Part 10: A Future I Decide

There is goon participation in this chapter!

Mind Your Poise (Carla's Theme)



: ... but, honestly, you're probably right about it all. It's hard to think of a solid argument against anything that you said.

: ... Hmm.



: Hah, well, I want to believe whatever is the truth. Life is much easier when you believe you're on the right side of history all the time.

: But...

: ... if I'm being honest, I don't know if I can answer that question right now. What we do next has been a turbulent question for, well, the past three days, and you and Vance seem pretty opposed.

: Vance wants us to stay the course and to remain vigilant; you want us to choose for ourselves and live our lives without believing that we're just fodder for the machine.



: If you wanted to keep studying robotics and doing what you could to help our defence, that's more power to you, Ezra.

: That said, maybe I overstepped a little by asking a question like that. I know the topic's been hanging over your head for a while now.



: See, that kind of trips me up a little. After thirteen years, you think that the people that have been doing their absolute best to protect the entire solar system would try to scare the people they've been protecting into giving them more money and more recruits?



: The Gen Three was right about one thing: we're in a very vulnerable place right now, both physically and emotionally. Nobody wants the Riklid to come back, especially now that we've been partying for three days and our school year was cut short in celebration.

: Right now, it would be very easy to scare us with the idea that they might come back. It won't be pulse-pounding, finger-trembling, pants-wetting fear; it'd be the kind of fear that makes a person booby-trap their own house for burglars or whatever.

: And a scared person is easier to convince than a happy drunk that's on their third bender in a row.

: Or maybe I'm just being a conspiracy nut, I dunno. Like I said before, I think that being cautious and alert is a sensible stance for that Gen Three to take. There's just a bunch of underlying messages and motivations that I find skeezy.

: So I take that to mean you won't be following Vance's advice and staying the course?

: ...

: I don't think I should answer that question, actually.

: Uh, okay.

: What we do with ourselves going forward is something that we all need to consider individually, Ezra. You've been very persnickety about our futures and I worry that if I gave you my answer, it'd influence your own.

: And if I'm right, you haven't quite decided yet yourself.

: ... No, I can't say I have.

: You're studying robotics engineering, right?



: Nothing is saying that you won't eventually end up using that knowledge on something other than the war effort, anyway. I imagine roboticists are going to be in high demand for reconstruction!



: Vance made a big showing in that press release to try and convince the students of Galilei University to stay with what they were doing to make sure that we'll be better prepared if the Riklid return.

: And maybe Carla's right in that it's just a gimmick to keep the money and the recruits flowing. But I don't have to stop studying robotics and technology now that the war is over.

: Maybe it's not impossible to do both. To keep up my studies not because I was told that I should, but because I want to. I'd be able to help the future of my species one way or another, and I wouldn't have to start over again from thirteen years ago.





: It's certainly not a bad idea. And I'd have a big head-start on myself if that's what I chose.

: I'll just keep that in the back of my mind for now.

One of Ezra's "destinies" of what to do with her time and future has been unlocked, thanks to spending time with Carla. Ezra now understands with certainty that she doesn't need to continue doing what she's doing out of fear the Riklid might return or to assist the war effort, but to apply her knowledge and continued education to help humanity. We knew she had been toying with this idea earlier when she met Carla and Isol at the bar, but those were just what-ifs for her. Now, it's a possibility she feels she can actually put her efforts behind. Given her genuine love for machines having been sparked since she was just a little girl, perhaps her choice to go into robotics as a way to contribute to total war wasn't as forced or pushed on her as she might have thought...?





: Hey, any time, Carla. We've been friends for a long time; we don't need an excuse to just get together and be social with each other now and again.

: Hah, I'll try and keep that in mind. The party's not over yet and I'll be damned if I'm not going to ride this out for as long as I can.



Hmm... maybe being reckless with Carla is too much for Ezra's introverted self? In any case, Carla is genuine in her love for Ezra's company. That's true friendship right there.

: That said, I need to get back home. I've, uh, been neglecting my housework ever since the party started and I promised myself that I'd try and make a bit of headway into it today.

: After everything we just said, you're going to ditch me to go do chores?



: But if that's how you feel, then I never said we have to stop hanging out. You're more than welcome to come back to my place and help out.

: I've got a sink full of dirty dishes that could really use some attention. You handle those; I'll get started on dusting the place and sorting my laundry. Together, we'll get everything done in... maybe four hours?

: Uhh... I just remembered that I, uh, also have something I need to do that doesn't involve you.

: Hahaha! How the turns have tabled!

We've got a printer that needs carrying for someone, Carla! Sorry we can't play maid! Well, uh, at least not in THAT way...

: I'll catch up with you later, alright? I think I'll be busy for the rest of the day, but you let me know if you're available later.

: If we can pull ourselves away from our nondescript house duties, sure thing.

: That's the spirit.

: Off I gooooooooooooooooooooo

*The music fades out.*





: What a day! I can't believe it's already...

: ... Two-thirty in the afternoon.

: Wow.

: I'm not used to... this. Having such an open schedule. My muscle memory wants me to take a shower and go right to bed.

: There's so much I can do now that the war is over and... school is out. God, what a foreign concept: we never really got an extended break during studying and training and now, there's absolutely nothing for me to do.

: I don't have any videogames to play, not that many have been made during the war, and I'm not much of a TV person – the only thing worth watching in the last decade was the news and it was never for the entertainment of it.

: ...

: I guess I could... ring up someone else? See if anyone else is willing to hang out?

: Carla said she has a boatload of chores to get to. I could call her again, but she'd rope me into washing her floors or something. Spending my leisurely time doing someone else's housework isn't my idea of, well, a good idea.



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Goon participation!

It's time for date two! Who do we go on a date with this evening? You can choose between Nikita and Isol.

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Databank: Ghians

Ghians are a bipedal, lizard-like alien species hailing from a planet known to them as Ghi, existing approximately a five-year warp-speed journey away from Earth's sun. While within their star's Goldilocks Zone, Ghi is still notably closer to its star than Earth is to the Sun; as a result, Ghi is an arid, dry world largely covered in desert, with its equator being uninhabitable by humans. Its oceans and freshwater lakes are small, but dotting the surface of the planet are oases where the local Ghians thrive.

To help deal with the intense heat, Ghians were evolved to have scales instead of skin; as humans have a common, ape-like ancestor, so too do Ghians have a common ancestor more closely resembling an alligator. Ghians are ovoviviparous: their children hatch from eggs while still in the womb and are born live.

Modern-day Ghians do not typically grow hair upon their heads, but since their meeting with the humans, it's not unusual for a Ghian to take specially-designed supplements that promote hair growth for stylistic reasons – or to help them maintain their warmth when on Earth, a planet that's markedly colder than Ghi.

Like Earth, Ghi is home to many different languages and geographic cultures, each with their own beliefs, forms of government, and methodologies. They have unique approaches to religion; to facts of life, such as death and processing their dead; to dress and fashion; and to agriculture, a difficult topic for them, given the inhospitality of their own planet.

And like Earth, Ghians had spent many of their generations pondering the stars and whether they were truly alone within the universe. On one fateful day, their finest cosmologists and engineers sent off a satellite, pointed towards a hospitable planet they had discovered that was relatively nearby.

While it was a hopeful gesture, it was intended to be performative, and nobody truly believed it would yield any results...