Dreams – manifestations of the subconscious mind that reveals one’s innermost desires, interests or thoughts. It may also be precognitive, hence the popular term deja vu. Modern man is able to biologically map the human brain down to individual neurons though he is yet to tap the very secrets of the subconscious phase. Perhaps it was nature’s way of granting man all the escapism he’ll ever need in his lifetime or perhaps even give him a sense of direction. Who knows?

There was a man I knew by the name “Darth” – an archaic term to connote fear and terror. At present, Darth is the usual alias of mercs from all sides of the Galaxy in case they want their true identity hidden. It is the paramilitary equivalent of “Smith” to say the least.

I inherited a fair amount of possessions from my mentor. All of his savings account was transferred to me. There’s a generously huge warehouse full of all kinds of machinery; a safehouse, which interestingly has a scaled down version of a control room; and a biodome with a 10,000 square meter patch of land – all located in single station. This is where all of his wealth came to be. A lifetime investment for what seems to be the perfect retirement gift for a high ranked intelligence officer – perhaps all the therapy he’ll ever need to let go of his past.

I first went to the safehouse and unpacked all of my belongings. I left my mentor’s clothes hanged in the closet and did some cleaning. It somehow felt he is still there. I took a shower afterwards and thought I’d call it a day. There’s only 1 bed in his room. There, I somehow realized what’s it like to be in his shoes.

The following day I went to the biodome and saw all kinds of plants I’ve never seen or heard before. At the middle was a shack and inside it, there’s a control panel for the automated biodome climate management system. Adjacent to it is a large bookshelf with all sorts of literature related to botany. I found his journal and used it to identify the plants – nearly all of them are vegetables with a handful of fruits.

I never thought my teacher would be like this.

A particular book caught my attention – “Salads”. I went outside where it was very humid and gently warm. Sunlight being regulated by the dielectric glass which astonishingly mimics clouds and even the day-night cycle. I looked for a bright red vegetable and found a label saying tomatoes. I then searched for a short green leafy vegetable and found its label lettuce. I picked both. I particularly liked how the tomato felt like in the hand. After washing both, I sliced them and placed them in a bowl. I took a jar conveniently labeled dressing and placed a generous amount of its content in the bowl, whatever it is.

I tried eating it. I soon found out the reason I had a tongue. I somehow rediscovered taste. It was a sensation I never had before. From that moment, I’m never eating Caldari rations ever again!

Now, I somehow envy my mentor and how he came to know all of these.

I was done eating before I knew it and I somehow forgot about everything.

I resigned from the navy and decided to work in the fields. The automated machinery from the warehouse orchestrated most of the work. A keen human eye for quality and careful hands was a job reserved for me. I took home some of his books and read them before I sleep. I somehow felt revived with what I’m doing. Perhaps this was his dream – a dream without a burden in life, unchained from humanity.

I soon learned that these plants are genetically modified to survive with minimal water and yield as much in just a month. Though another product of man playing god, I was never bothered because somebody has to do it anyway.

Harvest was done and I somehow smell heaps of ISK from it. I thought of selling them in Khanid since there are a lot of wealthy nobles there that would love my rare merchandise.

Now, since I’m an aspiring merchant, I took with me a sling bag. Inside it are: rope, my personal drug case, a navy issued multipurpose pocket knife with tool case, my wallet, handheld hologram interface and nanopaste – never leave home without one.

As I opened my HHI, which is linked to the safehouse console, I searched through the contract pages for a suitable courier and played cheap skate. There was one whose charge was incredibly lower than others. I contacted him and arranged a meeting in the station pub.

I took my forged Navy ID with me to get in the pub since it was “restricted” to children. Little do they know that I was 714 at that time. The bouncers didn’t ask a single question since I was the “authority”. I took a seat and asked the bartender about this man named “Darth”. He immediately asked which “Darth”. A bit puzzled by his reaction, I told him the “Darth” currently docked in the station.

There was a brief silence and I had to butt in, “ahem”. He told me that the man I seek is notorious. His mere name would be equated to death. Fear epitomized by his crew recruitment sheet hanging in the pub bulletin board. In disbelief, I rechecked his records using the HHI and find him clean though there are suspiciously large amounts of nondescript transactions from the Insurance company.

A man entered the pub, wearing an extravagant purple suit, and a brash swashbuckling accent. He glanced at his empty recruitment sheet and sighed. He took a seat a couple of feet away and tabbed in a pint. He seem depressed. I sat beside him and asked him politely if he is the man I seek.

There was a sudden jolt of eagerness in his face. I was surprised to see a sudden mood change to be honest.

