Chris sat on a couch in Al’s dormitory suite, questioning why he and Lindsey were called over. Though the pair had visited many times, the message summoning them carried a blunt tone which diverged from Al’s usual mirth. Still in a foul mood, Chris would have declined the request had Lindsey not insisted they go. With a quizzical look, he looked to Al, who stood before them with one foot on the lounge table.

“So Al, what’d you want us here for?”

“Simple. I’ve heard enough from both sides of your mess,” Al said. “Chris, you owe Regina an apology.”

“Owe her an apology?” Chris scoffed. “Hell no.”

“What?” Al smirked. “You want me to kiss you first, Chris?”

Chris recoiled in disgust, then groaned. “Really Al? You don’t swing that way.”

“Not that it matters.” Al shrugged. “As far as anyone else can tell, you screwed up. Badly.”

“Yeah, my bad. I shouldn’t have trusted her in the first place. I have nothing to apologize for.”

“Aren’t you the one that lashed out at Regina?” Al looked down at Chris. “For telling you something you’d’ve never known? Had those guys not shared everything, you’d still be in the dark fuming over your guild’s Pyrrhic victory, which you still won, by the way.”

“That doesn’t matter!” Chris jumped up, pointing away at nothing in particular. “She’s the one who backstabbed me!”

“So instead of recognizing you ran your lips, you think it’s Regina’s fault you told her? Those things you were supposed to keep secret?”

“She tricked me! How was I supposed to know she’d use it against me!?” Regina never told him she joined the Temple Wraiths. She never showed interest when he relayed his own in game stories. If she’d never left that exploration org...

“Tricked you?” Al suppressed a laugh and dropped himself into the armchair behind him. “Please, can you tell me how?”

“She…” Chris froze recalling the moment. She asked if I had time to work on our group project that day. And I said…

“You knew she also plays PG. You told her yourself that your guild was moving against hers.” Al continued for him. “And then you say your guild already had plans that day? Chris, once you say that much, that’s as good as public.”

“That still doesn’t change the fact she put her game life before our friendship!”

“Aren’t you the one putting the game before reality?” Al kicked his feet onto the table. “Everything you lost was in the game. Yet for that, you’re ruining your personal relationships in life?”

“What about all the time I spent!?” Chris fumed. “All those hours I invested in practice, in raising funds, organizing squads? That battle set us back by months!”

“Hey, Chris?” Lindsey spoke up. “It’s just a game, isn’t it?”

Another stab in the back, from the person he least expected it. “Sugar… Not you too…”

“Isn’t it?” Lindsey pushed.

“It is… but…”

She didn’t understand. To Lindsey, it was all imaginary data, but to Chris, it was more than that. She did not experience the excitement, the history, or his bonds with the community. Within the virtual reality of Parallax Gate existed a second life for him. “It’s not just a game…”

“Sit down, Chris,” Al motioned back to the couch. “It’s not like I can’t see where you’re coming from. Regina and Mark too.”

“Ugh…” Chris dropped back into the seat beside Lindsey. “Why are you even mentioning him?”

“Mark wanted me to tell you,” Albert said. “that he’s willing to pay back any debts in game if you’d drop any real world grudges you have over this matter. Debts meaning advance notice on date and time for their guild actions against yours. He’ll even tell you their force composition if you’d like.”

“I guess I could consider it…” Chris mumbled, staring down at the table between them. The offer matched everything he had given Regina to the letter, but didn’t scratch the losses his org incurred. Still, he would take any reparations for the damage Regina caused. “It’s org, not guild.”

“Well if that’s not enough,” Al continued, “Mark can leave the Temple Wraiths and join the Crimson Suns. He expects Regina would follow him, after which every reason for this fiasco would vanish.”

Bullshit. He wouldn’t do that. But if he did...

“Al.” Chris sat up. “Did he really say that?”

“He did.” Al shrugged.

“Well, alright.” Chris paused. “I guess he could do that then.”

“Hold on Chris,” Al interjected. “Listen to me. Mark made the offer, but I don’t think you should take it.”

“Hah?” Chris thought the idea crazy. “Why not?”

“Chris,” Al looked straight at him, “consider what it’d say about you as a person. Not to mention what is says about your guild.”

“Org.”

“Same thing, don’t change the topic,” Al sighed. “Think about how Lindsey feels about this whole thing. Would she feel right if you resolved things by taking more for yourself?”

“But she… I mean he offered…”

“It doesn’t sit right with me for sure,” Al crossed his arms. “They’re making a good faith effort to reach out. It’s the least you can do to respond in kind.”

