Sins and Fortunes

[Sombs]

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October 11th, 826 A.S. - New Tokyo

The crew shuttle with Sherry and Leon was already on the way down to the planet while Sombra and Noel remained on the mooring fixture for now. There was work to be done. "Wait here," was everything she had told him as they had left the ship, and so he did as she said, leaning against the wall right next to the airlocks while she made her way to the security team.

This was strange. He felt very out of place here. Not long ago, Kusari and Rheinland were at war over Saigon. Now he was here, a Rheinlandian boy, at the heart of Kusari. Far away from the Apahanta, from Ezrael and Simone. Uncomfortable. His gaze followed Sombra as she talked to the personnel. She showed her her PDA, smiled a lot. The security did that, too. How was that even possible, he wondered. A Zoner Whale mooring in house space? Was that not against the idea of Zoners? He had no idea.

After a while. Sombra disappeared with the men around her. That didn't really add up well, Noel thought. Hopefully this wouldn't backfire for some reason. But then again, he believed he was still in a better position than Leon right now. Being forced to be on a vacation with the Commander was probably the last thing anyone would want.

Minutes had passed and Sombra appeared again, walking around the corner, a Kishiro Service Robot behind her pulled a maglev with a big container right after her. "Shing shang shong, I'm back!"

"What's in there?" he asked her, moving off the wall, getting a few steps closer while she approached the airlocks.

"Explosives, alien artifacts and cardamine," she explained, smiling at him.

He rose an eyebrow. "... you're joking, right?"

Of course she was, but she didn't answer him directly. Instead she lead the robot and the goods through the airlocks. Following her back into the ship, he wondered what was to happen next. She only told him about the rough plan. Just another trade run for the Apahanta's supplies. Not exactly the first time he had joined her for a week. The last time was rather eventful to him. To her, it was a normal trade run with normal risks. Somehow people underestimated her far too often, he thought, mind-absent staring at her as she took off her Apahanta suit right infront of him. Only then he realized what she was doing, all to blatantly. He turned around, slightly surprised. "The fuck-"

Smirking at him, she moved over to the bunk bed right here on the bridge, kneeled down and grabbed a suitcase from below it, to retrieve more casual clothes. A black dress, some underwear, a leather jacket. "I wasn't entirely honest with you, Noel," she began as she put on the underwear. Noel kept looking away. "I've hired other people to get the supplies here to this station. That means we don't need to fly around through all those dangerous systems. I thought after the last time you tagged along, you probably had enough of it already, so instead I secretly planned a little vacation for us as well, right here on New Tokyo. In fact, I booked a room for us right next to the hotel where Leon and the Commander are. They don't know about it, though."

"... does that mean you're trying to spy on them?" he asked her, feeling slightly confused, with a notion of annoyance.

"I wouldn't call it spying," she clarified, sliding into her dress. "I'm merely curious what the Commander has in mind, because her going on a vacation with Leon looks fishy as fuck. So they either are on some kind of mission for Ezrael and somehow didn't feel the need to, you know, involve me, or Sherry has her own agenda going on here. That being said, the primary objective is still to have fun with you." He felt her hugging him from behind, her head on his shoulder. It was easy, given she was a head taller than him. "We'll have plenty of time to explore the capital. We can go eat sushi and ramen and onigiri. Or pussy."

"Sombs..." he sounded, audibly uncomfortable.

"I wasn't refering to cats." After pecking his neck once, she let go of him. "The next crew shuttle will launch in half an hour. You might want to put on some, well, civilian clothing."

Noel idly looked at his arm, covered in his Apahanta suit. That was something he had forgotten about. Planetside, people wore casual clothing. People walking around in skin-tight suits were probably something people were making fun about. It was different on space stations, or even Curacao, where people either wore nothing, barely anything or literally anything they wanted. He had grown fond of the suit, though. It always had the right temperature. Perfect fit, stretchy, simply like a second skin. Water-proof, fire-proof, very protective. He also thought he looked sexy in it, pronouncing his thin body. These things were the future, functional and aesthetically pleasant.

