“..Of course, I didn’t do it, but I’m still mad she told me to.” I scoff and turn to the light brown-haired boy beside me. This is Austin Dovier, my best friend since Little Milky Way Elementary. He spilled orange juice on me during lunch, then showed up the next day with a box of limited edition Kuiper-Pebbles as an apology. We’ve been inseparable ever since, for better or worse.

He floats in the air, cross-legged and wearing an amused expression. “You better hope she doesn’t find out about that. You know, I heard from Rea that they sell all the contraband to the Gaians.”

I blink. “Gaians?” I might’ve been asleep during that lesson.

“Seiji…” he looks concerned for my grades. “Gaians are the most dangerous and well-known space pirates. They hang around the Gaia-BH1 blackhole, and use its instability to deter us from nabbing them.”

I reach over and shove him, sending him spinning through the air. The new hoverboots he bought may be useful, but they’re stupidly sensitive. “Lame. Then why do we sell that contraband to them? I don’t think the school’s that stupid.” It wouldn’t be hard to prove me wrong, though.

He grabs the shoulder of someone walking by, halting his spinning. “Usually it’s for like, bribery purposes? But he also heard they got a hostage--” The student shoots him an annoyed glance, and hurriedly walks away. “Sorry! Um… anyways, then he said they’re trying to negotiate for the hostage back now. Must be an important person, right?” Austin shrugs, and peers over at me.

“Who knows? Probably just another bigshot they found wandering around the galaxy.” I scoff, and throw the small box my hoverboard is stored in at the ground, and it expands into its normal size. “Look-- I’ve had enough of Sirius Academy. Let’s head over to the cafe, your mom might need help.”

He nods, but doesn’t look happy. “You’re real tense today, Seiji. You won’t be expelled, so stop worrying about it!”

I roll my eyes, and push off on the hoverboard. “Once I’m there, I’ll tell your mom you don’t want anything to eat, then.” I hear him shouting as I leave, and I snort. He’s so dumb.

The door chimes when I swing it open, and I take a look around at the people inside. A couple other highschoolers, some businessmen, and a few people in suits and sunglasses. 

“Seiji! Glad to see you!” I turn to see Austin’s mom. She and Austin look really similar. They have the same hazel eyes, light skin and light brown hair. If I didn’t know them, I’d think she was his sister.

“Hi Ms. Dovier,” I wave, and walk up to the counter. “Austin’s catching up, but I can clock in right now, since…” I gesture to the line. I don’t mind working earlier than usual, since she’s always been good to me. When my grandparents were off working all day, I used to come here after school ended. She was the one that celebrated whenever I got a good grade, and the one to give me extra snacks when I had a bad day.

“You really don’t have to, Seiji, you know that.” She smiles, but nonetheless points to the kitchen in the back. “Winston is back there, you can help him with baking. Tell him we need more croissants!”

I nod, and grab an apron before going in. As she said, Winston is there, and he’s desperately trying to mix two bowls at once. I have to fight not to laugh.

But I must make a sound or something, because he whips around and points a whisk at me. “Seiji! Here, mix this,” he shoves one of the bowls at me, “and don’t stop mixing until the dough is sticking to the sides.” I blink dumbly, and he snaps his fingers. “Come on, get moving! We’ve got a lot of orders and not a lot of hands!”

Sometime in the chaos, Austin arrives. He gets scolded by Winston, then gets resigned to running back and forth to the cafe and back, taking orders out. That’s what you get for being late.

I think we all breathe a sigh of relief when the day is over. I peek over the little opening in the wall, where we usually get order slips from, to look at the customers still left. There’s really no one besides those guys in suits from before.

“They might be waiting for someone.” Winston says, coming up and staring at them as well.

“Or they just want to waste our time!” Austin groans, flopping against the wall. “They just watched me every time I went out there! It was unsettling.” 

I roll my eyes. “You’re just dramatic.”

“Winston, go out there and tell them to leave!” Austin whines, clasping his hands together. “Please, I’m your favorite little brother and have done nothing wrong ever.”

Winston remains unmoved. 

“Please. Please. Pleasepleasepleaseplea--”

I reach forward and flick Austin’s forehead, shutting him up. “I’ll go out there! I can’t handle more of your begging.” 

He brightens, and grins. “Thank you so much Seiji, my bestest friend. I won’t forget this, I swear.”

What a drama queen. I walk out into the cafe, and nod to Ms. Dovier, who’s putting away supplies. Walking up to the group, I can understand why Austin was so nervous now. You really can’t tell what they’re thinking because of that blank expression, and their eyes are covered by those stupid sunglasses, so it’s even more unnerving. 

