As the clock struck twenty, nothing happened for the next few hours. Rising columns of smoke in District Nine obscured the moon high above.

Florence couldn’t believe what was happening in front of her. The tense caffeine smell floated across the cafe, waking up her nerves.

There was a clattering of porcelain and spoons as the Players sipped their drinks, sitting on the chairs around a round table.

The coffee machine winded to life, scratching the cabinet below, and Aisling pressed the buttons. A flow of latte dispensed from the coffeemaker, filling a cup. Stella adjusted the duffle bag, hiding her head, standing behind the counter, trembling her legs, and taking customer orders. Of course. Florence remained completely stuck as she leaned against the wall behind her, standing beside Aisling.

“Why am I here?” Florence asked.

“I’ve already told you,” Aisling said, grasping the handle of a cup. “Plus, how else are we going to survive? It’s not like we could instantly solve the case for our investigation.”

“You are wasting my time.”

“You’re kinda the first one I’ve ever seen who wants to go home after being transported to a new and whimsical world.”

Stella shuttered. Her hands trembled as she typed on the typewriter with a screen on top.

Aisling took a sip of latte. “Could you go and help Stella?”

“You do know I do not work in this cafe,” Florence said.

“Yup, I do.”

Aisling waved at one of the staff holding a tray and handing a drink to their customer.

“Hey, Steve, one of my friends wanna get employed here,” Aisling said.

Florence gritted her teeth. “I did not say that.”

“Give me a minute or so,” Steve said. “I’ll check if your friend is qualified to work in this cafe.”

Aisling gave a thumbs up.

“Let me guess if I get employed and help you in this cafe,” Florence said. “You will then go on with investigating our occult detective investigation. However, all of this will not happen. Am I right?”

“Yup, for the first part.” Aisling clasped her hands together. “But the last part is definitely a nope.”

“What’s up? Did you say that someone wants to be hired, Aisling?” Steve asked. In the blink of an eye, he appeared behind Florence.

Florence wheeled around, and Steve stood inches away from her face.

Steve grinned, revealing his uncanny teeth. “So you want to be hired,” he said.

“Absolutely not, I am only waiting for Aisling,” Florence said.

Aisling leaned forward, reaching into the pocket of Florence’s apron and pulling out Florence’s phone. Aisling handed it to Steve.

“Give it back,” Florence said.

“Let me introduce you to Florence,” Aisling said, pointing at Florence. “She wanna work in this cafe.”

Steve tapped his thumb on Florence’s phone.

Florence tried to snatch her phone from Steve. But he sidestepped, dodging her. She stumbled, knocking a round table over. The cups shattered, spilling the drinks across the floor.

Steve scratched his head. “Why are all your stats errors?”

“I do not know,” Florence said.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t hire you.”

“It is not like I care about being hired or anything. But you do realize this is ridiculous, right?”

“I don’t think so. The Wellor System requires that any Player has a certain number of stats in each category to be employed.”

Florence pushed herself off the floor, standing back on her feet. She brushed her dress and apron.

“I’m sorry,” Steve said. “I forgot to add that the stats requirement could differ depending on the occupation.”

Aisling tapped on Steve’s shoulder, handing the coffee to him.

“Thank you so much, Aisling,” Steve said. He grabbed the cup of coffee and placed it on a tray.

Florence stomped on the marble floor towards Steve, snatching her phone back from his hand.

“You don’t have to be this aggressive,” Aisling said.

Florence closed her eyes, clenching her fist. “What do you know about me? I have got a sister… Did you seriously think I have got the time for this?”

“First of all… you should kinda check your phone?”

“Pardon?”

Aisling grabbed another cup, nudging in Stella’s direction.

Stella yelped. She slammed her hand onto the counter, shaking the typewriter with a screen on top.

“Stella, are you doing fine?” Florence asked.

Stella froze, not moving a single bit.

Florence trudged to Stella’s side.

“How may I help you, perhaps?” Florence skimmed her hand across the counter.

The duffle bag covering Stella’s head shook, rustling the fibers.

“If you want me to do something, feel free to speak up,” Florence said.

A burst of air rushed into the cafe as Summer pulled open the glass door entrance. She stepped onto the marble floor, walking towards Florence and Stella.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Stella dropped to the ground, lying down flat, thudding her head.

“Two cappuccinos, please,” Summer said. “Also, could you guys put it in a takeaway cup?”

“And you are ordering a cappuccino in the evening?” Florence asked.

“Yes, so what about it?”

“Do you have to sleep?”

Summer laughed, hugging herself.

“Pardon me, what is funny about this?” Florence raised her eyebrow.

“Who needs to sleep anyway,” Summer said. “What sort of society do you think we live in?”

Stella shivered. Her arms wrapped around herself, curling into a ball. She wobbled back and forth.

Summer leaned over the counter. “Is Stella okay?”

“I’m trying to help her.” Florence shrugged. “But it is clearly not working.”

A scream from Stella busted through the cafe, vibrating Florence’s eardrums. The legs of round tables and chairs scraped against the marble floor, and cups and spoons clattered and wobbled.

“Was it Stella’s scream or something else?” Florence asked.

“I’m quite sure there is another explosion in District Nine,” Summer said. “I don’t know what the hell is happening.”

From the corner of Florence’s eyes, Aisling glanced at Florence’s forearm. However, Aisling quickly looked away, minding her own business.

“Aisling?” Florence yawned. “How are things going on over there?”

“Nothing much. Kinda just waiting for the next order to come up,” Aisling said.

Summer whistled, waving her hand. “Could I get two cappuccinos?”

Stella smacked her hands onto the counter, giving a thumbs up while shaking as she pulled herself back up.

“Coming right up,” Aisling said.

Florence reached into her apron pocket for her phone. She tapped the screen, which remained dark and eerily silent. “Why is this not working?”

