Valentine's tale of a summer evening on Amoï

The great explosion that destroyed most of the areas 7 and 9 had changed the lives of many, and not only in Ceres.

Four months ago, more than half of the slums had been wiped out. What was still standing was due only to Guardian's protective shields, which had been raised in time while also safeguarding the territory behind it.

Luke and his friends had been lucky. They were in Maxi's workshop when the tremendous shockwave from Dana Burn knocked them off their feet and shattered their eardrums. But they got back up, which wouldn't have happened if they had chosen to go somewhere else just a little further north that morning to get high on Stout.

It was hard to find a silver lining to all this, but there were some. For example, it was now much easier to evade security and to cross the borders of the slums to reach Midas, since much of the perimeter wall had been reduced to a shaky pile of rubble and not yet rebuilt.

And Luke was headed right to Midas, that day. Not to empty the pockets of some unsuspecting tourist or to rummage through the garbage of the rich and opulent establishments of the pleasure district, he was on his way to collect winnings. The golden ticket of fortune lay tightly between the folds of his denim pants.

Luke pressed his thighs against the motorcycle seat for better grip, rotated his wrist to accelerate and turned right, at the same time tilting his body slightly to the left to maintain the vehicle's balance. Behind him, a bright trail projected uneven lights across the dusty surface of a summer evening Ceres.

He had to reach Love-Inn. It was a dangerous destination for a mongrel without a P.A.M., frequented by Elites and middle-class bigwigs and constantly patrolled by darkmen, but Luke had enough experience to know how to get around to avoid attracting attention. He parked his motorcycle in one of the 'safe' alleys, paid a fee to the keeper - an old Karinian who controlled the crime ring in the area - to make sure it was there when he returned, and continued by foot.

He reached a building in garish shades of fuchsia, with peeling paint at the corners. The flashing sign was clearly visible from the main street and bore the name 'Aphrodite', a clear reference to the ancient Earth goddess of love, but the 'O' had been replaced by a dingy stylized heart. Luke didn't define himself as a refined and detail-oriented person, but that heart bothered him. He couldn't help thinking that, without it, that place would have attracted a much higher caliber of clientele with bigger wallets, and wouldn't have needed silly advertising ploys like the golden ticket now lying in his pocket.

The lobby was dimly lit, and the middle-aged man sitting behind the counter gave Luke a bored look. "Get your ear closer to the scanner!" He shouted.

"What?" Luke looked around alarmed.

"The P.A.M., you need to get it close to the scanner next to the door for identification. Don't tell me this is your first time in a pleasure house!"

The mongrel slipped the ticket out of his pocket and stretched it a bit with his hands before placing it on the counter top. "I have this, it's supposed to be some sort of VIP pass. Isn't it?"

The employee checked the watermark on the ticket. It was genuine. "Where did you get this? Did you steal it?"

"I didn't swipe it, I won it honestly," 'during an arm-wrestling match with a drunk old Midasian. ' The last sentence he kept to himself.

"Whatever you want. That entitles you to a private meeting with a top product, an Academy one. What do you want? Male or female?"

"Male!" replied Luke at first glance. He'd never been with a woman, he wouldn't even know how ... a moment before he reached for the keycard though, he reconsidered. "Female. I want a female."