Atari’s home was a quaint little house in the center of Mountaintop City. Their family consisted of the usual Antenoj structure: their gepatro, gepatro’s mate, two siblings, their gepatro’s best friend and their mate, and that mate’s best friend, and a spontaneously adopted child they referred to as cousin Nintendo. Even though they had an incredibly normal family and a well-kept home with electricity and food to eat, Atari tried to find any excuse to leave and hang out somewhere else.

Atari’s gepatro was sitting at the kitchen table tapping away at her computer. The game looked like minesweeper, but their geppy knew it was far more important than that. It had to be. Why else would she get paid one thousand digicoin per level if it wasn’t a real job?

“Did you have a nice evening Atari?” She asked.

Atari ignored her and went straight to the fridge. They pulled out a jug of apripeach juice and poured a glass. 

“I really hope you haven’t been hanging around the underground again. I wish you’d get a real job like the rest of us.”

“Your ‘job’ looks stupid and boring. At least I don’t sit around all day.” Atari yelled back. “I don’t care if you care, but I worked all week on my laser gun for tonight, only to have it all ruined by some incompetent moron named gladiatordick420!”

“I just don’t understand why you have an interest in these pointless things.” Geppy replied, tapping away at the gridded screen.

Atari slurped their juice and slammed the cup down on the table defiantly. “I’m the best laser-fighter in the game, not like you’d understand. Nobody understands. I’m sick of this stupid society. I’m 30 years old now, and I can do what I want!” They argued and stormed off. 

Atari threw themself on their bed and yelled into the pillow. One of their little siblings came up and poked them on the back. 

“Did geppy yell at you again?”

Atari peeked up and frowned. “Buzz off, little creep.”

“But I want you to beat this level for me.”

Atari sighed. They sat up and motioned for their sibling to sit. Little Wii squealed with glee and handed over their gaming device. Atari beat the childish game in a matter of seconds and dropped it back into their sibling’s hands. “There, you’re welcome.”

Wii sat up on their knees to rub their antennae all over Atari’s cheek. Atari rolled their eyes at the loving gesture, trying to block out the warm and fuzzy sensations. They had to keep up their cool, carefree attitude obviously. “I hope I grow up to be just like you, Atari.”

Atari pouted and looked down at the floor. If Wii grew up to be anything like them, they’d never be taken seriously by their family either. “For your sake, I hope you don’t.”

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“Alrighty, Deidre needs her dinner too.” Bentley said, giving his truck a pat. “I saw a free Tesla charging station in the city on the way back. I’ll leave her to get a full charge and see what I can pick us up to eat.”

“Thanks Bentley.” Pepsi smiled brightly. “And if you see Sera and Nakia, tell them to get their asses back here. They’ve been gone all day. If they’re not back by tomorrow we should head out there ourselves and check.”

Bentley nodded and gave her a wink. “Oh and uh, I’ll be gone for an hour or two.” He mentioned specifically. “Just to clarify. You two. Alone. No one bothering you. Yeah.” He nodded and raised his brows at Pepsi, saluting her with his hand before he left. She could deny it all she wanted, but he’d seen the way she looked at Esther. And he really didn’t want to walk in on them doing some freaky stuff in a tent.

Pepsi glared and tried to pretend she didn’t know what he was talking about. “Yup. Sounds good.”

Esther smiled slightly at the conversation. She was sitting in the grass outside the tent, running her fingers through the green blades. Ever since the fight she’d been quiet. 

Pepsi sighed and turned around once Bentley had driven off. She walked over and sat in front of Esther, observing her distant gaze. “Hey, you did good in the arena.” She said, trying to cheer her up. “It’s not your fault they use those weird, fake weapons. You’re an epic sword fighter.”

Esther picked a white flower from the grass and spun it between her fingers. “Thanks. I don’t care about losing though. I just keep thinking about the past.”

Pepsi frowned. Esther reached forward and placed the flower through Pepsi’s hair behind her ear. The stark white contrast suited her. “You know you can tell me anything.” She said.

It’s stupid, Esther thought. She considered it for a while before speaking. “I don’t even know why I’m thinking about it. I have bigger problems to worry about. It’s not even important.”

Pepsi tilted her head and moved in closer. She put her arm around Esther and rubbed her gently. “You can’t save the world if you’re too busy feelin’ sad about stuff. You have to take care of yourself first.”

Esther looked into Pepsi’s eyes for a long time. She felt like she could see entire galaxies of wisdom in them sometimes. Every word she spoke melted like honey. She wanted to tell her every time she doubted herself, do you know how smart you are? Even that felt too far, but what she really wanted to say was, I want to feel you completely.

