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.

---------------------------------

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]

Four – On the Town
New Atlantis, Jemison, Alpha Centauri System


The door to Andromeda’s bedroom inched open and then closed swiftly and quietly.

“Is she still sleeping?”

“Mhm,” whispered Noel.

“How long has it been? Fourteen hours?”

“Closer to thirteen. Don’t worry, Sarah, she’ll be up soon, I’m sure. Let the poor girl sleep – she’s been having a rough go of things lately and I can tell there’s a lot of baggage with this one. Maybe Andromeda will feel up to talking about it later.”

They headed down the hallway and out of sight. Inside the bedroom, Andromeda lay flat on her belly, snoring away. It was the most comfortable bed she’d ever had the pleasure to sleep in, and a damp spot on her pillow from drool slowly grew larger. Still out cold, she smacked her lips and rolled over on her back to get more comfortable.

Regrettably, it didn’t last much longer. Andromeda stirred fitfully and opened her eyes about fifteen minutes later. She contemplated going back to sleep for a bit longer but decided against it when her stomach growled obnoxiously. Unsure of when she last ate, and desperate to visit the bathroom again, she got dressed and snapped on her fancy watch. Andromeda almost did a double-take when she saw the date and time.

“[censored] me, I must have been exhausted.”

A light knock sounded on her door, followed by Sarah poking her head in. “Finally awake, eh? I was beginning to think you were in a coma!”

“Yeah, well, I feel much better.”

“I bet. Go freshen up and grab a bite to eat. Come find me downstairs afterwards – we still have a lot to talk about.”

“Coffee?”

“Walter just brewed a fresh pot. It’s on the end of the bar.”

Andromeda gave her a thumbs up and headed for the bathroom. It was only when she sat on the toilet and glanced around that she noticed the exquisite shower tucked into the corner. She’d been so fixated on peeing yesterday that Andromeda had missed it entirely. There were more water jets on the walls than she thought possible, and the shower head fixed above the stall was at least two to three times wider than she was. In the blink of an eye the lock on the door clicked and her clothes were strewn about the bathroom floor.

Hot water cascaded over Andromeda. How long she stood there soaking in a blissful state she didn’t know, but eventually the damnable thing shut itself off and the control system bleeped something about unsafe water temperatures. She swore loudly at it before getting out and wrapping herself up in someone else’s floral scented pink bathrobe.

“Must be Noel’s,” she muttered to herself. “That cutie is about the same height as me and this fits perfectly.”

Ten minutes later, a much cleaner version of Andromeda sat hunched over a table in the lounge sipping coffee from the largest mug the bar had to offer. Sarah had been kind enough to leave out some fruit and few protein bars for her. She was picking away at an orange rind when Sarah grew tired of waiting and came up to find her.

“Ah, there you are, Andromeda. Lovely name you have by the way, but it’s a bit of a mouthful. Mind if I call you ‘Annie’, or ‘Ann’ instead?”

“I do, actually. There was a girl named Annie at uni who seemed to think I was a second class citizen because I lived on my own in a box. Hated that bitch. My friends call me ‘Dro’.”

“Dro it is!” said Sarah. “So, have you settled in now? Can we go over a few things?”

“Sure.”

“Good. I guess we’ll start with the elephants in the room. The Artifacts. I really wish we could tell you more about them, but we’ve learned so little about them that anything I could offer would just be speculation. We don’t know a damned thing about them or how the one you found affected you.”

Andromeda frowned. Sarah had said as much yesterday but it didn’t make her feel any better about it. “Really wish there was more to know, Sarah. Because I’m pretty sure that stupid thing awakened some latent genes in me or something.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Yesterday, when Noel introduced herself? I could feel her emotions. And I’m certain that I didn’t live for twenty-five years without knowing I was an empath. Something’s changed.”

Saying that part out loud made Andromeda realize how much it had been weighing on her mind. Of all the insanity yesterday had wrought, that change in her psyche had moved to the forefront of her thoughts. The idea of understanding people on such a raw level made her apprehensive. There was a reason that some doctors offered a procedure to reverse the ability.

“Empathic abilities?” asked Sarah. “Really? That’s unexpected. We better have Noel run a thorough scan of you when we’re done here, just to make sure nothing else in your physical makeup has changed.” Sarah paused to pick out a few grapes from the fruit bowl. She popped a couple of them in her mouth and then made the offer she’d been eagerly waiting to get to. “That having been said… there is something else I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Shoot,” said Andromeda.