“Hey, just wanted to let you guys know The Orion will be closing in like, ten minutes. Did you need help with anything?”

“Are you Seiji Naito?” The one closest to me speaks up. How in the universe does he know my name?

“...Yes?” I take a small step back. “Uh, do you know my grandparents or something..? I’m sure I can give them a message if you want--”

The man stands up, and gestures outside. “Your father was recently taken hostage, and your mother has gone missing.”

What. 

He continues on, as if he didn’t just shatter everything I thought I knew.

“We were given orders to escort you home, and place you and your family under surveillance until we know for sure you aren’t in danger.”

I can’t hear him. I can’t hear anything besides the thoughts in my head, the memories. I’m forced back to the past, to the moment everything changed. 

“Seiji… your parents loved you very much.” I stare at my grandma through teary eyes. I’d believe that if they didn’t leave me.

“They’re on an important mission, one that will help many people.” They aren’t helping me.

“If- when they come back, they’ll be heroes! Your own parents will be heroes, and you need to be brave for them. They don’t want you to be sad.” I don’t want my mom and dad to be heroes if it means they’re gone. 

She cups my face and sighs. I watch as Grandpa walks out, head hanging down.

“...Seiji? Seiji?” Hands grip my shoulders. I look up to Austin’s panic-stricken face, then glance away. 

“I’m good. Fine.” I move his hands away. 

“You’re clearly not! What just happened--” His voice raises, and his mom cuts him off.

“Austin, could you get the car ready? And Winston, please close up the shop for me.” She says, and it’s in that tone you can’t argue against. Austin is quiet for a moment, before nodding and taking her keys. Winston starts putting chairs up.

“I’ll take you home, alright Seiji?” She looks at the men, and they wisely don’t comment.

It’s a quiet car ride.

I go straight to my room, not responding to my grandma’s greeting. She won’t be bothering me for a while, anyways. The men must explain what happened, because I hear a sob, and my grandpa’s fierce questions being thrown at them. I pull a pillow over my head, and stay like that the rest of the night. In a room that’s never felt so empty.

I don’t have to go to school today. Lucky me, right? Austin leaves me a million texts, probably lonely and not able to annoy anyone. I don’t open my phone.

Alright, this is getting depressing. I’m not the type to wallow in my own sadness and despair, and this obviously won’t change that! So I get myself up, grab my hoverboard, and take a quick look around. My bedroom is a little messy, I’ll admit. It’s a decent size, and I’ve filled it with posters from games or movies I like. I’ve got an expensive computer too, from my 16th birthday. My grandparents probably saved up money for a while.

I throw on a hoodie, and turn to the window. Real fancy stuff, I know. But I climb out that window, and use my hoverboard to glide to the ground.

I’ve decided to go out and meet with Austin. He’s moved on to calling me now, every single hour. He’s like a pest I can’t get rid of. Not that I’d want to-- can’t let him know that, though, he’d never shut up about it.

I slow the hoverboard to drift along the sidewalk, and almost miss the low voice coming from the alleyway. I jump off, pull on my hood, and creep closer to take a look inside. It never hurts to be curious.

“This is where it took us… seriously? A place to dump ya’ garbage in. At least it makes for a soft landing, right, Alioth?” A bulky, tattoo-covered man gets off the ground. He rubs his head, then looks at the one beside him.

 ‘Alioth’ is a similarly built man, the only difference being the lack of tattoos. 

“Don’t get too comfy. We’ve got just a few days to find the human and leave. The portal can’t stay open for longer than that.” He snatches up a backpack from the ground, and heads in my direction. I scramble back, dropping the board in my haste as he steps out. I hear a dreaded crunch. 

“Hey! That better not be broken, you idiot! Why didn’t you look?!” I shout, and stick a finger in his face. “You need to pay for it! Every last scratch!”

Alioth pauses, and squints. Then he shakes his head. “I don’t have time for this,” he brushes his blue shirt off, and turns his back on me. “Megrez, did you get the backpack?”

He looks guilty, and steps away from the dog he was petting. “Huh? I was supposed to do that?”

“Yes! That is full of dangerous--” he stops, and pinches his nose. “Megrez.”

“...Alioth?”

“Get that backpack before I find someone less stupid!” He snaps, and Megrez flees into the crowd. “Take your brother, they said. You can depend on him, they said.” He fumes, dropping his hand to stare at the sky. 

