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Rey

My frustration with Milo is replaced with general annoyance as I walk through the countless hallways that make up Petri. Each level has different colored walls, but they just seem to go on forever. The subtle differences in the walls--a broken pipe here, a flickering light there--guide me to where I need to go. The Programmer's Office isn't too far away. I walk through the metallic gates separating my section of Floor 33 from the others and then tread up the huge staircase that spirals up through the center of Petri. I never take the elevators because they're always so crowded. Plus, I like the exercise.

Floor 31 isn't too far up from my own. On my way up the stairs, I mostly see civilians, weaving in and out of each other smoothly as if they had been doing this for years. Uniformed ex-soldiers catch my eye, but they're all looking down, some of them with their ears flattened. I wonder if they're having a hard time adjusting to this place, too. As I turn my head back toward the Western gate, I see a couple of does checking me out. If I was feeling better I would chat with them a bit, maybe get their wristband IDs, take one of them back to my room later... But I need to get to work, so I smile and nod at them as I pass through the gate, hearing them giggle behind me.

Their curvy silhouettes stay in mind a bit too long. I realize I've missed a turn somewhere, so I start backtracking. I read over the hallway numbers as I walk, trying to remember the number of the Programmer's Office. I get to about 650 before I hear a loud crashing noise coming from one of the hallways I just passed. My feet stop in place and my ears instinctively turn in the direction of the noise. The few other civilians walking around me have their ears perked as well, but they keep walking. I almost ignore it, but then it happens again. Now I'm curious.

I head in the direction I think the sound came from. As I turn the corner of the hallway, I spy a large broken pipe on the ground. When I go over to it, I check the wall to see if it fell off or if it was a vandalism. Sure enough, this part of the wall is missing the metal panel that is supposed to cover it. But the pipe doesn't seem to have fallen off the wall; everything is still intact. A mess of wires wraps around the pipes that line the wall. It's only when I look closer at it that I notice a pair of dark brown eyes peering back at me.

"Hello?" I say.

"Big," they say, tilting their head a bit. "You're big."

It sounds like a child's voice. My tail sways behind me curiously. "I am. Are you?"

"No. I'm small," the voice replies in a matter-of-fact tone.

My eyes start to adjust to the darkness behind the pipes. The figure talking back to me is pretty tiny, definitely a kid. I'm not sure of the species until I get a glance of his ears. Tiny half-circles sitting toward the top of his head tell me he's a bear cub. What's a bear cub doing in the walls of the ship?

"Are you okay in there?" I ask, inspecting the pipes and wires to see if there's any possible way of getting him out. Not without some major property damage.

"Yeah," he giggles, "I'm playing hide-n-seek! Shh you can't tell anyone."

"Who are y--Hey, wait! Come back!" I hear the light pitter-patter of his feet running away, his figure fading into the darkness behind the wall. Pressing an ear against the pipes I try to listen for any sign of him coming back, but all I hear is the distant sound of a hiccup echoing through the wall back to me. After a few minutes of silence, I decide it's pointless to keep waiting. I check my wristband for the time. Dammit, I'm late for work.

Eventually, I find my way to the Programmer's Office. After coming up with an excuse to my boss why I'm ten minutes late, and him proceeding to stutter angrily at me for this not to become a habit, I sit down at my cramped desk and worry about the bear cub I saw. Mentioning him to anyone seemed useless--they'd either tell me I'm crazy or write down a fake report, pretend to send it to the higher-ups, and then delete it after I'd leave. Although, what if he had a family on board that was going crazy looking for him? In that case I'd be doing them a favor.

Wait... How the hell did he even get up here? The closest family floor was floor 50. Twenty-seven floors... There's no way. Was I just seeing things? Is he even real? The noise was, that's for sure. The other civilians heard it. But the kid. Is he real? Could he have been a ghost? Or was it just my imagination making things up again?

"Rey!" a shout and a fist slam against my small cubicle.

"Wha-?!" I jump, knocking over a picture of my mother with my elbow. I pick it up and dust it off as the voice laughs at me. When I look up, I see Dominic--the panther I sometimes eat lunch with--peering over my cubicle with a big, involved grin.

