LunaWolve
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[ND] Chapter 138 - Future
🕑 Added 2025-07-24 19:00:07 +0000 UTC---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------- Start of Pre-Chapter Author Note (Patreon-only) -------------------
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Hello everyone, LunaWolve here!
Chapter 133 - Lessons has just released on RR with no major changes.
For the Fixers, this chapter has seen no changes.
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Straight up torching some of y'alls mentals in this one.
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I'm looking forward to hearing your first impressions and opinions on this chapter. \o/
I hope you will enjoy it!
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-------------------- End of Pre-Chapter Author Note (Patreon-only) ------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is the link to the chapter:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WXoRmD_O8SihvQ-fyflObVp1LxgPGIE8Bwcub6ZiHC8/edit?usp=sharing
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Chapter 138 - Future
It wasnât long after wrapping up the last of the downloads and locking in my Perks that I heard the front doorâs biometric lock beep, followed by the familiar hiss and click of it swinging open.
Still stretched out on the couch, I glanced toward the entryway and spotted Gabriel trudging in, looking like heâd just gone twelve rounds with a punch-clock. His expression was all kinds of drainedâsleeves rolled up, collar loosened, a thin sheen of sweat clinging to his brow.
Classic post-shift exhaustion.
âWelcome home, Gabe,â I called out, tossing him a relaxed smile from my cozy sprawl.
âAh, hey, Sera. Thanks,â he replied with a tired nod. His eyes flicked toward me, then squinted a little. âHuh. Very un-you to just be lounging like that. Or, I guess⊠not un-you if weâre talking old you. You used to basically live on that couch anytime nobody else was around.â
âYeah, well, itâs been a long-ass day,â I said with a shrug. âFigured Iâd steal some quiet before the chaos hits. Family dinnerâs looming over me like a damn corporate inquieryâI just needed a minute. Just me, the couch, and the sound of absolutely nothing. Old-me likely knew what she was doing.â
âFair enough,â he chuckled, already veering off toward the bathroom. âGonna rinse off real quickâdonât think Mum would appreciate me bringing the scent of public transport and busted AC units to the table. Catch you after?â
âUh-huh,â I hummed, sinking deeper into the cushions as he disappeared behind the door.
For a few moments, the apartment was quiet again. But my thoughts werenât.
âI really should talk to him moreâŠâ I frowned at the ceiling. âI mean, we live in the same apartment. Share a room. And I still barely know what the hell he does, outside of being a cashier at some kind of store, I guess. But beyond that? No clue. No idea what his dreams are, if heâs got any. No idea what he even wants from life. Hell, weâre supposed to be siblings. Thatâs supposed to mean something, right?â
I sighed, dragging a hand over my face.
âNot that Iâd know. But maybe itâs time I started figuring it out...â
â
By the time Gabriel wrapped up his shower, dumped his work clothes into the washer-compartment of the closet, tossed on something casual, and finally trudged back into the living room looking marginally less dead inside, close to forty minutes had passed.
He didnât quite look ready to take on the worldâbut at least he didnât look like he was about to collapse face-first into the carpet anymore.
So⊠progress?
I tilted my head slightly at the sight of him.
Seeing Gabe without his usual faux-punk hairstyle was a bit jarringâhis hair now flopped lazily to one side, still damp and clearly unbothered with existing.
Guess he hadnât bothered to re-spike it after the shower. Not that I blamed him.
At this point, even getting dressed deserved a small medal.
Shuffling to the far end of the couch, I kicked my legs up and made room for him. He sank down beside me with a groan that sounded like it came from the depths of his soul.
âRough day?â I asked, trying to slide into what I imagined a âsupportive and approachable sisterâ was supposed to sound like. Honestly, I was mostly winging it.
My only real reference points were sitcom siblings and anime characters, and most of those involved punchlines or melodramatic yelling.
Neither seemed particularly helpful in this situation.
