♦ Plague of the Desert - Part 10 ♦

♦ The Darkness of Space ♦

PT 391, Dimension Z-022

The pair reappeared in the deep reaches of space. Each of them experienced a sudden weightlessness, the chains of gravity finally letting them free. Kitty was the first to gain awareness of the new abilities they had. She jumped ahead of Fi. Launching herself onto a nearby asteroid. Fi followed, stunned by the way they floated lightly through the air to the next asteroid. It reminded them of the way they would run across houses to sneak around town.

Far away, there was what looked like a bubble protecting what may have been the last of a society in the known universe. As they jumped and twirled across asteroids, it was more like a game to Fi, and then it began to hit them as they saw the vastness of stars. It was all so confusing. The thought had never crossed their mind.

What was the desert of sinkholes? Where was Joji in relation to all of this? The thought never crossed their mind. To all residents of Joji, the world was Joji Prefecture and the dangerous desert around them. When Fi stood atop buildings in their hometown, there was an ending to the world. A place where it surely stopped. But this? There was no end. They stared infinity in the face, and it had nothing to say to an insignificant spot like them.

Through an earpiece, Fi heard Kitty’s voice rocket into their head.

“Fi-So! What are you doing?!”

Fi realized that they were drifting, far, far away from the asteroid they had been planning to land on. They floated into the nothingness, into the celestial abyss. The hostile dark reached it’s deep, black hands into Fi’s body. Their mind felt dirty, like this was something they should’ve never seen. Or even considered seeing. So when they screamed, they screamed into nothingness.

Kitty’s disembodied arm grabbed onto them. Ripping them towards Kitty, who stood safe on an asteroid. As Fi fell to the surface, Kitty was able to catch them and lay them down comfortably on the light gravitational pull of the rock.

“God. What was that all about? Deciding to take a look into space?”

Fi was silent. “I…I…I don’t know.”

“It’s okay. Come on, get up. We don’t want to look bad to our friends here.”

Fi realized they were contained in another bubble-like containment field around the asteroid. Some men in futuristic, nomadic suits looked at them. He shook hands with Kitty. Holding with a firmness and a closeness that confused Kitty.

“We accept any and all travelers. Sit down for however long you may need.”

“I should’ve let you take a break. Let’s sit down for a little while.” Kitty assured.

The space nomads had created bonfires all around the asteroid. Kitty and Fi sat across from another, staring out into the constellations.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“I always thought the desert where I was from was flat. Where am I from? Where’s Joji in relation to all of this?! Are we even real?”

Kitty laughed. “Of course we’re real. The first time I saw space gave me nightmares for weeks. We’re the dimension regulation unit. It’s kinda impossible to imagine how big a dimension is. Let me use this for reference.”

Kitty pointed their finger to a bright star in the distance.

“See that? The brightest light away from us? That’s a star. Stars are probably bigger than this whole asteroid belt combined, they are bigger than the desert, it’s all relative.”

“I can’t even imagine that…”

“Most of the others from DRU are from this planet called Earth. Apparently Earth is smaller than those stars. It’s a tiny pale blue dot. But to us, it’s bigger than your desert. Crazy, right?”

“I don’t understand…How does anything we do matter, anyway?”

“Pff, you sound like a kid. I was pretty scared at first. Dimensions are what contain space. Some are giant, like unimaginable giant. My home consisted of many floating islands. It was described as a universe in it’s infancy. The desert of sinkholes is like that too.”

“How?”

“It’s a small dimension. If we can even call it that. The desert of sinkholes is like an “inbetween” dimension. This plane of existence where all dimensions exist at once. That’s why sinkholes bring you to new dimensions.”

“I feel scared. But there’s something in me, I feel more connected to all those glitches at headquarters, in a way. In something this giant, we were all brought together. Maybe there was a reason for it.” Fi explained.

“Sorry to freak you out, but I think it’s all random. It’s what makes roasting marshmallows by the fire so much more satisfying. I chose to do it.”

Kitty zipped open her bag, she had come equipped with two marshmallow sticks.

“Did you plan this?” Fi asked.

“Any trip with a friend means marshmallow roasting by the fire.”

“Dammit. Roasting marshmallows isn’t going to make me like you.”

“Who ever decided I was trying to make you like me?”

The marshmallow Kitty cooked was a perfect brown. She wrapped it in a disgusting amount of graham crackers and chocolate. She messily bit down. The fluff of the marshmallow burst out slowly, and Kitty made sure to finish the entire thing. There was a sticky coating of confectionaries on her hands. She shamelessly licked her hands clean while Fi watched in horror.

“Didn’t you bring napkins?”

“You try and make one.” Kitty offered.

Fi began to rest their marshmallow over the open fire.

“I used to do this all the time with my sister and cousins. They’d always play and roughhouse, I remember always wanting to be involved. But they thought I was too young. So I stole all the good marshmallows and ate most of them before they got to the s’more cooking.”

“You must’ve been a pretty evil kid.” Fi started. “You never mentioned having a sister.”

“Oh, I don’t really like talking about that stuff. I just thought it was interesting.” Kitty immediately deflected.

“Well, can’t you go home?”

“Remember what I said? I’m an outcast. Outcasts are one of two things, considered dead in their original dimension, or they worked a deal out with DRU. I’m not very good at working out deals, so guess which one I am. One minute I thought I was dead, the next minute I woke up in DRU HQ.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Fi reeled.

Fi’s marshmallow began to catch fire. Kitty rushed to their aid and blew it out.

“Guess that’s a lost cause.” Fi said.

“Don’t throw it away yet! Sometimes people like burnt marshmallows. Try it!”

Kitty handed Fi a black smore. It didn’t look as pleasing as Kitty’s had. Kitty waited eagerly for Fi to bite down. It tasted exactly as it looked, burnt and blackened. They wore a smile and admitted to liking it.

“I guess it’s pretty good. Next time we’ll have to try something different.”

Kitty smiled. “Yeah! Let’s do it next time!”

Fi nearly threw their hands over their mouth after saying that. As they jumped across asteroids, they thought about what Kitty said. While she wasn’t a glitch, she could never go home, and she seemed to have no control over it. While Fi felt some resentment for her status, it wasn’t like she earned it. She was forced into the position just as Fi was.

The radio core sensor began to flash brightly as they approached the space civilization. To the pair’s surprise, when they approached the bubble, they slipped right into the large asteroid’s surface. They slowly floated to the ground.

“Wow…”

Buildings were built with a low-center of gravity. They were circular, with stairs leading inside of the asteroid. Humans wandered in and out of the buildings. Like traversing a city. The humans had no space-suits on. Many of them had cybernetic enhancements applied to their bodies. Robotic arms, legs, enhanced eyes, and more. They stood tall above Fi and Kitty. Kitty was an inch taller than Fi at five feet and seven inches. The humans towered over them, all of them were undeniably taller than six feet.

“Excuse me! Ma’am! Can I have some help?” Kitty called to a woman walking past her.

“Oh, hello. Who are you?”

“I’m a traveler from a…space outpost! Is there anyway you can help us find where we’re going? This tracker says I’ve found some…treasure, it’s like I’m standing right above it.”

“You are, Kitty.”

“...What?”

Every single human inhabiting the asteroid began to morph and shape themselves. Their skin washed away like dirt flaking off a mucky shell. Every single one of them turned into a red version of Kitty. Like they were sculpted out of clay.

“All of them are Radio.” Kitty squeaked.