Chapter 93: Saying Goodbye

Lusac looked at his neatly folded uniform in his closet before closing the door with an air of nervousness. He wouldn't be wearing it again for a long while. Preparations were nearly ready for the mission which meant he'd be heading out on his own soon.

Very soon.

And he was a lot more nervous for it than he wanted to admit, to himself or anyone else.

At least all the cooking had earned him another level up. He was now a proud level 8, sitting at [2800 XP] even after buying a new [Recipe]. He was still debating how much of it to spend on [Skills] versus [Recipes]. His stat screen now read:

[Stamina: 8]

[Intelligence: 11]

[Strength: 8]

[Charm: 9]

[Health: 11]

[Speed: 11]

[Common Sense: 2]

[Luck: 15]

Needless to say, Lusac was very excited that his [Common Sense] had finally increased again. As had his [Intelligence], [Charm], [Speed], and [Luck], all of which made sense given the time spent undercover at the senator's manor.

Avil was stretched out on the couch, his black fur ruffled from rolling around to find the perfect position. Lus smiled at the sight and went over to his cat. He sat down nearby, trying but failing to not disturb the nap. Avil's yellow eye snapped open to stare at him, but there was maliciousness in it. Only mild curiosity.

Lus reached out and rubbed his belly, messing up the fur even more. "Hey buddy. I'm going to miss you, you know that?"

It was far from the first time he'd had to leave the cat behind, and this one wasn't going to last more than three weeks given the volunteer rotation was exactly two standard weeks and it was only a couple days' travel to and from the Argo to the station.

And yet this one felt different. More serious.

Perhaps it was because of the weight of this mission, all of it on his shoulders alone.

Alone.

He'd never gone out on a mission alone. Ever. And doing so for the first time for such an important one added a lot of extra stress to his mind. But Lus was going to be fine. It would all be fine.

Avil gave a soft, screechy meow, and Lus smiled as he resumed petting the cat.

"Sorry, your majesty. I forgot that you're supposed to be the main focus of my life at all times," he said to his official system companion.

The pair sat in silence as Lus stroked the silky black fur and Avil purred, stretching out further to allow Lusac to pet every part of him.

"I don't think I'll even be able to summon you if I get into trouble. That's pretty unfortunate, isn't it? But I wouldn't risk you getting sick." He scrunched his face. "Can a Demon's essence get sick? Maybe you're immune too."

Looking down at the lump of fur on his couch, he shook his head. "I don't think this will be the right time to find out. You'll stay here with Becky. She'll take very good care of you."

Avil's ears perked up at the mention of his (second) favorite Human.

"Yeah. She'll be along to collect you anytime now," Lus assured him. "But I need to finish cleaning up and packing. I'm due in the shuttle bay in a couple of hours."

The cat remained on the couch as Lusac stood up and returned to the half full bag on his bed. He didn't have much to bring from here, mostly whatever non-Runner clothes he had laying around and a couple of trinkets. He'd grab the packaged food on his way to the hangar, and that would likely fill the rest of the bag.

Lus really hoped that he would be able to sneak that extra food with him. Having those [Power Burgers] and some [Beginner's Luck Soup] might make this mission feasible after all, especially if he was going to be facing deranged, half rotted people and animals hellbent on eating him.

Tremt-Fusi had forced Lusac to spend more time learning about nefitis to ensure he properly understood how dangerous it was and how it spread to make sure he didn't bring any of the germs back with him by accident.

That meant anything organic he took with him would have to be left back on the planet besides his own body. So whatever food he took down there he'd either eat or throw away in the end.

The door rang, and Lus gave up his worrying to answer it. Becky and Zer-Dasht both stood there.

"Hey guys. What are you doing here?" Lusac asked in surprise. Becky was supposed to come closer to when he had to leave, and he'd made no plans to see Zer-Dasht.

"To celebrate your final hours aboard the Argo of course," Zer-Dasht said with a laugh.

Becky rolled her brown eyes. "Not funny, Dasht." She smiled at Lus. "We just wanted to say goodbye and maybe hang out for a bit if you have the time. Oaty wanted to be here, but he's stuck actually doing his job for once."

Lus chuckled and stepped to the side, allowing both to enter his small room.

"I wonder if we can sneak your room onto the cleaning golem's schedule while you're gone. Maybe we'd finally rid you of this grime you like to live in." Dasht smirked as he walked over to the couch. "Maybe they'd take care of this mutant thing while they're at it."

Avil screeched in protest, and Becky immediately scooped him up.

"Oh, don't you worry Avil baby. I won't let the big, bad Nemarian hurt you," she said soothingly before burying her face into his fur.

"Are you sure you want to leave her in charge of the cat again, Lus? She might not give him back this time." Dasht plopped down on one side of the sofa. "Come on, get a fight on. Yrqw already mentioned that you picked up an entire tournament at the last resupply stop."

Becky sat next to him, and Lus took the other edge making it a tight fight. He used the remote control sitting on the beat up coffee table and got up the first of many gladiatus matches he bought.

Did he spend the majority of his cryptin on buying all the new main round tournaments? Yes, but as far as he was concerned, it was money well spent. And he always made sure to save enough to keep Avil in food and litter with enough left over to gamble at the monthly poker nights too.

