#aitrpft!malware

Something feels wrong. I felt it when we first got onto the shuttle, but I kept my worries to myself. Clip was already shaking so hard that Emmy had to secure his harness for him, and even though she was acting as confident as ever, we knew each other well enough that every one of us was well aware Emmy was as freaked out as the rest of us; she just didn't show it because no one wanted to call attention to the pilots' nerves

Because a few short months ago, JR sent two shuttles down to the surface of Genesis III— shuttles that were sabotaged, or so the news said. I'm not sure what to believe, when the ships both carried dangerous criminals that claimed to have changed their tune. After everything the new CEO had gone through to pull himself to that position, I could imagine him wanting to make sure they didn't take revenge or try to take back JR. And the civilians… well, the last CEO had made it clear what JR thought of civilian casualties when he'd left Genesis III as a wasteland and given people a week to travel to twenty evacuation ships before they left permanently. 

I'd seen pictures of the planet before the harvest; our genetic donors (I knew none of us wanted to call them our parents) had drilled the reason why we were made into us countless times. Beautiful, green, with brilliantly blue oceans. Looking at the viewscreens in front of me, a broken planet stared back. Coated in shades of brown and gray that looked completely unnatural. Even the oceans were a dull, off color that made me think of disease. I could feel my friends— the other clones— shifting in their seats behind us, hear Clip's frantic gasps for air, Xenon's muttered reassurances. 

My stomach— and possibly every other organ in my body— lurched into my throat when we started decelerating. I heard Clip squeak in fear. We'd trained for this, been drilled on what to expect, but knowing this was it somehow made it worse. We were either going to be the first successful landing on Genesis III after the harvest, or we were going to become another scorched patch of debris, another scar among thousands to this world. 

For long minutes, Emmy and I were completely focused, working in tandem to monitor the ship's descent. We had a landing location already marked, recommended by JR when they approved our landing and triple-checked by our donors. JR had offered to give us a functioning shuttle left over from their own reclamation project. Our donors had refused.

A sharp jolt startles me from my thoughts. Emmy is carefully running her hands over the dozens of buttons in front of her, eyes darting between readouts. "We're down," she says, glancing at me with a quick smile; the sort of smile that says she's won whatever game she's playing. 

This is it. No going back. Now that we're down, we're considered a part of the quarantine. The only way out is to fix the environment, which as far as we know has been completely destroyed. No biggie. Definitely not terrifying at all. 

Tune unstraps as soon as it's clear the shuttle is completely stopped. "We lived!" She whoops, pumping her fist in the air. 

I unstrap myself and turn just in time to catch a high-five from her, as she proceeds to pester every one of the others to smack her hand; Cherrie and Virus both return the gesture, along with Emmy. Xenon holds up his hand, but his focus is completely on Clip, who's doubled over and sucking in sharp breaths. Making my way over, I tap Xenon's shoulder to get his attention. "Is he okay?" 

Xenon shrugs. "Just motion sickness. He's going to be fine." 

Nodding quickly, I turn to Cherrie. The shuttle's cockpit, like the rest of it, is made to be as compact and light as possible, which means I barely have to move to be at their side. "You alright?" I ask. Cherrie was the last of the cloning batch that made me and Tune; even when humanity has mastered the stars, risk-free cloning has still evaded us. Dozens of clones across our whole project were rejected for one reason or another; the ones that were rejected before full-term were terminated, but the handful that made it to full life with us were given away to families who loved them. 

I wonder if that would have been better, sometimes. 

Cherrie, oblivious to my thoughts, grins. "Yup!" They offer me a thumbs-up, freeing themselves from their straps and stretching. "All good!" 

Looking around, the whole group seems in good health. Even Clip is slowly lifting his head, still looking vaguely ill, but without the immediate threat of vomit. Xenon apparently decides this is good enough, because he starts checking up on everyone else. 

Emmy appears at Virus' side, gently removing their straps and pulling them up into her arms with a flourishing spin. With a laugh at the gesture, Virus stands on tiptoe to peck her on the cheek. "Nice flying," I hear them whisper. 

