Rising Shards

Chumbler and Z.O.K. dove out of the ship as soon as it landed, cherishing the solid ground, even if it was pavement and uncomfortable to kiss. Rain followed shortly after, still clutching her head. Behind her trotted out Chellsi, Mikeila-Keila, Elisa Burwell, and Kitty Kilander. Kitty had rushed them all onto a void ship and took off after Ovie and the others’ ship. Kitty claimed she was just having fun when she veered really close to them, but it still made for a panic inducing ride.

“So this is Void Station Spero, huh?” Chumbler asked, looking around. “It looks like a parking lot but like, in hell.”

“I think this place is lit up entirely by neon and tire fire.” Z.O.K. said.

“It looks like we’re in a music video,” Chumbler said, nodding at the station’s general heavy metal vibe. In the distance, she could see huge walls curving around them, which suggested this was basically actually like a space station. There were many other ships of all shapes and sizes around them, with people scuttling about them, not paying Chumbler’s group any attention. “It’s a sea of ships. There must be…fifteen spaceships parked out here!”

“They’re not spaceships.” Z.O.K. said.

“It’s very loud.” Rain said.

Chumbler didn’t want to waste too much time trying to understand her strange new surroundings and tried to formulate a plan.

“Remind me never to get on a ship like that again,” Z.O.K. said.

“Oh, but aren’t you always on that kind of ship with me?” Chumbler asked.

“What?” Z.O.K. said.

Chumbler blinked. “I might be a little out of it from how someone was flying.”

“You mean flying awesomely?” Kitty asked, butting her way into their conversation as soon as she was slightly hinted at. “Come on, up top, girls.” She waited until Elisa, Chellsi, and Mikeila-Keila all high fived her. “Now where were we?”

“Hrrk,” Rain said, clutching her head. “It’s…very loud here.”

“If you don’t have any gummies that can re up Rain’s brain, can you do something for her headache, like some kind of pain-relieving meds, you feel me?” Chumbler asked.

Kitty clicked her tongue. “Fiiiine. One sec.” She darted back into the ship and returned with a helmet.

“Here, take this.” Kitty said, planting the helmet on Rain’s head. “It’ll help with the headache, boo. Not very styling but whatevs can you do, ya know? That better?”

Rain looked like the helmet was very heavy, but then gave a thumbs up.

Kitty clapped. “See! Clears them headaches right—I’m so bored of this conversation, I was in the middle of something so much more interesting, I’mma get back to it, kay?” She marched over to the other ship, waiting at its bay door.

"Her attention span reminds me of someone." Z.O.K. said. "A lot about her reminds me of someone."

"Whoever could that be?" Chumbler asked. "Someone horrifically awful, I imagine."

“You don’t think they left already, do you?” Kitty asked, putting her hands on her sides. “Cuz this be hella awkward if I’m just standing here and they already left.” She kicked at the side of the ship. “I know you’re in there! I wanna talk quick.”

As Kitty continued to call out to the other ship, Chumbler grabbed Z.O.K. and Rain by their arms. “Hey, so, idea. First off, Rain, can you still hear us with that bad boy on?”

Rain nodded, then said something that was completely muffled by the helmet.

“Terrific.” Chumbler clapped once. “Let’s get the hell away from Kitty. I hate her.”

“You wanna just run off into this scary parking lot? We might fall into that distant tire fire…” Z.O.K. said.

“Something about risks here being like gamble, and gamble is good, so says Chumbler.” Chumbler said.

“Are you gonna try any harder than that to convince us?” Z.O.K. said. “Like, even a modicum of effort here?”

Rain said some inquisitive muffled words.

“OK, I am kind of curious about that, yeah.” Z.O.K. said.

“Exactly! Plus, maybe we’ll find some gambling stuff here,” Chumbler said. “Plus plus, I don’t want to be around Kitty no more. No, no, nope.”

“Minus, we might get actually trapped here.” Z.O.K. said. “And please don’t immediately bring up the gambling risk thing again.”

“We’ll figure out a way back, it’s not like we’re entirely doomed here.” Chumbler said. “Let’s run away already before she notices!”

Z.O.K. thought about it for a moment. Rain said something else, but it too was muffled by her helmet.

“Fine, you make a good point, Rain.” Z.O.K. said. “But it’s Chumbler, not ‘Chomper.’ And Chumbler, don’t yell out ‘run’ like you always do when we have to run away from people, that gets them on our trail.”

“Right, right, right,” Chumbler said. “But wait, how do we know when to run then?”

“Just go!” Z.O.K. hissed.

The trio ran off into the sea of ships. They stopped as soon as they were past them, in a new area with lots of booths.

“You ran pretty well with that thing on,” Chumbler said, wheezing as she patted Rain’s helmet like she was a pet dog. “Now, where are we?”

“Still in Spero.” Z.O.K. said, pointing to a bright neon sign that said ‘SPERO’ on it.

“I know that, dumbass. We didn’t teleport, we just ran for a few minutes.” Chumbler said. She looked around the booths near them, mostly consisting of food vendors. “It looks like a food court but like, in hell.”

“Smells like it too,” Z.O.K. said. She poked Rain’s helmet. “Hopefully that thing blocks odors.”

“I wouldn’t eat anything here,” A cloaked figure nearby them said.

“Ugh, judgy people on Spero apparently.” Chumbler said. “I didn’t even say I was gonna eat there, pal.”

“Not judging, just trying to protect a fellow student,” The cloaked person said.

“Say eh now?” Chumbler asked.

They pulled their hood down, revealing pale skin, deep red eyes, and bright blue hair.

“You’re that…android clone girl.” Z.O.K. said.

“Yep, 09! I dunno if we’ve talked before.” 09 said.

“The hell you doing here?” Chumbler asked.

“I work in the shadows now.” 09 said.

“What is that you got on?” Chumbler said, pulling at the fabric draped around 09’s shoulders. “Like a shower curtain?”

“It’s my sneaking cloak,” 09 said.

“It absolutely looks like a shower curtain.” Z.O.K. said.

“It’s not…it came with me in the…” 09 said. “Never mind me, why are you three here?”

“How many times do I have to explain this today?” Chumbler asked. “We were trying to get people to go to Chumblerosa, but then Kitty found us and brought us with to follow ehhh. Ovie…something. What’s her last name?”

“Chirhart,” 09 said. Her eyes glowed for a moment. “Perfect.”

Chumbler’s wristband lit up. “Hey, what’s this?”

“I sent some coordinates to my safe house.” 09 said. “You should head there quickly if you want to stay safe."

“But isn’t a risk inherently a gambl—” Chumbler started.

“Let’s just go, ugh.” Z.O.K. said.

“I have to keep an eye on the others, but I’ll check in soon.” 09 said.

“Cool whatever!” Chumbler said as 09 ran off. “Guess we’re going to this safe house, ooh.”

“You could maybe be a little grateful that she just helped us out here.” Z.O.K. said.

“You know what I think?” Chumbler asked.

“What’s that?” Z.O.K. said.

“That this trip royally sucks.”