âUnderstatement,â Gabe muttered, leaning back into the cushions. âGot bumped up to customer-facing recently, right? I thought itâd be a promotion. And pay-wise, it technically is. But turns out, itâs more of a downgrade than anything. Iâd kill to be back in the storage unit, alphabetizing crates or checking inventory. Literally anything that doesnât involve talking to customers.â
That, I could sympathize withâhard.
In my past life, Iâd practically been a retail veteran. Grocery stores, fast food joints, the occasional nightmare-tier holiday gig at some mall pop-up shopâŠ
Been there, hated that.
âI feel that,â I said with genuine empathy, then caught myself. âI meanâI think I feel that.â
Technically, Sera had never worked a day in her life, as far as I was aware.
And really, at fourteenâwell, closer to seventeen-and-a-half by Earth-year standardsâthat wasnât exactly shocking. From what Iâd pieced together, the old Sera hadnât even really had time to think about jobs. Between her home-studies, family stuff, and whatever her rebellious teenage years had done to her, punching a clock hadnât made it onto her radar.
Still.
It made me feel a little weird, remembering that while I felt the sympathy, Sera technically didnât have the resume to back it up.
We spent the next half hour or so catching up, bouncing the conversation between us like we were tossing a ball around.
It felt⊠nice.
Strangely familiar, almostâeven if a bit of guilt lingered underneath because I couldnât exactly be truthful about everything going on.
Instead of the whole Operator gig and gang drama, I talked about my recent stints at Mr. Shoriâs stall. I mentioned the new recipes heâd been showing me, how much I was starting to enjoy the rhythm of cooking, and even cracked a joke about how much the old customers loved having me aroundâearning a satisfying laugh from Gabe.
Then the conversation drifted to Miss Kâs dojo, and I asked him how he was holding up with training.
Gabe grimaced, rubbing his neck like he could already feel the soreness setting in. "I'm alive. Barely. But between pulling extra shifts at work to cover for the downtime after getting injured and Miss K running us ragged every session⊠Man, Iâm lucky if Iâm still standing by the end of it."
I chuckled sympathetically, nodding along. "Yeah, sheâs not exactly the type to let you slack off. But heyâif you ever want to practice together, or if thereâs something specific you need to work on, just let me know. Iâm actually doing pretty well over there, surprisingly enough."
Gabe shot me an appreciative smile, the tiredness lifting from his eyes just a bit. "Seriously? That⊠Would actually be great, to be entirely honest. Iâd hate to end up as âthat guyâ in every session that gets singled out for messing up everything. Thanks, Sera. And hey, for what itâs worth, Iâm really glad youâre doing so well at the dojo. Seeing you get excited about something safe for a change is honestly a huge relief."
I rolled my eyes dramatically at the mention of "safe," even though I definitely couldnât blame him for thinking like that.
After all, considering all the Operator and gang-related chaos I very deliberately hadnât mentioned, Gabe wasnât exactly wrong.
But stillâdojo training wasnât exactly a walk in the park either.
"I mean, I donât know if I'd call anything involving Miss K 'safe,'" I retorted, grinning as Gabe laughed. "But yeah, it's nice having something⊠steady, I guess."
He nodded warmly, sinking deeper into the couch like just sitting there was healing his bones. "Exactly. Steady is good. We could use more steady."
Couldnât really blame him for leaning so hard into that word.
With everything that had happened latelyâSeraâs âdeath,â the whole amnesia mess, him getting stabbed and nearly bleeding out on the floorâit was kind of a miracle either of us were even functioning, let alone casually chatting on the couch like nothing ever happened.
Didnât take a licensed shrink to spot the trauma radiating off him like heat from a busted vent.
âWish I knew what to say to actually help him here⊠Why isnât there a [Psychologist] Skill or something? Come on, System. Help me out here.â
We let the silence stretch for a bit after that.
One of those comfortable ones, though. No pressure.
Just the two of us sharing space without needing to fill it with noise.
Eventually though, Gabe shifted, turning toward me again with that thoughtful look he always got when he was about to drop something heavier than expected.
