Pitstop on Pittsburgh

[Toaster]

Olivia glared at her ship's instruments as it descended through several kilometers of dense, dark smog, its engine wash igniting occasional pockets of volatile gasses, lighting up the clouds of ash around it. Her altimeter claimed that she was only a mile from the ground, but the filth around her gave no indication as to that readout's veracity. She sighed and pushed her craft's nose down, continuing her careful dive through Pittsburgh's ruined atmosphere.





Why she had bothered coming here, she wasn't sure. The communique from Damian had come as a surprise, in fact, she hadn't fully expected to ever hear from him again after their strange escapades in Kepler. Or perhaps she had hoped to never have to deal with him again. That way she wouldn't have to worry about the favor she knew she owed him. But nonetheless, his invitation - despite its despicable location - had intrigued her. After all, he was an interesting man, to say the least. Insane? Probably. But intriguing, too. She was definitely curious as to what his intentions were. Surely, he wasn't just looking to spend some quality time with a new friend.





"Jesus Christ," Olivia muttered under her breath as she inspected her ship on the landing pad. Its usually clean, light grey hull was completely discolored, every inch of it covered in soot and filth. She shook her head in disgust and indicated for the dock workers to get to work on refueling and - more importantly - rinsing off the craft. Coughing as she breathed in air that felt in her throat like sandpaper, she headed towards the small spaceport's terminal, fiddling around in her pockets for her neural net device. She dialed in her date's ID and waited to record her message.

"Damian, I just landed. Feel free to pick me up." Then she settled down on a rusty bench and looked out at the grungy slums and the arid landscape beyond, wondering why anyone had ever considered this world worth settling in the first place.

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Olivia Sable