This guy’s a weirdo. I warily stare at him, and startle when he turns. 

“Ah. You.” Alioth sighs, and takes out a wallet. “Keep your mouth shut about this, kid.” Handing over a stack of bills, he apparently resolves this as finished and begins to walk away.

“Wh--” I glance down at the money, and leaf through it. There are some weird colors in this, and some are in languages I didn’t even know existed. “Did you just give me counterfeit money? What kind of joke is this!” I raise the money and wave it at his retreating back, “Your money is fake, man!”

“What money? Woah!” Austin sneaks up behind me and gawks at the bills. “Who’d you rob for this?”

“Austin? Wait. Why do you think I robbed someone?” I raise an eyebrow. If he says anything about yesterday, I’m smacking him in the face with my hoverboard.

He sends me a joking look, “You seem the type, is all.” 

“Okay, you’re real funny. But quit it, ‘cause I don’t know what to do with this!”

He laughs, and takes some of the money. “Well, this looks like currency from different places. I recognize this one,” he holds up a pale bill, “Russian. Oh, and you should know this!” He takes out one with a cool flower design.

“Of course I do, that’s yen.” My grandpa always carries those around. He says the American dollar looks ugly, but I think he just misses home.

“Ding ding ding!” He snorts, and I shove him. 

“Dude, just tell me what to do with these. If I show up to a bank with this stack, I’ll be arrested on the spot!” I grab the money from him, and shove it into my pockets.

“Hold on, you never told me how you got this.” He ducks his head, and lowers his voice. “Did you actually steal it? ‘Cause if you did, I might know a guy--”

“I didn’t steal it! An idiot stepped on my board! He yelled at his ‘brother’ to grab a backpack, of all things, then told me to shut up and take this money.”

“Hm,” he nods, “He sounds like a… ruffian.”  

I stare at him.

“Fine, fine.” He pats my shoulder, attempting to be comforting. “Yeesh, calm down. Let’s take it to Rea! He knows all the ins and outs of this kinda stuff.”

“What about your mom?” I follow him as he jogs ahead. 

“Don’t worry, she’ll be fine! Winston’s home and probably helping her.” 

“Your brother’s staying for a while?” Oh, yeah. So, Winston is a few years older than us, and left Earth to be a Ranger. Rangers are the guys that protect our solar system, flying around and enforcing the law. 

He nods, “I know he usually just stays a few days, but he wants to help my mom out more. He’s getting all up in my business, though. ‘Clean your room, Austin!’ and ‘Do your homework!’ It’s infuriating, he’s like another mo--” He stops, and glances at me. We continue walking in tense silence.

Once we turn the corner, I can see the place Austin always talks about. The street next to us is loud, with cars flying by every few seconds. I don’t really think about it that much, but technology is a little terrifying. 

“Sounds annoying. I’m glad I don’t have a sibling.” I say, just wanting to end the awkwardness now.

As we approach the bar, I notice the huge windows on both sides of the door. I stop to read the big text on them. The Drowsy Planet. Weird name.

“You should be!” he exclaims, throwing up his arms, “I was glad when Winston became a Ranger, seriously. Now I can actually shower in hot water!” 

I laugh, and shove him. “Oh, I didn’t know you showered. Couldn’t tell with all the…” I gesture at the faded dirt stains on his clothes.

He immediately defends himself, “Hey! Those are from soccer, okay, they’re hard to wash off!”

“Are you two going to stand there and keep arguing, or do I have to tell you to leave?” Rea steps out of the building next to them, holding a cocktail shaker. And, man, that guy looks tired. He has huge eye bags, messy blond hair, and some stubble he probably forgot to cut. His apron is stained and messy, but that’s not surprising considering his job.

Austin and I scream, jumping away from him. He gives us a weary look. “Now you’re causing an even bigger disturbance…”

“Wait! Okay, we’ll stop screaming, just uh… Austin said you could help me with a money problem?” I must look pitiful or something, wouldn’t know why, because he glares at Austin.

“I’m not a charity.” He states, and slams the door shut.

“A charity… he thinks you’re broke!” He cackles, leaning against the window. I push him aside to look into the bar. There are dozens of people inside, and I can see a few college students. There’s a pool table near the back, and a crowd surrounds it, engrossed in the game. It’s honestly a nice bar, one I wouldn’t mind going to in the future, because it’s just got a welcoming feel to it.

Rea’s already back at the counter, pouring drinks to the people sitting by. I catch a glimpse of exasperation on his face as he turns to a creepily pale woman, slumped over the counter and surrounded by small glass cups.

