Summer heat blazed across Colony Eight with no hesitation.

The day had been terse, tedious, and utterly unproductive, in terms of Rory's research.

Corrin hadn't been there yesterday and today, and in turn, made Rory's research gather more dust.

Rory trudged home with his hands dangling lazily to his side, and with his sweatshirt tied around his waist.

Why is it so damn hot today…?

The humidity grouped around his neck, making the area feel like a sticky mass of perspiration. While his hair served as a conductor and soaked up even more blistering heat.

Rory continued along the sidewalk, with half-closed lids, and a dreamy expression.

The day I make it out of this heat, I'll be an overcooked piece of human steak.

At the sight of his front door, he charged in desperation to it.

Forcefully, he dug out his house key and jabbed it into the door. With a last turn of the key, the door was open with a satisfying click.

He flung the door open, a gust of air conditioning greeting him.

“Oh God bl-”

Suddenly, the children toppled out from their settlement, running towards him like titans.

Shit!

Rory made an attempt to evade them, jumping towards the stairwell.

He felt a sensation of ease until his foot slipped out from under him and his torso collapsing to the hard tile floor.

Feet could felt crawling and stepping all over his back, and eventually his head.

Rory laid there in defeat. He was exhausted, and couldn't care less at this point.

The children lost interest since Rory didn't fight back, or let alone do anything.

After the children had left his corpse, Rory slowly slumped up from his grave and closed the front door.

He gave one last burst of energy to the couch and immediately sunk into it.

Rory's eyes closed, the world fading into black.

Rory hit the ground. His dark brown eyes flashed open.

The long grass tickled his face and moistened his clothing.

Where am I…?

He peered up at the dark night sky, and at the misty collection of stars in the vast pool of sky.

For a moment it seemed so beautiful, but at the next, a sensation of fear overcame him.

Footsteps could be heard behind him, crunching the grass as they went.

Rory spun around, seeing Corrin standing there dressed in a white outfit.

“Corrin?!”

Corrin dashed across the grass. Rory went after him, not able to keep up.

“Wait!”

Corrin kept running, leading Rory into an opaque, white fog.

Rory followed but at a loss of where his steps led him.

He came into a clearing, the fog circling the empty selection was grass. Beyond the grass in front of him, he could make out three figures hidden by the dense fog.

Corrin has to be one of them… I can't hear footsteps anymore, so one of them has to be him!

Foot by foot, he approached them, stamping down the grass as he went. As he drew near, he first saw glints of metal.

What followed, was beyond horrific.

There were two people there, standing above Corrin who sat on his knees.

But the two people had antenna television sets for heads. The one on the left had a fuzzy screen, with an eerie screeching whining from it.

The other had an old man on its screen. The man had grotesque wrinkles, eyes sinking into their sockets, and a gaping mouth. It was silent, but no matter what direction it faced, the old man's eyes were always laid on Rory.

Corrin looked up at Rory, his expression not showing any disturbance, although the two telly heads loomed above him.

The two telly heads produced knives, the sharp blades rubbing against one another. They drew closer to Rory, their slicing getting louder.

Rory's throat closed on itself. Something twisted his insides, his breathing cutting off.

Fear drowned him.

Air escaped him.

With an attempt to cough out a single breath, the telly heads and Corrin disappeared from view.

“...Rory?!”

His head collided into the ground, the world blurring before him.

Desirae ran for the kitchen. She ripped open one of the drawers, grabbing the inhaler.

Rory tried to gasp for air, his throat refusing to open up. He clutched it as he tossed around on the ground.

Desirae came back into the living room, inhaler in hand. She wrestled him down, then put it into his mouth.

She squeezed it gently, trying to correct Rory's air flow.

Gradually, Rory's throat began to release air again, and the mixed hues on his face began to fade away.

“Mom…” He croaked, inhaler free from his mouth.

She shushed him, heading to the kitchen for water.

She quickly came back, glass in hand.

“Drink… Don't talk,” She told him gently, putting the glass into his hand.

“Okay…”

He guzzled down the whole glass, quenching his parched throat, and taking away his raspy voice.

