASS.’

‘Well, I don’t know her personally that much, though she does have a pretty impressive one.’

‘She is the Lightwind. An Advanced. Scouting. Ship.’

‘Oh, right. My bad.’

‘That’s enough questions from you anyway. I came here to interrogate you further. The Captain saw something different in you. I’m not convinced you’re anything but a loudmouth.’

I couldn’t contain a snort.

‘What’s so funny?’ she asked.

‘It’s just…’ I couldn’t continue. I closed my eyes. ‘It’s just that my wife used to say that about me all the time. That I was a loudmouth and couldn’t keep my trap shut.’

‘Your… wife?’ she asked, either surprised or appalled.

‘Yes, she… died a few years ago. Then I… died too, I guess. But what kind of afterlife she’s in, I don’t know. She didn’t get to choose like I did. Hell… even my choice was screwed up.’

I don’t remember any specific detail of what happened after that, because I sank on a depressive mood for a while, and the First Mate whose name I didn’t yet know sat by my side. I must have been crying because I don’t remember seeing her as she pressed my hands in hers, and then all of a sudden she was kissing me. I do remember that. A sweet, lemon-tinged, gunpowder-smelling kiss that was the most significant moment I had experienced in five years. If I hadn’t already been crying, I would have cried of joy. A young man can MAYBE understand it a bit if I liken it to a first kiss, that moment when for the first time you break into another person’s seemingly unbreakable bubble of personal space and then “WHAM!”, there’s no more she and you anymore, it’s just one continuum. For an old guy like me, this seemed even more special. I wouldn’t say it felt like a “Last Kiss”, but it felt like “oh my god, it’s been so long that I didn’t think I was ever going to feel this way”. And it had been a long time coming. Another thing a young man doesn’t understand is that once you find THE ONE, if you’re lucky too, the bad part is you’re never going to feel that rush of the First Kiss. After that, it’s sweet or passionate kisses with your loved one, but it’s never NEW, you know? And that’s what I felt at that point in that cabin. That NEW was something that could still happen to me. For a hot second, arriving by mistake in that pirate ship seemed like it could be the best thing to happen to me, the thing that I needed to feel alive and not just counting my days until my death in a quiet farming life. Sometimes what you think you need is exactly what you don’t need.

I’m an old-fashioned guy that doesn’t like to brag about these things, so I won’t get into intimate details. I will get into that more as I tell you my entire story, since my renewed vigor will be an important part of my journey. But let’s keep this one under the lid a bit, ok? It’s a special memory to me that I don’t want to sully, especially with what happened later on.

For now, just know that she was very special to me and I loved her for remaking me into a man for a short few hours.

Oh, her name? It was Larann.

Remember her.