I nudge Austin, who’s still laughing. “Are you sure he’s the one we should ask? He’s just a bartender.” And apparently a wimpy one, too. Rea waves a hand at the glasses around her, probably being like, ‘are you ever going to pay for these?’ and she raises her head to respond, like, ‘put it on my tab.’ Yeah, I’m great at this. 

Austin smirks, “You know how in movies, the good guy goes to bars and like, pays off the bartender to tell him info? We’re the good guys, and Rea is the sketchy bartender. But we don’t have to pay him off, since I’m friends with him!” 

I think I trust Rea even less now. 

Sighing, I walk around him to enter the bar. Instantly, I’m hit with the smell of alcohol, beer, and sweat- I wonder how he’s still sane. I wouldn’t be.

“Fancy, right?” Austin pops up next to me, and stares at the students from earlier. Creep. “Huh… that looks awfully like…” he starts mumbling and puts a hand up to his chin.

“...” I squint at them. “Like who?” Look, he’s always been the one obsessed with celebrities and stuff, not me. He doesn’t answer, so, obviously, I whack the back of his head. “Dude, stay on task! And stop going all googly-eyed, it’s weird.” 

He sputters, face turning a bright red. “I’m not! I just… if that’s really like, the Carduus crew, then I need their autographs.” He’s completely serious, and takes out a notebook from… somewhere. God, this is why I hate fanboys. Always abandoning me when I need them most.

 “Sorry, Seiji!” He runs off to bother the poor people.

Carduus. I wonder where I’ve heard that before. But I get broken out of my thoughts when, through the chaos and hubbub of the bar, I hear someone sobbing. Full on, gut wrenching sobs. Honestly, normally I would just ignore it and go on with my day, but it’s coming from the bar. Where Rea is. 

Why couldn’t this have been easy?

I sit down on the last remaining stool, unfortunately right next to the crying person. It’s that lady from earlier, the one with all the shot glasses- well, she’s moved on to full drinks now, and apparently everyone has to know.

“He’s gone, he’s gone…” she hiccups, and reaches for the glass again. I look over at Rea, who is doing his best to ignore her and serve other customers. I turn back.

“...Um.” Can he hurry it up? Please?

“Gustav! Gustav is gone forever!” she sobs again. How much alcohol can someone have before they die? Because she might be nearing that limit. I’ve seen others like her. People like that, people without any direction in life, and they’re a bit too realistic right now. I look at them and see me. That’s what my future is going to look like if Ms. Fortune doesn’t leave me alone, at least. I wonder if they flunked out of school. If they got sent to the principal’s office because of something they didn’t even do--

Or if their parents went off and left them.

I don’t think I have any other choice than to talk to her. Maybe if I do, I’ll stop thinking about who I’ll turn out to be.

“Who’s Gustav?” Bets are on a high school sweetheart she broke up with years ago.

Her face scrunches up at the name, and she wipes at her eyes. “He was my husband! And what a good one, too..” she collapses against the counter again. 

Oh. I feel even worse now. 

“Uh, rest in peace, Gustav.” I scoot farther away. Rea is finally making his way over, so I give her an awkward pat on the shoulder. “It’ll… get better.”

“My life won’t ever be the same without him!” She continues crying.

I am not good at comforting people.

Rea sets the shaker down with a thud, glaring at me from across the bar. “I thought I told you that I’m not a charity.”

I shake my head quickly, “No, no! That’s not what I meant earlier. I just got,” I lean in, “some money that needs to be converted. And I can’t bring it into the bank.” The woman shifts, and Rea glances at her.

He sighs. “Great. Follow me, then.” He waves a hand to a bright-eyed guy with an impressive beard. “Hey, Sveni. I’m going on my break, is that alright?”

Sveni heartily laughs, and nods. “Of course! Ay, Nancy, take over the bar, you needa get some hours in!”

I follow Rea into the back, and it’s shockingly clean. There’s a break room, with a fancy kitchen as well. He goes and sits at the table, and frowns. “Do you have it with you?” 

They’ve got some cool paintings on the walls- I startle at his voice, and look back at him. “Have what with me?”

“...The money.” He stares.

“Oh! Yeah.” I start taking out all the bills I stuffed into my pockets. Some are crumpled, but they’re in pretty good shape otherwise. “So, I was just wondering how you’ll do this-- well like, I don’t mind how, just don’t get me in trouble.” That makes me sound like a jerk. I’m already in hot water right now, I can’t afford to get boiled!

