Gelos let out a soft, dry chuckle before forcing his mouth closed and stammering out his words. "You-" He swallowed again. "You want to slay a Saturnian Knight?" He finally asked. Staring at Jordan intently to gauge his reaction whilst doing so. "Do you know how insane that sounds? 'Cause, I don't think you do."

Jordan only stared at Gelos with the same disinterested, empty eyes he used to look at everything else with. Perpetually half-listening while his mind wandered in a realm or world far from where he stood. Gilded palms hanging loosely at his sides while his head nodded slowly in affable affirmation.

For the life of him, Gelos just couldn't understand why. Intentionally campaigning against a Saturnian Knight of any rank was no different than suicide, in his opinion. Furthermore, he could find no rational reason why a young Galilean such as Jordan would have such aspirations in the first place.

He wanted more information, yet didn't want to pry. More, he wanted to warn the 27th child of the Astros Clan. For it was obvious he was flying blindly.

'I have to tell him.' Gelos reassured himself with a hesitant; regretful sigh.

After migrating from Mars, he'd sworn he'd live independently of his family. Yet, time and time again, he'd find himself casually bringing the Igris family up in conversation. As if his family name were his only Merit.

Yet.

'He'd never understand otherwise.' Gelos steeled his resolve once more before meeting Jordan's eyes with a meek attempt at mirroring the cold gaze given by the Astros. "My Dad once told me," Gelos started softly. "An unarmed Knight is a fair fight. But if they're armed, or have their Ghosts, then he'd rather dive into Saturn itself. Even if they were a low-ranked knight. Ahah." Gelos' habitual nervous laugh followed after his words like punctuations before he turned back towards the skyline, studying Jordan's reaction through his peripherals.

He hadn't even needed to look to see Jordan's lips curled up into the faintest smirk for a fraction of a second before disappeared just as quickly as it formed. "He thinks they're that good?" He asked with noticeable hints of disbelief. And... something else that Gelos couldn't quite place.

"He does." Gelos nodded hesitantly. "Though, he's never fought one. Far as I know." He shrugged.

Jordan brought his thumb and forefinger to his chin and looked away, squinting intently at the horizon. When he turned back, Gelos noticed a glow of excitement under his raised brows. Somehow shimmering in his artificial eyes. "And they have ranks, you said?"

'Is... Is he serious?" Gelos asked himself, his eyes reducing to thin, accusatory slits as he studied Jordan through a cloud of confusion thicker than he'd ever thought possible.

Jordan only looked to Gelos' few blank blinks in response.

"Ahahah." Gelos let out the small chuckle as his brain abruptly ceased function.

The absurdity of it all, Jordan's obvious lack of awareness and the impossible task of figuring out what was going on his his head became too much for Gelos' spinning gray matter. Causing it to give up on reason and cope with the situation in the only way it knew how.

Doubling over at the waist and erupting into a fit of unrestrained laughter. He slapped at the ground while his abs cramped tightly around his ribs. All the while, Jordan continued staring with a blank expression like Gelos' antics were completely invisible to him.

"Of course they have ranks!" Gelos howled, slapping the ground again. "The Knights of Saturnia are the Empire's military! How could you not know this?"

Jordan repeated his habitual answer of silence, shrugs and blank stares. Prompting Gelos' curiosity to win over his mind. Before he knew it, the restrained words at the back of his mind came breaching through his mouth. "What exactly do Galilean's learn, growing up?"

"The basics." Jordan shrugged dismissively. Gazing towards the city with a monotonous tone trailing his lips like if he were reading from a web page. "Sciences, mostly physics; tech; engineering; arts; math. Orbital dynamics. History and a lot of fighting. And." He shrugged as he began to trail off. "Whatever else we choose to learn."

After a brief pause, he finished with another shrug then turned back to Gelos with a somehow impatient aura behind his blank stare.

Gelos recoiled in surprise after hearing second to last part of his education. But continued on with his points nonetheless. "So, if you know the Solar System's history, you know of the Saturnian Empire?"

"Well, yeah." Jordan shrugged again. "But, I've never learned of their culture, history or organization. Specifically."

"Why not?" Gelos furrowed his brow. Leaned closer in anticipation.