“I…” Chris looked down at the floor, then to Lindsey, then back down again.

Al shifted forward to the edge of his seat. “I’m saying this as a friend, Chris. Not for someone else. For you. For your own good, man up and take responsibility for your own mistakes.”

“Chris?” Lindsey tugged on his arm. Her pleading eyes twisted his stomach into knots.

“I get it! I get it! So I messed up!” Chris threw his hands up. “I’m sorry! Can we just drop this already?”

“Don’t apologize to me, apologize to the Regina.”

What are you, my mother? Chris sighed. “When I see her next time.”

“Perfect.” Al grinned. “She’ll be joining us for dinner.”

That’s too soon.Chris grimaced.

“Oh, and also,” Al added, “if you don’t have any plans after that, there’s another invitation you might consider.”

Later that evening, Mark sat on a bench by the riverbank staring at the sky. Beside him, his bulky homemade telescope stood cooling in the breeze. As the forecast had predicted, the day’s wind and rain gave way to clear skies, and the waning moon shone through the last of that day’s clouds. Not perfect, Mark thought, but enough to show some stuff I guess.

With everything between Chris and Regina in the air, Mark had no desire to log into Parallax Gate. Instead, he took advantage of the predicted break in the weather and invited everyone involved to an astronomy night, including Chris.

Ivan arrived first, ten minutes before the arranged time. “What’s it aimed at?” he asked.

Mark pointed toward the moon. “A helium mine. Just something easy to find.”

“You can see those?” Ivan walked up to the telescope and peered into the eyepiece. Then, he began to fiddle with the focus. “Hey… The picture’s a bit hazy.”

“You still have to wait,” Mark chuckled. “The mirror’s still cooling.”

“Right. I knew that.” Ivan looked up. “How much longer?”

“About ten minutes. You might as well take a seat.”

“You know,” Ivan climbed onto the bench beside Mark, “I still think you’re crazy, like, you didn’t need to offer up so much. It’s Chris who wasn’t being reasonable.”

“I know.” Mark looked down at the river. “I just didn’t want things to continue as they were. Should I not have?”

“Nah, I didn’t mean that.” Ivan shook his head. “I’m sure you’ll get things worked out. Besides, I won’t ever disapprove of you being proactive on Rena’s behalf.”

“Wait.” Mark turned to Ivan. “Are you trying to imply something?”

“Mark. I know you’re not that dense.” Ivan grabbed both Mark’s shoulder. “All those Saturday study sessions together in a deserted library? Plus how many hours together in game? And now this crazy gamble? It can’t be any more obvious you like each other.”

“What?” Mark looked away. “I don’t… Well, I do… but…”

“Really. How can you be willing to risk everything all the time in your Parallax strategies but be so passive in real life? Grow a spine and ask her out already.”

“Ivan, that’s not really…”

“Listen.” Ivan jabbed Mark at his sternum. “Once this thing with Chris and Specter are over with, you better make a move.”

“Ivan…”

“It’s not that hard you know.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll do it,” Mark sighed. Am I doing this for myself or for you?

“Trust me, this is for your own good,” Ivan grinned.

And now you’re a mind reader!?

“But enough of that. Looks like they’re here.” Over Mark’s shoulder, Ivan waved to someone.

Three figures approached from the street. It seemed Al would decline his invitation, but Regina led Chris and Lindsey over.

“Hi everyone.” Mark stood from the bench and faced the group. “Where’s Al?”

“Still back in his dorm,” Chris grunted.

“Well thanks for joining us tonight, Chris. Would you like the first look?” Mark motioned to his telescope.

“No. I just need to say something.” Chris squared up with Mark and took a deep breath. “My Crimson Suns are stronger than your Temple Wraiths. We don’t need your pity or your damn repayment.”

Meaning he won’t take my offer? Mark nodded. “Alright. I suppose we’ll see in game then.”

“That’s it for me. We’ll be ready for you.” Without waiting for a response, Chris turned and marched toward the dorms.

“Later Regina,” Lindsey added before chasing after him.

With Ivan and Regina at his side, Mark watched the pair return to the dorm across the street. Once they disappeared from view, he looked toward the others. “Sounds like he didn’t take the offer. Better expected I guess.”

“Better expected!?” Regina jumped. “Mark, how could you offer to leave!? If Al didn’t guilt Chris into a corner… God, this entire thing is just…”

“Crazy? Ivan’s already said that.”

“But…” Regina looked down to her feet.

