“What’s that smell?” Aiden set one foot on Apennine Boulevard, and already, he wanted to leave.

“The fish towers. I dunno why they put the shopping district so close to them.” Jun looked toward two identical towers a few blocks away.

“We went there on a field trip once.” Goggles’ brother–Kyle?–pointed out the one with smoke coming from the top. “That’s where fish dogs are made. They taste a lot better fresh.”

Goggles sulked. “I wouldn’t know. All I got was bun.”

“Russell, this is why it’s important to communicate. I thought I made sure you guys each got a piece.”

“Mine was only this big,” he pinched his fingers together, “and you and Aaron were already eating yours. Why didn’t you just get your friends to buy two more? They could afford it.”

“My friend Trey has issues overextending himself.”

“You let him buy the first one.”

Kyle shrunk into his shoulders. Aiden caught him muttering “I was hungry.” Louder, he asked “Where is Aaron, anyway? He hasn’t texted me back in a while.”

Aiden decided he didn’t care to keep up with the conversation, instead taking a moment to take in all the plastic-dressed weirdos with bright, gravity-defying hair. His reflection stared back at him from a store window, just the same as the rest. Back in LA, he’d barely belong on a street like this.

Something was missing here.

The crowd slowed their walk to a crawl between a skyscraper and a clothing store for goths. Punks? Whichever one had dark, spiky clothes. People called Aiden a punk, usually as an insult, sometimes with more meaning behind it, something to do with being counterculture. He never got a chance to look more into it, but any movement with stores dedicated to its dress code wasn’t going against the grain that much. He wouldn’t turn down the look, though.

“You think your brother might be in here?” asked Jun.

Kyle shook his head. “I don’t think this is his style.”

Russell squinted through his goggle-glasses. “What are you talking about? He said he wanted to look cool. Why wouldn’t he be there?”

“He said he wanted to look cool and stand out. He can’t stand out if he’s dressed like you.” His brother pointed to the next store down. “That one might be a good place to start.”

“Okay, we’ll head in there then.” Jun decided.

Soon, the group wandered into some kind of athletic store. Aiden’s glasses were the only thing shielding his eyes from its blinding white insides. Even the staff dressed in all white. Aiden’s jaw locked up. Was this a clothing store or a doctor’s office?

Two teenagers worked the register, but only one had customers. The other one, the girl with her braids bent at the ends, stared at the group with bug eyes, no doubt because of Jun. That’s what Aiden thought before she opened her mouth. “Are you,” her eyes fell to the boys, “looking for someone?”

“Yeah, our little brother.” Russell stepped up to the counter. “He’s like us, but shorter.”

“Was he wearing yellow? The cops came in here looking for him.” She pointed outside and down the road. “I just told one he went that way.” Cops. That’s what Apennine Boulevard was missing. For a second there, Aiden wondered if he made a mistake camping out elsewhere.

Someone tapped his arm from behind. It was Jun, hiding behind him in the most suspicious way possible. “Psst. Ask if he was with anyone.”

“Why don’t you?” Aiden whispered back.

“I’d do it myself, but this is, like, kinda time-sensitive, and I don’t want us to get held up if she recognizes me.”

He gave Jun a look over his shoulder.

“C’mon, I promise you won’t have to talk to any police.”

“That kid you saw, was he with anyone?” Aiden asked the cashier.

She stared up at him like he was going to eat her, and her eyes darted to the boys as if to say ‘Is he with you?’ Once they confirmed it, she finally told him, “He was helping someone with a sprained ankle or something.”

Last Aiden knew, Summers hadn’t busted his ankle. Though with the way he wobbled off… “Did the other one have glasses?”

“Yeah.”

Jun leaned into his shoulder. “When?”

“When’d they leave?” repeated Aiden.

“Not too long ago.” The cashier tilted her head to get a better look behind him. “Less than an hour?”

“Nice. Thanks.” whispered Jun.

“You’re welcome.”

“I meant you should tell her that.”

She leaned toward the twins. “Kyle, is there a reason your other friend is whispering?”

“He’s shy.” Aiden covered for Jun. “He says thanks.”

“Uh. He’s welcome?” She winced out a smile then focused back on the boys. “Sorry about you guys’ brother. I hope you find him.”

