Neville woke up with an unusual spring in his step.

[Favorability: 13%]

The favorability bar had climbed to thirteen percent overnight, and he had absolutely no idea why. He stared at the holographic screen hovering at the corner of his vision. He blinked twice to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating from sleep deprivation.

[Good morning, host! ✺◟(＾∇＾)◞✺] Shelly’s cheerful voice rang in his mind, spinning with barely contained excitement in the system space. [Congratulations on the unexpected progress! At this rate, you’ll be done in... approximately twelve more years!]

"Your math is terrible," Neville muttered, rolling out of bed and padding toward the bathroom. "And why did it even go up? I didn’t do anything special yesterday."

[Who knows? Maybe you smiled at him at the right angle. Perhaps the stars aligned. Perhaps he just thought about you before bed—]

"Stop." Neville splashed cold water on his face, the chill doing nothing to cool the embarrassment creeping up his neck. "I don’t need that mental image."

[But host, you should be happy! Progress is progress! ╰(´︶`)╯♡]

I suppose Shelly had a point.

As he dressed in a simple gray sweater and black slacks, Neville made a decision to go all out today.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥

Liam was already waiting at the entrance of Xylos’s Shopping Center when Neville arrived. His tall frame leaned casually against one of the massive pillars that supported the building’s entrance. His hair was tousled in that effortlessly attractive way that people around couldn’t help but turn their heads towards him.

"You’re early," Neville called out, jogging the last few steps to meet him.

Liam stood properly and welcomed him with a warm smile. "You said noon. It’s five minutes to noon. That’s called being punctual."

"That’s called an occupational hazard." Neville couldn’t help but tease. "I appreciate it, though."

Liam had been nothing but kind to him since they had first met. Their friendship had only grown stronger recently, but he was really a good person.

"You never leave the office." Liam fell into step beside him as they approached the shopping center’s main entrance. "Getting you out into actual sunlight is practically a humanitarian mission."

Neville snorted. "I leave the office... sometimes."

"Name one time in the last month that wasn’t work-related."

A pause. Then, carefully said, "I went to Medea’s Garden to pick up groceries before."

"That’s running errands, not having a life."

"It’s the same."

The massive doors slid open with a soft hiss, revealing the interior of the shopping center in all its glory. Neville’s steps faltered as he took in the sight before him.

From the outside, the Xylos Shopping Center looked like a massive honeycomb structure. He had seen the aerial photos on the StarNet, hexagonal cells stacked and interconnected in an eco-friendly architectural marvel. The interstellar era seemed to like to incorporate those in a lot of things.

But from the inside, it was something else entirely. Bioluminescent vines crawled up the support columns. Their soft blue and green glow mixed with the natural light streaming through the transparent ceiling panels.

Water features cascaded down from upper levels. It was not falling in streams but floating in anti-gravity bubbles that drifted lazily through the air before collecting in pools scattered throughout the atrium.

Hover-platforms carried shoppers between the twelve different levels, while holographic advertisements flickered to life as people passed.

"You’re really not joking when you said that you’ve never been here before," Liam observed with amusement.

"I told you, I haven’t been here." Neville turned in a slow circle, trying to take it all in.

"There were some small stores around the orphanages, but not on this massive scale. And after I started working, well..." He shrugged. "You know how it is."

A flicker of something crossed Liam’s expression.

"Well then," Liam said, his smile returning with renewed determination. "Consider me your official tour guide. Where do you want to start?"

Neville pulled out his light brain, the holographic interface flickering to life above the sleek device strapped to his wrist.

"I already told you that it’s my treat today as thanks for everything you’ve done for me." He grinned as he thought of the favorability increase and successful revenge. "...and I’m in a mood to celebrate."

"Celebrate?" Liam’s eyebrows shot up. "Ah, you should really celebrate after that successful meeting. You’re so fierce that day. Should I be concerned about what kind of person I’ve been befriending?"

"Only if you’re secretly embezzling corporate funds and undermining innocent employees."

"I am decidedly not doing either of those things."

"Then you’re safe." Neville patted his arm reassuringly. "Now, where do we start? You know this place better than I do."

What followed was an educational experience in more ways than one.

Neville quickly discovered that despite his earnest intentions to treat Liam as thanks for his help, he was woefully unprepared for the reality of interstellar shopping.

Every store they entered seemed designed to confuse and impress someone who had spent years drinking nutrient solutions. Someone who occasionally has a meal from Medea’s Garden. But of course, he wouldn’t like those because he could have real food in his kitchen ready at a price.

The fashion boutiques used sizing systems he didn’t recognize. The tech stores displayed gadgets whose functions he could only guess at.

And the food court—

"What is that?" Neville pointed at a dish being carried past them by a server bot.

It looked like something that might have once been alive and was now arranged in a geometric pattern that he couldn’t understand for the life of him.

"Level-2 Cosmic Beast tenderloin with crystallized Fanilya flowers and a reduction of khe citrone," Liam read off the menu hovering at their table. "The StarNet reviews were pretty decent. So, it should be good. Want to try it?"

Neville looked at the price tag and felt his soul leave his body. "I could pay three months’ rent with that."

"Maxwell Corporation subsidizes your rent."

"My point stands." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

In the end, Liam looked at him and seemed to think that he really didn’t like expensive food. So he decisively led him to a more modest establishment on the sixth level.