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[MiniKitty]

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Billions lived before us, billions died before us. We're meaningless.

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There he was. Right in front of me. Assuming he was the pilot of the Gemini Kay, he was filed as Levan Harlow. As me! I played along, since Kristoff was obviously not welcome to Liberty as Technomancer. To the personnel of the Cryer facility, I was Steven Harlow. And he was Levan Harlow, my brother.

Kristoff was kept in medical stasis. They explained to me that he was suffering from complicated injuries. In true Liberty fashion, a treatment for that would cost a lot. They showed me the bill, and I realized that this would have been the time where I could have really used the fortune I had made three years ago. I could not afford it. I asked them if I could stay for a few minutes and just be near him.

This was more than frustrating. For years I thought he was dead. But now he was here with me, just... not alive, either. I had to come up with a plan. Where to get a large amount of money just like that? Maybe another bounty hunt? I did not even have the funds for a ship. In this very moment, I was essentially bankrupt. For the first time in months, money mattered to me.



I left the facility and simply went for a stroll, pondering, thinking very hard about the options. There were a few, really. Taking a massive loan, or... contacting Lea, after three years of silence, to beg for money. Or... contacting Rebecca, even. Definitely not the Technomancy.

Or... maybe, in the worst case. We have been trying to hide from all these people. No drama, no jealousy, no Revenant dragging him into battles she picked for stupid reasons.

What a horrible situation to be in. I sat down at a local fountain, trying to focus on finding some solution. Kristoff had multiple ships running on his name, maybe I could sell them for cash? No. No idea where the Homerunner was. Probably still at Freeport 8. Or 14. In any case, out of range. I had just enough funds to get a ticket for a transport ride. But it would need to count.

Maybe Tamara could have helped? Maybe she was still in Inverness, running her massage parlor. But damn. She did not contact me anymore after I told her I do not want her to move in on the Gemini Kay.

I got hungry, so I went to a small local store. Got myself a pack of Synth Paste and a bottle of carbonated water. The cashier gave me one of these promotional OSC lottery papers where you would need to rub ten little squares to reveal some images. Dismissively, I let it vanish in the pocket of my leather jacket and left with my WaSP.



The Colorado sun was setting. I took the shuttle back to my place while sucking the Synth Paste out of the pack. A little girl and her mother sat on the other side and the kid kept staring at me. I tried to avoid looking at her. To my left was a chubby man in a business suit. Barely any hair on his head, glasses, techy suitcase. He looked like he did not have to worry about money. But then again, people often pretended to be more wealthy than they were.

To my right was an older woman, probably in her sixties. Maybe even older. Long dress, probably a rather expensive one. Very slender. Handbag. I wondered how much she had on her account. Could probably have easily overwhelmed her.

I shook my head. What was I even thinking about? Taking someone else's money by force? Nonsense. There had to be better ways.



I left the shuttle at the target shuttleport. It was dark outside. Not a single cloud in the sky, so the Edge and the Crow were faintly visible. Even these weird dark matter clouds all over Liberty. Walked home. People were still there, playing a racing game on a gaming console while a stack of pizza was on the table. I went upstairs, wanted to go to my bedroom, only to see two of my friends getting frisky in my bed. Sighing, I let them continue, just passing through to get to the balcony. Sat down in one of the lounging chairs, only now realizing that another friend of mine was in the one next to mine. Her name was Madeleine. She showed up here a few days ago when another friend invited her. Not the most sociable person, but apart from regular smoking and the occasional Liberty Ale, she did not touch any other stuff.

She lay there, only wearing a black tank top and a weirdly familiar pair of boxer briefs. It was definitely warm enough to do that, even on the balcony. She had one of those mint cigarretes between the tip of her thumb and index finger, idly looking over to me.

Shit day?

Shit day.

Wanna talk about it?

Not really.

Yeah. Same.

The door and the windows to the balcony were open, so both of us could hear not only the loud sounds from downstairs of music blasting while people yelled over messing with each other in the racing game, but also the loud moaning from the bedroom.

For a while, we just remained like that. I did not care for anything happening in my apartment. Some of the people in there made sure things would not derail too much after one time we had the police knocking at the door. Madeleine did not seem to be bothered about anything, either. She just remained there, smoking her cigarette, rubbing her foot along the other leg while looking in my direction. Took me a while to realize she was staring at me.

I returned the look.


Mhh?

Wanna go next?

Not in the mood.

'Kay.

Yet she kept staring at me. I moved on my side to return the gaze. My hand vanished in my jacket's pocket.

What's on your mind?

Not much.


We kept scanning each other, idly.


And you?

Does it matter?

Nothing does.

Is that why you're letting people go in and out as they please?

Yeah. Who cares. Another girl stole my money. People do not touch the Synth Paste. Water is free. I am fine. Rent and power are paid for the rest of the year. Apart from you, nobody else touches my clothes.

I like 'em.

Keep what you want, then.


Madeleine put out the cigarette in the ashtray on the floor next to her. Not hesitating, she got herself another cigarette from her pack. I watched her as she lit it. Shortly after, she stared at me again.

So, nothing matters, huh?

Yeah.

Kinda relieving.

You think?

Can just do whatever you want.

No pressure, yeah.

It's called Optimistic Nihilism. Liberation from burdens and pressure as nothing lasts, anyway.
Billions lived before us, billions died before us. We're meaningless.

And nobody remembers any of them. Yeah.


I watched her lead the cigarette to her orange lips. Her long hair had a color gradient from gold-blond at the top down to a very powerful neon orange. Something popular among the people of my age on Denver, I noticed. Pretty girl, really. She just had this rough look on her face. Something that told people she would not hesitate to break a nose if people messed with her.



You studied?

Psychology, fourth semester. Took a break, though.

I once visited the campus not far from here. A friend of mine studied there, too.

And you?

I have you know, I finished elementary school successfully.


She smiled.

Drop-out?

Long story.


There was few seconds of silence. The couple in the bedroom seemed to finish. Madeleine clapped her hands in applause, the cigarette held with her lips.


Long story short, I am not exactly the luckiest person.

You seem pretty lucky to me. Good looking, big dick, no need to worry about the rent.

Does not really take much to look good. My dick also did not really help me in life. Almost died because of it, once. And when the year is over, I have no idea how to afford this apartment.

I'm sure you'll find a way.

Easier said than done. Money was the one big issue right now.

We kept talking like that. Madeleine was clearly interested in me, and a while later in that night, we ended up in bed together. She did not even let me take off my clothes.


















In the morning, she got up early to have a smoke on the balcony while I remained in bed. I saw her through the window, wearing nothing but my beanie on her head and one of my black T-shirts. Later she joined me in bed again and we stayed for a few hours. When I opened my eyes again, she was gone. I looked around, and only found a piece of paper next to my head, on the pillow.

Maybe you are not lucky, but you won a fortune.
Check the pocket of your jacket.

I did just that. Two little pieces of paper. One was a neural net address. The other was the OSC lottery ticket I got from the store. Madeleine must have taken the liberty to rub the squares with a coin to reveal the little pictograms.



All ten of them were the Lucky Number Seven.

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