Starlight (On Hold)

Chapter 1: Stars of a Night Sky

Chapter 1: Stars of a Night Sky

“So, what are you planning to do tonight? Want to have another round of Legacy at my place?” A burly young man about 21 cycles spoke into his com-mike as he lifted a container into place.

     I thought about it as I moved to the pile of un-shelf containers. It was a tempting offer but I have stuff to do tonight.

     “I can't Shen, I need to get these containers into place before midnight for tomorrow morning's 7.30am delivery shift. Its gonna take me all night to move them so maybe not tonight.”

     I chuckled as I heard Shen groan. “Well there's always Craison to play with. You can always ask him. He'd be overjoyed.”

     “Meh, he's no fun. He has completely no skill and always shrieks every single time he gets shot down. If I spend more than an hour with him I'd go deaf.” I can imagine Shen's scrunch-up face as he talked.

     “Well then just take a night off. Too much adrenaline is never good for you.” I winked at him even though I knew he couldn't see it.

     Legacy is a roll-playing / adventure / Sci-fi game. In it you can experience the thrill of being a space trooper as well as pilot starfighters along some missions. It’s an extremely addictive game and unfortunately Shen has become quite attached to it.

     Poor him. I laugh at that thought.

     Apparently I was pretty good with the game controls. Why do I say that? I practically broke all of Shen's high scores, and did I mention that he was a pretty good player himself? Ever since I broke his high score three times in a row, Shen has been trying to bypass me every time he has the chance. And I am proud to say that he is still 500 points behind me.

     The sensors started to ping and I jerk out of my thoughts.

     “Oh crap...” I cursed as I readjusted the lever controls and turn my helmet display towards the appropriate shelf number. As I worked in a shipping company owned by Shen's father, I got to use some of the newer equipment.

     Every worker that worked in the Loading Wing of the starport was issued a helmet display unit or HDU, a pair of sensory gloves plugged into our work station, and a jacket with our names and ID set into it. It was also equipped with a GPS system so that we can be found should an accident happen and we were trapped.

     We all worked in work stations that were held above the ground by four roller-equipped 8 meter tall pillars. Even though we were far above the ground, our HDU allows us to zoom in to check-out whatever insects that were crawling on the ground. Our sensory gloves controlled the two massive pincer-like arms protruding from our work stations. Our HDUs were all linked to a central control center which enables us to communicate with one another through the com-link we share.

     “Hey Jason, why not I help you with your loading so we can finish in time for a round of Legacy? I can't wait to kick your ass.” Shen laughed while saying to me.

     “You've been saying that for the past 6 months and still you're 500 points behind. But I'm all for it if you're willing to help me out. My hands are stiff from moving in the same pattern for hours.” That's the downside of working in the Loading Wing. Your hands get really tired after a long days work.

     “Oh you're on. I'll be at your area in five. I'm packing up now. Rearranging those sensor cores was a pain but I got them sorted out.”

     Well, guess I'm getting to wipe someone's behind tonight after all.

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