"I like to think so," Emmy says, clearly preening under her partner's praise. 

My lips quirk up into a small smile, watching my crew mingle and congratulate each other. Just as quickly, it's gone with the reminder that we have so much to do, and so little time. The shuttle is designed to have everything we need to get started, but it's all we have. Turning away from the minor celebrations throughout the cockpit, I stride towards the door to the hold. Xenon appears at my side, and when I raise an eyebrow he mirrors the motion. 

"What do you want?" 

"To check on my supplies," he says, as if it should be obvious. "You know what you're looking at, but I want to make sure for myself that it's all secure." 

I concede with a shrug, tapping out the code to unlock the hold. The door slides open with a loud creak; it was shocking our donors had managed to find a landing shuttle for as cheap as they had, until we realized she was basically a glorified heap of scrap metal; but when you had some of the brightest minds left from Genesis III collaborating on a project, they tended to make it work. The shuttle wasn't pretty, but she got us and all our supplies safely to the surface, and that was really all we needed. 

Slipping inside, it looks like most of our things made it without even budging; a good sign that Cherrie and Clip had secured everything well, I think as I wander through the maze of things. There are a handful of cases scattered, but checking them over proves they aren't anything extremely fragile: all of Clip's seed packets are intact, and so are Xenon's medical supplies and crates of food. 

So why doesn't this feel right? I think, turning a slow circle. Everything's in one piece, we're all in one piece. Nothing's wrong— so why do I still feel a prickling on the back of my neck?

A loud thunk makes me whip around, hand darting to the knife strapped to my hip. Xenon's already mirroring me, eyes narrowed in the same direction as me: deeper into the hold, where I can see a food crate has been tipped on its side. Exchanging a look, Xenon and I slip forwards. 

My mind is racing through everything this could be— an alien, some mutated monster broken in from the wasteland, a saboteur preparing to destroy our supplies or kill us all?— when we turn the corner, where a stack of crates blocks the flourescent lights.

I make out four people in the half-light: one is on the floor, wheezing. Two more are holding their arms, trying to pull them up. The fourth stands off to the side, shoulders hunched as they wring their hands. None of them seem to have noticed us. Xenon loudly clears his throat. 

All four of them freeze. The one standing aside and one of the lifters jump and turn towards us. The lifter— goddamn he's tall— lets out an undignified squeak.

For a long moment, none of us move, aside from the remaining lifter managing to haul the guy on the ground up onto their feet. I hear a clatter as they arrange a cane in one hand and lean on it; I'd missed it before, lying beside them. 

Finally, the guy who was on the ground takes a deep breath. "Hi." 

"Who are you? Why are you here?" Xenon still hasn't sheathed his knife, and neither have I. I keep an eye on him out of the corner of my eye as he speaks. 

The second lifter steps forward, holding her hands out wide and empty. "We're… sort of lost." 

"How the fuck did you get lost?" I demand. "How did you even get in here?" 

The guy from the floor shrugs. "We were following him," he points at the one who dropped him. 

The kid— because now that I'm looking the guy that squeaked and the one that stood off to the side are both teenagers— makes an offended noise. "I didn't make you follow me!" 

"We weren't going to just let you waltz into this ship all by yourself!" The cane user snaps, wheezing. I can see Xenon tense, glancing at me sharply. That ragged breathing could be for any number of reasons, especially after a shuttle landing where they had nothing securing them, and I don't like any of them. 

The other teen, the one that hasn't spoken yet, lifts their hands and starts signing. "She's right," they say. "You don't listen, and now here we are." Turning to me and Xenon, they continue. "Sorry, he's being stubborn."

I blink. I hadn't recognized them before in the low light, but now that I'm looking closer, now that I've seen them sign, I realize I know this teen. "Mal?"

They twitch, then nod. I look around at the other three, and realize I recognize them as well. "Nova? Star? Hope?" 

The three siblings stare at me, clearly awkward. "… Hi, Parch." Nova squeaks out after a moment, curling in on himself. 

