I stood staring out at the endless hallways and bridges of Haven. 

I was in the Great Boundary Marathon? How did it come to this?

I needed to clear my head. Ultimately, the reward for winning could be my ticket out of this hellhole. But, that was under the assumption that I won. And that would be difficult, considering I had no ship, no crew, and hadn’t tried to fly since - not since I had escaped the Vanguard. 

“Ektol!” I shouted out for my strange insectoid ‘friend’.

“Yes, master Ke’xian?” Ektol shouted back.

“For the love of - please just call me Ke’xian.”

Ektol rubbed his antennae against his head aggressively, before making a strange squeak of acknowledgement.

“Understood.”

“What’s the reward for winning the Boundary Marathon?” I asked.

“Mas-”

“Ke’xian,” I growled, shooting a glare towards Ektol.

“Yes. Ke’xian, you do not plan to win, do you?”

“Just tell me how much,” I responded impatiently.

“Just a moment.”

Ektol pulled up his MNID and looked through it.

“Three billion te’vrei.”

My eyes widened. I knew it was going to be a lot of money, but three billion te’vrei?

“What?”

“Three billion te’vrei, Ke’xian.”

“That’s enough to get me out of Haven for… The rest of my life, isn’t it?”

Ektol seemed to consider for a moment, shifting his weight from his front-right leg to his back-left one.

“Ke’xian, with that amount of money, you would never have to work another day in your life.”

For the first time in a long, long time, I suddenly felt like I had a goal to accomplish. This was my one and only chance to escape this hellhole, and I wasn’t going to just let it pass by. Screw being a deserter, with that money, I would be free. Free for good.

“I’m in.”

Ektol seemed surprised, his pincers clicking, which, I believe, is a gesture of confusion in his culture, similar to how humans tilt their head.

“But, mas - I mean, Ke’xian. You do not have a ship, or a crew.”

“I’ll figure it out.”

“Where do you plan to obtain a suitable starship?”

That was a good question, and one which I was not particularly sure of. Typically, of course, a racer would commission a ship to be built. Unfortunately, however, I couldn’t exactly do that considering the vast amount of money I had. That being approximately four te’vrei, two of which weren’t even mine. I had them lent to me by someone I knew and forgot to pay them back.

My eyes wandered the bridges and buildings from the plateau I stood atop. Towards the upper part of Haven, you could see most of it. It was hard to believe that all of this was somehow built without the Zyxxeen Empire even knowing. 

My mind was drifting, but I remembered something. There was an old shipyard - well, more like a scrapyard. The ship-junkers there scrapped old ships for money. I paid it a visit once when I was out drinking; a cute Nerrym girl convinced me to go with her. Then she vomited on a still somewhat functional antimatter battery and we were asked to leave before we caused a disaster. That wasn’t so important. Maybe I could snatch a bargain or get a free ship if I could find one that was going to be scrapped.

“Nejyrs Scrapyard.” I blurted out suddenly.

“The ships there are old and worn out, I do not think this is a good-”

“If you don’t have any better ideas, then just go with mine.”

“Understood,” Ektol said, very quickly shutting up.

“Besides, Ektol,” I continued, leaning up against a nearby wall, “you know an engineer, don’t you?”

“I do not think that she would be willing to join you without-”

“I told you, I’ll figure it out. I always do.”

Nejyrs Scrapyard was a complete mess, which, I suppose, is fitting for a scrapyard. Gray, desolate, and strangely depressing. It was a small-time business, with a relatively large space in Haven. Old, half-broken ships and mechanical parts lay strewn about the floor. Occasionally you could also hear horrifying screams of robots meeting their digital demise, which broke the monotony of the constant clanging of metal.

But, the aforementioned dying robots and half-destroyed ships weren’t what I was here for. To the left of the scrapyard was a selection of ships which were also old, but not half-broken. The ‘to be scrapped’ section, as denoted by a large signboard standing next to the ships.

