Joe groaned involuntarily as he awoke. He opened his eyes and stared blankly, waiting for his hazy vision to return. When his vision was clear enough, he shifted his gaze from the ceiling above his head to his right. What awaited him was a magical scene that, although he had seen it a dozen times, had not lost its charm. This isn't a window showing the planet gradually brightening as the morning horizon creeps across its surface. While certainly impressive, it's just a backdrop and what's truly captivating is Maggie lying on the bed next to Joe, smiling lovingly. The sheet she held in her hand covered only a small part of her naked body, leaving just enough to the imagination for the man to want to pounce on her then and there.
"Oh my God," he muttered under his breath.
"Good morning, Joe," the girl said softly.
"Good morning." He sat up slowly.
The idea of a pre-breakfast romp is certainly tempting. As one would expect from two healthy adults in their situation, they had been doing this almost every day since their first urge. Whether intentionally or not, Joe chose a very opportune moment to take action. With no other people within thousands of kilometers and no "noisy" electronic signals around, Maggie was able to focus all of her vast perceptions on doing just that. That profound moment of intimacy was unforgettable and definitely worth missing the rest of the cruise. That's why she suggested the couple use her space shuttle as an orbiting love nest instead of going to Earth. Joe liked the idea because there was something undeniably romantic about it, so he agreed.
As a result, the couple spent the last ten days entirely on their honeymoon, stopping only to refuel the shuttle and make extra visits to Barry. For better or worse, this is all coming to an end. Joe and Maggie didn't stay in the Marlton system for so long just to take their relationship to the next level. The main reason for their extended stay was that they were waiting for a freighter that would take them directly back to Butter Pond IV, and today was the day they were going. The next scheduled opportunity would come in two months, which, in Joe's mind, was too late. Even though their current lifestyle was nice, it didn't alleviate his homesickness. And, he and Maggie can start over once the trip is over.
All in all, the aforementioned romp was a bit too irresponsible even for Joe, so he had to pass up the opportunity.
"We should change, shouldn't we?" he complained.
“The demand for clothes is regrettable but undeniable,” she agrees.
The couple did just that, having a light breakfast before Maggie took her seat in the pilot's seat again. After a quick system check, the shuttle began its relatively brief half-hour journey to rendezvous with ICF-M42 Trafalgar. It was this freighter that Joe and Maggie took on their first interstellar voyage. Seeing this familiar sight, Joe couldn't help but feel a strange sense of nostalgia. Now that his phobia was under control, he could better appreciate the ship's majestic size. As a side effect, it jolted his brain out of honeymoon mode and reminded him of some pretty unpleasant things.
Namely, the promise he made to his father to take more control of his life. It's clear to him that he really needs to talk to Maggie about her arrogant attitude, but he keeps putting it off. After all, Joe is a simple man, and he cannot change his weak-willed habits overnight. Sure, he's more confident and decisive than he was a year ago, but that's only because Maggie is there to support and encourage him. This only made it harder for him to bring up the unpleasant subject, even though he knew full well that the girl would never abandon or berate him for choosing to speak his mind. Emotions are weird like that.
Still, the couple had some time to wait for the cargo ship's permission to dock, so Joe decided to do it before he lost his nerve again.
"Hi, Maggie? Can we talk?"
"Sure, Joe. About what?"
"……you."
For the first time in over a week, the girl's smile faded as she realized this was not going to be a lighthearted chat. Her multifaceted consciousness went into overdrive, imagining what horrific topics were on Joe's mind. Then she reminded herself that statistically she was probably overthinking, and she paused.
"Okay. I'm listening," she said quietly.
"I don't want you to misunderstand, okay?" You make me happier than a normal person like me, I love you so much and it hurts to say this, but you've become too domineering lately. "
"me?"
"Yes. You do."
The girl's eyes flashed rapidly as she tried to self-analyze her actions since meeting Joe for the first time.
"I find that assessment to be in conflict with my own," she disagreed.
"No, you did cross a line. No matter where I go or what I do, he's always hanging around behind me, eavesdropping on my private chats with my dad, stuff like that."
