FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Dedicated to

Nikko, Seth, Gracie, Shyann, Twilly, Mom and Dad

for showing me how great a true friendship really is

PART ONE: ACTS OF FRIENDSHIP AND THE FATAL DOUBTS

Chapter one:

“ I want to give it to you now because I believe it's worth it." The anthropomorphic kangaroo girl leans against the grey wall of my school, with her eyes scanning the ground. Her tail gently swishes from side to side behind her, like a leaf in the wind. Her purple jacket sits happily over her brown body, with a bit of her black stomach furs sticking out at the bottom end of it. Her hands, equal in color to her stomach, are stuffed inside of her jacket pockets, and her shadowy feet stand so lightly on the cement it's almost hard to tell if she's really making contact with the FourEarth. Her dark purple eyes are directed by eternal contemplations, ones that never cease to be on the verge of tears. “ I know that I could have waited until a better time to see you, but I happened to be near here because of a mission, and since school was ending for the day, I figured why not?" She looks up at me, connecting our gazes together. This always makes my heart jump. I feel a tinge of awkwardness enter my mind, and I scratch the side of my furry blue head without meaning to. Why do we perform such random motions with our limbs when we're nervous? I sometimes wish I didn't, but sometimes it helps. “ Fair enough. I appreciate that you've even decided to give it back to me, and I'm happy to see you!"“ Really?"“ You know I don't lie, Drift. I sorta wish that we could go to the same school, honestly." Why do I feel so embarrassed while saying that? She smiles and stands up straighter. A small tuft of caramel fur perfectly placed in-between her two long ears, one taller than the rest of her head fur, dips to the side ever so slightly.

“ I do too, so I know how you feel. But, well, that's how it is." Yeah, and I sometimes hate it! I don't think Life understands how much happier it would make me if I could learn new things in the classroom with Drift by my side. But I suppose that's a small thing to let bother me. A few seconds pass, and Drift sighs after seeing a message on her Connecto-Panel. The medium sized silver screen attached to a pink leather forearm band glows as it displays a chatroom between her and someone else. Her muzzle, ringed with one black stripe, dips down toward the screen as her lips fall into a frown. “I need to head back to my school. I thought I'd get the rest of the day off, but apparently not." Her voice has a twinge of annoyance in it, as if she doesn't want to leave. I feel a rock drop inside of me as my sadness crashes into my body just like usual.

“ Oh, well alright. That's fair enough." My friend stretches, delaying the inevitable. We both look across the school's main area, thinking the many thoughts that form us. Pathway tells me to say my speech to her. I'm not sure if this is a good time.

“ Well uh, you're welcome for the Connecto, and I'll talk to you later?"

“ Yeah, of course! Thanks again," I say. I glance at my own silver screen strapped to a light blue armband. The Connecto Panel. A gift I probably don't appreciate as much as I should. It's hard to when there's other stuff going on. I take notice of a staff member walking down a hallway. They don't see us. Yet. Other voices echo from within the school. Some people stay really late after they're supposed to have left. Drift glances at one of the school's exits and sighs.

“ I'll just message you about what happened during the mission," she says.

“ Okay. I'll be curious to know!" Silence. Neither of us move.

“ I should probably get going."

“ Alright. I need to get going too." At least we can always use online texts to stay in contact. Another thing I barely give enough thought to. “ I'll see you later, and I hope you have a nice day!" She repeats my words in her own way and leaves, walking down Building 400's lower outside hallway and out of sight. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that this is always painful, even if it is temporary. I'm never really sure how long it'll be until I can talk to them again. It can seem random. Too random.

I haphazardly rub my face and mentally tell my emotions to calm down. These things called 'feelings' are always so heavy inside my mind, and when I'm upset they're nearly too much. I try to ignore them by gazing out at my school. I'm standing near some gum layered dark green metal lunch tables and flickering rusted vending machines, with one of the currently closed cafeterias sitting to my far left and the black steel main entrance gate to the school standing to my diagonal right. About a dozen sand colored buildings set up around the quad and each other create a mini city-like silhouette onto the garbage stained white cement. The quad has a huge circular patch of pure grass in the center, with tens of scarred brown benches and wrapper infested green wood tables scattered around it. My school is pretty boring. It has no fancy colors or shiny pieces of art to make it stand out like the rest of Core Cylon. I mean, sure, we have some neat paintings put up on the walls on some of the buildings, like the bust of MLK Jr. made out of colored stones that's on the back side of a history bungalow, but I don't feel that those things are enough to make this place look special. It doesn't help when Ilius gives his speeches about how beautiful his school's gardens are, or when Ziax slips in a brief analogy related to his school's soccer statues. But I guess this place has a more important job to do.

I boredly turn my attention to my Connecto-Panel. The light blue armband gleams in the sunlight, and the silver screen echoes into my eyes. I can't believe I left this at Drift's house floor two days ago. I went over there after school so we could do some studying and game playing. And dinner. Her mom makes wonderful meals. I would compare her to my own mom, but I don't think she'd like that. I guess I was so tired I ended up leaving with just my backpack and hoverboots. It's annoying to me how I can remember some things but not others even though all of it matters.

I'm so caught up in my thoughts that I jump at the sound of a new voice. “ Hey, Similic! You ready to go diving into the depths of our school?" It's a grey wolf with some light red slinking up his ears, rolling down his muzzle, swirling around his fuzzy long tail, and layering his forelegs and feet. His light brown eyes are bright with intrigue as he walks over and pokes my nose. “ Hey, dude, I'm talking to you." I force myself out of my mental state as I respond.