"What are you— why are you here?" I snap, eyes sweeping over them now. "You could have died!" And that's still a very real possibility, I realize with a sinking feeling. They could have suffered any number of injuries, unsecured back here during landing. And we were only sent with enough food to support seven people for up to a year. Enough to (hopefully) get us to self-sufficiency. With four extra mouths to feed, that's going to be stretched thin. I'm already starting to run through the math, and I don't like any of the answers I'm coming up with. 

Hunching his shoulders further, Nova doesn't meet my eyes when he speaks. "I— I wanted to help."

Gritting my teeth, I sheathe my knife and gesture Xenon forward. "Hope, are you okay? You're breathing weird." 

She holds up a shaky thumbs-up. "Just… fine. Got knocked over by some stuff." She wheezes in a very unconvincing tone. 

"Bullshit," Xenon says simply. "C'mon, let me get you to the medbay, take a look." 

"I said I'm fine—"

Xenon is already shaking his head. "Nope. All of you, with me." He glances at me for approval. 

"Go," I tell them. "I'll tell the others, and we'll figure out what we're doing after Xenon gives you the all-clear." 

Taking a deep breath, I wait long enough to make sure they're all going with Xenon. Hope is moving stiffly, leaning heavily on their cane. Star's walking beside them, clearly worried. Mal and Nova move side-by-side, with Nova looking like he's about to be chewed out by someone. Which is honestly probably in his future; if his dads aren't here to tell him off, then I'm probably the closest thing he has to an authority figure right now. I can only hope he'll listen to me. 

"Freddy, do you have your headphones?" Puzzle asked, looking up as Freddy walked in from the direction of his room. 

Freddy patted his fannny pack. "Of course I do!" 

"Show me." Wanda said flatly from where she was adding the final few things into her own bag, looking up at him. "Even if you swear you left them in there and didn't take them out, show me." 

Grumbling, Freddy dug into his bag, shuffling things around before frowning and turning back towards his room. Puzzle smiled after his brother and turned back to his own bag: a battery pack for his phone (because he didn't trust the others to not decide to stay out late), a handful of fidgets for Mal (and for Freddy or the others, if sitting still was too much today), and of course several snacks, including a bag of those onions Mal so adored. 

"Everyone ready?" Cosmo called, walking into the room looking completely ready. His voice carried through the house without much trouble, just the right combo of deep and loud to be easily understood. 

Slowly, the family collected in the living room. Freddy was shoving his headphones into a bag, pushing a few stickers that had started to peel back onto them as if they'd personally offended him. Jay was watching him with amusement clear in his eyes, though he didn't break the peace yet. Percy was running through the contents of his bag with Wanda, murmuring under his breath. And Sunny came at the back of the pack, leading Mal along with him. 

New Year's usually wasn't a big deal around the house, but when a big fireworks display was set up on the edge of town? That was enough to show up for. 

"Ready to go?" Wanda asked, looking over everyone. Jay was sent back to his room for one more jacket ("It's December!" "Not for long!" "Still!"), but aside from that everyone nodded in agreement. 

The walk to the edge of town was far from quiet: Freddy and Jay stole Percy's hat and started playing keep-away, ignoring his protests as he chased them down the sidewalk ahead of the rest. Sunny walked backwards as he talked to Cosmo about whatever he'd been researching on the computer earlier, hands waving emphatically as he talked. Puzzle snorted when Cosmo yanked him to the side just before he walked into a stop sign. Sunny navigated around it, then proceeded to turn around again despite Wanda's chdiing. 

Puzzle and Mal brought up the rear, and when Mal started slowing down, he gently tapped their shoulder. When Mal looked up, he held out his hands in the position they'd come to agree meant up. Mal walked into his arms, and Puzzle lifted them, folding his wings around them as he walked. 

A bunch of other people were gathered in the open space at the edge of town, settled on the grass. After a few minutes, Puzzle and his family were settled together. Percy yanked his hat from Jay's hands and shoved it back on his head while Freddy dug out his headphones and pulled them on. When Mal started fidgeting in his arms, Puzzle handed them a pop fidget, letting them take it with their little hands and start fussing with it eagerly. 

