Starchildren Options

[Kane]

Two stories at once is a lot for me, so these updates may not be as frequent. I also did not plan on this but a certain young woman in my head refused to be quiet.

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Prologue (May 7th, 2330)
Ebbside, Neon City, Volii Alpha


Andromeda awoke with a start. Somebody was pounding frantically on the door to her sleep crate and had ruined a perfectly deep slumber after a long day of work and even longer night of partying to celebrate her birthday. There was no way in hell it was daylight already which meant she probably left her slate at Euphorika. Again.

The bleary-eyed young woman fumbled in the dark for her glasses while the pounding on her door continued. If whomever it was out there kept it up much longer, she felt like her head would start pounding, too. Having finally fished her glasses off of the cold floor Andromeda slid them on and then clicked her bedside lamp to life. Most of her clothes were strewn about the floor of her metal box, which also explained why she was now so cold.

Two minutes or so later, she was half-dressed, and her nearly decrepit Solstice was clutched tightly in her left hand. Please don’t fizzle out on me now old girl, she thought. Looking down at the worn laser pistol in her hand, she sighed and silently chided herself for never spending any credits on a decent gun. The little pistol had been thrown out for good reason, yet Andromeda had fished out of the garbage anyway and fixed it up in the most half-assed way possible. Each time she squeezed the trigger was just another gamble on whether or not the damned thing would even fire.

This time she prayed to gods she didn’t give a [censored] about that it wouldn’t let her down. And then she finally opened the door.

Andre burst into her sleep crate and slammed the door shut behind him.

“It’s about goddamn time you answered! What the hell took you so long, Dro?”

Andromeda blinked in surprise at the urgency in his voice. She’d known Andre for over six months now, and the man was usually as cool as a cucumber. Even when he drunkenly tried to flirt with her. Andre had taken a courier job for HopeTech on Valo and was reassigned here to Neon City, much to his initial dismay, but they had grown close in the time since. The man was of average height with dark skin and kind brown eyes that sometimes hid behind a mop of unkempt blue hair.

“Slow down, Andre,” she said. “What’s the big deal?”

“No time to slow down. The ‘big deal’ is that your [censored], Dro. Absolutely [censored].”

“Wha -”

“Gather up what you care about the most and stuff it in your bag. Security thugs are closing in already �" I set up a prox alert for when they get within twenty meters.” Andre saw her bag sitting on the floor near the door, grabbed it, and handed it to Andromeda. “Pack! Now!”

“Andre, I am not going to move another goddamn muscle until you tell me what the [censored] is going on!”

“[censored]. Fine. Start packing and I’ll explain while you go.” He waited until a few things had been shoved unceremoniously in her bag before continuing: “Those Ryujin files you hacked yesterday for your anonymous buyer? They were tagged for Bayu’s personal records. Dunno how he tracked you down so quick but if you wanna live to see your twenty-sixth birthday then we need to get you the hell out of this city.”

Her blood froze. Benjamin Bayu. The Administrator of Neon City and possibly the most corrupt man in the settled systems. His fingers crept into every business venture on the planet and the security force was at his beck and call. No one did business in Neon without giving him a cut, and his ruthlessness against would-be competitors was legendary. Everyone who lived in Neon lived comfortably by skirting his brutality.

If she was on his radar at long last, then she had definitely taken the wrong job, pile of credits notwithstanding. Being a Cyber Runner in Neon always ran the risk that Andromeda would one day cross paths with that monster, but she had always been careful about her choice of contracts in the hope of avoiding Bayu. Her luck had finally run out and yet she still was uncertain about leaving the only home she ever knew.

“I can’t just up and leave!” stammered Andromeda, freezing midway through emptying the contents of her wall safe. “My whole life is here! It’s all I’ve ever known!”

“Doesn’t matter. Bayu will have you killed just to make an example - “ Andre ceased talking abruptly at the sound of rapid beeping emanating from his slate. His face took on an unhealthy pallor and he nervously ran his hand through his hair. “Time to go. They got there sooner than I expected.” Andre pulled another slate out of his jacket pocket and gave it to Andromeda. “Here, take this and give it to Doc Manning at the clinic. He’ll give you a short makeover to fool security at the spaceport.”