“ Huh? Oh, yeah, hey, Harlite! I know you were, I was just thinking about something stupid I did on Wednesday."

“ Did it involve Drift?"

“ Hm? Whaddya mean?"

“ Remember when you told me during lunch today that you feel nervous around her?"

“ That's just because I have zero control over my subconscious."

“ Well I've already given you pointers as to how to stop that."

“ I know, but it's not that easy." I sigh. Why am I always so dramatic? It kind of bothers me.

“ Man, if I can do it, then you can too. It's all about pushing on.'' His yellow and blue boots and Panel contrast so heavily with the rest of him it's hard not to stare.

''Well yeah. I just wish it could be easier than that.''

''The amount of times you've said that is incredible.''

''Is it a bad thing?''

''Not really. Just shows how much you-''

“ You guys ready?" A new voice springs into the equation. It comes from a light blue wolf that has hot yellow dominating his forelimbs, striping his long thin tail, and painting his muzzle. We look identical, except where he has yellow I have pure white. Well, my tail is entirely white only on the underside, and my ears have white along their backsides and inside tufts. The new member of the conversation walks over to us, a quizzical expression plastered on his face. His green boots and completely tan Panel seem a bit too loose for him. “ You remember that we're on a time limit, right?"

“ Whaddya mean, Jimson?" I ask.

“ The thing our Language teacher told me. He said that we need to be back with the projection machines before fifteen hundred." I look at the time on my Panel. It's fourteen forty-seven.

“ Huh. Well he didn't tell us that when he first told us to do this," Harlite says.

“ He told me as I was walking back from the bathroom just now," Jimson says. “ I still think it's odd that he can't just go down there himself and get the machines. Isn't he supposed to bring them to a truck device or something so they can be carried off?"

“ Yeah, the office ordered him to. The school doesn't need them anymore, since they couldn't raise enough money on their own to finish them," I say. Which is stupid because it shouldn't be that way. Most schools get great funding, so why not mine? Harlite quickly coughs into his hand and annoyedly faces the quad.“ Yeah, and that's no surprise," he says. “ Both the fact that the school's incompetent at making money, and that our teacher is having us do his job. But regardless, we better get going." He's not wrong. We all agreed to do this. I guess they feel the same desire to help that I do. “ Is Curmolae done with his make-up test?"

“ I think so," Jimson says. “ It's been enough time, I think." Harlite begins to say something but I cut him off with my index finger. I point past them towards another wolf, who's hustling through the quad grass with an exasperated face.

“ There he is. Let's go!" I say.

Curmolae's fur is colored by a sea of black that's ringed with horizontal shiny green lines throughout his whole person. His creamy orange eyes are a glowing reflection of the sweetest personality I've ever seen. His white and blue boots and Panel remind me of those feelings again. He waits timidly in the middle of the grass for us to reach him, once he sees that we're coming. Once I'm close enough his ears perk up. “ Hi, guys! Sorry about my taking a while. Chemistry is hard!"

“ It's only been about twenty-ish minutes," Harlite says, “ so no big deal. I had to get something from my math class anyways."

“ Wait," I say. “ Jimson, you were in the bathroom for twenty minutes?"

“ Yes. I had to poop, ok?"

“ That's a long time to do the número dos,'' Harlite says. “ Almost as bad as the amount of time it takes Similic to eat."

“ I just like to enjoy my food," I say. And if I eat faster I throw up… Curmolae chuckles.

“ Taking a while isn't a bad thing," he says. Harlite gives a tiny shrug.

“ I guess. Either way, does anyone remember how to open up the quad?" he asks. We all look expectantly at the grass, trying to remember something only one of us knows. Curmolae finds four grey pegs dug into the dirt, and presses down on them softly. The ground shakes gently as a small square hole makes itself known in the center of the school.

It's never occurred to me that just anyone, like the students who cross this grass everyday, could easily press all four of the pegs and open up the hole. It could happen at any time, even by accident. Especially by accident. I don't think it's ever happened for as long as I've been here, but it seems to me like a high enough chance to where I question why would they even have an underground storage facility? To save money on upper ground storage? I know some companies do that, but why my school? It might just be one of those weird things that actually ends up working. Did the humans ever have schools as weird as we do? I hope so.

My friends climb down the ladder that leads further inside the FourEarth in a very specific order: Harlite, then Jimson, then Curmolae, and then me. Why? It's our order for when we're about to enter a possibly dangerous area during a scout mission. Harlite loves to be first, just in case something bad happens which allows him to do some sort of a cool move that gets him credit later on. What credit? I think it's just credit that he gives himself inside of his head. He doesn't get any extra scouting points from our officer for doing it, even though he sometimes says that he does. Is he lying? I'm not too sure. It doesn't matter either way though, since it's a harmless thing he enjoys. Right? Although every time he chooses to risk himself for our sake I feel shards of guilt. And yet I never stop him because I think it's okay. Is it really a good thing to let someone hurt themself in place of me? I know I always want to try to help, but are those the moments when I fail? I think it's fine. It's been working out so far. I think.

“ Similic? Are you coming down?" Curmolae's head sticks out of the grass's top, his eyes gleaming with the feeling of maintenance. “ We uh, do need your help to bring these machines back to our teacher. Are you okay?" I look at him thankfully as I let out a quick chuckle. One of the few people that actually worries for me.

