Lights and Shadows

Another one of these

Exposition Dump

The Sun’s blaring glory washes over the beachy outskirts of the town. 

A girl wearing a sombrero sips a mouthful from a cup. 

she sloshes it around in her mouth.

“You know, I thought I would learn that mint isn’t good, apparently I can’t learn.”

“Then why didn’t you say something? The only reason I came here was for the mint. Also, that’s just your s****y opinion” a girl in a lacey, dandelion, and light rose dress rests over her skin. 

“Yeah, so I thought it was going to be a better mint?”

“Yea, but mint is mint, the flavor isn’t gonna change out of nowhere. I just like how flowery the mint tastes here.”

She shanks the spoon back into the cup. 

“Well, too late now.” 

“You’re kidding me right? The store is like, right there.``  a boy wearing an absolutely sick white jacket replies, his thumb pointing to behind him, a giant flashing sign kicks, flips and dances, all in an effort to get people to look just once. 

“But liiiike, ehh.” she drags her arm out in front of her, before her hand plops on the sand, “also that’s spending money and s**t, and that’s lame, so.” 

“They’re like, 0.1 cents. What do you mean it’s expensive- know what, how’s this: what do you actually want?” the boy asks, 

“What? uh.”

“Like, you’re getting a better cone man.”

“Oh, I thought…”

The girl stares in the distance, her eyes fading away, before she sighs, 

“Fine.  What was available?” 

The girl in the yellow dress queries, “Also, Olly, why didn’t you order a different one if you didn’t like mint?”

“I guess I wanted to give it another shot?”

Aaron looks at Olly with a flat face.

“Also, I said that I didn’t wanna spend money on ice cream, not that it was expensive.” her finger rollies around, almost like she was picking apart the statement with a few swift swishes. 

“Well, doesn’t matter anyway, what do you want, or am I going to have to choose for you?”

“I, I don’t know? Uh, cookie dough. Actually that mudslide cocktail thing looked good.” 

“Okay, You sure?”

“I guess? You were the one who wanted to do this whole thing for me in the first place anyway, so."

The girl in the yellow shakes her head, as she blurs through her phone’s library. Her eye catches something.

The photo illustrates a girl from across their project with the three of them. They were smiling. The date squeezed a sigh out of her.

“Seriously? What the hell man.”

“What’s wrong? Oh, you’re still sad about Ekuwa, huh?” Aaron says

The distance darkens, walls close her in. She sighs.

“Yea. I miss talking to her. Why did she have to get so uptight about her life now? Doesn’t she know we’re her friends?”

“She’s probably got a lot on her plate, like imagine having that many classes to keep up with; that must be hard, right?”

“Still.” 

“Oh yea, I was going to say- have you guys seen the news recently?” Olly’s mouth jets.

“No? Why would I? Either the news is frothing about some random bullshit, or they’re showing off some politicians bickering about some land or something.”

“Okay, well, apparently there’s some sort of invisible thief going around, and taking like several million dollars’ worth of electronics and parts from warehouses or something.”

Aaron’s spoon freezes mid bite, his eyes glaring at Olly, before snapping his head to her. 

“No way. That has got to be some stupid conspiracy you made up.”

She shakes her head and continues. 

“I’m dead serious, people are calling them: ‘The Ghost’ and stuff.” 

Umbra sits with her lips sealed tighter than steel, her breath and grip hardening all of a sudden before relaxing.

“Also, why are you calling this a conspiracy? I’ve stated much wackier s**t before-”

“Because that’s all you talk about?”

Olly blows a raspberry at Aaron. 

“I don’t talk about that all the time, excuse me? I talk about other things too.”

“Right, like how we should invest time and resources to make an AI society, how you were gonna take over the world with porn, how the trans-humanism movement is dying nowadays, and whatever the f**k is going with the old WW3 experiments you keep mentioning: yeah, like those are any better.”

“Hey, at least I don’t talk about niche clothing styles that you can’t even get nowadays, or how some weird dance thing from the 19th century impacted modern day politics or something, weirdo.”

Aaron rolls his eyes, “whatever.” 

Umbra sits on the table with her hands bundled together in a neat knot, before her brain zests in excitement

“Oh! Uh, so there’s a new thing at the carnival! Uh, actually wait, two things.”
“Yea, they recently installed that Icarus wingsuit thing right? Seems hard to control though” 

“They did, but apparently it’s not like the real thing, it’s like a remote controlled thing. Anyway, want to come and find out?”

“Sorry, can’t. I’m busy with dance practice.”

“I have a history report to finish. Sorry, I would love to go with you.” 

Disappointment murks on Vivianne’s face. 

“Oh okay.” she drags her gaze out onto the ocean, the sun scattered across the glassy lapis surface. 

::: :::

Under The Cape of Night

The sparkling twinkles of the twilight, lights Umbra’s stroll through the almost alien forest. Hearty neon glows of blues, reds, orange, and purples flutter off the bark, vines, and leaves of the fauna and trees in the area. Rodents and insects sprint behind the shadows of the sparkling blossoms. The air tasted breezy and relaxed, soothing even. Her footsteps pause their crumpling. 

She admires her surroundings. 

“All of this, from climate change.” 

She spies a birds’ nest resting on a crux of branches and elder stumps. 

Umbra sighs, peeking inside to adore a family sleeping in tranquilness.

“You birds get to stick together. You birds never have to worry about anything. Just food and a home. You never have to worry about what others think. You don’t have to worry about the future… Well actually, that’s incorrect. But, that’s all you have to worry about.”

Her gaze sinks into the nest,

“I can’t seem to get anywhere. I just feel pathetic all the time. Everyone else has so many things going on… but I-”

She sighs, 

“I don’t even know what I’m saying. 

She pulls out a large robe from her bag, peeking around the forest to see nothing, only a few deer snacking on the grass miles away.

Umbra inspects the cloth. The fabric was translucent, a blurry, smudgy mess of the grass behind it. 

She slips off her overblouse to reveal a thinner shirt underneath, trading the blouse for a pair of goggles and fits those over her head. She then vests the cloak over her body, tapping twice on her wrist before the entire robe fastens around her body and wipes her from existence. 

Her eyes bounce and frolic through the muted dimension the cape sent her to, the feeling of discomfort fading out as snugness settled in place. Her fingers slipped onto a groove and pressed. The world flashed into a neon wonderland, with the trees and grass turned purple and dark blue, and the deer and birds labeled in a vivacious orange. 

She clicks a button beneath her hood of the fabric and checks a map.

“Ah. there.`` She points in that direction. 

:::: ::::

A lot of depots stowed away beneath a hill. It was dead silent, for only a few drones monitoring the premises. A fence rattled, cameras stalked Umbra. A door stands in her way. A device hooks into the gap, a spark sputters out. The door inches open, the lock bar completely retracted into the door. The lights in the facility were completely shot, but her visor was basically glass clear. 

I just need a few parts. 

Umbra paces through the aisles, the boxes and roll cages under an erratic, stingy red shine. A few buttons and keys click, and the red hunts for the objects in the boxes. 

Bingo. 

She pushes the roll cage gates away and rummages through the boxes to grab a few circuits, microcomputers, a battery, and a gpu, and stores them into protected chambers. 

Suddenly, she sees green silhouettes passing across her peripheral vision, and stuffs the chambers in the bag.

When the maintenance crew arrived, they saw the lights on and vibrant, the door ajar, but the lock at its most stringent. 

“What the? Some sort of electronic failure?”

Volunteer Now!

The animal sanctuary was floored with several different animal species roaming amongst the crowded lobby. 

“Whoa, what happened?” Umbra asks, 

“I don’t even know, one of the hybrid birds managed to undo the locks of the cages, and they’re proceeding to cause havoc to our store!” her sister replies. 

“What do I do?” 

“Grab the riot foam and the anti-agent and I’ll grab the sedatives.” 

Umbra nods and jolts to the cabinets, swiping two cans of black and white from a nearby cabinet, before her sister arrives at the same time with similar equipment. 

A few runaway puppies were shuffling across the smooth floor before Umbra spurts a light coat of riot spray, the puppies slow almost instantly, like their skin had a film of light grey attached.

Her sister grabs a few of the stunned dogs and puts them back into their playroom, before she sprays the dogs with a white spray, their eyes jump and jolt, they bounce and perk up into action. 

“There you go little guy.”

“Hey! I’ve got some more animals here!” Umbra caws, with several birds in her possession, lending them over to her sister.

“I’ve got some more!” a man trades a bunch of piglets for a few cans of both riot and the anti-agent spray. 

“We need more hands on deck, uhhhh, Viv, can you come? Get some more of the anti agent.” 

She grabs some and dashes off with the man. 

:: ::

Finally, the animals retreated to their habitats and were soundly asleep.

“Agh. Thank you Viv and Avery, your help is very much appreciated man.” the man sighs and Vivianne answers, 

“No worry. Just uh, making sure y’all are good, and stuff… Maybe those locks weren’t so full proof after all, huh?”

“Hah, that’s true. Alright, fine, you win the argument, we’ll buy new locks.” 

Avery puts a fist up before Vivianne smacks it with her own. 

Avery sighs, “So, I'm actually wondering, why do you come here so often?”

“What do you mean?” Viv asks

“Like, you come here on the weekends a lot, almost every other week it seems. Why?” 

“Uh, I don’t know? School is kinda scary… and weird, and this place isn’t? Why do you ask?”

“Because ever since midterm season and, well February rolled around, you’ve been popping in and out of here like this was a second home to you.”
“I mean, yeah. I guess that’s true. 

Guess all I’m saying is if there’s any ulterior reason for you coming here.” 

“Oh no no no, that’s not it at all…” 

Vivianne’s thoughts trail and cliff into a deep, dark chasm, but her voice was a still and shallow pond, perfectly flat. 

“You sure? I don’t want you hurting yourself man.” 

“Yeah.”

Avery sighs, and shakes her head. 

“Oh, and Viv, can you make sure the bird can’t do that lock thing again?” asks the manager,

Vivianne nods in understanding and runs to check. 

:: ::

Vivianne bends a hook onto the lock. She shakes her head and giggles,

“Naughty bird. Why did you do that?”
The bird was sound asleep, but Viv pretended that it was listening. 

She sighs.

“Now look where I am, talking to animals like a freak. At the same time, what do I have? I can talk to myself all I want, I can talk to anything all I want, and I can never shake off the feeling of… like I’m just wasting people’s time. That I’m being a burden on other people, that I’m just giving more work to other people. Not to mention how vague they can be.” 

Her vision sits on the birds snuggled up. 

Avery shouts into the room

“Hey! Did the bird eat you or something?”

“Oh s**t, sorry!” Vivianne rushes out of the room.

 “Anyway, so you asked me about a college party? How’re these ones?” 

Avery passes colorful and flashy fliers towards Vivian. One was advertising an outdoor amusement park, with large attractions and rides scattered, 

Vivianne points: “I like this one.”

“Hm, s‘pose to happen next week at like 8pm? It says on the flier” 

Vivianne says, “hell yeah!” 

Avery pumps her fist, saying “yea,” at the same time, her smile dwindles slightly, 

“It’s kinda weird, you know. Being in this job and college at the same time, plus you, it makes it harder to keep the whole good employee girl thing on, you know?”

“Yeah, I can see what you mean Av.”

“Like, god. I remember when my friends were such goofballs. We used to do the dumbest shite together. And now one of them isn’t here anymore.”

“Wait, what? No, what happened-”

“Nothing happened, they just moved… still. I remember the times when they would talk about being somewhere else. Somewhere, where no one would know them. I-” she pauses her talk, something swells up in her, before she drowns it and continues, “sorry, eh, this gets me riled every time. Basically, we didn’t know what they meant, and then next thing we knew, he moved, like poof. Just like that, a ghost.” 

Vivianne shys away from her sister, her brain struggles to load her next words as a warzone barrages her mentality. 

“You okay?” Avery says, disrupting Viv’s brain battle. 

“What? Oh no, it’s-”

:::: ::::

“Fine. The projects were just fine. I mean they were in every sense… uh, yeah.” a muscular man with a shy composure rattling him. 

An aura of fatigue stuffs the classroom, Umbra’s arm slipping against the smooth wood desk. 

The teacher sighs, “well, I guess we’re all tired. Makes sense anyway.”

He looks at his planner, sighing to himself about the lack of work that he has planned.

Umbra peeks around her classroom. A fly fluttered onto a chair, a boy tapping his pencil to the beat of something, the light humming a monotone note.
“How about this, do you all have anything you want to review? Like in general?”

A boy goes to raise his hand, but puts it down.

“Kai? What’s up?”

“Nothing, I don’t want to waste people’s time.”

You’d know a lot about that, wouldn’t ya Viv… Nguyot? Yeah.. 

