It was generally regarded that the joint US-Soviet lunar landing marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War. Technologies on both sides of the iron curtain were utilized for space without restriction by the start of the 1970s.
This synthesis of ideas resulted in the discovery of a new material capable of retaining its integrity under unimaginable stress. The new material, although not quite metal, was dubbed Mithril because of its lightweight and silver appearance. With the moon conquered and colonies established, their joint industry next dedicated itself to building the first space elevator. The cable that ran from the artificial island off the coast of Ecuador was the first to carry cargo into space. It facilitated others like the one near Singapore and so on.
The halo colonies were the first generation of permanent space habitats built around the Earth with the first being finished in time for the Y2K scare to encourage emigration to the dangerous void of space. Most who did so were unaware of the irony of their move, but they proved the viability of civilians living in space regardless. By the time the 2020s rolled around, dozens of halo stations were built with the next generation of stations, with the clover pattern, proving viable deeper into space.
Forty years later, the novelty of living in space had worn off and had become a simple fact of human life.
Another of these facts was the human predilection for sports. Taking advantage of the low gravity environments available, the sport of Laser Brawl caught on, and was soon played competitively in some form from playgrounds to professional leagues across the colonies.
Involved in the very beginnings of serious competition was a team of men competing in the graduation series of games representing their school. They emerged from the locker rooms in their feedback suits knocking their holo gauntlets, that would project the powerup they collected, together. The team captain was getting his men stoked as they walked down the corridor before they headed out onto the field.
"Alright, guys!" the captain shouted. "Graduation doesn't matter. The college or university you applied to doesn't matter. Mostly because they probably rejected all of you anyway." He paused to collect the laughter. "What matters is..."
His team didn't need to ask why he trailed off. The school cheerleader that had come around the corner wearing the tight outfit and short skirt in the team's white and pink colours was explanation enough.
"Julie! You came to kiss me good luck!" shouted one of the men before her brother smacked his head from one side and the team captain hit him from the other, taking full advantage of the fact he was wearing a helmet.
"Hello, Angelface," the captain greeted smoothly, transitioning to a kiss as he brushed her reddish-brown hair aside while his team went on ahead to give the couple some space and privacy.
Julie smirked; she loved the nickname. "Well, Chet, you say that, yet I keep catching you staring at my chest."
Chet looked Julie in the face. "I am sorry. I will hang my head in shame."
He dropped his head dramatically to get a fuller view of the splendid pair of breasts on display for him through the section of her uniform that had been cut away for that exact reason.
Julie snorted in laughter. "You are ridiculous."
Chet looked up to smile, feeling pleased with his cleverness. "That's not what you are going to be calling me after the game."
"That depends on if you win," Julie challenged with a grin. "If you don't, I am going to have to find out who on the opposing team wants my virginity."
Not letting himself get distracted by unnecessary jealousy, Chet nodded. "That would probably be almost anyone with a dick. They would need to draw straws."
"Maybe for the first, then they would just take turns. I do kinda want it badly," Julie teased as she lifted her skirt to show off the shorter shorts underneath.
"I'd give you mine right now if I didn't know it would kill my game." Chet felt his cup shift as the conversation got him going.
"I'm an adult now, I can compete in your place." Julie pulled herself close to press her breasts into his chin.
"Barely," he retorted with a smile before giving her exposed skin a lick. "You just turned while I am aged with wisdom and actual training all year."
"I trained as hard as you, even if I couldn't compete." Julie would have been more defensive in her tone had she not been enjoying the experience.
"You get to do that next year. Now I have to go." Chet struggled to pull away.
"But I want dick." Julie acted as though his leaving was selfish and leaving her unsatisfied.
As Chet trotted down the hall towards the arena, he turned to face her, watching her stomp and pout. "Never stop wanting dick," he advised as he pointed at her.
Julie shifted from pouty back to flirty. "Oh, I won't. Just make sure you win so it can be yours." Her statement was punctuated by a deep boom in the distance as the corridor shook.
Startled by the noise and shake, Julie didn't hear any response as the shaking intensified and the sudden, rising rush of wind tried to pull her off her feet. She looked at Chet who was trying to crouch to reduce his profile when he was lifted up and started to fly away. Julie tried to run after him but her feet were already off the ground. It felt to her like she was flying after him down the corridor until a heavy metal door slammed shut. Julie had just enough time to realize it separated her from Chet before she fell to the ground and rolled into the door hard enough to knock her out.