They'd arrived a little early, but it was barely ten minutes before the fireworks started. Puzzle kept half an eye on his family as the lights and colors exploded across the sky, momentarily blotting out the stars. Freddy flinched at the sounds of explosions, wings pulling tight around himself as he adjusted his headphones, but settled after a few moments. 

"This is a stupid idea," Mal's hands moved through the signs quickly, brows furrowed as they followed Nova. Someone was snoring deeper in the base, and Nova was fighting the urge to yawn, but he ignored it. "Stupid and dangerous." 

Nova tried not to think about just how dangerous it was. Even hiding his wings, and with an illusion hiding his more notable features, there was no guarantee that someone wouldn't recognize him, and get them caught. "I'm not making you come. You can stay if you want." 

"And let you die? Papa would never forgive me." The darkness of night made their hands hard to follow, and even Nova's enhanced vision was struggling to pick out their words.

"Fair enough," Nova grumbled, opening the door slowly; it didn't creak, and he thanked whatever higher power was watching. "But it's gonna be quick. Ten minutes tops." 

"The entire neighborhood was feeding those cats. You don't have to risk your life for it." Glitches raced up and down Mal's arms as Nova carefully opened a portal, still keeping an ear and eye out for anyone noticing they were leaving. Not only would they probably get a lecture, Nova couldn't stand to endure the whispers from the others, the distrusting looks they sent his way. Even when he was confined to bed, he remembered hearing Blue's voice raised in his defense, the guilt making his chest tighten even now. He hadn't ever meant to be here, and staying in the base had only made his anxieties worse. 

It would only take a moment, he reminded himself as they stepped through into OuterTale, instinctively tipping his head back. With the area devoid of lights in the pitch black, Nova could see every sparkling star and swirling galaxy stretching off into infinity. Nova didn't think he'd been back here since Harrier had taken him all those months ago, and he took a moment to just breathe, feeling like it was just him and the infinite universe in the best way possible. 

A tap on his shoulder made Nova jump, looking back at Mal. "Cats." They signed pointedly into his hand, so there was no mistaking what they were saying.

"Yeah. Cats. Right." Nova tried to keep his mind on task as they walked through their old neighborhood. Nova let his senses expand, taking in the calm of sleeping people content in their homes. He bet none of them had had to kill someone else. Or at least he hoped so. Learning that any of his old neighbors was a killer would probably leave a sour taste on the good memories he had here, and he didn't want that. 

The stray cats of the neighborhood had been around since before Nova was born; attempts had been made to capture them all, but more seemed to crop up like a feline hydra. The best the local shelter could do was convince most of the strays to stay in a park with food, water, and shelter all maintained by volunteers. Nova and Mal had popped in every week before their lives had imploded, and as they neared the shed that served as a base of operations Nova saw a few cats he recognized, a few he didn't, and missed a handful from their usual spots. 

A small gray-and-white cat trotted up beside them as they walked, sniffing the air, and then started walking in pace with them. The volunteers called her McFlurry, due to her love of hanging around a McDonald's near the park. Nova remembered her from before, as she'd been one of the first to come to him nearly every time he volunteered. McFlurry seemed to be a vibe-checker for the cats, as she He liked to think they had a bond, but even if Blue would have let him bring her home, he knew her place was here. Nova was here when she'd gotten an infection and had to be wrangled to the vet, and the yowling had nearly shattered his eardrums. 

Now, he knelt down and held out his hand, letting McFlurry come to him. She did with only a moment's hesitation, bumping her head against his hand and purring loudly. Mal hovered nearby, their head on a swivel for any sign of someone who could see them. Nova saw their hand drift to their side out of the corner of his eye, fingers flexing where Flow would normally stand; for now the construct was dormant, both to draw less attention and avoid scaring the cats. 

As they rounded a corner to the shed, Nova tensed. The door was ajar. Anyone he knew who would've volunteered would have made sure the door shut behind them before they left, and no sane person would be out here at this hour.

Mal noticed it too, and they tugged on his sleeve insistently. But the familiarity of the shed drew him, even as his heart raced. Nova was well aware by now that if anyone in that shed wanted to hurt him, he would be able to stop them. His magic fizzed in his chest, as if eager to be used.

