The rest of the day went wonderfully though it ended far sooner than I would have liked. We had spent a significant part of the day aboard the Ratatosk figuring out the drive core issue and it was already late in the afternoon when we came back to the station. After a couple hours hanging about among the promenade, the two of us went back to my apartment as day shift ended and people began clogging the area. 

When we got seated and comfortable the conversation quickly turned back to the topic of transitioning. 

“So Adresta, if you’ve been wanting to go to Celeste, I would imagine that you have thoughts on how you want your new shell to look?”

Though my cheeks pinked slightly, I kept myself from getting flustered. “Yeah, I do. Have for a long time honestly. I’ve been making minor changes to it over the years, but the original pattern was actually based on my VR avatar that I used on my anonymous net account before I joined up with Jay.”

“A VR avatar? Well that seems familiar. Did you do ballroom dancing lessons too?” Echo’s tone was teasing.

I snorted. “No, I think that was just you. I was never much into those ancient princess fairy tales. Maybe I came from humble beginnings like some of them did, but I didn’t get a magical fairy godmother to pull me out of the muck. I fought my own way out.”

That got a respectful nod. “That makes sense I guess. I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like. Why didn’t you do something after you figured things out, though? You said before that you knew not long after you started with Captain Blackburn. It must have been hard for you to keep all of that in for so long. Why didn’t you start on some of the more readily available means of transitioning? Hormones and body mods are supposed to be viable options even for people without lots of money, universal healthcare and all that.”

A tired sigh escaped my throat. “The social worker I lived with back on MacNair Gateway Station had very strong feelings about the ‘unnaturalness’ of people who changed their bodies or participated in any sort of homosexual behavior. She didn’t even like the tech mods that so many people use. Puritan to the core, that woman. Unfortunately, her husband was one of the upper level managers for portage operations on the station and shared her views. So, I buried it all deep out of fear of repercussions from my only meal ticket.

“Even after I joined up with the Forge, I was too afraid to act on it. The Forge was a great ship, but it was an even smaller community than the station and if anyone had negative views on such things, well, I didn’t want to ruin the best thing that had ever happened to me up until that point. I convinced myself to just wait until I could make it on my own. Of course, once I learned about the stuff that Celeste was doing, I also decided that if I was going to go through with transitioning, I wasn’t going to settle for anything less than what I saw as the absolute best.”

“Oh Addy… that must have been horrible.” Echo’s voice was kind and sympathetic. 

This time I did catch the diminutive and giggled lightly despite the heavy memories the topic brought up. “Can’t say I’ve ever had a nickname before.” 

The other girl gave me a vulnerable glance. “I hope that's okay? Adresta is a beautiful name, but it's just so easy to shorten it…”

I let out another giggle. “No, it’s alright. I like it.” 

“Anyways, I finally came out to Captain Jay a couple months ago and it actually went really well. Made me feel a bit foolish for keeping it in all that time.”

“It had to be in your own time, Adresta,” said Echo. “What’s important now is that you are making changes. You aren’t hiding from it anymore.”

I smiled. “You’re right. I don’t want to hide from it anymore. I just want to be me. It's hard to believe that  I’m finally doing it. I was just stuck here, and then you and your dad come in and within days, my life is changing for the better.”

That got a smile from my companion. “You aren’t the only one either. I’m really glad to have met you, but I also just got told at dinner the other night that I’m getting my own ship! Seems that we are both getting dreams fulfilled.” 

“Miss Adresta,” My subdermal comm pinged. “You have a voice message from Captain Marcus Erickson. Several files are attached.”

I tilted my head in curiosity and responded aloud. “Okay, uh, put the files on the viewer.”

Echo piped up from beside me. “Everything alright?”

Turning to face her, I responded. “Yeah, your dad just sent me some stuff apparently.”

She nodded but stayed quiet to allow me a moment to view the contents. 

“Vox, play message.” My AI responded affirmatively and the Captain’s voice came through my implant as a number of official looking documents appeared on my apartment’s viewscreen.

“Miss Matson, I have asked my Employee Resource director to begin drafting the contract offer, but it was suggested that it may be best if we have your proper name on it to begin with so that we can avoid the trouble of changing all of the official records later. If this isn’t feasible, I understand, however I thought it best to allow you the opportunity.”

Attached are all of the documents needed to change your name and gender markers with the Tarran Union, the Galactic Pilots Association, and the Universal Vessel Registrar. I know that such things can sometimes be an unneeded hassle to acquire, so I took the initiative to get pre-notarized copies of all the applicable paperwork in order to expedite the process. Complete them at your leisure, but please let me know if you will not be completing the forms within the next few days. I’ll need to tell my ER director to proceed with the outdated identification if so.”