“ I'm fine! I just think it's funny how we're going down the same way we do during missions. The same order, as always." Or almost always. I should've said that. Right? “ Oh, yeah that's true, ain't it? I didn't realize that. You're pretty observant, Similic," he smiles extra joyfully at me. I feel myself become a little hot as I awkwardly shrug.

“ I guess so. But yeah, I'm coming down. I've never been down here before." I begin to lower myself down to the grass. “ Neither have I, so it should be interesting!" He climbs down so I can get in. I fit myself into the hole and grab onto the smooth metallic blue ladder that's embedded perfectly within the warm soil. We make our way down into the depths of our school. I'm still not sure if we should be doing this or not. Are we gonna get in trouble for this? I don't think so. Are you sure? It could happen.

The climb down wasn't anything special. The walls were a simple sea of brown particles, and I saw some sub-worms poking their moist heads out and watching us descend. They buried themselves back into the dirt after they lost interest in us. I wonder if it's nice to be able to dig your way through the FourEarth, not worrying about other people telling you where to go or what to do. Sometimes I wish I could know. Once we got to the bottom, we all checked to make sure that we were okay. We don't have to, but I guess it's just ingrained in us from all of our missions together. We're only level two scouts, but still. We gotta be sure we're okay. I'd regret it too much otherwise. We look around, seeing the old, sagging brown walls, and the small drops of water dripping down from in-between the muddy bricks and discolored ceiling lamps. This feels like some sort of an ancient mine shaft. Definitely something that wouldn't be under a school. But here it is anyway.“ Okay, so this is creepy. Do they have all of our failed tests down here or something?" Harlite asks. “ I almost hope so," I say. “It'd be amazing to see what has counted as 'failure.'" We all laugh a bit. “But what exactly are we looking for? I think I forgot..." And when's the next time I'll forget something important? “ The projection bases," Curmolae says. “ That's the uh, name of them. They're like silver lump-shaped things. I'll let you guys know once we see them." “ You should lead us, then," Jimson says. “ Since, you know, you know where they are, and stuff." “ Oh, okay, but which direction?" Curmolae asks. We all shrug and look around again. We're standing in the middle of a long, corridor-like stretch. We can go right, or left. The timeless decision. Our teacher wasn't very clear with his instructions, as usual. I think it's a specialty that most teachers have, not being able to communicate their thoughts to their students properly. “ I'll just choose a direction, I guess." He points south, and we all nod. We're agreeing even though we don't actually know how or why Curmolae claims to know where the bases are. But considering our history it seems we don't care. It's better to start somewhere than to just sit here with nothing. We walk onward down the damp hall, trusting our friend.

As we go through the underground storage unit, we encounter more sub-animals. Jimson jumps and screams as three sub-spiders scramble past him on the ground. The others and I just watch the little black bugs make their way past us, hurrying towards somewhere. “ Are you okay, Jimson? Those things are harmless compared to us," I say. He nods his head as he exhales heavily.“ I just hate odd looking things." And that's an aspect I've forgotten to talk to him about. Will I forget again? Do I even care? We continue on. About fifteen feet later, to Jimson's displeasure, we find five sub-moths all surrounding a singular light bulb on the ceiling that's illuminating a wide-spaced section of the corridor. At the room's opposite end is more of the corridor, leading to more rooms. Jimson stares at the brown specks as they all swish around rapidly through the air. “ Can you guys go in front of me, please?" “ Those won't hurt you, man," Harlite says.“ I know, but just… Please?" ''Alright. That's fine!'' I step up past him first, my friends following. Curmolae wondrously gazes at the sub-moths as he goes past the bulb. Jimson begins to profusely thank us as we make it to the second half of the room. We all stop, looking at what's here. I find myself amazed. The whole half of the room, is filled with cartoon illusions.

There are sixteen projection bases sitting about the floorboards, and they're all on. Streaks of multi-colored lights shoot out from the nozzles implanted into the fronts of the machines, creating life-size images of a variety of cartoon characters. I recognize a lot of them from when I was a small child. There is a white and brown cat with a red scarf named Chip, a grey and white cat with a blue jacket and a tired face named Katnip, a blue tiger with a blue jumpsuit on and a happy face named Koal, a 1930's-inspired black and white demon character named something I can't remember, and many others. They all stare at us, their eyes unmoving and completely fake. Their images flicker, showing the vacant walls behind them. They appear to be in some kind of a frozen state. “ Goddamn! These are what the school wanted to use to teach us with?" Harlite says. He walks forward as his voice permeates the room with astonishment. He swipes at the cartoons, his ears drooping back with innocent play. Jimson and Curmolae join into the toddler entertainment, all three of them saying dramatic lines as they act out their favorite scenes.“ Similic, do you wanna join us?" Curmolae asks. “ Similic?" He turns around to find me occupied by something on my Panel. Curmolae walks over to me as the others continue to use their fantasy as a reason to ignore their duty. Only a glance is what they give me before returning back to what they care about more right now. My name is gently called out one more time as Curmolae stops just in front of me. My now stress-induced eyes look up at him, away from Drift. “ Something wrong?" I nod my head annoyedly. “ It's about Katherine, again. She's not being nice to Drift. Again." I sigh in aggravation. Curmolae's lips dip into a small frown. “ I'm not surprised, honestly. What's happening?" I sigh with added anger as I shut off my Panel.“ Just the usual garbage between them. But let's get this over with. I wanna meet up with her once we're done." I motion somewhat carelessly towards the machines. Curmolae briefly opens his lips, but he hides the idea away in his head. He just says okay and walks with me back into the mission.“ ...it is weird, but it's not the end of the world," Jimson says. He and Harlite are now having a discussion over something that has to do with soap. Once I reach them, they stop talking and ask me if I'm okay. I say I'm fine, and that we should get going. Do their tones of voice actually sound like they care how I'm doing?