“Did you wear your mask today? The air quality was horrible today…”

Rory didn't take a single glance at the air quality today (unlike he usually did), and never even glimpsed at the black doctor's mask on his desk of papers.

“...No.”

“Rory!” She scolded, “what if I had to rush you to the hospital?! What if… what if you-”

“I'm sorry Mom… I was lousy, and disgruntled by school and forgot…”

In reality, Rory had Corrin on his mind. The rush of ideas for research clogged up his usually on-top-of-it mindset.

She sighed, her tired face looking even more faltered now.

She embraced him tightly, not letting him go for a long time.

“...Make sure to say bye to your sister…okay?”

“What?! She's leaving today?!”

“Yes dear… I'm gonna prepare dinner, okay?” she said, smiling weakly.

Rory nodded, the feeling of dejection building upon him.

He watched as she went into the kitchen, listened to the click of the stove turning on, and the crackle of oil on the pan.

Ah shit… I really fucked up.

Rory pressed his elbows into the ground as he laid on his stomach. He stared at his com, with little interest in the game he played.

A new message appeared from Vega.

He exited his game, then proceeded to check out the new message.

Vega: make sure ur mom is K she probs is sad that Jinko is leaving…

Ik

Vega: Good.

Btw don't come over tonight

Vega: why??? 

Mom feels like shit I feel like shit it just all sucks I don't want u to be a comical relief

Vega: oh okay. Why u sad?

I don't wanna talk about it

Vega: oh… okay. Hope u feel better then

Thx

Rory chucked his com into a pile of clothes phone away, the sound of a notification muffling into the clothes.

He turned over onto his back, staring up at the bulb hanging from the ceiling. His mind seemed to make the light swing like a second clock hand; counting down until Rory's next mess up.

A loud vibrating came from Rory's clothes pile.

“Ugh! I told Vega that he doesn't need to come over- Corrin?!”

Rory's hand hovered over his phone. He answered, but couldn't quite believe that Corrin, of all people, would actually call him.

“H-Hello…?”

“Hi. It's Corrin. I was just wondering if we could meet up at the library tomorrow for some studying,” Corrin proposed as if he were talking to a business partner.

“U-uh… Yeah. I'm… Free… tomorrow.”

“Great. Come at eleven o'clock, okay?”

“...Yeah. S-See you...tomorrow,” Rory said, swallowing hard.

“Yep.”

Rory hung up, dropping his com. His hands shook intensely, and his head felt feverishly hot.

He went to the bathroom, fumbling in the dark for the light switch.

He gazed at his reflection, seeing his rosy face, and the befuddlement in his expression.

He doused water onto his face. Looking back up at his face, he found his cheeks ever still pink.

Why am I getting all worked up?! It was just a stinking call!

Rory filed out of the bathroom, and back into his bedroom.

….I'm still shaking. Ugh…

Dinner time was basked in dull faces and a somber mood.

Rory couldn't stop fascinating about tomorrow, although his brain should've been here for his mom and Jinko. He felt bad, but the fresh development was “oh so tantalizing” to think about.

Jinko headed out first, the family following her out onto the front street.

Desirae exploded with tears, her arms grasping Jinko tightly.

The children were there too; (though they usually weren't allowed outside whatsoever) they said their version of “bye”, which included pulling at her clothes, and begging to go with her.

Now it was the awaited moment for Rory to say bye.

He wiggled up to her awkwardly.

“Um… Bye Jinko. I hope General training goes well for you…” Rory said, trying to sound sincere instead of awkward.

“Bye Rory. Thank you for the best wishes. I hope school goes well for you…”

Jinko leaned in to hug him. She did put her arms around him, but it wasn't a hug. She patted his back like she was patting a friend, while Rory was rooted in place unsure if he should hug her back.

In the end, he didn't. He stood like a tree, while Jinko was the tree hugger.

She gave one last wave, hopping into her motorcycle, and speeding off into the night.

Rory put an arm around Desirae's shoulder, a sympathetic look on his face.

“She'll be fine Mom… Don't cry…” he consoled, squeezing her shoulder.

“...I know… I just h-hate to do this again and again… saying goodbye, and s-sending her away all the time...” Desirae sobbed, putting her head against Rory's chest.