“Andre, I...” Andromeda was at a loss for words. The sudden shock of what was happening and the thought of fleeing her life �" Neon, Andre, the friends and people she’d grown up around �" was too much. Hot tears fell down her pale cheeks and splashed on the floor of her crate. She raised a hand to brush them away, and then shoulder her bag. “This isn’t over,” she finally said with a firmer resolve than what she felt inside. “Bayu isn’t chasing me out of my [censored] home forever. I’ll come back for all of you, I promise.” Andromeda stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on Andre’s cheek. “I promise.”

“We’ll do what we can to clear your name. You need to go. Now. They’ll be here any second. I can keep them occupied for a few minutes but they’ll tell me to get lost before long. Go!”

Andromeda pulled her hood up to hide her vibrant fuchsia hair and fled into the night without another word. The garbled chatter of Neon Security radios echoed up from the alleyway to her right, so she moved silently away from them and ducked into a dark alcove that was still within view of her crate. It was hard to much of anything, but she recognized the dim form of Andre now standing back outside of her door and soon heard him pounding on it once again.

“Yo! Open up, Jen!” Andre’s voice rang out. “Open up!”

Flashlights illuminated and three security goons stood at the ready, their guns trained on her friend. Andre’s hands flew skyward while the nearest guard began to pat him down.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” demanded another guard.

“Damn, take it easy, bud,” said Andre. “My friend lives here and she’s gonna be late for her shift at Generdyne again. Just trying to get her ass on the move!”

“Jen, huh? Yeah, sure pal.” The guard shoved him aside and addressed one of his partners. “What do you got, Reg?”

“Andre Mitarn, known associate of one Andromeda Renault. Courier for HopeTech.”

“Did ya hear that you lying piece of [censored]?” laughed the first guard. “Jen my ass. Where’s the girl?”

“If I knew where Jen was I wouldn’t be here, officer.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever, punk. Reg, you know the drill �" get him out of here.”

Andre lowered his hands to leave while Andromeda released a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. Her friend turned to walk away but Andre only made it a few paces before two sharp cracks rang out through Ebbside. He fell to the ground in a pool of blood while Andromeda watched in silent horror. She shoved her hand in her mouth in a desperate bid to stop herself from crying out.

“Dump that sack of [censored] over the side. The chasmbass will get rid of the evidence for us.”

Two of the security goons forced open the door to her sleep crate and disappeared inside while the third dragged off Andre’s lifeless body and heaved it over the railing and into the churning waters far below. Andromeda slipped away unseen and headed silently for the Neon Core, wiping away the tears as she went. The nearest door to Bayu Plaza wasn’t far, and within five minutes she had stepped through it and darkened her glasses against the garish light that gave Neon City its name.

Every type of store and service imaginable spanned the length of the Core, brilliant neon signs and lights shining down upon everyone who walked the expansive length from Ryujin Tower to the Trade Tower. Even late at night (or early in the morning, as it was now), the walkways were teeming with citizens, tourists, guards, scumbags, and dregs.

Andromeda’s destination was Reliant Medical and thankfully it was only a short distance away. Doc Manning seemed to never sleep and with her life crumbling around her, Andromeda was grateful to see him sitting at his counter.

“Ah, there you are, Dro! Andre warned me you were coming �" c’mon around back and we’ll get you fixed up.” He paused at the signs of grief that had stricken her normally carefree face. “What’s happened? Wait… where is Andre?”

It took everything Andromeda had to not scream in frustration and anger. She settled for kicking helplessly at the front of his counter which only resulted in a stab of pan shooting through her foot. “They [censored] killed him, Joe! Bayu’s security goons iced him without a second thought and threw him over the rails of Ebbside!”

“Bastards,” sighed the Doc. “I keep hoping this city will change some day but I don’t think I’ll ever live to see it. Despite younguns like you fighting back, Bayu’s grip never seems to relent. All the more reason to get you out of here, I guess.” Doc Manning waved her towards the back again and dismounted from his stool. “Go on, I just have to lock up real quick.”

The back room had a small biological modification chair that the doc had somehow procured from one of the Enhance! stores that were peppered throughout the local galaxy. It must have cost a small fortune, but she once again found herself thanking gods she didn’t care about for its existence in the back of the clinic. Doc Manning followed her in a few seconds later and instructed her to take a seat in the chair.

“Okay, so Andre...” Joe trailed off and made a gesture that Andromeda had never seen before. His hand moved across his face in the shape of a ‘T’.

“What was that for?” she asked him.

