Walking through the sterile hallway of the inner guild, Mark arrived at his designated interview room where a guild android greeted him
"Greetings Mark, please take a seat"
The narrow room was parted by a thick see-through barrier where a guild android stood on the other side with a perfect business smile, it directed Mark to a chair right in front of the counter and barrier that separated the room in two
"Sure thing"
Mark sat down, he waited for the guild android to start, but to his surprise it simply stared at him for a prolonged time before it spoke
"Your current record indicates your last docking was in the Creh system, is that correct?"
"Yeah, that's true"
The guild android paused again, this time Mark saw it, an uncountable amount of data cycled behind its eyes before it spoke again
"The attack on Creh and the surrounding systems have brought untold devastation, could you please share some information about the attack and how you managed to escape the system?"
"Sure, the attack was sudden and unprovoked… They utilized some sort of energy weapon that sundered the station… After which the attacking force conducted extensive medical examination on the dead while they held a presence and enforced a barricade around the station"
The guild android spoke immediately after Mark finished
"And your route of escape?"
"Trailblazing, we utilized several remote controlled crafts for scouting… That and blind luck"
"I understand, thank you for sharing this with us Mark… Furthermore, I would like to thank you for the act of civil service you performed earlier today"
Mark nodded before he asked
"So, could you help me out with finding a job like I described earlier?"
"Certainly, there is a merchant group looking for escorts departing in 2 standardized days, would you like me to send the details to your operator, miss Luna? Or should I send it to the hotel room your companion is staying at?"
"...Where did you learn that? No, how do you know that!?"
Mark watched the guild android with incessant fury bubbling up though his mind as the android simply watched him with an almost curious look on its robotic face
"You know what? That doesn't work for me at all… Not one bit"
Mark rose to his feet as his vision darkened with rage, in his mind he had already made it halfway through the transparent barrier to tear that android apart with his bare hands. But he simply turned to leave the room, stopping briefly to compose himself before he spoke again
"I don't really appreciate that, you know, the investigation"
"Please don't feel insulted, it is a standardized procedure"
Mark was about to open the door to the hallway when the androids words nearly sent him into another rage and added a few final words
"You know… Trust goes both ways"
Not bothering with waiting for the reply, Mark continued out into the hallway and out onto the lobby where he ignored the words of one of the receptionist that called out to him about something or another
'...Maybe being a pirate instead wouldn't be that bad?'
Mark couldn't rationalize his anger at the moment, the moment the guild android had said Luna's name he had stopped caring about the guild entirely
'Alright, so space piracy is plan A, plan B is… A drifter? Yeah that works, there's got to be work besides what the guild has to offer… Plan C… Maybe I could utilize my feeding as some sort of psychological healing service or prescription? No, that's a bad idea…"
Mark continued brainstorming new paths to take in this strange galaxy when Luna's voice sounded out from his terminal
[So I take it the visit at the guild went poorly?]
"Yep, they breached our trust. My trust"
[I understand, what about the remaining refit orders?]
"Cancel them, I'm collecting Lisa, then we're leaving"
[Got it]
Mark continued onto the hotel where he had left Lisa soaking in the bath and after a short elevator ride he walked down the hallway and arrived at their room where he walked in and found Lisa sprawled out on the bed snoring
'I really can't see her like a princess anymore'
Not bothering to stand on ceremony, Mark simply picked the still sleeping Lisa up from the bed, warping her in a blanket as she stirred
"Mark..?"
"It's nothing, just keep sleeping"
"Mmm…"
Waiting for a few moments before Lisa's breathing stabilized again, Mark spoke in a quiet tone
"Would you mind checking us out, Luna?"
[Sure thing]
Walking out of the hotel with Lisa in his arms, Mark got more than a few looks to be sure, but he was far beyond caring at that point, walking out onto the pier Mark turned back towards the station entrance one last time and saw nothing but the bustling crowds of the busy station
'...'
[Mark? Is something wrong?]
"No, nothing… Let's get going"
-
Around 6 hours after the departure from their short stay on the Reeb-1 trade hub, Lisa awoke in her room rather… Well, outright pissed off. At least for a few moments as she stewed until she let out a quiet sigh and asked
"Luna, what's going on?"
[Miss Lisa, we are currently—]
"Luna, please"
[...Sorry, force of habit, the meeting at the guild turned sour and Mark got spooked]
"...How bad?"
[The guild dug a little too deep on their intel, mentioned me by name and named you his 'companion' and the hotel you stayed at]
Lisa let out a sigh, she could definitely see Mark getting pissed at that, she was more than a little annoyed at their snooping too, however she managed to cool her head a bit before she asked
"So, what now?"
[He hasn't specified yet, however I believe there won't be any merit in pushing him on this decision]
Lisa let out a sigh again before she asked again
"So, I ask again, what now?"
[Mark has not decided yet, he is still quite emotional… I… I have never seen him like this before]
"...Alright, I'll try talking to him"
[I wouldn't recommend it]
"If I manage to calm him down, will you agree to my… Previous proposal?"
[...Fine]
Lisa showed a smile as she wrapped herself out of her bed and headed out into the hallway before she made her way to the cockpit where she found Mark in a trance, he was linked to the ship at the moment, not that he was doing much piloting at the moment since they were undergoing a FTL jump. No, he had simply drifted off into his own world and forgotten to pull himself out
"Mark"
Calling out to Mark Lisa waited for a moment before she called out again
"Mark"
With no movement still Lisa pushed off the doorway and propelled herself over towards him, it was only when she embraced his arm as usual he woke up
"Mark"
Lisa studied his face for a bit, he clearly didn't want to talk
'...Those stupidly cute clear blue eyes of his'
Seeing his frustration at her continued silence mount Lisa kind of wanted to tease him a little more, despite the very apparent risk to her life if she pushed it too far. So instead of asking all the questions she wanted to, she simply decided to… Not ask
"So, where are we going?"
Mark's eyes narrowed as his anger flared for a moment, Lisa saw it in his eyes, how he was considering grabbing her by the neck and squeezing the life out of her or simply ripping out her throat. However, she had long since prepared for death, from the very first time she attempted to flee from her father's grasp at 11 years old
"Come on, don't make that face Mark. Where are we going?"
'...Safe'
Seeing the flare of anger in Mark's eyes change to scornful amusement, she knew she had chosen her words right
"... The system is called Brae, we'll be there in a couple of hours, but we'll keep moving in that direction until we put at least another 200 light years between us and that war"
"Sure"
Lisa tightened her grip on Mark's arm a bit before she muttered
"You know, I sometimes dreamed of becoming a space pirate… Is that the plan?"
Mark chuckled a bit, the anger in his eyes had dissipated completely by now as it seemed to Lisa he had returned to his usual self
"You? A space pirate?"
Lisa felt a rush of joy as she saw him smile as smiled in return before she nodded
"Yep, you know my face and body is a designer product my old man spent a fortune on, right?"
Mark's smile widened before he poked her nose and commented
"Don't get too full of yourself, princess"
"It's true~ That's why I wanted to be a pirate, I can just imagine the fury on my old man's face if he ever saw his latest made to order bride masterpiece on a bounty hologram~"
"Yeah, that would properly make anyone pop a vessel somewhere… Still, for a maso—"
"Don't say that!"
Lisa sent another fist into his flank to stop him from speaking, which it did as he broke out in laughter while she protested
"It's not my fault my dad made me to like being abused on a biological level!"
At that, Mark started laughing even harder as another elbow made clean contact with his jaw