McFlurry trotted ahead, completely unbothered by the sounds of rustling coming from the shed. When she reached the door, she turned around to look at them as if asking 'why aren't you coming?'

Nova exchanged a look with Mal; they clearly were running out of patience for him, and he got the sense he was one wrong move away from being dragged through a portal back to Vulture's Fall. 

But even as he realized just how stupid this endeavor was, he knew he needed to finish this. Nova needed to be in the shed, the familiar scent of cat food and the slight mustiness that came when people got busy. Needed to see the dozen or so food and water bowls scattered around, the cat boxes that were stacked in the corner until the weather turned foul. 

Nova kept his senses on high alert as they crept closer to the shed, heart hammering against his chest. He could hear movement inside, feel a buzz of negativity of some kind (Guilt? Grief? Fear? Nothing stuck long enough to tell) that locked up into brain-halting panic as they got closer.

Nova caught a flash of magic a moment before he entered, and instinct took over. Pushing Mal back with one hand, he lifted the other in a shimmering golden shield. His illusion faded to nothing as the magic flooded to his defense. Heart lodged in his throat, forgetting how to breathe, he braced for the blow—

"Nova?" The soft hiss made him freeze, panic seizing him in its jaws once again for an entirely different reason. "Is… that you?" Disbelief shone in eyes the color of summer leaves, reflecting the shimmering ball of light in Ruby's hand.

Light. A light spell. Not an attack. Nova took a shuddering breath and lowered his hand, the shield disintegrating into golden sparks. As much as he wanted to return to his original plan of masking his identity, the look in Ruby's eyes made it impossible to consider.

"… Yeah." Nova flinched as Mal smacked him, stepping back into his line of sight. One of their hands was scraped up when they lifted them to sign; they must have fallen when he pushed them, Nova realized with a pang of guilt. 

"You said no one would know," their hands moved sharply, and Nova could see the annoyance on their face. And beneath that, uncertainty. "We need to go. Now."

"Wait," Ruby grabbed Nova before he even started moving, before he even had time to think if he wanted to. "Go where? Where have you been? Everyone thinks you're…"

"Dead?" Nova saw her flinch, and instinctively his hand pressed lightly against hers. "That's what people have to think. But I'm fine."

"Why?" Her eyes were shining again, and Nova realized she was crying. Grief rolled off her in waves, and he stared uncertainly. "Where did you go? Why didn't you say goodbye?" Tears made damp streaks of the brown fur on her cheeks as her ears pulled flat against her head. Nova realized the usually vibrant purple dye in her fur had faded, almost gone completely. If it had gotten that faint before, she would've already dyed it again.

Nova didn't think; he just pulled her into a hug. The fur on top of her head tickled his chin as he held her close. He could sense Mal off to the side, impatience flickering, but he wasn't going to leave Ruby in tears. "I'm sorry. I… I didn't mean to. I promise I didn't mean it." And before he could think about it, Nova was crying too. McFlurry wove between them, purring like an engine as she tried to comfort the two people crying in her shed.

They stayed like that for a long time, longer than Nova expected Mal to let them. To his surprise, they made no effort to pull him away as he and Ruby murmured reassurances to each other and held each other close. Nova wouldn't call it peaceful, but he would take this over the blank peace encouraged at Justice Reigns any day. 

McFlurry caught the interruption first, stiffening and looking away from them. Nova sat up a little straighter without letting go of Ruby, noticing Mal was also now on alert. Their fingers were curled slightly, glitching worse. And then Nova heard it: footsteps, sharp and methodical. A soldier's stride, one that Nova had to fight slipping into. 

His heart jumped into his throat; a portal back would be too risky; even with the added experience he and Mal had, opening and closing portals took time. Enough time that someone could follow them through, into the heart of Vulture's Fall. And with the looks and whispers he already got, Nova knew he'd never be able to go back if he brought JR back with him. Least of all because everyone would probably be dead. 

Mal dragged him up now, away from Ruby. "Plan?" They signed so quickly Nova almost missed it. 