“The cross? It’s from an old-Earth religion that most have forgotten about. I’ll explain some other time. Anyway… so Andre most have been tipped off pretty early and with a good bit of info. Bayu has your name, financial history, work records, and physiological profile; but not your DNA records. We lucked out there. A few cosmetic changes will get you past the spaceport sniffers.”

“Joe, I can’t pay for any of this,” said Andromeda. “All my accounts are probably seized and I have less than two-hundred credits in my bag.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Dro. You’ve already done so much for the hard working people of this city that your friends are lining up behind me to get you safely out of this place.”

Andromeda sniffled and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue from the box Doc Manning held up to her. She knew it would be a long time until she saw those friends again, and the thought of that hurt more than anything else. Then she laid back in the chair and closed her eyes while the doctor powered up the alteration arms. She knew it would take thirty seconds to a minute for the machine to fully boot, so Andromeda pressed her friend on what would happen next.

“I have another slate from Andre,” he said. “It will transfer enough credits to get you on an outbound freighter, and provide a new identity. But the tricky part will be getting you to the port with perfect timing. We need to have you at the gates just as the ship’s thrusters begin to burn, so that the guards will hopefully rush you through without looking to closely at your records.”

There was lot that could go wrong with that. However, she trusted her friends implicitly and so she closed her eyes again and let the doctor go to work. The procedure was relatively painless, but she did flinch from the occasional needle or sharp prod. Some calibrations to the machine were in order when she returned. If I can return, she thought. Benjamin Bayu had a long memory, and she doubted he would forget about her anytime soon.

Ten minutes elapsed before Doc Manning leaned back on his stool and powered down the alteration arms. He grabbed a mirror from a side table and handed it to Andromeda. The same brown eyes stared back at her, but Joe had completely changed her hairstyle and its color: the long ponytail she had entered the clinic with was gone, and only a small knot was tied up in the back. Instead of fuchsia, her locks were now dyed an incredible opalescent prism of stunning colors, and the strands on the right side of her face fell down past her cheeks while being tucked back tightly on the left side.

She noticed the bare skin of her neck and left cheek and inhaled sharply. “Did you get rid of my tattoos?! Those were really personal to me, Doc!”
“Relax, I just covered them up with some foundation. Keep your hood up a the spaceport or the rain will wash it away and give up the goose. They’ll stick out like a sore thumb. Oh, and leave your piercings here. Those are easily replaceable.”

Andromeda frowned but did as advised. She popped the studs out of her ears and nose, removed the loop from her septum, and slid the barbell out from her nose bridge. Doc Manning collected them all in a small steel pan and then dropped them into a medical waste bin. Andromeda slid out of the modification chair and gave him a hug.

“Thanks for everything, Doc. I’ll be back to repay you some day.”

“I already told you your credit is good, Dro. Just promise me you’ll be careful out there.”

“I’ll try. But you should know better than most that the trouble usually finds me first.”

“That I do!” laughed Doc Manning. “Damn, almost forgot �" lose the glasses, too. I have some lenses for you instead.”

She removed her glasses and chucked them in the bin with her piercings. The good doctor handed her a set of icy blue colored contact lenses and after a couple minutes of struggling, she managed to pop them in to obscure her natural eye color. Another hug for the Doc Manning. Then he tapped a slate to hers and ushered Andromeda out the back door of Reliant Medical. Syndal, her best friend from university and one-time lover waited somberly in the trash ridden alley running behind the shops.

“Time to go, doll,” said her diminutive cohort. “Ship leaves in six minutes.” Syndal was tiny even compared to the slight 1.6 meters Andromeda rose to. The top of her head just barely made it to Andromeda’s nose. She put a hand on the back of Andromeda’s head and pulled her down to a reasonable level, kissing her very briefly on the lips. “For luck,” she explained to Andromeda’s quizzical stare. “Don’t think we’re ever getting back together or anything.”

“Fair enough,” said Andromeda. “Are we taking the main elevator down?”

“Have to. It’s all you have time for. “Let’s go, and try to keep up. Security is swarming the Core for you.”

Andromeda nodded and followed along in Syndal’s speedy wake. It was easy to unobtrusively hang a few steps back and still keep tabs on the impressive length of platinum hair falling past her friend’s hips. It swayed to and fro in the constant gentle breeze flowing through Neon City. The draft was one of many effects of living on massive platform built high above the roiling seas of a water world. A world that Andromeda had never left. Or had ever planned to leave. Those idle thoughts helped keep her features neutral when they stepped back onto the main thoroughfare and snaked their way towards the spaceport elevator.

