Carthrat's journey into space - Round 3! Heaven or Hell!

[Carthrat]

"Weird. Doesn't it ever.. y'know, get boring?" asks Carthrat, strangely. "A thousand years, give or take.. don't you see the same crap happening again and again and again, just with different paint?

I'm amazed you can stand it, now that I think about it.."

[Anastasia]

"It's funny - I thought you'd be right, way back. But..." he smiles. "Even if some of the events are more or less the same, the people are different.

I don't know if I'll ever truly get bored, but with all the nutcases about this universe, I rather doubt it."

[Carthrat]

Carthrat responds, quietly... "Weird. A thousand years and ennui hasn't struck at all. You're not even senile or anything. Just another young man walking down the street..

Get some sleep, then," he finishes. "Rachel should come back in a couple of hours.. I need to think."

[Anastasia]

With another shrug and a strange, small smile, Tir does just that. This leaves you alone in the ship to your own devices, your ancient friend napping away the next bit of sand in his hourglass of life.

[Carthrat]

Carthrat leans back in a chair, thinking on Tir, recent events, and life in general..

Longevity. Everlasting life. Immortality. Whatever you call it. And the mystery that was Tir. Such a strange figure when he thought about it. Not a pretentious person, nor a fawning one. A robust spirit, certainly. Hell, just to cope with the idea of a mass-slaughtered rune on the back of your hand took a man of pretty stern stuff.

Of course he didn't want it. At least, he showed no real signs of wanting it, despite the power that it brought. Power for it's own sake never really meant anything, anyway. Certainly not in my experience.

What has it ever done for me, anyway? Sure, kept me alive against difficult odds.. brought on by my own misuse. Then again, there was a time when I relished the idea.. the challenge, the intencity, the combat. Not so long ago, when I think about it. Still a young man yet. Plenty of boring people in the world my age..

I wonder where Rachel will be when she's my age? Going back to Earth.. could that be an option? By then, someone will have certainly intervened.. what am I even doing? I'm going to find Diane, of course.. but then what? Take her back to Earth? What Earth? It will likely be renamed.. recultured. Repopulated. But I won't be saving her from anything by going to her then..

All I can do is ride it out and see what happens. This galaxy is one fucked-up place..

But, first thing will come first. Heli 3.. what can't I do with it, once it's mine? It has plenty of scrap equipment.. loose parts.. salvage dumps. No organization. No enforcement. Give me three years, Selene, and I can give it those things. I can reforge it.. at least for a time.

At least I'm in charge, for once. Whoever is out there looking out for me, thanks for the help, I guess. But I should be able to see where I'm going, now. Hopefully you won't need to do much..

With a start, Carthrat sits bolt upright. "Damn.. it's late.."

[Anastasia]

Glancing at a monitor, you see that about and hour and a third have passed. The Guildkeepers should be ready for you to come back, and there isn't any sign of Rachel being back.

It's peaceful and quiet if anything, inviiting rest and contemplation.

[Carthrat]

Carthrat shakes himself up, and goes to rouse Tir.

"Get up, you old fart! There's work to be done!"

[Anastasia]

Stirring, Tir glares at you, but follows along as you two start walking. "To the guild?" Tir asks this, stretching out his arms to shake off his langour. His hand is gloved as always, not even taking it off when he rests.

[Carthrat]

"Yes," replies Carthrat, checking his watch. "It's about time. Then we can work on purchasing stuff.. though we'll still need to wait at the shipyard for Rachel to come back before that."

[Anastasia]

Going to the guild is without note. Oh, you pass a few bickering aliens and a trade delegation talking amoungst themselves, but it's nothing big. Entering the guild again, you find the corpulent alien boss from before waiting, going over a print out. "Mr. Torin," he calls. "I must say, I'm rather impressed with your ship - quite some capacity you have there."

[Carthrat]

Carthrat shrugs. "It's a useful ship, but I'm looking for a faster model," he explains.

[Anastasia]

He nods. "Well...I can see why." Drumming his fingers together, he speaks softly. "We don't deal with...this sort of ship here, if you understand. I can direct you to someone more malleable on this matter, if you wish."

[Carthrat]

"Perhaps that would be best," replies Carthrat, inwardly sighing. No amount of preperation would prevent him from reentering a world of illegitimacy..

[Anastasia]

Nodding, he goes on. "There's a room in back," he gestures at a door at the end, leading to some sort of back area, "You'll get directed from there.

Pleasure doing business with you, drop by if you have another ship." With that, he smiles fakely and moves on, back into his own world.

[Carthrat]

Carthrat sighs, and motions Tir. "You stay out here," he murmers. "Use your intuition, right?"