My friends and I spend the next five minutes shutting off all the projection bases, turning the room into one of colorless stillness. Who made the mistake of leaving all these things turned on and scattered about in such an unorganized manner? And why am I not surprised, considering this was all set up by my school? My mind still seethes with the thoughts of the text conversation, but I try to ignore it. You know you can't do that. It's important to me, so don't mess it up or you'll be a failure. We each hold four bases, allowing us to do this in one trip. Maybe that's why our teacher wanted us to go instead of him? Or it could just be our willingness to help. Either way, we have the issue of getting back up the ladder. Once we arrive back to where we started, we look up towards the surface, where the hole is sealed. “ Um, is someone pranking us?" Jimson asks.“ Maybe a student closed it because they thought it wasn't supposed to be open," Curmolae says.“ But I don't think there are any students left on campus. At least, not at this point," I say.“ What if it's-" Harlite is cut off by the sound of an adult voice calling to us from the direction we didn't go. We turn to see a shining yellow light emanating from the other end of the corridor, where a figure stands.“ Hey, kids!" It's our Language teacher. His pure pink fur layered by a grey shirt and equally gray pants stick out from the light of the sun. His red Panel and boots are busy with white light ornaments. His coyote ears flick up and down, almost as if on alert. “ I opened up another way for you all to get out!"“ Is this an okay thing to do?" Harlite asks.“ Of course it is!" The teacher says. “ You're helping me!"

Once we get back to the classroom, our teacher explains to us that he has a remote controller he got from the office that lets him open and close both of the underground storage's entrances. The one we came out of was a slanted upwards path that exited out onto the football field. It's a good thing we're doing this after school has ended. What would've happened if we were caught in the middle of a game? “ Thank you very kindly, young men," he says, as we carefully put down the projection bases on his floor. “ I just really didn't feel like going down there myself, since I hate the feeling that being down there gives me. It's just creepy."“ I know what you mean," Jimson says. ''I never wanna be there again.''“ Oh wow,'' our teacher proclaims. ''I guess I'm not alone! How nice.'' He pats Jimson on the back as we say goodbye and leave the room that's basically a mini library. “ This has certainly been interesting!" Harlite says. “I also need to go. My mom wants to watch a movie or something with me, and she wants to see it as soon as possible. You know what my mom does when she's angry, so I'm not about to keep her waiting any longer."“ Fair enough," I say. “ I still think you should talk to her about that."“I wish I could watch a movie when I get home," Jimson says. “ I need to go and do homework. I'll see you guys later." We say a sadder goodbye as they head off together as normal towards our school's field-bound exit. Curmolae and I watch as they suddenly halt to read something on their Connecto Panels. Their postures shrink with irritation as they look back at us. “ Scout mission!" Jimson calls. I let out a laugh. We've all gotten one during a not-so-preferred moment. It's something we can't complain about, as it's something we willingly chose to live with. How often do I complain about it regardless? They hurry away as they playfully push each other around. Pushing and shoving… I've never done that.“ I guess it only involves them," I say. Curmolae and I check our emails, seeing that we don't have any instructions from our officer. Sometimes a mission only requires two or three of us, instead of all four. And every time it happens I want to go with them, but I know it's not about me. Will I ever try to be a part of a mission that isn't mine? That's not what I'd want, right?“ Seems like it," Curmolae says. “ But uh, do you wanna walk to the living building together?" I've noticed how sheepish he seems when he asks me questions like this. I may have an idea as to why, though I'm not sure if it's true. I don't want to really ask about it though, since it makes me nervous. Before I respond, I receive a text on my Connecto Panel. It's from Drift.“ Are we still meeting at the Synthesis Dimension?" I almost forgot about this. We planned to go together to the famous synthetic garden in Core Marcilin to pick out some flowers for Ninzurith's birthday party. At this point we're also doing it so I can talk to her about what happened.“ Yeah, of course! Sorry, I got occupied with something at school," I text her back.“ That's ok! I'm waiting for you in the garden. Don't rush though! I'm fine."“ You sure? I'm heading over there right now." I look back up at Curmolae, who's studying a sub-bug hanging onto the wall.“ I wish I could walk with you but I just realized I have a second thing to do with Drift." His chest falls as his ears do so as well.“ Oh, right. Okay. If you want help at all then you know I'm here."“ I definitely know, and I appreciate it! But this shouldn't be too bad, I hope." If only hope was enough. Curmolae struggles to form a quick and nervous smile. “ Do you know what flowers you want?" “ Not entirely, but I'll figure it out! There are plenty of good options." I turn to head towards my school's main exit. “ Anyway, I'll cya later. It's been fun, and I hope you have a nice day, Curmolae." I begin to walk away. Curmolae's voice stops me before I step down the stairs leading from the upper Language classes to the quad. “ Hey um, actually, is it okay if I go with you to the train station?" I face him again. He fidgets with his arms locked together.“ You wanna?"“ Well yeah. I just figured since, well, we could still talk and stuff then. We could hang out there for a bit, and uh…" His ears recline even more as he lowers his anxious eyes to the hard cement. “ You know what, never mind, it's stupid. I'm being stupid. Just go."“ Curmolae, you aren't stupid. If you wanna come with me then that's fine!" I can see his body twitch with the doubts. He looks at me with those shining eyes.“ Are you sure? I'll just leave. Forget that I said anything."“ Hey, dude." I step a little closer to him. “ I said that I'm okay with you coming with me, and you know I don't lie." Curmolae wipes his face hastily as he lets out a worried sigh. He seems way too flustered by the situation that he probably intended to create. After three or so seconds, he shyly says okay. We go down the stairs together as we head towards the rest of our days.