This was the moment he'd been waiting for. A moment where any insight towards this strange character he'd met would become apparent to him.

"Never had a reason to." Jordan snorted lightly through his nose, forming some sort of crude laugh. "Don't plan on going to Saturn; or anywhere else outside the Powers, anytime soon."

'I see.' Gelos slowly nodded.

In truth, Gelos didn't see anything. He assumed most people were like himself and learned everything they could about the Great Nations orbiting Sol.

Though, he was still an impossibility to read. At least some of the mysteries surrounding Jordan Astros' character were slowly becoming apparent to Gelos. He'd still only known him for a few hours, But Gelos began to feel as if a small truth had become apparent to him. One that would greatly facilitate his interactions with the Astros from this moment forward.

"You're a whimsical one, aren't you?" Gelos chuckled softly to himself before asking out loud."So, why a knight specifically?"

"I'll explain once we get back." Jordan pointed to the skyline with his chin.

'I don't know if I'm lucky. Or cursed.' Gelos thought to himself as he stood to stretch for their second round of exercise.

Just days ago, he was falling into orbit around an alien civilization. And after going through customs, spending days at the embassy and finally settling in Bronio. The first friend he'd made just happened to be a strange one like Jordan.

And a member of the Astros clan as well.

***

[November 326th, Gale Year 2. Bronio City, Choece. Ganymede. 1223. UGT.]

[Merit: -44]

Strangely enough, the run back was filled with inquiries from Gelos about Jordan's knowledge of the other three Great Nations. So naturally, Jordan absentmindedly repeated the lessons he'd learned as a child while his mind focused on other things.

"The inner-worlds; known formerly as the Free Terrestrial Worlds, are all independent, planetary societies, allied under a unified, interplanetary flag. The Saturnian Empire is a Monarchy that spans Saturn and her 82 moons. Reigned since its inception by the Empress, Feyrouz Amibola. Along with her Monarchs and their Nobles. Around the ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, are the twin branches of Gelidia Corp, the interplanetary corporatocracy. And then, there's the Galilean Powers." Jordan finished his monotonous explanation with a dreary sigh.

Gelos once again burst into laughter and quickly fell behind their pace while his head shook furiously from side to side. "What a textbook answer!" He bellowed.

In an attempt to let the conversation die out and return to their peaceful strides, Jordan only replied with a simple shrug and sped back up to his pace.

In his mind, he didn't care to know about the other nations right now. The Galilean Powers held more habitats than he could explore in a single lifetime. Understanding this, the other nations were mystical places, as far as Jordan was concerned. Vistas that were too far from reach as he was now. Fantastical lands, segregated by mind-bending distances so much that they rendered as sparsely distinguishable colored pixels in the black sky. Locations that only existed on the net. Or vicariously through people's experiences or memories.

Until he rose to the highest ranks and chose to leave the Powers, at least.

"So, what's the story with this goal of yours." Gelos asked excitedly the moment their pace slowed.

Jordan let out a loud sigh that ended in a lingering raspberry as a response. They were barely within Bronio's limits. Not even close enough to hear the buzz of footsteps, conversation and the hum of electric engines looming through the city.

"Let's see." Jordan began looking around randomly as he began to rack his memory. "When I was released from my home as a free citizen, I dragged my brother, James, to campaign with me on Ganymede. We ended up being... separated. And, I-"

"Shit!" Jordan abruptly stomped into a halt as his jaw dropped to the floor. "Shit!"

In a semi panic, Jordan strode to the nearest shop front while mentioning to Gelos to listen in as he composed a recording and stared at his own reflection.

"James!" Jordan smiled awkwardly at himself before turning to see the streets of Bronio. Keeping Gelos out of his line of sight while he talked. "In case you were wondering, one of Gan's mechs slapped me with their barrel shortly after the campaign started. Sent me on the tumble out of Anzu Crater. After landing, I got the pleasure of dueling with a Saturnian knight. I lost. Now, I'm in the negative. And I have a nice and shiny spear." Jordan snorted out a small laugh of self-contempt before apologetically continuing. "I'm sorry, big brother. For dragging you to Ganymede. Only to abandon you. I've learned my lesson, and I've paid the price by being slain." He paused to allow the words to sink in to both listeners before continuing. "I assume you're already around Himalia. Good luck with the House of Trass. I plan to stay in this habitat, Choece, until I either rank up or defeat the knight. So, I'll see you when I see you."