She looks at her tablet. It was an uploaded schematic of her visor, with lenses and casing intricately crafted and sketched to exacting specification. Slightly above and beside the blueprint, was a contour of Umbra berating herself with the statement: “NERD!” 

She frowns a little, and stares at the holographic demonstration of the two of them in front, sighing. 

“I miss so many things. 

Everything starts to blur together. 

Her mind teleports her to a setting sun. A beautiful grassy field stretches for miles, the long feathery wedges shift in the wind.

Her eyes close. Olly, Aaron’s voices comfort her, slip her into a soft, fluffy blanket. 

She can hear Avery’s voice. The sun nuzzles her body, like a big bear cuddling up under her and resting by her. 

Things are calm. Things are peaceful. 

Is it my fault then? Am I not up to their standards? Olly’s over here learning anthropology and linguistics , Aaron has several performance awards under his belt, Avery has a job and is a professional caretaker, Zoey is applying to Harvard to become a business leader…

So what about me? 

Dark swirls begin to close in, strangling her. 

What do I have? What even am I? I can do s**t with electronics, and animals, but that’s about it. She looks around herself. Nothing but the dark slithering and vising in. 

I’m worthless. They’re over there, making breakthroughs everyday, and I’m over here, rotting til I become a corpse, and even then, I’ll still be rotting. Of course they’d move on, they have lives. What do I have… I’m just wasting their time. 

I’m cold. What will I have, after they’re gone? 

The sun is drowning out, the dark clasping and cutting the light away from the surface.

Why the hell am I trying to keep them here, I should be rooting for them every step of the way…

She feels her legs, her arms, her body becoming more and more still, dead. 

 

The bell rings. Her body rivets and shivers, a yowl jumps out of her mouth, her classmates stare at her, concern written and phasing from their minds, before they move on with their day. 

::: :::

Umbra trundles from her bus stop, conversing with Olly and Aaron: 

“Uhh, you okay? You sound a bit sad.” Olly says

“Yea, I’m fine.”

Olly and Aaron look at each other. 

“Girl please.” her voice drops her tone to a simmering chill, “don’t hide stuff like this, is something stressing you?” 

Umbra stands in front of their question, her brain paralyzed from the staggering tower of answers she could give. 

“Viv. Please.”

It felt like hours, her final decision locked away in a cage, far far away in a shroudy labyrinth. Her body seethes, before stating, “No, I’m fine. Promise.” 

“You sure?” Aaron asks, 

“I’m sure.” her mind stares back at the black chasm behind her. 

::: :::

Umbra turns on her headset near a hilltop, she takes out a few controllers and holds a button on them, a blue light blinks, and her headset reveals a desktop smudged into the long grassy field in front of her. 

She pauses, gazing upon the grazes in front of her, before continuing to a talk app and imprinting their dialogue into the real world. 

“Egh, studying’s a drag.”

“Yea. I’ve got a bio test coming tomorrow, and I am so not pumped.” 

Umbra interjects

“I got a proficient grade on my math test, so that’s cool.” 

“Nice!” says one of them before someone else tabs in, 

“I’m thinking about applying to the animal shelter. Think I’ll find something cool there.”

Umbra pauses at the dialogue in front of her, wasn’t this guy in junior when I first joined? What the f**k, he already has a career? What? 

The conversation ensues, “Yeah, working with cats and dogs is pretty cool, plus I get paid? Think that’s a fair trade.” 

“Will you send pictures of the cats and dogs?” 

“Only if the staff allows me.” 

“Aww man.” 

“I will definitely ask though.” 

“Yay!” Umbra replies, her smile starts to fade.

“I need to get a real job.” 

She takes off the headset, inspecting the cloak on her, before a large monolith orbiting the sky catches her eye.

“The Apexis Space Station.” 

The giant flutters away, giving the moon the rite of passage. 

She takes a second glance at her cloak. 

She sighs.

“Eh, that party is near the Emerald Lakes, I could always drop there if I want to.” 

She slips down the visor and continues their conversation. 

The Party. 

The car is quiet. Peaceful even. Vivianne sits in the passenger seat, snoring like a dinosaur, and Avery calmly turns the wheel. 

The car eventually parks at the outdoor mall, where a group of friends stood. Avery pokes Vivianne’s head and wakes her up. 

“We’re there yet.” 

Vivianne smirks and exits the car.

Few minutes later they arrive at a derelict part of the mall, with yellow and black tape walling off some of the broken down attractions and a loud “CLOSED.” sign marking the premises. 

The students carry on, tossing the warning aside. 

“Yo, Viv.” Avery springs towards a minigolf course,“Remember when Dad and Mom would bet on us to see who would win, and our allowances doubled if one of us won against each other?” 

“Yeah, that was a good time… wait.” 

Yellow and black tape surrounds it, with “Renovations Expected: please stand away from the reconstruction zone.” wrapping around.

“What? Renovations? What is that supposed to mean?” 

A hologram of the newer model shows up. 

“What? There’s not going to be that cool dinosaur part? Why’s it being removed? Why is there server sharing? What? AI improvement? Why?”

Vivianne’s body droops, sighing. 

“Man.”

“Agreed, this stinks.” 

“Avery? Can you come over?” 

“Huh? What’s up?”

She walks away; Vivianne follows behind. 

“Yo, you know how to get a fire going?” 

Avery glares at the guy. 

“What? It’s not like we’re going to get stranded on an island these days.”

“Yeah, but it’s still a useful skill. Here.”

Vivianne watches as the two ignite the fire, while a man with a guitar sits on the same table as Viv. 

“You aren’t going to play that same music that everyone else plays? Are you?” Vivianne whispers to him, 

“Huh? What do you mean?” 

“The same s**t that every college student with a guitar plays.”

“Oh… I-yeah. I’m not that creative I guess.” 

A silence forks between them. 

“Why not play something you’d enjoy?”

“Hmm? I haven’t learned it yet?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Like, I tried learning Yellow from Coldplay, but then I got interrupted with school work, and life.” 

“What happened?” 

“I had to concentrate on being a doctor and getting a job, among other things.” 

“Oh. I see.”

“Yeah.”

The silence growls louder.

“Sorry.”

“What? What are you sorry about?”

“Nothing, just going to say it ain’t your fault, k?” 

Vivianne walks away. 

The party finally got off their toes and people started to mingle, 

“So I heard someone’s got a lover.” Vivianne hears, 

“What do you want?” Avery replies, 

“Just saying, after all this time, it was your junior year that made you turn to the dark side? You just couldn’t wait for someone to-”

“Could you f**k off?” Avery realizes her surroundings and notices Vivianne’s missing. 

“Wait? Viv?” 

An umbra starts to creep over Viv’s head, voices continue to slip in.

“So what are you planning to do after college?”

“Oooh, you’re engaged?”

“Are you planning to work, or are you going to study more?”

“Are you ready for the next step?” 

The people turn to shadows, Vivianne eyes could only see her shrinking nature.

Now, she was all alone, with nothing but tall trees and nature surrounding.

::: :::

Vivianne runs with the cloak on, pushing and scuffing away bushes, trees, and other foliage until finally, the grass opens and flattens. Dirt dusts away. She looks around, before seeing a catwalk leading to an open, still lake. 

The girl walks to the edge of the water, and sits down. The lake was a mirror, reflecting nothing but her and her surroundings. Her hand hooks onto some wood, feeling an etching inside of it. She glances, and notices her handwriting, along with the handwriting of others attached to it. It was like an insult to her, spitting at her. She looks down, her reflection warped and cloudy, as a thick and heavy mist settled in on her face. 

Time rewinded, to a time where Olly, were three years younger than they’re supposed to be. Vivianne wags her legs back and forth, like the tail on a dog, eagerly aspirating at the natural mirror. 

“Whatcha doin Vivy?” Olly queries, 

“Huh? Oh, just taking a peeksy at this lake over here, that’s all.” 

“You know, for a girl who likes the sound of people screaming battlecries and basically machine gun fire, this is pretty tame for you.”

“You’re not any better, your music taste sounds like a robot, a keytar, a bird and a sorting algorithm decided to quartet for the first time.” 

Olly laughs with a maniacal and cackly tone. 

“Okay, you win that one-”

“And excuse me, tame? When have I not been tame?”

“Well from you memorizing different satanic rites, lock picking, and the fact that you’ve made an actual taser before, yeah I don’t know if I’d call you tame.” 

“You’re one to talk, didn’t you say that artificial bodies would be even better if you could customize and exchange what assets you gave it?” 

“I mean it’s true, imagine if you could upgrade your legs to those seen on those velo suits, you know the ones right?” 

“Uh, you mean the high speed ones?” 

“Yea, I mean… Whatever.”

“Are you guys talking about how weird you are, because you absolutely can’t beat me.”

Olly and Vivianne turn around,

“What are you doing here Zoey?” 

She was leaning on a support beam, 

“Eavesdropping on this whole convo Umbra and you are having.”

“Umbra? Wait, you mean Viv?”

“Yea. I thought it was a cute nickname.” 

“Cute? How so?” Olly flirts out.

“Oh, idk, I just thought it was kinda weird that Vivianne likes the stuff that she does, considering her attire choice and appearance. At the same time, I learned what an umbra was, so I thought the name was cute and funny. Also she likes the name, so I guess that counts.” 

Umbra blushes.

“Aww, look at you two.” Olly says.

The three of them look at the reflection. Colorful trees, bushes, flowers, and fauna dance and perform a symmetrical ballet. 

:::: ::::

Vivianne sits alone. Stumps and older, wrinkly trees slouches in isolation, almost mourning. 

She sees her feet, how her reflection solemnly greets her. 

She looks at the fog. Nothing. 

“Everyone’s going to move on without me, and it’s all my fault. I need to get a move on. I need to move on, I can’t keep stalling this whole college and future thing forever…  Why is everything… Why am I so scared?” 

her eyes try to glare through the silent, still mist, but it only walled her in further.  

“Why does everyone insist that I have a future, why does anybody keep pushing this. Nothing is working, I… ugh, I hate my silence so much. I hate myself so much. I hate being alone. I hate the silence so much. Yet, why do I keep-”

She pulls off the invisibility cloak and examines it. 

She sighs. 

“But I can’t just let this go. I, I wouldn’t 

Vivanne walks out of the forest before Avery hugs her sister, before slapping them with the force of a mother bear.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“What’d you think, dumbass? You just left the party without saying anything- for all I know, you could’ve been kidnapped, or shot, or literally anything could’ve happened!” rage quivers Avery’s body, pulsing and storming her. 

“Okay, Okay, I should’ve said something-”

“Should’ve? You’re coming back with me. No, we’re done here.” 

::: :::

Even though Vivianne and Avery were literally a few inches apart, their states of mind were at least one thousand times that distance.

“Vivianne, what’s going on?” 

Vivianne’s mind splashes back to the groggy loch. She feels nothing but her lone, still coldness, wavering alongside the chilly pond. 

“Viv, I… I need to know, what’s going on?” 

Her mind cuts to the shadowy black of her surroundings and her ever shrinking nature. 

“Vivianne. Vivianne?” 

Her mind resorts back to the moon, the lunar glow alone in an oily black sea. 

“I… I don’t know.” 

Avery stares at the road ahead of her, before pulling over to the side of the road. 

She takes a second glance to see Vivianne, shrimped in her seat. She looked like tears were about to fall, but her body couldn’t let her. Her legs flexed and pulsed. Her breathing was uneven, her motions unstable and riveting. 

“Vivianne? Are you okay?” 

“I’m so lonely. Everyone is going to college and doing all of these things. I’m going to be left behind. I’m not going to have anyone, am I?”

“Don’t say that, you’ll have me-”

“You don’t understand. You’re going to have a family soon. Everyone is going to have to keep going. Everyone’s going to be something in the future… while I- I don’t have that. I’ve been trying to keep it together.”

“Vivianne, I'm sure you’ll find other people in your future, your friends won’t forget about you, let alone me. Vivianne, you’ve nothing to worry about.” 

Vivianne goes silent. 

Avery’s mouth tries to vocalize, but Viv’s silence breaks her next thoughts. 

:: ::

Finally, the car arrives at Vivianne’s house. Avery carries the girl to her bed and sits by her bedside. 

She looks at her, viv’s spark drowned out by something. Avery’s mind tries her hardest to sniff out the culprit, but it is also murked by a confusing, blurry coat.

“Vivianne, I’m sorry. I’m sorry if I wasn’t there for you enough. I’m sorry for the times I reacted irrationally.”

“It’s not your fault. Don’t say that. Don’t ever say that, I’m sorry for dragging you into my mess.”

“Viv, you’re my sister, your mess is my mess too-”

“You don’t get it. That’s what I’m afraid of, I’m afraid I’m going to hurt you if you pay more attention to me.” 

“Hurt me? Girl, just because I have a job, or a family, or whatever the f**k, I’m not going away. I will always be here for you. Is that what you’re afraid of?” 