An elegant, white ship had caught my eye, and it happened to be standing in this section. Well, as for being ‘white’, it looked like it was originally black and the paint was chipped off.

It was a beautiful ship, even with its obvious signs of age, with its curvy lines and sharp edges alike being exceptionally aesthetically pleasing. Towards the back of the ship was a large ring. 

I recognized this ship design, it was extremely advanced for its time and was used before the frontier break. As for the design of the ship itself, it was what is known as a ‘charger’. They were called this because they generated a ludicrous amount of energy in comparison to their size. I suspected that the ring was an antimatter reactor, and in a medium ship too, probably around xi’vax class. 

These historic ships were known for two things in particular. Their power generation was one, and as a direct result of that, their speed. Incidentally, perfect for a racing vessel.

“Ektol,” I said, gesturing towards the machine in front of me, “what do you think of this one?”

The insectoid observed it with utmost focus, his mandibles idly snapping and his antennae twitching slightly. 

“It is a very good looking ship, mast- sorry, Ke’xian.”

“I reckon this is the one, that is, if we can figure out how to get our hands on it.”

I glanced around.

The expansive field of broken parts seemed pretty lifeless.

I did hear clanking coming from a building towards the opposite end of the scrapyard, it was similar to the sound of a hammer and interspersed with the violent hum of heavy machinery. Logically, I’d assume that’s where the employees would be.

I carefully weaved my way in between the junk, tripping a few times and thankfully managing to catch myself. After tripping over another small piece of metal, and coming within what felt like less than half a k’ned of smashing my head into numerous small spikes belonging to what probably used to be some sort of torture device, I made it to the building.

My ICD blinked and whirred as I read a short string of text which hovered over the top of a small, silver doorway in disgustingly bright holographic signage.

‘Nejyrs Workshop’.

I stepped up to the door, and it slid open, allowing me to take a peek inside, as Ektol stood outside and waited for me.

It was mostly white, accented in red and an unsavory rust-colored orange. There were some machines, a press, a rotary saw, some kind of matter manipulator, what looked like an elongated pillar which - yeah, that was worryingly dirty looking.

Sitting in the corner was a long table, stretching across the width of the room, and I could discern the figure of a humanoid female standing in front of it, hammering away at something or other.

“Excuse me?”

No response.

After standing awkwardly for a moment, I called out again, but louder this time, so they could hear me over the noise.

“Excuse me?”

“Mhm?” 

They turned around and removed the protective mask they were wearing.

They looked almost identical to a human, though they had a pale blue complexion, fin-like ears, eyes with yellow pupils and a black sclera, and slightly faded, dark-purple hair. Clearly a Nerrym.

Upon a second, more close observation, I froze for a moment. No way, was it really?

“Meixe? Is that you?”

“Hold on, Ke’xian? What are you doing here?” 

Her eyes widened slightly.

Interestingly enough, the woman that was working here was the cute Nerrym girl that I went drinking with one time.

“You first,” I responded quickly.

She looked up at the ceiling in consideration.

“Well, um, remember that time we went out once?”

“Mostly.”

“After I threw up on that antimatter battery, I wanted to make up for it and so I decided to work here,” she paused, glancing back at the equipment she was using, then back at me, “thing is, I’m an engineer. I didn’t tell you before, well, ‘cause it was just supposed to be a one time thing.”

I laughed.

It was a fair point, and under normal circumstances I really wouldn’t care if someone was an engineer, but in this case, I was going to need an engineer. Talk about luck. Well, if she joined me. That was a different matter.

“I’m surprised you remember, you were very drunk.”

“You’re just as annoying as ever, ain’t you?”

“It hasn’t even been that long.”

Meixe placed her hand on her hip, golden eyes glistening even in the dimly lit workshop. I was told that pure Nerrym had impeccable night vision due to them being mostly nocturnal.

I wouldn’t know, since I was half human.

