Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Kai in the sky

Cold starlight shines in through every gap that the man peers through, as he stands there all by himself, staring out through the observatory windows.

 

Rays of light dance around, touching the reflective exterior of the station with their warm grace, setting it alight in a way that is entirely alien to the dark ocean that surrounds it.

 

As he stands there, Gottlieb can’t help but feel that he is, like those distant stars, simply afloat. He’s just… particulate, drifting in the deep depths of a vast ocean, captured and made visible only by the faintest whispers of shining light.

 

“Kai,” says the man, not bothering to look over his shoulder at the completely empty observatory again a second time. “We’re alone, aren’t we?” he asks, his words floating through the dark room that he is immersed in. It’s lit up by the glow of the emergency lights that he had activated after opening the door.

 

Kai doesn’t respond.

 

From his new abilities, Gottlieb had chosen the one that allowed him clearance to open so-called ‘rank one’ doors on the station, as well as the high-precision strike.

 

Neither of these things make sense to him, of course.

 

There aren’t any such things as ‘rank one’ doors on the station. You have access to what you need for your job and that’s it. Every job has its own collection of doors that they can open. But, sure enough, the observatory door opened for him when he tried it. He isn’t sure what other doors count as what rank. There are probably one or two other doors that he can open now too.

 

As for the ‘high-precision strike’, he doesn’t get it either. That’s just not how the gun works at all. She’s a big girl, she doesn’t do ‘high precision’. The orbital-weapons-platform is what is classified as a heavy ‘conflict resolution’ weapon by any measure of military standards.

 

Times change, apparently.

 

Gottlieb shudders, realizing that it’s kind of cold in here, actually. He sighs, shaking his head, looking around the room.

 

Snacks and drinks are still set on the tables. He can still see them sitting there. ‘Snacks’ and ‘drinks’ are again, as always, generous terms. He’s pretty sure that the snacks are the same exact nutrient-paste as the rations, but the goo is pressed into tiny wafers instead of bricks like it is for the food. But that’s just what life is in space. The drinks are just re-filtered hydro ass-water. Likely they’ve added some electrolyte sachets, for the special occasion.

 

The man eyes the table for a moment and decides against it. He has food that’s just as assy as any of this. Though…

 

Gottlieb steps towards the table, looking at the reusable metal cups with sippy lids that have names written on them.

 

“Johan… Friedrich…” he mutters, going through the collection on the table until he finds the one that he’s looking for. “…Richter.” His finger stops on the bottle, pressing against the metal surface for a moment.

You are reading story Planetary Orbital Weapon – [An orbital-particle-cannon based litRPG!] at novel35.com

 

Now what?

 

He’s starting to get a feel for the situation, but it really doesn’t look like there’s a way out of this.

 

Is he going to die too?

 

Gottlieb looks at the blue light, hanging above his head. Should he just… freeze himself in cryo again? Maybe he’ll wake up and then…

 

No… the cosmic-event… maybe…

 

“Kai,” says Gottlieb. “Run a scan for me. Is there going to be more stuff like two days ago?” he asks. Maybe if another ‘wave’ pulses through… maybe the station will get pushed back to where it belongs. Maybe…

 

Gottlieb sighs, letting his finger slide down the bottle. He leaves it there.

 

The man spares one last glance towards the stars, shining in through the windows, before he walks away to the large, sliding metal door, walking out of it with empty hands and a heavy weight in his chest.

 

“Seal the observatory, Kai,” says Gottlieb. “It’s a graveyard now.”

 

The man stares up towards the blue light above his head, wishing that just once, Kai would just say ‘okay’.

 

Kai says nothing and Gottlieb returns to his station.

 

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