âSay, what are your plans, Sera? Like⊠long-term? You gonna keep working for Mr. Shori? Make a career out of it?â
The question caught me a little off guardâwasnât expecting the deep-life-direction conversation to pop off in the middle of lazy couch timeâbut I recovered quick enough.
âHonestly⊠Iâm not really sure yet,â I admitted, scratching the back of my neck. âI like helping out at the stall, donât get me wrong. Mr. Shoriâs great, and the customers are super chill. But itâs not like I dream of becoming the next noodle overlord or anything, yâknow?â
âFair,â he muttered, nodding slowly. âProbably still better than a lotta places, thoughâŠâ
âYeah, probably. But Iâve actually been really enjoying the programming stuff lately, too,â I added. âThanks again for the shard, by the way. That thingâs been a blast and a half.â
âRight!â His eyebrows went up slightly, like heâd almost forgotten about it. âYeah, I mean, programmingâs definitely a solid choice. Could make some serious Creds doing that, as long as you donât wander into anything shady. Honestly wish I had the patience for that kinda work myself.â
And there it was againâanother perfectly reasonable, steady and safe path for my life, said with warmth and encouragement, that I absolutely was going to take in the most roundabout and chaotic way possible. The kind of way that involved shady contracts, back-alley deals, and maybe a sprinkle of gang warfare on the weekends.
Hell, just to underscore it all, my very next programming-related gig was selling [Venombite] to an absolutely unhinged lunatic who was definitely planning to zap himself halfway to cardiac arrest just to see what it felt like.
I cringed inwardly at the mounting list of truths I wasnât telling him.
If this was a game of two truths and a lie, I was working on three lies and a nervous smile.
âAm I actually that much of a thrillseekerâŠ? What the hell is wrong with meâŠ?â I thought, watching my brother unknowingly outline all the safe, normal, functional versions of my life that I was not choosing.
Not really wanting to stare too hard into that particular mirror, I tossed the question right back at himâanything to dodge a round of self-actualization.
âWhat about you, Gabe? Doesnât sound like youâre all that thrilled with where youâre at right now⊠You thinking about trying something else?â
He let out a long, tired sigh. âHaaa⊠Yâknow, I knew it was gonna go this way. Thatâs just how conversations work. I ask you something, you bounce it back at me. You ask me something, I bounce it back at you⊠But damn, I was kinda hoping maybe this time, just this once, it wouldnât.â
God, I felt that in my bones.
The amount of times Iâd been in the exact same spot in my past life? Too many to count.
Just sitting there, getting called out by the natural rhythm of conversation.
âItâs fine, we really donât have to talk about it,â I said quickly, knowing that gnawing feeling way too wellâthe dread of being asked about future plans when all youâve got is a hot ball of nothing and a bunch of aspirations and dreams that will never come to pass.
But he shook his head. âNah⊠I think I asked for a reason, yâknow? Maybe I wanted someone to make me say it out loud. If my baby sister asks me what Iâm doing with my life, I canât exactly just shrug and go âNo clue,â right? Kinda forces the question.â
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, rubbing at his face with both hands like he could scrub the thoughts away.
âI just⊠I donât know, Sera. I always wanted to carve out something for myself. Not âValeriaâs first born son,â not âOliverâs child,â just⊠me. Something that was mine and nobody elseâs. And now Iâm working a horrible job I canât standâand this is with one of the good bosses, if you can believe thatâbarely holding on to what few perks I get from being Mumâs kid, like the dojo. And even thatâs slipping away from me lately. I just feel like Iâm⊠drifting. No direction. No grip. No grand plans or anythingâŠâ
I didnât have anything to say to that.
Because⊠yeah. Iâd been there. Iâd lived there.
That suffocating feeling of time slipping by, while you kept running on autopilot, waiting for something to click that never came.
The endless, sleepless nights of insomnia, that made you toss and turn in bed, wondering where it had all gone wrongâwhere you had all gone wrong.
