Future Love Contract (GL) - Chapter 2

Although the planned area of Venus Base Two was much larger than that of Base One, most of the area was still under construction. The space currently in use wasn’t very big. Soon, they arrived at their destination—Gresya Antowa’s residence. She didn’t take out a key but instead pressed her finger on a fingerprint recognition panel by the door. With a soft “beep,” the door quickly opened.

Seeing Gresya’s action, Zhao Xinyun suddenly remembered that in the world six hundred years later, people had basically stopped using keys in daily life. These days, keys were mostly used for couple’s lock charms or nostalgic decorative items.

Gresya led her into the house and waved toward the living room with her right hand. “You see, even though the conditions in Base Two aren’t as good as those on Mars, I think it’s pretty nice.”

“Not as good as Mars?!” Zhao Xinyun glanced around the house and barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. This is already way better than what I had back on Earth, she thought. Seriously… using a 21st-century phrase, this is peak ‘rich girl’ energy. Rich girl, can we be friends?

And this rich girl, no less, had personally approached her to be friends. What a rare opportunity! Then again, for Zhao Xinyun, traveling six hundred years into the future was already a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Her thoughts wandered. Both of them took off their outer coats. Since many internal facilities in Venus Base Two were still incomplete—such as the temperature control system—people needed to wear specialized suits when going outdoors. Now, dressed in light indoor clothes, Gresya frowned and yawned. “I hate outdoor suits. I can barely move my joints in them.”

She began showing Zhao Xinyun around the place: “This is the bathroom, here’s the kitchen combined with the dining area, and this is the bedroom. See? The kitchen and dining room are merged, and there’s no separate living room. It’s still Base Two, space is tight.”

Aside from observing the furnishings, Zhao Xinyun noticed something else. Gresya had mentioned in the car that there was a spare bedroom here, so she didn’t have to sleep in the same room. But why was she thinking about that? They were both women—it shouldn’t matter, right?

Before the time travel, she had stayed in a four-person dormitory. So, having a room to herself had never felt essential. But things were different six hundred years later. The founding of the Starship Federation and the full development of Mars meant that Earth’s population density hadn’t changed much, while the cost of building skyscrapers had drastically decreased. As a result, the average living space per person was now much greater.

At the time, Zhao Xinyun had no idea how coincidental that passing thought would turn out to be.

Back inside, the two of them began preparing dinner. Gresya used a machine to make one dish while Zhao Xinyun cooked another. Both were simple home-style meals. Over dinner, they casually chatted about gossip from Venus and Earth.

Extracting the original owner’s memories was exhausting, and having to sort through six-hundred-year-old information made it even harder. Zhao Xinyun found herself speaking more slowly, her brain overloaded from processing too much at once.

Night came. Of course, inside the base, “night” was just a human-made time segment. A solar day on Venus lasted 116.75 Earth days, meaning the residents here could only see the sun rise and set once every 116.75 days. Obviously, people in the base couldn’t live according to natural sun cycles.

Zhao Xinyun had been running around all day, and having just arrived in the future, she was naturally exhausted. Gresya looked worn out as well. After cleaning up the dishes and washing up, they both headed off to sleep.

Lying in bed, Zhao Xinyun still couldn’t quite believe it. Did I really just travel through time? To the future?! She never thought she’d get to see high-tech advancements with her own eyes.

The ceiling glowed with a soft blue light that gradually dimmed—it must have been a pre-set sleep aid feature. Under normal circumstances, she would’ve fallen asleep immediately. But tonight, even as she stared at the ceiling, sleep wouldn’t come.

And then there was Gresya Antowa—a stranger not only to her, but even to the original owner of this body. What kind of person is she, really? Why did she take me in? Could her act of kindness have an ulterior motive?

For a brief moment, Zhao Xinyun felt guilty. The girl had saved her without asking anything in return, and yet she was sitting here doubting her. Besides, Gresya was prettier and richer than her, and this was just a small Venusian base. What could she possibly want from someone like Zhao Xinyun?

Then again, Zhao Xinyun didn’t have the money to move out. Even if she found a job right away, she wouldn’t get paid for another month. She wasn’t the kind of person who liked borrowing money either. Her (former self’s) decision to come to Venus had been too impulsive—had she not even considered how she’d survive with an empty wallet?

But without that impulse, she probably wouldn’t have time-traveled at all. As she thought about it, a sudden wave of dizziness washed over her. She closed her eyes to rest and slowly recovered. It’s probably because my soul and body still haven’t fully adjusted, she told herself.

For some reason, Gresya’s voice from the car echoed in her ears once again:

“Besides… I trust your eyes.”

“A blank slate means endless possibilities!”

That first line could’ve been sincere—or just polite. But judging from the second, maybe Gresya was like the original Zhao Xinyun: impulsive. Maybe that was why she took her home on a whim. Just a girl doing a good deed when she saw someone on the street, Zhao Xinyun reasoned. She comforted herself with the thought.

She had no idea what was coming next.

The following day, she grabbed a quick breakfast, said goodbye to Gresya, and went out to look for a job. She didn’t return until all the facilities in the base had closed for the day.

But when she got home, she ran into a small problem: the night before, Gresya had forgotten to register Zhao Xinyun’s fingerprint in the door access system. She had no choice but to press the doorbell. Luckily, it had a camera. Once Gresya saw her outside, she hurried to open the door and used her admin access to add Zhao Xinyun’s fingerprint.

That night, they had dinner together again, chatting casually. They finally got a chance to properly introduce themselves. Despite having known each other for over a day, neither had had the time to do so until now.

Although Gresya was known as a “spacer,” she had only taken a short space tour. She had grown up in Mars Base Seven, part of the Starship Federation. Both her parents were engineers, and she had an older brother seven years her senior.

“…Actually, my brother and I aren’t alike in a lot of ways. Then again, maybe he’s just gotten used to opposing me all these years. When I decided to come here, he completely disagreed. He even tried to convince me to stay on Mars with him. But I didn’t care. I mean, I’m just here for work—it’s not like I signed a lifelong contract. Just a few years. If I don’t like it, I can always leave.”

As she spoke, Gresya’s eyes sparkled, like a box of memories had suddenly been opened. She talked nonstop. “Then I can go back to Earth or maybe work on a spaceship. I heard a rumor that the Federation might start up the interstellar project again. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get picked. Maybe they’re still looking for aliens. That’s also part of the reason I came to Venus—get some front-line experience. You know how building base infrastructure looks good on a resume. It’s said that interstellar travel is dangerous. I’m a little scared too, to be honest. But if there really is a plan, then the safety systems will definitely be top-notch. And anyway, no risk, no reward, right?”

After dinner, the sparkle in Gresya’s eyes faded. She seemed deep in thought. Zhao Xinyun was thinking, too. She wasn’t sure how to ask Gresya if she could delay paying rent until next month. Though she believed Gresya would agree—after all, she had taken her in—Zhao Xinyun was shy and always felt awkward about asking for favors.

But she hadn’t expected what came next.

Gresya looked serious, as if trying to find the right words.

“You… don’t have a partner, right?”

Before the time travel, Zhao Xinyun had never been in a relationship. Searching through her memories, she found that the original owner of the body hadn’t either. She had no idea why Gresya suddenly asked such a question but instinctively shook her head.

“I think…” Gresya finally spoke, her tone hesitant. “I can’t lie to you. Actually, I… I need a favor from you. I hope you don’t mind.”

“A favor? But I’m just an orphan. I have no power, no status—what could I possibly do to help you?” Zhao Xinyun wasn’t offended. She was simply confused. “Do I have something special?”