Registration for ‘Pathfinder Inc.’ is complete. Thank you for starting a new corporation in the Free Worlds territory. May fortune always favor you.

Congratulations!

You founded a new corporation in Black Space.

We hope you find success in your endeavours!

Yeah, there it was. Pathfinder Inc. was officially on the books. It had been roughly 12 hours since I went to drink and think and now I felt a little bittersweet. On one hand, the corp was founded and would open up new possibilities. On the other hand I had just spent 250k of the money I had and was once again sitting at just over 50k credits in my account. But let me back up a little so you can catch up.

Drink and think led to a conversation with Ralgau and in a stroke of genius we came up with the name Pathfinder. He suggested it because he was convinced that I would ‘always find a way’. I liked it for a variety of other reasons. We were blazing a path in Black Space which I believed would take off like crazy. We were on the forefront of achievements, or at least I hoped that we were. Considering there were only half a million people in the game yet, we probably were in the first 20 or so player corps founded. Especially as in the facts and figures download during the last break, nothing was said about corps.

On top of that we were some of the first that had access to a relic ship… hopefully that would be true soon enough. And we were a mixed players and locals corp which meant it was something completely new for me and we all would need to figure out how this would work in the long run. I also intended to become active on the wiki that I was sure would see the light soon after the game went open beta. And finally, it was a symbol for the new direction that I was taking. Away from competitive gaming and towards MMORPG. So yeah, finding new ways of doing things all around. The more I had thought about it, the more I had liked it.

Then perfectly on time I got a message that Nic was in system and that she was approaching Belt Station. I let Nirazera know about it. She in turn told me that a representative of the merc corp had just arrived in the system with one cruiser and three frigate size vessels. Overkill for what we had been dealing with so far but better safe than sorry.

Ralgau, Nirazera and I met Irene Adler, yes, I needed to get used to calling her that, at her docking port. When she stepped out of the airlock and popped her helmet, she was not what I had expected. Here is a joke: How do you know you spent too much time in an ass end system in Free Worlds territory? When you expect everybody to be Sorren, Fell, Grelic or Quirt. I mean I had seen Ygglog the ant-man and the four-armed thug I had shot in Nirazera’s office. Turns out he was from a reptilian species that looked like really tall walking geckos without a tail called Jei-Quate.

Back to Nicola slash Irene: She was a good bit taller than me, I would guess somewhere around 6 foot or 1.80cm. And she was skinny. Or tall and willowy if you want to go with a more poetic description. She popped her helmet and the first thing I saw was a green face. But not like Nirazera’s. This one had the smoothest skin I have ever seen, sharp, angular features and big almond shaped eyes, a small, pointy (cute?) nose and full lips. A narrow jawline, high cheekbones, super dark red hair and these deep purple eyes. Daaaaaaamn.

Yeah, I admit. I had a case of tight pants when I saw her. I also blame the fact that Ralgau needed to elbow me in the shoulder, I am just too short for him to hit my ribs, on blood deficiency in my brain.

“Hello Irene. Welcome to Belt Station. The temporary home I never wanted.”

She laughed. I mean it was more like a chuckle but fuck me if I had ever heard something more appealing than that. Which directly led to my mind going down that road. You know the one I am talking about. Hey, I am not proud of it. But science fantasy game and all. How would you react to the hottest space elf babe you have ever seen? I didn’t know what her charisma score was but hell if it didn’t affect me.

Ralgau had apparently no space elf fantasies of his own because his elbow hit the same spot as before, this time accompanied by a Ralgau-grunt.

“Sorry.” I apologized, being shaken out of my derailed thought process. “Irene, meet my friend Ralgau and our new business partner Nirazera.”

She responded by introducing herself. Then she waved behind her.

“If they ever stop arguing and come out of that shuttle, I would like to introduce you to the guests I brought with me. Give me a moment.”

Her eyes got a faraway look for a moment, then a golden line that stretched over her cheekbone on one side of her face started glowing slightly and a screen unfolded to cover her eye.

