Stellar Colony 7, 1600 hours
Commander Hale came to inspect the diagnostics hall for a while. He said a few words casually and then left as if nothing had happened.
The crew members present were all confused because they didn't understand what their superior was up to.
One thing was very clear: Commander Hale had subtly intervened on Aric's behalf.
An operations officer like Hale held more authority than a junior technician, and the diagnostics manager could openly side with an officer against a technician. This was the harsh reality. However, when the station commander stepped in, his word was law, which was even more daunting.
Everyone on the station relied on him for their assignments and pay.
In fact, Commander Hale's words were quite reasonable and went straight to the heart of the matter. Although Aric was just a junior tech, he had been caught up in an incident that compromised the station's protocols and reputation.
It wasn't just senior staff who needed to be taken seriously—junior crew members were also part of the station's success.
Commander Hale clearly understood this and warned Dr. Langston not to let personal conflicts interfere with station operations. No one could argue that his decision was wrong. At least, his reasoning was more sound than Dr. Langston's, because Aric's situation had touched on the core responsibilities of the station.
However, Commander Hale's attitude toward Aric was puzzling. Why did he mention that Aric had a "good grasp of the sim"?
He had dismissed Aric's faults simply because of that? Was this how a station commander should act?
It seemed a bit capricious!
Dr. Langston was taken aback for a moment. She then gave Aric a meaningful look. "Did you secretly meet with Commander Hale in his office?"
Aric was just as surprised, and he subconsciously sneered when he heard that. "That's none of your business!"
Dr. Langston was annoyed, but she didn't dare press him further. The reason was simple—Commander Hale's critique of her handling of the situation was also a warning.
It wasn't wrong for her to discipline Aric for breaking protocol as a lesson to others, but it was a serious mistake if she overlooked the station's primary objectives.
A diagnostics manager was a senior position, but a single word from Commander Hale could remove her from her role.
Dr. Langston took a deep breath. She then glared at Aric. "Fine, I'll overlook your absence yesterday, but you were late today, and not even Commander Hale can help you with that!"
Although the station commander might have disliked her approach, she had to enforce station rules strictly. She wasn't afraid that her superior would be upset because she was acting in the station's best interests.
At the same time, Dr. Langston was curious about Aric's relationship with Commander Hale.
It was unlikely that Commander Hale had any special interest in Aric. There were plenty of talented and capable individuals on the station, and Aric wasn't particularly outstanding.
He was only 1.73 meters tall with a slightly stocky build.
No one would believe that the authoritative and highly respected Commander Hale would choose him as a protégé or something more.
Therefore, Dr. Langston made up her mind to figure out Aric's true relationship with Commander Hale.
If Aric was willing to disclose it on his own, she might forgive him for being late today.
Even a diagnostics manager had to be mindful of her superior's feelings.
However, what frustrated her was Aric's slow response.
"If you punish me for being late today, I'll be in a bad mood, and I might not be able to perform well in the sim."
Hearing that, Dr. Langston was furious. She wanted to lash out at Aric but ended up just snorting.
"Fine, you can take the rest of the day off. I doubt you'll find much fun elsewhere since you don't have family on this station."
Aric's original plan was simply to accept the punishment for being late today, and he had deliberately provoked Dr. Langston because her behavior was intolerable. Whether he got the rest of the day off wasn't a big deal to him.
Therefore, he didn't bother to argue further and snorted before heading back to his workstation to finish up some diagnostics.
Unfortunately, he underestimated the curiosity of others. Officer Kane approached him a while later and asked in a low voice, "Hey, Double Degree, why did Commander Hale vouch for you today?"
Aric glanced at her. He then answered, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you that I had a good run in the sim, right?"
Kane rolled her eyes at him. "Of course not."
Aric spread his hands with an innocent look. "I honestly don't know why Commander Hale did that. Maybe he just doesn't like Dr. Langston."
"Don't try to fool me!" Kane was displeased. "Dr. Langston's older cousin is Commander Hale's trusted advisor."
Despite her words, she still started to wonder if Dr. Langston had been mismanaging things lately.
