So there we were, two people who sudden had to find ourselves another source of work. Truth be told, we had no idea what we really were gonna do.

[She smiles] That was mostly the wine talking on his part. Though David was always like that, appearing to be way more confident than he had any right to be...

The morning after we spent hours just discussing what we were even going to do. Well... it was mainly me that was discussing what we could do. David was nursing a hangover, something he bitterly noted that I was not having.

That is true, but it can be a pain to deal with sometimes. The amount of meals we need to consume is... burdensome for the more adventurous of my kind, barring the usual nutrition packs we consume.

But enough about that, we are here to discuss David, are we not? And while he certainly had an edge of bitterness about him that day it was mainly a sort of playful jealousy that seemed to emanate from him. For the most part he just decided to listen to my suggestions of what we could do, which ranged from serving as guards to a number of exploratory convoys that went out into Fringe Space to serving as a temporary part of a mercenary troupe within some of the Poros Core Worlds. The latter options might not have sounded the most exciting, but it was guaranteed to give us a steady amount of pay and we would always be engaged in some sort of action.

You assume correctly, Keeper. Though to be perfectly honest I only threw that last suggestion in to see if David was entirely serious about keeping to his convictions, and while he was courteous enough to listen to all of my suggestions it was the prospect of discovery that piqued his interest the most. Something that, much to my delight, we both held in common.

Of course, the type of exploration we'd be involved in could vary due to our size and the type of guards our targeted clientele were looking for. Generally larger mercenary bands or organized PMCs held dominance over such a market, especially since the larger exploratory companies, like Talpuer, would more than likely have an agreement with these larger military companies to work in tandem with one another. It made sense, since you'd hardly want some random citizen off the street defending you with a blaster he found half-broken in an alleyway.

Perhaps, but I only speak of such things because they are true. As much as the Poros systems holds itself up to be one of the more opportunistic sectors of the galaxy for aspiring entrepreneurs and adventure seekers alike, the truth of the matter was that at that time the quality you'd find outside of the major corporations, the majority ran by the Thulu, was hit or miss with misses being the more likely outcome. I would say that it wasn't their fault due to the dominance of the Thulu in the market at the time, but there were a large majority of people that had shown up to the systems with no idea with what they were going to do.

Yes, and he'd be the first one to admit it. The difference between him and anyone else in that situation, however, was that he never stopped trying. The other's... gave up, either leaving shortly after they arrived or tied to the Systems due to debt they had wracked up trying to make a name for themselves. They could try dodging such debts, but let us just say that even in an age of such unreliable galactic communication... they'd find you, and you'd disappear. So they stayed, some working tirelessly in dead end jobs to pay off debts they couldn't even begin to count, and some finding themselves hooked on Spike or whatever other drugs permeated throughout the Poros System for some sort of escape.

[She shrugs] It is the way of the Poros Systems. It's a little less extreme nowadays but back then it was a place where only the more... resolute would survive.

Strong in this case is too specific, Keeper. Jorakin are strong, Skillians are strong, and even then members of those species would more often than not find themselves burdened by issues that strength alone would not be able to deal with. To be resolved, however, can mean a number of different things. It can mean that you are strong, but it can also mean that you're determined enough to be the most conniving, scheming, shlota out there, it doesn't necessarily indicate raw strength of will. You will find some of the most cowardly, and the bravest members of any species in the Poros Systems, it all depends on what line of work you're most likely to be in.

For the most part yes, which left our odd Nereid/Human duo somewhat lacking in the eyes of many clients, but there were a few that were willing to give us a chance. Nothing big of course, but for David and I it was just enough to sate our appetites. We were just glad for the change of pace, even if the majority of the time we were just looking down at planets from my ship.

In a way, yes. Truth be told for the longest time we never progressed further romantically past that date in David's safe house. It was to both our faults really, letting our newfound desires of exploration taking precedence over the relationship we'd just began to form. Most of our time past that date was just looking for clients, and while I had a new shipmate to keep me company, there wasn't much that we'd talk about beyond what was waiting for us in the future.

