I should have brought milk for the chocolate bomb I called a cake. I picked at my slice while Laura dug into hers. Every bite flooded my mouth with sweetness. Sounded great in concept but was sickening in execution. Laura didn’t seem to mind. Not surprising, seeing as I’d seen her consume an entire bag of candy in one sitting. She was lucky that rich people didn’t get cavities.

Eating beside the gravestones of my family members was stranger than I thought. It even felt a tad disrespectful. I just felt like I had to. Families ate together. No matter what.

I rested a hand on Beth’s stone. Black with yellow lining. She wouldn’t have liked it. She had preferred light colors. When I’d gotten my blue space suit, she’d gotten a matching one in light blue. That’s right, we were matching siblings. Dark days, but I’d do anything to be back in them.

“Do you not like the cake that you picked out?” Laura asked as she shoveled another bite into her already full mouth. In comparison, I was ladylike enough to be a date for the ball. “If so, then do I have a deal for you—”

“Just take it.” I handed her my plate, which she gleefully snatched. “It wasn’t for me. It was for Beth.” Sadness washed over my other emotions. Over a year, and I still wasn’t over it. How pathetic was I? I forced something happy into my brain. “I—I’m glad you’re here, Laura. Family eats together, and you’re family too.”

She paused before taking another bite. A somber expression came over her.

“You really think so?”

I snickered. “Please. You were there every other day. Attended all her birthday parties. Got my parents stuff for their birthdays and their holidays! They loved you.”

She grimaced like I’d just dropped a weight into her lap. Considering I’d said something happy, it didn’t make sense. I thought I understood, though. Laura’s home situation was…undesirable. I’d just reminded her that her real family was gone. If it hadn’t been for her, I’d be gone too.

A year before, I’d gone out to see a movie with Laura. We had already celebrated Beth’s birthday, so my going out was no problem.

I should have stayed home. An AI attack happened while we were gone. One of the first ones the Moon ever experienced. Definitely a first for New Selene. Those twisted machines had no business being anywhere near us. They hadn’t been since they’d ruined the Earth. There weren’t many casualties, but, of course, my family had been among them.

Two out of three had.

I stood and stretched. “Anyway! We should get going. I’ve got one more day of studying left. Redhead?”

She shrugged. “Whatever you say. It’s not like I’ll ever want to go home, but I get it. You sure you don’t want to stay longer?”

“Those stars won’t explore themselves. Until I invent something that lets them. Point is, the sooner I’m done here, the sooner I study. The sooner I do that—you get my point.” I glanced at Beth’s stone again. I reached into my suit and took out my vivepen. I drew a heart on her stone. With a click of the button I’d installed, it glowed like a star. Light blue. I clicked the save button, preserving the gesture in the pen. “See you soon, sis.”

I scooped up the remaining cake and turned back. My legs felt like lead. Walking away never got easier. I’d stay forever if I could. But it wasn’t efficient.

The cruiser ride should have been free of tension. But the opposite was true. Laura wasn’t looking anywhere near me. She loved gazing out the window, but it felt like she was avoiding me. I hated eye contact, so I shouldn’t have been complaining, but being ignored was just as painful. At least I knew why she was doing it.

“Yes, I still think she’s alive,” I said without taking my eyes off the road. “And I’m a day away from getting out there and finding her.”

She scoffed. “Sure about that? You still need a ship, some weapons—”

“I’m not hurting anyone.”

“Food, money, not to mention a crew. You need someone watching your back if you’re going up against the AI. Or whatever you think you’re doing.”

I sighed as we rolled up to a red light. “They reduced my home to rubble. Burning rubble because of their crazy plasma weapons. The fire department found my parents burned and…too far gone. They didn’t find my sister. Nothing suggested that Beth had been caught in the fire. She’s still out there somewhere. She’s not on the Moon. I made sure of that last summer. She’s in the stars. Once I pass that explorer exam, I’ll be certified to search. I will find her, and I’ll bring her back.”

