“There’s only two bedrooms, so we’ll have to share one.” Anya said as she threw her sunglasses onto the desk beside the door. Jamie walked in with hesitation. She had agreed to come stay at Anya’s apartment, but only because she couldn’t stand the idea of going back to the place that Lacie would never live in again. She didn’t want to be alone either. Being left to her own thoughts would definitely send her spiraling. That being said, going to stay with aliens of another species that she just met, wouldn’t have been her first choice either. But here she was.

The apartment was small, but big enough to not feel too cramped. If she really wanted to, she could just make herself smaller. As soon as they walked in, she saw a big map of New York hung up on the wall with several pins in it. There was a small desk underneath, a swivel chair, and a TV mounted on the wall. Opposite from the TV was a comfy couch that looked to have spent many years being handed down. There were articles of clothing spread on top of the couch and desks, a couple of cans of soda on a small table near the entrance to the apartment, and a tall window that looked out onto the streets. The two bedrooms that had been spoken of before were down a tiny hallway to the right.

“How can you live with all your stuff all over the place?” Ryan said as he looked around.

“I don't, I just didn’t have time to clean up. Haven’t had anyone over in a long time.” Anya said as she picked up the few socks and t-shirts that were lying around. “So go ahead, sit down wherever you’d like. Just not my swivel chair,” she continued. She hurriedly walked to one of the back bedrooms.

“There’s only one other place to sit,” Ryan grumbled as he took a seat on one end of the couch. Jamie giggled nervously as she sat on the other end. I can’t believe I’m here right now. I can’t believe there’s a Pyrotanian sitting right next to me. Well, near me.Jamie took a look around the apartment trying not to meet Ryan’s eyes. She could hear Anya in the bedroom rummaging around.

So…should I make conversation or what? She snuck a glance at Ryan; he had his head resting on his hand, leaning on the sofa armrest. His feet were tapping. Jamie looked down at her dress and pulled at the strands of yellow fabric like it was the most interesting thing in the galaxy, fighting back the trumpeting thought in her head. She’s dead. The longer the silence went, the more she thought about Lacie, and the more real it felt. She didn’t like thinking about it. It made her chest hurt. She needed to be doing something, but she didn’t want to do anything. Every second that she spent contemplating her new home, Lacie’s face flashed in her memory, causing heart palpitations. The seconds felt like they were trudging by as slowly as possible. Jamie forced herself to relax, laid completely back on the couch and turned to Ryan.

“So who do you want to share a bedroom with?” It was the first question she could think of that didn’t involve galactic warfare. Ryan turned ever so slightly in her direction.

“The two of you can have them. I’d feel better just sleeping on the couch.”

“You sure? I…I can shift into a male if you’d feel more comfortab-“

“It’s not that. I’m just used to sleeping in small spaces. I’m not a stranger to couches. Beats sleeping in the car,” he said. Jamie fought the urge to ask him about where he lived before. She didn’t want to know anything about the person he might’ve lost. She really didn’t need that conversation right now. Suddenly Anya waltzed back in, carrying a small cardboard box. Jamie hadn’t noticed before because of the sunglasses, but her eyes were a bright green. They were very pretty.

Anya took a seat in her swivel chair and wheeled herself over to face the two of them. It was clear that she was excited.

“Alright. I’ve had this stuff since me and my companions landed on Earth.” Jamie inched closer to take a look at what was inside. Inside of the box were a few registration cards, a couple of human ids, passports, licenses, and of course, Vial. “When I left my companions, I took this with me. I figured it would help me out in the long run if I ever needed to run from authority or something, I don’t know.” From the way Anya quickly uttered that sentence, Jamie figured she must’ve had her fair share of run-ins with the human police force.

“How did you get so many ids?” Ryan suddenly asked.

“Divinity gets…some perks,” she said.

“Of course they do.” Jamie said. Warrior got "perks" all the time. It only made sense that Divinity, the second favorite, would get some too.

“So you guys had tons of human forms to choose from huh?” Ryan asked, a tint of annoyance in his voice.

“That's not the important stuff! This is what’s important.” Anya reached in and took out the registration cards. “If we’re doing Open Conquest, we’re going to have to register as a new group entirely. This is how we’re going to do it.” She tapped playfully on the blank cards.

“And I guess an excess of registration cards are part of the perks Divinity has?” Jamie asked suspiciously.

“Sometimes some of us are late to the party.” She said nonchalantly. I don’t think she understands how rare those are. 

Registration for Open Conquest is a first-come, first-serve operation with the Noble Four being given first priority. Once it starts, anyone who missed the registration period can’t participate, and then registration cards vanish without a trace. 

