luckykoi [Translator]
14-17 minutes
The night was deep and strewn with looming dense clouds.
On Dumont Highway, a flamboyant hot-red hovercar led the way while an understated matte black hovercar followed behind. The headlights spilled light that silently rippled past like water.wI6MWx
Yan Suizhi rembered Fitz had once ntioned:No matter what Gu Yan thinks, even if unilaterally, I consider him a friend.
He had always wanted to tell herIts not unilateral. Gu Yan feels the sa.
Chrysanthemum Garden.
At certain monts, friends always had an unspoken understanding hanging between them.
When he followed Gu Yan to the ground floor, Fitz didnt directly say anything.7edDL4
She stared hard and long into their eyes for a while, then suddenly smileda relieved smile, as though setting down a weight. Then, she took out the virtual key to her space hovercar, waving it around. The office is a bit stuffy; I feel like going out for a joyride. Wanna co?
Gu Yans face instantly wentdoubt. He looked at her, then headed up to retrieve his coat. Lets go.
Yan Suizhi saw no reason for that look until they got onto the hover road.
This lady, who claid to be going for a joyride, had chugged across Dumont Highway at thelowestpossible speed limit. Anything on four wheels could have overtaken her.
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That being the case, she still had the audacity to direct the hovercar to the fast lane, then continued to test the minimum bound of the legal speed limit.
Eventually, Lawyer Gu was unable to resist turning on the inter-car communication to connect with Fitz ahead, coolly asking, Miss, do you know what it ans to go on a joyride? I suspect I might have misheard youdid you an taking a stroll?
Fitzs laughter carried across the comms channel. Dont be an. Even your intern isnt afraid of you, so why would I be? To tell you the truth, I dont usually ever drive on hover lanes alone. This is already lightning speed for . If youve any objection, feel free to voice it. Im not going to speed up anyway.
Gu Yan was montarily silent. Then what made you decide to choose a space hovercar when buying cars.QAd3zY
Because its chic.
Gu Yan shut the inter-car comms.
Yan Suizhi understood Lawyer Gus temper too well. He simply had a tongue that could give people frostbite, but it was more biting the closer the relationship was. Look there; despite his sharp words, after hanging up, he still followed behind Fitzs car to their destination without fuss.L6rAxy
After an hour on hover roads, they were long out of Fa Wang District, now cruising along a mountain pass at the outskirts.
There was even a ti difference between their present location and the heart of Fa Wang District. When they started on the scenic road up the mountain, it was 12 midnight local ti.
This mountain had the highest elevation in the area, with a windcatcher at its peak that was open all day. If there ever was the inclination, no matter what hour it was, one could head up to the viewing platform overlooking the entire forestry.
The windcatcher was always crowded in the spring and sumr, but was unpopular in the cooler seasons.8Zhbco
They had picked the perfect ti. The viewing platform at its highest floor was empty.
Fitz opened the skylight with ease, and the shaded roof withdrew to the side, leaving only colossal glass without supports or seams, the starry sky expanse caging down on them unobstructed.
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He t Miss Fitzs eyes and nodded with a faint smile. Then, he turned his head over, tickling Gu Yans ears, mouthing a question to him, Did she point to the north or to the south? Which planet is that?
Gu Yan moved his lips. To the west. The brightest western star on a winter night sky is Planet Skybridge.
It was one of the wonders of all habitable planets in the alliance. The sky was perpetually dyed copper-gold like fire due to its unique atmospheric composition. On top of that, the nearest planet to it, half-obscured by its own moon, was a silver-bright inverted crescent stitched across this sky like a bridge in the clouds.
Thus its na.dPweRX
It was rumoured that all inhabitants of Planet Skybridge were pure in heart; passionate and romantic like their ever-constant skies.
Yan Suizhi wasnt acquainted with that many people hailing from there, but from the few that he did, especially considering Miss Fitz, this belief did seem rather reasonable.