One would assume that, yes, and in many cases they'd be correct to assume so, but in the odd case of David and I it served more as a distraction to our feelings rather than something that would bring us together. At least... it did for me. My blind pursuit of my dreams made me oblivious to David's advances at the time, and while he certainly wasn't the most aggressive suitor out there, he did make an effort to get closer to me. Eventually, when it didn't seem like any of his methods worked, he backed off for a while and settled into a mindset like mine, one in pursuit of dreams he had when he first arrived to the Poros Systems. It sounds awfully frustrating, I know, but in reality those times are some of my fondest memories, though the reasons they are now differ from what they were in the past.

Yes... at the time I was sure I'd remember the sights of distant planets and any new species we'd be lucky enough to find, and while I do remember such sights and discoveries, my thoughts always seem to dwelling on the memories of David sitting next to me through it all. It was... nice.

In the beginning no, not really. My attraction to David was one that built itself gradually the more I sat in his presence. His mannerisms, his casual yet focused attitude, and even the numerous small, goofy quirks he had like his silly smile... I first grew used to them, and then I found myself looking forward to his reactions. By myself I'm not the most emotive person, but around him I found myself saying things I kept inside, showing expressions I never would have bothered to show before. It sounds entirely cliche I know, but my time with David brought out a person in me that I never knew I possessed, and I enjoyed that.

You would expect that it took something momentous to finally bring us together, to break down our barriers in some unshakable way that would make us depend upon one another, to finally realize our feelings towards each other. It was none of those things, but what had happened instead... was everything.

---

It was about half a year after we'd decided to set out on our new ventures. The initial glow of our new change in regimen had faded somewhat, but I found myself in a far brighter mood than I'd ever been before. The expeditions we were hired on were rather small in scale, and most of the time we'd hardly ever set foot on any planets of substance, but it was better than being under constant gun fire as our previous occupations had taken us. Of course, it generally didn't pay as well as our previous line of work, but David and I were frugal enough that it wasn't much of a problem.

Still, that desire for something more still lingered in my thoughts. Not to the degree it was before, but enough that I felt like there was something else I was missing to fully sate my needs. David seemed content for the most part, but then again even with six months of close proximity with one another, it was rare to see an expression other than a small smile or general aloofness from him. Given the relatively cramped confines of my ship, I'd honestly expected our moods to sour to one another after enough time passed, but David proved to fairly unintrusive in those six months. Of course, such an attitude is rare amongst all species, especially humans, but in the beginnings of our time together I felt an subconscious need to interact with him more than push him away, and for one that was generally as asocial as I could be... it was somewhat strange.

But let us get back to the matter at hand, shall we? After a period of six months we'd found ourselves in the employment of an exploration team under a Fenician by the name of Zeisha Qui'san. She was of a fairly independent mind, something unusual amongst the majority of Fenicians that I've met, and she seemed to have supplanted her native need for a lifelong mate with a drive to explore that outpaced even our own desires. Such ambitions did not go unfulfilled either, as she'd made quite the name for herself as an independent explorer, rejecting the offers of Talpuer and Scavenger's Union alike. Much like us she was someone that sacrificed convenience for the sake of freedom, and while it certainly limited her resources to a large degree, that did not stop her from charting numerous planets out in the Poros fringe space during her adventures. I felt a kindred spirit within her, and I suppose David did as well, as the usually tense discussion of pay for our services had instead devolved into a more casual affair when we first met her, which was most likely why we'd taken the job at a price far less than we'd most likely deserved. As I have said, however, money wasn't really the goal here, and with Zeisha we'd found someone that could further sate our own desires for discovery.

The job was of the usual sort, protect the exploration team for the duration of their journey, but said journey was far further into the Fringes than we were used to, and since David and I were the only sort of protection that were hired for the job... it would have been wise to have had reservations about such work. Of course, we were blind to this at the time, partly due to our own desires and in part that of Zeisha's own enthusiasm. This was only compounded on by the fact that David and I had experienced little trouble in the jobs we had taken previously, and even if the distance out into the Fringes was far more than we'd been used to, there was very little chance we'd run into anything out there. It was normally the travel back into Poros Space that was more dangerous in the first place, as the Scavenger's Union had a tendency to set up ambushes to ships coming back from the Fringes to steal both any new data or artifacts found. Normally they'd target Talpuer, but there was always the unlucky lonesome explorer that fell victim to the Union's avarice.

