I couldn't help but be a little excited about this dome thing. It did seem weird how quickly they built it, but this is where the dance would be, the dance Marms and I were going to. And our friends too, obviously, but bringing Marmalade with was the most important to me. They had the new dome hidden behind another dome made of Cani energy, looking like a big bubble around it.

It helped that it felt like a celebratory day, spring was here and it felt like everyone had gotten together on campus to watch this dome unveiling. Or we all just wanted to relax outside instead of going to class, which was cut for the day for this. I went with Marmalade for this as well, finding a good spot to sit.

"Is this too dorky?" Marmalade asked as she presented a blanket, one with some scifi ships on it that didn't seem to be from any particular series.

"Look around, everyone's got picnic blankets," I said. "Well, OK, not everyone. So like the opposite of dorky."

"Is it too normie, do you think?" Marmalade quickly followed up.

"I think you need to stop worrying so much," I said, taking the blanket and spreading it out.

We sat down on it together, and for some reason I couldn't get the dance out of my mind. I'd never been excited for something like this before. Just as I looked over at Marmalade, both of us just kind of staring at each other, I felt that tickle in my gut again. I flinched, holding my arms close as I expected them to have a sudden shift into Downside again. I tried to think about anything other than Downside, begging her to leave me alone for nice, chill picnic day at least. I imagined beam chasers, playing beam chasers in the dome. I decided if Downside was some other entity in me that she found beam chasers boring, because she never showed up when I did anything there.

"Did you feel it again?" Marmalade asked.

"I...thought I did," I said, sighing in relief when it passed. "And you haven't felt anything from it yet for...?"

Marmalade shook her head. In spite of her arm glowing and me scratching it while Downsided to make it go away, she hadn't had any like shifts into a badass monster girl like I had. She was about to say more, but the risks of talking about that with so many people around were shown immediately as Oka, Zates, and Lillia showed up.

"Ahoy hoy!" Oka said, waving brightly.

"Hey there," Marmalade said.

"Fancy us dropping an ol' picnic blanket of our own here?" Zeta said, unfurling a (what else) Raina Starlight blanket. Lillia had a plain mauve one that she set next to Zeta's.

"Sure, of course," I said, my voice more...weird than I would have liked.

Things hadn't exactly been great between us all since I...well, I didn't really confess to what I was doing with Downside, I more just kicked the can down the road and freaked them out saying I was doing 'something' and I was fine and they shouldn't worry. Which of course made them worry. They were kinder to me than I deserved, and didn't press me for more info, presumably waiting til after the dance like I asked. I could tell they wanted to, and I knew that worrying types like them would take my vagueness and take it to the worst possible scenario, but...I just couldn't get myself to tell them. Marms gave me hell for that the night I told her, but for better or worse, I decided to wait until after the dance to tell them about all my business with Downside.

Still, even with the tension, it was still nice to hang out with my friends.

"You're not going to believe this," Oka said.

"Oh my god," Zeta said excitedly. "This is awesome."

"I...huh?" I said as Oka got out a carrying case, like something I'd get to hold my extra eGame cartridges.

"Berin got this for me!" Oka said. I hadn't ever heard her brag about her dad getting her a present that she actually liked. Not that he seemed like a bad parent, I'd just never heard him get something in tune with her tastes. She opened it to reveal a model train.

"Oh...? That's..." I was trying, but I couldn't hide my confusion. I was honestly hoping she'd get another game system or something.

"Isn't it great?" Oka said. "I was talking to Berin about how back at Tesata, some of the only tapes they had that I liked were the Trian the Train ones, so he must've thought I'd want this! At first I was like, huh? But...I dunno. Isn't she cute?"

The little model engine did not look like the kind of toy to carry around everywhere, it looked like a high end model that someone would have on a super complicated and detailed set. I tried to imagine Oka with a room filled with trains like that, and realized it kind of clicked in a strange way.

"Yeah, super cute," I said. I wasn't sure it was unbelievable like she said, but I was just glad my friends were talking about something fun with me and not just worrying trying to figure out what I was up to. Which I knew was on me, but still.

"She's been carrying it everywhere," Zeta said.

"I might start collecting them!" Oka said. "Berin said he has a bunch in a box somewhere so we might start rebuilding his whole setup, I'll of course be providing my own input to make sure my creative vision is in the design as well."

Oka went on and on about her new train for a while until the dome unveiling finally started. Zates' expression drooped a bit when she saw her mom up front. All the usual suspects at our school were there by a podium, Kitty, Caya, that Benta guy, and some school staff I always saw around. With Octa was another scientist in a lab coat, one I hadn't seen before.

Mr. Benta IV talked first, and...I couldn't believe it, but I actually missed Penteldtam's nonsense speeches. This guy rambled on and on about how great this dome would be, how they worked with the Taramin labs to get it done, blah blah blah. He went on so long that I leaned back, struggling to focus.

I woke up however long after to the sounds of applause. The bubble of energy must've popped while I was asleep, because there was the dome. It looked like a big, plastic egg with a plate on top and a metal band around the bottom. Not the nicest looking thing, but whatever. Hopefully it'd be good on the inside, too, something good enough to play beam chasers in. I leaned over to Marmalade, who I figured didn't notice me sleeping.

A place good enough for her would be nice.