The entire tournament was for fighters with systems, and the first match featured two Lus had never heard of before. Then again, he didn't waste his hard earned money on something as lame as novice brackets so it wasn't all surprising.

Dasht immediately latched onto the Nemarian competitor, and for the sake of it, Lusac chose to support the Kremel she was up against. Becky remained a neutral party, cheering at every hit regardless of who was behind it. Avil thrived in the chaos, the noise actually lulling him to sleep in Becky's lap.

After the first one, they put the next one, Dasht insisting they watch as many as they could before Lusac had to leave.

The conversation remained light, focused mainly on the fights or the latest ship gossip. That was nice. It helped Lusac get out of his head and stop worrying so much about the upcoming mission. Occasionally his anxiety would worm its way to the front of his mind with disheartening thoughts such as 'this is the last time you'll see your friends' and 'consider this your early funeral,' but his friends did a good job keeping him distracted so he couldn't fall into the spiral.

Eventually, however, the comm unit rang out with Cewi-Bano's voice, asking if Lusac was ready for departure.

"Blast it. Just when we were getting to the good matches," Dasht complained.

The three of them stood up, Becky keeping Avil in her arms.

Zer-Dasht slapped his back and shook his hand. "Don't get eaten or anything, okay? I still want to see the end of the tournament."

"I'll do my best," Lus promised.

"And come back with both eyes if you can. I don't think an eyepatch would be a good look," the Nemarian said as he crossed to the door.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Dasht paused and looked back with a smile. "Good luck, Lusac. You got this."

"Thanks, Dasht. I'll see you around."

The Nemarian left, leaving just Lus and Becky in the room.

And Avil, who made his presence known with a small screech.

"Let me grab Avil's litter box and food bowl, and I'll be out of your hair," Becky said.

Lus helped her collect the necessary items and walked with her to the door.

"Be safe out there, Lus," she said.

"I will." He only wished he felt as confident as he sounded.

She leaned forward and pecked his cheek. "I'll see you later, [Chef] boy."

Lus was at a loss for words as he watched her walk away, red heating his face. He touched the spot where she'd kissed his cheek. As worried as he was about the mission, his main consolation was that she didn't have to go on it. At least she would be safe, and that also meant Avil would always have a home on the Argo.

The comm unit went off again, Cewi-Bano checking in once more since he'd never responded to her the first time.

"On my way. I just need to swing by the kitchen," he told her. Grabbing his bag, he gave his room one last look and then stepped out into the corridor, the door closing behind with a certain finality.

Lusac made his way to the kitchen which was thankfully empty. He immediately loaded up all the packed foods into his bag, but before he left, he stepped up to the interbox.

"Hey Leviathan," he said.

The screen on the interbox went black, and a red, cartoon villain face appeared on it.

"What is it, imbecile?"

"Imbecile? Really? This might be the last time you ever see me," Lusac said nonchalantly.

The blocky eyebrows turned diagonal, either in confusion or anger. It was hard to tell with such a simplistic display.

"Good riddance," the Demon spat.

Lusac rolled his eyes. "Any parting words? Or maybe a last minute [Skill] to help me out? Remember that if I die, you'll be discovered and tossed into the abyss or something terrible."

"I gave you a system. Don't come crying to me just because you haven't managed it well."

"Right. Worth a shot," Lus muttered to himself. He sighed and doublechecked his bag. "Alright. I'm off. See you in a few weeks. Be good."

"I'm not a dog."

"But you are part cat," Lus said. "Or rather, part of you is a cat."

"Don't remind me about the stolen essence," Leviathan growled.

Lusac chuckled and patted the side of the interbox. "See you when I get back, Leviathan."

"If you get back," the Demon murmured.

Lus picked up his bag and walked away, not bothering to give Leviathan the satisfaction of even a glance back. He left the kitchen behind and went to the hangar where Cewi-Bano waited.

"All set?" the Nemarian asked.

"Yep." Lusac hefted his bag up as proof. "Are you the one taking me down?"

"Yeah. I'll drop you off and introduce you to the contact with the government shuttle, but from there you'll be on your own. The Argo will be back here in eighteen days, and we'll hang out at least a week to be sure we don't miss you. If you don't make it back inside that window…"

"I can kiss my spot on the crew goodbye," Lus filled in for her.

"Just don't be late," she said with a laugh.

Lusac chuckled alongside and stepped into the shuttle. Since it was only the two of them, he left his bag on one of the back seats and then took the co-pilot's spot. Cewi came in right after him and sat in the pilot's chair.

She started up the engines, closed the rear door, and used the communicator to inform the Bridge that they were ready.

"Copy. You're set for departure. We'll see you back here in a couple of hours, Cewi. And you in a couple of weeks, Lusac," Nippy said from the other end. "Good luck, kid."

"Thanks, Nippy," Lus replied as he strapped his seatbelt together.

Cewi-Bano closed out the comm channel and then initiated the automatic takeoff sequence. She, like the majority of non-professional pilots, preferred to use the autotools when she could.

Lusac leaned back in his seat, doing everything he could to calm his nerves as they left the Argo and headed for the nearby moon. The mission for the final piece of the artifact had officially started.