“Yeah, still arguing,” she muttered. “Guys, get your shit together and come out of the shuttle. We are doing introductions and you want to meet the leadership of the corp you are going to work for. You are already making a bad first impression.”

If I wouldn’t have been flabbergasted by the tech that she just casually displayed, I would have laughed at the big sister or mom tone of voice. It was hilarious and freaky at the same time. I had trouble reconciling the character before me with the woman I knew. Her voice sounded completely different. Intonation and melody were different and yet, the tone was absolutely familiar from when Damian and I would get sidetracked and she started to get annoyed with ‘the boys’. Then I just started chuckling.

“It is you. No doubt about it.”

“Hm?” she replied while I saw Ralgau and Nirazera give me questioning looks.

“Uhm… you know… you look different. Hot even.”

“K…” she started to say something when she picked up on what I had actually said. Not that I meant it but I totally got how it sounded. “Malcolm… fuck you very much!”

That and her eye roll made me just burst out laughing. Then the airlock cycled once again and two aliens stepped out of it. I mean I am not talking alien in the sense of alien alien or as in ‘the whole of Black Space is full of aliens’. No, I am talking Roswell aliens. You know the grey dudes. Big eyes, skinny, teensy mouth, long ass fingers. The guys that have supposedly been abducting and probing people.

To be fair, I shouldn’t have been surprised to see them here. I mean these guys were the mainstay of alien depiction. They could not have been missing from this game. But… I just didn’t expect them.

“You know… Aliens!” I stated to no one in particular recalling a meme that had recently had a resurgence after originally popping up in the beginning of the 22nd century.

Nicole giggled in a very dignified way. Not sure how that was possible. I always thought that giggling and dignified couldn’t be combined. I was wrong.

“Guys, meet Malcolm, Ralgau and Nirazera.”

One of the grey dudes ran forward and grabbed my hand with both of his and started shaking the shit out of it.

“Malcolm Solo, thank you. Thank you so much. We are very much looking forward to working for you. And again, thank you so much for allowing us to study the artifact. And thank you for finding the artifact. So much to thank you for. Do you know what kind of relic it is? What civilization left it behind? What state is it in? Miss Irene was vague about that. When can we go there? Where is it anyway? Have you secured it? What equipment do you have in place…”

I was washed away by a verbal onslaught but before I could say anything, Nicola, I mean Irene smacked the guy on the back of his head.

“Opisthos, shut up!”

“Seriously Second! I understand your enthusiasm but this is not helping the already tainted first impression. I told you we should have left the shuttle with our pilot.” Turning his big black eyes towards me he continued: “Mister Solo, allow me to formally apologize for this display. My name is Gastarin Orivel the First, anthropologist, archaeologist and general researcher. It is a pleasure to be working WITH you.”

I swear, the dude still holding my hands was rolling his eyes. I mean they were completely black and huge, so I don’t know what gave me the impression but I was sure that is what he was doing.

“With? For? Who in the void cares! Where is the relic and when can we see it?”

“Second! Patience! Also we spoke about blurting the information about mister Solo’s find out in places where it isn’t secure.”

Opisthos made a show of looking around the empty hangar.

“And who do you think is overhearing us here?”

“Really? You of all that is Grey should know how much can be overheard with technology, no personal presence is necessary.”

“Hm! Yes! Good point! Again, my apologies.”

He was still shaking my hand.

“Uhm, thank you for coming out here and meeting me. Gastarin Orivel the First and... “ I looked at the grey that seemed to have fused with my hand: “Opisthos the Second!?”

“Just Opisthos.”

“Okay just Opisthos. Would you mind letting go of my hand?”

“Yes, yes! Of course! I am just so excited…”

“His name is Gastarin Orivel the Second.”

“Wait, you have the same name?” I was confused.

“No. I am the First, he is the Second.”

“Wait, then why did you introduce yourself as Opisthos?”