As I was about to explain the contract, he dragged me out of the pub and into the docks. There I saw his Drake, a ship famous for its resilience and overall market success.

He asked me to bring along my cargo as if he was in a hurry and so I did with the help of my convoy machinery. He had a beaming smile as he saw them go inside the ship.

He wasted no time entering the capsule and was loaded inside. He didn’t even bothered opening the passenger hatch for the lady. He told me to get inside and so I did only to be greeted by the engine, the reactor, the cargo bay, the shield generators and his capsule – all inside his half baked ship.

Once I got inside, he immediately undocked. I was at least expecting a champagne bottle smashed in the hull. Instead, he hit a drunk homeless man on his way out. I feel like I was almost kidnapped though this is a contract job.

The shipyard where he bought it didn’t even bothered putting in divisions inside, more so a crew deck and quarters.

I was deeply worried as I haven’t seen any Caldari ship like this. Heading to Khanid from where I am will take 32 jumps through high security space with the usual heavy volume of traffic. I got even more worried when he mentioned taking a shortcut to save fuel.

I was in disbelief. There’s no seats around. I decided to tie myself into a tritanium column just in case the artificial gravity generator went out. Travelling will take a while so I decided to take a nap on floor with my bag as a pillow. Sleeping was next to impossible thanks to the reactor and engine thrusters directly above.

Things got creepy as I saw a camera drone hovering in front of me. I wasn’t even sure if I’ll be able to make it out alive in one piece – including my virginity. I threw a tomato and somehow blinded it.

Then what is expected happened. The drake was tackled by a group of Minmatar frigates in low sec. While the captain of the boat was confidently laughing at what he considers pests in rusty trash bins, I wasted no time putting everything, including myself,  in a huge ER armored container.

After he ran out of missiles, he told me to manually load them since his ship has no automated systems. I got out of the container and loaded the ammunition to one of my hover carts. Loading individual launchers takes 30 seconds and I had to load all 7 of them.

I was relieved that he dispatched almost all of them with the exception of 1 frigate, then came a Typhoon. Not the ones you’d find in a bad weather but the rust buckets that turn ships into one of their kinds.

It proved to be too much for the battlecruiser as things almost start to fall apart. I’d be very upset if I died miserably right now.

I took my drug case from my bag. Opened the capsule’s hatch, to be greeted by inhuman odor, and injected almost lethal amounts of all sorts of drugs to Darth’s head. He wasn’t aware of it of course.

The drake, in a far worse condition than a Minmatar ship would be, miraculously regenerated all of its shield, with everything running to breaking point.

I was relieved that the gate guns provided the extra muscle we’d need to overcome the odds.

Both the frigate and battleship exploded and debris flew and gashed a small hole in the drake’s structure. The artificial gravity powered down, including Darth’s capsule. I pulled the rope and maneuvered to reach his capsule.

He was barely conscious and was laughing to himself then suddenly screaming. I took off the neural jack and connected it to myself.

I did him a favor of completing his contract by jumping through system after system of low security space in a ship that’s been falling apart.

Just as we were about to enter high security space, the ship’s engine gave in. It’s done. I ejected Darth’s capsule while he was still unconscious. I attached nitrogen gas tanks with remote control valves, that are linked to my HHI, on each corner of the cargo container using nanopaste. I then suited up and activated the detonation timer of the drake. I ejected the container and hitched with it. I carefully maneuvered the container towards the capsule until both are positioned between the gate and the drake. I got inside the container.

The drake exploded giving the capsule and container enough momentum to reach the gate and jump to the adjacent system.

I was relieved to see black Amarrian ships orbiting us. It is the Khanid naval patrol. Now, I know how it feels to be a damsel in distress.

We got rescued. Onboard, I was interrogated by the officer about the incident while Darth is in his slumber whilst being detained for being suspected of raw grade drug abuse.

I presented my ID and was recognized as a military ally. Hence, I had a diplomatic treatment while admiring the Curse recon vessel on its way to Khanid prime.

I fell in love with the ship that as soon as I sold all of my merchandise, I bought one for myself.

Also to give me a reason not to contract my goods to anybody I barely know of.

I came home and after a week, there was an envelope at my door – from Darth.

As I opened it, it revealed a recruitment sheet, with Darth’s name in the label crossed out and replaced with Ivy. At the bottom his real name. I opened the door and he was there. He immediately carried his luggage inside my house and I was again in disbelief. He tried fitting my mentor’s outfit but put it away since it wasn’t his taste. He then slept in my bed and I was to sleep at night in the basement.

What could a 14 year old girl do?

/facepalm

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