Near the bottom of Ember Tree City where clouds could be found, underneath swirling mists, the Harlynx Platform stretched out like a metallic tree, its branches woven with communities collaborating and battling. Its towering spires, inlaid with gleaming earthplexus commands, stood as an embodiment of collective ambition, where the minds of talking animals and humans collaborated and fought.

Harlynx was both a beacon of hope and despair; a cooperative hub of the disenfranchised. Its complex structure, a dance of engineering and graffiti held community centers, living quarters, and mess halls to feed whoever needed to be fed.

The platform's intricate web of bridges and corridors still clearly divided the have littles and have nots. If an attack were to be staged on the Imogen Generators, they would be the first casualty as this was the first barrier to entry.

It was no surprise that Harlynx was the bastion of Milky Way's culture. It was the capital of Hip Opera and the destination of any musician that wanted to make it since Fornia. It was the excuse for any trillionaire to be found here and not be alienated from the powerful, and there were indeed more... adventurous reasons they could appear around here.

The Harlynx Food District, the number one place to eat in the Milky Way galaxy according to any genuine foodie, had no franchise in sight. It was a symbol of sincerity as every meal was made with a secret passed down through sound instead of an algorithm.

Joaquim could taste it as he plowed and swallowed through the Harlynx Poutine. Some of the ingredients could only be created by an influx user, for example, the ghost peppers that had its notorious side effects inverted to instead have healing properties. It was spicy but not spicy at the same time. The taste could only be described as divine. The bioengineered cheese and gravy would spread evenly across every surface of the fries, meaning there would be no spot at the bottom that was dry. It was easily the best thing Joaquim ever ate.

The rest of two platoon was munching down on the same meal as they sat on a large picnic table with Joaquim. They were celebrating Sergeant Hunter's victory. She was the last one to finish as she could not stop bragging and roasting the people who took Sergeant Uzi's side in the last round.

"What? Me not finishing this fast enough reminds you of how you did not finish sitting on the seat properly?" Sergeant Hunter said to Sergeant Uzi, taking a taunting sip of her milkshake. She did her best to make sure the slurp could be heard on the entire platform.

"Okay we get it," Private Borrys said. "Oh hail Queen Hunter, how dare we oppose your power?"

"It's Sergeant. S-E-R-G-E-"

"I'm sorry to burst the fun, but I need to bring up something serious," Iker said. "We should part ways soon, I only have us on the clock for the morning. I gave you all the afternoon off."

The platoon cheered. Joaquim has been around them long enough to know that Iker was good at waiting for his platoon to make a serious transition. It was odd for Iker to be abrupt. It was even rarer that Iker would be patient with his platoon calming down. Once the rest of the platoon could sense the serious vibe the colonel was emitting, the picnic table became silent.

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Iker locked eyes with Gabe.

"You had no choice but to grow now that I think about it," Iker said. "You probably had to deal with a lot of cognitive dissonance with what you saw on No Man's Land and what you saw here. If you don't understand what I just said, don't worry too much about it. I just wanted to say that I'm proud of you, and I'm also proud of your brother who had the humility to step aside and let you shine."

2 platoon applauded and snapped their fingers while the brothers smiled at each other.

"However, I need to make something clear," Iker said. "This is the last day I will tolerate any disrespect directed at Cadet Wami, Private Felix, or Sergeant Uzi. This isn't us canceling you, I have my freedom of speech to tell you what I want as well. Besides, look at one platoon, you'll probably become famous and get an even bigger megaphone if you decide not to listen to me."

"This is why you're my commander," Sergeant Hunter said with a smile.

"Cadet? Do you understand me?" Iker asked.

"Yes. I know I have a lot of apologies to give, but I'll start with saying sorry to you all right here, and I'm also sorry about the things I have said Joaquim, Lucia and Sergeant Uzi," Gabe said. "Sorry. I mean Cadet Wami and Private Felix. I have a lot of unlearning to do."

"Also we all make mistakes, if you get something wrong, just say sorry and move on," Iker said.

"Yes," Sergeant Uzi said. "I never expected humans to get my pronouns correctly."

"Sergeant?" Iker said.

"See?" Sergeant Uzi said to Gabe, smacking a needle arm to vis torso in frustration. "I had been indoctrinated since birth to believe that I am smarter than humans, but there is no scientific evidence to support it. I also have deprogramming to do."

"If you disrespect them again, you'll have to go through me Gabe," Sergeant Hunter said, standing up.

"And through me," Corporal Woo said.

"And through me," Iker and Lieutenant Tagore said.

"And through me," Private Borrys said.

"And through me," Lucia said.

"And through me of course," Sergeant Uzi said, floating higher.

All of 2 platoon was up except for the brothers.

"Ah, freedom of speech. We get to say what we want too," Iker said with a grin.

The overwhelming support for Joaquim cracked his composure. He was not going to let anyone see him cry, so before the tears poured down his face, he jumped and sprinted away from the picnic table. He could hear his brother chasing after him.

The edge of the platform was not too far off [https://img.wattpad.com/1fd8b6d0c012c8aca80d0e0a02fd7e3113ec9f0c/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f4a53616f5f76376250765a2d56513d3d2d313337313638393832302e313737396564333666613764626334633332333338373335343635302e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

The edge of the platform was not too far off. Joaquim was thankful for that as he did not want to run too far. Farouq and Camilo could be anywhere, especially Camilo as he was a shapeshifter.

Joaquim took a seat to observe No Man's Land below, and he could hear his brother passing the bar behind him.

"Hey," Gabe said while panting. "Just let me know if you want me to leave you alone... I just wanna make sure you're okay."

"Yea, you can sit with me," Joaquim said. "I just didn't want anyone to see me cry."

"Okay, I won't look at your face," Gabe said. He plopped down beside him while Joaquim let out one chuckle.

"I'm sorry for fighting you. I'm sorry for saying I know what's best for you. I'm sorry for saying the wrong name and all that," Gabe said.

"It's okay," Joaquim said. "I knew behind it all you didn't believe it. You just wanted to prove yourself."

"Yea," Gabe said. "Funnily enough, once I stopped obsessing about what would make me a man, a good religious person, or a good brother... I was also able to just figure out what the musical chair game was about. I was able to free my mind in a way."

A gentle breeze brushed Joaquim as he smiled.

"Good meals and good air helps," Joaquim said.

"That's true too," Gabe replied.

"I wonder how many followers he would have if everyone could experience this," Joaquim said.

"... he kinda relies on suffering, doesn't he?" Gabe said.

The brothers sat comfortably in silence, contemplating what Gabe just said as they observed No Man's Land below.