That was my goal in a nutshell: become an explorer, find Beth, live happily ever after. Maybe an obstacle there, and an inconvenience here, but how hard could it be for siblings to find each other?

Laura growled as if I’d insulted her. “My mistake then. Clearly, you don’t want to fight the AI. You just want to find one person somewhere in the infinite galaxy. After they disappeared because of the AI. All the while, you have no clues to go on. Yeah, there’s clearly no reason for me to worry.”

“What else am I supposed to do?!” I recoiled from my own volume. I hadn’t meant to raise my voice. Not to Laura, of all people. I hated how my emotions could get the better of me. “Sorry. I just don’t know what else to do. Beth’s out there for sure. I know you’re concerned, but you can’t stop me.”

She gazed down, lost in thought. “I know.”

Hadn’t I been trying to ease the tension a moment ago?

Laura’s neighborhood looked like someone had stolen a piece of a New Earth city and dropped it in New Selene. You knew you’d driven into it if there were two-story houses around you. The green of their trimmed gardens was an apt symbol of their money.

The place was okay but far too quiet for my taste: no screaming kids or humming cruisers for background noise. Everyone either stayed inside with their money or was out making more money. The neighborhood had no air of friendliness. I wouldn’t have lasted a nanosecond.

Somehow, Laura’s house was the cream of the crop: two-story, white, and with enough windows to make a second house entirely out of glass. The only thing it lacked was people. The driveway was empty. Oh boy!

“I see your parents still don’t appreciate their own mansion,” I said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Laura glared at the barren driveway. “Yeah, they don’t appreciate a lot of things. They’re either off managing their businesses or forgetting they have a daughter. Why not both?” She opened her door and climbed out like she was stepping onto lava. “Call me when you’re done with your exam.”

“Will do.” I glanced at the driveway again. “If you want, I could study here instead.”

“Now, who’s the concerned one? I’ll be fine, dummy.”

I waved goodbye to Laura and waited until she was inside to drive off. Now, it was just me, the Columbus, and every podcast I had saved on my monitor. Much better than the dulcet tones of galactic pop.

Plus company kept my more painful thoughts at bay.

I passed at least twenty colorful buildings on the way to my destination. Stores advertising services and products. As a kid, I’d never paid them any attention. Now, it all seemed so pointless. What was the point of simple things like that when life’s ugly side was so painfully real. It was like living in a glass cube. That’s why I understood Manning’s lesson more than he thought. My cube was already shattered.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Pain, death, and war. The AI had a doomsday device powerful enough to erase the galaxy and we were just wasting our time. With our colorful buildings and advertisements.

I gazed up into the night, and a sickly orb glared down at me. It took up most of the sky. It was much larger than any speck. The whole thing was wrapped in green gas. Toxic fumes. It was a twisted remnant of an ancient peaceful world. One that no one talked about unless they were using it as a curse.

Planet Earth.

Around four hundred years previously, the AI had started this war by firing an insanely powerful weapon at the planet. The initial blast had killed millions if not billions and eradicated the Earth’s magnetic core. Without that, the planet was subject to cosmic radiation on top of the toxic energy left over from their weapon. Earth was deemed unsuitable for life. Forever.

Luckily, the Moon and New Earth were suitable at that point. The rich and fortunate who fled in time had somewhere to settle and rebuild. During that period, humanity was the closest it had ever gotten to extinction. That was also why we no longer settled on one planet. Keeping all your gold in one safe was an easy way to lose it.

Everyone treated Earth like it was our greatest failure, but I saw it as a symbol. It represented the galaxy. It reminded me that there was more out there! Thanks to it, I knew that not every rock was as barren as the Moon.

Man! The podcasts were not doing their job.

I pulled into the driveway of a stout brown house. The lights were on, and I knew one person would be home but the other would still be at work. After what had happened to my family, I had been handed over to my dad’s best friend, Opifex. This guy also happened to be the one who taught me everything I knew about technology and cruisers. I lived with him, but, I didn’t go inside much.

