Young Writers Society

"I bet," Bo said, glancing back at Lode with a small smile before heading ahead up the steps and leading him to the door of his apartment. It took him a second to fish for his keys, but he opened the door pretty quickly, pushing it open with his foot.

"I'll just be a minute in here. Do you need anything? Water? Food? Bathroom?"

"A glass of water would be nice," Nova said, marveling at the interior of the apartment. It wasn't anything like what he was used to, but it also wasn't anything...bad. It just looked a little old - even for Bo's time. "I had something to eat before I ended up here, so I'm not too hungry."

He looked back at Bo as he stepped inside.

Now that they were away from other people's prying eyes, it was probably a good idea for him to reveal who he actually was. He had been thinking of doing it after they left the motorcycle, but he hadn't wanted anyone else to see his ID chip.

He waited for the door to close before he dug into his pocket.

As he removed the chip from his pocket, the pocketknife he had found in the alleyway went tumbling out of his pocket. It wasn't until he was about to turn the ID's hologram on that he realized the knife had fallen - and how bad it would look.

He stared down at the knife.

Bo paused in the hall, glancing back at Lode just in time to see him fumble with something in his pocket and drop a knife on the floor. Bo had already set the bike helmet on a hook by the door, so he bent down and picked it up, holding it out to Lode.

"Whatcya looking for?"

"Thanks," he sheepishly said, taking the knife back and returning it to his pocket. Once he was sure the knife wasn't going to fall out again, he showed Bo the ID chip he had about to turn on.

"I wanted to show you this," he said. "It's an ID chip. I, er, lied about my name earlier - it's not Lode."

He turned on the holographic display. A moment later, his ID page popped into existence above it. It listed his name, his ranking, and even his current planet of residence. And, of course, it showed his actual appearance - but quickly shifted to his current once the chip registered that he had shifted.

"My name is Nova," he admitted. "I wanted to tell you sooner, but I wanted to be somewhere more private so I could show you my ID as proof."

Bo's eyes widened as he looked at the futuristic looking holographic ID.

"Oh wow, that's cool!" he said, sticking his finger through the holograph just to test it out. Predictably, the image stayed intact except for where his finger was blocking the light.

As he looked at the picture of Nova change to his current face, his head tilted to the side just a little in confusion.

"Why'd the picture change?"

He glanced down at the ID chip.

"It changes depending on what I look like," he said. He looked back up at Bo as he shut off the ID and slipped it back into his pocket. His tone started to shift; it would have been clear to Bo that he was to being an educator's position. "I'm one-eighth dai, so I can change my form once a day. I don't usually do it, but it's helpful in situations where I need to fit in."

If it was only 2019, he doubted that the dai had made contact Earth. But his explanation hopefully made enough sense to Bo, even without having met the dai before.

"Ooooh." Bo nodded and turned into the kitchen, quickly tossing his vegetables in the fridge and then grabbing a glass from the cupboard. "So Dai are like, shapeshifters, then, huh."

He nodded.

"There's multiple shapeshifting aliens," he added. "Dai are just one of them."

Bo grabbed a pitcher of water out of the fridge and poured the glass, handing it to Nova before pausing.

"...okay, maybe this is a dumb question, but do you think past water - even filtered water - would mess with your system? It's not tap, but... I don't know how water compares in the future and what your body is used to."

Nova mulled the question over, taking the glass from Bo and studying it with a contemplative look. He hadn't thought of that; his body was usually fairly good at adjusting to new things.

"I don't think so," he hesitantly said.

Before he could let himself question it more, he lifted the glass to his lips and started to drink from it. The water did have a slightly different taste, but it wasn't all that worrisome just yet.

Bo watched with his brows drawn together but decided to follow through with his original plan. They'd go to the beach. At this point, they'd just have to wait it out and see how Nova felt later.

Bo make two long strides to the door, fishing his keys out of his pocket again.

"Well, you can finish that off - or just drink as much as you want for now - and leave it on the counter. If you start feeling funky just let me know and we'll find a bathroom or some meds."

Nova downed the rest of the water.

Once the glass was on the counter, he joined Bo outside the apartment. The two of them left for Bo's motorcycle again. After a short drive, they arrived on a beach that wasn't all too different from what he was used to - the outfits of the people there were different, as well as the quality of the beach itself. But all of those differences were too minute to bring up.

Bo parked and hopped off his bike and threw his keys in his pocket and the helmet in the back. The beach wasn't too busy for a Tuesday morning at like, almost 8:30 in the morning. Some shops were opening up, and a few people were out walking their dogs or running. It was a weekday, and the school had started, so there weren't really any kids around or families. At least that meant things were quieter in case anything weird happened.

Not that Bo thought Nova would do anything weird - he just didn't trust this situation in general. People from other worlds always brought problems, and it wasn't like it was their fault most of the time, it just was.

He waved a hand for Nova to follow him down the beach onto a sidewalk. He didn't feel like walking in the sand in shoes, and he didn't feel like carrying his shoes around. But the beach scene and the salty ocean air could be good for clearing a head.

"So, when did you get here, then?" he said, glancing back at Nova. "Pretty recently, I'm assuming?"

Nova nodded.

It had been awhile since he had been to a beach - and even longer since he had been to one this nice. It would be wrong to say that all beaches in the future were the same, but this one felt...different. Nova couldn't put his finger on why. Maybe it was the color of the sands, or maybe it was just because there were less people present. He wasn't sure.

He looked back at Bo.

"I got here less than an hour before I ran into you," he admitted.

Bo looked over at him with his eyebrows raised. "Oh shoot, really? Man, no wonder you seemed so frazzled. I mean, I'm glad you ran into me of all people, but man, dude. That's intense. So like, how'd you even get here exactly? Do you know, or did you just end up here without warning?"