What was different, beyond the distance Zeisha wished to go into the Fringes, was the reason she'd been tempted to make the trip. Our usual clients were generally prospectors of some sort, heading out into Fringe space to acquire data of any resource deposits on uncharted planets and sell them to the highest bidder upon returning to Poros Space. There was the occasional archeology team, of course, but the most they'd ever managed to discover small little trinkets of unknown origin. Talpeur was the one discovering fallen alien technology, and that was because they had the resources to travel further than any individual team would be able to. Except for Zeisha, who claimed to have triangulated the position of a large alien outpost deep in the depths of Fringe space. It was something that was a result of both luck and her own determination, as she'd managed to discover a number of artifacts from a forgotten species she called the Ungelly, intact enough to leave behind small breadcrumbs for her to piece together what she believed was a location of one of their planets. Whether she was right or wrong, we would have to see, but the promise of adventure there was just too much to pass up for David and I, so we agreed to be their escort for the expedition. We were the only protection they hired, since the length of the trip meant that they'd pay far more than the usual fare.

No, not at all, but like I said, money wasn't the priority for David and I at that point, though we did have her pay us up front. We were excited, but not naive, as there was a very good chance that Zeisha was inflating some slim shot of success with motions of grandeur and fantasy. I have to admit, she was very good at it, as evidenced by our own participation, though there was still that lingering doubt, which she may have sensed.

Mostly because she interacted with us throughout the entirety of the trip to our destination.

You would think it was normal behavior, but for a purely business atmosphere like the Poros systems that kind of interaction was actually fairly rare. David and I normally spent the majority of our protection missions on my ship, left alone until we suspected that there was something amiss. With Zeisha... well she'd be on our ship constantly, exchanging stories with us or speaking of what she believed the Ungelly to be. Truth be told, it felt fairly artificial at first, even during the negotiation of our pay, as she hadn't quite hit it off with us as David and I did with each other, but eventually the conversations settled to a more relaxed sort, something that was more akin to a friendship than a deal between employer and employee. That kind of interaction means a lot, believe it or not, as such a friendly relationship tends to make one more forgiving of some obvious faults with the deal, namely how uncertain the whole thing felt.

Ah, I suppose some context would be helpful, wouldn't it? In the grand scheme of modern day galactic affairs the Ungelly are not really all that relevant any more, but there are many lessons to learn from history, or so Zeisha has told me. The Ungelly were a galactic empire of sorts, not unlike the Rezenaga as they are today, though the major difference between the Ungelly and any modern civilization is that this empire was established before the discovery of FTL travel.

Now before you raise another question, as I know you are about to Keeper, do let me explain. The absence of FTL meant that there would be no immediate relief or aid that would reach the newly established colonies, so in turn making such a move required both extensive surveillance of the potential colony and the presence of enough manpower, and materials, to quickly establish a self sustaining colony. With modern methods, it is common for any power, aside from the more forceful measures of the Empire, to establish a small colony as a foothold that gradually grows with the easy access to resources from the Core Worlds through FTL travel. Now, how would a civilization, without the ability to travel throughout the stars at faster than light speeds, expand its territory beyond the boundaries of its home planet?

Well I am impressed, because you essentially described the Ungelly method of colonization, or what Zeisha suspected their methods to be at that time. The entire transplantation of at minimum city scale settlements that could function both in and out of space. The Ungelly may not have had technology that we possessed today, but there is something to be said about the durability of their devices, which is why they are among the more common artifacts found today. Back then however, they were a relatively recent discovery.

Most likely due to the fact that while Ungelly technology is unbelievable durable, it was as, if not moreso, slow in the same regard. This is appropriate, since the biological data we have determined from their ruins leads us to believe they were a species that could be best compared to the Coelie found on Agea, or since we are speaking of humans, turtles. Even that would not be the most apt comparison, as the Ungelly were a bipedal species. Regardless, it is clear that their technology was meant to be a further extension of their intrinsic biological traits, as their ships proved to be large and durable, but at the same time one of the slowest moving in space, even by ancient standards. Combine this with what we assume to be a fairly infrequent migratory pattern, this mean that the Ungelly stayed relatively outside the range of exploration at that time while other civilizations reached far enough from the Fringes to have a trace in the Inner Ring. You can probably see why David and I were so hesitant at first. By her own admission, Zeisha had discovered the Ungelly by pure luck, and it was something that she capitalized on as soon as she knew it was unique at that time period. Of course, now that the territory of known space has started to expand, we are discovering that the Ungelly were perhaps the most widespread of these ancient civilizations.

[She smiles] Everything and more.

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