Race to the Next World

l always wake up alone and warm. I had clothes on me again even though I know that wasn’t how I fell asleep. But I did fall asleep in Sirus’ bed, I remember that. He didn’t wake me up, he just left.

I rubbed my face as I sat up, feeling my back hurt again, like usual. But at least I got to sleep after so many days. I pulled the sheets away from me as I got up, wanting to at least get cleaned off. Where the hell does Sirus even go in the morning anyway? Its too early for training. I had this numbing pain to my ear where Sirus bit me. The pain is never a surprise but I went to the bathroom to see if my ear was swelling or bleeding.

There was another scar I noticed when I moved my hair to the side, and it was a bright pink color.

He does this all the time.

I winced when I touched my ear.

The next time he bites me, I'm hitting him.

I took a shower and I got dressed in normal clothing today; I don’t expect to be on duty today but anything can happen.

I feel like Russia might come back and try to take over again.

I just wish I could have seen the whole thing instead of a blur picture on a small grid.

I’m not supposed to be on the civilian deck but I wanted to talk to go see my sister.

Its a thing where anyone that’s actually working with the forces can’t go up there; more to keep civilians from panicking or being harmed. We can talk abut what we know either. Civilization thinks the war stopped generations ago. Right now, all they believe is that we're doing expeditions which is not true or false.

So even though it's a rule that we shouldn't be up there, there's people sneaking out all the time.

There was only one chamber that separated the civilians from the fighters. These doors are never supposed to be opened. I’m not much for breaking a law, but I know people come up here for fun all the time. I just happened to stumble around and found my way here one day, and now I come back once in a while. I walk slowly down the dark hallway; its long and cold and quiet. Just like space. Finally I get to the big door that should never be opened. I pressed my hand on the scanner and it opened.

There was a legendary Coordinator that added that in their years so we could easily get in and out. The officials don’t know about it because it's a hidden scanner. It will be a terrible day if anyone found out we were able to do this.

The Mother Ship is a massive craft. The generation that created this actually created a genius piece of metal with a societal system that helped keep things in motion. The thousands upon thousands of engineers, and architects working on this spent decades putting this together.

But even so, the Mother Ship can become out dated. Every day there's maintenance going on. Coordinators are so important because we update everything for this ship constantly. We renew parts, engines, and individual systems. The engineers on the Civilian deck take care of everything else.

There are four different Civilian decks with their own populations, and those have different smaller decks. My family is on deck two.

Its been a while since I've snuck up here so finding my way around was difficult, and walking takes so long too. The elevator rides take time. My sister always has to give me directions because I get lost easily.

We always talk even though I’m not supposed to go and meet her. Despite my absence, we’re really close. She tested to be a Flyer a year ago over the will of our parents and got a perfect score, however, our parents put their foot down and said that she can’t go. She’s old enough to make the decision herself now so one day she might change her mind. Our parents tried to negotiate and say that she could be a Coordinator if she wanted to, but she really didn’t want to. She’s not much for technology and engineering.

We aren’t that different. At least, I don’t think so. Besides what we’re choosing to do with our lives, we’re practically the same.

Once I made my way on to the first level of the civilian deck, I tried to make it seem like I belonged there. There’s always a lot of changes that happens. I have to pretend like I know where I’m going although I have absolutely no clue. Alara wanted to meet me somewhere, but its going to take me a while to find her. She can give me all the directions she wants but I’m never going to know.

I followed the large groups of people that were heading in one direction. It was a long walk, but finally we made it to a large open area. There was just more people and now I got nervous. If there weren’t so many changes I wouldn’t be so lost. I looked around as I kept walking; where would Alara be? Do I have to spend another thirty minutes trying to find my way around?

This is just a world in its self, and this is the first part of it. There’s four different sections. I don’t even know which one this is. Someone came by me quietly, and linked arms with me. At first I was about to freak out, but when I looked over, I saw it was Alara. She grinned at me since she knew that she scared me.

We walked around, moving between people and trying to find a place to go that wasn’t so crowded. The only thing I noticed was the giant clock in the center of the large area. It showed the time of day, but it also changes the atmosphere around too. Its supposed to be noon, and that’s when the sun is at its highest. I always wonder if the sky would look like what’s projected for us.

Alara picked a place first, and she told me about how boring her life is. She also told me how she hates school and would rather lay in bed and watch TV before she gives in to the system. If she doesn’t do well on her tests, she won’t get a good occupation.