Seeing the same streets and same buildings, I end up slipping into the wormhole that is my thoughts. Our school is located in Zonarc, the third Sector of Core Cylon, my home Core. Each of the eleven Cores has six Sectors. Well, except for Core Oracus and Core Scholas. They each have thirteen, which I suppose is a nice benefit to being structured around a volcano and a mountain range. Each Core is home to millions of furmans, the eleven humanoid hybrid species that now dominate this planet. We're the only intelligent form of life left, now that the humans are extinct from FourEarth. My ancestors decided upon that name because this current time period is considered to be the fourth true era of the humans, even though a lot of people don't like the idea that we're connected to them. Some people like to believe it's because the United Cores has an infinite mission to 'fix and grow the planet.' I feel like the latter idea makes more sense, so I choose to believe that one. Apparently, not that many people understand that the United Cores, the place we all live in, was made in a world that didn't always belong to us. We, in a sense, inherited this planet from the humans. Not that they wanted us to. They all died before they could see the fruit of their efforts.

From what I understand, the humans had just begun an age of fully manipulating DNA so they could splice different species' biological coding together to produce never before seen creatures. The biggest discovery came when they risked the idea of combining human DNA and sub-animal DNA. I say 'sub' before every natural animal's name because that's how we distinguish between us and another species of nature. We say 'sub' even for animals that aren't sharing a species with one of us. Some people think it's weird, but I don't mind. I just think it's interesting they chose only eleven species. For a reason we'll never know, they selected the wolf, kangaroo, hawk, 'dragon', hyena, snake, tiger, coyote, cougar, fox, and monkey. I put quotations around 'dragon' because, as far as we know, winged dragons weren't actually a thing during the human era. They were just a mythical creature to the humans, but I guess the geneticists felt like taking a risk by trying out a completely artificial strand of DNA to mix with two of their test subjects. For each species they had a heterosexual couple that was injected with one of the specialized animal serums, which ended up knocking them out. The sleeping subjects were put into test tubes inside of a sealed vault that was kept so far inside the FourEarth that no one else knew about it. Why? I'd figure that someone would tell someone at some point, right? Well, school tells us it's because of World War 3. I have no reason to not believe them, so I figure the info is probably correct.A thermonuclear war broke out due to insecurities within the biggest national powers of the human world. The United States, North Korea, and China were the ones who apparently set off the first few bombs that initiated the era-terminating slaughter. From what I've learned in class, it was caused by increased tensions between the countries' governments, all suffering from immature and unable leaders. The countries apparently couldn't sustain themselves in the face of fallacy and misdemeanor as well as they thought they could. Plus I think the power of DNA splicing was becoming too much to handle as well. What started out with the U.S. politically and periodically bullying China, North Korea, Russia, and other nations over dumb accusations such as 'abuses of friendship with the president' later on turned into a matter of a lack of control and misuse of lab-created animal species and human-plant hybrids, weaponized tyranny meant to maintain leadership, misguided attempts at stabilizing the economy, and improper law decision and execution. It seems to me like the humans weren't ready to handle the new-found power they had with DNA splicing and truly advanced weaponry, on top of everything else that was already going downhill. They were still too silly and block-headed to know how dangerous it would be to mess with powerful capabilities without having a way to control the outcomes. I'm not sure what the rest of the details entail, but I know the rest of the world had to get involved in order to either take advantage of the chaos or attempt to settle things down.

What was the outcome of such a war? Every human was eradicated from this planet. The only thing left to carry on their 'legacy', is us. The original twenty-two test subjects, their bodies entirely reformed, were still alive in their containment tubes once the dust and nuclear waste had settled. Most of the natural world had survived, although just barely and with a lot of toxic infection. The Incubator Pods opened many years after they were originally supposed to, finally releasing the subjects around the year of 2100. The legend has it that they spent only a couple of months wandering around the ruins of the once mighty nation, scrounging their scraps to build a new civilization. They took advantage of the left-over technology that survived and their own brilliant minds to erect eleven new countries which they would then populate throughout the years to come. Over the past two-hundred years, the eleven Cores have grown immensely, expanding all the way throughout the United States and about halfway through what was Canada and South America. Some species created Cores in areas that wouldn't be possible for their sub versions to be in. The best example is the Sethmia Desert, where the kangaroos created their Core, craftily applying technology and the power of trading to maintain their personal wellbeing. Why? I guess they just prefer it that way. I mean, my species, the wolves, made their Core in what used to be the Grand Canyon, now overrun with vegetation. By modern day, hundreds of thousands of structures dominate the entirety of every Core, with massive border walls surrounding the edges of our lands. Most people didn't used to bother with going outside of the Cores, except for the scouts or military soldiers. Nowadays, every Core has an Outer Ring, the areas of land just outside of the border walls. These Rings are legally part of a Sector, which is different for every Core, and this has allowed us to expand even more. It makes it a lot less lonely knowing there are others outside, assuming a person is close enough to a border wall for there to be civilization still. I guess that sounds dramatic, but I've seen how much of the world is still left unexplored despite our efforts, since I'm a scout. Me, Jimson, Harlite, and Curmolae are a scouting team.