Wondering if, maybe, had things been different in this instance or that one, you would be living an entirely different life. One free of all the stress, the struggle, the uncertainty.
That, maybe, if you had actually applied yourself to the things you had wanted to pursue and dreamed about earlier in your life, before obligations, taxes and rent payments came a-knocking, youâd be living a life that you could actually be proud of.
And in those late-night moments, youâd make a deal with yourself.
That tomorrow, maybe youâd change things. Youâd actually try for once. You absolutely knew you had what it took, how to get where you wanted to be.
Youâd just have to try, for one, single time.
But tomorrow always came with an alarm clock and a schedule and a hundred little things that shoved all those big thoughts into a dusty mental drawer labeled âdead dreams and discarded ambitions.â
Until the next sleepless night came around to dust them off again.
And truth was, I never figured out how to fix any of that.
I had just... died.
And then woke up hereâtaking over Seraâs life, in Neon Dragons.
Whole new world. Whole new problems. And none of the chains I used to drag around.
I got lucky. Crazy, cosmic-lottery-type lucky. One in a quintillion, if not more.
Anyone else? They didnât get that second shot, as far as I knew.
Just me.
So⊠I didnât have anything to say that would magically help.
No perfect words to drop some life-changing epiphany on my brother.
Just the quiet echo of everything heâd said bouncing around in my chest. And the raw, honest truth that I still remembered exactly how it felt.
Gabrielâs voice pulled me back from the edge of that mental spiral as he spoke up again, his tone heavy, âI think⊠I might ask Mum or Dad for a referral. Try out the corpo-life. As much as I donât think itâs for me at allâŠâ
I blinked. That caught me completely off guard.
I just stared at him, my mind blankâno words forming, nothing coherent rising to the surface.
He let out another one of those long, tired sighsâthe kind that seemed to deflate his whole being. âI was already thinking about it like two months ago, honestly. My jobâs a dead-end. Iâm barely scraping together enough Creds to do anything beyond survive, let alone plan ahead. Corpo-life, though? For all the bad talk it gets, itâs stable. You put in the work, you get the rewards. You put in extra work? You climb. Thereâs structure. Predictability. No guesswork.â
I didnât interrupt.
I was still trying to process the idea of Gabrielâmy hoodie-wearing, punk-rock, but kind-hearted, older brotherâwillingly throwing himself into the corporate grinder.
He glanced at me then, something raw behind his eyes. âAnd then everything that happened to you⊠I felt useless, Sera. Totally, utterly useless. What good is a store clerk, when his sister nearly dies, huh? What can a cashier even do in that situation? But Mum? Dad? They had real means; power. Mumâs insurance covered the hospital and all kinds of crazy doctors to take a look at you. Dad pulled every string he could to get you the best meds and equipment as well. And me? I just stood there. Couldnât do anything but hope youâd get betterâŠâ
I swallowed hard, but the lump in my throat wasnât going anywhere.
He wasnât supposed to carry that weight. That kind of burden didnât belong to him.
He was my brotherânot a parent, not a provider.
But I could see how deep that helplessness had sunk its claws into him.
His hands were back on his face, fingers laced through his hair, elbows digging into his knees. Exhaustion clung to him like smokeâemotional, physical, all of it piling on.
âAnd then, when I got stabbed⊠Iâm scared, Sera. Genuinely scared. It hurt so, so much⊠More than anything Iâve ever felt. That knife just⊠split me open from the inside, ripping everything out that made me, me. I still get flashes of it. Nightmares. Sometimes I wake up feeling like itâs still there.â
His hands dropped slightly, and he looked back at me.
No mask, no walls.
Just raw, aching honesty.
âIf Iâd been a corpo? With a jacket that screamed âdonât touch meâ? With a badge on my chest? Those scavs wouldnâtâve come near me. Theyâd never, ever risk it. Even the most psychotic of them would know not to get close.â
He held my gaze, something desperate and quiet in his voice. âIs it wrong to want that kind of safety, Sera? The kind of stability, that means I donât have to worry whether walking to-or-from home is going to get me killed for no fucking reasonâŠ?â
That was when it hit me.