“I heard Russia tried to attack us yesterday,” she said and pulled me down to sit next to her by a fountain. The plants were growing around it, and the water fell on the leaves. I haven’t seen a regular plant in a while.

Its always so plain down below.

Its not my aesthetic.

But I looked over to Alara because she had said something that she shouldn’t know about. She’s not supposed to hear about what happens on the outside. No one is supposed to know.

“Where are you getting that kind of information?” I asked.

“My friend told me.” she brushed it off lightly and got excited. “So what happened? How’d you get rid of them?” she asked, interested about it.

“Someone took care of it.” I said.

“Was it Sirus? You must be so lucky to have him as a partner. I hear he’s humanities strongest for us.” she said, excited. It made me wince how she talked about him with the utmost praise like he’s a savior. His personality, not to mention him himself, is repulsive.

“Don’t say things like that, Alara.” I warned her.

“I totally want to be Flyer, but I hear they are ruthless. I probably would get beaten up.” she laughed. There are female Flyers, but they are just like the males. They all act the same. I guess I’m glad she isn’t part of them. Alara is just as pure as white itself, and I don’t need her being torn up by those beasts. “You aren’t getting hurt, are you? Mom and Dad are so worried.” she said.

“Its been years, I’m fine.” I said.

“They can still worry. We all dread getting that letter of condolence.” she said, moving her white hair back. I thought to myself, wondering how those families feel. When someone dies, their family is sent a letter with all their accomplishments, how well they served, and condolences for the lost.

“I’ll be fine.” I said.

“You must still be number one, right Aurora?” she asked. I didn’t answer her. Rankings are just numbers, however, I just want to be Commander. “You and Sirus must be number one together. That is so cool.” she said quickly. The way she looked up to me made me nervous.

She doesn’t know how we fight, what he does to me, and what I put up with.

“I think you’re taking this too far.” I said just as my tracker started vibrating. I pulled it from my pocket, checking to see if there was a problem but it was only Sirus.

Whatever he wanted can wait because I’m busy.

“You don’t give yourself enough credit.” she said as I looked up to her. I give myself too much actually. I should have known that. But I didn’t say that to her. “I probably should change my status next year, I don’t think being a doctor will cut out for me anyway.” she said.

“Well I did tell you that you need the mental skill.” I said.

“That’s a nice way of telling me I’m stupid.”

Unlike me, Alara has more strength than mental capabilities. She doesn’t process much but she has determination and that’s what holds her up. However, I did warn her it will only get tougher through the years.

“How much can you lift?” she asked me.

“Very funny.” I said sarcastically. I’m not one for physical strength. However, I would love to take apart one of the Flyers’ ships and rebuild it again.

“Being number one is serious though, Aurora. I’m sure there’s people who hate you.” she said. I knew she would lead up there.

“All you want is drama.”

“I don’t get that much. The shows they used to have hundreds of years ago are so entertaining though. I have never wanted to sit in front of a TV for so long.” She sighed. She thinks the shows now are lame compared to what they had before.

“It seems like you could be a history teacher,” I suggested as I felt my tracker still vibrating. Sirus needs to leave me alone.

“That bores me. I’m not interested.” she said.

“Are you sure being a Flyer is something you want?” I asked.

“Are you happy being a Coordinator?” she asked. Well I was, but I don’t know anymore. Sirus tends to make my job a little more difficult than I can handle.

“Yes.” I lied.

“Maybe we could be a team one day. But I don’t think I want to break up America’s strongest.” she said. America’s strongest. I like that.

“I don’t even think they have sibling teams.” I said.

“We can be the first.” she laughed. Its been a while since I’ve seen Alara. She just grows everyday and makes me miss being slightly normal, and not a toy. She doesn’t know what I go through, and I certainly don’t want her to go through it. But it was fine for now. She was so excited to do this, who am I to stop her?

“Of course we can. Then again, we’ll give Mom and Dad a heart attack.” I said.

“They know I want to do this.” she said. Coordinators are in a safe range, but that’s only when we stay inside the ship. There are some malfunctions once in a while and only Coordinators know how to fix it so we're out in space.

Flyers are the real soldiers sacrificing their lives so the American Nations can stay ahead.

“You’re going to be the death of them.” I said. Her eyes moved up just as she was about to respond to me. She held back a smile as she looked at me again.

I already know.

“We have a problem.” Sirus said behind me.