Kyle stepped forward. “Thank you, Chelle. You’ve helped us out so much already.”

“You too. Those breathing techniques you showed me really help with busy shifts.” Chelle didn’t seem to notice Russell’s eye ping-ponging between them. “I’m free on Wednesday if you wanna work more on our project.”

Kyle did. “Yeeeah, I should be too. Glad I could help you relax.” He moved away from the counter but couldn’t lose his brother’s stare. “Anyway, we need to go now. See you in class!”

Russell tailed him out of the store, followed by Jun and Aiden. “Weren’t you and Trey working on a project?”

“We are. Separately.”

“We had a deal! No girls!” He spun to face Jun, “You’re fine.” then back to Kyle. “I can’t risk one of you screwing up and giving us another mouth to feed.” It sounded like someone needed breathing techniques.

Kyle’s face reddened as he glanced at the others. “C’mon, you don’t have to worry about–about that. Look. I know you’re stressed. Why don’t we calm down and–?”

“How come I need to calm down when you blowing up about Mia is what got us into this mess?”

Aiden hadn’t been paying much attention to the twins’ looks before, but the resemblance dawned on him. He turned to Jun. “Are they–?”

But Jun sped ahead of them toward a herd of pigs surrounding a clothing store. “Yo, there’s a ton of police over there. Maybe they know something.” He called over his shoulder to Aiden. “You can hang back here. We shouldn’t be gone long.”

With his back against the athletic store window, Aiden watched them sink deeper into the crowd, closer to the cops, all while the sky started to turn purple. His jaw tightened. They were supposed to be heading back to the hotel, and now the Summers kid had gotten himself caught up with the police. Again. With a busted ankle. Was he meant to be a goner?

Chalking it up to the inevitable would be easier if he hadn’t been called out. It sat wrong in his gut to grill Jun about throwing the boy to the pigs only to do the same. He could live with being a coward every now and again. Being a hypocrite, on the other hand, was harder to swallow.

He had his excuses. Years of his survival were a crime. The cops he saw during them did little to protect or serve anything more than their own interests, interests that included treating people with nothing like they’re nothing. He’d sooner bathe naked in a tub of glass than stroll up to one the way Jun did.

As he caught glimpses of Jun’s conversation through the crowd, a masked guy with hair the color and length of a tennis ball also took interest. He limped up to Aiden a little too close and a little too hastily.

Tennis Ball Head looked toward the pigs. “You know what’s goin’ on over there?”

“No.” Aiden caught his T-shirt, which had ‘Spacepunk is Dead’ scrawled on it in marker. “What’s up with your shirt?”

“You got a minute?”

“A minute.”

“I was on the ground floor, you know. When spacepunk became a thing. I dunno how long you’ve been in the dome, but back when I was a teenager–” he didn’t sound much older than Aiden, “–there was a lot of pressure to join the IF. Still kinda is; you gotta look like a model just to serve burgers here. But I didn’t want to enlist.” He stared off into the distance.

Aiden needed to keep this conversation rolling. “Why not?”

“And serve the same military that lied to us? This city was supposed to be a beacon of peace, and they had guys working on a death ray. Under their noses! No ma’am, no sir.” Tennis Ball rested his weight on one leg. “I don’t trust that the government took all their weapons.”

Weird of him to complain like he was old enough to remember it, but Aiden had no problem with his reasons.

“So me and a couple guys started dying our hair bright colors–you can’t get enlisted like that–and dressed up like aliens ‘cause, well, they were up for grabs. Not many studios left to use them, you know.” That explained his alien sunglasses. “People liked our style, asked questions, and we told ‘em how we felt about the way things were.”

“And no one had a problem with that?”

“Oh, you know they did! Most just called us punks and kept it movin’. Spacepunks, haha.” He lifted a finger, clearly proud of himself. “Some got more heated, callin’ us parasites on Lunaria, ‘specially the star rangers. They built this city. Rumor has it a few ganged up on some spacepunks outside a bar and sent one to the hospital. The bar owner thought the cops might do something, and, well, they did.” He rubbed his leg.

Aiden already knew how this story ended. “The spacepunks got arrested.”