It was the first time Iâd ever heard Gabriel swear.
And somehow, that was the detail that stuck.
Out of all the heavy stuff he just unloaded⊠it was that one cracked syllable that drove the point home.
I just sat there for a second, my mind scrambling, stuck somewhere between guilt and disbelief.
âHow the hell did I miss all thisâŠ?â
He had been bleeding, screaming on the inside, trying to hold himself together with tape and sheer will, and I hadnât even noticed.
Too wrapped up in my own maze of Operator meetings, Skill grinding, dojo sessions, code reviews, near-death experiences, and whatever else Iâd decided to throw on the ever-growing pile of chaos that made up my life now.
Gabriel had been drowning right next to me, every single night, and I hadnât even looked over to check if he could still breathe.
My stomach twisted hard.
Before I could even really think it through, my body just moved on instinct.
I shuffled over, crawled across the couch, and wrapped my arms around himâtight.
Like I was trying to hold all the broken pieces of him together by sheer force alone.
I didnât say anything. There werenât any words that wouldâve made it better, not really.
No tears fell, either. It wasnât that kind of hug.
Just⊠solid.
The kind of hug that said Iâm here, without making a whole speech out of it.
He didnât react much at firstâhis shoulders tense under my armsâbut after a moment, I felt him shift slightly, letting out a breath he probably hadnât even realized he was holding.
We stayed like that for a while. Ten, twenty minutes, maybe.
Long enough for the apartment to feel less heavy.
Eventually, I finally found my voice. "I don't think it's wrong at all, Gabe."
My words felt small, but genuine. "If thatâs what you truly wantâif thatâs what makes you feel safe, stableâŠthen the corpo life might honestly be your best shot."
He shifted slightly, his breath hitching, but stayed silent.
"There's a good reason why Oliver and Valeria went that route. Fuck, why so many people across this whole damn city choose corpo life, really. It's not a failure of you as a person; it's just another path. You might give up some freedoms going that route, yeahâŠbut if it gives you security, gives you a life where you don't have to worry constantly about surviving another dayâthat's its own kind of freedom, yâknow?"
I tightened my grip around him, squeezing him just a little harder as though I could somehow force my sincerity through sheer physical contact alone. âAnd it doesnât mean youâre not your own person anymore. You're still you, Gabe, no matter where you work or what you do. Always.â
Gabriel shifted slightly under my arms, leaning back just enough to look at me, his face heavy with doubt.
âItâs not that simple, Sera,â he said, his voice low. âOnce you go corpo⊠thatâs it. You donât just walk away from it. Itâs like stepping onto a road with no exitsâyou keep going until the road decides to swallow you whole. And I donât know if I want that for myself. For us.â
I tilted my head at him for that, but stayed quiet, letting him talk.
âIâd be working all the time,â he continued, his jaw tightening. âEvery single day, locked into whatever project they threw at me, grinding out hours until Iâm too tired to do anything else. Barely time for dojo sessions, no time for⊠for even this,â he gestured between us.
âIâd lose any chance of actually living, yâknow? AndâŠâ He hesitated, his eyes flicking to me with a faint shadow of guilt. âI donât want you to feel like you have to follow me. Or Mum. Or Dad. If I go corpo and everyone else already is, and youâre not⊠itâs gonna feel like youâre the black sheep of the family. I donât want to put that on you.â
That last part hit me like a sucker punch. I hadnât even considered it from that angle.
Gabriel was talking about his future, his survival, and he was still worrying about how it might affect me? It was both thoroughly infuriating and⊠deeply touching.
