Chapter 3: Ice Cream

November 10, UC 1587 | ???, Planet ???, Capital City ???, Drikon's Family Home

Click… Thump… Thump… Thump…

Sitting on the sofa with a content expression, Annika watches Haylock step down the stairs after closing the door, "so, how did it go?"

"Sigh." Shaking his head, "She's too hyper."

"And where do you think she gets that from? Hmm?" Annika inquires with an amused expression.

Moving closer, Haylock counters with a grin, "I can't help it. She got one of my better genes."

Trying to hold in her laughter at his shamelessness, "Well, it's a good thing you're here. You can tuck her in until you have to deploy again."

Taking a seat, "Honey, there's something I need to tell you."

Upon sensing the sudden change in Haylock's disposition, "Y-yes?"

Taking a deep breath, "Well…" Focusing on her eyes. Then a slightly mischievous smile forms, "I've transferred to be planet side from now on."

Blinking her eyes several times, "You!" With an exasperated expression and a slight whine in her voice, "Do you have to scare me like that? I thought you had to leave again."

"Sorry, I just wanted to surprise you." Trying to soothe Annika's anger.

"And surprise you did. Sigh. I already got enough of this with Astinia."

Smiling, "He must have gotten my better genes as well."

"Huh!?" Glaring at Haylock to say that one more time.

Cough. Cough. Looking away, "So, how is Astinia?"

With a half-raised eyebrow, she didn't call out his blatant diversionary tactic. "He's too clever."

Confused about what the issue is, "Isn't that good? He'll have a good head on his shoulder when he grows up."

"Not if he continues to learn from you!"

"Honey, I said I'm sorry." Pleading for leniency from his prank.

Humph! "Fine, but I want more cuddles."

"Yes. Yes. Whatever you want, Honey."

Grinning, she immediately takes advantage of his offer and gets to a more comfortable position.

Hoping she's appeased, "Honey, what's wrong with Astinia being clever?"

"Mmm." With a slightly worried voice, "It's not that I'm worried about his future. I believe he'll be amazing in whatever he wants to be once he puts his mind to it. The problem is that I'm worried about him making friends once school starts. I worry that no one will want to be friends with him."

"Huh? That's it?"

"What do you mean by 'That's it!?'"

"What I mean is that, instead of waiting until school starts, we can find him, friends, right now."

Realizing this option, "but it can't be just anyone as I don't want anyone who might be a bad influence."

"Of course, Hmm… I have a buddy from training. His wife had a baby girl recently so he asked for temporary leave. If I remember correctly, he had a son about Astinia's age. I'll need to double-check with him, but that seems correct."

"How are you going to get them to meet? I don't think Astinia will want to do this once he figures out what is happening." Annika questions.

"Hmm… I'll have Kideko come as well. Since Kideko wants to be a mecha pilot, speaking with an experienced mecha pilot would be a good experience for her."

Contemplating that it might work, she still feels it isn't enough. "Anything else?"

While thinking about how to convince Astinia, he casually skims his medals. Grinning at his brilliant idea, "Knowledge isn't just in books; Astinia can learn a ton from the variety of stories that others have experienced.

Smiling, "That's a great idea."

Watching Annika, "What about you? Can you come up with anyone of interest?"

With a slight frustrated look, "I don't know anyone whose kid is about Astinia's age. They're either older or younger than him. I want them to be the same age so they go to school together."

"Honey, Astinia still has three more years before he turns ten. I don't think we should stress over this too much."

"Sigh. You're right, though I would like to find him another friend as soon as possible." 

While contemplating deeper into this, "I think I will have Astinia follow me when I go to work tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

"I agree this is early. However, I want Astinia to start now. He'll meet new people and learn much more. Since we are finding friends for him, we might as well do this too."

"Honey, this seems like a lot for one day?"

"Which is why I want Astinia to come with me to work once every week or maybe once every other week. Besides, I'm not the only one who brings their kids to work. Maybe Astinia will make a friend when he visits."