“Your turn,” Meixe said, her foot rhythmically tip-tapping away at the floor.

“Well, so basically,” I paused to sigh, searching for some comfort in Meixe’s glowing eyes and, in turn, receiving none, “I may have accidentally entered into the Great Galactic Boundary Marathon.”

Meixe’s face went from a smug, sassy smirk to a poker face immediately, then it contorted into what I could only assume was a face representative of extreme confusion.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, and the other thing, well, I got accepted.”

Her eyes widened marginally. I wouldn’t typically notice such minor changes in expression, but I was fixated on them, the glimmer was hypnotic.

Meixe stopped momentarily, and gazed up at the ceiling.

“How, exactly, did you manage to accidentally sign up, AND end up getting in?” She asked, dropping her gaze to meet mine once more.

“The influence.”

“That still doesn’t explain how you got in.”

“I’ll explain later,” I said, my brows crumpling up at the influx of questions, “I just need you to listen to me for a moment.”

“Ears more active than a criksha.”

Part of me wanted to question what in the galaxy a criksha was supposed to be, but I figured it was some sort of Nerrym expression and moved on without dwelling on it too much.

“Alright, first thing’s first, I’m gonna need a ship.”

“Wait, you’re actually taking part?!”

“Oh, hush your beautiful face.”

“What?”

“Originally I wasn’t planning to, but I saw that reward and - that’s besides the point. I need a ship.”

“So you came here instead of a ship dealer,” she scoffed.

“Please, you know I’m broke,” I continued, “my entire net worth consists of a decrepit old hole in the wall with a window and a glorified insect which dedicated his life to me for some reason.”

“Insect?”

“That is also besides the point,” I said, raising my arm to point at the doorway, “there’s a ship outside, a charger, white and she looks to be about xi’vax class.”

Meixe nodded slowly.

“And, I also need an engineer, which coincidentally…”

I rotated my hand in a circular motion towards her.

“So, okay, let me get this straight,” she responded with an uncharacteristically calm demeanor, “you want the charger, and you also want me to join you because I’m an engineer.”

“Precisely, Meixe.”

“And you, whole-heartedly, honestly believe that I’ll take you up on that?”

“Not even a little bit.”

Meixe inhaled deeply, before releasing a sharp exhale. Somehow, it made chills creep through my spine.

“What kind of relationship do you think we have, Ke’xian?”

I shrugged.

“A one-off date kinda thing?”

“Right, and you think that a one-off date kinda thing, where, mind you, we didn’t even do anything,” she continued, as my heart began rapidly descending into oblivion, “you think that’s enough for me to join you on a trip around the entire outer rim?”

“Not really.”

“And that I’d lend you a ship for free?”

“Like I said, not even a little bit.”

We stood and had what I can only describe as a stare-down. Deafening silence veiled the room. It felt as though even the screeching and hammering machinery was muffled.

“Just,” I added sheepishly, “I think it’s worth it for the money.”

“How much money?”

This was it, my trump card. If this didn’t work, I was, for lack of a better term, screwed.

“Three billion te’vrei.”

Silence again, but this time, it had a different feeling. The uneasiness from before had evolved into anticipation, and to some extent, a teensy sprinkle of hope.

“Oh, you,” Meixe stuttered, “you plan to win?”

“Obviously.”

“How?”

After taking a slow, deep breath, I spilled the beans.

“I’m an ex-Vanguard elite pilot.”

“I’m not gonna lie, I want to punch you right now.”

“Why?”

“You’re a complete moron, frankly, the only good thing about you is that you’re sorta handsome.”

“And?”

“You’re overconfident, and that damn grin you’ve got wrapped on your face right now is pissing me off.”

“Does that mean you’re in?”

“Win, split the money evenly, and you’ve got yourself the ship and the engineer you wanted.”

I chuckled.

“Looks like my overconfidence paid off, though.”

“Deal or no deal, Ke’xian?” Meixe asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Consider it done.”