Tavern Tales

I sat at a table in the local bar of a Minmitar Mining Corporation station in Libold, staring at my mobile terminal while I went over my industry job queue through the Neocom. It was a small room in the station, the bar was short, the tables few and close together, opting for booths along the wall to save space an increase seating capacity. Satisfied that my jobs were running smoothly, I set down the terminal and glanced up to see Maya Nao leaning back in her chair, her slender fingers around her dirty glass on the table and her eyes staring at me with a curious look on her face.

"Sain Darkwing." she began, tapping her glass, "So, tell me. I've been working with you for a few months now, but you never talk about yourself. It's always business with you. What gives?" It was true. I rarely socialized with other Capsuleers besides over Coms channels while in space and rarely in this setting. The rest of the patrons seemed to prefer seats away from the two immortals in the bar, as usual.

"A business tycoon!" A nearby drunkard proclaimed, then burst into laughter, "Must be Caldari! You look Caldari." Then he paused for a moment, then squinted at me as if trying to see me more clearly, "Are you Caldari?"

I sighed, "Yes, we are." I was annoyed by this man, but he looked as dirty as the rest of the station, probably a Minmitar miner just trying to unwind after a long day in the refinery or something. I turned to Maya after taking a sip of my drink, "But you are right. I don't talk about myself."

"We never talk, period." She said, "Business partners and the most interaction we have are short Coms messages and contracts."

"Correct again." I replied.

"So how about it?" she asked, leaning forward, "Tell me about you."

"Where is your Boyfriend tonight?" I asked trying to change the subject, "Won't he be jealous you're out socializing with me?"

"You're avoiding the question." she said, her eye's narrowing, "Do you have something to hide?"

"Not particularly." I said, taking another sip.

"Your Bio says you became a Capsuleer over three years ago." she said, "How many skill points?"

"Just about Nine Million." I replied, a little quietly.

"How did that happen? For your age I would have expected a lot more than that!" She exclaimed.

"Just after we first started working together and stopped, I took a break as well." I replied, "Being a Capsuleer was a little overwhelming and I had little or no contacts to help."

"What brought you back?" she asked. I took a while to respond.

"I guess it was the challenge." I said. "I want to make ISK, and try new things, collect ships or something."

"And going industrial was your choice?" Maya asked, "You know a lot of pilots look down on miners. They consider the trade to be boring and not worth the time."

"Mission runners and the Combat types." I said, nodding. "Where do they think their ships come from that they so carelessly get blown up? Besides, it's honest, steady income."

"True, but the allure of combat doesn't interest you?" she asked, sitting back again. I heard a clink behind her where a connection port in her back struck the metal backing of the chair through the thin tank top she wore. She lifted her drink and swirled the ice inside.

"Not really. I'm more of a pacifist." I said. Her eyes narrowed.

"Nine million skill points? All of them can't be in industrial skills." she said. A small grin appeared on my face I fought to keep hidden.

"Well I can defend myself, if needed." I said casually. I glanced out the window beside our table at the hangar below. My Orca and Mining Barges were held near the back of the massive enclosed area, but in a row above it, several ships floated eerily in storage. A massive Drake, a Thorax, and a Rifter could barely be seen floating beside the other massive two.

"Those are all yours?" she asked, closing her jaw.

"No. Just the one's in this station." he said, "Did you think all I did was mine?" To my surprise, she became angry.

"You asshole!" She exclaimed, "You've been making enough money to buy all these ships and you only pay me enough to keep my damn Badger running!" I glanced around the room and noticed everyone staring at me now. I don't like attention. Attention can get you killed. Albeit, not really an issue for a Capsuleer. Besides, I had expensive implants installed, but again not something I tell others.

"Maya." I began, "Have you looked at the market lately? The cheapest PLEX in Hek right now is around five hundred and eighty million ISK. I gave you one last month! That's worth nearly another Orca."

"That much?"

"Yes. And I give you whatever ships you need to do what you want." I said, "Any corp ship is yours to use."

"That's another thing. You're not even CEO of your own corporation anymore! What happened there? Why did you leave?"

"So you don't read my logs then?" I assumed. They aren't something I keep private. People on my contact list can link to my logs in my Bio so it's not a secret. She simply shook her head, "I can't be a CEO of one Company and join another. I could have had Darkwing Inc just join their alliance, but then any war target that goes after them would be able to come after you. It's only the two of us in this Corporation, Maya."

"Oh." She said, looking to the table, "Well, if I'm the only one left, does that mean I'm CEO now?"

"Um, no." I said, finishing my drink. It was stronger than I expected, "I transferred it to my sister, Osiph."

"Who? You have a sister?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"She lives in the main trade hub in Jita." I explained, "A station trader. It's just a few extra buttons to press to keep the bills paid. I didn't want to burden you with the task."

"I see." she said, "Probably for the best. I'm not good with math and stuff." She had finished her drink and was now sucking on the ice cubes. That ice probably came from Eygfe Ice field and still had space dust on the inside, but your concern for your health seems to vanish when you know you can't really die. If she got sick from it, she could just take a pod out, self destruct and wake up in a new clone back at the station. Still, it seems kind of wasteful to have to buy another clone because of contaminated ice...