We may not have even met if it weren't for our shared interest in the scouting business! We all went through two years of class in order to sign up and try out to be scouts. The course is rigorous and sometimes fairly stressful, but there's a reason for that. Being a scout is possibly one of the most stressful jobs a person can have. It's easy enough to apply for, but it's certainly not easy to see it all through. There are five ranks of scouting, with a person starting off as a rank one after having completed their studying and training. Once that's done, the person goes through an online process where they're given a Scout Station and an officer to work for. One of the worst parts is having to meet your new job for the first time, and then having to win the mental battle of being a rank one. This period of time is spent by completing a number of training tasks set out by the SCG. In a way, being a first rank scout is the same as being a student who's still in class, except now there are real life consequences to the missions we embark on. It usually takes around a year and a half of at least mostly successful rank one mission completions to be eligible for rank two. It's up to your officer to choose when to level you up and mark it down. Each rank after that, up to rank five, takes longer to fulfill. I remember reading that most people don't reach rank five because of how many years are needed to acquire it. Once someone is a rank two scout, they can be given any kind of mission, even ones they aren't exactly ready for yet. Me and the other kids in my group are all rank twos, as a person is usually put into a group that also consists of starters. In this sense it allows the group to level up together, as long as they get along. I think my group is getting close to ranking up, which has me kind of excited. We've been doing missions for a while now, and once we level up more people might actually listen to us during danger. The way a scout mission works is that we're given a task by our assigned station's officer, and we have a set amount of estimated time to get the job done. Usually they're tasks that require a good amount of mental focus and/or physical strength, like investigating a designated area to map out it or to find specific objects that have somehow been reported to be there amongst the human ruins, or something more sociable like helping the police to take care of criminals or diffuse criminal activity inside or outside of the Cores. Once the objective has been completed we finish it off with whatever's in the mission briefing, whether that be bringing outside findings to a specific company location or simply to scribble a bunch of summary info into a digital report sheet. Our officers usually get these missions from either the Core's Scouting Government or from anyone who decides to contract our station for 'special help.' The last part of any mission, assuming there's zero or little alternative goals on the sides of the scouts, is to report our success/failure to our officer via a 'private' email. The credit we earn is dependent upon those emails and the physical evidence that can be seen of our completion. Some of our missions are fairly straightforward, and they only take less than a few hours. Some of them can be seriously draining, both for the body and for the mind. I honestly like being a scout, normally, since it lets me feel like I'm doing something impactful with my life. I suppose there are other things I do that could be 'impactful' as well, but scouting is the most 'official,' at least so far. It's hard to get some people to believe that creative storytelling can be an official job. Not every paying and respected job needs to involve brutal labor.

I often forget how thinking too much about random things can force me into a staggering mental prison. Before I drop off into the abyss of uncertainty again, Curmolae caresses me out of my head space and places me back into reality. “ It's really cute when little kids get so excited over simple things like toys." We're currently passing a bright and bubbly blue toy/video game store. A family of monkeys is walking past us on the shining white sidewalk, the two pink parents happily receiving the delighted squeals of their dark pink young daughter as she swings around a new MegaMan action figure. We're in Inpezar, the first established Sector of our Core. It's incredible, how we arrived here from Zonarc in only about 2 or so hours. That's true, although most Sectors don't take too long to fully cross thanks to our hover boots allowing us to dash through the streets at the speed of human cars. Some Cores are significantly larger than others, but with enough persistent movement, it's usually not too bad. Sometimes we move faster than I realize. Or want.“ Yeah, it's nice! It kinda takes me back to when I was about that age. How old is that girl?" I say.“ No clue. Around eight, maybe?"“ I feel like that might be a bit young."“ Twelve?"“ Probably too old."“ Similic! What age do you think?"“ Perhaps eight," I say. Curmolae playfully boops my nose without telling me, causing those fuzzy feelings to fly. He disconcertedly smiles while a fake feeling apology slips out of his mouth. If it wasn't him, I'd maybe tell him to please not do that again.“ I can't remember the last time my parents got me a toy, without me asking," he says as we turn a corner. I'm glad he agreed to take a break from dashing for so long. The sun is fully risen in the ever viewing sky, beating down its rays onto the world. There are lots of people all over the place, either dashing, sitting, walking, or even running. The air feels fairly busy, which is common around this Sector. The many rows upon rows of blue and tan blocky styled buildings flash their huge and noisy advertisements and reminders. So many companies and mental lives banking on the sales these different yet similar structures rake in. The ones who maintain the highest successes are those who dare to appear unique, which is something I love. I just wish it wasn't so overwhelming sometimes.We pass down a few more sidewalks, keeping ourselves in a generally silent state. I have a rising feeling within me that I need to say something in order to keep things well. It's a thought that's been implanted into my mind ever since Drift began to talk about how she suffers from it. “ Have you heard about the play they're gonna put on of Liberation Squadron?" My words feel randomly gooey. Curmolae's ears perk up as my idea enters his mind. He's distantly inspecting a sub-bird nest planted in a tree. One of the parents seems to have brought home food for the kids. His face doesn't leave the sight of the aviary family as he gives his answer.“ No. I didn't even know that comic is still around! What's it gonna be like?" I feel a quick wave of surprise. Curmolae's fascinated by the way comics are designed, and I can't count the amount of times he's quickly mentioned a comic or two during some of our chats. I'd say he finds more interest in those than in normal books. It's something I would assume Drift would love, but that's not the case. In terms of Liberation Squadron specifically, Curmolae sort of got me into the series, for a while. I think it's based off of a popular comic series that was a thing back during the third era of intelligent life. The last of the humans. “ Uh, well I'm not sure, really. I think it's just gonna be a live action retelling of the first volume. They're posting online who the actors are gonna be, and it's stirring up a lot of tension in the fan base." I can't help but laugh along with Curmolae at this fact. And the sub-birds seem to drop away as a candy store takes their place in our view.“ That doesn't surprise me. No fan base can ever be satisfied. It's why I quit affiliating myself with any of them a long time ago. Regardless, I kinda wanna check it out. Might be cool. If it's made properly," Curmolae says.“ Heh. Yeah, exactly." Silence.“ Although, would you uh…"“ What?"“ Actually, nothing."“ What is it?"“ Nothing, it's nothing. Just an idea, but I think it's stupid." His ears lower a little as he drops his gaze to the cement. Curmolae's tail is always up, no matter what.“ I feel like it's not stupid, but I won't pry. You can tell me though if you want."“ I know."

