Summer kept a smile plastered on her face as Ember chased a laughing Ammon all around her. She had done plenty of babysitting jobs to pay for gas and clothes, but she had never had to stay with kids for several days straight. She could feel her composure dissipate as the days wore on.

The kids were super cute and happy, most of the time. It helped that they were allowed to watch Jeff’s Chosen feed, but it was not exactly kid friendly content. Ember was constantly saying she was too scared while Ammon kept saying he wanted to watch the last episode again. Apparently anything that wasn’t fighting was “too boring” for the kid. Summer was just worried that at any moment these kids would have to see their dad die.

She didn’t know what to do for the kids except keep the best smile she could on her face and help parent them the best she could. The weight of responsibility was beginning to weigh heavily on her heart now though.

Her grin turned a little fierce as Ammon spread his arms out while running and clothes-lined Ember. She whined a bit but kept chasing after her brother. Their constant bickering was really wearing on her. Summer never thought she could think anything bad about kids so cute, but she really needed a day off from these little monsters.

Haley’s attitude had not improved at all over the last three days…Or was it four days now. She couldn’t tell because the large planet rings in the sky kept the day bright even when the sun was down. It was magical the first couple of…nights? Especially as the planet's shadow traveled across the glowing blue and white rings. But a few days in, it was becoming tedious. She just wanted the normal day/night cycle from Earth. It didn’t help that Ember kept saying “if the sun is up then it’s time to play!” Needless to say, the kids had not been sleeping well without their normal beds and with no roof to cover their heads.

At least the golden dome above seemed to keep the space protected from any bad weather. And the little biome didn’t have bugs of any kind. It felt a little lifeless to her without the constant movement of creepy crawlies that was normal back on Earth. Although, after seeing what the kids' Dad had to fight, she was quite fine with never seeing a bug again. If she ever actually got sleep again she would probably have nightmares.

Her eye twitched as Ember punched Ammon in the arm and then he hit her back. Both kids devolved into tearful fits. She was normally so calm in these situations, but she could feel herself close to exploding at the kids as they each ran to her seeking justice for the wrongs done to them. Summer had been the only voice of reason in their little golden triangle cage for over eighty hours and, right now, she was not feeling reasonable.

She forced herself to remain quiet as each child continued to berate her with suggestions of punishments for the other sibling. Ember was saying Ammon needed to have his shows taken away while Ammon was saying that Ember shouldn’t get any strawberry milk for bedtime. The fact that both punishments had already been carried out due to circumstance only made the guilt for Summer’s frustration stand out stronger.

Silence was the only escape from the inferno that was building beneath. She tried to show apologetic faces to each child. Hopefully the validation in her expression would solve the problem. She was at the end of her ropes and didn’t have anything else to give.

Just. Stay. Calm.

Her sister, Haley, called out from behind a tree. “Can you quiet them down? They are so annoying!”

Summer could feel as she was losing control. A series of options on how to unleash the fury that was boiling out of her seemed to unfurl before her in the last moment of semi-restraint. She could yell at the kids for fighting, yell at Haley for being freakin’ Haley, yell at the aliens for everything, or yell at God for abandoning her and her family.

She burst to her feet deciding to flee the situation entirely. As she rose Ember stepped toward her and a lightest bump from Summer rising knocked the girl on to her rear. Ember looked up at her with alligator tears already rolling down and a deeply affronted expression on the three year old's face. Summer turned and began storming away.

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“Haley!” Summer’s voice was far more shrill than she had intended. “You’ve got the kids for the next 12 hours!”

“Wait, what?!” Haley cried out just as Ammon suddenly turned valiant protector and shouted, “Hey! You hurt my sister!”

Summer was done…just done. “You will all be fine!” She shouted back without even turning to see the damage she knew she had done. “Ugghh!” She growled at noone and literally everyone and everything.

She had stayed so calm and collected even through the freaking apocalypse. Why was she melting down now? Was taking care of kids really harder for her than dealing with losing her parents and having to join a cosmic monster slaying army?

She was sure there were some parents out there in the universe giving her the smug “I told you so” smile. “Urrgh!” She growled again.

Luckily the enclosure that they had was large enough to get some space for her to seeth. It was a bit larger than a baseball diamond with small trees and shrubs that helped obscure her view from the others. With a bit of privacy she finally “let” herself feel the feelings she had been holding in since the first day. Tears began to roll down her face. She didn’t care if she was supposed to be the brave one or the one that kept it together. Not right now. Not for at least a little bit. She just wanted to mourn the loss of…everything.

Summer broke down into sobbing tears. She cried for quite a while before an announcement broke her out of her misery. Like before, the voice was loud enough to hear, but it didn’t have the crackling noises she associated with amplified voices. Instead the voice was smooth and clear while still being loud enough to draw in attention.

“Hello Earthlings,” a smooth, deep voice said, “We are beginning our recruitment for the Boschyan Army. Any who wish to join may go through orientation at any time by entering into the System Pillars connected to each of your enclosures. Do not worry about abandoning any of those you are taking care of. You will be able to return daily throughout your training. We also have assessed your needs and have helpers available to bring in throughout the multiverse to take care of the young and disabled as needed.”

Summer’s heart began to beat rapidly. There had been several announcements providing little tidbits of information about joining the Army. The thought of joining had scared her at first, but the idea had slowly grown on her lately. Watching Jeff fight monsters terrified her, but watching him throw magical energy around made her willing to face those fears. What kinds of abilities would she be able to gain? She desperately wanted to find out.

“Also, we will be starting daily classes for everyone to help prepare you for your first exposure to the Myst. Participating with these classes will give you the best chance of fusing with a compatible spore. We do not have enough sapient spores available to provide for everyone at this time. We will, however, provide a spore to those with devastating illnesses and disabilities. Fusing and becoming a true part of the System by gaining the naming title and its attributes can often be enough to cure common ailments.

“Any who are old enough and brave enough to enter the Pillar for Army Orientation, please do so now.”

The voice finally cut out. Summer always felt like she had more questions than answers after the announcements. They were always short and to the point. She wondered if they knew that leaving them with questions would draw people into the army, if only to satiate their curiosity.

Summer knew that leaving for orientation would be hard on Haley. She also trusted her sister to step up to the challenge once she was truly faced with it. Summer had seen her sister be a wonderful babysitter in the past.

If she wasn’t still so frustrated from before Summer likely would have talked herself out of it, but the frustration from before lingered inside of her. Before she could talk herself out of it she stood up, dried off her tears, and walked toward the Pillar.

“Haley, I’m joining the Army. I’m sure I’ll be back for meal times or in the evenings.” She purposefully didn’t look at her sister. She could already imagine the shock that the thirteen year old face held well enough. “Maybe we can trade off when I get back or something. Make sure they are fed.”

Summer made it within a couple paces of the golden System Pillar and finally let herself look back. The look of abandonment on her sister's face nearly made her change her mind. Then she looked at Ammon who always had such wonder for the magic from the Mysts. She felt called to that magic. She felt the opportunity was within her grasp. All she had to do was choose to be selfish for once.

She didn’t feel it was fair, she didn’t feel it was right, but she also didn’t care. She just needed to do something for herself. If magic and a multiverse of marvels was something she could gain for herself, then she would do anything she could to shoot for it.

She gave a tearful, apologetic smile to her sister and the kids, then she turned and walked into the golden goo of the System Pillar.