Adrian jolted awake, his breath hitching as his eyes darted around the dim light of his quarters. His chest heaved as he ran a hand over his face, damp with sweat. For a moment, he stayed there, sitting upright in his bed.
The sound. He could still feel it, like it had been carved into his memory. A gunshot, a huge contrast to the whine of the charge rifles everyone was used to. He'd heard recordings of mechanical rifle gunshots as well, but even that sounded different. Why? It didn't make sense. It never did.
He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, his bare feet meeting the metal floor. Across the room, his desk was cluttered with law texts, worn from long hours of study. "Darren Williams - On the Subject of Interplanetary Trade Law, vol. 2" sat on top, a title he could recite from memory at this point. He reached for it out of habit, but his hand hesitated. The dream still buzzed in his mind, fragments of smoke and sound refusing to fade.
A soft chime from the communicator on his desk broke the silence. Ellie's name flashed on the screen, bright against the dark backdrop. He stared at it for a moment before sighing and tapping to answer.
"Adrian!" Ellie's voice burst through the speaker, bright and familiar. "Please tell me you're not still buried under a mountain of books. It's Saturday, for crying out loud."
He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples. "Good morning to you too, Ellie."
"Don't dodge the question," she shot back. "Have you seen daylight today? Or yesterday, for that matter?"
Adrian glanced toward the viewport, where the cityscape of the Odyssey stretched out in its manufactured perfection. The further parts of the street curving up, as the horizon was the ceiling blocking the ground, instead of the opposite. He never really thought much of the curvature, as the vastness of the Odyssey made the ground feel completely flat. Towers of glass and steel reached toward the painted sky, their sleek lines reflecting the soft golden hues of artificial sunlight. The bustling streets below looked lively, full of people going about their day.
"Uh, yeah, of course I have... I'm just busy," he said, trying to sound firm. "The exams are coming up, and I need to stay ahead. My provisional license won't count for shit if I screw this up."
"You've been saying that for weeks," Ellie countered, her tone somewhere between exasperation and concern. "You can't study yourself to death, Adrian. The Daily Brew updated their menu, and you're coming with me. New pastries, new drinks. You'll thank me."
"Ellie-" he started, but she cut him off.
"No excuses. Meet me at our usual spot in twenty minutes. If you're not there, I'm coming to drag you out myself."
The call ended before he could argue. Adrian stared at the communicator for a moment, then sighed and stood, grabbing his satchel. She wasn't wrong. He needed a break.
---
The Daily Brew was crowded, the familiar sounds of conversation filling the air as Adrian stepped inside. Ellie stood by the baked goods display, her scarlet red hair instantly recognizable even from across the room.
Ellie pointed at a crescent-shaped pastry in the glass display. "What's this?"
"Croissant," the barista said with a grin. "It's traditional Earth food. Flaky, buttery, and amazing."
Ellie raised a brow. "Traditional pastries? Sold."
"Hey, Ellie," Adrian said, walking up to the counter. "Anything catch your interest?"
"Shhh... I'm trying to decide what to get," Ellie said, her gaze rapidly switching between the cupcakes and the so-called croissants. "Actually, I'll have one... no, two of each! And a third croissant for my friend, please."
"Damn, it really does smell good." Adrian mentioned in awe.
No response. Adrian looked at Ellie to see her intently focus on the pastries being loaded up onto a plate. "Odyssey to Ellie? I'll go sit in that corner over there. Looks cozy, no?"
"Yeah," she replied, obviously not listening.
As Adrian sat down, Ellie soon followed with her hands way too full, and sat down. She picked up a croissant and started eating it with one hand, and pushed one over to Adrian with her other hand.
Adrian picked it up, eyeing the flaky layers. He took a bite. The crisp layers shattered under his teeth, giving way to a soft, rich center. He chewed slowly, grudgingly admitting it wasn't bad.
"Well?" Ellie leaned forward, eyes sparkling.