I looked at the files that came up on the screen and saw them to be exactly as the Captain had described. Just getting all of these documents would have taken at least a week for me to do myself. Having them pre-notarized was also incredibly out of the norm but would save me time and money as well. I got the sneaking suspicion that a few palms had been greased. 

The message closed out with Marcus saying: “Pleasant evening to you, Miss Matson. And do let my daughter know that she is expected to report aboard no later than 0700 station time, come morning.” The last bit carried a hint of cheek that made me blush and chuckle in equal measure.

Said daughter was focused on the screen at that moment and let out a low whistle. “Yep, dear old Dad ain’t messin’ around.”

Between hearing her say that and what her father had closed the message with, I actually did laugh. 

“What? Did I say something funny?”

“No no no! I just… your dad acts all serious, but he really is a funny guy. He uh… He told me to let you know that you are expected to be back on board your ship by seven tomorrow morning.”

That got a bright blush out of Echo. “I-! Ugghhh! Stars above, dad…”

Startling both of us, Vox’s modulated voice came from the overhead speakers rather than my implant. “Shall I order a bottle of wine or champagne to your quarters, ma’am?”

That got my blush going again, significantly worse than before. “Why would you ask that, Vox?!” Unbidden visions of having a glass of wine with the transcendent Callisto Erickson next to me did nothing to help the colour of my face. “This isn’t a date!”

Echo gaped, her eyes darting between me and the ceiling.

Despite her supposedly emotionless state of being, I swore there was an air of sarcastic innocence coming through the speakers as Vox responded. 

“Such implications were unintended. The query was made based on observed human interactions and traditions that indicate that imbibing of alcoholic beverages is often used as a tool of celebration for significant events. Was I incorrect in my analysis of the importance of your upcoming contract?”

I was torn between laughing at the absurdity and yelling at my AI for embarrassing me like that.

Even through her blush though, Echo was laughing behind her hand.

Breathlessly, I called back to the AI. “No, Vox, that isn't wrong I just… ugh…”

The laughing continued beside me and eventually I gave up and joined her. 

“Your ha… Your AI seems to have gotten you pegged, Adresta. Haha!”

I groaned through the laughs. “Yeah, yeah she does. Good grief…”

In a reversal of her embarrassment a moment previous, Echo gave me a sly look and picked up where Vox left off. “Eh, maybe I’ll make it true one of these days. You seem to be an alright girl.”

My gaping fish routine made another appearance. It was frustrating to no end, talking with Echo. With others, I could often come back with sharp comments. With her though, I just couldn’t conjure that wit. 

“Y-You really mean that?”

She looked at me, her smirk softening slightly. “Yeah, really. I think I would like to get to know you a bit more first, but I’m definitely not against the idea. You’re smart, kind, respectable and like space as much as I do. Not just anyone would have offered a complete stranger a tour of the station and lunch like you did. Also, your self-reliance is kinda refreshing compared to some of the others I’ve gone out with.” 

I could feel my ears burning. “That's very kind of you to say… I look forward to the opportunity, should it come about.”

That got me a wide smile. “Helps that you’re kinda cute too.”

A blushy grin forced its way onto my face as I bowed my head in an attempt to hide it. Echo giggled at me. Seemingly for the sake of me, My beautiful companion decided to change the topic. “So, Adresta, you mentioned you were a trouble maker as a kid. What kind of terrors did you commit?”

The rest of our evening went like that. We just talked about ourselves, got to know each other and just generally hung out. At one point the topic of television shows came up and I found out that we had a shared interest in not only the fantasy genre but also in the Estoylan Chronicles. That ended up being an hour long conversation in and of itself. We ended up ordering some dessert brought to my quarters as well, including some chocolate cake that was actually really good. 

It made for a wonderful ending to what had been a life changing day for me. I was officially out to a number more people, had an incredible job offer, and got told by the prettiest girl I had ever met that she wouldn’t be opposed to dating me. I was in awe, still sitting on the couch after Echo left right around midnight station time. 

I was still wound up when I finally retired to the curtained off bunk recessed into the back wall of my unit. I knew that I needed to sleep, but I also knew that despite having a new job lined up, I wasn’t ready to quit just yet. Might as well make as much money as I can off the bastard before I disappear. I needed to be able to wake up at a decent hour.

Ultimately, sleep was slow in coming, but I at least made my insomnia productive. For another hour, when my body finally forced me to close my eyes, I started filling out the paperwork Captain Erickson had sent. My life was changing. It was high time I actually made it *MY* life.