’Finally!’ Tatehan thought.
He normally shouldn’t be happy that this happened, but right now, he was. It ant that they were at least making so progress on their journey.
"We need to stop soon," Tatehan called back to Riven. "Core’s almost dead."
"Alright. Find a clear spot," she replied.
Tatehan scanned the landscape and spotted a flat area with good visibility in all directions. There were no boulders for creatures to hide behind, nor were there strange rock formations that could conceal threats.
He slowed the bike gradually, bringing it to a stop. The engine’s hum died down as the core’s energy finally depleted completely.
[Core exhausted]
[Motorcycle systems offline]
Tatehan dismounted, stretching his legs. His muscles ached from maintaining the sa position for so long. Riven climbed off behind him, also stretching, her joints popping audibly.
"Finally," she groaned. "My butt was going numb."
Tatehan walked around to the engine compartnt and popped it open. The Shadow Goblin core inside had gone dark, its veins of energy completely extinguished. He carefully extracted it— it was still warm but inert now, just a dead piece of bio-chanical matter.
He tossed it aside and reached into his inventory, summoning another core.
As he crouched to install it, he felt eyes on him.
He turned and found Riven staring at him intently.
"What?" he asked.
She didn’t respond imdiately. Just kept staring.
Then it hit him.
He wasn’t wearing his helt.
For the first ti since they’d t, Riven was actually seeing his face.
"Oh," Tatehan said, suddenly self-conscious. "Right."
Riven’s eyes were wide, scanning every feature of his face like she was trying to morize it. His dark hair, still windswept from the ride. His sharp jawline. His eyes...
"You’re..." she started, then stopped.
"I’m what?"
"You’re actually really handso," she said bluntly, no hint of embarrassnt in her voice. "Like, annoyingly handso. I was expecting scars or sothing. Maybe a weird nose. But no, you’re just... conventionally attractive."
Tatehan felt heat rise to his cheeks. "Uh... thanks?"
"How old are you?"
Tatehan hesitated, not wanting to give away too much, but since it wasn’t his real age anyway, he replied:
"Seventeen... uh... I think. Probably eighteen. Ti’s been weird."
Riven nodded slowly. "Sa age as ..."
She kept staring.
"Are you going to keep looking at , or can I install this core?" Tatehan asked, holding up the new Shadow Goblin core.
"Right. Sorry. It’s just... you’ve been this mysterious armored guy for hours. Weird to see you’re just a person under there."
"What did you think I was? A robot?"
"Maybe." She grinned. "Or an alien. Or a really advanced AI."
Tatehan shook his head and turned back to the motorcycle, slotting the new core into place. The Dust Rider roared back to life imdiately, energy coursing through its systems.
[New core installed]
[Duration: One hour, twelve minutes]
"We should take a break," Riven said, pulling out her proximity alarm device and setting it down on the ground. "Drink so water. Rest for a few minutes."
Tatehan nodded. He reached into his backpack and pulled out one of the water containers. He took a long drink, the liquid cooling his dry throat.
When he lowered the container, he noticed Riven looking at him expectantly.
"What?"
"Can I...?" She gestured to the water.
"You don’t have any?"
Riven shook her head. "Ran out yesterday. Been rationing what little I had left."
Tatehan felt a pang of guilt. He should have asked earlier. He handed her the container without hesitation.
"Drink as much as you need."
Riven took it gratefully and drank deeply, water dribbling down her chin. When she finished, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Thanks. I owe you one."
"You don’t owe anything."
They sat in silence for a mont, just resting. The Martian sun beat down on them, hot but not unbearable. The landscape around them was quiet except for the distant whistle of wind.
"How much farther?" Riven asked.
Tatehan pulled up his map overlay, checking their progress.
[Journey progress: 34%]
[Estimated ti remaining: 4 hours, 47 minutes at current speed]
"A few more hours," he said. "We’re making good ti."
An hour and he’d covered this much, that ant he was going at an insane speed.
Riven nodded. "Good. I’m ready to sleep in an actual bed again. And eat sothing that isn’t dried at."
Tatehan smiled. "Sa."
After five minutes of rest, they mounted the Dust Rider again. Riven wrapped her arms around his waist, and Tatehan revved the engine.
They took off again, the wasteland blurring around them.
---
Ti passed in a strange haze. More barren landscapes. More scattered rock formations. More distant creatures they didn’t stop to identify.
They stopped two more tis to change cores. Each ti, Riven would make small talk, asking questions about random things, about what life was like for him. Tatehan answered what he could, careful not to give too much away.
The sun began its descent toward the horizon, casting the entire landscape in shades of orange and deep red.
Then, finally, sothing changed.
Tatehan saw it first, a structure in the distance. Not natural. Man-made.
"Is that...?" Riven leaned forward, squinting.
As they got closer, it beca clear. A signboard, weathered and faded but still standing. Large letters painted across it read:
**WAYTHON HOLLOW — 15 KM**
And beneath it, an arrow pointing toward a paved road.
An actual road.
He felt bloated with joy. Finally, he would see the advanced and colonized region of Mars, not the monster-filled wastelands he’d grown slightly accustod to.
His eyes widened as he followed the arrow’s direction. There, cutting through the desert like a dark ribbon, was a road. And on that road, he could see vehicles— actual working vehicles, not wrecks— moving in both directions.
Motorcycles. Trucks. Strange wheeled contraptions he didn’t recognize.
Civilization.
Words flashed across his retina:
[Journey progress: 90%]
[Destination approaching: Waython Hollow]
[Estimated arrival: 34 minutes]
Tatehan felt sothing loosen in his chest. They’d made it. They were almost there.
"We’re here," Riven breathed behind him, sounding almost disbelieving. "We actually made it."
Tatehan guided the Dust Rider toward the road, slowing as they approached the junction. Other travelers glanced at them as they rged into the flow of traffic, so curious, so indifferent.
No one seed particularly surprised to see two people on a dust-covered motorcycle. This was Mars. Everyone had a story.
Tatehan accelerated slightly, matching the pace of the other vehicles.
The road stretched ahead, leading toward a cluster of structures visible on the horizon.
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