“You won’t.” He replies, and is already piling the money up in neat stacks. “It’ll take me a couple days, though. And I just want a cut of the money.” 

“What? I don’t even know how much I got…” I narrow my eyes.

“I can tell you right now, that’s not a worry.” Rea glances to the side. “But, you know, we all got lives. I have a little brother I need to provide for-- and illegally converting money isn’t exactly easy to do.”

“I’m not saying it’s not, but…” I sigh. “Dang.”

I walk back into the bar a hundred dollars lighter. It doesn’t feel good. 

I walk over to where Austin is, and grab his shoulder. “Alright, got it done, no thanks to you.” I grumble.

“I’m sorry, Seiji, I-- that was stupid.” I look away from his guilt-ridden face, and instead grab the notebook from him. 

“You better have gotten those signatures. Who were they, anyways?” I flip through the pages, seeing random sketches and some other autographs as well. Wow, he’s serious about this stuff.

“Uh…” he hesitates, but quickly continues on when I glare at him. “Flip three more times. I got Lutro, Swini, Selly, and Ozzy…” I do so, and look over the writing.

They’re… not that special, to be honest. Lutro and Ozzy’s are really chaotic, but basically a typical celebrity signature. Swini and Selly’s are just tiny and boring. 

“Huh.” I hand it back to him, and we start walking out.  “And who are these guys?”

His jaw drops, and he stares at me in shock. “The Carduus crew, like I said earlier! The ones I met are the interns, but they’re being trained under Razivi and Alessa Carduus!” 

Alessa Carduus. “This academy has produced some of the finest astronauts in the entire galaxy…” Alessa Carduus! Oh. Ugh. “Ms. Fortune was lecturing me and mentioned her. She’s a famous astronaut, right?”

“Not just a famous one-- she, Razivi, and Hadrian established relations with the worst galaxies! Like Andromeda! That one was full of cannibals for a long time, but they got a treaty signed, and now everything’s fine!”

I snort. “Yeah, peace and rainbows, right?”

He frowns. “Well, obviously not, but… you know, it’s better than before.”

“Yeah.” I hum, noncommittally.

We’re silent, walking down that sidewalk. 

“Seiji?”

I turn to look at him. 

He stares at the ground. “You don’t have to answer this or anything, but… why didn’t you tell me about--”

He’s cut off by a large hand grabbing his arm, and throwing him to the ground. He slams down with a sickening thud, and his scream that follows is raw and terrifying.

I reach for him, mouth opening to cry out, but I feel a sharp pressure at my neck. I whirl around. Why’s the sky so dark?

“It’s--” I feel myself hitting the ground, and I can’t move.

It’s him. The man with the backpack. The open backpack, with dozens of syringes and bottles in it.

My dreams always start out nice. I’m running after Mom, and we’re both laughing, the sun is warm, and the grass soft against my feet. But something always happens. 

I trip, falling. And falling. And falling. There’s no end to it. Mom is gone. The sun and grass are gone. I can’t see any sign of life.

I’m alone again.

My eyes snap open, and I gasp, clasping the back of my neck. Nothing there. I look around the room I’m in, take in the… lack of everything. I’m sitting on a white bed. I’m staring at white walls. The only other colors are the brown doors. I’m guessing the big one leads outside, and I open the other one to see a bathroom. At least I have that.

“Where in the universe am I…” I mutter, and approach the big door. It opens before I can try anything myself. Creepily-pale skin… jet-black hair…

“Wh-- it’s you!” I exclaim, pointing at her. The sad lady from the bar! Why would she be here?

“Yes.” She bluntly states, and taps something out on an iPad-like object. “And you are Seiji Naito, human from the Milky Way Galaxy, planet Earth. Born to Mari Naito and Patrick Beckett, both of whom are astronauts.” I freeze. 

“Why do you know about them? Why do you know so much about me?” I back up, retreating closer to the bathroom. It’s the only place with a door I can shut. Hopefully it has a door lock too, but I’m not counting on it. 

“Your mother is a curious person. Very eager. But unfortunately, she asks too many questions. Digs too deep. We can’t have that.” She frowns, and taps more forcefully. I take a deep breath, and force myself to take a step forward. Closer.

“What’d you do to her?”

She waves a hand, “Oh, nothing. Well, not yet. We just need her out of the equation.” 

Another step. “What about my dad? Aust- I heard he was taken hostage.”