Her silence continues to murk the distance between them. 

“I- I don’t know.”

Avery’s mouth opens, but she noticed her statement was like throwing a rock in a

Glasshouse. She sits down next to Vivianne. 

“You don’t have to continue anymore if you don’t know, because I’m going to be honest- I don’t know either. My life has been fraught with insecurity, betrayal, anguish… fear. And even though I have consulted my friends, therapy, family, I’ve never really known”

“That’s the thing, I have things I know I’m afraid of, but I don’t know if that’s actually what I’m afraid of, or if it's something else. That’s why I haven't talked about it with you. This mess, I never really know what it is I’m looking at, but I understand at least some of it, or at least I think I do. I fear I’ll never really communicate or know what… what is really wrong with me.” 

Avery sits next to her, before leaning over to hug her. 

Vivianne responds by embracing her sister in response. 

::::: :::::

Late April rolls around, and so do the bus’s wheels. 

Umbra leans against the window, texting to her friends:

“I’m free from volunteering tomorrow, you guys wanna hang?” 

“I mean, that would be cool, but wheeeere?” Olly jests, 

“IDK man, anywhere away from this dump.” Aaron says, 

She gazes at the forests passing by, and opens a map on her phone, before pulling out a pair of 

“What about the Space Station?” 

“Excuse me?”

“Yea, who wouldn’t want to travel the stars? I mean, yea, we’re probably going to have to raid a couple of rich guys, and probably find some sort of cloaking ghost suits or something to even attempt entering the acceleration sites, but I mean, the stars though.” 

Aaron types, “yea, i guess that is pretty worth it though.” 

Umbra giggles to herself.

“But it might get boring after like, a few minutes though, considering Zero G is just that, zero g.” 

“Dang Umbra, I didn't know you liked killing fun.” Aaron

“Yea, nice job Umb, thanks for ruining space for me.” Olly

“But seriously though, where could we go?” 

The three of them fall into a messageless void. 

Umbra notices Zoey in the distance, her feet scuffing the ground and dirt. A car stations at the end of the street, awaiting for their departure, before Umbra’s vision catches something. 

The man closing the door brandished an emblem on his right shoulder. 

“What? Isn’t that a company that performs Cerebral data downloads? What the? Isn’t that...” 

Umbra’s brain eventually cyclones into a whirling mess of thoughts and theories, before a vibration in her pocket knocks her out of it. 

I remember her being really passionate at supporting the family, yeah but by risking her own life? What type of family would allow that?

She pulls out her phone and texts, “hey, I saw Zoey enter a van that I think is for-.” 

“A random white van? Oh yeah totally, she’s entering it for info dumping, sure.” 

“No, I mean it had the logo for brain loading, and then I got scared.” 

“Did you recognize any of the men involved?”

“No.” 

She looks out again, and she sees Zoey’s dad pop out of the car for a second.

“Wait, scratch that, yea.” 

“Then I wouldn’t worry about it… yea.” 

She looks outside her window again and then shakes her head and continues the conversation. 

“You know where I've always wanted to go? The steel fair near the Lighthouse.” 

“Mmm, I’ve always wanted to try that zero friction rink they’ve got. Don’t know why they don’t just get an ice rink, but eh.” 

“So it’s settled?” 

::: :::

“Yeah, we ready to go?” Umbra responds to the group chat’s texts, while reviewing some history homework. Something about the [insert here], before walking to her truck. 

“Yea! I wanna see some stars!” 

The Theme Park. 

The three of them exit the truck to meet a shiny, glowing tower from afar, with prizes, attractions, and food all perfectly mixed together. 

The three of them ogle at the spire in awe, before Aaron points at a robotic arm with seats on it, the passengers currently residing feel the air grind and whirl over their skin, before the seats detach and whip around like a yo-yo. The robot arm then revolves and tumbles the seats over the body of the arm, before catching them mid maneuver. The arm gently introduces the riders to the exit, for them to dazedly heave out of the ride.

“Wanna try?” 

“No way. I don’t trust most autonomous cars to keep me safe, let alone that.”

“Aww man.” 

Olly’s entire posture flops, seeing how orange and black tape surrounded the zero friction rink.

“It’s under maintenance man.” 

“Damn, I wanted to see the thing in action.” 

“Well, we still have the NOVA.” she elegantly points to purview stars like dots in the sky painting neon swirls throughout the sky, before detonating and exploding like grenades. 

“Mm, what is there to it??” Aaron says, 

“Apparently, you can control the nanites in the sky to play different games, like Asteroid Clearing, where you win by the amount of asteroids you clear, I don’t know what else to say, uhh, there’s another one where you can like, play retro games, you could also play hockey in the sky, etc.” 

“Cool, but uuh, I want to see what else is around.” 

“Okay, well, I’m going to go so, see ya losers.”

“Okay! Don’t die.” Umbra flicks out her tongue at Olly, for her to return the favor

“How’s that one?” Aaron points.

A holographic dune race was raging on, where lasers were blazing and cars were smashing into each other.
“Oh hell yeah!” she jogs to the tents of where the event was occurring, before one of the employees fizzles out her excitement

“What? Closed? Are you kidding?”

“Sorry. Something broke, we gotta fix it.” 

“Bummer.” Aaron and Umbra say together. 

Umbra looks around before something catches her attention.

Two Iron Men stood at attention, with wings and a head that looked like a flight helmet gleamed under the sun. 

“Oh my-”

“You in shock too? Yep. These are Icarus Somas. I cannot believe they allowed us to use these as attractions.”

“Are these things like-” 

“Oh… Kinda, you won’t feel the air, but these things are a hundred percent safer.” 

“Okay, how do I use them?” 

“How do you want to fly it? Manually, with a stick, or with your brain.” 

“Which do you recommend?” 

“If I feel like piloting a plane, the stick. If I feel like feeling invincible-”

“The latter.”

Five minutes later, Umbra straps on the arm controls and helmet. She thumbs up with Aaron and suddenly the visor swings down. 

Nothing but black. Until suddenly, a green loading screen unveils her gunmetal body levitating just above the ground. She goes to try and touch the walls or the ground, but instead realizes her arms and legs were linked as well. 

She experiments with the new body, seeing a hud pop out as well as thrusters activating. She sees Aaron doing similar things, and notices him drifting away from the dock. 

She points her feet and sees herself also drifting away. 

She giggles and jets forward, the air cracks. 

The winds and waves beckon to her will, gravity nothing but humble dust to her. The city blurs, the watery walls grow longer, thicker, and larger, as she suddenly brakes and floods a patch of ocean in front of her. 

“Holy s**t.” 

“Hey, wait up!”

“What’s up Aaron? Can’t keep up?”

“Yea. but now I got you-” 

The two of them shatter the air, with both of them trying to get in front of each other in a race to the limit. Finally, Aaron gets a heading and grapples with Umbra, launching her into the city, threading and piercing through gaps and more and more gaps; a few rumblings later, and the trees bash back the buildings, waving and shuddering under the soaring, roaring might of the two’s race. 

Unfortunately, the race came to a halt, when the two of the units crashed into an invisible barrier. 

“Awww,” Umbra says, disappointment and sadness strewn and colored all over her voice. 

“Yea, we don’t want y’all to lose these things. 

:: ::

The visor flips up. The two of them drop out of the control modules and say their goodbyes. 

“Dude. I didn’t know they had that here! Why didn’t y’all say anything?” 

“Because you were on the ride-”

“Which lasted for two minutes, you clearly had a blast with that one!”

“Oh.” 

“It’s fine, I’ll just take the next slot.” Olly says. 

::: :::

A boat shuttles into the water, bobbing like a ball plopped into a pool. 

Aaron swerves and drifts through the oceanic wind, seagulls leap away from the boat’s trajectory. 

“Okay, who knew motorcycle expertise translates to jetski play he glazes over to his right, seeing the red sun graze the water into fabulous amethyst shards, 

He spots something in the distance. 

“Is that- oh hell yeah!” 

He throttles off a ramp and slips through several rings of water, before crashing down onto the fluid mattress. He dips, he slides the jetski underneath a rivery arc of blue, before drifting onto several slopes. A boom crackles after the ski goes past pillars in the water, seeing that they are connected to an icy bridge up top, he shakes his head at the same time. 

The path gets more stringent and extreme, and so too did Aaron’s pace, skating across a guided rail and accelerating, looping several times over as a tunnel drills underneath the water. A splash mutes the cacophony of the surface; fish, coral, turtles, and other fauna blur by, as the water begins to turn and twirl the man before he rifles out of the water like a bullet. He lands on the side of a watery track, before realizing he magnetized to it, gliding across like he was on ice. The rails flipped him continuously, boogying and boozling his senses altogether, before the track hurled him back onto the sea. 

“Yo!” 

The world turns and the dock shows up, his ski guiding itself back onto the platforms, click. 

Sigh, Aaron says, “That was fun. Really fun.” 

“I didn’t know you could ride a jetski-” Vivianne says

“Okay, well technically it isn’t a jetski, it’s basically a diet version. Still though, I’m surprised I was able to drive it as well as I did.” 

“Heh, guess those years of riding that motorcycle treated you, huh?” 

“Yea, I guess.” he chuckles, before his face droops a little.

“Yea… Hey, that Zero Friction rink is back up!”

“Oh! Well, I didn’t expect that to perk up at the end of this!”

“Come on, let’s go!” Olly yoinks Aaron and Vivs’ hands and drags them to the rink.

There was a neon sign rotating at the top, indicating several things:
“This rink is a zone of frictionless material. You will not be able to grip the ground with normal soles. Please use the designated grip shoes to get the most out of the rink. Thank you for your time. :D” 

“Who the f**k needs grip shoes? Here.” 

Olly jumps into the rink and immediately plops to the floor, feeling basically nothing on her fingers. 

“Ow. wait s**t.” 

She leaps up and grabs a pole, slinging and swinging herself off it, the wind flies back at her. She catches onto another pole, pulling herself up and peddling and paddling more and more poles until she might as well have been in a merry go round, until she slips, slamming herself onto the floor, sliding around like a puck. She shakes off the pain and grabs onto a pole, feeling her one arm shear and twist before throwing her other to further cushion the stop. She pants and sees Aaron with a pair of grip shoes. 

He sighs, “Why?” 

“It’s basically an ice rink, without the need for ice skates, why would you complicate this, ow.” she winces. 

“Because that’s why.”

“Okay whatever, I’ll do it properly.” She rolls her eyes and grabs the shoes. 

She looks at them and examines the soles at the bottom. She presses her hand onto the gray material and they slide right off. Her eyes pick out small contours that trace into the bottom of the shoe.  

They slip on like Cinderella slippers and she tries every combination of foot gestures until her toes press on the material. Her hand couldn’t budge, almost glued to it, before she removed her hand completely from the sole. 

“That’s how.” 

She stands up and walks. 

“Okay, so the way these things work- well, there’s more than one way, but it’s pretty straight forward. For feet controls, you apply more pressure to gain more friction. You brake by pushing the ball of your foot down. You can also do the same with a hand remote.”

“Can I have that? I don’t think I could use my feet to do this.”

:: ::

They eventually hit the rink.

Aaron attempts to get the hang of it with his feet, before eventually switching to his hand. 

“Okay, that’s easier.”

Olly stands still, letting the floor drag her to a wall, before she presses down and takes a step. It propels her forward across, glossing over the surface. She takes another step, it thrusts her again, her surrounding sail gracefully around. She begins to walk, the rink begins to pace with her rhythm. She presses down before tripping and catching herself on the ledge.

“How did you figure it out?”

“Press on the floor like you’re walking.” 

He walks across the floor. 

“What.” 

“Okay, maybe not like that. More like uhhh.” she looks at the other people around and how they do it.

“Okay, like you’re skating.” 

“But I don't have skates, so… wait, what?” 

“Like you’re skating without skates. Here.” she gently grasps his hand and demonstrates along with him. 

“You press when you need to accelerate.” she looks down and presses back, before she begins to slow.

“Yea, and you press back to slow down.” 

“Okay? Uhh.” 

He lets his foot glissade on the floor before pushing down, propelling himself. 

“See. Now do that for both feet and you’re set.”

He takes another step, the world glides around him. 

“Wow, you’re figuring this out.” 

He takes a few more steps, before lifting one foot off the ground, letting the floor carry him across. He exchanges feet, nothing but the soothing slickness and tranquility of the ground lilts his mind. He puts his legs together and curves over the ground, before leaning on the most extreme curve and resting his hand on the floor. He then splits his legs and performs a 360 degree maneuver with his body, trading hands to preserve momentum before leaning back out of it. 

He kicks his foot and torso out before he trips and decks his face into the floor and slides to the border. 

“Ow.” he casually whines out.

“You okay?” Olly jests.