Looking around revealed no plan. Nova refocused his magic, shoving it all down deep inside, trying to stifle his aura. No doubt someone had picked it up after he dropped his protections for the unnecessary shield. It wouldn't save them completely, but hiding it made escape just a bit more possible. 

Ruby looked between them, brow furrowed. With a flick of her tail, she pushed them both towards the shed. "Get inside!" She pulled the door shut behind them, leaving them in darkness aside from the window. Nova ducked behind a stack of cat food bags, and he heard floorboards creak softly as Mal ducked into the shadows as well. 

The shed was not sound-proofed, and before Nova had a chance to hope, he heard voices cut through the darkness, sharp and authoritative. "Hey, you! What are you doing here?"

When Ruby spoke, it was with perfect surprise, mixed with confusion. Nova's heart pounded in his ears as he felt her fear thrumming through him. "Oh, you scared me! Sorry, I was just checking on the cats. Particle Accelerator just had a surgery done, so I wanted to make sure he was okay—" 

"Ma'am," the voice interrupted. "We're tracking the signature of a very dangerous individual. Are you alone?" 

Nova heard Mal's breath catch; he could barely draw his own. 

"Yeah." Ruby laughed, and Nova wasn't sure if it was fake awkwardness or very real stress. "No one else is dumb enough to be out here before lights just to feed some cats. I was just…" she was quiet for a moment. Nova held his breath. "Worried about them." He could imagine her face then, the push of her ears pricking and the slight lift of her lip, a smirk that could be happy and wish you dead in one. "But they seem to be all good. So I'll be on my way?"

There was silence for a long moment. Nova felt his magic fizzing, and smushed it down; if anything happened to Ruby because of his stupidity, he'd never forgive himself. 

"Very well, ma'am. Yell if you see anything." The voice said. Nova could feel annoyance, and realized why when he heard a loud meow; McFlurry seemed to be making her displeasure with these intruders known. 

Ruby's footsteps started. "Oh, I will. Have a good night!" 

Nova was so focused on listening to what was happening outside that he almost screamed when Mal's hand clamped down on his wrist. His body flooded with pins-and-needles feelings as Mal squeezed their eyes shut, and they were out. Not out of OuterTale yet, but far enough that whoever was checking around the cats' shed wouldn't find anything. Nova recognized their surroundings, and looked at Mal in surprise. "I thought you would—" 

They held up a finger to shut him up, their signs quick. "Just say bye and let's go." There was urgency in their hands, a determined set to their expression that Nova hadn't seen before. Another thing Vellum had given them, he was sure. 

Hurrying down the street towards Ruby's house, Nova spotted her on the sidewalk. He whistled, one high note and one low. Her ears twitched, and she looked up. One hand lifted slowly, her tail waving behind her. It took every ounce of his own will not to run after her, hold her, and never let go. 

Nova lifted a hand in response, nodded once, and took Mal's hand. 

When the portal Mal opened dropped them just inside the door, Nova could hear their breaths coming in short bursts. The faint static sound of glitches racing up and down their body was the only sound for several seconds. 

"We're never doing that again." Mal's hands were trembling slightly, and Nova felt his heart clench. 

"Yeah, right. Not happening again." Even as he speaks, Nova can see Ruby in his mind's eye: eyes bright with hope, hands on his, her soft fur brushing against him—

"I should hope you're not doing that again." Nova couldn't stifle a curse as he whipped around, hands lifting again for a shield. Even as he moved, he knew there was no need. Vellum wouldn't hurt him. 

Ever since Nova had been old enough to understand that Blue wasn't his biological father, he'd wondered who his parents were. He'd understood for longer that some second individual was missing from the dynamic, when most of his classmates could talk for hours about their moms and dads, but when he'd asked Blue about it, he'd just dodged the question and passed the conversation to another subject with all the subtlety of a dragon setting a bank on fire. His anxiety and regret had rippled through the air of the house for days afterward, making Nova so physically ill at that young age he'd had to stay home from school. 