"Uh, I didn't really prepare for that, you know," he admitted, turning around to face her. She merely smirked at him while moving to the piloting console.

"Then we'll go shopping first. Can't have enough clothes anyway."

The flight down to the surface, to the spaceport of the capital, took about ten minutes. It was afternoon on the main coninental island. To a certain degree, the sight of all the water masses reminded Noel of Curacao, but this was still way different. Much more traffic, more waterborn installations. When they broke through the lowest layer of the thick rain clouds, the colorful lights of New Tokyo's capital greeted them. The streets were reflecting most of it, wet from the rain. Giant skyscrapers, some connected with each other. Many neon signs, many hovercar lanes, here and there a giant airborn installation floating around. This was different from what Noel knew from Hamburg. His homeworld was known for technological advancements in Rheinland, but Kusari opted for a different route. It was more visual, more present. On one hand, clean. On the other hand, sterile and dystopic.

Sombra and Noel left the shuttle at the spaceport and made their way through the giant dome building. To Sombra, this was not new at all. She had been here multiple times. She knew the traps waiting for tourists right here and in other areas of the city. Leading Noel by the hand, she guided him through the loud and irritating area. Many people moving. Many of them looking perfectly alike. Here and there a Kishiro robot. Almost a hassle to progress here.

Once they had survived that, they walked through the streets. Of course this area was populated by tourists and those who try to make money off them. However, Sombra loved it here. Countless little market stands offering cheap stuff and food. Fried octopods on a stick, caramelized Honshu-Dolphin-genitalia, rainbow cotton candy and most importantly, body pillows with pictures of either fictional characters from anime and even holo-movie actors and characters. What started out to be just another compromise Noel had to deal with, slowly turned into something fun.

When they had entered a small shop, Noel thought about that. It struck him in all of a sudden. He stood infront of a changing stall, knowing Sombra was in there to put on something she had found. This reminded him of Ezrael. She was more like him than he thought. Finding joy in these settings. Never taking themselves too serious. Being open for what the surroundings offered them. Yes, she was just like him. Like a female version of him.

She left the changing stall, presenting herself as a police officer in black latex. Her eyes threw an expecting gaze at him, and after a few moments of thinking, he returned to the present and realized what he was staring at.

Yes, she definitely was like Ezrael.

Two hours later, they had arrived at the hotel. Tall building. It didn't look cheap at all. That made him wonder how much money Sombra had spent for this. Not that money seemed to ever have been an issue to her. For what he knew, she had access to Ezrael's money while making millions with her shady trade runs. Robots were following them, carrying their bought items in big bags. Unable to speak kusarian, he had no idea what Sombra said at the reception, and the laughter coming from the woman at the reception sort of indicated that Sombra had no idea what she actually had said to her either. In the end, however, they got the key card and moved to the lift.

The room was quite big, Noel thought as he entered their rented apartment. And he quickly realized it was a partner suit, as there was just one bedroom, rose petals covering the sheets. Sighing, he moved to the couch and sat down. "We'll be here for the entire week?" the boy asked, watching Sombra moving towards the large windows to look out of them.

"Yepp," she responded, smiling audibly as she tried to spot what she was looking for. "It's going to be fun!"

"... You'll behave, right?"

"No promises," she responded before turning around and stepping closer. "You're expecting the worst, aren't you?"

Noel sighed. "You keep surprising me, so I don't know what to expect, to be honest. All I know is it's not going to get boring."

Sombra moved to stand infront of him, leaning down to look him right into the eyes. It had an intimidating effect on him, causing him to push himself into the couch. "Just try to relax for a week. Try to enjoy this planet."

Easier said than done. She leaned in to peck him on his cheek, then pulled back and moved over to the windows again. He could only guess what, or more precise, who she was looking for.

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