I took a breath, leaning back slightly to meet his gaze, my tone firmer now. âGabe⊠this isnât about me. Itâs your life. If going corpo is what you need to feel safe, to feel like youâve got a shot at something solid, then you should take it. Donât let meâor anyone elseâbe the reason you donât.â
He looked ready to argue, but I didnât let him. âYeah, maybe it is a road with no exits. But not every road needs an exit. Some roads just get you where you need to go. And if thatâs what you think will work for you, if thatâs where you can build something thatâs yours and something youâre proud of⊠Then screw the rest of it. You donât need my permission, and you donât need to worry about me following in your footsteps.â
I gave his shoulder a squeeze, softening my tone even more. âIâm not gonna suddenly be the black sheep just 'cause Iâm not wearing a shiny corpo badge, Gabe. Iâm still me. And youâre still you. You donât need to carry my choices on your back like some kind of martyr. This is your decision. Just yours. And no matter what you decide, Iâve got your back. Always.â
I paused, then grinned. âIf you wanna ask Mum for a referral and need me to grovel at her feet to sweeten the deal, I will. No shame. Iâll throw my pride straight into the trash for you, no hesitation.â
His eyes widened, caught somewhere between confusion and disbelief.
âIâm serious,â I continued, pressing a hand dramatically to my chest. âIâll kiss the ground she walks on if itâll help you get that referral. Youâre not the only sibling who knows how to be dramatic, yâknow? I can make it all about me too. Selfless sacrifice for the greater Gabriel good. Iâll do it all of tonight, even!â
That did it.
He laughedâreally laughedâand for a moment, it actually looked like the weight on his shoulders got a little lighter.
âThatâs something Iâd have to record,â he said through his grin. âA once-in-a-lifetime masterpiece. You, begging at Mumâs feet? Iâd sell tickets.â
âAbsolutely not,â I shot back, scandalized. âIâd rather die than let that be caught on film.â
We shared a brief, comfortable silenceâone that didnât need to be filled.
Then he nodded, a bit of steel returning to his eyes. âThanks, Sera. I think⊠yeah, I think Iâll ask Mum tonight. Just get a read on what kind of offer the handlers would even throw at me. Dad mightâve been a better option, but with the OriginTech mess still eating up all his bandwidth, I doubt heâs got time to worry about what Iâm doing. EtherLabs is a heavy hitter anyway. Should be plenty of ways to move up if I commit to it.â
He looked steadier now.
Not all the way sureâbut at least not crumbling under the weight of indecision.
âIf thereâs anything I can do to help, say the word,â I said with a nod. âOh⊠And probably ask for your referral before I ask for my favour from Mum. I have a feeling mineâs going to be a bit less likely to go over wellâŠâ
Gabriel blinked, then smirked. âThatâs probably the better order, yeah⊠Letâs go with that, then.â
His eyes flicked over to the TV, which had defaulted to its idle-mode clock. âSpeaking of which⊠we should probably start getting ready. Mum and Dadâll be back any minute, and you know Mumâs not gonna waste time before launching straight into dinner mode. So, uh⊠Letâs get spruced up while we still got some time to spare?â
I gave him a mock salute. âAye aye, captain. And donât forgetâtonight only, limited-time offer: Full-service feet grovelling, for your benefits.â
He flashed me a wide, toothy grinâno words neededâas he pushed himself off the couch and headed for our room. I followed close behind, already mentally bracing myself.
âTime to throw the dress back on, smile like Iâve got no ulterior motives, and pretend to be the picture-perfect corpo daughter Valeria wants me to be⊠All while planning to ask for the exact thing she really doesnât want to give me: A link to old-Seraâs past life...â
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Comments
Virnor
Wait since when does Gabe know the mess at Oliver's job is linked to OriginTech? >Then he nodded, a bit of steel returning to his eyes. âThanks, Sera. I think⊠yeah, I think Iâll ask Mum tonight. Just get a read on what kind of offer the handlers would even throw at me. Dad mightâve been a better option, but with the OriginTech mess still eating up all his bandwidth, I doubt heâs got time to worry about what Iâm doing. EtherLabs is a heavy hitter anyway. Should be plenty of ways to move up if I commit to it.â<
Dopplerdee
Wait how old is Sera? Are years longer in this world?
