The nostalgic sun warms my face as I step out from my ship onto the concrete ground of the hanger bay. This is where my initial adventure started, since I chose the human race. Two massive warships rest on either side of my ship, absolutely dwarfing it. Battlecruisers really are something. Looking up, thick, blue and yellow lines stripe one way across the ceiling. Returning my gaze downwards, all around us are human workers, robots, and androids working together to move suspicious metal crates into the warships. At the end of the hall stands Peggy, the first assistant you get in the game as a human. Some memories hit me hard, but Aurora quickly snaps me out of it.

"My lord, we should get moving." She says tersely.

"You're right, my apologies, Aurora." I look over at her, the first time I've really slowed down to take a look. Her silver hair gets pushed slightly by the wind coming through the currently closing hanger doors, her sharp eyes looking forward with such confidence, complimenting her sharp but incredibly beautiful face. As I walk alongside her to meet with Peggy, she walks with such a confident swagger that makes her seem like the captain, and me her lackey. The nanite suit she's wearing shines then dims with the receding light from the closing hanger doors. The yellowish ceiling lights don't shine well on her nanite armor...

"Hello, Dranian! Kingston Rowe is expecting you. Please follow me." Peggy says in her cheerful and upbeat voice, pulling me back into reality. Though Peggy sounds cute and adorable, she's actually incredibly psychopathic. She'll do anything for Kingston Rowe, even kill an innocent person in their sleep because they looked at him funny, like what happened to my first character...

As I follow Peggy through the corridors, the lights change to a blue hue. The corridors themselves are beautifully designed, the walls are overall smoothly curved, letting the few sharp indents really stand out. The floor below is just grates, showing off the leyline magic piping underneath. Easy access for their technicians and mages. The ceiling is a simple isosceles trapezoid. Nothing really special.

As we approach a door, it opens for us, without having to push a button or anything. Peggy stands to the side of the door and motions for us to enter. After stepping through the door, it's like we've entered a whole other world. Kingston sits in a large, leather chair behind a very intricately-designed desk. The whole room is like an old Victorian-era office. On the right wall is a massive wall-to-wall bookcase housing probably hundreds of books, and to the back, right behind Kingston Rowe, is a wall with two windows with intricately designed drapes. Between the two windows is a small, very overly-complex cabinetry with a potted plant atop it. The rest of the room looks pretty similar to everything else complexity-wise. The intricate designs of this room clash heavily with the previously minimalistic and slick design of the corridors, but Kingston has always have a bit of an odd taste.

"Ah, Dranian!" Kingston says as he turns both arms outwards and palms wide open as if he's welcoming an old friend, "It's been so long! I heard you defeated Exavier! Wonderful job!" He stands up out of his chair and motions to the two couches facing one another, a long coffee table in the center of the two.

Looking at him now, outside of the game, he's rather powerful looking. Though he's getting ever-growing streaks of grey in his well-trimmed, brown hair, he has massively broad shoulders and obvious muscles, along with a powerful jaw line. He puts someone like me to shame, though my character isn't too shabby himself. As we sit, Kingston keeps eyeing Aurora. I just now realize this is actually their first time meeting outside of a single video broadcast.

"So, Mr. Rowe. You called for me and my captain?" Aurora says coldly, angrily eyeing Kingston down.

Kingston grins, then turns to me. "Of course! It's a celebration for you defeating Exavier! As we all know, Exavier was keeping the human race tucked away in this corner of the galaxy. But now that one threat is gone, we can deal with the lowly demi-human infestation that's been growing. Actually, I want you to give a speech." His deep voice hightens slightly as he gets excited. "Who's better than the man who defeated Exavier himself? I want you to give an inspirational speech to the public about your victory and raise morale."

As Aurora opens her mouth to tersely refuse his proposal, I raise my hand to stop her, then smile. "Of course, my good friend. I'd love to! When do you want me to give my speech?"

Kingston grins from ear to ear at this, "Tomorrow! I'll provide you with rooms and meet you in the morning."

I shake his hand, "Perfect!"

After that, he has two guards bring us to our rooms. Aurora's is a few doors down from mine. Since there's still plenty of daylight, I decide to bring Aurora outside to show her the city. Her and I both change into casual clothes to look a little more inconspicuous, and wow... She really does look stunning in casual clothes.

For the most part, we walk together mostly in silence. Aurora's never been much of a talker, even in her lore-heavy quests. I try pointing out some cool things I see along the way but all I get are her stares and and nods.

Her face turns to confusion as we turn a corner down an alleyway and I lead her through a small and hidden gate. On the other side is the true face of this city. The change is immediately noticeable. Fecal matter lays uncleaned on the streets, the previously ornate and glimmering buildings are nothing but broken-down, boarded-up concrete "houses" with shabby-looking people all around.

Why did I bring Aurora to such a terrible place?

"Aurora, I know this isn't something you want to be reminded of, but I needed to... I needed to remind you the reason I'm fighting Kingston Rowe."

She looks down.

"Aurora... This is the true face of humanity. The rich nobles live in the shiny and beautiful houses while everyone else lives... here. I know you don't want to remember your past, but for the good of these people..."

She starts crying.

She walks away from me.

The words I want to say leave my lips, but nothing is uttered.

I did the one thing I shouldn't have.

But, she was so vehemently against fighting the humans... I needed to remind her...

But...

I realize now.

I came up with these brilliant speeches in my head, but in the moment...

Nothing comes out. All I feel is guilt.

"Aurora, I'm sorry, I shouldn't ha-"

"It's ok, my lord... I understand what you mean, but I just... I just can't fight my own race."

Aurora walks up to me slowly. She then puts her arms around me and embraces me.

"I need to stop running from my past."

"I need to move on."

"I need to move forward..."

"I need to get some inertia..."

"Help me."

At this point, I don't even know who said what, but I think we've both come to a decision.

We need to help eachother.