Sebastian’s peaceful reminiscing is immediately interrupted by the nightmarish amount of incoming traffic at the gate. Tadpoles are lined bumper to bumper as far as the eye can see. Vehicles are let through the gates one at a time following a thorough inspection. Several freighters circle above the city as they are meticulously scanned and checked. Leaving the city is easy. A large scanner sweeps the contents of every vehicle that passes by. It’s not very thorough, but it’s good for record-keeping.

"Damn. This attack really screwed everything up." Sebastian says.

"Yeah." Delphine responds.

"Though, not as much as the lockdown did."

"Yeah."

"It’s so crazy. I can’t believe the union was harboring terrorists this whole time."

"Yeah."

"Those colonists didn’t deserve that. I’ve heard mining is rough enough as it is." Sebastian wanders anecdotally.

"Yeah. I just haven’t been thinking about it at all. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it sucks that people died, but I have a lot on my own plate and this whole thing… it's a lot. A lot that I don’t need on my mind right now." Delphine says.

It’s a brutal honesty that’s coming from a person who has no energy left to filter her thoughts. But Sebastian appreciates her honesty. He’s in the same boat.

"Yeah." He agrees.

Tall golden streetlights line the highway’s central divider, resembling palm trees that signal incoming motorists that they are approaching Oasis. The golden palm trees start to disappear as Delphine and Sebastian get further and further away from town. The drive lasts less than half an hour before they arrive at the checkpoint. To their surprise, there isn’t a lot of traffic here.

"Oh. I guess things cleared up already." Sebastian says.

"Hm? Oh. Mhm." Delphine mumbles.

She takes the tadpole around the checkpoint and towards a large parking yard. She spots the other delivery tadpole immediately and brings their vehicle around to settle down next to it. The dust settles and the other driver steps out of their tadpole, smiling brightly with a wave. Sebastian opens his door and is greeted by a gust of wind and sand. The windy weather wasn’t apparent from inside the tadpole’s cabin. Delphine keeps her seatbelt buckled as looks over at Sebastian.

"It looks terrible out there. I’m going to stay in here." She says.

Sebastian laughs. "…alright."

He instinctually grabs his bag, then steps outside into the gust.

"Be safe!" Delphine calls out just before Sebastian closes the door.

He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out an expensive pair of sand glasses. The other driver continues to smile brightly; so brightly that there’s a colorful sheen on the right side of her face. She is a small woman in a dusty jumpsuit. Her dark hair is rolled into a haphazard bun that rests atop her head. As Sebastian approaches, the driver holds out her hand.

"Hello! I’m June!" She greets.

Sebastian politely shakes June’s hand. Her grip is very strong. He loosens his hand, but it takes her a moment to let go. Despite the positive attitude, she seems nervous.

"Hello, June. What seems to be the problem?" Sebastian asks.

"Oh, it’s my signature! The scanner at the gate won’t take it. Things got pretty messy for a second there—the guards almost took me in!"

Sebastian politely smiles while June laughs loudly. The wind is reasonably noisy, but she talks like she’s trying to converse in an EDM club.

"So… is the fridge okay?"

"Oh! Uhhh…"

June doesn’t seem to know what Sebastian is talking about. Sebastian attempts to clarify:

"The refrigerated container you’re hauling?"

He points to the bright blue fridge unit mounted to June’s tadpole. It’s the same model of adjustable freezer that’s in the kitchen of The Mare. The same one that got him into trouble last night. However, he’s caught off-guard by another container mounted behind it. A bulky fuel tank covered in rust and dents of various sizes is mounted to the end of the tadpole’s cargo rail. This fuel tank is definitely out of place, but Sebastian wasn’t sent out here to ask about that. June looks at the freezer, then whips her head back to him.

"Yes! It’s all in one piece. No damage!" She says.

"Right… so it hasn’t had any issues? Those things short sometimes—"

June changes the subject: "Well actually, I could use some help getting it into town! It’s a really… heavy haul this one!"

"Um alright. I’ll need to look at your dashboard real quick—" Sebastian says.

"Oh perfect! You can drive it in!" She says giddily.

"What?" Sebastian is befuddled by the request.

June opens the driver’s side door for Sebastian. She walks around to the passenger side and gets in. Sebastian looks back toward Delphine and sees her tadpole start up again. Whatever it is that’s happening right now, Delphine is ready to go along with it. The wind blows the driver’s side door shut. The slam jolts Sebastian out of his confusion. He is too exhausted to ask questions, so he opens the door, tosses his bag in, and climbs up into the vehicle.

The dashboard terminal displays no error code. It seems that the cargo in the freezer is fine. Based on what Polard said, the details of this situation aren’t quite adding up, but it really doesn’t matter to Sebastian—this back door import was already shady to begin with. It’s noon and he’s ready for his thirty-minute break when he gets back to The Mare. He feels tempted to break his streak and have a nicotine pod for lunch.