The two of us continue towards the Cylon train station. I've always wondered where they got the name 'Cylon' from. To be honest, you could ask that about any of the Core's names. Maybe it would be easier if I didn't question it, but I like to do so. We decide to get back onto the streets and dash the rest of the way to the station, now that we're close. The way this works fascinates me. We use our shoes, commonly called hover or dash boots because it sounds cooler, to go faster than even a sub-cheetah. The United Cores mainly uses vehicles for specific operations like supply transfers and group transportations, though I have seen some people use them in the same way the humans did. Despite this, we apparently have the same street system as the humans, following lanes and intersections, and needing to perform hand turn signals and whatnot in order to prevent people from smacking into each other. Many people still die because they aren't paying attention anyway. I've heard that humans had lots of car accidents, which honestly isn't very surprising. Wearing hover boots to rapidly skate through the streets allows for not that many accidents to happen, unless it's a purposeful one. I've never seen anything bad happen on the streets, but Drift, Curmolae, and a few of my other friends have told me of their experiences. I feel sorry for them, in those moments.

Curmolae and I zip onto a left side street, the train station morphing into a clearer image up ahead. The massive border wall looms over us just behind the bustling platform, a false marking painted by thousands of designs and depictions. A bright and vibrant reminder of our history, present, and future. There is no Core without such a feat. A few kilometers later, and we meet the sidewalk once again. We make our way up the stairs and onto the noisy platform, our eyes becoming engorged with the multiple rows of dark brown leather chairs sitting in front of a humble white pay station as gleaming trains sleep behind it all. A bored grey and white coyote girl sits in the pay station, reading something on her holoscreen. The purple-outlined energy projection floats over the steel counter, acting as a manifestation of her black and green Connecto Panel's screen. This is what allowed companies to sell Panels like disguised drugs. The ability to make a copy of your screen, multiple if you want, in the air, with the power to position them wherever you want within a short radius of your Panel, and still have access to the entire internet and downloadable apps. You can also do this with keyboards and gaming controllers, if you buy the apps for them. It became so popular, that the Connecto-Panel is now the main source for, well, everything. News, shows, books, comics, video games, websites, anything. Most people don't understand the sheer amount of potential they have with these devices. “ Hey, Similic, did you bring your wallet?" Curmolae says this to me as we approach the booth. He still seems fidgety, as if this, walking with me to the train station, is a special moment for him that he doesn't want to mess up. I can't say if I feel the same or not.“ Yeah, and my credit card's in it too. Thanks." This injects a little annoyance into me. Curmolae's reminded me of obvious things that I would've forgotten otherwise more times than I would like to admit. I've mentioned it to him, and every time he says it's okay. They say it's okay but then they always seem to ridicule me later... I pay the price of four dollars and we sit down in two seats that are right next to a waiting train. Curmolae is to my right, reading something on his Panel, and to my left are three cougars, all of whom are the exact same sand color, all loudly discussing a recent mass shooting that took place in Sector Thetine, this Core's sixth Sector. I listen in on the details, unsure if what I'm doing is allowed or not. I barely even understand much of what they're saying anyway. The amount of Core-wide news I've consumed in my life so far is embarrassing. I rely too much on my parents to tell me what's going on. I should probably be more in charge of my own news knowledge. Maybe next year.

I look at Curmolae. He's naked. This would be unusual if he were a human, if he didn't have fur. It's legal for us to be 'naked' in public, since we're always covered. Well, except for dragons and snakes, of course. They'd be jailed if they went naked in public. For everyone else, it's only illegal to shave off so much of your fur/feathers that your skin is showing, assuming you're showing it in public. Not that wearing clothes is an issue to anyone, especially when you consider the luxury we have with the temperature nanites. Tiny mechanical beads that are interwoven through the threads of our attires to allow us to not die whenever the weather is imbalanced. They spit out small waves of either cold or hot air that then gives us the corresponding body temperature we need to feel comfortable. Every piece of clothing has a small plate that contains a series of buttons for turning the nanites on and off, and for setting the amount of 'coldness' or 'hotness' you want them to release. This makes the idea of clothing even more necessary for us than it was for the humans, which I think is interesting. Well, at least in some places. In an area like most of Core Cylon, it's generally a decent temperature, so I don't have to wear clothes all the time, if I don't want to. Some people take a lot of pride in what they wear while others only wear something if it's necessary, and everything in-between. I guess I usually just do whatever I feel like. I tend to alternate between being clothed and not. Drift hates being without clothes. Besides the fact that I've never seen her naked, she's also mentioned a few times that she's controlled by a fear of feeling unprotected. Curmolae loves the feeling of the air on his body, of being his 'natural self,' as he tells me. When he says stuff like that he kind of sounds like two of my other friends. People do have their similarities, after all. Even if they don't want to realize it.