I parked my cruiser and rotated all the chairs back. They whirled together, forming one long surface. I lay down on it like it was a couch.

I reached between the flat seats and pulled out a blanket, making it official. Laura had asked why my cruiser was messy. This was the answer.

Opifex's front door suddenly seemed more tempting than ever. I could easily have had a normal life again, living under the roof of someone who loved me. What for? So I could lose them too? It was hard enough for someone like me to form connections. Losing them was like being ripped apart.

My vivepen made a reappearance as I pushed it against the cruiser. I clicked the third button. The one that didn’t save or glow. The tip expelled lines like a busted fire hydrant. They scrawled out across my cruiser. The lines linked up to form all my recent doodles and notes. It was like someone had let a kid loose in my cruiser. In reality, it was a pretty good glimpse at my brain.

“Perfect.” I reached down and grabbed a can of Cosmos, the only soda that didn’t feel like it rotted my teeth with each sip. I popped it open and peered at the words sprawled across my windows. “We meet again, exam notes. Ready for round two hundred?”

I switched off the podcasts in favor of instrumental music. Electric guitars surged off as I soaked in the difference between lite ships and exploration ships, again. I had no idea how Laura did this. My brain barely worked if I wasn’t moving, listening to music, or working with technology in some way.

Despite the shredding guitars in my ears, my eyelids grew heavy. My dreams beckoned me. I fought back, but, once I found myself mumbling “ship” over and over, I allowed them their victory.

Short girl. Mane of golden-brown hair. Big eyes as blue as the sky. She stared up at me with a question on her face. The environment was hazy and kept shifting. Were we in a movie theater? A park? My…driveway?

Something rattled in my mouth. I coughed it into my hands. Pearls, at least thirty of them. Why were pearls in my mouth? I shook them and realized they had sharp edges. Not pearls. Teeth. That made me realize what the girl was asking. Somehow. It was written all over her face. “Why did you let me die?”

Fire consumed the girl in an instant. Roaring flames blew me back. I hurried toward the fire, but an invisible wall kept us apart. It forced me to watch the blaze consume her. She shifted into a pile of rubble.

“Ah!”

HUUUM!

The Columbus rumbled to life, and me along with it. Its headlights pierced the darkness. The sudden brightness stung like someone had thrown wasps in my eyes. Stars decorated the dark sky. When did the Sun leave? I summoned my key and directed it toward the ignition.

I stopped halfway. Maybe the cruiser should have been on. Just in case I needed to get away from whoever was spying on me. The street lights acted as beacons as I peered into the dark. They didn’t reveal anyone. I might have been too distracted by the cool breeze to search properly. My suit kept me warm, but I hated the way the wind felt on my face.

“Someone out there?” I said. “Someone I can help with something?” No response. Of course not. When did that approach ever work?

I kept my guard up as I switched off the cruiser. I didn’t sense the presence anymore. They’d slipped away, and good thing too. Good for me. Even if I’d found them, what could I have done? No doubt they were some creep, but I didn’t have creep protection.

I lay back down despite having no plans to go back to sleep. Morning would come before long, so I’d chill until then. Wouldn’t be the first time I’d gone a night without sleeping.

----------------------------------------

The day had finally come. Literally. I was running on no sleep, no food (unless you counted cake and soda), and a possibly faulty cruiser. I’d never been readier. My eyelids might have gotten heavy on the drive over, but I’d never closed them!

I planted my feet on the pavement and shut the cruiser door behind me. A black building decorated with white specks stood tall on the other end of the parking lot. Big block letters spelled out “EEC.” Exploration Exam Center: the building where kids became explorers. Not a good slogan, but that’s why I didn’t say it out loud.

Now I just had to get past the human wall that was in my way.

If the EEC weren’t so tall, I never would have seen it over the bustling crowd. Their chatter alone was giving me a headache. I hated crowds, but they were a rarity anyway. Every New Selene event brought out the noisy people. They had nothing else to look forward to in a town so tiny.