He asked Fitz, Do you often co here late at night?
But this young missy actually shook her head, saying, No, its too deep into the woods. I dare not co alone, lest the next thing you know youll be seeing
on the headline news.A59pSM
She winked at the two lawyers, saying unblushingly, I was waiting for the chance to catch a person or two who makes
feel safe, and cajole them to accompany
on a trip out. The view here at night is one of a kind. Ive wanted to see it for a long ti, yet was never able to dupe anyone overuntil today.
Yan Suizhi admired the distant band of stars with his hands propped on the railing, and he shook his head, smiling when he heard this. Miss, it isnt that easy to get onto the headline news.
Yeah, but you know. After working at so places, you start to have misconceptions of the world, like there always being perverts every hundred tres or so. Fitz counted on her fingers. Like at police stations, courthouses, the prosecutors office, hospitals, law firms. That sort.
She paused before adding, Although I dont fight lawsuits and am only responsible for the admin side of things, I am still exposed to all types of criminal cases every day. Also, due to my family Im sotis quite prone to extres, especially in my first two years at Southcross. It was to the point where I almost beca delusional that soone was out to get . Then I found a good thod to save myself from falling into paranoia.MD 1IH
Yan Suizhi casually asked, What is it?
On the weekends off, head to the various plazas around De Carma, or even soplace in the alliance. A welfare institution would do too. Order a coffee or sothing sweet, and find a serene corner to sit for an afternoon.
Yan Suizhi started minutely.
It was a thod he used to tell his students a long, long ti ago to relieve stress. Only it was in private settings, such as at his birthday parties, and only his direct students would have heard him.io9Das
Though Fitz wasnt one of them, she still did sothing similar, which could also be a type of chemistry friends had.
Youd always see a lot of passing monts, sitting in those places. Fitzs eyes were hooded in her recollection.
Chrysanthemum Garden.
Many would gather around a travelling musician, quietly listening to a whole song before paying their complints. There were so who shared a bench to rest their feet and would strike up rry conversation. Soone would pick up a child who took a tumble to the ground, and soone would smile adoringly at another persons pet as it pranced by.
And every ti I catch those monts, it counteracts the many negative thoughts I have. Like there arent that many perverts out there and the majority of people are kind and gentle. Fitz shrugged. Of course, thats just what I personally believe. But there was an incident that amused
for a long ti.ja PWi
At that, she slid a look in Gu Yans direction.
Anything related to Gu Yan piqued Yan Suizhis interest. Oh? Do share.
There are always so among the new arrivals at the firm every year completely enamoured by our Lawyer Gus handso face. n and won both, but its like hes got a signal blocker on, you know? The sort ofany human or animal within an eight kilotre radius of him are all uniformly classified as living creatures, regardless of gender do genders even exist in his world? Fitz spiritedly roasted Gu Yan.
You know the like. Anyway, when I first joined the company, he didnt even spare
a glance. I suspect that he didnt even register whether the new HR was male or female.392FAG
Miss Fitz was taking the opportunity to air her complaints.
Yan Suizhis eyes were curved with a smile.
Gu Yan really wanted to retort, It wasnt that bad, Im notblind, but he didnt like to interrupt others and so he grudgingly allowed her to carry on with her nonsense.
Then ti passed and, coincidentally, there was once that I went to sit at a welfare institution and watch children play, the donors and volunteers interacting with the childrenand Gu saw . I dont know if my behaviour reminded him of soone or sothing, but in any case, after that, his attitude had softened towards . For a while I even thought that he had a crush on , but I later realised that I was wrong.dTCm2W
Gu Yan mutely pinched the bridge of his nose, exasperated.
Did you drink before getting into the car? Gu Yan asked.
Nope, Fitz said, Why do you ask?YwNST9
Nothing much, it just seems as though youre a little excited tonight, said Gu Yan.
Fitz nodded. Not seems; Iaxcited. Its really nice to know that you guys are doing the sa things as .
