I phase back into the game without any issues. And, the rest of our walk back to our quarters is filled with silence, except for the two random other people we pass with nods and mumbled irrelevant words. The silence persists through the rest of our day. We share some food, silently. When we are done, we just sit on the couch, comfortable in each other’s company but not certain what more we are doing than that.
To be completely honest, I’m not sure if I am thinking more about problems in- or outside of the game.
“Um, Ash?” Sylvia asks, breaking the silence which was starting to edge towards oppressive. “Is it bad for me to be thinking more about how I talk to Des than about the aliens?”
I giggle. “It had better not be, because I’m thinking about my own problems, too.”
“I just don’t... There doesn’t seem to be anything for me to do, right? So sure, maybe you should be struggling with things like ‘how to talk to a spwicky’, but I’m just along for the ride.”
“Sylvie. You have already been quite helpful. I wouldn’t have known the first thing in how to get that probe ready. Even if we don’t use it. You helped. This is as much your accomplishment as mine, as anyone’s.”
“And as much my failure, I guess.”
I reach out and squeeze her shoulder. “If it goes there. I don’t think it will. We’re making good progress, and we aren’t rushing things.”
I stand up, and collect our plates. “I’m going to go and try to sleep. Don’t just stew in thoughts of inadequacy, okay?”
“Ehh,” she flops back into the couch. “More likely I’ll be pining after a girl who seems to like me well enough but which I can never work up the courage to ask out?”
“Just ask her,” I sing, drawing out my words teasingly as I stuff the plates into the cleaner.
“What, now?” she arches her back to look at me, upside down, over the back of the couch, before dropping back into the cushions.
“Why not! And hey, maybe the spwihicpéa will attack and destroy us all before she sees it, so maybe it won’t even matter.” I walk up behind the couch to look down on her, but she is musing, staring forward into the pocket dimension people sometimes create while in deep thought.
“I guess there is always that,” she mumbles, chewing her lip.
“And, if she isn’t interested, then at least you’ll know, right?”
“That’s true,” she sighs, breaking her deep thoughts and reaching forwards for the tablet left on the table.
“Have fun, and good night I guess,” I call, as I turn and exit the room. Even though it really is closer to mid-morning than any reasonable time to sleep... I don’t think I want to do anything? A game night might be fun, but only outside of the looming threat. Except, the threat isn’t very looming, and isn’t really even much of a threat. But I'm just feeling too off for it.
Ensuring the door is locked, I shuck my clothes off, stretching and feeling my skin do the little thing it does when you stretch without clothes on.
It is weird how knowing a game body actually matches yours changes how you consider it. Before, this body was... describing the feeling is odd. I was uninterested in it, but it was something just barely enticing to know that I was peeking at someone else’s life? But now, I know that it more or less matches my actual body. It is both more interesting, and more mundane. I’ve had this body for such a short time, I barely know it. And yet, I’ve already learned some weird tricks about it, like if I clench my left hand like... so, my elbow makes a weird clicky ‘thunk’ that I hear mostly through my bones and not the air. And I’ve definitely learned that certain other parts of my body are fun, and very much me, but also something to be a little bit careful with not bashing into objects.
I sprawl out on my bed, and I let myself drift off into sleep. And if I thought that sleeping in this body was more comfortable before, then me sleeping while I knew the reason why – that I was a girl, that this body just inherently was mine – well, it is so much better again.
I actually nearly overslept. I’m not sure why I needed nearly twenty hours of sleep. I don’t think I really did. But I wake up to find the room lit with blazing artificial sunlight, and as I come to my senses, I hear Sylvia banging on my door and yelling. I... guess I had locked it hadn’t I? I roll to my feet, and dive into clothes. I think they were clean ones? It will be fine. I hope.
I open the door, and catch her as she comes barrelling through the suddenly and apparently unexpectedly open space. I look down at her, confused, and more than a little bit bleary after having been woken up so suddenly. I manage to get my mouth working and ask “How late am I? Should you still be here? Are they still on watch until we get there?”
“Oh, uh...” Sylvie extricates herself from my arms, and looks bashfully through my (still open) door.
“Are we not actually late?”
“No, we, uh, we’re not late yet.”
“And you were bashing my door down.”
She doesn’t say anything. She just nods.
“Well, thanks anyhow, I need to wake up, still.” I turn and walk through my doorway, with its luckily still intact door. I manage to find some bread to toast and stick it in the oven with some probably reasonable settings, and then focus on finding the stuff to put on my toast. I know I’ve found it before. Sylvia slinks in after me, though she thankfully stays near the entrance to the kitchen area.
I finally feel my brain kick into an actual semblance of gear, and I look at her. “She agreed to meet you sometime, didn’t she.”
She breaks into an honestly wonderful grin. “Yuup,” she wiggles, literally shivering in anticipation.
“And so you wanted me to be ready so we could go be there on time and do our shift and then you could be happily on your way to the date,” I guess.
Her smile faded slightly. “Yeah, I guess I was.”
I smirk at her. “That’s okay. You’re eager! I hope it goes well for you. But we’re going to have to keep a good watch no matter how long it feels like it lasts for, right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, we will.” She nods, and looks up at me again. “And then, I’m going to have a wonderful date!”
The oven dings that my toast is toasty, and I pull it out and start buttering. “Well, let’s get things rolling then,” I say, and start cronching my way through the toast.
== * ==
We show up at the door of the watchroom not very long afterwards. To my surprise, there is a tenseness filling the room. But then I see the reason for it, and my stomach drops.
Another fleet has entered the system, this time from the human-colonised side. A fleet of warships. Twenty ships built around big guns, and a small crowd of smaller support craft.
Alex shakes his head, clearly having heard our entry. “Hooray. Something more happened.”
Destiny only sighs.
“The fleet actually showed up about half a day ago,” Alex elaborates. “They’re already on-course for communication range, estimated arrival is something like twenty minutes thanks to a happy placement for Delta station. And that means you get to tell them what’s going on!”
“That isn't too bad, is it?” Sylvia asks.
“It is... complicated,” I say, my voice quiet but not wavering at all. I can read the information off of the screen very easily, now. “The spwihicpéa are also approaching comm range. But this time, via Bravo station, because why not I guess. We’ll be equidistant from each other.”
Des looks back toward us, giving Sylvie a partial smile. “You get the happy fun times again, girls.”
Syl giggles, and then coughs something about ‘happy fun times’ into the back of her hand.
“Yeah, okay, fair,” Des blushes. “See you later.” And she starts to make her way out of the room.
Alex follows.
Now it is just us two. Us two, and two fleets.
The stakes are getting so high
Thanks for the chapter and stop leaving the chapters on a hanger like this the suspense is killing me ;-;