“We’d like you to join Constellation.”

Andromeda nearly choked on an orange slice. She coughed heavily and took a long drink of water to ease her throat. Wiping her watery eyes on a napkin, she stared at Sarah in disbelief. “Seriously? What the [censored] does a group of gifted explorers need with a mining grunt? Sure, I took some science classes in school, but that was years ago and they were introductory courses. There’s little I can offer you people.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Dro. Besides, I’m not interested in Andromeda the Miner,” she winked. “I’m interested in Andromeda the Cyber Runner. Hacker extraordinaire of Neon City, with a bit of a Robin Hood streak, and numero uno on Benjamin Bayu’s hit list.”

[censored]. So much for flying under the radar, thought Andromeda. She began to wonder who these people actually were outside of The Lodge, and where they got their information from. Information that UC Security didn’t even have.

“Oooookay, so it doesn’t bother you that your sitting across from a criminal with a hefty bounty in Freestar space? And how do you even know all that about me?”

“Walter. He has a lot of contacts in Neon. More to the point: why should it bother me?” said Sarah. “Bayu has it coming and many of us wish more brave people like yourself would stand up to him.”

“Brave, huh? Funny, I felt more like a dumbass for trying, and all I managed to do in the end was get others hurt and force myself into exile. But my point stands. I’m good with computers and not much else. I’m not some hotshot explorer with a cool gun, nor can I fly a ship. Vasco is the only reason I didn’t burn up the Frontier in Vectera’s atmosphere, and when I got drawn into a gun fight with pirates I hid behind some crates in fear.”

“You’re still being hard on yourself, Dro. I don’t see a criminal when I look at you. I see a young woman who wants to do something good for those around her. Someone who is outgoing and caring. Someone brave enough to take on a system so powerfully corrupt that its own government meekly turns a blind eye. I see someone who has a lot more to offer the galaxy than she thinks, if only she is strong enough to try. Like it or not, you’re a part of this now. Deep down you must know that everything changed when you touched the Artifact.”

None of this was going the way Andromeda expected it to. She thought for sure that Constellation would give her the boot today, especially since the delivery they were waiting for was facilitated. Never in her wildest dreams did she think Sarah would try to recruit her. The free stay last night was all she’d expected from the explorer’s group.

The recruitment pitch felt like it came from left field and Sarah made it all so very enticing, but Andromeda got caught flat-footed. She still felt that this place wasn’t for her, even if Sarah thought otherwise.

“Ugh,” sighed Andromeda, lowering her head into her hands. “You could’ve at least waited until I finished my coffee before dumping all this on me.” She stayed like that for a moment before popping back up to shake her head. “Look, you all seem really nice but what you’re talking about here is a massive decision that I can’t make right now. My life has been [censored] up ever since some uniformed goons murdered my best friend, and I am not in the right place mentally for any of this.”

“I understand. And I’m sorry to hear about your friend, Dro,” consoled Sarah. “How about this…” Sarah pulled out her slate, tapped on it a few times and then swiped two fingers up the screen towards Andromeda. “I wired you a delivery fee for bringing us the Artifact. Take some time to yourself and go see what New Atlantis has to offer. If you change your mind, we’ll be here.”

Andromeda dug her own slate out and nearly fainted at the notification on her screen. “Sarah?! Eight thousand credits?! I’ve never had that much money in my entire life!”

“You risked your life for us on Vectera. It’s only fair we compensate you justly for that. And don’t feel like you owe Constellation anything else because of it. You did a job, and I’ve paid you for it. That can be the end of our association if you so choose.”

* * *

New Atlantis positively teemed with people. There were far too many crowds for Andromeda’s taste and they clogged up every walkway in cloistered groups. But her bank account practically overflowed with money begging to be spent, so she left The Lodge behind and headed first for the Residential District of the massive city. The bright sign of EIT Clothiers had caught her eye from afar and became the top destination on her list.

And she was not disappointed. The fashion in New Atlantis varied a bit from Neon City but there were still plenty of clothes that suited Andromeda’s taste. She spent nearly an hour perusing the racks, trying stuff on in the fitting rooms, and haggling over prices with Farad, the proprietor of the shop. By the time she left, a new bag stuffed with shirts, pants, shoes, and underwear hung from her bare shoulder. Jemison was warm and humid, so Andromeda opted for slim fitting pants and a tank designer tank top.