"It's... fine," he said, smirking when she gasped in mock offense.
"You're impossible," she muttered, reaching for a cupcake. "Anyway, what's with the face? You look like you didn't sleep again."
Adrian shrugged, setting the half-eaten croissant down. "Same dream."
Ellie stopped mid-bite, her expression softening. "The one with the gunshot?"
"Yeah. It's always the same. And it's not like the stress from school is helping." Adrian supported his chin with his hand. "There's just so much paperwork. I've signed so many forms declaring that I won't abuse my status, won't do this, won't do that… And then there's the memorization - thousands of laws, precedents, case studies…" he trailed off, the list endless in his mind. "Either way, I'm rambling. I know what I'm learning is important, at least. How's security treating you?"
"Depends. Does sorting through incident reports and listening to old people on the phone until midnight count as being treated well?"
"Didn't you go through three years of academy training for this?"
"Those recruitment seminars back in general education made it seem so... cool! Like I would actually be doing something. Investigating crime scenes, interrogating suspects, and going 'Actually, one more thing' when I caught the suspect in a contradiction. And everyone on the force treats me like I'm an idiot just because I'm a new recruit!"
Adrian gave Ellie an understanding look. "Come on, Ellie. The only person I have to deal with on a regular basis is Selene, and she doesn't treat me like I'm an idiot. She treats me like i'm a newborn baby, that also happens to be an idiot. I'm assuming her mentor was the same to her."
Ellie paused, as if trying to put a face to the name. "Selene- oh, that scary woman. Poor you," she said sarcastically. "It just seems unfair, though. Why can't we choose if we wanna investigate crime scenes, or learn every single possible law?"
Adrian's face got serious. "Ellie, if I find out you lose your job because you skimped on learning those laws, I'll be supremely disappointed. Laws are laws, you hear me?"
"...Of course, mister lawyer who barely has his provisional license. You're the pro." She paused for a moment. "Hey, look over there! They have an old school board game shelf! What do you say to a good old game of kings?"
"So I can lose in less than 15 moves? No thanks. I actually never understood why you joined Security when you could've made a career out of humiliating people who are stupider than you."
"I did. It's called law enforcement. Either way, I just like figuring stuff out. Not that it helped that much on my judicial-related exams. I swear those precedents were randomly generated!" She huffed. "Actually, enough sitting around. Wanna go for a walk?"
Adrian agreed. They stepped out of the Daily Brew, and the contrast was immediate - the café's tranquility gave way to the lively chaos of the Odyssey's streets. The artificial sun cast a warm glow over the bustling crowd. Adrian shoved his hands into his coat pockets, walking beside Ellie down the gently curving boulevard.
"You ever wonder," he asked, nodding toward the distant dome edge, "what it'd be like to see a real sunrise?"
Ellie glanced over. "A real one? Not really. Never trusted the idea of standing on a rock ball where the air can just... leak out."
He laughed. "You- we both know that's not how it works. Either way, there's no way those speeches from the Constitutional Guardian don't make you at least a little bit emotional. The way he talks about it, you'd think getting a nanosecond of sun exposure was the same as eternal salvation."
Ellie raised her eyebrows. "You actually like those speeches? 'Seventy years of sacrifice," she started, mockingly making her voice deeper. "'The courage of our ancestors.' 'Humanity's second chance.' He's been giving the same speech since before I was born."
Adrian pondered for a second. "Maybe I've just developed a soft spot for protocol and repetitive monologues after all those statutes and precedents. But you gotta admit that the man does have a way with words. I still remember when he said no government should ever be beyond the judgment of its own people."
"That's actually kind of profound."
"Right?"
"But not profound enough to hear every single Founding Day. There's gotta be a limit-" she said, before being interrupted by buzzing from her wrist. "Huh, they need me at the station. Actually the station right in this sector."
"They need the rookie on a saturday?"
"I guess. It's not far, so feel free to tag along."