Lonetrek region – Okela constellation
Tsuguwa system – Planet VI
Caldari Navy Assembly Plant Station
29 August YC 128
I got up at 09:00 station time, splashed cold water on my face and went out for breakfast. Today I went to my favourite Minmatar place run by a Brutor tribeswoman and ordered Khari breakfast plate. It consisted of a generous portion of seared meat served on coarse-grain dark bread, with root vegetables on the side. It was hearty and unpretentious. It also required some time to be digested before the calories kicked in.
My next stop was a Gallente cafe with a nice view of the planet rotating below the station. I ordered a double espresso as a digestif and opened news on the datapad. The headlines were dominated by the Alliance Tournament followed by a scandal concerning Avalon flotilla and a usual sprinkling of Factional Warfare updates. Then I switched to Nexus, my preferred social network, and spent some time checking messages from friends and the latest memes. There were a couple of parties planned for tonight, inconveniently, at the same time. I had to choose one but I could do it later.
Having finished the coffee, I took a leisurely, circuitous route home where I changed into activewear — it was time for my daily gym session. I went to the local fitness club where I had membership, customarily flirted with the girl at the reception, and spent an hour lifting weights and running on a treadmill. I returned home, took shower and then it was time for lunch.
My dining schedule was about 1-2 hours behind the usual station dwellers’ timeline, and I liked it that way as it allowed me to avoid peak hours. I had my lunch at an upscale Caldari restaurant where I had a standing booking. Usually, I like to vary the dining establishments and taste something new each time. However, that particular restaurant had a tantalising selection of daily specials which I very much appreciated. Today it was grilled river fish with steamed grain and pickled greens. The fish was caught in the streams of Tsuguwa II planet and cost a fortune due to high transportation expenses. The meal was accompanied by kresh tea brewed from leaves grown on Caldari Prime. The price was exorbitant but the taste was divine and that was all that mattered.
After the lunch, I had an appointment with a musical teacher. Recently, I developed appreciation of kaatara, a traditional Caldari stringed instrument. My fascination went beyond listening and I endeavoured to learn to play it. My teacher was a master of some renown. After the first lesson, he informed me that I would never be any good at playing kaatara, but he was willing to continue my education as a contribution to the popularisation of the instrument. I was glad he did not reject me as a student, but the cynical part of my brain thought that it was because my kredits were as good as anyone else’s.
The guided lesson was followed by individual practice which took another hour. The rest of the afternoon I spent at the Mind Clash arena where the local Caldari Navy team competed against Caldari Constructions from Tsuguwa IV-13. The Navy won confidently and I expected that the bars tonight would be filled with jubilant servicemen.
It was time to decide which party I was going to attend but I realised that I didn’t want to go to either. In fact, I didn’t feel like socialising at all. So I ended up ordering a takeaway dinner from a Gallente restaurant and holed up in my room for the rest of the evening, watching holo-reels.
It was a day just like any other day in the last few months… until I got a call from Aura. In itself, it wasn’t extraordinary — Aura quite often called me to confirm orders for regular maintenance of my vessels scattered across New Eden. I looked at Aura’s holo-image, saluted her with a glass of wine and said, “Hello, sunshine. What’s up? Another air filter replacement?”
“Um, no,” said Aura with uncharacteristic hesitation. She was silent for a long moment and then asked, “Vlad, when are you going to do… um… you know… capsuleer things?”
I raised my eyebrow, “Capsuleer things? To my knowledge, I am doing a very capsuleer thing right now.” I raised my glass and sipped from it. “When I was a baseliner, there was no way I could afford this vintage.”
“Oh, you know what I mean!” Aura burst out. “When are you going to undock? I am starting to feel like a navigational AI on a pleasure hub.”
“But pleasure hubs don’t need navigational AIs.”
“My point exactly,” said Aura drily.
I sighed, “Yes, I know what you mean. In fact, I would like to return to active duty. I just can’t decide what I want to do.”
And that was the crux of the problem. After The Damsel investigation, I took what I thought would be a short break. Then some kind of apathy enveloped me. I imagined that I would go back to running missions for Ozanero Voiras but it didn’t feel appealing anymore. I thought about doing something new and interesting but that would mean a period of learning, mistakes and frustrations which put me off. So I kept toying with the idea of doing something but could not quite make up my mind. If only there was some kind of external impetus…
“If indecision is all that hinders you,” Aura interrupted my self-reflection, “then I think I can help.”
I looked at her with interest, “How?”
“I can tell you what you need to do.”
“And how will you know that?”
Aura smiled enigmatically, “Have you ever heard of Tarot?”
I snorted, “I have but I don’t believe in divination.”
“What if I told you that you had that power?”
I laughed, “Then I would be more impressed by your ability to prove this bold claim than by my ability to predict future. I am all ears.”
“Actually, it’s very simple,” said Aura. “You draw a card, I tell you what it requires you to do, and you do it.”
“Nah, that’s not divination.”
“Why not? As long as you actually perform the action indicated by the card, you do predict the future.”
I frowned, “It’s not… predicting. It’s just committing to do something and doing it. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
“And what’s wrong with a self-fulfilling prophecy? I think you interpret divination too narrowly. In fact, ‘future prediction’ is an oxymoron. The only reason why people want to know the future is to improve it. So while predictions are phrased like ‘that will happen’, the real meaning is ‘that will happen if you do nothing’. It stops being a prediction as soon as people take action. In your case, I simply suggest a different formulation: ‘that will happen if you do it’.”
Something was inherently wrong with Aura’s argument but I couldn’t put my finger on it. So I decided to play along.
“Okay, suppose you are right. What shall I do?” I asked.
“First of all,” replied Aura, “you need a pack of classic Tarot cards.”