“Hello?” Knock knock knock.

That sound sent shockwaves through his body. Esther peeked in through the four paneled window on the door. She looked down at the locks she could see on the other side, then reached through the one empty panel and undid each of them. 

Sera screamed at the realization that there was a serious flaw in his security system. The window, damn it, the window! How could he overlook that! “Don’t come near me.” He threatened. His eyes shook trying to focus on where she stood. “I’ll gut you. I’ll rip your face off. Stay over there.” 

Esther stayed in the entrance, not really meaning him harm, but Bero lept out from her bag again. “Bero!” She yelled at the fox. Bero whimpered and ran up to Sera to curl up in his lap. 

Sera’s lips trembled. He dropped his weapon and hugged the sand-fox, crying as he stroked her back and bushy tail. It was over, he was done for. He couldn’t hold the tears back now. 

Esther took a cautious step into the house, which only made Sera cry more and hug the fox tighter. 

“I’m not crying, don’t look at me. I’m happy. I promise I’m happy. Don’t touch me. I’ll kill you. I’m fine, don’t hurt me.” He pleaded. He couldn’t make out her details, but he knew she was big, and she was getting closer.

Esther lowered herself to the floor and took off the entire sheath for her sword. She pushed her weapon and bag away and crawled an inch closer to the cowering mutant. “It’s okay, you’re safe.” She reassured him. “My name is Esther. I come from the Balanced Tribe of Oktero. I’m traveling with my friend, we’re not dangerous.”

“You’re not from Unutero?” Sera wiped his face with the back of his hand. He relaxed when she shook her head. “Why did you follow me?”

Esther sighed, feeling awfully guilty over it now. “I… it’s just- I was curious. I’m really, really sorry. I know it’s horrible of me. I just thought, you looked…”

Sera blinked at her. “Scary? Ugly? Like an ice shark crossbred with a cliff monkey?” He asked, semi-sarcastic.

“No, just different.” Esther had never even seen an ice shark before, did those exist?

Sera looked up, a little less self-deprecating now. “Oh,” he nodded. “Well I’m definitely different.” He started pulling himself up with the support of the counter behind him. “What are you doing in Septero? I thought the other states hated us.”

“Well, I don’t hate you. I figured if there was anywhere that would be accepting of us and help travelers in need, it would be the people who understand what it’s like to struggle. That’s why I chose Septero. We need to prepare for our journey all the way to the East.”

Sera tipped his head and walked over to her. Esther stood and looked down at him, taking in all his unusual features. He reached up and she nearly flinched at his weird hands, but forced herself to stay calm as he closed his eyes and touched his forehead to hers in greeting. Even being a mutant, he had the antennae of his dominant species. He had to get a sense for her aura so that he could see where she was more clearly in his limited vision. 

“My name is Sera. You’re welcome to bring your friends in if they need a place to rest. I can’t promise you’ll be safe here though.” He knew what it was like to need refuge in a dangerous place.

Esther smiled at his aura. It was bright and happy, even when he looked so distressed. “I don’t think we’re safe anywhere, but I’ll take that offer if you don’t mind. I have a friend who would love to meet you.”

———————————————————————————————————————

“You guys are completely insane,” Bentley said. He did not approve of the idea of walking into Landfill Beach at this hour and staying in the house of a strange mutant.

“Sera isn’t a criminal.” Esther defended him angrily. “He kept Bero safe when she got lost in the soup kitchen. He says he lost his whole family, just like me and Pepsi. Have some respect. Or do you only care about your own excuses for problems?”

“All I’m saying is, if the guy turns out to be a mass murderer I’m going to say I told you so.”

Esther cracked open Sera’s door and spoke before she entered. “We’re here,” she announced, not wanting to scare him again. She was shocked to find that the area had been cleaned up a bit, and some candles were lit at the table. Sera was re-heating the soup Esther bought at his woodfire stove and spooning it into bowls. Esther glared at Bentley. “Yeah, mass murderer. Right?”

