Snippet #1197728

"So why are you so interested in the ship?" Avetein asked. Nulix lay with a pen in his mouth. In his hair was his left hand, slowly slipping through the curls, his right hand lay on the wood that lined the floor of his deck. The wind bristled through the gentle autumn leaves, a large orange maple fell down onto Nulix's chest. "The Princeton five is big, but not noteworthy," Avetein continued, before looking down, as if to decide on his next words. "A dreadnought from the U.P.A. could cut through it and double it in size. They may not be comfortable but they're big."

"I don't think many traders fly in dreadnoughts from the U.P.A., especially if they aren't comfortable," Nulix replied harshly. He leaned slightly to the side on his outdoor bench, letting the leaf fall off his chest as he did. From a bench opposite of him sat a blonde haired Avetein Voltz, his business partner and co-founder of the Princeton Corporation.

"I just don't see why its necessary to pull such a charade on the Princeton Five when we could do it here when we have something to show," Avetein said slowly.

"Here? In heartland S.C.Q.K.?" Nulix spat, stretching his neck to look at his partner. "Do we just want to go out and say to the foreigners that they're dealing with loyalists to the end?"

"We're Sora based, inviting them to Cael, a city that's on the other side of country from the capital, by the way, will not give them the impression that we are loyalists," Avetein replied. "And you think its a good idea having it out there when the Crotov is after us."

"Misha Crotov is not physically capable of coming after us," Nulix muttered, resting his head on his forearms. "He doesn't have enough to come after us, especially not in space."

"Or here in Cael," Avetein replied. He was met with silence. Avetein paused, before laying down on his bench. "Is this about the UO then?" He asked after a minute.

"No Volts, it isn't," Nulix replied, standing up in annoyance. "And its not about Crotov, and its not about the goddamn Vinds either. Maybe I just want to have a cruise in space."

"To have the Princeton Five, a below average dreadnought, run in space for that amount of time will cost the company at least six million," Avetein pointed out.

"Roughly what I invest in paper weights per year," Nulix replied. "I'm throwing my party in space. Cael isn't fun. Space is fun."

And space was fun. Nulix watched from the window of his dressing room. Out of it was the Capima Islands in orbit, the sun behind it. Nulix smiled at the sight as he looked at himself in the mirror. The Ultimate Organization would be there. He hadn't seen most of them since the mass funeral held nearly three years ago. Nulix swallowed tightly as he examined his finely tailored suit. Voltz didn't realize it but there was a reason the party had to be held in space. Because space couldn't be owned. You couldn't look at the sky and know it as Sora or Ulfire, you just saw stars. And when you were on a ship you just saw the ship. When the men and women of Vindico and Tryptia came, when the common folks came, when the Knights came, when the Ultimate Organization came, all they would see was Princeton. Not Sora, Princeton. Nulix gave himself a smile in the mirror, before cracking his neck and heading toward his door. He opened it and was blasted with golden lights from above and the sound of music and laughter. Nulix smiled as he made his way down the hall and into the main ship hold, where thousands of men and women stood and talked, the walls around them surrounded with the purple banners of the Princeton Corporation...