[EVE] Signal, Received

I’ve never been very good at asking for things.

Signal Cartel makes it clear, of course. There are steps. Three ranks. Member, C1, C2. Clean. Logical. Earned. C2 is the threshold — the point where doors like Anoikis Division stop being distant ideas and start feeling possible. Someday, I want to walk through one of those doors.

But wanting something and asking for it are two very different skills.

I waited my thirty days as C1. I stayed active. I scanned, mapped, helped where I could. Nothing flashy. No big hero moments. Just showing up, over and over, hoping that counted for something. Still, when it came time to write the message, my hands hesitated over the console longer than I’d like to admit.

Why do you want C2?

Because I believe in this place. Because exploration feels like home. Because I want to give more than I take. I tried to put that into words without overselling it, without sounding like someone I’m not. Then I sent the message off to Aldar Roanaok and told myself not to obsess over it.

I absolutely obsessed over it.

Today, the response came back.

C2 approved.

Just like that. A few words on a screen, and suddenly the weight I’d been carrying slipped away. Relief first — deep and grounding — then excitement, warm and bright and almost surprising in its intensity. I sat there smiling at nothing, stars drifting past the viewport, feeling quietly seen.

This isn’t the end of anything. If anything, it feels like the real beginning. There’s more to learn, more to do, more ways to serve the strange, kind, careful people who call Tranquility home.

I’m still subdued. Still the same explorer who would rather scan than speak.
But tonight, I let myself feel proud.

Fly your way,
E