Zane and Erlin stepped out of the entrance to Fresher Meet Village—and were immediately greeted by a barrage of honking. A dozen flying vehicles hovered above the nearby park, engines buzzing loudly over the crowd that packed the pavement.
Erlin glanced at her husband, noticing the faint crease between his brows.
"What? Something wrong?" she asked gently.
Zane exhaled. "Honestly? I'm too tired for all this noise."
"Then let's take a quieter route."
"Alright. Follow me."
He led her toward a boulevard lined with towering groves of bamboo. The shift was immediate—cool air, soft rustling leaves, green shadows filtering the light. The bustling world behind them faded into the distance as the bamboo formed a tranquil tunnel around them.
They walked in comfortable silence toward the Sunflower Hotel. After a week on Mars, after Solaris City's suffocating ruins, after the exhaustion of the trial… Zane wanted nothing more than a moment of peace.
Something ordinary.
Something soft.
