The Sky Drifter (5 page)

“I’m okay, Iris, thanks,” I said, trying to assure her. I brought my hand to my head, still feeling slightly dizzy, and sat up. Flexing my knee, I asked, “Did One really kiss you?”

“
No
, he didn’t
kiss
me! Do you really think I’d let him get that close?”

“Man,” started Pi, who stood slouching in front of me, “you should have seen her when she heard what No Face had said. It took all of coach’s strength to stop her from pummelling him. Even his goon looked scared!”

Feeling slightly relieved, I asked, “Where is he now?”

“Luckily for him,” replied Iris, “Mr Hist kicked him out, along with his idiot Morex friend.”

“Yeah, so it looks like you won’t be going up against him today, bro. He was banned for a week,” said Pi just as he munched on Eruca bread.

“When I see him,” began Iris, her eyes seething so intensely with anger flames could have burst from them, “I’ll…”

“Don’t worry. You’ll just get in trouble,” I told her. “We’ll settle it next week in the sphere.”

Quick as a flash, Iris moved from sitting next to me to kneeling on one leg on the bench, her face mere inches from mine, making me jump a little.

“Did you forget which race I come from, hmm?” she began, squinting her eyes, her lips curling into a devilish smile.

“N-no.” I gulped, my heart racing.

“If I want to go after him,” she said slowly, “you can safely bet I would
not
get caught.” She could really be scary, sometimes.

“Oo, you’ve done it now, Seven,” teased Pi, his hairy, light-brown face instantly changing from smug to fearful as Iris turned to scowl at him.

“I know you could,” I began, “I just don’t think it’d be worth it. Besides, he only said it to put me off, so I’d prefer to get back at him myself.”

This seemed to pacify Iris slightly, who sat back down next to me. “Yeah, well, make sure you do, okay?” she said.

“Oh, I intend to,” I assured her.

I went back to practice, which went a lot better than it’d done up until then, defeating two other players without injury. After training was over, I went to the locker room, and after being sprayed all over by MOOs as soon as I walked in, I had a shower and then changed.

I met up with Iris and Pi, who waited just outside the stadium. Pi had to go to the cooking club he was a member of so after making arrangements to meet at the ‘shake place we always went to later, he slinked away, leaving Iris and me to walk to our halls together.

We left the academy and then entered the busy maze of narrow streets that made the town. As we walked, Iris browsed the various trinkets that were offered at the stalls and being a lot quieter and pensive than usual.

When finally we reached the path that led to our halls, she asked, “Seven, can I ask you something?” There was a slight hesitation in her voice, I thought.

“Sure,” I replied.

“Were you upset when you thought One kissed me?”

My head suddenly felt very hot. “W-what?” I stuttered.

“It’s just…You seemed upset.”

I turned my head slightly, almost not daring to look at her. To my surprise, Iris looked straight down, ahead of her, a reddish hue coloring her glistening, multicolor face through her long, light-blue hair. Losing any nerve I may have had, I replied a little louder than I would have liked, “Oh no, I wasn’t upset. I was just surprised he’d take his mask off, that’s all!”

Still looking down ahead of her, Iris simply said, “Okay.”

For the rest of the way, I tried to make breezy conversation, but she only replied with quiet “mhs.” Finally, we reached my halls. A three-story, rectangular block with molded edges of white and vertical orange lines. In front of my door, I turned to Iris, who still seemed lost in her mind.

“Are we still on for later, then?” I asked.

“Hmm? Oh, of course we are, numb brain!” she replied, forcing a huge smile. Before I could say anything else, though, Iris said, “Okay, I’ll see you there!” She trundled off down the path again toward her own halls, which were a few blocks away from mine.

I turned toward the door, feeling as though I’d said something stupid and placed my hand vertically parallel to the pad on the wall. After the reader had identified who I was, the white and orange door slid open with a fluid
swoosh
, and I walked into my living quarters.

Inside looked exactly as I’d left it that morning. The large window above my bed was still on tint mode, making my surroundings rather dark.

“Welcome back, Seven,” greeted the quarter’s automated voice assistant or AVA for short.