“Yea, I’m just fine.” he stands up and shakes his head. 

“Guess that’s what you get for being too ambitious, ay?”

“Heh, I guess so.” 

“Anyway, how’d you do that?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“The whole split circle thing?”

“Oh, I learned that from hockey.” 

Olly looks at him with shock, “what?” 

“Yeah. Oh, I haven’t told y’all this.” 

“You played hockey, and never told us?” 

“I mean, it’s probably because I never thought of it as important. I only did it for like, a few years before quitting. Although it really isn’t quitting, it’s just… I lost interest.” 

Olly attempts to continue her thought, before something interrupts her.

“I’m guessing you lost interest because of school.”

“Not really, but, I guess that is sort of right.  I just didn’t like playing, or I stopped liking it. My father didn’t like that.” 

“You okay?”

“Oh I’m fine…” Aaron trails off. 

Olly’s bites her lip. 

“Okay. you want to do something else?” 

“Sure. you said you wanted to do that split thing?” 

“I didn’t say that, but know what, sure. Enlighten me.” 

“Okay. Well, I don’t like doing those, but I do like playing around, so here.” 

Aaron gently grasps her hand and skims over the ground. 

“So you want to do it slowly and small first. Try to draw an egg, or a pear on the ground.” 

Aaron widens and closes his legs, drawing an imaginary egg on the ground. 

“Oh, I see.” 

Olly attempts to mimic. 

“Try to keep your pressure equal, don’t push too far out.” Aaron suggests, tweening his legs barely apart.

“okay.” 

Every inch of her body feels unstable, like a boat with one too many holes in it, and she was using blankets to keep herself afloat. 

“And now push in.”

She slowly pushes her legs closed, raising her body. She starts to bob up and down at glacier pace. 

“I think I got it now.” 

Her moves got more daring, until she dipped herself out, legs sketching a parallel pair of lines. She collides them back together. 

“Sweet. What else can you teach me?”

“Uh, I could try some of those dances those figure skaters do.” 

“You know some? I would love to see that.” she says.

“Not really. I was going to ask my father if I could try figure skating… but then he left.”

Olly and Aaron stand together in silence.

“He just left. He didn’t even pack his bags. He just left.” 

“Aaron. I’m sorry.” 

“No, don’t apologize. I keep bringing this up.”

“I mean, there’s probably a reason right? I mean, guess this whole rink is reminding you of your father, huh.” 

“I guess. He was okay.” 

He pulls out his Balisong.

“This was given by my mother. That bike I ride was a gift from my father.”

“Oh. he must mean a lot to you then, huh?”

“He did. He actually taught me a lot. That I should be proud of myself. That I shouldn’t let a label define me. I am my own man, and I shouldn’t try holding on to random titles in order to feel true.”

The advice sinks into Olly, things start blending together. 

“And yet, when I quit Hockey, the expression on his face. I don’t know whether he was disappointed or if he was sad. And then he left. He said his goodbyes and left.”

Aaron sits down, and lets the floor bring him to the rink’s edge, with Olly following suit. 

Olly and Aaron look into the distance

“The strange part of it all is that he never took his belongings. In fact, he left them.”

Olly sighs, “did you take a look at his belongings?” 

“Not really. I mean I have looked, but not for too long. I really don't want to.”

“You’re scared of what he thought of you?”

“Maybe.” 

He looks at his knife and sighs, 

“And then I had to live with my uncle’s family, since my mother died from an automobile accident.” 

Olly takes a glance at Aaron’s desolate eyes.

“Listen, if you don’t like me joking about those things, I can-”

“It’s fine.”

Aaron stares with a passive yet deterred stare, before he flares from his nose. 

“I’m going to go. If you want to find me, meet me at the cafe.”

He walks away, leaving Olly in the rink alone. 

Her eyes casually gaze at the people inside the rink, dancing and laughing their troubles away. 

She examines her hands, body… her friends. Her eyes pick out the one, dangling light above her, clumsily candling her spot in the rink, versus the light extravaganza that was in the middle of the rink. 

She sits in silence, her eyes blending her vision into a blurry, incoherent storm of colors and paints. Nothingness blares and gails throughout her mind. A whiteroom, polluted and dazzled by the color black, it spreads and veins throughout her mind.

She continues staring, stuck in a frothy, sloshy lake. 

Her mind jumps from thing to thing, sound to sound, a silent anger brushes and bristles against her brain.

You dumbass. Why did you even mention that to him? You know he has trauma there, a*****e, are you trying to be a dick?

Her nails clawed deep into herself.

“Ow. “What’s wrong with me? What, just because you were too much of a p***y to say something when you were young, you resort to insults and joking on other’s behalf in order to feel better about your sad, miserable self? Is that what you’ve come to?” 

Her breathing was uneven, heavy and harsh. 

She sighs, silence leaving her mouth. 

  “Maybe I'm being too harsh on myself… or something. I have worth… nothing of great worth though. What can I do? I don’t have talent. All I have is a bunch of failures and perversions tied to my name. I’m disgusting”

She looks at her phone. 

“After I made those discoveries… Why couldn’t I stop digging, what’s wrong with me? Why didn’t I say something-” she grieves out, a vibration interrupts, a voice message pings from Umbra.

“Hey, uh, Olly? Are things okay, what’s going on?” 

Olly places the boots back onto the rack, and walks. 

“Olly? Are things okay?” 

“Yes, yes I’m fine. I got caught up with something. It’s nothing special.”

“You sure?”

“Yea, I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.” her voice chimes such a cheery melody. 

Umbra stands in front of Olly with her phone out, concern plastering her face. 

“I don’t believe you.” 

“You say that about everything I say.”

“Yea, well I do know you’re a pretty good liar.” 

“What? Why would I lie about you?” 

“You said that you had no intention of using my taser, and yet you used it on a wasps’ nest-”

“You know the fuckers had it coming. Whatever, not the point. You know I wouldn’t actually try to harm people. My words really don’t have any bite to them anyway, so it’s not like my supposed ‘blackmailing’ has any actual substance.”

She subtly looks behind herself, her nails digging deeper into her hand again.

Umbra sighs, “just tell me what’s wrong.” 

Umbra stares at Olly’s timid gaze. 

She stays silent. 

Umbra realizes, “ugh, know what. We’ll do this when you’re comfortable. Sorry for all of this.” 

“Nah it’s cool.”

The Mirage. 

Olly and Umbra sit in the back seat, with Aaron driving a car to a lighthouse. 

“Hey. wait what?” Aaron whispers. 

The truck slows down, near a lighthouse: a heavy steel gate guards the entrance. 

“Aw man, they installed a gate on the lighthouse park? What, did too many people smoke weed after dark or something? Man.” 

Umbra wakes up, examining the gate. 

“What? What’s up?”

“I wanted to spend some more time in the twilight park, that’s all.” 

She looks at the gate and notices a patch of trees and foliage blocking the side of the entrance. 

“Well, they really didn’t think the whole thing through it seems.”

She takes a glance at her phone and sees a parking lot close by. 

“I know a way we can get in.” 

The truck drives again. 

Several minutes later, the three of them are now behind the entrance gate walls. 

Umbra takes a small glance at the three cameras, some of them facing back. 

“Shh, wait. Go along the grass and trees. We can get to a spot where the cameras can no longer track.” Umbra whispers

“Got it.” Aaron says, pulling out his knife.

“Actually? Do you have a thick coat? I don’t want to leave a lot of traces, that’s why I ask.”

Olly yawns, with a bit of a small hubble, “what’s up?” 

“We’re trying to get into the park.”

“Why?”

“I want to see the moon, I want to see the bay again.”

Olly’s glare goes flat

“Wouldn’t it be better during the suntime? Whatever.” 

Umbra pulls out her phone during the two’s conversation. 

“What, we couldn’t see the moon then-”

“Okay, but like, we could actually pinpoint reservations and what not, and plan this, instead of doing something illegal.” 

“Okay, we can just keep going until we meet the nature trail. That way we don’t have to deal with cameras.”

They slither and sliver through the heavy fauna, while the noise level remains at a breathing volume. 

Eventually, a dirt path sloths beneath their feet, the three of them shake and shiver off the sleeves and shoots of green and brown. 

“Okay, now what?” Olly sighs out.

“The moon.” Aaron points. 

“Yea, I know but is there a better view?” 

“We could try the lighthouse patio.” 

Olly and Umbras’ faces droop from Aaron’s comment. 

“‘Cuse me? You want us to go to the Lighthouse patio. After we just went through avoiding cameras?”

“What? I think it’s the best spot though.” 

“Yea, but you don’t think there’s not going to be cameras?”

“Well, no, yea… you know what I mean, it’s just a suggestion.” 

Aaron says, rolling his eyes and balisong.

“It ain’t a good one.” 

“How’s the campfire, that could work.” 

“Yea, but the trees might still get in the way. How’s that hill?” Umbra points to a random hill. 

“Huh. that works.” 

The three of them trek up the forest trail towards a hill, with a single tree and the moon glaring down. 

They gaze around, admiring the abstract, alien wildlife, contrasting the native, original paints of the forest. 

“Wanna hear the story of how these trees came along?” a glowing blue tree hummed in the dark, with sacs of yellowish white sagging off of the more mature branches. 

“Wasn’t there something about a competition?” Aaron asks, 

“Yea? But also not really. Basically the guys who won the competition had pissed off their rivals so much that they planted their trees out of spite. Turns out, the trees that lost and won both became highly invasive, and the two of the rivalries had to find a way to curb their growth, but here’s the funny part, well there’s multiple funny parts… uh, the one that won was already working on a antisolution, which introduced an unstable viral solution to the trees. 

They hoped that the losing tree would hopefully be terminated as a result from messing with their growth dna. It actually did the opposite and made them more fertile, to the point where many species of trees and plants got mixed in with the losing tree, including the prize tree. They didn’t know that though and basically kept developing stronger and stronger bioweapons against the species, they didn’t realize what it was actually doing, until someone noticed. Eventually, they created a bioweapon so powerful that it did its job too well. Basically eats up any DNA of those supertrees. Um…” 

Olly goes silent, her stature crumbles. 

“Uh? Anything wrong?” Aaron asks, his head perking,

“Uh, yea I’m going to end it there. Uh, it gets dark, let’s put it.” 

“Wait, what... nevermind.” Aaron finishes. 

:: ::

They finally arrive at the hill, with a gate, the moon and space as open as the sea. 

“sweet.” Umbra sits and snuggles onto the soft, fuzzy grass, with her friends cozily aside her. 

The next morning comes (i know, such abrupt skip right?), and the three of them see that their hill was locked shut. Umbra looks at the sun and juts her hand under it. 

“It’s an hour and forty five from sunrise, they’re not open yet.” 

“How did we not get eaten?” Aaron asks while slipping his knife through the fence gaps, attempting to unhook the controls behind. 

Olly dropkicks the gate doors, before pathetically slapping on the floor. 

“Damn, this is a gate.” 

“Crap, I don’t want to have to explain this to the Rangers. Uuuugh.” she fondles around in her pocket to feel a piece of fabric.

“Wait. guys, I think I have a solution to our problem. Wait here.” 

They notice and ask: “where are you going?”, “yea, you can’t expect us to let you be alone.” 

“I’ll be fine, just, i’ll be back, don’t worry!”

She runs off into the woods, with her cloak in hand. 

Her fingers brush for any opening that she could exploit, but it was just a wall. A solid, basic wall. She keeps going, and continues to push. Nothing. Several minutes gallop by, nothing

Her expedition lunges her into an open patch of grass. Her breath and composure were dwindling, desperate for some sort of change. 

She rolls over, seeing a purple sky, before she pulls off the cloak’s hood. 

She removes her cloak and prepares for another trek. 

“What are you doing alone, little girl.” echoes across the marshy fog that strewed across the grass. 

“What the?” 

Her hands freeze, body seized up, before twitching to find the source of the sound.

Her head pivots, every speck of the grass, trees, and leaves were examined to the point. 

Nothing. 

“What the?” her tongue and lips pronounce with the utmost precision and intricacy. 

She looks at the cloak again, the way the device seemed to melt the background image. 

“Has my loneliness gotten that bad? That I’ve started hallucinating?”

The device seemed to melt her vision into the cloak,

“Have I been so attached to this thing that I’ve become obsessed with it?” 

She blankets her hand over the fabric, digits sensing a confusing smooth, sleek, but cold material. 

“When did I even get this?” 

“Okay first off, I’m sixteen-”

“Right, and I’m supposed to be thirty six, yet you’d still call me old. Even then, you still have a future. I don’t.”

Meanwhile:

“What’s taking Viv so long?” Aaron says, wandering around the forest. 

“How long does this fence go?” Olly says, her hand bumping on the bars, progressing atom by atom. 

“Super far apparently.” 

  Her feet and sight digs into her surroundings, excavating any sort of clue or trinket of Vivanne’s wearabouts. 

