21:00 UTC, May 6th, 2031 CE | Luna Orbit above Lunaris / Luxury transport
"Look out the window, you can see Lunaris below. The first city of Luna."
"It's beautiful! The towers are so tall, they must be two kilometers at least! The lights are so pretty, how many humans must live down there, far away from Earth."
"The recent census reports that there are nearly one hundred million humans on Luna, twenty million of which are in Lunaris. I agree, it still takes my breath away. To think that humans worked to build such a beautiful city in such an inhospitable place."
"It makes you wonder, if there is any hope for those of us who are left alone."
"We aren't alone though." She looks at me with a puzzled expression, very confused by my words. "We have each other after all!" She immediately brightens into a smile.
"Oh, of course we do! Together we can change the entire universe if we so wish!"
AI:"Attention passengers, descent to Lunaris commencing, ETA two minutes."
"I can't believe we just left Earth so easily. We are about to land on klacking Luna for klacks sake!"
"'Tis merely the power of modern technology and ridiculous wealth."
"It would've been better if you said something like the power of friendship or something."
"Well, I'm not the best with social stuff, you are."
"Yeah, right."
The transport then docks at the top of the tower where my vacation house is. We exit and head to one of the living spaces.
"Woah! It's so big and fancy, and your father just casually owns this whole apartment?"
"Uh, he owns the entire tower. Most of it is used by the company though."
Her face takes on a look of complete shock. I think it's finally setting in just how different our families are. I don't think her family is particularly poor, upper class even. But compared to my father's fortune, it doesn't really compare I suppose.
We then proceed to walk around the living space. It is very fancy, it has a full kitchen equipped with the latest tech. A massive living room with a 120" 64k TV. Which, in my opinion, is a bit excessive. That's nearly 2 billion pixels! I read somewhere that normal human eyes can't even tell the difference beyond 8k TVs. Though, I suppose some might have bionic eyes that allow them to get that much more detail.
"C'mon, the bed is super comfy, you'll love it!"
"Ooo show me!"
We head into one of the bedrooms and both proceed to leap onto the king sized bed. Naturally, it is ridiculously comfortable. Between the 1/6th gravity and premium cushioning, it literally feels like we are floating.
"Woah, this is kinda weird, it's like I'm just floating."
"Hmm, Lunar gravity does take some getting used to. The transport used the acceleration to simulate gravity, but we've gotta adapt to different gravities."
"Mhm." She looks to be deep in thought, barely registering what is happening. We lay next to each other on the bed for quite a while. After a while I got a brilliant idea.
"Hey, do you want to go shopping down in the city? There are tons of cool things to buy."
"Really! Let's go! But, what about money?"
"My father gave me one of his credit codes to use. I doubt we could hit the limit if we tried."
"That's great! Let's go, you'll have to show me all the best spots!"
"Okay, but we have to put suits on if we are going to walk outside. It may be a city but it's still Luna outside."
"Oh that makes sense, will they fit me?"
"Mine should fit you, they are built with a decent bit of tolerance."
We then proceed into the Suit room and equip our suits. They are pretty minimal, just a suit and a small backpack for life support. Designed to be worn around cities that have easy access and security shielding for radiation and whatnot.
We exit the tower after a very long elevator ride. We come out onto the street.
"Woah, there are so many people. And even those weird train things I've always seen in pictures. It's so cool! People are just living and working on Luna."
"Those trains are called magrails, specially designed to work effectively in Lunar gravity. Also, what, did you expect it to just be a bunch of scientists or something?"
"No, but I didn't expect there to just be families and stuff just casually walking around as if they weren't in a near-vaccum environment."
"Fair enough. What do you want to do first? We could get food, tour the shopping malls, or find some other entertainment."
"Let's go eat food! I wanna taste Lunar cuisine."
"Okay, but sorry to disappoint you, it's not very different from Earth. I know a great burger joint nearby though, so let's go."
"Hmm, burgers sound good!"
We arrived at the burger joint by way of magrail (which she thoroughly enjoyed) and sat down to eat. We both have a nice meal and then we leave, it's just like a Terran restaurant, somehow it's kinda disappointing.
"Lets go shopping next! I bet they have tons of cute clothes! And I'm still wearing yours."
"Whyd you have to say it like my clothes are poisonous or something. They can't be that bad!"
"Well they have your scent on them. And it's kinda distracting."
"Wait, really? What do I smell like to you?"
"Hmm, it's hard to say, but maybe petrichor combined with woodsmoke?"
"Intersting, is it a bad smell?"
"Well no, it's actually quite nice!" A few moments after she says this, she seems to realize what she just said. She starts to act all embarrassed.
"Hmm, it's nice to know that we both smell nice."
"Wait, I smell nice? How the klack do you know what I smell like?"
"Did you forget? You wouldn't let go of me all night, naturally you were close enough."
"Ahhh, stop!" She punches me in the arm, although I can't feel it through the suit. Then she turns away looking even more embarrassed somehow, my plan failed.
"Lets head off to the mall. I've heard of this great place that sells Lunar themed accessories."
"Oooo, that sounds like so much fun. Let's go! Stop slacking Mr. Jerk."
"I would never dream of slacking in Mrs. Genius's presence."