“Hey, Ava,” I replied. “How are you today?”

“I am well, Seven, thank you. How are you?” Her voice was soft and graceful.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I think I just upset Iris, though,” I told her, navigating through the piles of clothes, books, game cases, and wrappers strewn across the floor.

“As always, you have a way with words, Seven,” she replied. Ava, unlike any other assistant I’d ever come across, seemed to have her own very distinct personality. And she had a particular liking for sarcasm and irony.

“Yeah, yeah, but she acted a little weird, though. She was being all quiet.”

“When in doubt, assume it is your fault, Seven.”

“Thanks, Ava, helpful as always,” I retorted, turning on my classic Hi-Fi system to a raw guitar blues playlist.

“You are welcome, Seven. Are you ever going to clean your quarters, Seven?”

“I’ve told you before. It’s
your
job to do it. You’re an
assistant
, remember?”

“I am not your slave, Seven. You are just lazy.”

There was an AVA in every living quarters within every hall. Their specific purpose, aside from maintaining living conditions so they were clean and tidy via operating various machinery hidden behind walls, was to adjust temperatures, answer calls, give messages, take out the trash, and everything else that made life easier for students.

Ava, however, only did some of those things. When she felt like it. Most of the time, however, she behaved more like a lazy student than anything. Ava, in fact, was the reason I tended to wake up late every morning. She, like every other AVA, was supposed to wake me up on time before the academic day began. She, however, preferred to sleep in herself, waking up long after I’d gone. When she
did
wake up, she liked spending her time channel hopping or playing video games.

After deciding to ignore Ava’s last comment, I turned the window to clear mode and then went into the small kitchen opposite my bedroom, which was also my living room. In comparison with it, the kitchen was relatively tidy. The small island in the middle of the room was almost clutter-free, with only a few random papers and cartons on it. An L-shaped counter ran the length of the back wall and half of the right.

I turned to my left and opened the long door to the clear chill cube. I saw before even opening it that I only had a few dagon and milow fruits left. After grabbing a couple of each, I walked to the Multi-Food Preparation System (or food-maker thing) and dropped them inside the wide opening above. I reached to my right, picked up the first cup I felt from the long shelf overhead and placed it inside the food maker. I closed the lid and pressed the liquidizing button. Less
than a second later, I opened the lid again, picked up the cup and took a sip of my milkshake.

“You need to buy more food, Seven,” said Ava.

“Yes, I know.” I sighed. “It’s not like you can eat any of it, is it?”

“I like the way it looks, Seven. It is colorful. Buy more of it.”

“Yes. That and the fact you’re concerned for my well-being, right, Ava?”

After a slight pause, Ava replied, “Whatever you need to tell yourself, Seven.”

“I love you, too, Ava,” I replied, smiling.

“Do you want to play a game, Seven?”

“Let’s,” I answered, walking into my bedroom. “What do you feel like playing?”

“Same as last time, Seven?”

“Excellent idea, Ava.” I placed the cup on my desk and then sat on the chair in front of it.

Ava turned on the large display above it as I put on my gaming gloves. We played until the artificial sun outside began to dim.

I looked at the time and stopped the game. “Sorry, Ava. I have to get ready to go out.”

“You were losing anyway, Seven,” she lied.

After putting on some light brown combat shorts, a blue t-shirt and blue boots, I drifted over to the window. Outside, groups of students ambled, crawled, or hovered past as they headed into the town for the evening. All, except one. Directly across from my window stood a girl under a Cerasis tree. She appeared to be Simian (which surprised me as I thought I was the only one aboard), and looked slightly shorter than me. Her short, bobbed hair was as dark as a black hole. Her skin was ghostly white and she wore a short, red coat with black round buttons. Her knee-length skirt and shoes were also black. The most striking thing about her, though, was her big, dark-green eyes, which stared right into mine.

“WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT
, Seven?” came Ava’s voice.

“There’s a girl outside. She’s staring at me,” I replied.

“Are you certain you are not the one who is staring, Seven?”