Sera’s grin was contagious. “You know what they say. Ambient lighting keeps the existential dread away. I thought you could- you could use less of that. Most people can.” He explained. Esther noted the dried flowers that were taped to the walls as decoration in the candlelight. They looked like bouquets of daisies.

“The flowers are a nice touch.” She complimented. Sera almost winced at the compliment, but he partly smiled. 

The group sat around the table to eat. Bentley swallowed his soup in a matter of minutes. “Good soup,” he admitted.

“I have a lot of garbage. It’s good garbage, I mean. In my room. Tons of it.” Fuck, he was so awkward. How did people communicate again? “I mean I use it to make like, you know. Arts and crafts. I have socks! I have a lot of socks. I always knit too many socks. And um- maybe I can teach you surf-skating in the morning. That’s fun. Oh and I have tools. You can never have too many octagonal wrenches, am I wrong?”

“You’re so right!” Pepsi yelled with enthusiasm. She couldn’t wait to see all these artifacts he was talking about. And he would just give them away?! 

“Great!” Sera chimed happily. He looked so thrilled to have guests in his humble home. “If you’re finished eating I can show you around my collection.”

Once Pepsi finished her food, she hopped up to follow Sera into his bedroom. It was filled with art and crafts and odds and ends. There were stolen road signs from Unutero hanging from the walls alongside broken skateboards, paintings of the beach and city skyline, and shells scattered on every surface. She squealed with glee and poked around at the half-completed yarn projects he’d left on the bed. “You’re incredible! This is the best place I’ve ever seen!”

Sera laughed. “It beats being bored all the time. Technically it’s illegal to do any work in Septero, so I keep my door locked most of the time. I can’t risk anyone finding out about my hobbies.”

Pepsi frowned and picked up a knitting needle. “I don’t get it. Why are there so many rules here? Bentley said you can’t grow your own food, and now you’re telling me creativity is banned too? If you can’t work at all how do you get the gold you need to survive?”

Sera sighed and shrugged. “I never understood it either, but it has something to do with our blood. We’re not suitable for anything Unutero does, because we tempted the gods all those years ago.” He rolled his eyes. If the gods were anything like people from Unutero, he couldn’t imagine wanting to do any tempting. 

Pepsi gasped, realizing the truth of the matter. “You’re right. Not that you’re not suited for it, but that it’s because of your blood. You would have been too suited to compete with them. But something happened, didn’t it? They did something that kept Septero from taking over.”

Sera thought hard about it. He tapped his hand on his chair and shook his head. “Well there’s the restrictions they put on us not to work. And, they give us free food and… in the city region, they hand out these pills.”

“Pills? What kind?”

“Some kind of drugs. I don’t know. Maybe it keeps people happy, or maybe it just keeps them distracted. I try not to go over there. It’s where they take the mentally ill for correction, and I prefer to be incorrect.”

Pepsi frowned and took a seat on his bed. It was plush and soft, and she bounced a bit. “Unutero’s facilities. Can you tell me what happens in them?” She read all sorts of theories about them, but the cruelties were hard to believe.

Sera rubbed his arms and shook his head. His focus was far off, and he couldn’t look her in the eye. “If they diagnose you with something, it’s over. You’re too sick to exist. Sometimes mutants are just born disabled. I could never let them know about my eyesight. They have us consent to euthanasia, only I don’t think anyone actually consents. It doesn’t add up. They took my family away even though they were fine. It’s not the diagnoses that make us feel hopeless, it’s them.”

“Assisted mass suicide.” Pepsi whispered in astonishment. It horrified her. What would they do to her if they knew how anxious she could get over a turn in the wrong direction? “We can’t stay here then. We have to get through Unutero as soon as possible. You should come with us!”

Sera smiled sadly. He moved to sit beside Pepsi and touched his head to hers for a while, feeling her firm but healing energy. “I would, but I don’t think it’s a good idea. I belong in Septero. I’m too much of a freak to be welcome anywhere else. You know how people talk about mutants.”

Pepsi lowered her head. He was right, and she did know how people talked about him. She had done it herself.

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