With another awkward smile to himself, Jordan ended the recording and sent it on its way to the habitats near the small, irregular moon.

Despite the relative proximity of Ganymede and Himalia, the transmission would still take a more than a few minutes to cross the vast distances between the two moons.

[Social Award: +5 points.]

[Merit: -39]

Jordan recoiled in surprise from the notification suddenly appearing in his vision. 'I got merit from that?' He scoffed to himself in disbelief. 'That could've been lip service, for all anyone knew.'

"You're more interesting than I thought." Gelos laughed loudly from beside Jordan and gave him a few firm pats on the back. "Not everyone will openly admit their mistakes like that. Let alone apologize."

"Eh." Jordan shrugged. "Just how I was raised, I guess."

"Regardless." Gelos hung himself on Jordan's shoulder to pull him along the sidewalks once more. "Even with a decade of training, you'd have to be a lucky mug to beat a knight with their own weapon."

"Well." Jordan sighed. "Training is exactly what I intend to do. I have to become proficient in fighting in microgravity. And in fighting with a spear."

"I figured." Gelos laughed. "Which is exactly why I'll help you."

"You will?" Jordan wrinkled his face as he rocked backwards. Prompting Gelos to tighten his grip around the formers neck. "Why?"

"I wouldn't be much a friend if i let you go out there and get slaughtered, would I?" Gelos beamed.

'A friend, huh?' Jordan snorted lightly to himself. 'We just met today.'

"We used to drop down to the Martian surface all the time." Gelos continued. Boasting without pause. "I climbed Olympus Mons when I was only ten Earth-years!"

"Olympus Mons is practically flat." Jordan laughed in retort. "That's no accomplishment."

"Says you!" Gelos laughed. "We walked for days, Jordan. Days!"

"And, who's 'we,' exactly?" Jordan asked.

Gelos pulled away from Jordan after hearing the question. Not enough to pull himself from Jordan's shoulder entirely. But enough for the latter to feel the subtle difference in weight. As well as the subsequent change in attitude.

"My family." Gelos said reluctantly. Then turned away shyly.

"Ah. Well." Jordan shrugged his inquiries away. 'No need to make him uncomfortable.' He thought to himself before saying, "I wont say no to a free tutor."

After hearing the words, a wide grin returned to Gelos' face in an instant. He pried himself from Jordan's shoulder and excitedly pumped a fist high overhead. Inviting the curious glances of a few random citizens passing by.

Jordan only shook his head in embarrassment while he accessed the local maps in search of a training area.

The central axis of the habitat was astronomically far from their position. Far above the mid-levels where the D-Rankers dwelled and dozens of kilometers above the inner surface of the habitat. Much to his dismay, the main lifts that would take them there were more like floor-to-ceiling arcologies, as Gelos would call them. Monumentally large buildings, positioned above four-way highway junctions and otherwise separated on each side by 200 kilometers of gently curved land.

Of course, there were maglevs, motorways, bikeways and even propulsed sidewalks to accommodate the inhabitants of Choece. But all of them, save the last, required Merit to use as currency.

"Ugh!" Gelos let out a groan after Jordan shared his findings with him. "It'll take a while to run there. And who knows how long the lifts will take." He groaned again after slumping himself onto the face of a nearby building.

"We'll start in the morning," Jordan nodded confidently. "We'll rise with the daylights to capitalize on our time and spend the entire day training."

"What'll we do until then?" Gelos whined.

"How 'bout we explore." Jordan shrugged, turning back towards the with magnified vision.

The sparsely populated sidewalks quickly bled into a sea of heads crowned by radiant blue aura's of mist that advertised the countless diners, brothels, shops or any other service provided by the citizens, for the citizens. The scene, disrupted only by snaking walkways and balconies, continued beyond the limits of his magnified eyes to the intermittent daylights curving away with the ceiling.

A giddy feeling began to fester in Jordan's cybernetic belly as he reset his vision. Turning back to Gelos, he recognized the feeling as anticipation. Excitement. The same, heart pumping, mind clouding, impulsive poison he'd felt when he first explored beyond the Clan's walls as a child. When he graduated from his personalized education programs. When he started his trail. And left for campaign.