She raises an eyebrow. “If your mother cooperates, he doesn’t need to get hurt. And then we can all go home, and get back to our own normal lives.” She sounds annoyed. By now, I’m close enough to read the back of the tablet. G-BH1. G-BH1… Gaia. The Gaia-BH1 blackhole. What did we get ourselves into?

“Ah, there it is.” She flicks up a hologram from the tablet. I look at Austin laying in a bed, looking to be in some sort of med-bay. He’s asleep, and has bandages wrapped around his head. 

“Is he okay?” They… they slammed him into the ground. I remember that, and his scream. His scream.

“Of course he is, we aren’t incompetent.” She scoffs. 

Yeah… I disagree. I lunge forward, yanking away the tablet and kicking at her stomach. She yells out in pain, and I run forward to slam this thing onto her head, effectively knocking her out.

“Doesn’t feel so good now, does it?” I snark, then immediately cringe. “I’m glad Austin didn’t hear that. I’d never live it down.” Speaking of Austin, I’ve got to go get him. I copy what I saw her doing earlier, and start tapping the tablet. A screen pops up. Password Required. Dangit. Why do these people have to be smart? I groan, and fling it to the ground. Doing this the old fashioned way, then. Fine by me. 

I sprint down the halls, taking a quick peek into each room as I run by. There’s nothing interesting for a while, but I do have a few close calls. I had to duck into an empty room or behind a pillar to avoid some workers. 

I’m almost ready to just surrender now. Austin isn’t in any of these rooms, and the further I go, the more people there seem to be! I poke my head into another room, and choke. This one is huge, with tons of monitors and screens covering the walls. At the very front, there’s windows to the outside. Space. Endless space, with an unlimited amount of Universe. It’d be cool if there weren't a hundred people with guns walking around. 

I inch backwards, but freeze when I see it. Austin! He’s at the other side of the room, staring around the doorway like I am. I grin, about to leave to meet him over there, when he spots me. That idiot! He starts sprinting to me, waving his arms around. 

“Stop! Stop, stupid, don’t run to me!” I whisper-scream, and drag my hands down my face when I watch all those people turn. 

“Seiji! Seiji, look--” he wheezes, “BEHIND YOU!”

I spin around, eyes widening at freaking Alioth and Megrez. These guys, again! Megrez grabs at me, and I screech, fleeing towards Austin. “Go back, go back, gobackgoback!” 

His socks- because he wasn’t allowed to have his hoverboots- slide against the slick floor. He slips and falls, knocking his chin painfully on it. “Why am I the one that keeps getting hurt!” he complains, but gets the air knocked out of him when I trip over his sprawled body. “SEIJI! OW!”

“Why are you still on the floor! I was looking at the guy with the GUN!”

We hear a sigh, and footsteps growing louder. I look up.

Familiar brown eyes. 

“...” I don’t say it. Because saying it would make it real, and this just can’t be.

“Seiji. My daughter.” He smiles. Patrick Beckett holds his hand out, and I take it. “You’ve got yourself into a mess. And dragged your friend into it.” He tilts his head, glancing at Austin, who’s still on the ground. “We’ll have to figure out how to keep this quiet…” he glances at Alioth. “Take this boy back to an extra cell. And make sure it has a lock, this time.” He chuckles, and adjusts his lab coat.

Alioth nods, but I interrupt. “Hey! No-- you can’t take him to a jail cell. What are you doing?” I stare at my dad. He looks so different, yet still the exact same as he did seven years ago. It’s… the eyes. His eyes are dimmer. Colder.

“Seiji, I know you’re going through a lot right now, I get it,” he puts a hand on my shoulder, trying to be reassuring, “but we need to get Austin out of the way. He’ll interfere with what I have planned, and I can’t have any interference.” This seems eerily familiar to what Ms. Fortune was saying. That seems like a lifetime ago. 

“What happened to you? I thought you were on a mission. A mission to help people.” I move away from his hand, and he clicks his tongue disappointedly.

“Ah, yes. That. Well, did your grandparents ever tell you what the mission was?”

I shake my head.

“Of course they didn’t. They were always too sensitive.” He waves a hand at the people in the room. “Please give us some space. You’re all dismissed.” It’s scary how well they listen to him.

“I was sent on a mission to the Gaia-BH1 blackhole. We’re right beside it right now, actually.” 

I walk up to the window. It’s a lot of nothing. I can make out a huge sphere of just black, and the space surrounding it is warped.