“Don’t worry Rena,” Ivan chimed in. “I’ve already said everything that needs to be said, and you know Mark can handle it. Besides, we aren’t here tonight to look down, right?”

“Right, thanks Ivan.” She smiled. “So Mark, what are we looking at today?”

“What I have it pointed to right now is a helium-3 mine on the moon,” Mark said. “One of the bigger ones. Take a look.”

The group circled the device, and Regina looked into it first. “Oh wow, people built that?”

“Yes,” Mark nodded. “Every time I look at those mines, it makes me want to go up there myself. Not just to the moon though. There’s so much happening out there I want to take part in.”

Regina stepped back to make room for Ivan. “So you want to become a real life space prospector?”

“Nah, that’s Ivan.”

“Mark wants to become the Henry Ford of space travel,” Ivan retorted, still peering through the lens.

“Well that’s an embarrassing way to phrase it...” Mark stammered. “I just want to be able to travel around the solar system at my leisure. Best way to do that is to cut costs for everyone.”

“Can’t you already do that in VR?” Regina asked.

“As great as it is, the virtual and the real are still different.”

“Oh…” Regina looked to the sky. “Everything in PG seems pretty accurate to me, aside from the black hole gates I guess.”

“Well, that’s right to an extent,” Mark explained. “Thing is, what’s put into VR contains the best of our current knowledge. While we definitely know most things about our solar system by now, there’s always some fine details we’ll never perceive if we don’t go there and experience them in person. Anyways, was there anything either of you want to see?”

“Oh!” Regina jumped up. “Can we see Saturn?”

“Uh…” Mark gave a sheepish grin. “Saturn is on the other side of the Sun right now.”

“Then… Mars?”

“Same, unfortunately.”

“Jupiter?”

“We’re a few hours too early for that.”

“Isn’t it already half past ten?” Regina asked. “Can we see any other planets at all?”

“We can see Neptune. Give me a minute.” Mark turned the telescope around to face the west. Then, with the small finderscope, he scanned around for several seconds, looking for the planet. “Found it.”

“It’s… a blue dot,” she said.

“Yup, it’s quite far away.”

“Shouldn’t it be a bit bigger?”

“Uh… It’s a ten-inch telescope, not a space probe-mounted camera,” Mark sighed. As much as he enjoyed viewing things through his telescope, it was almost unavoidable for newcomers to hold extreme expectations of what may be seen. “You’d need to get much closer, or a much bigger telescope, to see any more detail.”

“So… what else can we see?” Regina asked.

“There’s more to the night sky than planets,” Mark chuckled. While his telescope excelled at observing the moon and other planets, it could also enhance views of other deep space objects such as galaxies and nebulae. “How about my favorite celestial object?”

“What’s that?”

“The Pleiades,” Ivan answered for Mark.

“Yup. Those are always worth viewing,” Mark said. The star cluster was one of the best known astronomical objects in the world. Mark turned the telescope southward, and, following Orion past Taurus, he quickly found the cluster. With the finderscope, he realigned the Dobsonian for viewing. “There.”

Ivan took the first look. “Huh, they look a bit different compared to your poster."

“A bit,” Mark nodded. “The city’s a bit too bright to get a perfect view, but they’re bright enough, and the sky is clear enough, for good viewing even here.”

“Ooh…” Regina peered into the eyepiece. “They really are bright. How many are there?”

“Over a thousand –”

“What? Really?”

“– but you won’t see that many from here.” Mark grinned. He glanced at the cluster from behind the scope. “The nine brightest stars are named after the Seven Sisters from Greek mythology, plus their two parents – those names being Alcyone, Atlas, Electra, Maia, Merope, Taygeta, Pleione, Celaeno, and Sterope.”

“Wait.” Regina looked back. “Aren’t some of those the names of your frigates in Parallax?”

“Now you know how Mark named the ships,” Ivan chuckled.

For the next hour, Mark pointed his telescope at galaxies, star clusters, and even some large man-made objects, sharing them with both Regina and Ivan. Other times, he’d show the to the constellations by hand. All the while, he narrated the science and sometimes the associated mythology for each. Against the stars, all their concerns seemed minuscule in comparison, and their evening passed in bliss. However, their reverie was finally interrupted when Ivan’s phone chirped.

“It’s Nova,” Ivan said, “with the message from Jazz.”

“And?” Mark asked.

“Tomorrow afternoon. At Pyre.” Ivan looked back at his phone in thought. “I’ll send the announcement, but we’ll be assembling at one.”