Our final destination was the upper observation garden.
It rested near the highest point of the city, where the air was cooler and the noise of the lower districts became a distant hum.
The garden contained trees imported from several worlds, each kept within carefully managed environmental sections.
We found a quiet place overlooking Aurix-9's horizon.
From there, the city extended so far that its outer districts faded into the afternoon haze.
Serana sat on the grass despite several benches being available.
I sat beside her.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
It wasn't an uncomfortable silence.
Serana had always been one of the few people with whom silence didn't feel like something that needed to be filled.
Eventually, she leaned sideways until her head rested against my shoulder.
"You've gotten taller."
"That normally happens with age."
"You used to be small enough for me to carry."
"I was a baby."
"You were adorable."
"I cried frequently and couldn't control my limbs."
"Adorable."
"I vomited on you."
Her expression darkened.
"I had almost forgotten that."
"You brought it up, that's your fault.
She nudged my shoulder with hers.
I smiled faintly, I did enjoy the today. It was nice not having to stress about the future and keep planning.
An outlet is always needed, and that's for any type of person.
Her voice became quieter.
"I know you're going to do something important one day."
I turned toward her.
She continued looking across the city.
"You've always been different. Even when you were little, it felt like you were looking at something the rest of us couldn't see."
My smile faded slightly.
"Does that bother you?"
"No."
She answered immediately.
"It worries me sometimes."
"Why?"
"Because you keep moving forward as though slowing down would be dangerous."
That was more accurate than she knew.
The events of the Borderlands franchise would begin in couple years now.
And with it the Eridium Scar would erupt on the surface of Pandora when The Destroyer's feeding Vault is opened and it is defeated temporarily.
My memories weren't perfect, but I remembered enough to know that the galaxy would become increasingly unstable.
The Vault in the first Borderlands game is a fake, it is just a smal window, a Vault that is meant to sacrifice beings once every 200 years when the Pandoran Vault Key naturally charges, all to appease and satisfy the endless hunger of The Destroyer to keep it in its prison for a while longer.
When the Eridium Scar erupts, I would be able to harvest in advance, before Hyperion can arrive, an abundant amount of Eridium to use for my own ends.
Eridium is a very VERY unique substance linked with the Sirens and the Eridian race.
I couldn't afford to waste time with the deadline approaching.
Serana lifted her head and looked directly at me.
"You're allowed to enjoy your life, Raime."
"I do."
"Research isn't the only thing that counts."
"I know."
"Do you?"
I didn't answer immediately.
She reached over and placed a hand on top of mine.
"I'm not asking you to stop being yourself. I know that would be impossible."
"That sounded insulting."
"It was affectionate."
"I'm not sure that improves it."
The curves of her mouth arched into a smile.
"I'm asking you to remember that you have people around you. Mother, Father and me."
"Dad...really?"
My father wasn't entirely a father figure and is like most families with high reputation and standing.
And my father was just like that, he was proud of me of the genius I am, not the person inside as people like these never looked inward to recognize the struggle a person has inside.
My mother was just like my sister, genuinely caring, though mother is 'slightly' like father in some areas though that can't be helped.
"I know sister. I will ask for help-"
She had instantly made a gasping expression of feign shock.
"When I need it" I finishished which caused her to pout like I stepped on her face.
She leaned against me again.
The sun continued descending over Aurix-9, casting the city in pale gold while lights began appearing across the distant towers.
I still had work waiting at home.
Simulations to review.
Designs to refine.
A conversation with Angel that I had delayed for several hours.
Yet as I sat beside my sister, watching the city change beneath the evening sky, I didn't feel impatient to return.
But perhaps Serana was right.
There were things I couldn't treat as another problem to be solved or another resource to preserve.
Some things only mattered because I was there to experience them.
And for one day, at least...
Being Raime Virex meant more than preparing for what came next.
It meant being a fourteen-year-old boy spending the afternoon with his older sister.