24 Carefully-Planned Encounter
He saw himself working in The Santa María's hangar. Moving weapon crates and repairing the compromised locks was fine, but his favorite task was giving maintenance to the Custos.
Alan had to climb up a ladder and walk through a service ramp to reach their heads and check their systems. One of his favorites was red with green eyes, which he nicknamed Captain Ketchup.
"How are you doing today, Captain?" Alan would say every morning, waving at it, and the stationary 60-feet tall metal statue always remained silent. "Your day to save the universe will come someday, I know it! In the meantime, let me see if everything is in order, okay?"
That was his routine for a week until the eighth day when Alan noticed that Captain Ketchup's eyes were glowing.
++"Get back, Alan!"++ one of the Isabella-controlled drones said, as the red Custos removed its bindings and stepped forward.
"Captain?" Alan muttered as the shadow of a giant foot grew over him. The last thing he saw before a service robot pulled him back was another blue Custos, shielding him.
++"A remnant survived, Alan. The hangar is no longer safe until I take care of it. Return to your room now."++
Even after the automatic reinforced doors closed, he could still hear a constant banging metallic noise.
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He opened his eyes, finding a known ceiling. **I'm here, safe and sound in the Shooting Stars' Headquarters.**
He jumped out of the bed, eager to start the day, ignoring the fact that a sunless morning awaited him outside. **This is it. Today is the day, Ashley,** he thought, while frowning at the gray clouds above.
He dressed as quickly as he could, putting on his new favorite red jacket, and exhaled in front of the mirror.
"Astrid, do you have a minute? We need to talk… Hmm, no… Not like that." He turned serious. "Babe, there's something you should know… Wait, babe? Are you serious? So cringe." He cleared his throat. "Astrid, listen to me, I need to tell you something really important… The—S-s-safety of… Dammit." He pursed his lips. **Ashley, I know we should maintain this a secret, but…** "She's the only one I can trust…"
Finding new resolution on his own gaze, he nodded to his reflection and walked towards the door. Before getting out, Amelia's black artificial beetle flew from last night's clothes and silently landed on his baggy pants.
**Astrid will understand. I know it,** he thought, while making his way to the cafeteria. **Once she agrees to help me, I wonder if she'd let Ashley train in that private dungeon too, after picking her up first, of course.**
He glanced outside, to the swimming pool and the training grounds, imagining his new life. **We could get used to this place. And… Is it my imagination, or is this place really, really quiet?**
The cafeteria was empty, except for the NPCs that greeted him. No one in the Trophy Room and the Library. **I don't even want to peek at the PVP arena.** He shivered, remembering only a fraction of what transcurred there, as the sound of people reached him from afar, especially Astrid's powerful voice.
"Keep in mind that now that we're at the bottom of the ranking charts, we may never reclaim our place back!" Her voice was heard through speakers as Alan peered inside a large room. Astrid was standing atop a podium, wearing navy-blue formal military attire, her hair tied in an updo. "So if any of you still have doubts in your heart, don't hesitate! If you're not satisfied with how things have turned out, you have my blessing to leave! I won't chase you, I won't punish you, just go and never come back!"
She maintained a firm posture while a large group started to leave. "Let's go," Alan heard one of them say, "this guild is done for."
Astrid quickly saluted at them. "Thank you for your hard work! Without you, Shooting Stars would have never climbed to the top!"
Alan hid behind a lion's monument and started counting. **Close to thirty people are leaving…**
When the building's doors shut, Astrid continued: "To all of you that stayed, are you sure about this decision?!" she asked in a deeper voice. "Whoever stays with me will have to work twice, no, three times harder than before now that we have been reduced to less than half of our people! Would you follow me to the depths of hell if I asked you?!"
++"Yes, ma'am!"
"Are you still Shooting Stars?!"
++"Proudly, ma'am!"
"Do you still thirst for the glory of reaching the top?!"
++"Until we reach the end of the universe, ma'am!"
"Then I have something to tell all of you!" She met eyes with every one of them, showing her tenacity until tears started running down her cheeks. "Thanks for staying with me, you idiots!"
**Is she crying?!**
Alan returned to his spying spot, looking at Tamara and some women from the crowd, forming a wall around Astrid that kept her out of sight.
Alan then watched a male guilder stomping his way towards Oscar, the big guy that had brought him to Londorus alongside Marissa Laflamme. "If you hadn't listened to Marco's orders and brought Ghost here, we could have avoided all this!" the guilder shouted, grabbing Oscar from the collar of his shirt.
"You're a fool if you really believe that," the taller Oscar replied, without a hint of anger in his voice. "This has been a long-time coming."
Alan stepped back, returning to the safety provided by the monument's shadow, but he could not stand there.
He went outside of the building, found the main entrance, and ran towards Londorus' streets.
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++"He exited HQ,"++ Amelia Laflamme said through Party Chat while sipping Piña Colada. ++"It's all yours."++
++"This was faster than I thought!"++ Karen Svensson replied, giggling. ++"A lucky star is finally looking my way. I can feel it!"++
++"Yeah, yeah. Go before you lose it. He's in…"++ Amelia expanded the system window that displayed her spy beetle's video feed, and the most remarkable landmark that she recognized was a giant soft drink ad. ++"Lancesmith Bridge…"++
++"Understood. Wish me luck!"++
"Nah, I don't think I will…" Amelia said to herself while cutting off the communications.
"Excuse me, miss?" the NPC behind the bar asked, smiling. She stared at him, recognizing he had green eyes. Seeing that made her look away.
"Wasn't talking to you. Give me another one of these." She raised her cup aloft, but the NPC stepped back.
"I'm sorry, miss, but the bar is currently closed."
**Oh, so it's time.**
"Okay, everyone, it's time to go!" Kathleen Maher could be heard saying, and Death Bringers and ex-Shooting Stars alike, followed her outside the building.
"Our Guild Master is going to move the bar," the NPC said to Amelia. "We must leave. Come this way, please."
"There's a backdoor through the kitchen, right?" Amelia said, giving the last sip. "I'll use that."
"Understood," the NPC said, walking away.
**After helping myself to another drink…**
Amelia jumped over the bar, found two bottles of wine, and saved them in her inventory. **Thanks, Kat.** She then strolled towards the exit, ignoring the constant system messages that urged her to leave.
Outside, while she waited for her Black-Winged Tiger to spawn, she admired the gray sky. **I remember seeing the same weather when Marissa and I left Carcella.**
"You weren't here when that happened," she said to her summoned tiger, which purred as she caressed it under its chin. "Between you and me, Marissa cried a lot. Don't tell her that or she'll get mad at me."
She mounted it and immediately took flight, stopping only to watch the building gradually getting smaller. In a minute, The Drinking Banshee was the size of a dollhouse, which her ex-guild partner took from his new boss' hands.
**This is the last thing I've done for you,** Amelia thought, exhaling. **Have fun in your new guild…**
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