You didnt know before? This ca as a bit of a surprise to them.
Not really. Fitz said, You guys arent at the law firm often, so how would I know what youre up to? But I did have speculate a bitWaQdkU
She looked at Yan Suizhi and said, It started when you first ca in with your registration docunt. Because its truly not often that I receive soone with a slate as blank as yours. I didnt know which side you were on at the ti, if either. But I wanted to stir up a bit of trouble for Southcross, take in a volatile elent or two. So I accepted your registration docunt without a question. As it turns out, I have a pretty good eye.
Why? Gu Yan trained his eyes on her.
Why are you siding with us? Why are you working at Southcross? That was what they had wanted to ask back at the law firm.
Fitz said, Because of my parents, I guess.ET9Kp0
Your parents?
Fitz nodded. She gazed at the faraway star in the west, seemingly taking a walk down mory lane. Yeah my mom, mainly. Our family was well-to-do in my childhood, pockets so deep that we couldnt spend it all. She was eventually inspired by her mother and grandfather to dabble widely in investnts. She got involved in many industries. dical, shipping, raw materials, and even military, to na a few. Later on, she invested in two dicinal mines on Helan. But it was those two dicinal mines that destroyed my family.
She was imprisoned and passed away there. Because of this, dad kept falling sick for three whole years, wearing down his immune system so badly that even being moved to a sterile room didnt help. He eventually succumbed to sickness.
dicinal mines?cQUsd7
Imprisoned?
Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan exchanged a look; the more they listened, the more familiar it seed. Frowning, they contemplated it for a mont before tentatively asking, What are their nas?
Fitz said, My dad is Gregory Fitz, a teacher. My mom is Marge Lucy.
Lucy?gpKW9
Yeah, what about it?
Both of them simultaneously recalled the things that Joe had shown them from his sisters video diary, in which a garden party was being held at the Manson Manor.
A young and accomplished lady, bearing the surna Lucy
Who likewise owned two dicinal mines, also married a teacher, and was similarly incarcerated shortly afterwards, taking her own life in prison.8jhkG2
Her story had made both Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan emotional when they first heard it.
But never had they imagined that she would actually turn out to be Fitzs mother.
Fitz said softly, Sotis it made
sad, and I would wonder why couldnt my parents be saved with the present state of healthcare and dical tech in the alliance? I was so convinced that there must have been so kind of conspiracy underfoot. But then I realised that maybe the conspiracy wasnt here, but elsewhere.
I learned sothing when I was almost out of universitythe two dicinal mines my parents left behind were taken over by a shell corporation that was, in fact, owned by the partners in Southcross. So I applied to the law firm.g yoKt
Over the years, she had been hiding within Southcross admin systems, slowly building herself as the firms information hub. But the many distractions made it difficult for her to see beyond Southcross, to reach the bottom of it, and to find out who else was involved. Naturally then, she was also unable to tell who stood on the sa side as her.
For a long ti, I felt alone. It was stark. Not knowing who I could help, or who could help . Fitz gazed into the distance, a few points of starlight pooling in her pretty eyes. But strangely enough, I wasnt afraid. I had this inexplicable confidence that what Im doing must be working, that soone is actually standing with . I just have to be patient.
Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.
So you know why Im so excited tonight? Because I read the run logs and Iknew. That I finally, finally no longer have to guess and wait.
Fitz smiled as she turned her head to regard them. At last, Im no longer alone; can there be any happier occasion?XkfmSa
Yan Suizhi mused and said gently, There is truly none.
The wilderness was quiet through the window, sweeping verdure in rise and fall.
The inky night was infinite, imnse, seemingly dormant with the great unknown.
And yet overhead, the sky was waxed in starshine. Of planets light-years yonder vaulting the horizon, a vast river of twinkling light whereon stars constellated.femBo7
Just as how there were always so roads in this cosmosonce set foot upon, youd be safe in the knowledge that youre never alone.
Edited by snoflakesun
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