Chapter Eight Theta

How Did I Make it This Far?

ISK Balance: 648,467.94

Sometimes it stuns me how thirty-five jumps can just melt away, given no interference and that ubiquitous dash of luck. I sailed through the remainder of Querious and the entirety of Period Basis to arrive at the southern edge of the galaxy in Esoteria with nary a close call beyond very nearly running headlong into an Absolution at a gate. I looked out on the endlessness beyond EVE's galaxy from the third of the four ultimate angles of the compass; I could now claim views from the north, west, and south as my own. A little bit of that infinity belonged to me now, just as it did to every curious pilot who came before me and just as it will to every ambitious capsuleer after. We all come from so many walks of EVE-life, for different reasons. New or old players, curious and fresh-faced or jaded from working their keyboards bare; they all come to see the same thing, but it means something different for each witness.

Perhaps it's not worth all the thought - but maybe it's the closest we can currently get to seeing off the edge of any galaxy. If not our own, why not a virtual one?

See, this is what thirty-five jumps of desolate star systems will do to an otherwise decent set of thought processes.

After basking in my third journeyman's triumph, I was contacted by a longtime friend who had just rejoined EVE and was looking for something to do. I decided to give him a break from looking for a new corporation, and Polysyncroncity and I planned a fearsome duo of Stabber and Arbitrator.

I couldn't spare the time to fly all the way back - even through the most suicidal route - so I left Niobe at the furthest planet for the next adventurer, drifting there, and podded myself.

Poly and I set out on a grand quest, recklessly throwing our cruisers into the maw of low security. We'll see what happens - even if we don't find a single fight, prowling is always better with a friend.

Of course, I checked out Theo Samaritan's mail, which pointed out a graphical bug that would interest a connoisseur of stars such as myself. It turns out stars of the K5 classification have a visible core. Hm.