“I’m looking
back
at her. There’s a difference.”

After a short pause, Ava uttered, “Pervert.”

“Hey!” I exclaimed indignantly, turning briefly around as though I could face her. “I am
not
a pervert, Ava! She really
is
staring at me. Look!” I turned back to the window, pointing at where the girl had been standing, but she was gone.

“I do not see anyone, Seven.”

“There really was a girl there, I swear!”

“Okay, Seven. Okay.”

“Mmmgaaah!” Ava could really be frustrating sometimes. The worst thing was that she not only knew it but delighted in it.

“Are you not going to be late, Seven?”

Realizing Ava was actually right, I dashed across the room, turned off the Hi-Fi and light she’d earlier turned on and left my living quarters. I hurried up the path, which was now illuminated on both sides by round, white lights that dotted its length.

Students were still merrily trundling over to the town ahead, spilling over onto the dirt and grasses, which made them look like slowly moving barriers. Through forests of legs I crawled, over spiky heads I leapt and between gelatinous bodies I squeezed. I came closer and closer to the town, whose many lights shone like a beacon ahead.

The enormous oval dome above had now become transparent, revealing the astonishing splendour of space outside. The never-ending inky sea was dotted with sparkling stars while nebulae and supernovas, like blooming astral flowers, shone green, gold, and red all around.

Finally, I reached the town, whose bustling streets were filled with the lively sounds and songs of the many who inhabited the
Sky Drifter
. The floor lights along every street shone up the sides of buildings, giving them an orange-yellow glow.

I managed to squeeze past the last of the crowd and then entered Shabli’s Shake Shop, which was packed, as always. Despite being one of the smallest places in town, it was the most popular, especially among students. It had the widest selection of ice creams and shakes anywhere, and they were all as delicious as the next. There wasn’t a flavor they didn’t have, nor a concoction they hadn’t tried. Everyone was crazy about them.

Mrs. Ursa was the only owner of the café now that her husband, Mr. Shabli, had passed away. I’d heard they’d tirelessly searched every inch of the universe to find the very best flavors.

I looked around for signs of Iris and Pi until, from the bustling sea of customers, a long, hairy arm rose, a yellowed claw wiggling back and forth.

I squeezed and bumped my way into the place, repeating, “Excuse me, sorry, excuse me,” every few steps.  As I neared Pi’s hairy arm, I tripped on something scuttling by my feet and stumbled head-first onto a Quan’s sleek, dark-yellow back. It’s long, glistening neck reached high above with its narrow head pressed up horizontally against the ceiling. At once, the Quan slowly lowered its head and placed it inches from mine. It’s two big, round eyes looked unblinkingly at me as they rested on their long protrusions that extended from either side of its head.

“I’m really sorry. I think I tripped on something by my feet, and…” I began, sweat building on my brow. With a look of disinterest, the Quan silently raised its head to the ceiling again, and I took a deep breath of relief.

“Hi,” I said, wedging myself between a chair and the table.

“Saved your seat for you,” said Pi.

“Thanks,” I replied, noticing the begrudging looks from surrounding customers, who no doubt had tried to take it.

“What’re you having?” asked Pi before wrapping his black lips around his straw and taking a long sip from the fluorescent blue liquid he drank from a tall glass.

“Huh?” I replied, turning back to face him, “Oh, I don’t know. What is
that
?”

“No idea. Random choice,” he smiled, looking at the contents of his glass. “Nice, though.”

 I looked at Iris, who seemed intently focused on her Equinox, and noticed she wore an off-the-shoulder pink top instead of the usual vest tops she liked to wear. I looked back at Pi, questioningly.

“Don’t look at me, dude. She’s been quiet ever since we got here. She hasn’t even touched her ice cream,” he said, pointing at the red and green cream inside a bowl in front of her. “So?” he persisted.

“So, what?” I asked.

“So, what’re you going to have?”

“Oh yeah, right,” I replied, touching the display on the table, making the menu flash up. After looking it over a while, I made my choice and pressed “select.” Moments later, a slot in the middle of the table swished open, and my order came up from beyond it.