We take a quick ride to the nearest mall. I happen to have a net-friend that is a fashion influencer, so I am generally aware of a lot of important shops that are in trend. It is a fairly small shop that caters to higher end guests. Perfect for us!
"Woah, all these things are so pretty! Look, they have earrings, necklaces, and even rings! How to pick.."
We wandered around the store for quite a while. Until Ray's eyes come to rest on a pair of purple and silver crescent moon earrings. She seems to just stare at them, almost like she is too afraid to ask to get them.
Naturally, I called over one of the salespeople and asked for two pairs of them. They are more than happy to assist.
Ray:"Wait, really, just like that?" She says she holds the bag containing the quickly acquired earrings.
"Thus is the power of money."
"By the way, why'd you get two pairs?"
"So that we can each have a matching pair. I figured it could serve as a good symbol of our friendship!"
"That's.. Remarkably thoughtful. Now that I think about it, you've been acting strange lately."
"Whatever could you mean? I'm my typical self, just living and vibing with those I like to spend time with."
"Hmm, whatever you say Mr. Jerk."
We then proceed to go see a movie in one of Lunaris' famous zero-g theaters. A truly interesting experience. They spin you in a chamber to easily counteract Lunar gravity. And then you get to float around within the movie itself. Ray is smiling and looking energetic the entire time.
After that, we return to the tower. It is about 07:00 UTC (by the way, Lunar days and nights are just kinda ignored, since everyone is in well lit cities anyways, so they just use Earth metrics). As soon as we enter, Ray rushes to take off her suit and try on the new earrings.
"Well, how do I look?" she says as she does a small twirl.
"They look great on you! Let me put mine on as well."
"Woah, those look so nice on you. Now we can match and show our power to the universe!"
"Yep, together we can conquer any challenge that comes our way!
Lets go out onto the balcony, we can get a beautiful view of the city as everyone starts to wake up."
We go out onto the balcony. It is pressure sealed so we don't need our suits. We can see a bunch of the city, since this is one of the tallest buildings in the city at a nice 2.5 kilometers tall. We just stand and watch the city in silence. Lights flicker as people wake up. Shuttle and rail traffic increases. It is almost like any other city in the morning.
"Hmm, it's just like we are back on Earth. Except, the sky is black and we can't leave this protected bubble without a suit on."
"Yeah, that is what it feels like the first time. After a few trips around space you kinda just get used to it. Heck, combined with the time I've spent in simulated spaces, Earth kinda feels more foreign to me."
"That sounds so nice. Just sitting in simulated worlds all day. I'm not allowed to link at all unless it is for academic purposes."
"Well, no one but me is here. And I'm not going to stop you."
"Weve definitely gotta do some gaming! It's been so long."
"It sure has. Have you enjoyed Luna so far?"
"Yeah! It's been so much fun! Much better than anything on Earth. I wish we could just stay here forever and never go back."
"I mean, if I asked to just stay on Luna forever, my father would just sign off on it without a thought."
"Thats nice. My parents" she says this word with a very hateful tone, "probably won't even think about where I am until in a month when school starts. They will probably throw a fit and get the entire military involved if I miss a single day of school though."
"Hmm, do you think the military could find us on Mars? Or even farther. I hear that there is a new city that is starting to be built on Pluto. It's quite new but apparently it's mostly functional."
"Hmm, I think it would take quite a while for them to find us. Presuming your father doesn't know I'm with you."
"I doubt my father would tell even if he knew. He doesn't really like complying with government folks. Too much bad blood from all the regulations they have placed on his company I bet."
"Could we really go all the way to Pluto?"
"I mean, we could. My father would definitely authorize it. We could book a trip and be there within two weeks I think. Heck, if I asked, he would probably buy me a mansion on Pluto."
"Hmm. Let's do it. Let's go to Pluto! Screw school, my parents can have fun trying to find us."
"Alright. Together, we can do anything right?"
"Sure. How about we make a deal?"
"A deal?"
"Best friends forever! By the moonlight we can endure any hardship and go even beyond the stars!"
"Agreed! Luce Lunae per aspera ad astra et ultra."
"Luce Lunae per aspera ad astra et ultra. I really like that phrase, it can be our personal pact. Let us never forget it."
"Of course, never, no matter what should happen, we will overcome it together."
With that pact forged, the two of us, a seven year old and a nine year old genius. Stood upon a balcony on one of the tallest towers in Lunaris. This pact would come to define us for the rest of our lives. After all, you can hardly break a promise made on the moon can you?
May this memory be forever remembered and celebrated. It cannot be forgotten, no matter the eons that may pass. It must not.
Kovon Ducker, a worthless piece of trash.
PS: We did end up going to Pluto for about two months before we were found. It was so much fun!
End of Chapter 31
A/N: Why hello dear reader. Author here once again. This was a pretty long interlude, but I think it was vital to highlight some of Ray/Ko's past. Plus, we got to discover the origins of their pact and their crescent moon earrings!
Much more is still to come. So be sure to stay tuned in for the next chapter especially!
As always, if you are enjoying reading, be sure to follow/favourite/rate/leave a fun joke, it is always appreciated! Donec iterum, dear reader.
Cathrix