Once you get past the giant mutant lizards and the radiation, the Captain’s cabin on Toroid 5 is a rather romantic spot. It’s a secluded space where a couple can spend hours together undisturbed, enjoying one another’s company in perfect harmony. That’s where Captain Lyla was right now. The lights were dimmed, there was smooth kazoo jazz playing over the speakers and on the vidscreen was an image of a pale white moon.

A table for two was set up in the middle of the room, lit by the soft light of glow sticks. It is said that in the days of Old Earth, couples would dine together on tables such as these, illuminated by burning sticks of wax. In the hours that Lyla had spent there that night with her one true love, she had felt the same joy that those ancient couples had felt.

Things had been difficult when she’d broken up with Mordecai. The reporters for Toroid! magazine had hounded her, speculating on the reason for the split. In truth, she felt a little bad about it – Mordecai had been sweet in his own sociopathic way but she’d never truly loved him. She’d never felt for him what she felt now.

Sitting across from her beloved, sharing an unbroken gaze, she knew that she had made the right decision. Because although her new lover was only 3.5cm³, that 1kg block of iridium returned her love with every single atom of its being.