Starlette woke up with a book on her face.
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No better way to start her morning than being a drowsy mess. The young lady shoved the novel off, only to catch a glance of the time on her phone. “Oh gods, how long was I asleep for?” she mumbled and let out a hardy yawn. It was almost close to noon, thus in the best interest to start whatever would be left for the day.
She started her morning routine, prepping for the evening, or that was, until taking a slight detour during it. As Starlette finished fixing her hair, her mind wandered off to what Celeste had sent in the group chat yesterday.
‘Was the 5-Day Policy85-Day PolicyA policy administered by High Officials, although used in drastic measures, remains controversial from its restriction of being allowed to leave your home once per week. getting reinstated?‘
The lady pondered more, the lockdowns she recalled didn’t come with such strict and drastic measures. Considering how there were hardly any in the last three years, some even shortening, something was different.
Whatever happened or was happening must have been serious if it got Celeste talking about the news; her friend only used the television for playing those weird speedrun challenges. No matter the situation, this half-blondie was missing out on important information and missing out on her morning routine.
Starlette decided she should get further information about it, perhaps after putting on suitable clothes.
It never dawned on her just how long it had been since she went outside. Despite barely stepping on the front porch, she flinched from how serene the weather felt when leaving her home. The afternoon was bright, which made the sky gleam in a striking vermilion; although bad for her eyes, Starlette could not help but admire such a peaceful morning.
It was good she lived close by one of her IRL friends, Celeste’s abode was only a few blocks from her house. The home was small, yet it managed to hold all her friend’s gaming stuff.
She arrived at the back porch and rang the doorbell. A muffled, “I’ll be there” was heard, accompanied by multiple items falling. Celeste was usually late to answer the door, but Starlette waited patiently, nonetheless.
The door loudly rattled until it was flung open as a chipper voice greeted her. “Hey there, Star!” Celeste exclaimed. “I, uh, wasn’t expecting you to come over.” She awkwardly rubbed her head while looking at Starlette up and down, still surprised by the surprise appearance.
“Neither did I,” Starlette responded with a faint chuckle.
She motioned for the lady to come inside. The pleasant weather was replaced by a sudden heat upon entry, even though it was spring. They headed towards Celeste’s bedroom; there was a large, bright pause screen displayed on her television.
Starlette made herself comfortable on the bed’s mattress, which gave her a nice view of the TV. The half-blondie went in for some small talk, “How’s your day so far?”
Celeste beamed at the question, answering cheerfully, “Same as any other, I did manage to get a pre-order of this cool, new game a few days ago.”
She handed its casing for a better look; the video game was titled Enemies to: MAIM and looked beyond ridiculous. The cover art was filled with grotesque beasts surrounding its protagonist, at least Starlette thought who that was. She could never understand the appeal of cartoon violence to such an excessive degree, even if Celeste liked weird platformers.
Her friend sat down and resumed playing. It seemed fantasy-inspired, prioritizing its action and over-the-top bloodshed for defeating enemies. Soon enough, Celeste started breezing through whatever level she was in, the controls looked surprisingly hi-tech for the old graphics.
It was as if time slowed as each passing enemy got sliced into smithereens with heavily exaggerated explosions upon defeat.
What is Starlette thinking from watching all this? All she needed to do was ask her, just don’t make it sound rude or anything.
She inquired, “Celeste, can I talk to you, for a moment?”
“What is it?” her friend responded, still focused on gaming.
“The ‘5-day thing’ you said earlier on Cosmolog,” she briefly hesitated, “is it true?”
“Yeah.”
Such honest words made her feel like she got punched in the gut. Well, at least Starlette had an answer now, just not the one she wanted.
Her friend followed up, “That 5-Day Policy takes place in about… two weeks? That’s what I heard.”
“They’re actually reinstating that policy?!” Starlette shouted as her eyes widened in near disbelief.
Celeste, after a slight pause, continued, “It was mentioned in the news broadcast yesterday, didn’t you watch it?”
That stupid broadcast. That same broadcast Starlette just had to ignore. It was like everything just came back to spite her. There was no escaping this jinx that haunted every move she made.
Celeste stared at the panicked half-blondie and attempted to calm her down. “I mean–it’s not all that bad! At least we’re still able to go outside, right?” She reassured her quickly, “Besides, we don’t fully know if this is the only policy they’ll have in store this year.”
As much as Starlette hated the policy, her friend was right. The 5-Day Policy allowed people to leave their homes once a week, offering four days of solace from being cooped inside for who knows how much longer. But she pushed further.
Her voice became agitated, “But what about the others, like Hydra? I’m worried about how he might feel.”
Contemplating what the restrictions entailed had Starlette pacing back and forth. Celeste could only gaze in bewilderment at her friend’s frets. “It’s just not fair for them,” the lady angrily mumbled amidst her panic.
Her worries were then interrupted by nearly tripping over an empty bag of chips. Which, thankfully, helped stop the constant pacing around someone’s room.
“Yeesh, is there something you don’t worry about?” Celeste lightened the mood by poking fun at the scene. Starlette’s worries would often be the butt of jokes since she was quick to panic about nearly everything. The lady couldn’t help but forcibly laugh along, her demeanor was almost comical.
“Hey, let’s find something else to do,” she patted Starlette’s back to loosen her up. The brunette began to rummage around the TV stand and its game console, until picking up another controller.
“I have an extra controller with me, you can join if you want,” she shook an unplugged controller in front of the lady. “The game’s multiplayer too~.”
Starlette declined the offer without hesitation; video games never fancied her, nor did she know anything about playing akin to them. Her friend responded with a sigh and returned the object to its stand.
Celeste slumped back down in front of the screen, before getting on the system again, she spoke once more.
“I’m sure Hydra, and maybe Solaire, will be fine,” she replied, leaving some dry air to fill the space between them. Her voice softened, “Policy or not, it’s just a lockdown. It’ll be over before you know it.”
Starlette was then pulled into a short hug by her friend, with a reassuring squeeze to boot, soothing both of their nerves. Celeste gave a thumbs-up before resuming the game, breezing past those gross beasts from their cover art.
The gesture helped Starlette ease her paranoia, albeit it was short-lived. Her stress was hardly this overt before, but why now? Always being reassured and comforted as if she was some little kid? She’s 24.
It almost felt like she only did more harm than good to herself.
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New Character ⇻ Celeste Matthews
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