“What the hell?” Olly whispers, dusting her fingers over the ground, without them even a single indent or sole print. 

“What?” a flat, dull brown path stretches in front.

“What!” she swears, “there’s no way? She just, she just doesn’t have footsteps?” “Maybe her shoes got really s****y soles?”

“Maybe, but even then, there should at least be some marker of movement?”

Olly strokes the walls. 

“Maybe she’s really good at covering her tracks.” 

“I mean, yea that’s definitely an idea, but even then… she left-” she looks up, and notices the tree branches and plantlife shuffled and scattered out of place. 

Olly stands up before Aaron continues, “bingo.”

“Still strange that there were no prints, like she covered her boots.” 

“Again, maybe shoddy soles.”

“Yea. sure.” Olly sighs

:: ::

“Where did this even come from?”

“I can answer that question. But first, you’re going to tell me what you’re doing here, alone.” a sly, slithering whisper needles the girl’s ear, jolting her up to stand. 

Out of the blue, a section of the forest bulges and blurs, before disintegrating into a black shadowy figure. 

“What the f-”

“And don’t shout. Unless you want to alert every ranger in the park.”

The girl’s mouth opens to respond, only for her nose to flare

“Okay, first off, I’m sixteen you bum f**k-”

“Right, and I’m supposed to be 37, yet you’d still call me old, ‘bum f**k’.” his voice jabs back.

Her face squares up.

“And also, what are you?”

“That is irrelevant; I lost my identity years ago. What’s more important, is what you’re doing here, when you still have a future ahead of you-”

“And don’t remind me of that! And what do you mean? What, you don’t?”

“Because I don’t have a life anymore! 

His hand grabs his blank face and rips off the cover plate, revealing the purely mechanical and electronic components all beeping, whirring, and calculating in sync. 

“What the hell!” Vivianne crawls back

 “Mmhmm, and you still have a face. You can still breathe.”

The blackened figure picks up something on the ground and examines it

“You stay back!”

“So that’s how I missed you. Why do you have a MK5 government issue evac cloak?”

The girl’s pupils shrink, “wait, what? how do you know what it is!”

“Because I'm literally made of the same material and I realized now you’ve only showed up a couple minutes ago. Heh, guess we have more in common than I thought.”

He continues investigating the vest, and notices a VR headset underneath. 

“What BS, you don’t even have a face, how are we similar?”

“Because as far as you know, I could’ve literally teleported here, yet you wouldn’t know the difference. Likewise, I thought you were just wandering alone. Seeing the cloak changes things.”

The silhouette approaches the headset, before Vivianne stands before it.

“Your headset confuses me. I know the product’s components and hardware, but yours has extraneous components. Like an algorithmic radar interpreter, an augmented reality display set… you modified this, didn’t you?” 

“What?”

“It would make sense, the cloak does shroud visibility. Wait, you didn’t know what it was before?”

She stares at the pure black figure’s form before her eyes stray over the robe.

“Yea? I just found it in some forest one day.”

“Where did you find it exactly?”

“Dude, I was in eighth grade at that point, how do you expect me to remember?” 

“Give me a reference point, some location” 

“I don’t know? Near a Costco I think? I remember passing a rough spot in the forest, like a crash happened near it.” 

The being’s head perks with curiosity, a few seconds bullets away before a thought clicks. 

“Wait. Do you know of the Federal Reserve heist several years ago?”

“What? Oh yea, yeah everyone in my school was shocked. Like, my teachers, my principal, even my parents and my grandparents.”

“The culprits used the evac cloaks in order to perform the heist. The FBI must’ve left a piece of evidence without realizing it. Not their fault really, these cloaks are hard to find.”

“Wait, so, the government has emergency invisibility things? Seriously?”

“Oh… oh you’d be surprised. But don’t worry, the government doesn’t use the evac cloaks for recreation. Hell, they usually can’t be accessed unless under a strict emergency.”

He gets closer to the cloak and scurries his hand over it, examining it.

A small chortle escapes his solid cold face. “You’re holding a relic, the newer versions don’t even have pockets, and are much easier to find. They usually have those flash bracelets nowadays.” 

“Why are you telling me this? Wait, how do you know this?”

“Think about it. I have the ability to disappear in a flash. Why wouldn’t I try to use it to snoop around and find out some truth to this world?”

His body seizes up.

He looks behind him and sees the leaves shuddering.

“Someone’s coming, hide yourself.” 

“What?” 

They vanish in a literal blink. 

“Wait what? Wait… no wait!” 

She grabs the cloak and runs into the forest.

“What are you doing?” 

“Olly, Aaron!” 

The two of them bubble out of the forest, panting.

“Dude, you said it was going to be a minute…” Aaron says

“Okay, uh, I got caught up with something.” Vivianne responds

Olly peeks her shoulder and sees a foggy, soggy plain.

“So you stared at the clouds for basically fifteen minutes?”

“Uh, sure.” 

Olly crosses her arms, bunching her lips before a light pop comes out. 

“Okay cut the s**t Vivianne, why are you still here? You said you’d be back by now, yet you realize you’re literally lying alone in a park which could have literally anything in it.”

“I promise, I’m fine.” 

Olly notices her hands were behind her back the entire time.

“What are you hiding?”

“What? I’m not hiding anything.”

Her eyes focus. 

“Remove your hands from your back.”

Aaron cuts in, “hey, uh, this might be a bit much-”

“Ugh, why are you such a mother all of a sudden.”

She taps her back twice before the blurry fabric falls to the floor. Olly scrutinizes it, before Vivianne realizes her mistake. 

“What is this thing?”

Vivianne tries to grab it from Olly.

“Give it back.” she pleads.

Aaron glares at Olly’s actions, before he notices the strangeness of Vivianne’s cloak, seeing a blurby version of Olly behind it.

She puts her hand through the fabric, realizing it was a coat before the puzzle was complete. 

“Wait, is this some sort of invisibility tech?”

“Uhh…” Vivianne’s posture shirks.

The sky falls on Olly, her thoughts lure into a trap of questioning. 

“What? How did you-”

She continues to probe it, before Viv tries taking it back. Olly’s eyes press into her, lasering the question into her. 

“Ugh, you’re like that guy from earlier. It’s none of your business-”

Olly’s gaze pierces through Viv. 

“Excuse me?”

“Guess there’s no reason to hide around.” 

Olly’s startled, her sight rummages through her surroundings before spotting and locking her gaze onto the figure standing aside the conversation; she could feel her whole body sinking into the deep dark abyss that was their face plate.

“What is that?” she regresses, 

Her pupils break down,

“Wait what? Wait, no no no, this can’t be happening? That… no! I thought those t-t-th-things were a myth! I thought, ``I thought those things were like failed experiments or something?”

The figure props their head to the left.

“What are you talking about?

“The Phantom Projects… they can’t be. They’d, they’d be too powerful.”

“Oooh. That’s what I am. Well, thank you for telling me, but some people insist on calling me a spectre- guess that makes sense too though.” he folds his fingers before a thin, but mature sword jets out of the joints.

The three of them collapse back.

She starts to revolt, mind churning the information that was barraging it. 

“Hm. For some random girl, you know more than you let on.”

“What? What a spectre. A phantom?”

“It’s what I am.” The black figure says, “Or, what I am now.”

He looks at all of them. 

“Well, looks like my intervention was ill-sighted, although I still don’t like the idea that a bunch of kids are running around without supervision. But it’s unlikely anyone’s going to care about you three, let alone be able to get you… but the things they possess.” 

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that you’re all at high risk.” 

“What? Seriously?”

“Well, the one named Olly knows more than she should, knowledge that any nation would want to keep, Aaron’s father is a high priority target, and Vivianne should be obvious-”

“Wait what? You knew my father?” Aaron asks,

“No, but I know he is a spectre, or well, a phantom is more accurate.”

“Wait. What is Aaron’s last name then?” 

“Greer. Vincent Greer is your father’s name.”

Aaron doesn’t respond. He shows no emotion towards the form in black. 

“It says it on Vince's birth certificate. Says you were the spouse of Sachi Greer-”

“Don’t you dare state that name! You freak!”

His body rears up, his balisong gripped like iron, his breathing heavy.

He looks at his knife, before his calm flushes out the rage in his body. 

“How the hell do you know her name? How do you know-”

“Think about it, none of you knew I was here to begin with. Vivianne didn’t know. You think that I wouldn’t use that to my advantage?”

The three of them look at each other, their eyes whispering details to each other. 

“Where have you been?” 

“You think I’m going to let you know?”

A small flicker rings in their eyes: they knew it. 

“You’ve learned things then. Bad things.”

“I’m assuming you know too. Not many low grade civilians know about the phantom projects, let alone a high school student. I’m assuming you’ve learnt worse.”

“Yeah. maybe.” her voice shrinks and crumples, “but why are you here?” 

“Passing by. Really nothing to it. Why are you all here?”

“Dumbass wanted to see the moon again.” Vivianne admits, 

“Wha, that’s not why!”

“Well, besides the point, you all should be careful. Considering the value of your merchandise and assets, you’re high priority targets without realizing it.”

The three of them were about to protest, but then remembered their points from earlier. 

“Exactly. You all hold something very valuable, and I don’t know what decision would be best.”

“What decision?”

The individual goes silent. 

“well?” 

“Either I let you all free, trusting you all to be smart, or I watch over you and make sure to engage when something bad occurs.”

“Wha, excuse me? We are not letting you parent us, are you serious?” 

“I’m not going to parent you. I don’t give a s**t over what you do over curfew. What’s more important is for you all to stay out of trouble and to keep both eyes open.”

“Or else?”

“Or else, well… everything that you have will be exploited. Think about it, if Vivianne gets caught in the wrong place, she would not only be killed but also risk lending a dangerous piece of technology into the wrong hands; Aaron could be used as ransom to draw out his father; and if Olly ever gets caught with her mouth open, she could be abused.”

The three of them stare at each other.

“It gets bad, which is why I’m telling you all of this. Right now, no one knows about any of this; all everyone knows is that you are all a bunch of young, dumb teenagers, including me. You have things you need to protect, so you need to play smart. You still have a future, I don’t want you all to ruin it just because you didn’t know what you were doing. Understand?”

The three of them look at each other, the mechanical mannequin’s words waking them up to their predicament.

“Yes.” 

The silhouette approaches softly to the three of them, 

“Here. I am giving you three a singular nanite. They have the same vision and light bending properties as me, but they can also do other things, like they can monitor areas, disorient opponents, and if a million of them are concentrated, they can make a person go invisible.” the three of them look with shock and awe, 

“I am giving you these as a gift. Or rather, as extra equipment, because they are virtually yours now. I say this, because the nanites are still a part of me, but they contain literally one protocol. It’s just the pingback alert system if certain conditions are met. You can set up the conditions.”

“So you’re not watching us?”

“Yea, I’m not. Again, most of the original protocols are gone. They only have alert protocols. They’re dormant basically.”

Olly looks at the nanite. 

“So what if you want more?” the three of them look at the figure on the hill with shy and treacherous glances, 

“Eh, they’re extra. It’s not like I’d lose anything if I gave some away.”

She examines the minidrone.

“Have a good day? I don’t know.” she before walking away.

Out of earshot, the figure says, “finally, I can get back to what I was doing earlier.” the figure disappears into the air.

:: ::

Beneath the Cloak

Olly, Aaron, and Vivianne sit in the back of the truck together, 

“Umbra, you had a cloak this entire time? When the hell did you even get it?”

“The f**k makes you think I’d remember way back then?”

“Because it’s a literal cloaking thing, like from Harry Potter and s**t.” 

Olly pulls out a headset

Umbra’s eyes fall between the seats. 

“And you made a headset? What have you done with this thing?”

“Uh. I don’t know.”

“Girl…”

She looks at Aaron, staring away in the distance. Everything was swampy from his point of view. 

“Olly. What do you know?”

“What?”

“What information do you know? What is a Spectre, what the hell is a phantom?”

“I…”

“And how do you even know this?”

“I just do, can it be that simple?” 

The room goes mute. 

They look around the lighthouse edge, the water splashing and thrashing against the beachside. 

“Wanna hang at the beach?” Umbra asks, 

“Sorry Viv, I want answers.” 

“Fine. what do you want answered.”

“What was the rest of that story? The one with the tree viruses? What happened?”

Olly looks around, saddened at her response.

“You know the South American genocides? Some militias found a way to weaponize the tree virus against several plants that some of the denizens needed.” 

“... you’re shitting me? That conspiracy theory you told me about the… the famine that plagued southern america, that was real?”

“It’s no conspiracy. People definitely know about it, just not a lot. For good reason.” 

“Wait wait, how do you know this? Wait, what do you mean for good reason?” 

Olly’s head tilts to the floor, waving her legs down near the sand. 

