Ves practically hurled himself past the airlock and into the familiar confines of the Barracuda. Behind him, the transit shuttle that took him out of one of Centerpoint V's space stations separated from the ship now that it had completed its task.
"It's about time I've returned!"
"Meow!"
"Oh, shut it. You've hardly met Clixie, and now you're already missing her? Newsflash Lucky, she's organic!"
"Meow meow!"
"What do you mean true love transcends all barriers? The two of you are completely different lifeforms!"
Ves ignored his nonsensical cat and ran all the way up to the bridge.
"Captain, get us out of this star system as fast as possible!"
"As you will, sir, but I have to ask, why the hurry? Are you in trouble with the authorities? It is highly inadvisable to run from the MTA if they have a reason to compel you to stay."
"Nothing like that is going on." Ves vigorously shook his head. "I've just met someone scary and I need to get out of her reach. The longer we stay in Centerpoint, the greater the risk of meeting her again!"
Though Captain Silvestra and the rest of the crew looked confused, they nonetheless moved to coordinate with the Greenfeather to leave the Centerpoint System.
The only snag was that traffic control did not allow them to depart with all haste. They needed to follow their assigned route that brought them to the back of a long line of ships waiting to jump out of the system. It took far too long for the Barracuda and Greenfeather to trundle their way to the closest Lagrange point.
Gavin entered the stateroom where Ves had holed himself. "What's got you in such a tizzy, Ves?"
A part of Ves wanted to hide what he experienced earlier. Yet he also felt the need to confide in someone at least.
A sigh escaped from his lips. "A date gone wrong, I guess."
That caused Gavin to become twice as interested. "Did you fall flat on your face or something? Was the woman you met not to your liking?"
"It's complicated, Benny."
"Come on, boss. Tell me what's wrong."
Ves briefly recounted his date with Gloriana, though he left out a lot of sensitive details.
This caused Gavin to develop an incomplete picture. "I don't see what's wrong about this Gloriana. Other than the fact that she's clingy and that she's a Hexer, it sounded as if the two of you got along well."
"You don't understand! Gloriana is.. she's a Hexer! Not only that, but she's also a follower of hexism! Don't you see what that means? She's as fanatical in her beliefs as the Poxcos of the Ylvaine Protectorate!"
"I do admit that the Hexadric Hegemony is weird, but hexism doesn't have that bad of a reputation. Everything I've learned about it is that it's more of a philosophy with some superstition sprinkled on it than a full blown absolute belief system like the Ylvainan Faith. They're much more tolerant to nonbelievers and individual interpretations."
"It's much worse than that! Gloriana is a nutcase!"
How could Ves explain how Gloriana bought into his nonsense story about creating gods? Any mech designer who not only took him at his word, but also supported it entirely should be avoided at all cost!
There was no way Ves could imagine spending the rest of his life with someone so delusional!
Gavin shook his head. In his opinion, Ves was being a scaredy cat. "Alright, whatever you say, boss. It's your life. The reason I came here is to inform you that we are hosting an irate guest aboard the Barracuda. The man has been throwing a temper tantrum ever since some MTA goons forced us to take him in! You wouldn't have anything to do with that, do you?"
Ah. Ves remembered the task the Rim Guardians pushed onto his lap before they booted him out of the Pit.
"Is the guest a danger to himself, the crew or the ship?"
"No. He's mostly whiny, that's all."
"Then leave the guest in his cabin or wherever else you put him in. I'll meet with him later. Right now, I need a moment to myself."
"Okay then. I'll leave you alone. The Barracuda is scheduled to transition into FTL in twelve hours, barring any delays."
Once Gavin left his stateroom, Ves sighed and plopped down on his bed. Lucky sidled up to his head and pressed a paw against his head.
"Come on, Lucky. Didn't you see how suddenly Gloriana went off the deep end when she raved about my supposed design principles? Even if she's lovely and fun to be with, she's too dangerous!"
"Meow."
"What do you mean I'm the same as her? We're nothing alike! I'm a sane, normal mech designer who just wants to make mechs alive! How does that sound crazy?"
"Meow!"
"I don't agree with you!" Ves huffed and turned around.
As he thought back on Gloriana, he had to admit that he still felt a lingering attraction towards her. No other woman excited him as much as her. She'd be perfect for him if she didn't come from the Hegemony!
Yet Ves did not believe that anything perfect could exist. He had always lived his life in the assumption that aiming for perfection only set himself up for disappointment.
"Life and the galaxy are both messy. They're also more exciting because of that. Who wants to live a perfect life?"
Though Ves hadn't interacted with Gloriana too deeply, he could immediately tell that she adopted a very different perspective on the matter.
A part of him admired her for that. He was attracted to her boldness and her courage. She must be a great mech designer as well.
"Did I run away too quickly?"
He really found it regretful to abandon his date with Gloriana so soon. Other than her weird Hexer beliefs, Ves truly felt comfortable in her presence.
Not only did he find her lovely and attractive, but her design philosophy also complimented well with his own.
"How great would it be to design a mech together?" He idly sighed. "Even if she's only limited to designing custom mechs, there are plenty of mech pilots I care about who can use a better machine than what I can provide alone."
For example, he could elevate Melkor and the other Larkinsons in the Avatars of Myth to an untold height if he gifted them with mechs that contained the combined strengths of Ves and Gloriana.
Such machines wouldn't only be great on a spiritual and a technical level, but also lead to synergistic effects that Ves could hardly fathom.
These benefits, while unpredictable, would definitely elevate the quality of their custom mechs to an unseen height!
"What would it be like if I can supply Melinda, Raella and Jannzi with such custom mechs? The achievements they can make with these wonder mechs will definitely surpass anything they could have ever hoped!"