Hesperia was a beautiful place.

The sky was gold, and the clouds their personal craft soared down through were bubblegum pink, shimmery.

Residential bubbles floated on the surface of a gaseous sea, latticed together, like a threadbare quilt; from above, there was an ocean of different colours within them. Cities, towns, farms, forest reserves, beaches, industrial parks. The swirling, electrified atmosphere below them crackled with ambient electricity, and the occasional glimmer of large metal structures peeked through.

It wasn't like anything Nova had ever seen before. Storam didn't colonize planets like this; they would mine them for resources, certainly, but permanent residence...

" This is where I grew up," William said, looking over it. " Our home was in Arethusa; Kirie and I went to school in the next bubble over, in Erytheis..."

His eyes, tracing over it, seemed to clearly recognize all the landmarks despite the speed of their descent.

Yet he did not seem happy.

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