Neon Security had fallen for the gambit. None of them paid her any mind, despite having her former appearance projected on the inside of their helmet visors. Syndal led her right past squad after squad of the corrupt officers until they reached their destination.

“You’re on your own from here,” said Syndal. “Take the lift down to the port and make a show of rushing, but don’t outright sprint. Play the part of the late departee who is trying to make their flight. The guards down there are a different detachment than the Core goons and generally skew towards being less of an asshole than the ones chasing you up here.”

“Okay, I’ll try. Never was much of an actor but I can do this. I have to do this.”

Syndal slapped her on the ass. “Quit stalling. You’ve got less than two minutes.”

“Right. Bye, Syn. And thank you.”

The elevator doors opened and Andromeda rode the lift down to the docking port. Two guards flanked the it at the bottom but the alterations Doc Manning made to her appearance seemed to have fooled their scanners. She showed them her slate and they told her to get moving else she miss the freighter. Settling for a speedy trot, Andromeda sighed gratefully and flitted down the long catwalk spanning over the ocean below, squeezing her hood tightly to her face. The warm, wind-driven rain splattered against her while she half ran to the ship waiting for its final passenger.

It was an ancient Deimos model that took up most of the landing pad. Bright lights illuminated faded letters above the ramp: The Gryphon. A crew member ushered Andromeda inside with little patience and directed her to a jump seat in the main cabin. Unsure of how the seat worked, her fingers trembled while she tried to strap herself in.

“First time in space, dearie?” A middle-aged woman next to her smiled gently at Andromeda.

“Yeah. I’m scared shitless if I’m being honest.”

“There’s nothing to it.” The kind woman reached over and showed her which buckles went where, and pointed out the safety pouch under the cushion. “Mouth guards in there if you’re worried about biting your tongue off. Once we take off, just keep your mouth closed and you won’t need them.”

Andromeda thanked her, and the woman went back to humming an off-tune key. Voices rang out over the loudspeaker and warning signs began to light up all around them. The entire ship rattled and shook, and the message on the flight console on the wall across from her changed from ‘docked’ to ‘achieving thrust’. Seconds later the engines roared into life and the sudden g’s from massive acceleration pressed Andromeda back into her seat. Unable to move so much as a finger, she closed her eyes and whimpered slightly as the ship gained altitude.

And then the pressure was gone. She opened her eyes and the porthole in the ceiling above revealed the deep black of space, dotted with innumerable points of light blinking back at her from incomprehensible distances. For the second time in as many minutes, her breath had been taken away for very different reasons.

She had done it. She had escaped Neon City and the closing grasp of Benjaim Bayu.

The tears came again anyway. Her life as she knew it was over and she had no idea where things went from here. She didn’t even know where this ship was bound. She was alone among the stars. And then the engines powered down while the grav drive engaged, folded space around the ship, and leapt from the Volii System in a blazing show of cosmic light and energy, carrying Andromeda far way from danger with a dumbfounded expression on her face..

This post has been edited by Kane: Jun 20 2025, 12:59 PM

[Kane]

Three – Lodging Complaints
New Atlantis, Jemison, Alpha Centauri System


A security guard scanned Andromeda when she exited the spaceport but he didn’t stop her. In fact, her bio came up completely clean, which likely meant that the UC and FC didn’t share a database of wanted citizens. That seemed like a gross oversight to Andromeda, but she wasn’t about to complain.

Vasco led her through a plaza, past an odd fountain that spoke to her in a way she couldn’t quantify, and into a tram of some sort. The NAT, he called it. The windows of the NAT were opaque so the only thing that Andromeda knew by the time the tram came to a stop is that it made her nauseous. Even more so than spaceflight. Apparently, there were now in the MAST District of New Atlantis.

“The hell kind of name is ‘MAST’?”

“It stands for “Military, Administrative, and Scientific Triumvirate,” said Vasco in that dry robot tone. “It is the United Colonies’ seat of government.”

“Ew. Is that where we’re headed?”

“No. Our destination is The Lodge, near the outskirts of the city.”

Andromeda’s eyes roved around the district while they walked. There were a lot of people in New Atlantis, and certainly more than there were in Neon City. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that yet, even if the general vibe felt safer.