Wanderlust.

He felt its full influence now, looking out at Bronio's skyline. Like an impulse to immediately delve into the perhaps thousands of of buildings within the city. Then to roam the hundreds of cities still in their infancy within Choece. And further beyond to the other habitats orbiting Ganymede, Io, Callisto and the dozens of other Jovian moons.

"Bronio's a big place."

Gelos' off-handed comment pulled Jordan's wandering mental back under his control. He took a deep breath, falling back to Gelos' to match his pace. 'Baby steps, Jordan.' He breathed to himself again and again.

'Baby steps.'

After a couple hundred meters, the sidewalks forked together at the ending of the motorways to form a walkway ten meters wide. The deeper they wandered, the more condensed the paths became with lazily trodding bodies; Ganymedeans, easing themselves in, out and in between the dense complexes towering above the avenues.

They followed the herd into an alley canopied by relatively young trees with fat, palm-like leaves. The walkway thinned further with each step until it branched apart to wind around ponds and pockets of grassy fields shaded by the trees. Filled with citizens lounging about, eating or staring into seemingly vacant points in the sky.

Growing up in New Bran, Bronio was easily the largest metropolis Jordan had ever laid eyes on. At almost 40 kilometers in length, the city itself was larger than the entirety of the Clan's habitat. To Jordan, it was like a sea, accessible in all three dimensions. Connected at all points, not by the molecular bonds of a fluid, but by logistical paths; walkways and bike lanes, that wound between the buildings from ground level to penthouse.

All without the faint buzz of electric engines.

Yet Gelos. He took little notice in the architecture surrounding him. Instead, he stopped or turned his head only when something intrigued his eye. A shop sign advertising vac-suits and armor. Randoms sparring and working out in the courtyards. And every eating establishment they'd encountered since passing city limits.

It was strange, for Jordan. Seeing Gelos act as he himself usually did. Affable and dismissive of nearly all external stimuli. He wondered what type of habitats Gelos had lived in around Mars. If his childhood training was anything like Jordan's. Who exactly his family was, and why he left. The Powers is now like Mars was when his Father was growing up there. Jordan was as curious as ever to hear how Gelos' experiences differed from his father's tales.

Yet, every time Jordan's mouth opened to ask, he could only remember Gelos' sudden withdrawal at the mere mention of his family. Keeping his mouth sealed.

By the early evening, Bronio was at their backsides. They walked in silence through the tunnel leading into their neighborhood, passing a large obstacle course and jungle gym on the way to their small neighborhood with Gelos seemingly lost in thought while Jordan pondered about what to do with the rest of his day.

Much to Jordan's surprise, the scuffled steps of his companion continued to follow him even after he stepped onto his porch and unsealed his door.

"Uh." Jordan's eyes began darting around nervously as the door hissed shut behind Gelos. "You hungry?" He asked. Not knowing what else to do.

After an excited nod of approval from Gelos, Jordan invited him to sit in his meager dining area while he looked through his pantry's inventor to select two basic entrees and send them to the autochef before joining Gelos.

They sat in relative silence. Jordan absently, and Gelos eagerly watching as the pair of mechanical hands sprung to life and meticulously pulled two fillets of salmon from the freezer one by one to be cleaned and seasoned before placing them on a griddle. Then promptly moving to wash and steam some rice. After cooking, the dishes were neatly gathered on the far side of the AutoChef's enclosure where they were quickly washed, sanitized and stowed while the food rested.

After roughly twenty minutes of waiting overall, the Chef's hands slid the entrees through a small chute along with a friendly chime that briefly rang through Jordan's living hole.

Inviting Gelos to pounce after his portion as if he hadn't been fed in days.

Still not feeling particularly hungry after receiving his new digestive system, Jordan remained in his seat and instead, insisted Gelos to help himself to his portion as well.

To which Gelos greedily agreed.

[Social Award: +5 points.]

[Merit: -34]

"So." Jordan said, blinking the notifications away. "Any books you read? Shows you watch?"

Much to his own surprise, he was tired of the silence. And with the show put on by the autochef having ended and no actual screens in the place, anything other than empty conversation would make him a rude host.

