The cost of Infinity

Chap 18: Capitalizing on Commotion

My date with Sin isn't until later this afternoon, but I still wake up as excited as a kid on Christmas morning. I send Niko a message to stop by in an hour. While I wait for him, I take a long relaxing bath and try to daydream about what my evening with Sin might be like. But every time I close my eyes, I see Tempest smiling with those kids. As much as I hate to admit it, I may have misunderstood her.

I start weighing the pros and cons of giving her another chance to prove herself. The pros list is winning by a small margin, But those small margins have solid points behind them. The first point is I can't let my judgment be clouded by my emotions right now. I have to do what is best for my people, and picking the wrong mate can have detrimental consequences.

The second is that the choice between good and evil is never truly a choice; every human chooses "good" as they see it. When I first met Sin, I thought she was a horrible person, and look at her now. She's saved my life, invested in my emotional and physical well-being, and most importantly, she's consistent in her pursuit of me and makes a real effort. If I could be so wrong about Sin, I can be wrong about Tempest too.

Dressed and ready to conquer the day, I meet Niko at the door with the biggest smile on my face. "What's got you so chipper this morning?" I hold the stuffed wolf out in front of me and bounce around like a kid excited about their new toy. "Touche, that is adorable; please don't tell her I did this," he says as he pets my stuffy on the head.

I ask him to give me an update on the fleet boards, but he grimaces. "That photo the teacher took of you and Tempest is everywhere. Even I have to admit it's a great photo. It looks like the two of you planned to dedicate your time to the children together... as a couple. And, of course, people eavesdropping on your conversations have posted that you have upcoming date invitations from both of them. That sparked #TeamTempest tags all over the boards, and of course, the Commanders supporters came back with a #SinfortheWin tag of their own." 

OMG, SinfortheWin is super cute. "There is one odd post, though; it's someone claiming the vandals of the pool were the commanders fighting."

"I'm sorry, what?" I hope my surprised face is convincing because my nerves are on full alert right now. "Fighting over what?" He looks at me with a face that says Do I have to say it out loud. I cross my arms and stare at him. "They claim the commanders were fighting over you." I roll my eyes; "that's outrageous Niko," He starts scrolling through comments on the post. "I know, that's what I said, but it doesn't change the fact that the rumor is out, and now everyone wants to weigh in on the situation" I sigh; "Can't we just have an admin take it down?" Niko shakes his head, "If we do, that will make it look even more suspicious; I think it's best if we play it down; rumors like this only last if people give them attention."

"You're right; it is what it is, I suppose. Hey, inserting subject change as a distraction now, speaking of Tempest... Do you think she is a bad person?" Niko pauses for a moment, choosing his words carefully before speaking. "I believe her rivalry with Sin clouds her judgment. It causes her to make reckless decisions, but does that make her a bad person? Not in my eyes. She is just misguided, in my opinion."

"I agree, which is why I have decided that I'm going to give her one last chance to prove herself. If she can't put aside this silly rivalry for even a day, then I'm done trying to make this work." He pulls out his tablet and questions my decision again. "Are you sure this is what you want to do? maybe you should take more time to think about it."

"Yes, Final decision." I have newfound confidence as I tell him to accept the date request on my behalf. "For the record, I think this is a mistake," he tells me while tapping out the message. There's only one way to find out, and that's to try.