Pitstop on Pittsburgh

[Toaster]

Through the helmet's visor, Olivia glanced out at the barren, desolate world they were rocketing over, the wind violently tugging at her flightsuit. Apart from the city-like clusters of mines and factories, the arid landscape was devoid of any signs of life, the monotony of the deserts only occasionally broken up by enormous rocky outcroppings, piercing the sky like cyclopean skyscrapers, casting shadows across massive swaths of brown sand against the last light of the setting sun. The clouds above them were painted a shade of brown, slightly lighter than the dirt around them, almost bordering on orange. In a strange, apocalyptic sense, it was almost pretty.

They passed one gigantic manufacturing site after another, the cacophony of machinery audible even over the angry whine of the hoverbike's engine and the air rushing by. Occasionally, they would come across one of the oversized, wheeled trucks used to deliver raw resources from the strip mines to the factories, its enormous tires dwarfing Damian's ride, leaving deep, wide ruts in the unpaved, sandy road.

"I'm not sure whether I should be flattered," Olivia muttered into Damian's ears, "by you thinking of me, if it leads to you inviting me to a dump like this."

With her head near his, she could just barely make out the smile in his eyes. She wondered whether this relaxed, almost 'normal' man was the real Damian - whether the cold, remorseless figure she had encountered in Kepler was merely a guise he put on for the sake of his business. She had her doubts, however. A man who could both enjoy a casual bike ride with an acquaintance and gun down two complete strangers in a hallway without hesitation was not a man she would ever trust, much less try to figure out.

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Olivia Sable