"It seems like we have a plan. Now then. Since it's getting late, we should head to bed and make up the time spent away from each other."

Giggling, "You'll have to pick me up. I'm too comfortable right now."

Whispering in her ear, which only makes her blush, he picks her up and enters the master bedroom. Only for the door to 'Click' shut.

November 11, UC 1587 | ???, Planet ???, Capital City ???, Drikon's Family Home

"Yawn," I rub my sleepy eyes. 'I'm so tired.'

"Good morning sleepy head. Did you get enough sleep, Astinia?"

"Mmm, yes." Still half asleep.

With a mischievous smile "Maybe you should cut back on the candy."

That instantly woke me up. "No! I slept great."

Chuckling at my answer, "It's good you got plenty of rest. There's still time before breakfast is ready, and if I remember correctly, I promised to read 'Strength is Might' to you."

With bright eyes, I ran off to get the book. 'Where? Oh, found it.'

After returning with the book, I noticed her on the sofa. "Here you go, Mommy."

"Thank you, sweetie. Now then, do you remember where we left off?"

"Mhmm. It was the part after the Golden Age started."

"That's right. You're so smart."

"Hehe."

"Let's see… Ah, here we go. While the Golden Age was one of prosperity for many. It was still a place of hardship and loss for others."

"Why is there both prosperity and hardship? Shouldn't the Golden Age be good for everyone?

"Well, there are so many to count that I wouldn't even be able to list them all. Instead, I'll talk about the ones that were the main contributors. Let's start with the social class.

These are people born with a certain amount of wealth and influence. They've worked hard to bring themselves up from a lower status or they've fallen from a higher status.

These are the middle class. In between those in the upper and lower class. Most people associate their social class with how much money they own or earn. Those who care will think that influence or connections are just as important or even more important than money."

"Then, where are we at?"

"The upper-middle class. Do you know why?"

"Uhmm," looking around, "Money!"

Chuckling at my silliness, "Yes, we have money, but what else do we have?"

"Influence and connection."

"That's right. Your Dad is a mecha commander. He has fought multiple battles, led his command to win, and survived to tell about it. He is known for his decisiveness and bravery. 

Then there's me. I am a professor at one of the top universities. While mine isn't as exciting as his, I have taught hundreds of students and led several studies on history. So, can you figure out the difference between us?"

"One is fighting while the other is… not?"

"Close. The difference is that your Dad's influence and connections are from the military, and mine is from the civilian side."

"Oh, I understand now."

"That's good. So, because of money, influence, and connections, the upper class have a far easier time migrating to different habitable planets. The middle class may or may not have difficulty migrating as it is dependent on their luck. It is the poor that would have the most difficulty in acquiring a passage to migrate as they don't have the money to pay for their travel, their influence is insignificant, and they don't have the connections to speed the process. They will have to find some other means of travel or assistance which brings up my next point. Ambition."

"There is no lack of ambition in the stars. Everyone has dreams and hopes. Our purpose could be as small as a pebble or as grand as the galaxy. Just like me, do you want to know?"

With bright eyes, "Yes!"

Chuckling, "my dream is for you to grow healthy and strong. Whatever you want to be in the future, to be able to achieve it.

"I'll make your dream real!" Jumping up and down.

"Hehe, "and what about you, sweetie? Do you have any dreams?"

"Hmm. To make you happy!"

With a slight huff and smile, "I meant for you, silly."

Contemplating, "Then… I can't think of anything else."

"How about," discreetly eyeing Haylock, "you come with me to work? You may be able to find your dream there."

"I don't know."

"There's also a library full of books."

"Yes! I'll go with you!"

"Great. I'm sure you'll love it there. Hmmm, looks like we got a little sidetracked. Can you tell me where we left off?"

While in the motion of sitting down, Astinia quickly ponders on what was asked. Annika gives a slight nod to Haylock, to which he returns with a grin.

"You were in the middle of explaining ambition"

"Ahh, That's right. Thank you, sweetie."

"Hehe."