This is real. It is also true that I have acted this way since our contract was made, and not once have you objected. "
With this in mind, Joe's train of thought came to an abrupt halt. Looking back, this girl has always been nosy. He just didn't object because he was so happy to finally find someone who sweated "the little things." And the government actually recorded his every move, so his privacy wasn't violated. However, he now had a problem. It seems that it is not Maggie's behavior that has changed, but his own emotions. The spark for all this was undoubtedly Kelly's attempted attack. Looking back, that incident was a wake-up call for us. Being forgotten made Joe subconsciously realize that Maggie had too much control over his life. It gave him some dirty thoughts which definitely prompted him to push his girlfriend over a week and a half ago.
"Wow. Well, yeah, you have a point," he admitted.
"So shall we continue as usual?" she suggested.
"No. I still don't really like you doing those things. I don't want to be uncomfortable with you. You know what?"
"I...get it. In this case, I will no longer observe you from a distance in the future."
The girl was visibly distressed by the turn of events. Joe has every right to change his mind for any reason - that's what makes humans so interesting. However, this wasn't just "someone," but the man she loved, and she couldn't help but feel as though she had failed. That and watching Joe were her main hobbies. She was devastated when asked to give up and it showed on her face.
"Hey, come on. I still love you, a lot. I just want a little privacy every once in a while. All I ask is that you don't peek at me when I tell you not to, okay?"
"I understand." She relaxed, then immediately narrowed her eyes. "However, now that I have said this, I would like to make some demands of my own regarding your behavior."
Joe was startled by the retort, but he thought it was only fair.
"like what?"
Maggie seemed to pull out a particularly thick folder out of thin air and handed it to the man. It was heavier than it looked and Joe almost dropped it when he picked it up. Naturally, he didn't know what to think of this unlabeled folder, and hesitated whether to open it. That's a daunting pile of paperwork, to say the least. Thankfully, the girl didn't waste time explaining what she meant.
"I'm taking all the little misgivings I have about you to heart. Please make sure you at least try to correct them."
Joe's eyes were so wide that they looked as if they were going to disappear completely from his face. He had no idea Maggie had so much dissatisfaction with his behavior, and the way she expressed her displeasure struck him as rather malicious. Nonetheless, he opened the folder and began browsing the files inside. Or at least he tries to, except for one small problem. He looked up at the girl, opening his mouth to ask a question, which she immediately answered with a grin.
"Haha. That's funny," he complained, closing the folder.
"No, no, read the whole thing," she insisted.
"Yeah, good. It won't take long."
That's an understatement. After all, every page in the binder is blank. What's weird is number 69, which simply says: "You need to try more positions in bed." This statement makes Joe's ears turn a little red, and Maggie is delighted. She had to admit, it had been a while since she'd had the satisfaction of a perfect prank. That wasn't to say that she didn't take the man's previous concerns to heart. While she wishes Joe had always been in her sights, she's also watched too many soap operas to realize that this cavalier attitude is a potential problem. The only reason she hadn't stopped before was because her lover hadn't said anything about it before.
When Joe and Maggie land on the Trafalgar, their relationship is more or less back to normal. They walked around the freighter and stretched their legs. Of course, there's nothing to see or do, but it's a nice change of pace from being cooped up in a shuttle for so long. They won't be here long before the ship takes them home, so until then, they're just killing time. Sure enough, the scheduled wormhole transit went without incident. It took the Trafalgar several more hours to reach Butte.
po
D-4's high orbit as Joe and Maggie jumped back into the shuttle and headed toward the planet.
However, the final stretch wasn't all plain sailing. There were some legal technicalities that needed to be sorted out with the local authorities, the first being that Maggie obtained her pilot's license abroad. Once this is all laid out, it's hard for a girl to find a good place to actually sit. Like all large cities, Dave-156 is densely populated, has heavy air traffic, and has few landing spots suitable for personal shuttles. This wouldn't be a big deal if Maggie was just giving it away, but she needs a place to park her Silver Storm long-term. At one point, it seems the girl has had enough and uses her diplomatic status to put pressure on the flight control tower to make room for her or face punishment. The trick worked, and the couple was able to land at a government-owned hangar near the airport.
