Returning back to the main colony was a blur of turning in the expeditionary combat gear and filing paperwork. The crew made the point to refrain from giving information about the underground laboratory. Instead they said the extra sweep they made was spent making sure there were no stragglers left behind. It was not really a lie, as that was exactly the purpose in them checking out the second layer. They reported nothing significant to report. After the excruciatingly long process, the team was finally released. The group met in the main lobby, a familiar face sitting behind the desk, doing nothing more than watching video on one of his monitors while he sipped a cup of steaming liquid. Leo gave a nod to the man, Bryant, to regard him. The man nodded back with a smile before rising and speaking,
"Lieutenant Commander, how did your debrief go?"
Leo approached the desk and replied,
"Exhausting as they come, but what else is new?"
His comment incited a warm chuckle from the man as he went to sip hs beverage again, Leo spoke again,
"Coffee? They have you burning the midnight oil huh?"
The man made a grunt as he went to reply,
"Tea actually, and not that they don't usually have me doing this, but I'm actually covering for a coworker, something important came up and I decided to just take the overnight shift for him."
Leo nodded,
"Well that's nice of you. Hope that they are treating you well and you can get some rest soon."
Bryant chuckled and held his hand out for a shake,
"I appreciate that sir, but like they say, no rest for the weary."
Leo agreed and walked back over to Jet as the rest joined. Jet went to speak when they all gathered,
"Good work once more everyone-"
"The usual."
Charnita shrugged and made everyone else chuckle. Jet nodded and continued,
"We're on call for the rest of the week as usual, keep your phones charged. This weekend is off duty so see you all on Monday otherwise."
Setton signed something and Jet shook his head before answering,
"Next Monday, it's like midnight for Monday of this week man, get off my back. This coming Monday I will see you all again alright?"
Tina interjected,
"Unless, we all go to the Lunar Ball hosted for Roakon by Roakon on Friday night. I believe drinks are in order to truly welcome our rookie."
Set nodded with a devious grin on his face. Charnita did not look very convinced, giving no more than a shrug before Tina threw her arms over the woman's shoulders and she replied,
"Isn't your ex boyfriend going to be there? You really want to show out around him?"
Tina rolled her eyes and continued their chat as they walked to her car while attempting to convince her. Set waved before walking out of the building. Jet turned to Leo and waved him on,
"No worries, if it turns into something substantial, someone will give you a call."
With that, they hopped in Jet's car and took off into the skyway. Once again the pair was listening to more of Jet's classical music, navigating along as if they had still been coming from the pizza parlor. Leo started to make small talk, commenting on the architecture of the city,
"Sometimes I forget that there is a ground. Get so lost up here in the sky."
He was referring to driving around in the high class flying cars along with living in the high skyscrapers. Jet understood, and commented,
"Yeah, it's honestly amazing. Did you know that the architecture here was based on the city designs of Earth's last megacity, Haven?"
Leo turned, glad to be having such a normal conversation with the man,
"I don't think I've heard of Haven."
Jet blew air from his mouth and chuckled,
"It's probably the eighth wonder of the Earth, historically at least. You know, being that the other seven were wiped out. Lestallum came after Haven, and Haven is mankind's greatest achievement post Veverg. The upside down hanging buildings and way they built the dome of Lestallum was all in support of the architecture. The buildings are able to hang like stalcites because of the artificial shell-like structure we created here. The main difference between us and Haven is that Haven was built in multiple layers, making the unique architectural design easier and more practical to achieve. Whereas Lestallum is not in layers, so the shell was built. Along with not being layered, Lestallum deters from the architecture of Haven with the physical structure reinforced by force fields that make up our dome. It is basically what holds the place together in spite of the vacuum of space waiting just behind the layers."
Leo nodded, taking the dark sky's view in, the multitude of city lights emanating from the labyrinth of buildings that Jet navigated like second nature. Along with the cacophony of vehicles rushing past outside, the ride was a recipe for a relaxing ride through the city. A small voice emerged in his head, Juno spoke,
'I have downloaded files on Haven if you are interested in learning more at a later time.'
He more than likely would, nodding to himself in thanks to the woman in his head. The two rode along in silence for a while longer before eventually pulling up to Leo's new apartment complex, an expensive yet low profile building hanging from the ceiling dome of the Moon Colony. Jet helped Leo get checked in and carry his two bins up to his new room. Upon arrival the man realized he should have packed more things, as the studio apartment was massive, boasting a fully furnished kitchen, dining room, living room, loft, master bed and bathroom with an outdoor pool.
