The Tournus Exchange

[Challenger]

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Nothing ever really changes out there, in the void of space. Wars are waged, battles fought and drama eternal played out on the grandest stage, but the dust always settles. The silence always returns, and the slow creeping determination of nature eventually reclaims her own. They say that the void is eternal; that it stretches on forever without limit. Maybe they're right. But here, in this place, it's easy to forget that.

The Tournus Exchange Bar & Grill is a small, dimly lit affair with cozy seating and a real wood fire flickering in the corner at all hours. The bartender a slim Hispanian who doesn't talk much, but never gets a drink wrong. In a lot of ways the bar was as you'd expect: dim, noisy, filled with smoke and less-than-tasteful lighting. Disco ball. Very retro. But there was something timeless about this place, a feeling of continuity somewhere between the tightly packed barstools and the tongues loosened by alcohol and exhaustion. No matter how bad things get between Gallia and Liberty, regardless of the plagues and conflicts raging outside these too-thin steel walls, you know you can always come back to this place tomorrow.

The laughing teenagers over by the arcade. The fruity drink in the tipsy blonde's right hand, dangerously close to dripping on the floor. Her date, hoping to get lucky later. The rings from the pint glasses on the bar. These things were transient; short phenomena that could disappear with a moment's notice and never return. But when the dust settled, you knew the basics would still be in place. The fire would still be crackling, the dark-skinned bartender still wiping a bleached glass to perfection. The smell of smoke would still pervade this place, and it would still feel like your home away from home.

You walk up to the bar, noting the occasionally cross-eyed old man sitting behind it and a host of other occupants. The menu is short; very short. Only a few items on it, and even fewer drinks. But somehow you get the feeling that this place has exactly what you want; a feeling of warmth and comfort, perhaps inspired by the cozy oxygen-starved atmosphere and tobacco smoke. Even if you didn't think you'd find what you're looking for, you feel like someone here could help you out, or at least distract you with talk for a little while.

It couldn't hurt to ask, right?