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Chapter 19

Day 7:  Eastbell,Icewynne,Notsuoh lounge and bar,After hours,Login Desk,Dark Hour

"Fuschia! How are ya mate?"

Nova stared dumbfounded at Azure and Fuschia who conversed like old flatmates in college.

"What brings you here eh?"

"Well I heard you were delivering pizza, and so I stopped by for a slice. What kind of delivery system you guys running? Your guys don't even know where they're going!

Azure glanced at Nova and Shadow, who both avoided eye contact.

"Pizza delivery? What do you mean don't know where they're going? There was a GPS on your hover-cycle. What happened?"

The two stood in silence. Nova was the first to speak up.

"It was my fault. I uhm...I left Shadow behind and I ran off and I know I shouldn't have-"

"No it was me."

Shadow cut her off. All eyes were on him.

"I carelessly left the package on the hover-cycle and somebody stole it."

Sage jumped up, "Somebody stole the package?!"

 Azure licked her lips slightly, "Look it's fine it's... it's okay alright?" 

Sage shook his head, "It isn't fine! That was enough mana to help at least fifty people!" 

He slammed his glass down on the counter, it was the same green liquor from before. Nova noticed Shadow's nose twitch, she too could smell the alcohol coming from his breath. His voice was low and dangerous.

"You see, I told you we shouldn't have sent them out there without any training."

"We needed to see how they would act on their own so we knew where to start with them. 

"And now we know that they're useless and we're better off without them."

Sage snatched up his bottle and stormed upstairs. Shadow's lip twitched but he didn't speak. Fuschia drummed her fingers on the counter.

"So I guess this means no pepperoni huh..."

Nova looked at Azure, her eyes were wide and desperate "Listen, Sage was right, we screwed up, you told us to deliver the package and as soon as we got there we lost it."

Nova bit her lip, she couldn't help but feel that this was all her fault. If she hadn't run off like that Shadow wouldn't have needed to go after her and the package would have been safe. They would have been able to get mana those people who needed it. Her thoughts spiraled even more out of control as she thought about what would happen to them not that they were without mana. Sage said that package could have saved fifty people. Did that mean that without it she had just murdered them? Nova could feel the room sway a little, she felt sick to her stomach. A gentle hand on her shoulder pulled her out from her thoughts, she looked up, it was Shadow.

"Look I said it's fine alright?" Azure smiled at them reassuringly. "It was your first delivery and mistakes happen. It's late, you two should head to bed and get some rest."

"Bed?" Nova looked confused, was there a need for sleep here? She recalled Shadow mentioning passing out after that a party earlier in the week."

Shadow spoke, "There's bedrooms on the second floor, Azure set up a room for each of us as well. They come in handy when you're logged in for a few days. Last Thursday, I was logged in for about three days before I was finally kicked out. Even then when I woke up, it was still Thursday, 12:00 midnight"

"That's right..." She muttered "Time doesn't move when we're in here."

"Come on! I'll show you your room."

Shadow lead Nova upstairs and down the dimly lit hallway. He arrived at her room and opened the door for her. Nova let out a slight gasp.

"I know pretty sweet huh."

"It's amazing..."

A plush circular king sized bed sat in the middle of the room. A fully stocked mini bar was placed off in the corner complete with a small kitchenette. There was a set of stairs leading to a balcony that looked over the entire room.

"Hey wait, you haven't seen the best part."  He pressed a few keys on the touchscreen mounted on the wall. The back wall shifted and moved to reveal a glass window with an astonishing view. Hundreds of buildings scattered the cityscape, a dim blue light illuminated from the streets below. If Nova looked hard enough she could see the tiny specs of hover-cycles and cars zooming by.

"How many do you think are out there?"

"Huh?"

"People I mean... How many people do you think are in this world?"

"Thousands...hundreds of thousands...Billions even. It's hard to tell..."

"Yeah, I figured..."

"Oh yeah also this wall is a projector screen for this."

Shadow handed Nova a tablet.

"Azure wanted you to have it, you know for your hacking and stuff."

"Oh wow cool!"

Shadow nodded and the two of them stood in silence looking over the city below them.

"...Hey shadow?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for covering for me...I know you didn't have to but uh...thanks."

Shadow smiled sheepishly "It's not that big of a deal." He was always so...happy.

"But it was! I mean...I was a total ass to you earlier and really I'm sorry. I...god damn it."

"Hey! I said it's alright chica, no worries. And if you're ever going through something, or need any help with anything, or just need me to shut up for a second so you can think just let me know. Okay?"

He flashed her a warm grin.

"...Okay." She returned his smile.

Shadow turned to leave, he pressed a few keys on the touchscreen beside the door.

"Mmm..." he grumbled to himself. "Stupid thing" His poking became a bit more violent "Why won't you work?!" He had the urge to punch the pad into the wall.

"Here here let me help" Nova pressed a few keys and the door opened.

Shadow stared at her in awe. "How did you do that?"

Nova shrugged "Soy magia." Shadow chuckled as he strolled out.

"Night Snow."

"...Night Shadow."