“Because those militias will do anything to keep power. They want to keep that information out, so they can keep their monopoly on trade. That includes execution to those who know.” 

“Jesus. How do you know this?”

Olly sighs, “let’s just say I’m a part of a certain friend group.”

“Okay, now I don’t believe you.” 

“Why?”

“What’s to say that they’ren’t just playing with you. Spreading false information?”

“The phantom units. How do you think I know about those? Before any of you did. Hell, before that spectre knew?”

“Oh. So, this friend group… Nevermind.”

“Yea, don’t ask about them.”

“Wait, why?”

“Just, for your own good.” 

“What good does it do to not know?”

“Because I don’t want you knowing what they know! Knowing what I know.” she spits back,

Pause

“What have they done to you?”

Olly sighs. 

Umbra and Aaron look at each other. 

“Did they hurt you?”

“No. Nothing like that- just don’t worry about it. They’re fine, I’m fine.”

Aaron and Umbra sigh.

They look again at the water. The sun’s scintillating energy over the oscillating waves shivers, shimmers across the sea. 

“I miss days like these.” Olly says

“Me too. Everyone’s too busy with work to do things like this. I miss being able to play.” Umbra says 

“If only we could reverse time. Or have a worldwide holiday where you just, don’t, for an entire day. I miss when we weren’t tied down and we were as free as a bird” 

“Don’t?”

“Yea, like you don't worry about anything for an entire day.” 

“But isn’t that like every holiday?”

“I mean, yea, but, one where everyone could join in. Just to sit back and relax. But that’s just what I think.” 

He shrugs casually.

:: ::

They walk through a forest, leaves wavering into hues and tints of alien but familiar schemes. 

“Damn this place is pretty.”  Aaron states

“Puh, please. This place is just Turbo flexing how many companies they have semantic control over or at least, have easy connections with.” Olly says

“What? Okay, name some of them then.” Umbra challenges. 

She points at several parts of the park while listing several names:

“The tree leaves are a result of genetic modification by Chloro Dynamics, parented by Turbo; the glass fence structures aren’t actually glass, they’re transparent steel- those were shaped by Muhammad Research: Materials Division, also sort of under Turbo; The angular fountains over there are the result of programming and some intensive molting and material designing, by Pyramid Nano Sculpts and , the stones here are actually shape shifting.”

Olly walks over to the ornamental stones before pressing down on a tablet and swirling up, before the stones sharply mimicked her gesture.

“See. The material here is also made by MR, but the tablet and the electronics are developed by A&S Quantum Electronics and Amazon. Point is, this park is just a huge flex from Turbo.” 

“How about that repair and maintenance drone up there?”

Olly sighs, “Oscorp produced and modified, original design exported by DJI. Can’t believe someone actually named it Oscorp. How did they not get in trouble for that?” 

“Beats me, sounds like someone nerded out when they made their company so.” 

“Yea, true. The park is pretty, you’re right about that.” 

“Yea… hey Olly, what’s a Phantom?”

Olly sighs“Hm. okay. I mean, it’s not like much harm would be gained if you knew what a Phantom unit was. A phantom unit was apparently the result of the US, Prometheus and Lightning trying to improve on the Tac Suits from WW3, you know the ones.” 

“The suits that were like, really s****y because they leaned too hard on being sneaky?”

“Yeah. The US government, or military, doesn’t matter, they realized those suits were pretty much garbage if they were going to try full scale noninvasive reconnaissance in a location, so they put out a thing to get just that. At first, there was competition, but eventually Lightning Dynamics and Prometheus Laboratories were chosen to make their product. Uh… and then they made just that. I thought they failed at making those things, but apparently that came from disbelief and fear, because look what we just witnessed an hour and a half ago basically!” she jeers. 

“Oh. Well, it is Prometheus, plus Lightning. Never thought they’d work together.” 

“I mean, the entire project details were black. No one else is supposed to know about it.”

“Well, except you.”

“Except me. Makes sense though, have you seen Lightning’s robots? They’re insane, plus Prometheus' superb innovations.” 

“Wait, so they’re for government use? Wait, they’re released? That thing we just saw was a government agent? We could be watched by government officials and we don’t know it?”

“That was my fear, yep. The thing is though, I have a feeling we’re not going to be watched 24/7.”

“What do you mean?” 

“Imagine the cost of those things. Like, militaries and governments want to keep the amount of things needed to keep things moving low, right? And not to mention, the whole point of these bots is to perform reconnaissance and get data under darkness, right? The more you use them, the more likely one of them is going to get spotted.”

“Oh, I get what you mean.” 

“Right, so they might want to keep the usage of these things as minimal as possible. Still though, imagine what else they could make.” 

“Don’t make me think about it.” 

A silence erupts between them. They look around at the park. Birds chirping. 

“I’m guessing you wanted to know what your father did.” 

“Yea.” 

Why… why? Why go out to do some crack job from the government. You’re stronger than that. You’re better than that. I thought I knew you. 

He looks over to trees that show off a pixie wonderland, before walking off the bench. 

“Where are you going?”

“Away from this place. I need to gain closure.” 

:: ::

“Where have you been?” 

“You think I’m going to let you know?”

“You’ve learned things then. Bad things.”

“I’m assuming you know too. Not many low grade civilians know about the phantom projects… The phantom units. How do you think I know about those? Before any of you did. Hell, before that spectre knew?”

Aaron’s eyes pop open. It is bright and sunny, lights beaming into the room. He gets breakfast. He watches his elder guardians walk by, his brain swipes through yesterday’s events, when one sentence caught him by the lip. 

“Think about it, none of you knew I was here to begin with. Vivianne didn’t know. You think that I wouldn’t use that to my advantage?”

Thoughts wander and swaft around his head like soup, before his knife slings and flips out, admiring the subtle details and etchings on the dullened blade. 

“What’s Vivianne up to today?” He pulls out his phone. 

Vivianne drives her truck down the road, the radio shredding guitar and beating drums with heartful vigor. 

The door opens, she enters and exits a small restaurant, wielding a footlong meatball sub in her hand. She takes a ravenous, savory bite into it, before she notices a familiar face walking down the street. 

“Zoey?” 

Viv rises up and yowls her name. 

Zoey recognizes before shirking her head away from Vivianne and walks to a van. 

The van’s logo rattles Vivianne’s interest before it accelerates away. 

She peeks at her truck. 

Out of nowhere, her phone jumps at her with her ringtone, she answers

“Aaron?”

“Hey. uh, so you know that cloak?”

Vivianne’s expression flattens. 

“Okay, if you’re asking me to do something stupid with the thing, I’m not-”

“No, but I do want to ask if you want to come with me for a solid?”

She glares at the van at the stoplights.

“Umbra?”

Vivianne sighs, “uh, what is the solid.”

“You know about my father’s disappearance?”

She stares at her phone. 

“Yeah, I need to infiltrate and gather a certain thing from a certain storage unit. Are you busy?” 

The van zooms away in the distance. 

“I saw Zoey.”

“In the van?”

“Yep.”

“You know that’s a super common thing for rich people to do. Especially with children nowadays.”

Vivianne pinches the bridge of her nose, “I hate the thought of Zoey getting involved with stuff like that though. It’s super reckless and dangerous.”

“Right, but it’s not your decision.” 

Vivianne drops the phone on the table: the slimy, dusty table which hasn’t seen a washcloth since a few weeks at least. 

“Alright. But when we’re done, you’re helping me meet up with Zoey.”

Reminiscent 

The two of them arrive at a storage depot at day break, Aaron inputs a code near the door, before a dust storm whiplashes and seizes their throats, coughs rip out. 

“How long has this been here for?”

“Long enough.” Aaron chokes out

He approaches and his fingers sift and excavates through the piles and towers of stuff, for his hand to exhibit a photo. A reminder of his life.

“This was two years ago. We were on vacation to [insert location]. I still remember when Dad pushed Mom down a waterslide, and then mom responded with pushing him into an escape room chamber. It was a lot of fun.”

“Sounds like your parents hated each other.” 

Aaron placed the photo frame back. 

“Nah, it was like a sibling rivalry. They’d do that to each other just to mess with each other. Remember this one time when Mom was trying to paint something, and dad would move the paints or the cup of water in different directions. The same thing would happen when dad would cook something, mom would move the ingredients in different directions.”

The two chuckle together. 

Aaron continues to scavenge through the junk and things, before pulling out a briefcase attired in Christmas decoration.

“Wait, is that spray painted?”

“Okay, so my mom’s aunt was having this humongous christmas party right, and like- my uncle thought it would be a good idea to bring one of his projects in to help. My dad was saving a special gift in this briefcase. Uhh, and it was never opened, because my uncle’s project failed.” 

“What? What happened?”

“Uh, supposedly, it was to cover the room in festive decor. Uh, it kinda splattered its festive decor everywhere. Still, the party was a blast.”

Vivianne takes an investigative view of the briefcase.

“So, did the person come or?”

“No, they did. Uh, the reason it wasn’t opened was because…” 

Aaron flicks both locks open and tries splitting the halves. 

He stabs his knife and attempts to pry it open, he slams it into the ground. He tries to set it alight. 

“Yea, that’s why.” 

“Wow. why?”

“I just told you why?”

“No, I mean, why is the paint doing that?”

“You think I’m a chemist? I dance in front of judges, d’you think I know?” 

Vivianne gives him a face of irritation. 

“Anyway. You can try, it ain’t happening.” 

He catapults the suitcase out of the room. 

:: ::

Nothing is found, only a bunch of souvenirs. 

The two of them sit on sofas covered in clouds of dirt. 

Aaron’s eyes scan through the stuff, his vision puffing and billowing in failure, while Vivianne barely stays awake. 

He sighs, and approaches a locked cabinet. The cabinet sees nothing but his cold, tired eyes spying the black box. 

His eyes squint, before he hoists the box up into his heaving hands. 

“Shiit!”

Vivianne offers her hands and pulls the weight between the two. 

“Yo, what’s in this thing?” 

“Apparently, everything is in here!”

“Even the meaning of the universe?” 

“Sure-”

The box fell onto the bed of the truck, before they cleaned up and exited the depot. 

“That… was heavy.”

“Tell me about it.”

::: :::

The night is young. Lights revolve along the hillside, as Vivianne and Aaron admire the soft, sparkly seaside to their left. 

“Such a nice night. Shame that Olly couldn’t come.”

“Yea.”

The bumbly truck rumbles down into a rotunda before reaching a beach, lunar light basking the sand in a twilight shine. 

“Oh shoot.” 

A cherry tint lilts through the air, shaking it off by driving into a parking spot. 

Vivianne dives back into her seat, the back mirror revealing a Seven Eleven behind them. 

“Hey Aaron, want a slurpee?” Vivianne asks, 

The store door opens, the two of them smell the cold but, somehow, warm sting of the gallery of items. 

“What are you doing?” Vivianne hears, 

She peeks at the cash register to see a man wearing a headset but the muffs are replaced with cups. 

“Got cups on my ears- sounds like the ocean.” 

Vivianne giggles, before spotting Aaron near the slurpee machine. 

The two of them take their cups and smack them together, 

“Cheers!” 

The two chug together at the same time, before Vivianne’s body freezes. 

Aaron laughs. 

“How do you do that?”

“I don’t know man.”

she chortles, before she stands up. 

She takes a small slurp before her eyes jump at something, ushering Aaron over.

“Look!” 

An [insert item] device hangs from a rack.

“Weren’t these things huge back in the day? Like, I remember it was everywhere on the internet, and stores.” 

“Yea. Not going to lie, I used to really want one of these, but my cousin would bully me whenever I mentioned it, so I decided not to.” 

“How would he bully you?”
“Like, just saying things like, ‘no, bad aaron, no. that’s gross and cringe.’” 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah, it’s nothing crazy.”

He takes the device and goes to the register.

The cashier and a customer talks while they process the order

“I can’t wait to move to Vibrant Port with my boyfriend.”

“Wait what? You’re moving?”

“Yea, it’s got a really cool atmosphere, better job opportunities too.” 

“Wait, when are you going to move?”

“Around this spring, ‘bout time too, sick of depending on this dumpy old town.”

Vivianne and the person talking frowns, 

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Anyway, wanna skip this joint later?”

The cashier finishes the order and Vivianne teleports outside, the door and Aaron’s confusion pans.

“Wait what? Viv?” 

“I’m hungry. I wanna eat.”

:: ::

Aaron and Vivianne trundle through the night, with the lantern-like glow singing the dark away.

Aaron passes a sign, curiosity beckoning him to read it. 

“St Elmer’s Street.”

“Hey. I used to live here.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” 

He passes a nearby mart, to see the logo has changed, with scuff and rust marks evidenting to a previous life. He points his focus at a house, before the apartment shattered his expectations.