"There's this one show." Gelos muffled behind a steaming mouthful of food. "It's over a century old. 'Bout a chain-smoking bounty hunter from Mars. Called, Gaucho Bop. As for books." He took a second to swallow his food and inhale another bite. "Factorium. It's about a lone engineer. Who starts industrializing an alien planet after crash landing. Bringing about the hostile attention from the bug-like natives."

"That's... That's pretty interesting, actually." Jordan gave a surprised frown while making a note in his optical scanners notepad.

After another few minutes of silent eating, Gelos pushed the bowls away and turned to Jordan with an inquisitive frown. "Can I see it?" He asked.

Jordan's face scrunched up in confusion for a millisecond before snapping back to its phlegmatic disposition. He stood to unzip his vest. To point out where he'd been impaled. Then stopped when Gelos jumped out his chair and crawled backwards across the room. Shielding his eyes while screaming, "Pause! Pause!"

"Well, there's no scar, anyways." Jordan laughed as he zipped his vest back up and gathered the dishes.

"Not the scar, Idiota!" Gelos yelled all the way back to his seat. "Your Campaign!"

"Oh." Jordan laughed. Then quickly shared with him the recording of his death, from his perspective.

Gelos only smirked as his head shook. Then his eyelids drooped low. His eyes assumed a distant stare for a few seconds before a line of digital text scrolled across the top of his wall.

[Message From: Gelos. 1/1]

Once opened, a video of Ganymede's landscape projected onto the wall. Jordan hopped across the room and dropped down onto the mats between Gelos and the front door without a second thought.

Despite his face being obscured from his helmet, Jordan recognized himself in an instant. A humanoid figure on the right side of the recording that'd almost be indiscernible from the surroundings, if not for his black-spot of pants steadily waving across the surface and the glistening arms steadily shimmering from Jordan's flailing while another faceless figure; shining valiantly brighter, stood like a sentinel on the left side of the video.

'Where were the camera's even?" Jordan laughed at himself. 'I assumed they were only in orbit.'

Again, the two sat in silence as they studied Jordan's performance.

From what he saw, Jordan spent most of his time drifting just above the ice. Helplessly attempting to fight back without proper footholds. Or just taking the brunt of every attack. He could almost hear his own curses against gravity and his shit luck replaying in his head while he watched his demise unfold all over again from an outsiders point of view.

Rewatching it was certainly worse than experiencing it. The pain, the fear, hope and despair all resurfaced in tune with his clouded memory and was overlapped by the severe shame letting someone else witness his blunder.

Regardless of the fact that everyone could.

Gelos on the other hand, was engaged like an uptight student in one of those old shows from Earth. He sat with his legs crossed in his chair, elbows on his knees with his chin resting on interlaced fingers. Squinting at the wall and making strange sounds every now and then when something caught his attention.

Once Jordan flatlined, the recording ended and Gelos turned to Jordan without the amiable friendliness of his usual disposition. "You have a good understanding of inertia." He commented in a somewhat cold and analytical tone. "That, and your sense of orientation, allowed you to survive much longer that I assumed. But." He paused with a short sigh. "It's like you said. Not only were you helpless, your training in spin gravity thus far, was like a... a curse, for you. Explosive movements, being the first to strike your target, those aren't priorities in a fight like this. But, I'll explain everything tomorrow. I gotta go over this plan in my head."

Abruptly, he left his seat and started for the door. Waving over his back with a sadistic grin. "Make sure you pack a few days worth of food and supplies. I'd say a week."

With another nod and a loud hiss from the doors hydraulics, Gelos slipped outside. Leaving Jordan once again in his peaceful solitude.

After lounging, reading and watching an episode of the show Gelos recommended, Jordan decided to put his new digestive system to the test before bed. He nearly emptied out his fridge and pantry in the process. Spending almost a weeks worth of his rations on a meal that could feast a large family.

A little more than an hour later, Jordan felt as if he were too massive to move from his seat. Still, having flatlined the other day, and spent the entirety of the previous day sleeping, He hadn't felt tired in the slightest. Up until this moment.

He waddled his bloated self into bed with the intent to research the various fighting styles that arose throughout the Powers' short history. As soon as the memory foam mattress contoured beneath his body, however. Jordan's eyelids grew astronomically heavy.