He held her, rubbing her back as he looked off at the grayish-midnight-blue sky.

Wind blew into Rory's room, his blinds swinging around.

Rory tossed and turned, restless of what he needed to do.

I should tell Mom that I need to go studying tomorrow with Corrin… but with her state right now…

Rory glared at the ceiling as if he were glaring at himself.

Sighing, he got up from his bed. He went into Desirae's room, his blinking slow and tired.

“...Mom?”

Desirae rose up from her seat, coming over to him.

“Why are you still up?” she wanted to know, caressing his cheeks.

“...I just wanted to tell you that I'm heading out tomorrow, to help a student study…” Rory explained.

Desirae's eyes lit up, a smile replacing her concerned expression.

“Really?! Who's the friend?!”

“...um well… he's just some kid… he's more of an acquaintance… but yeah…”

“Well, that's great! I can't believe that you're actually making friends! When will you two be meeting tomorrow?”

“Eleven…”

“I can make lunch for you two then!” she offered, her smile glowing.

“It's fine… we won't be studying for that long…”

“Oh don't be silly! Making food is easy for me…” she assured.

He could tell that she needed to do something, to take her mind off of Jinko's leave.

He agreed with her, shrugging a bit along with a small smile. He said his “good night”, then went on back to his bed.

“Rory!”

What…

“Rory!!!”

Ugh…

“RORY!”

“WHAT?!”

“It's ten-forty-five!”

“OH FU-”

Rory toppled out of bed. As he hit the ground, he bounced right back up and dived into his closet.

He ripped out a belt, jean shorts, and a white shirt. He went from stripping off his clothes, into clumsily hopping into his outfit.

After crashing around from his bedroom to the hallway wall, into the bathroom, and down the stairs, he made it to the front door.

He snatched both of the lunches from Desirae's hands, then finally got out the door.

“Bye Rory!”

“Bye Mom!”

“Don't forget to-”

Rory slammed the door behind him, jumping onto his bike, and pedaling down to the subway.

Rory managed to make it into the Base Five subway before it left. The door almost caught him, but he slipped in with luck.

How did I oversleep?!

He looked at his alarm settings on his phone when he realized he set it to p.m. instead of a.m.

“Oh for god's sake!!! Shit! Shit! Shi-”

He paused when he saw the gawking faces of a mother and her two youthful children. (mainly the mother was most horrified)

“I'm very… very… sorry ma'am,” he apologized, as he started to leave the area.

They stared, and Rory fled the scene.

This Saturday morning had turned out be as perfect and beautiful as could be but in complete contrast to Rory's inevitable mishappenings.

Rory ran along the sidewalk to the large Base Five library. The “library” in Base Six was more like a small crumbling shack, compared to the Base Five library.

Rory entered the library, a gust of air conditioning blowing at him as he did so.

From the bustling and intimidating streets of Base Six to the Base Five library, had the same grand appeal of entering a lavish courtyard.

The splash of colorful and imaginative murals and large book filled shelves made the place seem like a children's picture book in real life.

Rory couldn't stop admiring the paintings, but he knew he had a place to be.

He snapped out of his daze, pulling out his com.

Hey I'm here Where are u

Corrin: I'm in the back next to the dragon mural. Why are you late?

Sorry long story

Corrin: It's fine.

Rory turned off his com, making his way to the back of the library.

Corrin looked up at Rory, seeing the dark rings under his dark brown eyes, and his heat reddened, ash brown skin.

“Sorry, I'm late…”

“It’s okay... Let's start, then…?”

“Yeah.”

Rory started the lesson by checking his work. There were many big mistakes, and lots of smaller mistakes as well. He went over it all, then let Corrin start redoing it.

There was the soft buzz of a cleaning robot vacuuming, and the tap of keys in the distance, but where they sat, all was quiet.

Rory went through his own “work”- or notes seeing what he could add to it.

His head was groggy and his face felt hot, although the air conditioner was right above them.

He turned off his com, staring at his reflection on its black surface.

God dammit I'm blushing again!

Rory opted to start a conversation, hoping that he could stop his weird behavior with something mundane.

“So… how come you were gone the last two days?” Rory started off.