"This doesn't make sense!"
Theo, John, Voli, and the two R.I walked down the corridor to their rooms.
"Sense or no, we don't have an option." John wasn't in the best of moods. "I don't care what sort of missions they'll give us, but you'll stick with me."
After the whole incident on Delta Monga John started acting like a mother hen protecting her chick. And Theo was that chick.
Theo gave a weak smile. This whole thing just reminded him that he was totally powerless, worthless even.
And he might or might not have forgotten to remove the tracker from his suit. He was definitely going to do that first thing returning to his room.
"I will be protecting him, so rest assured," Sizzy spoke freely.
But hardly anyone gave her any attention.
"Even so, this does seem like an odd coincidence. The failure rate for this warp was less than 15% and considering most of the habitable planets in the void nebula are located in the furthest west interstellar corner, this really does seem…odd." Voli wasn't convinced either.
Their steps reverberated.
"What it seems is of no consequence. We just have to secure the ore, get it back and job done. The end." John walked faster. Veins throbbed and he grinded his teeth. 'This wasn't part of the plan!'
"He seems mad," Voli whispered through her teeth.
"Yeah, no shit," Theo mumbled.
Eventually, the three separated and headed for their individual rooms.
But while it seemed like they were separate, someone was actually following John.
John noticed the follower but only turned around after making enough distance. He looked around and spoke clearly. "I didn't expect you of all people to show up."
"I have a mission for you." The voice resounded. It came from a man hidden in a cloak. A very deep and clear voice.
He'd appeared out of seemingly nowhere. His cloak was perfectly black and hid his whole body rather well.
"Really? So, I take it you're the reason behind all this? Anyway, that is?" Though John was irritated, he controlled it.
"You always were the brightest. This-" A holo window appeared right before John's eyes. "Don't worry, this place is secured."
John examined the contents carefully. "How much are you willing to pay?"
"Depending on your success, one hundred thousand hex."
"That's a generous offer." John grinned. "But you know, he's very capable and I assure you, he's stronger than me."
"Oh? Not feeling confident?" The man chuckled. "How much do you want?"
"250k."
"That's ludicrous!" The man's calm voice, was calm no more.
"I know, but so is this mission."
The man released a breath. "Two hundred is all I can promise."
John turned around. "The deal's off then." He started walking.
"There was a certain incident in Delta Monga and apparently a man died. The footage showed two people. I wonder what'll happen when you get back from this mission."
John grinned, stared back. "Do I look scared to you?" He kept on walking.
"Wait!" The man clicked his tongue. "Fine. But I expect results."
"But of course." John grinned, showing his teeth. "And I expect half of the advance."
He left without waiting for a reply.
But the man hidden in the cloak stayed behind and just stood there, a bit dazed. 'Such unbridled greed. One of these days…' He proceeded to laugh haphazardly.
A laugh that went unheard.
***
Theo was a bit troubled. This whole thing didn't seem like a coincidence to him and yet he couldn't accuse anyone of anything.
There was a reason the void nebula was particularly dangerous. That was because communications in this place didn't work properly and often times the ships that got stranded never got out.
And yet, no one was panicking and everyone just assumed everything was normal.
Was he the only one sane, or perhaps, insane?
He didn't know, but it was driving him crazy.
"Perhaps, you should get some sleep." Sizzy felt a bit lonely. Lately, no one paid any attention to her, but she was paying full attention to people around her, especially Theo. But this way, her loneliness only intensified even more. She was but a machine, and yet…
"Yeah." He didn't disagree.
But he was afraid to sleep too. After all, lately, all he got were nightmares. He often saw nightmares about things that he never experienced. Memories that weren't his. And sometimes, even his death.
And yet once he woke up, he could never remember them. But the sensation always remained.
It was horrifying.
He still went to bed despite the fact. He had to.
***
The fact of being stranded didn't matter as much as not getting a definite answer. Voli, was just sad, and a bit scared.
She couldn't just walk up to John and confront him when there were so many people around. What if she got shot down?
It wasn't that she was embarrassed or even nervous. Rather, she was sacred.
She wasn't that beautiful like girls who were modified just to look good. She wasn't thin and she definitely didn't have wondrous fair skin. Instead, she had battle-hardened skin and a physique fit for an explorer. Her red frilly hair wasn't seen as an object of beauty.
'Maybe he doesn't like girls like me?' In contrast, Captain Sharon Barslain had a much tighter physique and looked fairer too; a perfectly symmetrical face with no apparent imperfections. Even her hair was straightened, long and pure black. What was Voli compared to her?
Self-doubt and her sense of fear were eating her alive. Even the wondrous feeling of money wasn't soothing.
"What is this?" She grabbed her chest tight. She didn't even know what she was feeling anymore.
***
Days passed by with nothing in particular happening.
Theo mostly remained in his room, doing nothing. He read some books about being an explorer from time to time and watched some shows on the monitor. But that was basically it.
John didn't come by as much. And as a result, Voli didn't show up either.
And since Sizzy wasn't that much more than a toddler of sorts when it came to understanding human boredom, she wasn't being that helpful either. After all, everything was exciting to her. Even just staring out through the monitors.
Of course, Theo still appreciated her presence. Though at times, he doubted his father's intentions.
But at the end of the day, everything just felt grey.
By the end of day four, his beard had started poking out. He shaved off his facial hair but this reminded him, 'I'm still alive and I'm living my dream. So why am I unhappy?'
It really was a fair question but he didn't have much of an answer.
Eventually, day six came, and the Ainmester reached a planet full of life and Sylvanide- Planet I.
Theo just watched the terrain from his room. Basically, this was an unclassified planet. And unclassified planets were always dubbed highly dangerous. But this particular planet was very dangerous for human life, enough so, that it was dubbed as class I-impossible to live in.
The planet was 30% water. The rest of the surface was mostly covered in a dense forest of sorts. It was orbiting a yellow star similar to the size of the one planet Aura was orbiting. And the gravity was very similar too. It was the perfect place to live for carbon-based organisms. But there was a problem. The oxygen concentration was a lot higher than what humans were used to. And because of that, insects were a lot bigger on this planet. And so were other predators, especially reptiles. All in all, though this place was a hotbed for life, it wasn't for humans.
Theo's bracelet vibrated.
He checked it.
"Explore region #77275 and make a report within 24 hours."
It was his mission for tomorrow: it came straight from the captain. "I really have to go out there?"
But after actually seeing the bugs and the animals out there, he had more than just doubts on his mind.