Apparently, Divinity just gets to register whenever they want. No wonder they have so many planets. Let everyone else do the hard work and they just swoop in when everyone's tired and low on resources. How convenient for them.Ryan must’ve thought it was just as ridiculous as she did because he scoffed and leaned back against the sofa.

“So even among the Noble Four, there’s favoritism. Interesting,” he mumbled.

Yeah, welcome to the burst-bubble club.

Anya continued unfazed, “We can register as an independent 3-man unit. They’ll think it weird but I don’t see why we’d be rejected. We’ll have to go to Origin to register in person though.”

“All of us?” Jamie asked.

“Yeah. They’ll never believe that we’re teaming up unless they see us in person. Plus, I need to be there to prove the legitimacy of these registration cards.” Yippee, a trip to the most boring planet in the universe.  The only reason anyone ever went to Origin was either for historical education purposes, Origin being the original home planet of every living being in the universe, or to inquire about Open Conquest. Origin was the planet that organized everything about Open Conquest.

It’s where every species gets their Vial, their human ids, everything they need for Open Conquest. No species would be able to start a war on any planet without the consent of Origin. 

It was business. It was government. It was incredibly bland. 

 The nature and landscapes were beautiful and colorful for sure, but the actual people were stuffy, monotone, and just plain boring. They were only there to fulfill the job of organizing and maintaining the universe. Jamie didn’t think there was anyone who actually lived and enjoyed life on Origin.

“So get a good nights sleep, because we leave first thing in the morning.” Anya said, putting the cardboard box on the floor at the foot of the couch. “The bedrooms are this way.”

“He said he wants to sleep on the couch,” Jamie said.

“Yup,” he mumbled. Anya began taking off her leather jacket,

“Oh, ok. Whatever you want.” She hung her jacket on the back of her chair. “Oh, that’s right!” she swiveled around, “How long do you guys have before you need another bottle of Vial?” she asked. Jamie smiled. The best thing about being from Chameleon was that they didn’t need to spend any money for Vial. They could shape shift into anything they wanted, whenever they wanted without it. I guess we all have our own little perks. She was about to speak up and remind her until Anya met her gaze. “I mean, Ryan. How long do you have, Ryan?” she said quickly.

“I’ll be fine for another month,” he said, kicking off his shoes and setting them neatly on the floor.

“Because we might as well pick some up while we’re there. I’ve got plenty of credit to buy plenty for the both of us—“

“I can buy my own Vial.” He said curtly. He laid down and rested his head on his arm. He closed his eyes as if to end the conversation.

“Was just offering.” Anya said quietly. She turned to Jamie. Jamie couldn’t help but smile. Miss High and Mighty is making an effort at least.

“He’s probably just bad at conversation. I’ve heard his species usually is,” Jamie playfully said.

Anya grinned. “Well, this way—“

“Actually, I’m going to go out for a bit. I just don’t feel like sleeping right now.” Jamie said.

“Oh. Sure, I left the keys over there.” She pointed to the hook by the door. She ruffled her pink hair and hesitated before she eventually decided to retire to her bedroom. Jamie picked up the keys and left, not yet ready to face her thoughts and feelings alone in a bedroom.

Jamie walked silently up and down all the blocks surrounding the area, trying to clear her head without getting too lost. Her chest felt the tightest it ever felt. She found herself clenching her fists as she tried to find something to do, anything. She walked in and out of deli stores, wanting to stuff her face with something. But nothing looked good. Everything she hovered her hand over would suddenly look unappetizing. In one store, she fought the urge to push down an aisle of potato chips as her frustration was mounting. As time went by, she kept glancing at her transmitter, only to find that what felt like half an hour had only been five minutes. The image of the one person she wanted to see right now and couldn’t, kept flashing through her mind as if to torment her. Violently shaking her head, she tried to physically push the image out of her head while fighting tears. She found herself wandering so far that she ended up in a small supermarket parking lot.

She walked up to the entrance of the supermarket and read that it had closed not too long ago. The gates hadn’t been pulled down, and there were still staff inside. She thought about breaking the glass doors. She thought about stealing as much vanilla and chocolate ice cream as she could carry. She thought about taking all the almonds, all the fudge, all the syrup, all the marshmallows. But it wouldn’t be the same. She didn’t know how to make it as warm; she didn’t know the correct almond-to-marshmallow ratio. “That’s the most important part.”

Jamie stepped back from the doors; the night air was getting cooler. She walked back to one of the delis she passed earlier and bought a regular cup of non-brand vanilla ice cream. Just tonight. I’ll only cry tonight. She told herself. Tomorrow, it’s all about taking Warrior down. She found a bench somewhere, opened up her cup of ice cream, and ate it as she finally allowed all her feelings to wash over her.