KISMET ─ vento aureo.

INTERLUDE I *. ⊹

★ ⁺ 𝐀 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐃𝐀𝐖𝐍

★˚⋆ THERE WAS LITTLE TRISH UNA had not seen before. Anything and everything she might want to see was available at the tap of a finger. She had watched planetary battles and sappy holo-dramas. Studied microscopic organisms and colossal dinosaurs. Gasped at the beautiful striations on Jupiter and gaping craters on Solymus. She had seen most everything worth seeing in this galaxy. She had seen things people decades ago would've thought impossible.

But you could argue she had never truly seen any of these things. She had never been to any of these places; never been within breathing distance of those animals. Her eyes had only taken in this visual kaleidoscope through pixels on a holoscreen. It wasn't the true thing. Not really.

But that was all Trish could settle for when she lived on the spaceship colony Iris. On this behemoth of a ship, most residents had never felt sun on their skin or felt grass under their toes. They lived and breathed within this ship, not needing a planet or moon. Their days and nights were thanks to the lighting system that mimicked natural light. There wasn't any need to worry about rain or snow. It was a city unto itself, the Iris, entire buildings and communities flying through space.

The people who lived on the Iris loved it. The exclusivity that came from living here was worth the millions it cost. They didn't have to worry about the trivialities other people in the galaxy did. The Iris was excitingly, artificially perfect. Trish loved it too, most days. But sometimes, she wondered if there wasn't an entire world out in the galaxy she was missing.

Not that it mattered. Citizens of the Iris stayed on the Iris. People made their lives and died on this ship. There was no reason to go anywhere else. She had never known anything else, so why wasn't she satisfied with it?

Maybe it was from her mother. Donatella, having been one of the few citizens in the Galaxy still raised on Earth, was fond of telling her daughter all kinds of stories from the planet. Although the planet was marred by pollution and vindictive climate, there was still beauty to be found. Trish's favourite stories were the ones Donatella told of watching sunrises. That was what her mother had missed most after moving on board the Iris. Breathtaking sunrises, no one day like the other. Sure, the holopads could show Trish every sunrise on Earth for the past decade, but Donatella said nothing would ever compare to physically being on Earth and seeing the sun crest the horizon with your own eyes.

And then Donatella died, leaving Trish with her holopad and the sprawling Iris and dull engagement parties. She should never have promised to bring her daughter back with her to Earth one day.

"It wouldn't hurt to look a little happier. This is your engagement party, after all."

Trish's expression didn't change. She was tired of listening to Casca's petulant voice. The brunette was but one of a gaggle of girls that rotated around Trish, switching out when Trish couldn't stand them anymore. None of them were friends, but Trish's father seemed to like seeing his daughter with girls her age, so here they were.

"I know girls who kill to have a fiancé like yours," Casca said from behind her champagne flute. Trish followed her gaze across the room, to where her fiancé was speaking to a group of older gentlemen. He was handsome enough, all brooding grey eyes and curling dark hair. It was just her luck that the up-and-coming entrepreneur was close to her age. Trish's father could have picked someone else. She could have easily been marrying one of the older men her fiancé was talking to.