They wound their way through a very scenic garden area teeming with flat topped trees, plant filled water features, and dense beds of ground cover. She felt the hustle and bustle of the main plaza ebb away until Andromeda and Vasco were the only ones around, save for the occasional security guard patrol. It would seem that people seldom visited this part of the city.

Vasco finally stopped outside of a decently sized building and faced Andromeda. “Hold the watch that Barrett gave you up to the door. It will grant you access to The Lodge.”

She looked down at the watch and noticed a new icon flashing in the corner: a padlock with an open shackle. The universal sign for ‘unlocked’. Andromeda raised her arm and waved it at the door and was immediately rewarded with the gentle click of a releasing security lock. She bit her lip nervously and after a few deep breaths, Andromeda pushed the door open and stepped inside.

A handsomely decorated antechamber greeted them first, with several luxurious chairs and a couple low tables topped with ship models and ancient exploration tools. Stairs rose to a second floor on her left, and, just beneath that, a hallway disappeared further into the building and out of sight. Another set of doors lay before Andromeda and she wasted no time in barging through them with a false confidence born of her desire for answers.

“And just who are you?” came the accented voice of a woman standing near the doors.

Andromeda looked the woman up and down. She was slightly taller with short blonde hair and bright green eyes. “My name is Andromeda Renault. I’m one of the miners from Argos. Barrett sent me here in his place.”

“I see,” said the woman, seemingly unconvinced. “Vasco. Verify.”

“All statements made have been factual.”

“Very well. Come in and join us. My name is Sarah Morgan and I’m the chair of Constellation. If Barrett sent you then I presume you have the Artifact?”

This next room was enormous. It seemed to be a large library at one point that had been converted into a congregation area. Several doors opened to a small greenhouse on one side, and a few seating areas were tucked away under the second floor walkway opposite. In the middle, stood an odd circular table… with two other familiar shards of metal born aloft and rotating in the air above it.

Ignoring those frustrating things for the time being, Andromeda dove right in: “first things first. What the hell is Constellation? And what hell did this thing do to me?” She unclipped the hunk of metal from Vasco and held it up while stepping into the lofty central hub of The Lodge. “The first time I touched this goddamn thing I blacked out and woke up ten minutes later in a med bed. Barrett seems to know what it is and that means you do, too. Explain. Now.”

Sarah’s eyes narrowed at Andromeda’s demanding tone. There were a couple other Constellation members spread about the room, including and older gentleman that Andromeda recognized right off. He could be dealt with later. For now, they didn’t interfere, and seemed content on watching events unfold.

“Alright, that came off as really bitchy,” admitted Andromeda. “Look, it’s been a long day. I’ve been shot at by pirates, knocked out twice, I threw up in my helmet – wouldn’t recommend that by the way – and this thing made my brain feel like spaghetti. I just need to know what the [censored] is going on with my life right now. And then maybe a nap. A long nap.”

Expression softening, Sarah beckoned her closer. “No apology needed, Ms. Renault. I daresay that sort of day would put any one of us in a rare mood. We can get certainly see to your needs, too. Least we can do. But before we get to that, you do deserve some answers. I’ll start with who we are.”
“Constellation is a private organization dedicated to exploration. Space primarily, but also anomalies throughout the Settled Systems. Anomalies like the one you’ve brought to us. I’m sorry to say that we don’t know what it is, nor can we explain what happened to you. Barrett, however, spoke of a similar experience, so I think you two should have a drink sometime. Speaking of which. Where is he exactly?”

“He’s still on Vectera. We got attacked by the Crimson Fleet and Barrett felt he needed to stay behind to help, in case they got attacked again.”

“I see,” said Sarah. “Well, in that case we will make a point of returning for him soon. Have I given you the answers you sought?”

“Guess so,” replied Andromeda. “Seems like the best I’ll get at any rate.”

“Excellent. Now, if you don’t mind… take the Artifact and place it on the table with the others.”

That piqued the interest of the others who had been lingering nearby until Andromeda cooled off. One of them, a younger girl with dark skin and short hair, approached the table with a scanning device at the ready, and offered Andromeda an encouraging smile. No, it was more than that she realized. Something had changed: the smile itself wasn’t enough for Andromeda to infer what she had just felt. The inflow of warmth and compassion. She could feel the empathy radiating off of the woman.

