Welcome home, Ms. Nassa pt.1

Where to start this conversation. For me, it will be from the start, where it all began, home. Well, that's not exactly true. Nekomon is not exactly where I am from, but my father worked there from time to time when he needs to be in the office. An old friend I have not talked to in a while is still there. My hope is he can fill in some blanks.

Darrin sits in the back seat while I sit up front with Marcus. For now, they are the only few people I can trust with this. Marcus doesn't say a word though. He's been quiet this entire trip actually. The ship starts to shake as we exit jump space and arrive at our destination. We are back home again. A call comes through the comms. Marcus answers it and relay to the towers his intentions. As they talk, we drift through the planet's artificial ring system. It is essentially four long space stations connected together through one gravity field to create the ring like structure. Any normal tower seen on the surface is also located here, though they are much bigger, and more elaborate.

We pass through the cloud layer and fly through the massive planet-wide city before arriving at our destination, the headquarters for Federal Investigations.

It consists of two twin glass towers standing side by side. Both were about 100 stories tall and a bridge connected the two buildings together high above. Most of the business took place on the bottom floors while the administrative and communication operations took place up top as revealed by the massive communications dish at the top of the tower. Marcus lands the ship on one of the open pads and we both exit. The pad sits at the bottom of the building, so we enter through the front door. There we are greeted by the main lobby. An extravagant entrance decorated with flags and shiny chrome statues of random people I don't recognize. Ahead of us was the receptionist's desk and a massive screen running across the entire length of the lobby. It is split into sections and played a random assortment of news reports. Though upon closer inspection, they all were still focused on the cloud disaster. They haven't found out about Meklar, yet. The rest of the area is very busy as people scurry around to get to their destination. There is no line at the desk and to the left is a security checkpoint. I walk ahead of Marcus and wait at the desk. A man enters from behind a door and smiles as he greets us.

"Welcome to Federal Investigation, do you have an appointment?" He asks as he opens his tab.

"No. This is a visit. I am here to see Lead Investigator Barrett."

"Barrett? He doesn't take visitors. Is he expecting you?"

"Yeah, he should."

He side-eyes me for a few seconds.

"He should? M'am it's either yes or no."

"No." I replied in a stern manner.

He places the tab on the table.

"Look, I cannot let you in to see a lead investigator. We have channels you have to go through. Have you heard of chain of command? If you wish to file a complaint..."

"...Excuse me." Marcus says approaching from behind me. "I am sorry to interject. We are both from the RNS Boseman." He turns to Darrin who doesnt say a word before continuing the conversation. "My name is Marcus Jones. This is Demi Nasa, my commanding officer. It is extremely important that we are able to speak with him. Is there any way you can contact him at all? Call him maybe?"

I turn to Marcus who shrugs though he doesn't look at me, almost like he was winging it. The receptionist stares at the both of us for an uncomfortable amount of time before picking up his tab and placing something into his ear.

"You, I don't care about." He says pointing to Marcus. Then he turns his attention to me. "Demi Nasa? Is that correct?"

"Yes." I said.

"One moment."

He starts talking to himself and turns away from us. After some time, he faces us again, and I am able to make out part of the conversion on his end.

"Yes sir." He says. "Her name is Demi. Demi Nasa…Yes…Yes sir…Of course…Yes…Right away…She'll be right up, Mr. Nasa."

He disconnects the line and opens a drawer below him. He pulls out three cards and places them on a scanner. It beeps and he hands them to us.

"His office is on the 80th floor at the end of the hall. Use these guest passes to get in." He says.

We both thanked him as we received our cards and made our way to the checkpoint. We pass through it and make our way to the elevator. The doors open and we enter inside pressing the button for the 80th floor and the doors begin to close. The elevator starts to move.

"How interesting." Darrin says.

"What is?" I ask.

"Mr. Nassa. Your last name is Nassa. You have friends in high places, huh?"

"Do I?"

"No you just said, 'Hey I need you. Secure a ship in the hanger, I'll meet you there.'"

"Oh."

"So. Mr. Nasa."

"Yeah."

"What is he? A Cousin?"

"Uncle."

"Huh."

He stands quietly for a moment as the elevator hummed in the background, like he's thinking of the next words to say. However, I was grossly mistaken. He said nothing. He was quiet for at least 20 floors. I didn't know why I was so uneasy about it. It was just us and I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. I just stood there, side eyeing him like I was hoping for him to see me or something. Eventually he does see me, but I come to discover he's been watching me the whole time.

"You ok?" He asks.

"What? Yeah."

"Really? You seem very…fidgety."

"And you're very quiet."

"Oh of course. Sometimes I enjoy the peace. What? You miss my witty one-liners?"

"You don't have any witty one-liners."

"What about jokes?"

"No jokes."

"Music?"

"No."

"Or you miss me hit-"

"-Marcus!" I yell.

"Sorry."

"So...you two." Darrin says.

We both look at him as he stands there curious.

"What about us?" I ask.

"Are you two...you know..."

"No! 

Marcus stares at me for a few seconds, squinting his eyes to try and understand my reaction.

"No." I continued, turning my head away from him.

"Hmm."

"Anyways...I've been thinking." Marcus continues, "I've been for a while."

"About what?"

"My…uhh."

"Your what?"

"I had to reflect a little. With my life decisions and everything."

"You lost your confidence or something? Has Lewis gotten in your head?"

"Maybe. My re-enlistment is coming up soon. Starting to feel like I made a wrong decision somewhere."

"Why? Where is this coming from? Lewis is wrong about you. You pilot the most advanced ship in the fleet. You've earned my respect. That alone is an accomplishment no one can beat."

"True. You're right."

"Yeah."

"We did save the princess and prince. I fell in love, we fought a moon. That was badass by the way."

"You fell in love?"

"Yeah, you know. She was a real looker."

"With…who?" I asked, not giving him any eye contact. Instinctively my eyes began to wonder, as if I were finding something to focus on so as to not listen to his response. He was quiet for a moment.

"Princess Cadence. By the mother of…have you seen her?"

"Yeah."

"You have? Lucky you. Wow, she was gorgeous. Exceptionally tall, hot body, and those legs are to die for."

Weather it was out of annoyance or anger, a part of me moves on its own and punches Marcus in the shoulder. He screeches in pain and jumps back a little before looking at me like I committed the ultimate betrayal. Darrin laughs in the back.

"What was that for?

"Focus. We are here."