As Nova sat on the low wall separating the front lawn of the school from the street, he kicked his feet to the beat of his music. Students clomped past him on their way home, a swirling cacophany of joy and satisfaction. A few flickers of fear that had him looking up, scanning the crowd, but there wasn't much he could do. The most help he could offer was to reach out through the crowd with his abilities, sending a flicker of optimism in the direction of the fear. It didn't disappear, but it got a little less potent. Enough that he lost the fearful ones as they headed further away, lost in the mass of limbs and backpacks. 

Nova forced his gaze back down to his lap. Heavy bass thrummed in his ears, and he scribbled away at the worksheet balanced precariously on his knee. The paper was just one strong breeze away from being lost forever, but waiting for his sibling to get done with school was always done on this very wall in this very place. And the wind felt great in his feathers, lifting them and making them shiver ever so slightly in the first hints of autumn chill. The golden stripes shimmered against the black in the midafternoon light, and he fluttered his wings gently. 

It was days like this that Nova got the urge to fly. Just… take off, and never touch the ground again. His wings fluttered gently as another breeze hit him, and he pinned the worksheet to his thigh with one hand while he lifted his head, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to settle his mind. For how much his body screamed for it, his wings would never hold him in flight; they were too small, the feathers too short to every support his weight.

When he felt a flickering spark of calm, with a hint of tiredness, approaching, Nova lowered his gaze from the universe above him and tugged out his earbuds. "Hey, Mal." 

His sibling looked tired, their eyes paled to silver as they hopped up on the wall beside him. They looked at his homework with cursory interest, then tugged a small calico cat stuffie from their pocket. Nova knew the cat stuffie well, "Archie," Mal called it. He didn't know where they'd gotten it from, but it had been around as long as he could remember clearly, and it was their favorite fidget toy. 

Now that they were together, all that they had to do was wait for Blue to come pick them up. Their house wasn't too far, but it was far enough Blue insisted on driving them home every day. Though waiting for him to get done with work inevitably meant they were the last kids off school grounds. 

They sat quietly for the most part; Nova had shoved his worksheet in his duffel and replaced it with the acting book one of his drama club friends had lent to him, while Mal played a game on their phone with one hand and pet Archie with the other. As they waited, the last stragglers and the teachers passed them by, offering nods and farewells until the boys were completely alone, waiting for their father. 

When Nova felt more emotions flicker into his range of sensing, emotions that made his stomach turn and his breathing hitch, he looked up, it made him sit up straighter and look around, wings shifting anxiously. He didn't see anyone, but that didn't reassure him at all. His empathic abilities were never wrong. 

Mal looked up, seeing Nova's behavior shift. They tucked their phone into their pocket to give Nova their whole attention, following his scanning gaze.

Nova shrugged, narrowing his eyes. His wings puffed up as he felt the sources of emotions — people — approaching. Still no one in sight. His eyes locked onto a van, prowling down the street. There. Nudging Mal and drawing their attention to the van as well, Nova watched it roll to a stop a few hundred feet down the street. "Pack up," he hissed, tucking his book into his bag. The emotions from the van were getting stronger, and they crawled across the edge of his awareness like bugs, sending his senses into red alert. 

As they both threw bags over their shoulders, the van's doors opened. Nova felt the air ripple and grabbed Mal's shoulder. Normally he wouldn't dare touch his sibling without express permission, but as the whoomf of some form of magic passed by overhead, Nova knew he'd made the right choice. Nothing happened to the building behind them, meaning it wasn't intended for high damage, but getting hit was still preferably avoided. 

As soon as the pair hit the ground, Mal started scrambling away from Nova. Nova saw their goal in the corner of his eye: Archie, which must have fallen from their pocket when he pulled them down. His feathers quivered in the charged air once again. "Mal, leave it!" 

As he dragged Mal back from their plush, Nova felt the magic brush against his wing, numbing the muscle and making his wing hang limp. Cursing, he grabbed Mal's shoulder again. Their voice rose in a wail as Nova pulled them away from Archie, but if he had to choose between upsetting them for a little while, and probably being alive to feel better later, he would drag them away a thousand times over. 