“So I heard.” Tennis Head brushed a hand over the faded scars on his forehead. “They say an IF ID is like a get out of jail free card around here.”

“Yeah.”

“When more people started dressin’ like us, I got my hopes up. I thought people were listening.” Tennis Head shrugged. “It was just about the fashion. Now, with wigs and temp dyes, even star rangers are callin’ themselves spacepunks. Ain’t that something?” He laughed halfheartedly, and threw back a thumb. “Maybe that’s one talking to the police.”

Aiden looked at Jun. “Oh, totally.”

“What a world we live in. The only star ranger I’d maybe let claim the title is Jun Kim.”

“Ehhh. ” He tilted his head back and forth. “Why do you care if everyone else dresses like you? You can still complain about all that stuff anyway.”

“It’s about the symbols, man.” Tennis Ball Head grasped at the air, dragging his hands down. “I miss being able to look at people and know they have my back.” How idealistic. “But who am I to talk? I’m a poser these days, too.” He pointed at his head. “This is temp dye. I only color it on my days off.”

“You in the IF now?”

“No?”

“You a cop?”

“Not with this leg!”

“Then I don’t see how you’re a poser.” Aiden folded his arms. “Just because you don’t look like an alien 24/7 doesn’t mean you believe in your cause less, geez.”

Tennis Head stayed quiet for a moment. “You know what? You might be onto somethin’. Maybe spacepunk isn’t dead. For a second there, I thought you might’ve been the last real spacepunk there is.”

Aiden made a noise that didn’t say anything one way or the other.

“Catch you around.” Tennis waved a hand and merged back into the crowd.

As soon as he was alone, Aiden opened his wallet. His military ID stared back at him. He thought he knew he was a fraud, and yet it took Summers to make him realize that he had an advantage no real spacepunk did. Whatever happened next was on the kid, though it probably would’ve gone better had Aiden stepped in sooner. Nothing he could do about that now.

“Kelly.” Jun came back alone, rubbing a hand on his neck. “I need to pick your brain for a sec.”

“What’s up?”

“Well, some witnesses saw them in there. At one point. No one knows where they went. They have someone checking security footage right now, but, like, if you were evading the police, where would you go?”

Aiden grit his teeth. Four officers hovered around the door, and there was no telling how many were inside. So long as he had his ID, he could go in there, as much as he didn’t want to. “Depends on the layout. Want me to–?” As he pointed to the store, he came to his senses. “Wait a minute. This is easy. With that many pigs swarming the place? I wouldn’t be in there.”

Jun stared at him for a moment, shook himself out of whatever question he opened his mouth to ask, then tipped his hat. “I think we’re on the same page, they’re probably gone by now. The question is, where’d they go?”

“I dunno. With the way he panics,” Aiden sucked air through his teeth, “he ain’t makin’ bright decisions. I mean, he’s afraid of Galhardo for cryin’ out loud.”

“You did watch him do those pushups, yeah? That was gnarly. I don’t know how he got through basic like that.”

He couldn’t help but shake his head at the thought of those wobbly toothpick arms. “Can’t imagine what Galhardo’ll do if he doesn’t show up. The kid has to know someone’s gonna find him eventually. If there’s a half-decent thought left in that scrambled brain of his, he’d go back to the hotel.”

“It won’t make a difference if you’re not with him, right? Galhardo wants each pair back.”

“I said half-decent.”

“And even if he does go back, his foot’s gonna slow him down. That’s on you, by the way.” Not a second scolding him, Jun cracked a smile. “Hey, maybe he went back to where you were to see if you’d, like, carry him back.”

“He can keep dreaming.” Aiden wasn’t that guilty.

Some of the goofiness left Jun’s face. “That’s a good place to start as any. It’s not like we have other options.”

“Might as well.”

“I’ll go get the–” he turned around just as the twins came back, “Oh, hey guys.”

“Security caught them going out through the staff door.” Kyle told them.

“I can’t believe they didn’t have the back exit covered the whole time!” Russell threw up his hands, echoing Aiden’s thoughts.

“Guess our hunch was right. Let’s hope our next one is.” Jun looked from Aiden to the twins. “We have an idea of where they might’ve headed.”