Oliver had his face pressed against the window, and in front of him, the entire universe expanded. Stars gleamed in all their majesty, but beyond that, numerous ships were moving in every dire. The spaceport they were approag was one of the busiest in the empire.

  Selene was one of the few cities without teleportation systems, likely due to its industrial nature. heless, being the capital of Luna, it was one of the most imposing cities.

  Ihe small ship that held six passengers, Oliver was strapped to his seat as the ship taxied to ect with one of the dog stations. His view of the city wasirely clear yet, but he could see various neon lights and gleaming holograms in the distance.

  'The nausea is almost gone,' Oliver thought, breathing deeply.

  The first few minutes after leavih had been rough—not just because of his fear of the ship but also because of the sensation of zero gravity, which sted until they exited the atmosphere. Ohey passed through the toughest part, the artificial gravity geors kicked in, making the rest of the jouro Selene easier.

  "Five minutes until dog at Selene. Prepare your dots for iion upon disembarking," the captain's voinouo all the passengers still enjoying the view.

  Oliver grabbed the small backpa front of him, taining only his uniforms. He didn’t need any dots, as his Gau would suffice. Luckily, it would verify his identity and allow him to enter a different areas and use transportation at no cost.

  'One of the few perks of being part of the h Army,' Oliver thought as he g the small s before him.

  When he was finally discharged from the hospital, An had already been removed from the dormitory to begin his detention. They had exged a few words via chat, but Oliver could sense something was off with his friend.

  'Maybe the beating knocked something loose in his head?' Oliver thought, trying to keep his humor.

  “TAKT!”

  The sound of the ship dog snapped Oliver out of his thoughts. He quickly moved to the front of the ship, where a heavy door had ected to the spaceport's exterior.

  The other passengers were already ahead of him, passing through the verification gates.

  Oliver tinued walking down a long corridor until he reached one of the s. As he approached, he noticed another person already inside.

  "e in, e in," the person waved him over. Oliver could now see more clearly—a young man, probably no older than thirty, dressed in the spaceport's uniform. However, there was something different. Near his left eye, there was a small tattoo: 'A-1445.'

  'Ah!' Oliver thought as he realized—it was a servidroid.

  Androids weren't on oh, mostly due to the stant attacks. Expensive equipment like this was more often found on other ps or in the homes of the wealthy.

  The android lifted peared to be some sort of tablet. "Oliver, Nameless… ing from the Academy. Excellent, your evaluation will be quick." The robot smiled as it filled in some information. "Please extend yau."

  "Sure," Oliver replied, his arm with the device.

  “PING!”

  The tablet beeped, drawing the android's attention back to Oliver's details.

  "Perfect! You're cleared to enter. I just o give you a few reminders," the robot said, smiling while preparing for the step. Oliver was still impressed—aside from the tattoo, he wouldn't have been able to tell the differeween the android and a human. Its behavior and appearance were nearly indistinguishable.

  "You're fifteen years old, so while you're allowed to ehe os, you're not permitted to e alcohol or participate in gambling. Luna is under House Selene's governance, so local authorities will judge any w viotions. Any questions?" The android fshed a wide smile.

  ‘I’m old enough to go to war and kill Orks but not to gamble. Funny.’ The boy thought with sarcasm.

  "I just have one question. Do you know where I find the… um…" Oliver paused to check the note he'd made on his Gau. "Gold Dreams o?"

  Oliver's jaw nearly hit the floor for what seemed like the huh time that day. His eyes were trying to take in as muformation as possible. Ihe auto-taxi, he hadn't had the ce to look up much, but now that he was walking the streets, there was so much to see.

  The ey had been built inside one of the Moon's craters, protected by a gigantie. Beyond that, different holograms were dispyed on the dome, turning the city into aernal night of celebrations. Drones were stantly perf an aerial ballet, creating artificial fireworks.

  The city didn’t allow cars in their streets, but it was still packed. People were walkiering aing buildings. Each building offered a different form of eai, from os to hotels to aus. Oliver had been briefed about the city beforehand—House Selene was not only responsible f Luna but was also famous for heavily iing iertai. Yet, the festive atmosphere was unparalleled pared to any other city in the empire.

  'Gold Dream… hmm,' Oliver raised his head to see the rge holographic sign floating above the massive building.

  The o had to be at least two hundred floors tall, yet it wasn’t even one of the rgest buildings oreet. o it, other hotels rose so high they seemed to touch the dome.

  Upoering the building, Oliver found himself in a vast, luxurious lobby filled with thousands of people pying and chatting.

  “KAG!”

  The sound of tless maes and people betting all they had—or didn’t have—made it hard to trate.

  Oliver kept moving, gng at tables and maes to see inning and losing. After crossing the lobby, he reached a reception desk, where he entered another pair of androids, this time a man and a woman.

  Both androids looked him up and down, their eleids processing who he was and why he was there. His uniform made it clear he wasn’t one of the ts.

  The female android approached him. "How I help you?"

  Oliver was struck by the beauty of both androids, but especially the woman. With sholden hair and a professional yet subtly seductive demeanor, she exuded elegand allure. Above all, they both appeared youthful.

  'Youthful? Do androids even have an age?' Oliver questioned.

  "Hi. Where I find the main bar?" Oliver asked, keeping his thoughts to himself.

  "You know you 't e anything at our bar?" the android replied, once again judging him. She didn’t eveo check his profile; his Academy cadet uniform already implied he wasn’t old enough to drink.

  "Yeah, yeah. I’m here to meet someone," Oliver nodded, justifying his visit.

  "Go to the 145th floor. The elevators are at the end of the hall," the android pointed in the right dire.

  When the elevator doors opened, Oliver found himself in anrand hall with a massive window a view of the city. Once more, he was impressed by Selehis time, with a bird' s-eye view of the city, from up there, he could see thousands of buildings even taller thael and hundreds of thousands of people walking on the avenues below on hundreds of different floors.

  The bar was crowded. The decor, a mix of gold and bck, matched the o's name. Floating, rounded deliers added an air of elegand luxury.

  'Better not touything. This must cost a fortune,' Oliver thought as he noticed the sculptures lining the corridor to the bar.

  Several small tables surrouhe main bar, each with two or three people. Waiters hurried between them, serving drinks. Oliver made his way to the ter where bartenders were preparing drinks.

  "Ahem." With a slight cough, Oliver tried to get someone's attention. "Excuse me, I’m looking for..." He never got to finish his sentence.

  “PRAH!”

  Nearby, one of the tables was overturned. Ptes, cutlery, and gsses shattered on the floor.

  "Calm down, calm down. Who said you should bet against me?"

  Oliver couldn’t see who eaking, but the voice was remarkably calm, even after the otion.

  "Nico! You son of a whore! You made me lose ten million imperial dolrs, you bastard!" A fat man shouted at the top of his lungs, veins bulging in his neck, his face flushed with rage.

  Several security guards surrouhe table around him.

  A man in a tuxedo y on the floor, holding a champagtle. His appearance was disheveled, his hair messy, and he looked drunk. Yet, despite his state, he exuded a charm that seemed out of pce for the situation.

  Oliver moved closer to get a better look.

  'Found him!' Oliver thought as he spotted NicCLopes