Empaths were a known quantity in the Settled Systems, but they were extremely rare and Andromeda was positive she wasn’t one. What changed? I wonder if this stupid piece of metal did something to me…

Deciding to ignore it for the time being, Andromeda took the Artifact and set it down with the others. The new addition to the collection immediately rose into the air much the same way the bits of caelumite had floated in the cave on Vectera. And then it began to sing. A low pitched whirring hum resonated through The Lodge as the Artifact split itself into smaller bands and coalesced with its friends.

“Uh, does anyone else hear that?” she asked.

The confused looks on Sarah and the woman’s face answered that question for her. They definitely did not hear it. Great. Now I can feel other people’s emotions, AND hear at a different wavelength.

“There was a low pitched sound when the do-dads started mingling. You ladies heard nothing?”

“No, sorry,” said the other woman. “I’m Noel, by the way. Actually, hang on a sec…” Noel studied her scanner screen for a few seconds and then nearly jumped up and down with excitement. “Look at this! That energy that's arcing between them? No manufactured material in the Settled Systems can do that! None of them! This proves that…"

“Easy, girl,” said Sarah, “breathe. You’re going to have a heart attack.”

The other two members, both men, joined in on Noel’s newfound excitement and for a few moments, Andromeda was forgotten. She was fine with that and took the time to study them in kind. The younger of the two men couldn’t be much older than Andromeda, but he seemed to be a theologian of some sort. Definitely religious. And the other… Walter Stroud. Another one of Neon’s wealthy elites that lived in a glass palace far above the people like her who struggled on the streets.

Walter didn’t know it yet, but they were going to have it out. Andromeda had a bone to pick.

But then, it suddenly occurred to her that she had other, more urgent business first. “Ahem. Sarah?” she said, clearing her throat obnoxiously. “Where’s the bathroom? I have to pee.”

* * *

Noel waited outside of the bathroom and offered another generous smile when a much relieved Andromeda joined her in the hallway.

“That’s much better. My back teeth were floating.”

“I don’t need the details,” Noel giggled. “C’mon, I’ll show you around some more.”

Their first stop, to Andromeda’s delight, was the lounge, complete with a well-stocked bar. She never needed an invitation to drink and they didn’t resume the tour until Andromeda held a glass of wine in her hand. Down the hall and around the bend from there came the next surprise: her own bedroom. Andromeda stepped in and looked around, marveling at the beautiful furnishings, the huge bed, the wardrobe – even a personal safe.

It was such a far cry from her tiny sleep crate that Andromeda found herself at a loss for words. At the end of the bed was a small bench. She sat down on it and looked around the bedroom again. Her bedroom. If only Andre could see her now. Warm tears trickled down her pale cheeks and fell to the floor before her hand could whisk them away. Embarrassed, she tried to turn her face away from the door where Noel waited, but wasn’t quick enough.

“Hey, what is it?” asked Noel. She came in and sat next to Andromeda. “Was it something I said?”

“N-no, not at all,” sniffled Andromeda. “Just remembering a friend.” Noel grabbed a box of tissues from the bedside table and handed it to her. “Thanks. Um. Part of me can’t believe this is all for me. Noel, if you’d seen where I came from…”

“The Argos outpost? Mining habs are nothing to write home about I’m sure, but you had your own place to sleep there, right?”

“Not what I meant. I grew up in Neon City, Noel. I’m an orphan and I lived in a sleep crate. My entire life fit into less than three and a quarter square meters. And then I didn’t even have that to my name anymore. I’m a nobody and somehow I’ve ended up here, and for reasons I can’t even begin to fathom, I’ve been given all of this. None of it makes any goddamn sense.”

“Give it some time,” said Noel. “It’s been a crazy day and you’ve had a rough go of it. Look, why don’t we stop the grand tour for now. You must be exhausted. Get some sleep and tomorrow’ll be a new day. We’ll get you settled then, alright?”

Andromeda nodded gratefully and Noel left, shutting the door behind her. She kicked off her shoes, yanked off her top, and slipped out of her pants. The she stood up to kill the lights, catching sight of herself in the mirror. Dark bags under her eyes betrayed just how tired she really was, and she also spotted a smudge of vomit on her chest that she’d missed early. Gross. She turned out the lights, flopped onto the exceptionally soft mattress with a thud, and fell immediately into a dreamless sleep.