“Beautiful, isn’t it.” He walks up beside me, and Austin hesitantly follows. I glance at him as my father continues to speak. “They sent Mari and I to find out what happens inside the blackhole. It’s different from the other ones, more chaotic. Unpredictable. So they chose us, the two newest astronauts who,” he scoffs, “nobody important would miss. As you can imagine, the mission went sideways. Mari couldn’t do it. She wanted to go back. Said it was too dangerous.” Dad places a hand against the window. “So I had to do what I needed to. I told her we would go back, and she trusted me.” 

Nausea rises in my throat. “While she wasn’t looking, I locked the ship into flying directly to Gaia. She didn’t realize it until we were already there. Remarkable how fast they can go now!” He laughs.

“What… happened next?” Austin’s voice trembles.

Dad-- Patrick turns to us. And takes off the lab coat to reveal his arms.

Covered in black, sprawling veins, it looks as sickly as you’d imagine. I hear Austin gag, hunching over. I stare.

“When we entered the blackhole, it seemed like time stopped for us, and continued for everyone outside. I… found a new element. I call it Endium. Once exposed to a large amount, it enters your bloodstream, and slowly spreads. It destroys your cells, faster than you can recreate them. And you end up looking like this.” He runs a hand over the veins, slightly frowning.

“...Do you expect me to feel sympathy?” I blurt, and look into his eyes. “You… you forced Mom to go through that. She wanted to-- to go home,” my voice cracks, embarrassingly, “she wanted to come back.” 

He’s surprised. That makes me straighten up, and take a step closer. “You did this to yourself, Patrick.” I spit his name out. It tastes like ashes. “For what? Fame? Money? Stupidity?” I take another step. “You left me for seven years. I was ten. Ten years old. I believed you’d come back, for a year or two. But you never did--”

A flash of anger passes over his face. “A full year had passed when we left Gaia. There was a new group that surrounded us, a couple of inexperienced space pirates. They needed my help, Seiji! So I helped them. I created the Gaians. A few were infected by Endium, and I cured them!” He has a crazed look in his eyes. “I found a cure, but it doesn’t even work on me, or her. We’re too far gone. Do you know how it feels, to slowly starve in that blackhole, to be stuck in time for a year? To slowly succumb to this disease? To feel pain every single waking moment, every single time you talk, you walk, you breathe?” He rants, throwing his coat to the ground.

I back up, grabbing Austin’s arm. 

Patrick doesn’t notice, and drags a hand through his disheveled hair. “I cared about you Seiji, I did! I played friendly with that principal of yours, Lilith Fortune. I let her little bribery tactics stay a secret, and she told me about you!”

Must be why she hates me so much. Austin motions to the doorway, behind us. Alioth and Magrez must’ve left with the other people, because I don’t see anyone in sight. This is it.

“...Dad.” The nausea I pushed down comes back even stronger. “What happened to Mom?”

He slumps against the glass. “Your mother… I loved her. But she changed too, Seiji. She got it too.”

I can’t hear any more of this. Austin looks at me, and suddenly runs, pulling me along. 

“We’ll find her, Seiji. Alright?” His face splits into a comforting smile. 

I glance behind us to see my dad glaring at us. Turning back, I nod. “Of course we will.”

“NOT THAT ROOM!” Austin screams, and sprints out while gunshots embed into the wall across from him. I follow him, and we duck into a room labeled RESTRICTED AREA. 

“This seems promising.” I comment, and he grins. So bright…

We creep forward, checking the small office area first. There are random picture frames at the desks, with green aliens and blue dogs, humans next to giant… ants, and one of a cat. A cute cat. Oh, and a lanyard with a keycard. Austin takes that for later.

“Seiji, here. Another hallway.” He waves me over, and we walk on through. It’s dark. I flick on the lights, and we’re momentarily blinded- I hear Austin gasp, and I blink the flash away.

It’s even worse the second time seeing it. She’s pacing back and forth, hand brushing away white hair, face screwed up in pain. Her entire right arm is gray. 

“It’s different from his.” I manage to say, and walk forward. The glass must be only one way, because she hasn’t reacted to us at all. 

“Do you want me to…” He looks at the door. I nod.

He takes the keycard and swipes it through. The door slides open. 

“Hello?” She instinctively ducks into a defensive stance, but relaxes it when she sees Austin. “A child? Seriously?” She looks right at me, and I freeze. “You’re resorting to using children now?”

He shakes his head quickly. “No, no, this isn’t what you’re thinking. I’m Austin Dovier.”

She stares at him blankly.

“...Seiji’s friend?”

My mom gasps, and rushes forward to grab his arm. “Seiji? What do you mean?”

I can barely register that I’m moving, walking into the doorway. She glances up.