"This is pretty damn nice if I do say so myself."
Leo replied with a laugh,
"Yeah I'll say."
The two went about the home, checking out the features that it had in store, joking around as well until Jet decided he would be heading home soon. Leo was about to let him leave when something made him call out, a tug,
"Hey Jet."
The man stopped and turned to look with a raised eyebrow,
"I was wondering, would you give Set a call and the two of you could come over Friday afternoon? We could play some strategy games while we wait for the others to let us know if we are actually doing anything else."
Jet smiled, a genuine one and nodded,
"Sounds good to me man, I'm sure Set will be down. I have something planned for the morning, but I'll be over around one with Set if that's cool."
Leo nodded,
"Thanks man, see you guys Friday then."
With that, the door was closed and Leo went to sit on the couch, looking out at the grand cityscape below. Lestallum was built like a dome, with the center being an enormous pillar that held the structure together, it was barely noticeable usually, as it was teeming with life and served no other purpose besides architecture, but after the conversation Jet had with Leo, it came to mind.
"Hey Juno, you wanna get out?"
The woman responded
'I thought you would never ask.'
With that, Leo reached to his belt and grabbed three black marble-sized orbs which he let fall to the ground. They created a triangle, two beads on the ground and one floating. Emerald energy manifested and in an instant appeared the familiar Juno. After materializing, her skin was as pale as snow and smooth as alabaster. Her long, black hair reached down her back just past her shoulder blades. Her eyes were almond shaped, large and matched the emerald that Leo too had. Above said eyes were her thick eyelashes and shapely black eyebrows, thick and naturally arched. Her lips were pink, full. The woman's nose was small, button-like almost with averagely large ears. She wore a simple Roakon-fashioned space suit, with their symbol on her right shoulder and the rest of the outfit accentuating her figure with the azure and black colors.
The woman stood at 5'6 and stretched her arms above her head before sitting down on the leather couch next to Leo. She looked outside then back at him,
"What's on your mind?"
She asked. Leo, whom was more than comfortable with the A.I, sank in his seat and spoke,
"Aren't you in it? So wouldn't you know?"
She gave a shrug,
"Yes, I do, but why read your mind when I can just ask you? I'll know if you're lying eventually."
Leo nodded with a smile and spoke,
"Actually, before we get into that, would you mind downloading sign language for me tonight while I sleep? I want to be able to communicate with Setton in what he feels most comfortable with."
The woman gave a nod before speaking,
"That's very thoughtful of you. It should be done by the afternoon of tomorrow, as I have some processing to take care of first."
Leo nodded in return and sighed, he took a pause, staring out the window before speaking,
"I've been having this really strange feeling recently. It has to deal with my emotions. I know all the research but there is nothing specific about my model type. It's like, I can feel emotion, I have physical and mental reactions to some events that can't be explained by my own reason. The problem is, I don't have any idea of what exactly those feelings are. Do you know anything about my programming in that aspect, Juno?"
The woman kicked off her boots, which dematerialised, and pulled her feet up onto the couch, leaning into the opposite corner a bit more before she answered,
"I do actually, but I don't think you'll like the answer."
"When do I ever?"
He retorted.
"Never."
She responded matter of factly.
"Thank you Juno."
He sarcastically responded, evoking a laugh from the woman before she finally told him his answer,
"You're supposed to learn the meaning of those feelings for yourself. No shortcuts, no cheating is the way your hardware is set up, and before you ask. No, I cannot bypass these parameters, Dr. Cameron set them up and there's no getting past it. He wanted you to learn this aspect for yourself through experience it seems."
Leo sat back in his seat and sighed. Juno bit her lip and leaned towards him a bit before she asked,
"Why don't you talk about what you were feeling? Maybe we can come up with something based on your experience."
A pause, only filled by the sounds of the cityscape displayed past the glass windows before the two. He spoke,
"I felt something catch in my throat a few times, then this pulling in my chest."
He reached to his chest and felt nothing past the skin, Juno spoke,
"Like a heart?"
He nodded,
"I know I don't have the heart but that feeling was so different. I felt a heaviness, like it wasn't right, like it was unfair. I was longing, and I felt so small in those moments.."
Then the word came to him, he looked over at Juno, who had a small smile on her face,
"Wait. I got it."
She nodded before she spoke to him,
"Yes. That feeling, that was how you feel when you are sad. That emotion is your sadness."