Story Reader / Event Story / Stellar Narratives / Story
The heart of Constellia glows with bright lights, filled with the hum of mechanoid vendors and the steady click of turning gears. Their stalls are piled with unusual components, handcrafted pieces, and carefully restored relics.
The air carries a faint hint of machine oil blended with the sweet scent of energy fluid. Stalls of every kind tempt passersby to linger.
According to my scans, the market's energy efficiency is 17.3% higher than expected. Some stalls even hide defensive structures under designs that fit perfectly with the festival's atmosphere...
Is that so strange? I like visiting markets too.
Efficiency isn't the only measure. Observing how individuals behave and trade is valuable data too. And... today is a special day.
More important than the festival is that you're here. Last Double Seventh, you were so buried in your report that someone had to feed you cake. Have you forgotten?
Lee's gaze is bright, his expression serious yet touched with the faintest trace of expectation as he looks at you.
Lee doesn't answer right away. His eyes settle on a small, unassuming stall at the edge of the square, run by a somewhat bulky mechanoid built from several old optical lenses and metal arms.
Forget it. Come with me.
He takes your wrist and strides forward, and if you look closely, his habitually faulty cooling system is glowing red again.
You'll find out soon. It's rare we have time off, so let's not waste it.
The two of you arrive at the quiet stall. The clumsy mechanoid vendor turns its head slowly toward you, as if waking from a long sleep.
Welcome. This stall operates on equivalent exchange. I accept high-precision items, rare elements, or... perhaps interesting data?
Lee steps forward and picks up a fist-sized chunk of blue metal, its surface lined with natural crystalline patterns. As he studies it, faint streams of golden data light flow from his fingertips.
This is a stabilized memory alloy fragment. It comes from the core protective layer of a probe, able to store information securely and resist detection by standard scans.
Hmm. Non-standard engraving marks, stable storage structure, excellent interference resistance. The origin is unknown, but I detect no signs of danger...
You recognize its value. What will you trade for it?
I can offer an optimized communication core, compatible with your outdated optical sensor array. It will increase bandwidth and interference resistance by 37%, and it can also improve the stability of your central processing unit.
Before he even finishes, the mechanoid vendor's lens flashes rapidly, accompanied by the buzzing sound of calculations.
D-deal! Exchange accepted. Please take the memory alloy.
The mechanoid vendor extends a mechanical arm, carefully picking up the "Void Prism" shard while sliding the blue memory alloy toward Lee. Lee nods in thanks and places the alloy in his palm.
He seems to store something inside it before handing it to you.
The metal glimmers with a shifting light, radiating a strange sense of stability.
The vendor clearly overstated its capabilities. Still, small creations like this from the late Golden Age have no means of restoration left. These days, their worth lies more in collection than in practical use.
I stored... Actually, you first. What would you want to store?
It can't capture all that. At most it can only...
But you gesture toward the neon?lit night sky, as if gathering in that motion the sweet hint in the air and the lively calls of the vendors around you.
...
Lee watches you, pausing for half a second before speaking, his tone just a little slower than usual.
It can only store a few characters at most. But some memories and feelings deserve to be safeguarded, untouched by time or disaster.
Realizing he spoke a little too plainly, Lee adds a quick follow?up.
Either way, as a small data storage unit, it has more... more tactical value than an ordinary gift.
That's irrelevant. Do you like it or not?
Lee turns his head aside, enclosing your fingers around the small alloy piece with his own.
Just then, a commotion breaks out at a nearby stall selling holographic fireworks. One of the projectors overloads, and the giant pink heart it was displaying begins to flicker and warp before emitting a grating noise.
The mechanoid vendor flails with its mechanical arms, trying to catch the parts that keep erupting into the air, but it's no use. A metal plate breaks loose and comes crashing toward you.
Get back, Commandant!
Lee takes a quick step back, glances over his shoulder at you, then lunges back to shield you.
Metal plates crash down and explosions echo around you, but beneath the noise, a deliberately hushed voice slips quietly into your ear.
Only after the last clatter of falling metal does Lee lower the arm shielding your head.
The devices that went haywire have already been shut down, now releasing thin trails of white smoke as they sit silently facing the two of you in the street.
Ahem. I didn't expect something like that to happen here. Are you alright, Commandant?
You heard me?
The corner of Lee's mouth curves into the faintest smile as his gaze drifts back to the dazzling lights and the simulated galaxy overhead.
...Come closer.
If you want to hear it, I can say it as many times as you like.
