Satellites

"Satellites?" Fort had expected his wife to say a lot of things, but that was not one of them. "The things that people send out to orbit the earth?"

 "Yes! More specifically the government ones. Two of the men I spoke with today mentioned that many of them were down or not working." Noble knew very little about how satellites actually functioned.

 She had never seen one in person but knew they sent signals from space to transmit information like the location of opening gates as well as her kids' favorite webtoons. Beyond that, she was lost.

"The government loses satellites all the time for all sorts of reasons." Fort glanced up at his wife.

"Such as?" The professor persisted.

Fort looked up at the ceiling. "You know…reasons." He shrugged. "I've never thought much about it. It is just an accepted fact. I know some crash into the atmosphere and burn up. Others simply fail, I guess."

"Then why are there many more failing right now? Did something change?"

Noble could feel the edge of her mind pulling at something important. Like a cat swatting at the end of a string. With the right tug, the whole ball would inevitably unravel. At least, that was her hope.

"Nothing changed on the government's end as far as I know. If more are failing than usual, it has to be from an outside force. Do you think someone is sabotaging the satellites?" Fort didn't like the idea at all.

Noble considered the possibility. Who would want to take down government satellites? Plenty of people for many different reasons. 

But who had the money and the means to do it undetected? Very few.

 And for what goal? The government had enough resources to keep putting more up. It was a futile war that Noble couldn't justify in her head.

 "Not someone, but perhaps something? It was suggested that a gate could be up in space. I thought it was crazy at first, but now I'm not so sure." Noble finished another page and set it aside.

 "You think a gate is orbiting Earth like a satellite?" Fort tapped the pen against his chin, looking for a matching symbol on the key to the one in front of him.

"I didn't, no! I figured the gate would be left behind in space by the earth moving around the sun. But now that you mention it… that doesn't happen to the gates on the ground. If the gate were in the earth's gravitational pull, then it could come with us, right?" Noble's question was hypothetical, but her husband shook his head.

 "Then there would be a noticeable void where no satellites could go. A space wall made by the gate. Surely our people would have noticed a specific dead zone like that…"

 Noble blew out her cheeks. "I suppose you are right."

"Don't get discouraged. The answer is here…somewhere." Fort placed his hand on top of his wife's. "Let's keep looking…"

Together they finished the papers that Noble brought home in record time. Their determination meant that Fort even made it to bed on time.

 With nothing to do and no Dreamscape plans, Noble decided to visit the Dream Realm instead for the night. If nothing else, she had promised Honey.

 There was a missing tutor to find.

—————

Unfortunately, the night in the Dream Realm did not yield fruitful results. Not that Noble had expected it to. Finding someone in the Dream Realm was incredibly difficult.

Especially if they did not want to be found.

So while it would have been nice to have some news for Honey when she awoke, Noble was neither surprised nor disappointed by the outcome.

The morning at the academy passed quickly. The closer they came to the solstice every year, the faster Noble felt the days went. Towards the end, the hours raced by.

In a blink, she already was on the train between her two jobs. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her to pull her packed lunch from her bag. After taking a few bites of her sandwich, Noble finally found time to check the news on her communicator.

 A smile immediately came to her lips.

The top article was from her favorite journalist about one of her favorite people.

 Fireshing Inside and Outside the Ring

This nonsense-free reporter got a rare treat yesterday at lunch. And no, I don't mean the delicious Mochi I had for dessert.

I was able to sit down and have an interview with one of the most talked about and elusively shy duelists in the Dreamscape—Fireshing!

Best known for her skill with a spear, the fearsome fiery fighter is as graceful and demure in person as she is on the battlefield. I found myself in awe of her presence. She was in disguise to keep others from recognizing her, but there was no hiding the burning passion in her eyes.

Fireshing gave me the juicy details of her new venture in the Dreamscape: her partnership with Queen Bee!...

The article went on to detail Sarai's answers to Frey's questions as well as his impressions. He implied that Queen Bee and Fireshing had a very close personal relationship. 

'Sarai said she approached Queen Bee. If he combed through Dreamscape footage to see we had not met recently before our partnership, then he naturally would assume we met in person.' 

Noble could not refute Frey's words. They were quite close. 

The professor read to the end of the article with a huge smile plastered on her face. 

Those who know Fireshing list her heart as her defining characteristic. "I want to be more like her," one friend said. After getting to know this duelist outside the arena. I must agree. I would take it a step further and say that we all should strive to be more like the woman who sat across from me today. 

Fireshing is a rising star both inside and outside of the arena.

"Bravo!" Noble clicked her communicator to send her friend a congratulatory message. 'Saw the article! Frey couldn't have been more accurate if he tried. You are so famous! Can I get your autograph?' 

Then, stuffing the last of her sandwich in her mouth, the professor exited at her stop. 

Praised was at the gate. Noble flashed her badge, and the gatekeeper saluted. 

"A solution is sometimes the beginning of a bigger problem," she told the professor with a bright smile. 

"As usual your strange sayings leave me both unsettled and confused," Noble waved as she passed the gatehouse. 

Praised nodded. "Happy to help!" 

'How do I even respond to that?' Noble decided the best response was none at all. 

Anyway, she didn't have time to converse. If she got into a discussion, she would most certainly be late. The one thing she wanted to avoid today was any reason for Wailin to be upset. 

And being late two days in a row would be the epitome of sins in his eyes. Just the thought made Noble quicken her pace. 

When she got to the office, Noble threw open the door with two minutes to spare. 

'Whew, that was close,' she thought with a satisfied smirk. 

The woman's smirk quickly faded. 

Looking at Everin's face behind the front desk, her timeliness was the least of their worries.