Rian Grayson, who had been watching from a distance, quietly opened his holo-sim and started running a farming scenario.
Aric continued his work intermittently for two hours. He then went into the maintenance bay's shower room to clean up again, and only then did he carefully examine the crystal band mark on his wrist.
After he finished the second round of harvesting in the sim, the mark of the crystal band seemed to have lightened again, but it still had enough energy to support him for one more run.
However, Aric didn't want to plant crystals again, as it was labor-intensive, and he couldn't see any tangible benefits from it.
Although Commander Hale had complimented him on his "good grasp of the sim," and it had kept him out of trouble, it wasn't a significant advantage. Aric wanted tangible benefits—something that could generate real credits.
He didn't want his anomaly to be limited to just managing a virtual farm.
Besides, it took a considerable amount of energy to access the sim. He wasn't keen on overloading the station's systems every time he used it, even though it was a public facility.
He was considerate of the station's resources.
After the shower, he returned to his quarters. He stared at his old comm device for a long time and finally decided to plant a single crystal plot. That way, he wouldn't be too exhausted when harvesting.
Unexpectedly, just as he touched the screen to select the seeds, he was transported into the sim again.
"Damn it!" Aric muttered in frustration. "I should have done that with my right hand!"
It couldn't be true that he couldn't enter the sim by using his right hand. It was just a guess. He had meant to test it but had used his left hand out of habit.
Anyway, he was in the sim now, and there was no point in crying over it. Aric found a coarse bag on the virtual ground, filled with crystal seeds.
He had planned to plant just one plot, but after recalling Commander Hale's compliment, he ended up planting all 10 plots again.
He figured he could let the Commander "borrow" some crystals before harvesting the rest for himself once they matured.
It didn't take long to plant the crystals, and Aric had now learned some tricks for entering and exiting the sim. After completing all the tasks, he could easily exit the sim by simply saying "quit" to himself.
When his consciousness returned to his quarters, he looked around, then suddenly slapped his thigh. "I forgot to borrow another comm device to record a video!"
He wanted to see what his body and old comm device looked like in reality when his consciousness was in the sim.
He was eager to learn more about it, but unfortunately, he had been too excited to remember to use his right hand or borrow a device.
Aric was someone who acted decisively. He was a doer, not just a talker. Just like when he had left his home colony for a better future, he didn't hesitate to leave everything behind.
He picked up his old comm device and directly called Jonas Fairchild, who hadn't come to work for two days.
Unfortunately, Jonas's comm device was out of range. After thinking for a moment, he called Officer Kane.
Kane was cautious. Hearing that he wanted to borrow her comm device, she immediately said that her device contained a lot of personal data.
"If you really need to borrow my device, there's a condition."
"I honestly don't know why Commander Hale backed me," Aric replied without hesitation.
"Double Degree, you're pretty sharp." Kane laughed. "Why don't you tell me you've got a good run in the sim again?"
"It's ridiculous. Commander Hale just used that as an excuse to back me," Aric said.
Kane snorted in dissatisfaction. "He's the station commander. Does he need an excuse if he wants to support a junior tech?"
Hearing that, Aric was startled and realized she had a point.
However, Kane's logic still seemed flawed.
He wasn't easily swayed. "Fine, he used that excuse to protect me. That's it. So, will you lend me your device or not?"
Kane was silent for a while before she finally said, "I can lend you my device, but you have to use it right in front of me."
Aric sighed. "Kane, I bring you breakfast almost every morning. Can't you do me this one favor?"
Kane was immediately annoyed and argued, "It's not a big deal, and you have to eat breakfast yourself anyway."
"Right," Aric replied, raising an eyebrow. "So is it a big deal for me to borrow your device for a short while?"
Kane hung up the call, frowning as she stared at her device. She hesitated before gritting her teeth and opening the settings menu. She frowned again as she looked at her banking app, payment systems, and personal data.
The next day, Aric woke up at 0630 hours. He pulled his old comm device out from under his bed and was pleased to see it was fully charged. He then opened the holo-sim app with his right hand.
As expected, his consciousness didn't enter the sim.
However, he was shocked the next second. "What the hell! Who harvested my crystals?"