“Go a-”

“Commander Picses wants to see us.” he said. That’s a problem. I sighed and looked at Alara. She knows I have to go.

“Oh gosh, go. I’ll be fine here.” she said quickly.

Commander Picses wanted to us. I know we’re in trouble for yesterday.

I followed Sirus quietly. The further we walked, the less people there were until we were in front of those doors again, the ones that keeps us out. My heart was racing in my chest only because I know we’re in so much trouble. The Commander must be furious with Sirus’ decision and I know I’ll have to take the fault for his stupidity. That’s how it always is.

“I didn’t know you had a sister.” Sirus said to me. I would prefer if he wouldn’t talk to me.

It’d be better if we just stay quiet. Its just that I had to answer to him because I want him to not get involved with my sister. A little patronizing should do some good.

“I always thought you were the only one who could pull off an undercut like that.” he said.

Both my sister and I have an undercut, I got my hair cut before hers.

Most Coordinators have long hair. I don’t like mine long, I could never stand having too much hair. But I do have bangs. Sometimes I forget to get my hair cut and it shows because I'm always pushing it out of the way.

My sister does what she wants. Sirus basically reminded me that I have to get my hair cut again. Flyers typically don’t have long or white hair, its short and black. But Alara might dye hers since that’s what Flyers do if they end up having white hair. Sirus has thick black hair, like the rest of them. He doesn’t do anything with it.

Most Flyers just don’t care, they want to do whatever makes them happy, while Coordinators do what needs to be done.

Sirus made more comments about my sister and I didn’t respond. All the questions began to piss me off. Then he started making assumptions. This is the longest walk I’ve gone through in my life. Just hearing him talk was giving me a migraine. If I hear my sister’s name out of his mouth one more time, I might really bang my head on the wall.

“Don’t talk about my sister.” I snapped.

“Jealous?” he asked.

“If you show her the repulsive attention you’ve been giving to me, I won’t hesitate to kill you myself.” I threatened.

“She might like it.” he laughed, getting cocky. I raised my hand, ready to hit him but he glanced back, catching my wrist before I did anything. Already he had me up against the wall, and he kept me there as he smiled. “If I need to take better care of you, I will.” he said, caressing my face as his grip strengthened on my wrist.

“Let go of me.” I said through my teeth. His smile got wider but he did let go of me. I snatched my arm back, going off on my own now.

I can go to Picses by myself if I have to.

Sirus laughed behind me. All he does is annoy me constantly.

I ignored him as we walked to Picses’ Command room. This is the room I want. This is where I will be soon. I give it just a few more months before I can give orders from here.

It gives me chills when I walk in here.

Picses’ has his own set of elite forces that he commands right from here. I will never stop being amazed.

“Don’t screw this up.” I hissed at Sirus.

“Do I get a reward for being good?” he asked.

I ignored his comment as we walked into the white room. Every time I come here, its because something dumb happened. And its all Sirus’ fault. Picses was at the center, moving things around as it appeared on the screen ahead. And at the front of the room, a large window was set there to see space. There was nothing out there now, but its been claimed that we are close to entering another solar system.

“Cadet Aurora and Cadet Sirus, nice of you to get my request.” he said, not even paying attention. We stood, watching him silently as he did what he needed to. “I saw you disobey orders, Sirus. Do you have a valid reason for it?” he asked. Its not like he really wanted a reason, but he’s curious to hear Sirus’ excuse.

There’s one thing I know about Sirus. He doesn’t take challenges from anything threatening. If he thinks something is a threat, he will eliminate it as quickly as he can.

He doesn't lie about it either.

“It wasn’t as destructive as it could have been.” he said. I elbowed him and that made him rethink his answer. “I mean, there were flaws in the large weapon ship Russia had, so it wouldn’t have functioned even if put to use.” he clarified.

“But if it had been fully functional?” Picses asked.

“I would have died.” he said seriously.

“Sirus, there is a reason for the tracking device. Your Coordinator is supposed to know where you are at all times and if he doesn’t, he won’t be able to do his job.” Picses said.

“I'm definitely aware of that.”

“I don’t know how many times I have told you this. And Aurora, you must be aware of manually tracking your Flyer.” he said. I wouldn’t have a problem with that if Sirus would stop messing around with the controls.

“I'm aware of that, but I can't do anything when he changes the controls.” I said truthfully, throwing him right in the fire because I’m not taking the fall for this.

Plus I can’t stand him.