“What? I… that, there was a house there, and the smilemart? Wha, what happened to the good ol smile mart. What, who the f**k is Mike the Mite?”

“A mite, named mick.”

“Yea, I know that. This place was like my childhood, well besides that and...” his head swivels solemnly to the right, greeting the apartments.

“My old home.” 

He looks around and notices a small coffee shop. 

“Anyway, uh. Want to find a real place to eat?” He smiles gently.

They walk down central street, Aaron discovers a refurbished playground, school, and pool.

“What the hell happened while I was gone? What happened to the pool?”

“Kids stopped playing in the pool. They’re obsessed with the newfangled virtual beaches and the super pools. So they redesigned it to be a rec center. The pool is still there, just not there.” 

Aaron looks at the building with spite yet anguish. 

“The playground has also changed. Even the school was rebranded?”

“Yea, I mean, if I knew my school looked like garbage, and had the money to fix it, I’d do it too.”

His feet station at the school’s entrance, a mirage of purple and black replaced with purple, gold, and white.

“Ugh.” 

He storms away with his hands in his pocket.

Vivianne spots and follows, saying salutations to the security personnel. 

“Hey, uh.”

“Yea?”

“You’re not in the mood, huh.” 

Aaron sighs, “yea. Not… I didn’t expect so much to change while I was gone. I remember my dad would raid the smile mart for ingredients and stuff, and cook some of the wackiest s**t ever. Like this one time, we made a lava cake ice cream recipe, and decided to combine the lava cake and ice cream right into his mouth. Let’s just say he couldn’t talk straight for several days after.” 

“Oh- my god.” 

“That’s not even the craziest thing that happened here. Okay, on the playground, there was apparently a challenge the adults couldn’t do: basically, how fast could you climb a certain tower. Mom accepted the challenge and used the playground as a way to shorten the distance. It didn't really work as well as she thought it would, but then she decided to get onto one of the pillars, and then technically, she was the one that won, considering the pillars were the highest thing. The trophy was given to someone else though.” 

“What! Pbbt, bullshit.”

“That’s what I said. Whatever, my mom didn’t really care. She did ask if the victor intended on using it as a mug. The two of them became great friends after that encounter…”

Aaron’s face disintegrates into misery.

“Hey, uh, it’s okay if you don’t want to talk.”

“Thank you. I miss my mom… and my dad.”

He grips his balisong tight, his composure quivering 

“You know, sometimes when I feel really down, I like to go to some random place in the middle of nowhere, preferably somewhere near water to talk and yell my feelings out.” 

Aaron looks around, “like a beach?” 

“Yea, like a beach.”

His vision centers on the waves neighboring the sands. 

“Wanna go?”

He nods without looking and proceeds.

They stroll onto the shifty, smooth sand and notice a clean pier to sit onto. 

Their bodies wade in a reverential silence

“It’s just, ever since my family just disappeared, I lost everything. I lost control of everything. Before, I could do whatever I wanted, but now.”

“What?”

“I’m just some loser. I may think I have control, but really I think I’m just pretending. I’m just holding onto the past. And everytime I try to do anything to change my fate, and change, and do anything else, I can’t help but remind myself that I’m nowhere near as good as before.”

“You sure? You’re a really talented dancer.”

“Yea, and that’s it. Oh, and I drive a motorcycle, but come on, there are literal gangs that can do that.” 

“What about that balisong?”

“Anybody can get to my level.”

Vivianne’s face furrows, 

“You’re pissing me off.”

“What?”

“You’re basically saying that you have nothing to work with!”

“Yea, and you don’t? You work at an animal shelter, you have a cloaking device, and you made your own headset to work with it!”

“That I stole parts for! I stole the cloak too.”

“You what?”

Her hands clench.

“You-you stole parts for the headset? How?”

“What do you think? Do you think I magically created the diodes and lenses, the microcomputers to make any of the bs in this thing work?”

“So you’re a thief too?”

“Yea!”

The silence turns cold, splitting the two.

“I… I’m not a good person, okay. I hate seeing myself pull others back, just because I won’t let go of myself, my own stupid, selfish ambitions. That’s why I go to these places. To feel like I’m not going to hurt anyone. Like, like I’m not going to hold anyone back, or make anyone feel anything… if they don’t know if I am.”

Aaron looks out into the ocean, his feet dangling like water on an icicle. 

“Didn’t you say that, you like being with people? Talking your issues out with the folks around you, didn’t you say that was your coping thing a long time ago?” 

“Yea, so I guess I'm sabotaging myself then. Didn’t you say that you feel power, and in control when you dance?” 

“Yea. like, I can make the audience do whatever. I can make anyone do whatever. I can make myself feel powerful. And yet, I know it’s all faux, but I still do it.” 

“Hm. I mean, the reason I still cloak and stuff, is just… this whole device thing. It’s so weird, and baffling… dazzling almost. Eventually, I got so attached, lured into its potential. I realized I could do anything I want. At first, I trespassed, and then I decided to try being robin hood �"taking from the rich to give to the poor�" that sort of thing. And then, I realized that I didn’t have to use visible light to see.”

“So you made your own version of an ARI visor.” 

“yep.”

“So you stole electronics to make that visor. I mean, yea. That’s what I would do with it. Actually no.”

“What would you use the cloak for?”

“Stuff less… noble. Like, infiltrating the government facility who took my father from me.”

“Oh.”

“Sorry. I need an answer from him, that’s all.”

The cold silence sizzles back to a calm warmth, the ocean breeze caresses them while whispering small winds through their ears.

“But seriously though, don’t you say you’re not talented, or bad, or whatever.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re seriously talented? Don’t you have several awards for millions of dance styles? Not to mention the amount of care that you have put into maintaining that motorcycle for two whole years. Dude, don’t look down on yourself. You’ve got this.”

“Yea. I just, I don’t like that those are the only things I can do.”

“Are you kidding me? Didn’t you teach Olly how to do some of those ice skating lessons, hell, didn’t you take up hockey at one point, and wait, you learned to cook with your dad right?”

“And quit, because I hated the team. Also, those recipes were long ago, although I do know how to cook some meals. My dad says they were really good, so I guess you’re right. Then again, maybe my dad was pitying me.”

“Oh. Well, still, you’re determined. That’s a good thing.” 

“I guess it is. Although, to say that you don’t have anything isn’t true either. Though you should probably stop stealing from people.” 

“I- yea. I guess that’s true.”

Her smile droops, 

“You know, all of this talk makes me worried about the future.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, what will I do when you’re gone? What will happen next? What happens after college

Aaron takes a minute before understanding. 

“No? Why would you want to know?” his words spiral in confusion. 

“I don’t want to fail.” 

“Well, in my opinion, if I knew how I was going to die, like, by age or something, I’d just be anxious 24/7. I don’t think that’s such a great life to live.”
Vivianne sighs. 

“It’s because of that conversation earlier, isn’t it? With the cute cashier with the cups on his ears.” 

Vivianne goes silent, 

“I want to say yes, but I don’t… ugh.” 

Aaron’s brain tilts from the answer. 

“What does that mean?”

“Sorry. I hate being vague about this type of stuff, but… like I said, I cope by talking to you all, but I, for some reason, have this feeling that if I keep talking to you all, I’ll just get more attached. And then I won’t be able to accept that you guys aren’t with me all the time. 

An answer clicks into Aaron’s brain. 

“You know, we can always make room, it’s not like we’re going to be that busy, and even then you’ll make friends later in your life too.” 

“Yea, but eventually you guys will have families, and jobs… what will I have? What am I going to do? And that’s only available in the future. What do I have now?”

Her lungs wrest the cold, uneasy air in, before blasting, blunting it out, tasting the acid hiss. 

“Sorry. I get so frustrated sometimes. Like…” she trails off, sighing, “Do I talk too much?”

Aaron responds, “ What, no. It’s okay to want to talk to someone, if it’s troubling you so much.” 

She goes back to silence.

“It’s also okay if you don’t want to talk. To anyone or to me. You can talk to Olly, or your sister.”

“You’re telling me things I already know.”

“Right.”

Vivianne sits on the pier, the shimmer of the sea dancing on her eyes. 

“You know, this place reminds me of the times back near the lake. Remember when Zoey’s brother tried to reel in a bass, but sat there for hours on end, only to realize Bass didn't go there? Or when we tried skipping stones, and accidentally knocked down a tree, or the times when we had toy boat races, or when we tried to climb the lightning tree?” 

“Oh my god, yea. Remember when we decided to make a salad from the plants nearby, god we were sick for weeks!” 

“Haha!  Oh my god, yea.” 

“Hah. Funnily enough, I was actually at the lake, talking about the same problems as I did here. Huh.” 

“When was that?”

“I don’t know, some college party. I wanted to make more friends, and I ended up running away in fear.”

“What happened?” 

“Same thing that happened here.”

“Oh.”

Aaron sighs, “your sister knows about this, right?”

“Yea. a little.” 

She plucks a small fiber of dirt into the endless sea, standing up after. 

“Know what? I’m done being depressed. Let’s go somewhere else, ngl, I’m hungry.” 

:: ::

The Circus.

Her truck stops at her house, the door opens unveiling the dusty, bored old home. 

“Welcome home? Welcome home.” 

She sighs, before plopping her coat on a rack and heads to the kitchen, to meet her parents. The bed dips

“You had a good trip?”

They had a good talk before Vivianne leaps to bed. Her sight guides her to a bag. 

“All this, from one device. Who would’ve thought.” she chuckles a little. 

A few days pass, and Vivianne sits with Zoey in a boba tea shop. 

“So you called for my name?”

“Huh, yea? I am surprised you still remember my number, hell in this day and age.”

“Hah, yea.” 

Vivianne takes a small sip of her boba, before saying, “anyway, I just wanted to ask how you were doing?”

Zoey’s smile dissolves, 

“Uh, I guess I’m fine. I’m just working and studying, so.”

“I guess that whole company leader thing is bogging you out, huh?”

“Heh, yea I guess so.” Zoey grits her teeth. 

“You okay?”

“Ye-no, I don’t know.”

“You stressed?”

She doesn’t answer,

“Guess you can say that again.” Zoey sighs, 

Vivianne slumps back in her chair, trapped inside a web of choices. 

“Do you want to talk about it then?”

She stands up and pays for their meals, before dragging Viv to a forest trail. Zoey inhales and exhales. 

“Sorry. I am a bit on edge. I moved here because I didn’t want to capture anyone’s attention.”

“Who’s attention?”

She looks around, before leaning in, “My parents.” she whispers

“Oh, wait is that why you don’t have anything on you.”

“Yea. they bugged my stuff.”

“Oh. wait, is that why you don’t respond to my messages.”

“Yea. sorry by the way.”

“It’s okay.”

Zoey sighs, an anchor’s weight dropping from her mouth. 

“How are you then?”

“I’m doing… fine.” 

“You stressed as well?”

“Yea. Things haven’t been great ever since you left, honestly.”

“What’s going on?” 

“Well, it’s gotten lonelier, that’s for sure. My sister is at her job, my friends are busy for college, you aren’t really a person I can talk to practically. I’m all alone basically.”

Zoey’s eyes thin, 

“You have online friends, don’t you? I see you in discord a lot.”

“Yea. but it’s not the same as having real, physical friends.” 

Zoey stares at her.

“I mean, yea, I guess not, but you can have fun with virtual ones.”

“Yea, I guess so, just not the same though.” 

Zoey’s gaze shades away, before a bright idea erases the shroud. 

“Why don’t we have some fun then?”
Vivianne’s entire body peaks, like a dog’s head perks, 

“Fun?” 

“Yes. Fun!” Zoey shouts out, before gripping Vivianne’s hand and grappling her.

::: :::

“What the f**k.”

Zoey stares at the deserted wasteland that was the circus.

“Yea, things changed. I remember reading an article that the company is still alive, just, it no longer operates with the animatronics that you remember.”

“What? Wait, they changed their expertise?”

“Yea, they have virtualized experiences now, rather than real things.”

Zoey looks at Viv with disbelief and disappointment

“Wait, so no more T rex breakdancing and grapple hook trapeze stunts?”

“They still do all of the stunt things, they’re just a lot more tame.”
Zoey scoffs and leans onto a fence. 

“That’s, that’s lame.” 

“Although, that might have to do with the fact that they’re a travelling circus now.” 

“Travelling?”

“Yea, I heard that’s what all they’re doing physically now. Imma be honest though, I think it’s worth it to have a moving and pettable t rex.”

“Wait, you can pet the T rex now?”

“Yea, or that’s what I saw from Olly’s research.” 

Zoey’s jaw drops, before she jumps down the hill into the circus’ parking lot.

“Damn, when is their next show?”

“Uh, I don’t know.” Vivianne following. 

Zoey kicks a can across the lot, it tumbles and fumbles before stumbling down a slope. 

