Author's note - this story originally appeared in the November 2022 issue of Vagobond Magazine, facilitated by PageDAO. The task was to craft a story about a favorite NFT PFP, so I chose Orbital Apes #146, which I was lucky enough to pull pre-reveal and which ranks #45 by rarity! https://www.orbitmarket.io/nft/0x4c275ade386af17276834579b1a68146cef3c770/146
Chadwick Fiddlesticks III, a red-suited Elder Orbital Ape, had started to read back through his memoir when he heard a noise in the hall outside his domicile. Locking the document in his desk drawer, his red eyes flicked up, expectant. A long moment passed.
There was no visitor to be seen, however. Puzzled, Chadwick stood slowly up from his desk, hands clutching a pen and a blaster. He approached the door with ultimate caution, reaching around his body with his prehensile tail to press the button that would open it so that his hands could remain at the ready, his body in balance to help him absorb the shock of the unexpected.
The door slid open with an inconsiderate thunk - no one greeted Chadwick, whose eyes quickly scanned up and down the hall. He had no reason to think there could be a security breach on the ship, but his mind seemed to insist that something serious was amiss despite the seemingly ordinary hallway that greeted him.
Puzzled, Chadwick returned to his quarters. Radiation fields could play strange tricks on the mind, he told himself.
A few hours went by. Revisions took place. A story was forming, and it felt good. As an Elder, Chadwick generally enjoyed a good deal of freedom to do as he pleased as long as his obligations were met, but his long life harbored many regrets and perhaps he was anxious about what the others might think.
Just then a shuttle passed by. Some of the younger Apes, a few dreamers and a Resident, passed by in a shuttle. They were drinking champagne and dancing, from the glance Chadwick managed when the window lined up with his cabin’s viewport. Soon the spin of the craft pulled his gaze away and enabled another wave of reverie to pass over him.
The years he missed most were when he had been younger, his strong parents watching over him. But those days had been clouded by difficulties and his fondest memories blended directly into the burning sense of duty he could still feel from the loss of his family. It was a deep longing for a better life that had driven him to extraordinary accomplishments in the interceding years.
Restlessness took a toll, and Chadwick got up to stroll down the hallway for a workout in the Elder gym. No one was around because of the party of course, but after a light exercise day Chadwick was walking back and noticed something: his door was open. He had closed it behind himself.
A strange but familiar figure stood in front of his lamp, obscuring its features, but he knew exactly who she was immediately nonetheless. Her fur smelled of oranges and he could still remember her kiss upon his lips from years before, when he’d first known her.
“Anastasia, darling. How are you?”
Anastasia turned around and smiled, embracing him. Unexpectedly, Chadwick felt a strong sensation: comfort.