Sirus didn’t like it, he almost wanted to hit me, but I told him I wouldn’t hesitate to tell if it became a problem.

“Is that so?” Picses sounded intrigued. “I wasn’t aware that a Flyer would care to do that.” he added.

Sirus is much smarter than people give him credit for and I'm finding that out every day.

He’s also vigilant. The only reason he knows so much is because he’s constantly watching. And I know the only reason he’s watching is so he can mess with stuff himself.

“We aren’t that stupid.” Sirus spoke up. I was just about to elbow him again but I didn’t since Picses turned around to look at us.

“I wonder why you two are the best we’ve ever had, but can’t even get along.” he said.

I have never disagreed with any of the Flyers more than I do with Sirus. We’re complete opposites. We will never get along to actually be friends. I want to get the job done. Sirus wants to play around.

I can't take that.

I know being paired with him wasn’t the greatest thing, and for a while I thought it was the end of my life. But I went through that one phase where I thought that if I tried hard enough, Sirus might actually respect me.

We didn’t respond to Picses, he knew we wouldn’t. There’s nothing to say. “Its been months, but you two fight more than I’ve ever seen in my years of living. Getting along won’t kill you.” he said and turned around, going back to do what he was doing.

It won’t kill me, huh?

“You’re dismissed,” he said.

I followed Sirus out. Commander Picses might shun us, reprimand us, maybe even demote us, but I don’t think it will change anything. I can’t stand Sirus and I never will, that’s just how it is most of the time. I wasn’t going to talk about it.

Sirus didn’t stop me from going a different way. I wouldn’t stop him if he tried to leave. I wanted to be anywhere else than with him. All he does is get me in trouble when I don’t need it.

I walked down a lighter hallway, where the lights were turning completely white. That usually just means that it will be more concentrated with Coordinators. We’re always in white. Our aesthetics are brighter and have lighter colors. We can’t stand the dark, or black for that matter. We need everything to be bright.

Most of the people I knew were sitting around, talking to each other. I haven’t been here in a while; usually when Sirus comes looking for me here, he always creates trouble.

I sat next to Taurus, she was the closest person I could find. We grew up together, and then when we started training seven years ago, we were split. But since I got my section changed, I’m right next to her number wise.

Most these people are older than we are, but we all have the same experiences.

“What happened Aurora, I heard you got called to Commander Picses.” She said.

“Its Sirus again, he got me in trouble.” I sighed.

“We all told you to refuse him when he asked for you. Its unfair of Flyers just to pick us like we’re toys.” Hags said, putting his hand under his head as he looked bored.

Flyers do get priority, but we get it sometimes to depending on the situation, I think. Its a trust thing. If a Flyer doesn’t trust who they’re working with, they can request a change. Coordinators have to really put in all the effort because we’re responsible for their lives, so I get it.

I complain, but I get it.

“I didn’t think Sirus would be so terrible to work with. All he does is disagree with me and all that other terrifying stuff.” I rolled my eyes.

“Diesal even warned you. She warned you and you still said it won’t be a bad idea.” Hags said quietly. Diesal was Sirus’ partner before me. They were together for a couple months but my old partner went meddling around and got everything switched.

I glanced over to Diesal, talking to someone; for once she had her hair pinned up and I thought it was odd because she never did that usually. When she was with Sirus, she always kept her hair down. I narrowed my eyes and saw the feint scars on her ears.

Is that all it is? Does he just want to have fun with us? I looked at Hags and he just had a knowing look on his face. How many partners did Sirus go through? Why am I finding this out right now? But why am I shocked? That’s a more important question. I was utterly shocked that I could see Diesal’s scars because she has the same scars I have.

“Are you thinking of changing?” Taurus asked, snapping me out of my trance.

“I can’t.” I said.

“Since you’re number one.” Hags mocked. “You shouldn’t have to go through torture just because Commander Picses is ranking you.” he said seriously.

I never believed the rankings mattered that much. They’re just numbers based on tests and abilities. Anyone can be number one in their own way. It doesn’t matter. But then I realized how seriously Picses was taking it and I had no choice but to destroy everyone else because I want to be Commander. I need this.

“I want to be Commander.”

“What makes you think you won’t be?” Taurus asked. “You’ve been number once since your first mission. I think you’re good enough even if you didn’t have a partner.” she said kindly.

“You can always make a request any time. I always do it.” Hags said. He changes partners every month since he doesn’t get along with any of the Flyers. I think it would be stressful to keep up with that. I’m only with Sirus so I can guarantee my spot as Commander.

