Chapter 4: Crossroads

A Chance Encounter

The fluorescent lights of the small corner store flickered intermittently, casting uneven shadows over the shelves stocked with canned goods, dried noodles, and barely edible bread. Gaona picked up a small bag of rice and a few packets of instant soup, silently calculating how far his paycheck would stretch this week.

As he moved toward the checkout counter, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

“Gaona?”

He turned, his heart skipping a beat as he recognized the speaker. Alina, his childhood friend, stood a few feet away, her arms full of groceries. She looked the same as he remembered—soft features, warm brown eyes, and a kind smile that seemed to belong to another world entirely.

“Alina,” he said, his voice caught between surprise and unease.

They hadn’t spoken in years, not since she had married Ren, Gaona’s former best friend. Their paths had diverged after that, with Alina settling into a life on the military base and Gaona disappearing into the monotony of Civic Sector Delta.

Catching Up

“How have you been?” Alina asked, her voice genuine.

“Same as always,” Gaona replied with a shrug. “Work, home, repeat.”

Alina chuckled softly. “That sounds… consistent.”

They stood there for a moment, the weight of unspoken memories hanging between them. Gaona wanted to ask how she was doing, how life had been since they last saw each other, but the words caught in his throat.

Alina broke the silence. “I heard about the Archon Lottery. Are you entering?”

Gaona hesitated, his hand instinctively brushing against the ticket in his pocket. “Yeah, I guess. Doesn’t seem like something I’d win, though.”

“Well, you never know,” she said, her smile widening. “Stranger things have happened.”

Portillo / Eternal Code /

Portillo / Eternal Code /

Gaona nodded, though he couldn’t bring himself to match her optimism.

An Unwelcome Presence

Before they could say anything else, a third figure approached. Ren, tall and imposing in his military uniform, stopped beside Alina. His sharp features and cold eyes made Gaona’s stomach tighten.

“Gaona,” Ren said, his tone neutral but far from friendly. “It’s been a while.”

“Yeah,” Gaona muttered, looking away.

Ren’s gaze flicked to the items in Gaona’s basket before returning to his face. “Still working at the diner?”

“Yeah,” Gaona said again, his voice flat.

Ren smirked, though it lacked any real warmth. “Good to see you’re keeping busy.”

Alina shifted uncomfortably, glancing between the two men. “Ren, don’t be like that.”

Ren shrugged. “I’m just saying. It’s nice to see an old friend.”

The tension was palpable, and Gaona wanted nothing more than to leave. He turned back toward the checkout counter, but Alina stopped him with a gentle touch on his arm.

“Good luck with the lottery,” she said softly.

Ren’s smirk widened slightly, though his eyes remained cold. “Yeah, good luck. You’ll need it.”

Gaona didn’t respond. He paid for his groceries quickly and left the store, the encounter replaying in his mind as he walked home.

Memories of Another Time

Back in his apartment, Gaona sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the bag of groceries on the floor. The encounter with Alina had stirred something in him, a mix of longing and regret that he had tried to bury for years.

They had grown up together, their lives intertwined by circumstance and survival. Alina had been his anchor after his parents died, the one person who made the world feel less empty. But he had never told her how he felt, too afraid of ruining what they had.

And then Ren came along.

Portillo / Eternal Code /

Portillo / Eternal Code /

Gaona clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms. He had always envied Ren’s confidence, the way he seemed to take everything in stride. When Ren and Alina had gotten together, Gaona had told himself it didn’t matter, that he was happy for them. But deep down, it had felt like losing a part of himself.

Now, seeing them together again, those old feelings resurfaced, raw and uninvited.

A Lingering Doubt

As the night stretched on, Gaona found himself thinking about the lottery ticket. Alina’s words echoed in his mind: “You never know. Stranger things have happened.”

Could he win? And if he did, what would it mean? Would having an Archon companion make his life any less lonely, or would it just be another reminder of what he didn’t have?

He pulled the ticket from his pocket, turning it over in his hands. The weight of it felt heavier now, as if it carried more than just the possibility of a better life.

With a sigh, he set the ticket on his desk and lay down, staring at the ceiling. The flickering light from the biodome outside cast faint patterns on the walls, and for a moment, he let himself imagine a different life—one where things had gone differently, where he hadn’t let Alina slip away.

But the thought was fleeting, and reality settled back in like a familiar weight.

Tomorrow would come, whether he was ready for it or not.

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