"Very good."
Lucy answers Rocky with a small smile.
She has stood on her apartment roof and watched a rocket launch from a base far across the city. Each time rockets rose into the sky, her heart lifted with them. She has always longed for space. The fear that once made her want to run is gone, but the dream she buried never went out.
Now, Ascension Technology has its own aerospace base. That alone makes her happy.
It does not look like the launch pads in her memory. Compared with a rocket field, this place feels more like an air force base. Lucy does not know the technical difference and does not care. Whatever direction Rocky chooses, her part is simple: support him.
"Come on. I will show you around," Rocky says.
He takes her hand and walks the perimeter with her. Lucy watches the activity in the bays and along the gantries, letting Rocky lead. Soon, he stops at a quiet corner of the launch site. Lucy looks up at him, curious.
"Lucy," he asks, "do you remember the promise I made you?"
The words are gentle and still land like thunder. Lucy has heard more than one promise from Rocky. In this place, one rises first. She sees again the apartment rooftop, hears again what he told her there.
He said he would take her to the moon. He said when he had a spaceship, he would take her traveling in space, to many, many planets.
Back then, she thought he was naive and lovely, saying it to make her smile.
Then he founded Ascension Technology, and a small light of belief turned on inside her.
Maybe one day those words would be valid.
As Ascension grew, the feeling grew with it. She never brought it up to him. She would not steer his choices. She would never ask him to burn himself out to fulfill an old dream of hers.
Without Arasaka hunting her, going to the moon is no longer a survival goal. It is still a wish. You do not forget the wish that once held your whole heart. She kept it quiet and put it away.
Now that he has spoken, her pulse will not stay steady. The place they stand tells its own story. When he walked her in here, she pictured this exact moment and this exact line. She hoped it would be true, hoped the promise would stand, hoped they would go on a beautiful trip among the stars.
Rocky confirms it.
"I said I would take you to the moon. I said when I had a spaceship, we would go traveling in space, to many, many planets. I asked you for time. Now the time is right."
As he speaks, a massive gate behind them rises on electric rails. From the dark, a ship rolls into view. To anyone else, it would look like a military fighter. There is no giant rocket. It does not stand upright on a pad. It sits on its gear like a plane, even the lines are similar.
To current public technology, nothing like this can reach escape velocity and cross into space. No one would believe it is a starship.
Lucy believes it. She knows Rocky too well. He does not pull out miracles for show. He shows you something impossible only when it already works.
This craft is one of his system exchanges, a starship from the No Man's Sky universe. As a space exploration game, its map spans an absurd, near-infinite star field. In that setting, travel technology sits at the ceiling.
It rises and lands vertically with ease, slides free of gravity, and climbs into orbit without strain. It can pulse at light speed within a star system and jump between galaxies. Its companion travel suit carries a life support module, harsh-environment protection, resource collection, and planetary survey and analysis. For exploration and travel, nothing beats it.
Lucy covers her mouth, overwhelmed. Tears slide hot at the corners of her eyes. She tries to lock her face down, but happiness climbs and climbs until it spills over. She lets it, She steps into Rocky and holds him hard.
He never forgot my dream. He never forgot his promise.
Lucy did not cry when she chose to give everything to Rocky. Now she does. She presses herself into his arms. He holds her, pats her shoulder, and smiles.
"I always remember. I am always here."
After a long while, her heartbeat slows. She wipes her cheeks. A smile returns.
"Come on, Lucy. Let us go to the moon together," he says.
He leads her to the ship and helps her into a suit. The moment her helmet seals, the suit brings its systems online.
[ Life Support System: normal ]
[ Protection System: normal ]
[ Scanner: normal ]
[ Current Planetary Climate: warm and pleasant ]
[ Current Planetary Resources: abundant ]
[ Current Planetary Gravity: normal ]
Lucy watches the interface inside the visor and listens to the calm voice read the lines. She is already picturing the moment her boots touch lunar dust.
Rocky retakes her hand. They sit in the cockpit together.
Their two-person space journey begins.