"You have a visitor. And she's hella fine," Dominic says.

I tilt my head to the sound of footsteps coming toward me. My boss is trying to escort a mountain lion to my cubicle. Emphasis on trying, because it looks more like he's trying to ask out a woman who's clearly not interested in him. She keeps her eyes focused on me, the eyes of an old friend.

"Rey, this is--"

"Commander Dian," I say, standing up and shaking her paw. I force my tail to stop wagging all over the place. [maybe have Rey force down a salute to her]

"It is just Dian now," she smiles. "Are you busy?"

"Yes, actually he is very--"

I shake my head and start walking toward the exit, ignoring my boss and the vulgar gestures Dominic is making at me. "What do you need?" I ask Dian.

She keeps her paws folded behind her back as we walk out of the Programmer's Office and into the hallway. Her tail remains poised, the tip just a few inches from the ground. "Short answer? Your help."

I keep silent as we walk into the center of Petri. We navigate through the crowd to the edge of the platform that borders the staircase. Dian places her paws on the sleek metal guardrails, then looks around the innards of the ship. Rust-red metal near the bottom turns into a solid, subdued white color near the top.

"What did you do when the armistice was announced?" Dian asked, gazing at the crowd of civilians walking around below us.

My ears flick as I try to remember where I was two months ago. "I went home to see my mother," I say. "Hadn't seen her in a few years."

"Mm," Dian exhaled. "Did she recognize you?"

"Yeah." I recall my mother's soft grin. My tail sways a bit. "She knew it was me before she even opened the door."

Dian raised her head toward the whiter walls. "And how did she react when you were accepted to board?"

My tail stiffens. "Well, at first I didn't even want to go. When I tried telling her I wanted to stay here with her she just said no. My protests were fought with a lot of hugging and kissing and her telling me she would be okay."

Dian's expression brightens just a little. She gives me a short chuckle. "I am glad you have a good connection with your mother."

My mouth opens to ask her about her parents, but before I can get the words out she starts talking again. The soft expression she was wearing hardens back into her usual stoic one. "I want to be clear about this. You do not have to help me with this mission of mine."

The fur along my spine prickles. I cannot tell if I should be happy or worried that she isn't forcing me to help her. Her monotonic tone doesn't give me answers either. "I'd rather know what this mission entails before I decide."

She turns to me now, but not before subtly looking around for anyone who might be listening in on us. "I ask that you keep all that I tell you secret," she says quietly.

"Of course," I say without hesitation.

Her eyes are focused on a trio of wolves nearby. When they leave, she continues, "There have been reports of vandalisms on the ship. At first, we thought they were caused by disobedient civilians, but after investigating them for the last month, we have reason to believe that..." She stops herself, takes a breath, and looks at me. "...that there is something bigger going on."

I nod slowly, trying to process what she is saying. My gut reaction would be to say yes; I'm bored of doing nothing but programming on the ship. This feels like a way I can finally get back in the fight. But...do I really want that?

"You do not have to give me an answer right now. Email me your decision by tomorrow." Dian hands me a small piece of paper with her email address scribbled on it. I immediately put it in the pocket of my suit.

"How many people know about this?" I say, wondering if anyone I know will be helping too.

The tip of her tail twitches in my peripheral vision as I watch her think. "Three ex-soldiers, so far. You and I included. I have six more visits to make," she says with a slight grin.

"Small team," I drift off, thinking back to the end of my first year in the military. "Reminds me of when I was a Scandal."

"Careful," Dian says firmly, chasing off the wispy clouds of my daydream, along with any remnants of the smile she had on previously. "Do not get stuck in the past, Rey. I need you here, and now."

I look around at the crowd. She's right; we're all together on this ship, whether we like it or not. People from both sides of the war. We may be fragmented and separated, but this is the way things are now. I'm not fighting for a side anymore, I'm fighting for our survival.

"Right. I won't disappoint you."

"I hope to hear from you," she nods reassuringly, backing away from the guardrails. "Have fun at work."

I can't tell if she is being serious about that last part. It doesn't matter though. She's lost in the crowd a moment later, and I am left thinking about the mental changes I need to make to be as good a soldier--an ex-soldier--as she needs me to be.