Joe was ecstatic to be back on solid ground for the first time in months, but it wasn't without complications.
"Ah, why do my knees hurt?" he complained on the way back to his apartment. "Return. Should I be worried?"
The question was obviously directed at the girl walking beside him, but she didn't seem to notice.
"Maggie? How are you?"
"Huh?" she asked sharply. "I'm sorry, I was distracted by an... internal matter." To answer your question – no, you don’t have to worry. Your body just needs to readjust to natural gravity. Discomfort and joint pain should disappear within a day or two. "
"That's good, but what's wrong with you?" You've been acting strange ever since you jumped. "
It wasn't like her to be so inattentive to her surroundings that she missed a question. It's the complete opposite of Maggie's usual self, but she's far from the only weird one. She had been unusually cold toward government workers throughout the landing, but had been strangely silent and passive before that. Joe was going to brush it off as his cosmic girlfriend being weird, but this complete lack of awareness made him immediately concerned. Given the timing of the incident and her "internal problem" response, he had a gut feeling he knew what the cause was.
"What's wrong? What happened at home?" he asked.
"…Yes," she admitted.
"Do you want to talk?"
"I plan to do this as soon as we get back to the apartment. I'd like to speed up the process with your permission."
"Right. Let's go."
He grabbed her hand and quickened his pace, trying to ignore his aching bones. Or at least, that's his intention. Maggie took him in her arms, held him tightly, and jumped through the air at an unnatural speed. After a few frantic minutes, Joe found himself on the roof of his skyscraper. He was cold, out of breath, completely terrified, but otherwise uninjured. The girl carried him inside and went downstairs to her apartment at a quick but more human pace, although she maintained complete silence. Joe was still shaking, so she sat him in the nearest armchair, next to Agent Johnson. The couple's roommate was totally chilling in her favorite ugly hoodie and sweatpants. She was holding a plastic tub of mint chocolate ice cream in one hand, and her other hand froze as she prepared to deliver a scoop of ice cream to her mouth. To say she wasn't looking forward to their return, let alone in this state, would be an understatement.
"What on earth are you doing?" After a while, she asked in disbelief.
“Making the most of the little time I have left.”
The girl's painful reply seemed to snap Joe out of his shock. He was still shaking, but not enough to stop him from speaking.
"Little time? What's the matter, Maggie?"
"I...I'll abbreviate it." My actions in this situation were scrutinized, and my methods and motives were questioned. "
"Who did you help?" AJ raised his eyebrows. "I'm sure that as long as you don't make mistakes, the government won't lift a finger against you."
"If this sentence were passed by any human authority, I would not admit it," said the girl solemnly. "It's my kind who think I'm... deviant."
"So, what? Who isn't a little surprised?" the ginger soldier pointed out.
"There is no room for eccentricity in a person of my nature."
In her past efforts to cause trouble for Kylotheriel, Maggie inadvertently exposed her failings to her top boss. Perhaps she was subconsciously aware of this and therefore did not check the findings when they were first released. On her last trip back to her hometown, she found no excuse not to and had to face the well-known consequences. According to the Adjudicator's findings, she has been slowly but surely increasing the extent to which she obfuscates the truth or bends the rules since her first contact with Joe. Initially, she simply accepted metaphors and sarcasm as substitutes for factual statements, which she believed were acceptable because they were not truly deceptive or misinformation. But then she engaged in even more problematic misleading behavior by making up excuses and omitting facts. Slowly but surely, the more she adopts human values and emotions, the further she strays from her true nature as an entity of cosmic order. This is a gradual transformation that is impossible for an individual to notice on his own.
The worst mistake she made, however, was that she had been avoiding her mission as the Observer, preferring to dwell on the familiar rather than explore the unknown.
“So,” Maggie continued, “I had to readjust myself so as not to become an anomaly.”
"That doesn't sound good," AJ said, also worried.
"It's not good. It's not bad. That's it."
"Okay, so...what does this reorganization involve?" the man asked cautiously.
This is far from a simple or brief process, but there is only one aspect that is directly relevant to the couple's relationship.