She gave in to her philosophical argument and told her. “Peps, I’ve only ever had one friend before I met you. Just one friend. And she wasn’t even from Oktero. I tried to think I didn’t need friends, but I used to cry every time she went back to Dutero. Sometimes I think there’s something wrong with me. The other hunters my age didn’t like talking to me, but I guess I never wanted to talk to them either. They cared about strategy and battle formations and all I ever wanted to do was try to make breast plates out of cactuses.”

Pepsi burst into laughter at the last bit. “Well did you?”

Esther laughed back and nodded. “I thought I was a genius, but it was not a good experience taking them off.”

Pepsi’s laughter subsided and she took Esther’s hand. “I know how you feel. I thought there was something wrong with me too when I was all alone in the museum. As scary as it was waiting to be raided again, the worst part was how lonely I felt before I met you.”

Esther sighed. “I’ve just been thinking about it since the competition. I don’t know why I cared, but it’s like I hoped the other player would like me. It reminded me just how different I felt in my own village. And I still want to help them, but I wonder if they even miss me at all.” 

Pepsi squeezed her hand and shook her head. “Well they’re the one missing out if they don’t like you. To hell with finding fighters in this place if they’re jerks to us. But if it’s really bothering you so much, we could try and find them outside the arena. They’re probably just pissed off that you looked way more badass in that armor.”

Esther grinned and moved in closer. Their antennae were so close, their pulses were synced. She moved her free hand to Pepsi’s cheek and stroked it, biting her lip as she contemplated her next move. She took a deep breath and let go of the fear. “Pepsi, there’s something else I have to tell you. I’m scared that if I don’t say it now, I might never get the chance.”

Pepsi’s heart fluttered. Esther didn’t have to say a word for her to know what she meant. They were so connected in that moment, it was like she could read her thoughts. She knew everything she was feeling like it had come from her own soul. Despite it all, she whispered, “say it.”

“When I was young, I always questioned everything. I questioned the past and history and why the moons and the tides worked the way they did, how things grew in the desert and how the rest of the world lived. I thought I was crazy- even my friend didn’t understand why I kept questioning things. I was always waiting to find someone who would search for answers with me. And I found you. There’s no one in the world like you, Pepsi. I don’t think there’s anyone else I could like the way I like you.” She gulped and steadily moved her hand up towards her head. “And I like you- I like you a lot- maybe more than a-”

For once, Pepsi was completely-certain about something. She threw off her hat and closed the gap between them. She desperately reached up to grip Esther’s antenna in a fist along with her own. Esther closed her eyes and rubbed her face against Pepsi’s, shivering from the electric jolt they shared. Pepsi made a weak sound in her throat and breathed out. “You feel like bubbles and shooting stars.” She described. 

Esther pulled back momentarily before excitedly nuzzling her nose on Pepsi’s. Suddenly, Pepsi retreated with an angry expression and landed a firm punch on Esther’s arm. “You made me yearn for you! Why didn’t you say something before! Do you think it’s funny to watch me yearn hopelessly?!”

Esther rubbed her arm, blinking in surprise. “Are you really mad?”

Pepsi didn’t answer that. There was not enough time. She tackled Esther down before Bentley could show up to witness exactly what he thought was happening. 

It was the middle of the night when Bentley returned. In order to announce his presence he pulled the chain horn on the truck a couple times before heading into their little camp. Esther and Pepsi peeked out of their tent, scrambled a little bit, then popped out. 

Bentley smiled and tipped his head at Pepsi. There was some kind of bro solidarity going on between them, at least in his mind. “So, what did you guys get up to while I was gone?”

The two were speechless. Bentley just nodded.

“I see.” That reminded him, he’d totally won the bet with Sera. “Are Sera and Nakia not back yet?”

Before anyone could properly miss them, the two arrived in silence back to the camp. Nakia looked completely disturbed, and Sera looked even paler than usual. They did nothing for a few minutes except stare at their friends speechlessly. 

“What?” Bentley broke the silence. Fear crept up his spine at their eerie reactions. “Well don’t leave us hanging, what happened?”

Sera’s lips trembled. He stepped forwards, wobbling on his feet. Esther grabbed his arm fearing he might pass out. To everyone’s surprise, he started to laugh. It wasn’t his normal laughter. It was painful to listen to.

“I asked for it. I had to know. I shouldn’t have gone inside.”

“Sera, what did you see?” Esther whispered worriedly.

“I had to find out what they imported from Septero. I should have known, shouldn’t I have known? It was right in front of me. It’s the perfect energy source. Why didn’t I put it together?”

“Only a mutant can conduct electricity from the inside and out.” Nakia whispered, gaze still distant and shocked.

Esther wanted him to say it, but at the same time, she didn’t want to be right. “What are they importing from Septero?” She gripped Sera’s shoulders and stared seriously into his eyes. His glare was beyond anger, it was completely disgusted. He knew where his family had gone to rest.

“Bodies.”

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