No one in the crowd was there to take an exam, I knew that much. They were only around to meet the special guest. Anyone who wanted to be an explorer out of high school applied on the day after graduation. Knowing this, the President of the First Division picked one EEC per year to visit on that day. Guess which one she’d picked this year. I had been lucky enough to survive the traffic; A crowd wasn’t going to stop me. I pushed through it, ignoring the babble.

“Let us in!”

“Where’s the president?!”

“You can’t keep us out!”

Almost all the babble. I couldn’t remember her face, but everyone knew the president. She’d been in the First Ship for sixteen years. I was seventeen so she’d literally been in office for as long as I could remember. She was popular because of her contributions to our colony on New Earth. Hard to call it a colony when she’d also renamed the planet, but I assumed it was more complicated than it seemed. Thank the stars there weren’t any Moon aliens.

Weaving through the crowd was a sweatier endeavor than I’d expected. The summer heat was cooking me, and it was hard to step around moving people. I began to lose hope when I got to the sign-holders. Then when all seemed lost…the light of hope revealed itself! The other side of the crowd! I forfeited all manners and sprinted the rest of the way.

“Victory!” I shouted as I leaped out of the crowd.

Unfortunately, I teetered as I hit the ground. The rough landing soiled my triumph, but whatever. Good motor skills were overrated. Now all I had to deal with was the front door. It must have been locked if so many people were just standing outside. I approached it for inspection, but then it slid open. So it wasn’t locked. Okay.

The members of the crowd had no yellow tape or energy restraints around them either. This was off to a weird start. I headed inside anyway.

I walked right into a cold draft. Did someone have the air conditioner cranked up? Down? Whichever one it was. The walls, floor, and counters all shared the exterior’s starry theme. One major difference from the outside was the sound. It was deafeningly silent compared to the exploding crowd. Altogether, the experience was so immersive that I could have sworn I accidentally teleported into space. I was so down for it.

“Halt!”

Two sets of bright purple eyes towered over me. How had I missed them? They were attached to gray, metallic bodies. Androids. My stomach churned as I avoided the glowing dots. Reminded me too much of the other robots. The killer ones who ruined my life. My body protested like it was begging me to lash out.

“My apologies,” said a woman in the back. The glow died as both robots stepped back. They’d stay back if they knew what was good for them. The woman looked up from her wrist with a grin. She adjusted her round glasses as she studied me. “Did you need something, young man?”

Her magenta hair was tied up in a bun. A pearl necklace hung around her neck. A long blue coat nearly covered an impressive-looking magenta and blue space suit. The suit was beyond advanced by the look of it. Was she an employee? Could I be one too? I needed in on that kind of pay.

I took a breath to calm my nerves. “Would you mind keeping these walking trash cans as far away as possible? I can’t even think while I’m near them.”

“I beg your pardon?” said a guy in the back. He sat at a booth, one of many. They were lined up next to each other, but the middle booth was unoccupied. It must have been where the woman had sat. “Do you have any idea who you’re—”

She raised a palm, cutting off the man. “I see no reason why not.” A tiny control panel lay on her wrist. She frantically tapped it.

The robots beeped and marched away, shaking the ground with each hundred-pound footstep. Good riddance.

I sighed in relief. “Thank you. I—” The calculating look in the woman’s green eyes unnerved me. She eyed me like I was her study guide. Did I have something on my face? “I—I’m here to take my explorer’s exam. Those are still happening today, right? I don’t see anyone else lined up.”

The room was empty except for me, the woman, and all the employees. I didn’t believe she could be counted as one of them anymore.

“Yes of course. May I ask for your name?” She extended a hand.

I eyeballed her hand before shaking it. I’d never been eager to touch a stranger, but this woman had an air of authority to her. It was like someone would snipe me if I refused.

“Wander Locke. You are?”

Her grin grew. “A pleasure to meet you, Wander. I am President Margaret Frost. Please come this way to begin your exam.”