Nova wasn't entirely sure what happened next. He felt the magic buzzing towards them, coming too fast for him to move himself and his sibling out of the way. All he could do was wrap his wings around them and squeeze his eyes shut, his own magic flaring in panic. 

And the whole world fell away into darkness. 

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When Nova opened his eyes again, the surroundings were too bright: he were standing under a bland, solid blue sky sprinkled with clouds. The sort of color that made Nova feel bad for the people living here; they didn't get to experience the notion of looking up and seeing the whole universe unfolding above them, or if they did it was the smallest sample of what OuterTale's sky could look like. 

Attempting to sit up, Nova let out a groan. Every muscle in his body ached as if he'd run a marathon, and his chest felt tight, like the time he'd pushed his magic casting illusions for a play. When he managed to prop himself on one arm, a quick scan showed that Mal was pressed into a gap between a pair of dumpsters, fingers curled tightly around their hood as they covered their face. 

Fear spiked through Nova, and he forced his cramping muscles to push himself to his feet. His wing still hung off his back limply, pulling him off balance, spreading his other wing to keep himself upright. "Mal?" He asked, stepping towards them. "You okay?" 

They didn't answer, pulling their hood tighter over their head and pressing deeper into the shadows. All Nova could feel from them was waves of stress as they trembled. "Hey, deep breaths," he said, hands hovering near them, but not touching. 

They gasped pitifully, their fingers tightening around their hood. Nova almost thought he could hear their joints creaking in protest. He hoped that wasn't the case.

"I know, I know," Nova found himself slipping into the tone his father used when Mal had episodes like this. "I'm sorry." He looked around, but the plush was nowhere to be found. "We'll find Archie later. Right now, we have to figure out what happened." 

Mal, however, seemed to be in no state to speak, or move. With no other ideas, Nova tugged his phone (miraculously unbroken) out of his pocket and called their papa. 

There wasn't even a ring. "The number you are trying to contact is not available at this time. Please try again—" Nova hung up and tried again. And again. And again. The message felt more and more like it was mocking him. 

It was close to twenty minutes before Mal slowly uncurled from their ball, and their breathing evened out. "You okay?" Nova asked, breathing a sigh of relief when they nodded. It seemed the worst of the meltdown had passed, and he managed to get them out of their hiding place and sitting on the floor of the alley beside him.

With the immediate issues dealt with for now, Nova took a moment to look around; they appeared to be in a city under that boring blue sky. Around them, he could sense people going about their days, but it felt off: where emotions should have been mixed between positivity and negativity loosely in half, almost every aura he sensed was a buzzing flood of positivity.

Feathers quivering with anxiety, but he forced himself to ignore the pit of foreboding coiling in his gut. 

As he pulled himself back into normal thought processes, he realized that Mal had pulled up a screen, information scrolling across it as their thin fingers darted across it. "See anything useful?" He asked, shifting to look over their shoulder. 

Mal pointed at the AU number, a string of digits designed to help people with AU-hopping abilities zero in on where they were going, as well as for identification. Their other hand lifted to sign. "JR's AU," they said, lifting their other hand off the screen to add, "we should be nearby." 

Nova looked towards the mouth of the alley, more than a little surprised that no one had noticed two teenagers alone. Then he reminded himself that this wasn't like the little asteroid where he'd grown up; no one knew them here, and everyone probably had their own important stuff to do. 

"Okay," he said slowly, "think we can find our way there if we ask enough random people?" 

Mal shrugged. "Only one way to find out."

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In a large, ornately decorated office, a pair of golden eyes blinked, lips falling still mid-briefing. The man tilted his head slowly, massive golden wings shifting uncertainly as he tried to make sense of what he was sensing. A change in the balance, like rain falling across a pond. Not adding much, but enough to be noticeable. 

The woman standing in front of his desk fidgeted with the knife in her hands, watching him intently. "Boss?" She prompted, mismatched eyes glittering with interest. "What's up?" 

A frown formed on his face, and the man studied the wood grain of his desk as he thought. Finally, he shook his head, fluttering his wings to shake off his doubts as he came to a decision. A smile pushed its way onto his face instinctively.