Just one knock. That’s it. They gave up just like that? Sebastian checks the temperature in the fridge. It’s set to negative twenty Celsius. It’s freezing in there! A thought flashes through Sebastian’s mind.

June’s eyes stare into his. She trusts him. He envisions frost forming over his faded navy jacket—the body underneath it shivering in pain. Now that the moment has come, the guilt he feels is overwhelming. They’re suffering in there. Their lives are in his hands.

He has to do something.

Sebastian opens the temperature controls. He begins raising the temperature.

-10 ̊C

0 ̊C

7 ̊C

The terminal flashes brightly with a loud warning message.

8 ̊C

10 ̊C

This will ruin the cargo; a haul is worth thousands of credits. If Sebastian returns with spoiled meat, Polard will probably fire him. These surreal circumstances won’t matter. Being fired from The Mare means being blacklisted by every well-paying restaurant in the Oasis Market. Knowing Polard’s pettiness, he would make sure the repercussions are worse than that. And as if the thought had summoned the devil himself, Sebastian’s phone begins to ring.

It’s an incoming call from Chef Polard. Sebastian answers it.

Polard’s voice comes through immediately. "Sebastian. Where are you?"

"Um… It’s on the way. I’m at the gate now—" He stammers.

"You are taking too long. This is unacceptable. You can’t even collect a shipment?"

The sun’s glare becomes bright and golden.

"You are barely a cook. You can’t even be a good delivery boy? What use are you?" Polard continues to scold.

This is Sebastian’s reward.

If he does what he’s supposed to do,

If he turns in these pirates,

And he goes on about his life,

This is it. This is all he’ll ever get.

This is the only place this road leads.

He didn’t come down to Earth to die.

Sebastian came here to move on.

To begin a new life.

A strange feeling of comfort comes over him.

"I’ll be there soon." He lies.

Before Chef Polard can respond, Sebastian hangs up the phone. He taps through a few menus on the dashboard terminal before reaching his destination.

Fuck it.

Sebastian taps YES.

The temperature inside the fridge rises rapidly.