****
Trissta was having fun. Despite the fact that the man she was handing the trophy to had won the race, she felt like the focus of the celebration was on her. As the man hoisted the trophy above his head, she felt his other hand on her hip pulling her closer with more enthusiasm. She couldn't blame him. Her soft pink flight suit was less practical and more for showing off her figure with its tight grip on her body. While he was still fastened up from his space race, hers was fastened permanently down to let her cleavage show through. Everyone spared her more than a bit of their attention as they congratulated the winner, despite her functionally being window dressing.
It was a new job for her, one that always drew in the youngest and prettiest before they got serious and moved on to other things. Yet she took to it well. At first, she didn't think she would get the job. Her height, while not greater than the average man, came close. With her hair as short as it was, regardless of the black and purple colours mixed with her white and grey streaks, it worked to her advantage since it wouldn't blow around when racers flew by or get in the way of an improvised kiss.
She was watching the live news coverage on the big screen and noticed that she was at the centre of the shot instead of the man holding her. It was subtle since they were so close together, but she watched the smile on her face grow. There was a sudden loss of picture and the blaring of an alarm. It wasn't one of the crash alarms she had been trained about, and it came from every device with a screen. Nobody had any control over anything and were forced to watch the colour bars that accompanied the alarm.
Trissta was let go and everyone halted what they were doing to watch as the screens cut the alarm and showed an SNN newsroom.
"Hello, this is Roger Raven of Solar Network News." Aside from him obviously not been prepared to be on the news, he had difficulty even speaking the words he should have been able to do in his sleep.
He had a false start before finally being able to form more words.
"Minutes ago, the Halo 7 colony was struck by what could only have been solar debris." A recording of the station appeared next to him with the ring colony hanging in space with the smaller ring structure in the centre connected to the ring at four points. "We don't have any knowledge about what caused this other than what you are seeing now." There were collective gasps as the centre structure was torn away violently. "All we know is that the centre low gravity area was heavily populated at the time with early estimates being at least a hundred thousand people." He struggled to use the number, unable to imagine it, yet knowing it would get higher even so. "There is no sign of further danger to Halo 7 or any other stations. We will, of course, have more information as it becomes available. At this point, we can only ask for the thoughts and prayers from the rest of the solar system to be with those who need it most."
As his feed was cut, unable to remain collected enough to sign off before breaking down in tears, everyone in the room started to process the enormity of the tragedy.
****
Julie didn't know what else to say. Attending funerals for everyone she knew was hard enough. Yet, more bodies were brought in. She, of course, went to those of friends or family, but she also felt that those who had nobody alive to attend deserved someone to say goodbye. It didn't feel like enough as she finished the same speech she gave all the other strangers. She left the room, allowing the body to be taken back to Earth so it could be buried under a tree in the reforestation effort.
It was exhausting. She was cycling through her dresses repeatedly, thankful that the hotel she was staying at close to the hospital was doing her laundry for her. Her best black dress was supposed to be for prom, not funerals. The revealing silk was not entirely appropriate, but she wore it when she said goodbye to Chet, the boy she'd bought it for in the first place. Now she was wearing it for the six people whose empty funerals she attended that day.
As she looked into the room next door, Julie could see it was empty and went in to sit down. Another person she didn't recognize. As she needlessly looked at her speech that she had memorized, she heard someone else come in. It was a strange relief to see someone else so close to the end of the allotted time.
He noticed her, looking almost relieved that someone else was there. "I didn't know him much at all," he said after reaching the front of the room and turning to face Julie. "I just recognized him from the picture above the door. We were waiting in line to catch the shuttle into the entertainment section when he overheard me complaining about the wings they served there. He suggested I try a place close by that I had never heard of. I said thanks and jumped out of line to go bring them to the game. By the time I got back to the station, it wasn't connected to anything anymore. This guy, he saved my life by telling me where to get good wings."
Julie could see he was still trying to deal with how close he had come to sharing the fate of so many others. As he shrugged at a loss for anything more to say, he came to sit down next to her.
"Did you already speak?" he asked.
"No, I didn't know him at all. Just saw his room was empty. You said more than I could." Julie wasn't sure if he was checking out her dress or just couldn't meet her eyes.