“I’ll think about it.” I said as I got up.

“Don’t get hurt.” Taurus said, smiling up at me.

“I won’t.” I said.

I have a few questions, and I would like all of them answered right now. I left the table and walked down the hall. I was determined to talk to Sirus now. I walked to our room to find him on that damn computer of his.

“What’d you do to Diesal?” I asked. That’s when he looked up at me. I know most of the truth so he can’t lie to me.

“What?”

“She has the same scars on her ear like I do.” I said.

He laughed, now realizing what my question meant.

“So what?” he asked.

“Do you do this to everyone?” I asked.

“I get bored.” he shrugged.

“That is not an excuse to use us like toys, Sirus. We don’t serve as your entertainment.” I said quickly, getting mad every second.

“Did you think you were my one and only? Is that why you’re so upset?” he asked, getting up.

“No, I just-”

“What? Don’t like how you’re just after so many? I didn’t think you’d care so much.” he said, coming closer to me. I stared at the ground, wanting to avoid his eyes.

My silence dragged on.

The alarm sounded, going off frantically, and I knew this was a code red. Sirus sighed, not even surprised anymore, just annoyed. He doesn’t care about this stuff, the more serious it is, the less he cares.

I didn’t wait on him, I left on my own, not even changing since there was no time for something like that. I ran off, going to my section’s room. More Coordinators filed in front and behind me, wondering why something was happening so early.

We all suspected Russia but it wasn’t, that’s what Picses was saying as he gave us our orders quickly.

Its Europe.

They aren’t much of a fight as Russia is considering how much bigger they are, but they come more frequently than Russia or any other nation does.

I put on my headset as I turned up my screen, checking Sirus’ status. He’s weaker today, his health is down a lot. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to let him go out there with the way his health looks.

“What’d you do, Sirus? Your health is down.” I said.

“I’m tired.” he lied.

“What’s the real problem? I won’t let you go until you tell me.” I said, just waiting to press the green button.

“Aurora-”

“Thirty percent is a big deal, Sirus.”

“I didn’t sleep last night, okay. Just leave me alone.” he said bitterly.

“Maybe you should really try taking better care of yourself.” I murmured.

“How about you do your job, Aurora, instead of complaining about me.” he snapped.

“My job is monitoring you! I’m responsible for you, Sirus. If something happens to you, I get in trouble for it. I wish you would understand that.” I said quickly, getting upset. Sirus makes this difficult every time. And right now is one of the worst times. He didn’t say anything and I know if he did, I would probably abandon him.

“Two thirty-six?”

“Ready.” I murmured as I sat down. I’m sure Sirus can handle everything on his own for now, we aren’t in danger. I widened my screen as I saw Europe’s fleet show up on the grid. They probably got tougher since the last time I’ve seen them, but I won’t say anything yet.

I watched enemy fleets disappear from my screen one by one. People were pretty calm for a while, not panicking as more and more dots disappeared. Sirus didn’t talk to me but its not like I would say a word to him. I can’t handle the stress of fighting right now. Its too much. Everything went along smoothly for now and that’s what I focused on. Sirus managed to stay at his health level; nothing changed for the most part.

“Commander Carsus!” Someone in a row behind me shouted.

It stirred us up as we looked at her; she looked scared and seeing her like that made us panic a bit.

“Two fifty-five’s ship is heating up.” Sirus said to me. She must be two fifty-five.

“Its Berz’s ship. I have no control over it!” she said quickly, panicking.

I almost didn't believe that. I looked over to Taurus and she looked back at me with the same panic.

Carsus faced her direction. “May, what’s-”

“The pressure inside is changing, and the oxygen level is lowering.” she said quickly.

“Sirus.” I said, processing everything May just said. This is a huge malfunction. And this one is not a computer error, its a human one. “Get out of there now. That ship is about to blow up.” I warned him quickly just as everyone else gave that order to their Flyers.

Two fifty-five was off my grid and I knew it had blown up in that second. It was dead silent. No one else should have been caught in that. But some of Europe’s fleet was around it. We can’t continue fighting, not when that just happened.

“All units are to return to the Mother ship. Commander Picses’ fleet will take care of the rest.” Carsus said.

The Flyers’ ships never malfunction like this before, a computer always checks it for anything fatal or life threatening. I have never heard of a ship blowing up like that one just did. This is going to change our protocols.