She had been especially pleased to see Farad’s selection of piercings, and felt whole again with a multitude of studs and rings hanging from her ears and nose, and eyebrows.

“Can’t wait to see the look on Sarah’s face when she sees me again,” Andromeda said aloud. Then she came to a dead stop after realizing what she’d just said. [censored]. Did she really win me over with that speech?

That can all wait still, she decided. Her next stop was right down the street: Centurion Arsenal. Andromeda never had much use for anything other than her ratty old Solstice but the incident on Vectera had woken her up to the realities of lawlessness in some parts of the Settled Systems. She needed to be able to defend herself with something other than the little pistol Barrett had given her.

Barrett. I wonder how he’s doing… Truth be told, Andromeda missed all of her friends at Argos. Heller, Troy, Lin. Definitely not Calvert. It didn’t feel fair to her that she was out shopping in New Atlantis the day after they were all attacked. Maybe I should head back there. Somehow, she didn’t think that was an option anymore. A gut feeling told her that not only would Lin chastise her, but that Andromeda might already be where she needed to be.

A lot of the things Sarah told her that morning kept bouncing around her head. And they were still bouncing around while she shopped for a new weapon. Her body felt like it was on autopilot while her mind was elsewhere, and when she checked the time on her watch afterwards Andromeda decided it was late enough in the day for a beer. Or maybe some gin. She’d overheard some folks talking about a club down in The Well (whatever that was) and figured that would be as good a place as any.

The nearest directory told her to find an elevator underneath MAST to access The Well. Security didn’t seem to care about the massive new revolver hanging from her hip when she boarded the NAT, which she found odd. Weapons in Neon had to be hidden at all times, lest you wanted a shakedown from the guards. All in all, Andromeda started to wonder why she’d never tried to leave that awful city behind a long time ago. But that answer was obvious, and even Sarah had pegged it earlier that morning. She just wanted to help people.

In this particular moment, though, it was time to help herself. To a few drinks at Jakes’s Bar. At least... it started as a few. Andromeda knew she was being an idiot but the amount of [censored] filling her head since that awful last night in Neon needed to be quieted down for a while, and the gin was helping tremendously with that.

And Jake was the typical friendly bartender with open ears and kind words. “I mean… what do they really shee in me?” she asked him, her speech slurred from the sixth cocktail knocked back. “I’m a homelessh loser with everything I own in the bag on the chair next to me. Make it make sense, Jake. And them make another round.”

“Hey, if Constellation has taken a liking to you, you could do a lot worse, kiddo. No one really knows a lot about them but it sure beats the hell out of maintenance work or signing up for the military. You don’t exactly have a lot of options here without being a UC citizen.”

“[censored] joining the military,” said Andromeda. She polished off a seventh drink and set the glass down with shaking hands. The room began to spin a little bit and she gripped the counter to keep herself from losing balance and falling over the back of the stool. A few seconds passed until she recovered, and then she pointed at the bar top. “One more, Jakey.”

“Can’t do it, hon,” said Jake. “Besides, your friend is here to help you get home.” He nodded his head to the previously empty stool on Andromeda’s right that was now occupied by Noel.

“When dizhe you ge’ here, doll face?” slurred Andromeda.

Noel shook her head and failed to suppress a grin. “Damn, your shitfaced, huh Dro?” Noel turned to Jake and told her to put the drinks on Constellation’s tab. “And thank you for calling. Sarah was worried about where she’d end up.”

“Don’t mention it,” said Jake. “Need a hand getting her back? I can have one of the waiters help.”

“No, Matteo is on the way, too. Doubt she can walk on her own and I can’t hold her myself.”

“Hey hey hey hey!” exclaimed Andromeda with a poorly constructed indignation. “I can walk juss fine, sho you know. In here achting like I’ve never had a drink or two before - “

“Or seven,” chimed Jake.

“Didn’t ashk you, shir.” She slid off her stool and stood swaying on her feet, just to prove her point. “Shee? I can manage juss fine on my own!” The world started spinning again and she stumbled back onto her stool. “Maybe not...”

Her forehead hit the bar with a thud, bringing Andromeda Renault’s brief tour of New Atlantis to an end.

“Great,” sighed Noel. “Now we’re going to need Vasco, too.”