“...I thought I’d have thought of something to say before this, but,” my vision gets blurry. “I can’t think of anything cool.” 

She catches me by the shoulders when I stumble, and I-- 

I feel everything shaking around us, and realize that’s not just my imagination.

Mom tugs Austin over, and looks at us both. “Alright, we can talk later. Right now, we need to get out of here. There’s small ships originally designed for making trips to and from a planet, but we can use them to escape. Follow me, and don’t fall behind.” She breathes in, and her expression hardens.

We glance at each other, and nod at the same time.

Sprinting along the wall, we pass several armed aliens rushing by us. They seem more concerned with the ship about to explode than us, which makes sense. Mom slams her hand onto a circle-pad, and a wall opens up to reveal a few spaceships lined up.

“Get in this one, and not in the driver's seat.” She looks at Austin, who sheepishly grins. I climb in after, and we sit side-by-side behind her. She looks back at us. “Are you guys ready to go home?”

I smile. “Are you?”

“No.”

A chill runs down my spine. I turn, and my dad-- Patrick stands in the doorway, holding a gun towards Mom. “Make any moves, and I’ll kill you.”

She holds her left hand up. “Patrick, please. You know this is over. Our ship is exploding around us.”

He remains silent, and still.

“Why did you do it?” She asks, tone steady.

“If Earth found out the secret of Gaia, before all the other planets and galaxies…” He takes a deep breath, and smiles. “We would have been so powerful. Endium has the strength to win entire wars with just a single bomb! I couldn’t let us leave without finding out the truth.”

I glance at my mom. Her eyes are tired.

I don’t even see her right hand raise, and the gun that follows. But I hear the shot. I hear the thud of the body.

We don’t look back.

The first thing I did when we landed on Earth was hug my mom, and drag Austin into it. I duck my head, and cry. I cry for a long time, because she came back.

She came back.

When we take Austin home, Ms. Dovier just about has a heart attack when she sees the three of us. She strong arms us in, against the light protests from my mom, and places a hundred plates on our table. She refuses to accept any payment from either of us, and Austin laughs at our matching displeased expressions. Mom tries to eat slowly at first, but she must’ve really missed Earth food, because she scarfs down like, half of the plates before Austin and I even finish one!

When we leave, Mom promises to come back and properly pay for a meal. I don’t think Ms. Dovier will let her, but she can try.

Grandpa tried to hide his tears when he saw Mom, but we all saw them. Back then, I didn’t think about the fact that my grandparents lost someone too. They lost their only daughter, and had to deal with taking care of me on top of that. It wasn’t easy-- I would know. 

Grandma forces Mom to sleep in their bed for the first night, and she and Grandpa go to the couch. Mom’s really being pushed around, but I can’t laugh about it because she can do the same to me.

We can’t forget about the legal stuff that followed. She’s scheduled to go to court because of the government taking unnecessary risks and all that with the Gaia mission. I know she’ll win, because she’s got a good lawyer. Razivi Carduus herself! I’m not sure of the whole story behind it, but Austin says we were big news for a while, and it caught the Carduus Crew’s eye. I’m beginning to suspect he’s only so excited because of them being involved… eh, he’s weird like that, and yet I still keep him around.

Sirius Academy is still in business (unfortunately). We have a new principal though! Melvin Draconi came back to teach here! He says he was thinking about it for a while, and when he saw all the news about corruption in the school, he made his choice. Believe me, Austin can’t shut up about it.

Oh, and the ship did end up exploding. Most of the people escaped, but they found Alioth and Megrez floating through space. And that weird lady, she got arrested too. Apparently she had a daughter or something, who’s now living with ‘Trixie’ and ‘Grace’. I don’t know who those are either, but Austin says they’re good people. Take his word for it, I guess.

They didn’t find Patrick’s body, and Mom says good riddance. We wouldn’t have given him a burial ceremony anyways.

Mom’s gotten better. Doctors were scrambling all over the place to find a cure for this new disease. She’s not back to 100%, but her arm isn’t a sickly gray anymore-- more like a… gray cloud. I think that’s a much better analogy. 

I’m doing well, too. I love my grandparents, but they’re just a lot different than my Mom. They did their best, and I appreciate them for that, but they couldn’t have filled the gap left by her. 

Well, I’m tired. I’m still up at two in the morning, and need to go to sleep. You probably should, too. 

I might have to write an essay on this, because Mr. Draconi seems the type, so the moral of the story is ‘Don’t hoverboard on railings. You’ll end up in a hot mess.’