"I have to leave you, Joe Mulligan," Maggie said bitterly.
"You... hmm?"
"You are the source of my deviance. Therefore, I cannot-"
"Nonsense!" he quickly became angry. “What kind of asshole would force you to do this? It’s like, did you do something wrong?”
"Technically, no. Arguably, yes."
"So what, this guy wants to separate us because you're 'arguably abnormal'?" 'That can't be legal!'
"Jo, listen to me," she said, trying to calm him.
"No, you listen to me." "We're going to argue about this, aren't we?" Like copyright. I won't--"
” ̩͕̲͠一̢̟̦͇͉̺d̥̗̙̘̹j̬u̴̗͖̙̺͔̹͖d͏͖͈̺̲͔̖c͍̹一̛̠͔͙̻̲t͍o̢̺
̷͖͔̠̼̻̯. "
As soon as the girl said the first syllable of Lao Yi's real name, reality began to distort. The color changed to pitch black and blinding white. Objects become noticeably more rectangular. All sounds were replaced by a dull, monotonous drone. Joe, AJ, and even Maggie are no exception, as their bodies instantly transform into a giant collection of polygons. Even their minds were affected, a stream of pure logic took over their thoughts, silencing all emotion. In that moment, it became clear to both men the terrible inevitability of this order being a Level 5 entity.
Then, everything returns to normal, with no evidence of what happened except for some disturbing memories.
"This is the one who judges me," Maggie said softly, placing her hand on his cheek. "Please understand, Joe Mulligan. I can't deny this verdict any more than I can deny my concern for you. That's how it's going to be."
"But... this... is too sudden..."
"I understand your frustration, but this frustration has been going on for a long time. I just lacked the foresight to foresee this outcome. No, maybe I knew, but I chose to ignore it in order to be there for you."
"What if you, I don't know, don't go back?" He began to despair.
"There's no other choice," she shook her head. "Even I came here because I was allowed to come. So I could say goodbye."
Maggie leaned down and kissed Joe on the lips, which only made his heart hurt more.
"I don't want to lose you," he almost cried.
"Don't despair," she said, smiling. "Our agreement has not been broken, just suspended while I reorganize."
"So...will you come back?"
"Ultimately, yes. I don't know how long I will be gone. What I can say for sure is that I will do everything in my power to get back to you. Until then, please keep my ship close to you so I can get back as soon as possible. can you do it?"
"Of course," he grabbed her hand. "at all costs."
"Then there's nothing to be afraid of," she said confidently.
"I'm going to miss you though."
"I know. I'm going to miss you too."
Maggie took a few steps back and looked at AJ, content to play the role of a silent witness.
"Second Psychic Agent Sarah Johnson."
"Um, um, what's wrong?"
"I'll miss you too. I've enjoyed watching you progress and develop through our interactions and training sessions. You were an excellent test subject."
"Yeah, well, you'd forgive me if I wasn't upset...ah, screw it."
Although she tried to keep a tough attitude, she remembered who she was talking to and stepped forward for a hug. The gesture obviously startled Maggie, but she returned it.
"As crazy as this sounds, I'm going to miss having a weirdo like you around. Take care, Muggs."
"Your feelings are unnecessary, but I'm grateful," the girl broke away. "However, I have one last thing to entrust to you."
"Don't worry, I'll keep Joe out of trouble."
"I'm afraid this task is beyond your capabilities."
The psyker cringed a little when she thought of how accident-prone a forgetful pillow could be.
"The task I give you is much simpler. Give this to your superior." The girl took out a USB flash drive.
"What is this?" AJ accepted it cautiously.
"Insurance," she said shortly. "For Joe's sake."
After hearing his name, the man got up, swooped over, and hugged the girl from behind while he still had the chance. Maggie turned to face him and threw her arms around his neck, her calm smile melting into an ambivalent smile that betrayed sadness.
"I'm leaving now," she whispered.
"I'll wait for you. If I have to, I will always."
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
After saying this, the swirling light in the girl's eyes disappeared, her curly hair hung down on her slender back, and her face turned into a neutral, careless expression.