“Dang. I mean, I guess it wouldn’t matter anyway. My parents wouldn’t give a single quarter for stuff like that. Then again, I haven’t seen them do anything other than play golf, drive in expensive cars, and wear fancy clothing. Ugh, I hate being rich.” 

“Many people would kill, to be in your position-”

“I know. I just wish my parents weren’t so f*****g… disappointing.” 

Her feet scuff the dirt, pausing in front of a sign. A buff woman and man posed for the entrance emblem. 

“I remember having such a huge crush on those two. God, I was such a weirdo.”

“Wasn’t in middle school that you wrote fanfics for some of the characters?”

“Omg, don’t remind me, oh god.” 

Vivianne giggles, they enter the circus, only to find that it got worse.

Robotic animatronics scattered dead, lifeless. Parts of other animatronics were torn out and left to collect dust and rust. The stunt equipment, seating, and walls haphazardly collapsed under its age. 

“Jesus.”

Vivianne examines the broken robots. 

“Sigh… poor things.” 

“But they aren’t real, they’re just robots.”

“Still. They were designed to mimic and entertain. Almost to a frightening degree. Now they’re here to rot.” 

Zoey pet the belly of the robo tiger before spotting the dismantled corpse of the t rex.

“No! Come on, even the T rex? Is nothing sacred?”

Vivianne spies inside the robot. 

“Huh, it actually looks like they took out the most expensive looking parts. Everything else is intact.”

“Mmhm, which is to say that the expensive parts aren’t important.” 

“Want to turn it on?”

Zoey snaps to Viv.

“You wanna- what?”

“Turn it on? The power unit is still attached. I think if I can access the control panel, I can reinitialize them. They are just giant computers after all.”

“I don’t think you understand what you’re doing.” 

“Ah, it’ll be fine.” She pulls out a visor and looks through the lens, spotting a panel connected with wires in the distance.

She jogs up the stairs and sees the panel connected to a metal bridge, branching to an entrance behind the stairs.

“Uh, Umbra, I don’t really think this is a good idea.”

“Nonsense. Nobody’s been around here in years. Besides, when has that stopped you of all people.” 

Zoey pulls on her bicep. 

“Uh, that was a long time ago. I have a future to uphold, even if I hate my parents, I have to obey them.”

“Or what?”

Her eyes shun Umbra’s.

“Zoey? What happens when you disobey them?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” 

Umbra leans over the panel, 

“If you don’t want to activate it, then I won’t do it then.” 

She walks away from the panel and steps down from the podium. 

Zoey continues to shun Umbra’s perspective.

“Hey, uh, actually?”

“Yea?”

“How does that visor work?”

“What, this thing?”

Umbra shows her the headset.

“It’s nothing special. I just modified a VR headset to do other things.”

“That’s… really cool! Wait, can I try?”

“Uh, sure. Just um, I need to give you a small demo course on how to use it.”

She turns it to show an array of buttons and keys. 

“Okay, so, this thing has many functions, not only is it modular, so that if I want to use it for something other than a headset, I can just press a switch on the back of this.” 

The headset separates into a futuristic glass piece. 

“If I want to make full use of it, I reinstall it and then any of these buttons.” 

Her fingers present the keys

“The front one turns on the camera at the front, and turns it into an AR headset. The middle one turns it into a VR headset, and the top one activates the ARI component. You can also activate each one together, to get a mixed experience.”

“Girl. you could probably manufacture this thing and like, make millions.”

“Yea, well. Uh, most of the parts on this thing are, like, ultra expensive.”

“Then how did you even make this?”

A cold sweat burns through Umbra. 

“Uh… uhhh, I’m not a qualified professional, so I don’t have to answer that question.”

“What.” she scoffs, “seriously, I guess we both have devastating secrets.”

She picks up the headset from Umbra’s hands and puts it on.

“Wait, so how do I enable it?”

“Press the bottom of the headset.” Umbra says

She looks away in shame.

Zoey’s perspective fires up in a bluish purple landscape, with objects and items highlighted in bright but dullened colors. 

“Whoa! This is awesome.”

“Uh, there’s more.”

Zoey presses a button for the world to disappear. A wonderworld version of the seats blankets the world, with programs, glowing blue pixies and windows of applications pile on screen.

“Yo, you should put a password on this thing.”

“Bruh, how?”

“IDK, make the side keys over here like, the password thing or something.”

“And even then, why would I need one?”

“In case? Someone might peek inside.”

“... they’re more likely to steal it, which by the way, I have a countermeasure for.”

“What is it?” 

“If I power it off, it reroutes a small bit of electricity to the little bumps on the sides of the headset. If someone picks it up without it being enabled, it will shock them. Or, that’s the long and short of the security, it gets complex. But basically, as long as I set it to be on lock mode, it will shock whoever touches it.”

“Wait, so how did I pick it up?”

“It was still on when I gave it to you.”

“Oh. Yea, that makes sense. Hey, what’s that thing in red?” 

She points to a man approaching the T Rex, except the man didn’t really look like a man, nor a woman. It looked like a black skinned robot, just like the phantom unit before, except adorning an animatronic/animal skull, and with long, spinal blades for fingers. 

“Mm, I heard about these circuses. Apparently, these were quite advanced, rivaling real animals in their artificial ethology. Shame that they’re dead, and wasted.” the thing speaks, before cutting a line into the animatronic’s skin. They probe a metallic bone. 

“What the hell is that thing?” Zoey whispers at the volume of a rat’s breath. 

“Hang on, let me check Olly.”

“Olly? How would she help?”

“Trust me.” 

Vivianne pulls out her phone and snaps a pic of the animatronic, texting a photo to Olly. 

“This shall be my new workshop then. Already lots of dead cells to work with, electronics to salvage. Just need to sterilize, and this will be perfect.” 

Vivianne gets a response, Zoey peeking.

“Are you going to start sending everything that’s weird to me, just for me to answer?” 

“Yea? Dude, this f****r’s freaking me out.” 

“Okay, uh, it looks like one of those conspiratory witch doctors that Prometheus fostered-”

“What?” 

“Can you give me more information?”

Vivianne takes a small glance above the seat to see the Witch Doctor tinkering with the robot, she yanks out her phone.

The Doctor’s ears perk and adjust Vivianne spots from the lens. 

“Oh, that’s definitely… okay, uh, why are you there?” 

“IDK, ZOey and I were here for the s***s and s**t? I dk I don’t care, what the f**k do I Do?” Viv’s fingers batter the phone’s keyboard.

“Contact that phantom guy, or better yet, get out of there with the cloak-” 

“Cloak, Phantom? what?” Zoey asks. 

The doctor stops. 

“Mm. Children. Easiest to replicate. Most difficult to be consistent.”

A needle harpoons and punctures a wall, tweening the two girls. 

“Mmm. The girl on the left. Zoey, your name is. Parents of Bridget and Liam Koehen, two very hated individuals in one of the most despicable family names today.”

“Yea. I’d understand.”

“Really? Never thought someone with as spoiled an upbringing as you, would understand the bottom of the barrel.” 

Zoey sighs, pulling on hair.

“We saw you on the news a few days ago too. Making a big headway for the improvement of our universal healthcare. You’re giving us more options.”

“What do you mean by us? Who exactly are you?”

“We… are refraining from elaborating. A fear may monger among us, that you may spread the news of our existence, and possibly bring about our termination.” 

“Well, I’m definitely not talking about it in front of my parents.”

“We fear that you may not be as careful as stated. We hesitate because of this reasoning.” 

“So you’re some secret organization?”

“Perhaps, that is a rather nondescript answer, but an answer nonetheless. We only wish to assist the poor and less privileged in their toils. No one should have to sacrifice to regain something that was once theirs.”

“Wait. I think I’ve heard y’all, on a conspiracy site or something. Why do y’all have to keep it so secretive?”

“Because then, companies would tear the organization apart. The purpose of the organization would be bastardized, the legacy and cause would no longer persist.”

“No, because some people will find another way, even if the original organization dies.”

“This might be true, but even then, it’s hard to sustain a service, when it is no longer in direct control.” 

“Okay. so I have another question, how are you able to provide minimal payment for your services?” 

“We are aligned with other organizations with similar motives, and through that, we are able to provide direct intervention.”

“What do you provide?”

“That information is confidential.”

Zoey’s face brokers a harsh, brash stare.

“Then why are you speaking to me?”

The Doctor stops conversation. 

“Because we would like to improve our organ growth methods.”

“That seems rather hypocritical. Didn’t you say you wanted to not hand yourselves to other companies?”

“We do not wish to collaborate with companies that do not share our interests. And thus, we don’t reach out. However, we have seen your track record, you provide a therapeutic and philanthropic future for your family’s corrupt past. This is why we are reaching out.”

“So you can set a beneficial partnership early. I get it. So what do I get out of it?”

“The resources that we provide our clients, as well as exposure and relay of your organ growth methods to other areas of the globe. We do reserve the right, however, to decline our support if we observe unbeneficial behavior.”

The room drops to silence. A vibration croaks from Zoey’s phone, the Doctor realizing who it was.

“Then we offer you the deal, for you to decide under confidential and encrypted lines. It is your choice.”

The Witch Doctor vanishes in a cloud of red mist. 

“Wait! How do I contact you if…” 

Zoey wrenches the needle off of the wall, before a slip of paper floats onto her hand. 

Vivianne froze, her muscles flinching only to blink.

“Uh, Umbra?”

“Uh huh.” she gulps a hard one before saying, “yea?” She coughs casually. 

“Wanna try that dinosaur thing?”

“Wait, you serious?”

“Yea. you know, can we talk?”

“Uh, sure. I mean. What do you want to say?”

“Hehehe, oh you. I remember when my parents took me to the circus to watch the animals play. I remember when my parents didn’t take my ‘heir to the koehen throne’ thing seriously. I used to love my parents. They seemed actually fun at some point, but now, they feel fake. Nowadays, they only have time for what’s next for them and… I hate it. I guess I’m greedy for wanting them to focus on me and my future, but, how can’t I; The way they’re treating me, like I’m just them, but shittier.” her hands quake, tears tasting the dirt on her skin.

“Sorry. I just… I’m so tired of them.”

Umbra sits there alongside Zoey.

“Thing is, I can’t just run away either. They’ve got a whole PMC for security. They’ll hunt and find me.”

Umbra’s scratches her head.

“That's the reason I couldn’t go anywhere. I’m tired of listening to their degenerate asses.”

“What happens when you get in trouble?”

Zoey stares at her. Something shrieks in her eyes. 

“Seriously, what happened?”

“I get subjected to that mindloading crap, and other things…”

Vivianne’s panic raises. 

“What do you mean other things?”

“Like, my parents subject me to things in order to ‘discourage me’ to not try whatever the f**k it was again. Hate to say it works.”

Umbra goes silent. 

“I’m sorry Zoey, I’m not awakening the T rex just to see you get hurt.”

“What? Why not? A little pain isn’t something I can’t handle.”

“Zoey, I haven’t seen you in years, and to hear that you’re getting hurt from s**t like this, and like really hurt… I’m not doing it!” Umbra’s hands claw into Zoey’s shoulders, “I’m sorry. I care about you man. You are my childhood friend, but I’m not going to risk your livelihood all for something stupid.”

Zoey looks at Umbra’s eyes, in anguish and confusion.

“I only want to do this, because I want to do something other than listen to my deadbeat parents. I want to do something fun for once.”

Cold silence. 

::: :::

A video call rings, 

Vivianne sits on a hill, staring into the ocean, her cloak strapped behind her like a cape, and her headset on. 

She looks onto the dark waves, the lunar light dancing so kindly and simply over the water. 

“So how was the Circus visit?”

“We got to turn on the T rex.”

“Omg, hell yea!” Olly says. 

“Yea. yea.”

“Did anything else fun and awesome happen when you were away. Oh, how did that witch doctor encounter go?”

“Uh, I don’t know what to say. They gave me a call card if I wanted to take the call.” 

Aaron pulls out his balisong, and a broken gun.

“Whoa! Where did you get that?”

“found it in my dad’s storage unit. I didn’t even know he owned guns.”

He looked at the bottom, seeing the magazine was inside, but tried extracting it, but couldn’t.

“I’ll look into this later, but just, all of these past few days have been crazy.”

“Mhm, just to think that there’s someone just as demented as me, that knows as much as i do.”

“And that I’m not the only one that thinks my parents are trash?” Zoey says

A pause rivers in the conversation. 

“I guess, we’ve got all sorts of stuff. All sorts of crazy, naughty, unkempt secrets behind our smiles.” 

She looks down at the ocean’s waves.

I’m no longer alone. I am… as open as the sea now. 

Vivianne looks at the beach in front of her. The moon shines its gentle glow over her, leaving her umbra perfectly intact, among the bright, diamond light swirling throughout the sand. 

Author's Note

Again, this will get rewritten and then republished.