He shrugged. “I prefer Opisthos.”

“When we grew up we had a pet slug named Opisthos.”

“You are named after a slug?”

“I have very fond memories of that slug!”

Why did I feel I was in a movie? What the hell was going on? I looked at Irene who shook with barely contained laughter. Even Nirazera and Ralgau sported the kind of shit eating grin that was reserved for people watching someone make a fool of themselves. I guess that was me in this case.

I opted for staying silent and extricating my hand.

“People, let’s get to the things we need to do.” Nirazera said from my left, clapping her hands.

Good point. The two greys with their weird demeanor had me on the back foot and Irene was a crazy distraction all in herself.

“Uhm, yes. Ralgau, would you please escort our scientists to the hotel. I will head to the corp registration office with Nirazera and Irene so we can get that part out of the way. After that the three of us will head to Nirazera’s office to discuss some corp stuff and then meet with the commander of Stardust there as well. After that we should have a better understanding of what we are going to do next.”

Ralgau nodded. “First and Second, this way please.”

“It’s Opisthos, not second!” he complained. Then turning to his sibling he continued: “Why did you need to introduce me like that anyway? You know I prefer Opisthos but no, you had to go and be all ‘official’ about it and tell people ‘Oh, he is second.’ and make everything so much more annoying. Why did I have to go with you on this assignment anyway?”

“I said so, because that is your name. And you came on to this assignment with me because Irene was looking for a specialist in relic engineering. And you need this opportunity to raise your skill. It is a rare occurrence that a relic is found... “ their voices trailed off as they left the hangar.

“Ladies,” I said: “Shall we as well?”

I gestured towards the door and we made our way to Nirazera’s office.

“Irene, what’s up with those two scientists?”

“What could you possibly mean?” she asked sweetly.

“They are… I don’t even know how to call it.”

“They are perfect, almost stereotypical examples of their species.” Nirazera chimed in.

“Wait, a whole species is like that?”

“Yes, ranging from cold and analytical to precise and inflexible all the way to overly enthusiastic or fussy.”

“Wow, okay. I mean I guess you find examples of that with every species no?”

“I guess that is true. But these are predominant traits among Greys, while they are more like outliers in other species.”

“Were they like that the whole trip?” I again turned my attention to my friend.

“Yep.”

“And you didn’t think warning me about that in one of your messages would have been a good idea?”

“And miss your face when you get the full experience?” she asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

Fair enough. I had asked that question but there had been no fire in it. We had always ribbed each other like that and while I didn’t have to deal with this for the last few weeks that I had exclusively dealt with locals, I didn’t want to change our dynamics. Not sure that I even could and I had missed the banter and fooling around I usually had with my friends.

“You know what… after having to deal with them on your own in a small shuttle, I think I’ll owe you a drink.”

She laughed. “No. You owe me a corp leadership spot and amazing adventures and lots of money making opportunities. But I will take that drink on top of the rest.”

Fuck me. Outmaneuvered again.

As we made our way to the corp registration office I couldn’t help but be slightly on edge after having been jumped in this station twice already by Red Dawn. Twice if you excluded the first offer that was made relatively peaceful. But I had asked Nirazera about this and she had said that after the fight in her office all Red Dawn people had been removed from the station. Another case of good news and bad news. Good news was that there were less problems on the station. The bad news was that I had an idea where we would find the RD guys and that would lead to bigger problems down the line.

Anyway, the registration went smoothly. I got myself the position as CEO and we set up the board in a way that they had the right to challenge decisions I made with a two thirds majority vote. Irene became our Diplomat and Nirazera opted for the Internal Security Officer position. She said she would cover the fixer position later when it became a necessity but for now we were so few people that it didn’t matter. I also sent an invite to Ralgau and he joined the corp but declined to take on any official position. The same was true for Ygglog, who I included in the invite. Mrk and Krn did not join for now. And Brelic… well, fuck that guy!