"We all need ambition. Some have more and some have less but all these are subjective to the person. The moment we lose sight of this goal, to lose sight of our ambition, is the moment we give up on bettering ourselves. Of course, just because we lose our goal doesn't mean we can't gain it again. We may even gain a different ambition than what we lost before."

Tilting my head a little, "so is it bad I don't have ambition?"

Shaking her head, "No, you don't have to worry about this. You are only 7 years old. Once you are 10 years old and about to start school, I hope you can realize your ambition in what you want to strive for in the future."

"Yes! I'll do my best."

November 11, UC 1587 | ???, Planet ???, Capital City ???, Drikon's Family Home > Haylock's Skycar; On route to Hearn's Family Home

"Alright, it's time for us to go. Kideko! Are you ready to leave!?"

"Yes!" Hurried footsteps stomp down the stairs.

"Huh? Where are you going Daddy?"

"I'm taking Kideko to talk an old friend about mecha piloting"

"Oh, okay." 'Sounds boring. I think I'll stay with Mommy to read more for me.'

"Would you like to come with us? I think it would be good to get out of the house sometime."

"Ummm I don't know..." Shuffling my feet while slowly moving towards Mommy.

Kideko completely ignores me in her excitement. Her energy was bubbling as she just couldn't stay still. "Dada? You said he was going to talk about some stories for me. Do you know what they are?"

'Huh? What stories?' Slightly intrigued.

"Hahaha." Haylock pats her head. "That will be a surprise."

"Awwww." Pouting a little.

"Hmmm." Taking a look at the time. "I think we have time to take a detour and grab something to eat. How about some ice cream, Kideko?"

"Yes, please." Eyes sparkling in anticipation. Today keeps getting better and better, she thought.

"Wait, I want to go too." My eyes are in a panic. 'I want some. I want some.'

It felt like Kideko's world shattered. She looks at me in anger.

"I thought you didn't want to go!" Her voice rises with each word.

"Well, now I do!"

"What!? You can't just change your mind like that." 

Frustration was building up within as her alone time with Dada is going to be ruined by a third wheel.

"Now. Now." He tries to placate us but his eyes eventually meet Annika's eyes in triumph in how he was easily able to bribe ~ahem~ persuade Astinia to come.

Annika rolled her eyes at his shamelessness but internally was happy by how things were going.

Eventually we got into Daddy's Skycar and were lifted up in the air on our journey to get some ice cream. 'No. No. No. On our journey for ice cream and... whatever Kideko was going to do.' The last part is an afterthought.

The flight was quick and we were already halfway to our destination after checking the map. I saw so many cool different holograms in the air. Mechas so large they seem to stretch endlessly, all sorts of different food that made my stomach growl, and someone singing and dancing on stage with different lights blasting away. So much food for the eyes it was hard to keep track.

Before I knew it we were already on the ground and in front of the ice cream shop.

"So, which ice cream are you thinking of getting, Kideko? Astinia?

"I want all of them" My eyes darted from one to the next.

"Astinia. You can't have all of them."

"Awww, fine."

"Dada, I want a strawberry ice cream cone with sprinkles on top."

"And what about you Astinia?"

'They all look good. I can't choose.' But I knew time was running out as Kideko already got hers.

"I want the cookies and cream ice cream cone with sprinkles too"

At last. The wait was worth it. One lick. Two licks. A giant bite and a brain freeze later.

My eyes close from the sharp pain but then I sigh in relief. Not just from the pain but from the yummy ice cream in my tummy.

Once I ate the pointy end of the cone my eyes began to wonder. I was so focused on the ice cream I hadn't really taken in the view inside the shop. Many were coming and going. So many happy faces with ice cream in hand.

My eyes eventually stopped at a corner. A little girl with an ice cream cone in hand. She had her eyes closed and a smile on her face. 'I wonder if she got a brain freeze too.'

'Maybe I should say hi to...' "Astinia?"

"Huh?" I look at Daddy.

"Time to go." I saw both of them standing by the door.

"Okay." I take one last glance back at all the ice cream on the counter and then leave through the door.