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The stars are Arada’s favorite part of evenings on survey. Entertainment for the team’s off-hours is limited this far from home, but she has her own solutions to that. Camping out on uninhabited planets means a lot of hassle and inconvenience on many levels, but an uninhibited view of an uncorrupted sky is one of its best perks. She sits cross-legged against the hab's threshold with her head tipped back to watch the universe go by. There are no city lights to dull the glow of unfamiliar stars, no ships flitting about to muddle the unnamed constellations—nothing but an endless horizon and the peace of the midnight sky.
Well…almost nothing.
The Secunit is striding the borders of the habitat space a few hundred yards away. It pauses when it feels her attention on it, just long enough for a flat, “Do you need assistance, Dr. Arada?” She gives it a smile and reassures it that she’s fine before it moves off to continue doing…whatever it does. It’s been an anomaly in an otherwise comfortable routine for the whole survey. Its presence—its constant, inescapable, unreadable presence—is impossible to ignore.
Still, at least it’s temporary. It’s one survey out of many, one contract quirk that Pin Lee will never let them be stuck with again…Like one of the nameless stars wheeling above, this will pass. Arada sits on the front stoop of the habitat and breathes in the stillness.
Before long, everything will be back to normal.