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talk about it?” Reus asked as he swung and hit the ball. It hit a different wall and flew across the room. 
    “No,” Karo replied as he lunged to whack the ball before it hit the ground.
    The match continued and neither man said anything for several minutes. It was Karo who broke the silence. “She insulted me,” he confided. “Compared me to an animal.” Hit.
    “That was rude,” Reus replied. Hit. “Why would she say that?”
    Karo missed the returned ball, but another virtual one appeared in his hand.
    “She thinks that our Scout missions will fail because we’re only sending one person per ship, and over time the pilot’s mental stability will deteriorate. She believes that we instinctually feel the need to be around other people, the same as animals.” He served the ball. “I told her she was wrong.”
    Hit. “You told her that outright?” Reus clarified.
    Hit. “Yes.”
    “Why?”
    “Because it’s the truth.”
    Reus stopped and let the ball sail over his shoulder. He shook his head sadly. “Karo, for an intelligent man, you really are clueless sometimes.”
    “Excuse me?” Karo faced his friend and put his hands on his hips.
    Reus sighed heavily. “She gave you her opinion and you immediately disregarded it because it’s different from yours? Not a good first impression.”
    Karo served the ball again, hoping to shut Reus up. It didn’t work.
    “Why would she have an opinion on the Scout missions anyway?”
    Hit. “She works for the Department of Anthropology.”
    Reus laughed loudly, and again the ball sailed past him.
    “It’s not funny,” Karo chided.
    “But it is, my friend.” He continued to laugh.
    “Can we let the subject drop and continue with the game?”
    Karo worked his body hard, finding that the grueling physical activity helped to ease his emotional state. He and Reus were both sweating and breathing hard when they took a break. They sat on the floor next to one another, and Karo looked over at the holographic image of his best friend; his confidant.
    “You believe I’m at fault?” he asked.
    Reus took a large drink of water before answering. “I think that you were quick to discredit her opinion, which is very unlike you. Could it have anything to do with the fact that she has three degrees of separation from you?”
    Karo grimaced. He wouldn’t have thought it possible that he’d be biased against another social class, but his actions certainly undermined that. It was possible that her social class was influencing his behavior, and he wasn’t proud of that fact.
    He had been born into a family that held some of the highest offices their society had; it wasn’t until he had joined others who were training to work for the Department of Space that he’d realized that not all people were raised in families such as his. Karo’s childhood had followed regimented guidelines that had been set forth by the High Council decades ago. He had done everything to ensure that he would have a successful life, so learning that his DNA would be his biggest barrier had been a shock.
    Karo knew he needed to address the main problem at hand, but he was afraid of being honest with himself. Did he think Aevum beneath him because of her family’s lower social status? 
    “Yes, I’m afraid that I let my pride get in the way,” he finally confessed to his friend. 
    Reus didn’t respond for a long time. “I remember the day we met. It was the first day of advanced training for the Department of Space. I was extremely nervous because I didn’t know anyone, while the rest of you had grown up together. But you always treated me just the same as everyone else. We became friends because we have similar dispositions, despite having very different families.”
    Karo knew that Reus was right. He liked and respected him more than anyone from his own social tier.
    “I feel ashamed of myself,” he confided.
    “I know. What are you going to do about it?”
    It was such a simple question.