Summer leaned over Florence’s phone, double-tapping and swiping her finger across the screen. Then it winded to life, lighting up. Images of different shapes and sizes with various names written at the bottom appeared on the display.

“I see,” Florence said. “What am I supposed to do next?”

“You’re really a boomer, Florence,” Summer said.

“I do not get it. All of this is new to me.”

“You never heard of the word boomer before?”

“How do I check the amount of money that I have?”

A finger swiped across the screen of Florence’s phone, sliding to a new set of images, pointing at the wallet image.

“It’s right over there,” Aisling said behind Florence.

Florence wheeled around. She hiccuped, skipping a heartbeat. Two cardboard cups clung onto Aisling’s right hand, inches away from Florence.

“Thank you,” Florence said, tapping where Aisling directed. “If we have time, I will buy a giggle juice.”

“Does the drink make me laugh?” Aisling asked. She handed the takeaway cups to Summer.

The phone slipped from Florence’s hand, thudding on the marble floor. Her jaw dropped. The screen showed a ten trillion dollar debt.

“I understand how hard this might feel,” Aisling said. She smiled and slapped Florence on the back.

Florence glared at Aisling.

Aisling raised her hands, stepping away from Florence.

“It is not like I care or anything.” Florence crossed her arms. “But how did I get ten trillion dollars in debt?”

“Please… don’t kill me if I tell you,” Aisling said.

“Why would I do it?”

“Generational debt. Even though you’re kinda not from here… Sorry.”

Summer cleared her throat, holding the two cappuccinos.

“That would be ten thousand dollars.” Aisling coughed, smiling. “Would you wanna pay through cards, crystals, or credits?”

“Ten thousand dollars. You have got to be joking,” Florence said

“Crystal,” Summer said. She reached into her pocket, taking out the warm blue crystals on her palms.

Aisling grabbed those crystals. “Thank you so much.”

“See you later,” Summer said. She slogged towards the glass door, pushing it open.

“I don’t want to be here,” Stella said.

“I can kinda tell.” Aisling patted Stella on the back.

“Could I look at those crystals?” Florence asked.

Aisling dropped the crystals onto Florence’s open palm. As the crystal contacted Florence, an electrical tickling spread throughout her skin. A humming vibrated from it, ringing in her ears. Strangely, this somehow made her warm from the inside.

“I have never seen this in my life.” Florence pinched the crystals between her fingers.

Aisling shrugged. “You’ll kinda get used to it.”

Florence handed the crystal back to Aisling. Aisling slipped it beneath the counter.

“So, where did they get this from?” Florence asked.

Aisling glanced at a customer who glared at them.

Florence bit her lips. “I do not get it.”

“Just… forget about it,” Aisling said.

“Why?”

“Let’s say it’s… never mind.”

Stella banged her head against the typewriter with a monitor, clicking and rattling the keyboard. With a thud, she slipped and collapsed to the marble floor.

“Look, I’m gonna tell you a bit more later on if you’re interested, Florence,” Aisling said. “But not right now.”

“Absolutely, it would be appreciated if you could do that,” Florence said.

Aisling ambled to the coffee machine.

Florence shifted her weight from left to right. “Pardon me, when are we going to leave?”

“Till midnight.” Aisling shrugged. “Probably.”

“And then what?”

“Taking care of Yuze. What are you gonna expect?”

“Absolutely, of course, we have got to help her. Why am I being this stupid?”

Aisling kneeled down, opening a cabinet beneath the coffee machine. She grabbed a broom and dustpan.

“After Yuze, what will happen next?” Florence asked.

Aisling ambled towards shattered porcelains and spilled drinks. “I’m procrastinating like I don’t know… I gotta clean this up and do my other part-time jobs. Maybe I’m gonna get some sleep if I can.”

Florence furrowed her brow, wrinkling the corner of her eyes.

“What?” Aisling swept the marble floor. “I still gotta survive.”

“I cannot believe you have done this,” Florence said.

“Guys… when could I go home,” Stella said.

“Nope.” Aisling pushed the fallen round table back to its own legs. “There are kinda a few hours left.” She took the dustpan and brush, dumping the cracked porcelain into a bin.

Chatting of customers flowed through the air, ringing in Florence’s eardrum. But underneath this, a faint squalling came from within the coffee machine.

“This is not what I meant,” Stella said.

Aisling shrugged her shoulders. “You asked. So I answered.”

“Everything is not copacetic,” Florence said. “It is just one random thing that suddenly happens and gets in the way.”

Aisling ambled to the coffee machine, opening the cabinet below, and tossing the brush and dustpan inside.

“Are any of you listening?” Florence threw her arms up. “This is ridiculous.”

Aisling snatched a porcelain cup. “Would any of you like a cup of espresso?”

“Absolutely not.”

The coffee machine winded to life as Aisling clicked the button, dispensing brownish liquid into a cup on the drip tray. Then, holding onto a cup handle, she offered it to Florence.

“A bottle of giggle juice sounds much better,” Florence said.

“Come on, drink up,” Aisling said. She pushed the espresso on Florence’s chest. “A bit of caffeine wouldn’t hurt.”

The espresso reflected those bodies opening their jaws wide. They cried and laughed, rippling the drinks. All of them leaped out.

Florence screamed. She stepped back, knocking the cup away.

Aisling tilted her head. “Florence, what got into your head?”

“Did you not see that? Those bodies,” Florence said. Her heart raced.

“Those bodies again?”

“It is literally right over there.”

“I’m sorry… I don’t know.”

Florence rolled her eyes, stomping her feet across the marble floor. She kicked open a glass door and exited the cafe.

“Florence, come back,” Aisling said. She ran to Florence, stopping right at the entrance. “I didn’t do anything wrong this time.”