We wait for one of the four trains to be ready to go. Each Core has eight trains that go to and from other Cores. There are four train stations at each compass end of every Core, and they're huge. The vehicles themselves look like metro subway trains from the human eras. The one right next to us is a shiny silver and blue, the yellow sunlight ricocheting off of it like a tennis ball. These are the main method of traveling 'abroad' within our society. I use quotes because, as a scout, I know how much else is out there. I'm not that high of a level, but I've seen things. There is a lot more out there that we have yet to see entirely. I wonder how long it'll take for our society to expand all the way across the planet. Just like they did. I think we'll see it all eventually, somehow. Once our governments choose to expand.

As we wait, I turn on my Connecto-Panel and check if Drift has texted me through either of the apps we use to stay in contact online. She hasn't. I consider sending a message, but I don't. Even though what's going on with her shoots anxiety into me, I know I'll be seeing her soon. I still feel like texting someone, so I enter a public Comcord server. I love this app. It's based on an old app that the humans had that used a similar name. I don't know what that name is, but I do know that whoever came up with this was a pure genius. Pretty much what Comcord is, is it's a digital application that lets you join servers that center around almost any topic in the world, and talk to other people about those topics. You can text, voice chat, send images and videos, screen share, and just generally form memories with the people that you meet. There are thousands of servers, and hundreds of thousands of users who are, for the most part, very friendly and relatable. I've been able to maintain some great friendships because of this app, Drift being a highlight, which is a lifesaver for me, since sometimes my luck can feel a bit lacking with people. The two main servers that I'm a part of currently are ones called HumanMundio, and AnimeStay. The first is one centered around a community of people who really like humans, and wish that they were still real. They make art of themselves as humans, called personas, and share that art throughout the server. They talk and role play together, often using their personas to create grand stories. I don't like making art since I suck at it, but my current novel involves human characters. I think the idea is really cool, and most of the people I interact with in the server are way more interesting than the kids at my school. Some of my past schoolmates have teased me about my 'human fetish,' but I try to act like they don't exist. I just think it's cool. What's wrong with that? For me at least, nothing is. The other server is centered around anime, which started off as a human form of visual art. Certain art companies here in our society have taken up the mantle of making animes, even producing new ones that focus on furple instead of human people. I don't watch a ton of anime, but I do think it can offer a great reflection of our mind's inner mechanisms. I feel like more people should watch it, since then they might be able to have a better understanding of why some people are the way they are. I mean, I've mostly watched Furple-made anime, but still. Either kind offers something special. At least, that's been my experience so far. “ Dude," Curmolae says. “ I made some stupid GIF's the other day, and I posted them onto this server." I look over at Curmolae's Panel. On the black chatroom are displayed three short animations. Each of them are of a human character interacting with different objects. Drinking, eating, and sitting down.“ Huh, well that's cool, dude. I see that you used a black female person," I say.“ Yeah. I haven't seen too many images of darker skinned people on here, so I wanted to add some diversity." He waits as if he's hoping for a compliment of some kind. I know that feeling. “ Fair enough. I'm sure the others on there will like that."“ They don't really care."“ That's their fault, then."“ I mean, I-" A mechanical whistle sounds, cutting off his voice. A tall black and blue wolf wearing a blue and white conductor's uniform walks over to the middle of the platform. He yells that Train 3 is now ready to be filled. I look at my ticket, where 'Train 3' is printed at the top.“ Alright, well it's time." I get up from my chair. Curmolae seems a little deflated. “ What's wrong?"“ I uh… It's nothing, like I said."“ You sure?" I feel something crack with anxiety within me. Why is it always a puzzle to figure out what they mean? Curmolae hesitantly stands up and sighs loudly. He brushes himself off and turns to face me. His eyes are a tad darker now. Reminds me of how Drift's eyes were back at school.“ I'm gonna go. My mom needs me for something, and I can't let her get upset at me for the fourth time this week. It's been fun, Similic." He tries for a warm smile. It comes off as forced and sad.“ Yeah, it has been fun. Would you wanna do something later on, if we can?" His ears flip up for a second.“ Sure! If you want to."“ I'll want to, it's just a matter of if I can. I'll let you know." People are beginning to fumble onto the train. I really should go. Curmolae doesn't move. He fidgets and plays with his fingers, nervously watching the train. “ Curmolae, are you okay?" I ask. He fingers the side of his Connecto Panel.“ Uh. Well, it's just… I've uh, e-enjoyed doing this. Coming here and sitting with you, I mean. And talking to you. I enjoy being with you." His ears slowly retract as he says this. I find myself smiling and laughing a bit. This kid is so adorable. He also makes my heart swirl. They all do. Especially ones like this. “ I feel the same! I'm glad that you asked to come with me. Seriously. Thanks for keeping me company." I give an upset turn towards the train. “ Have a nice one, Curmolae. Cya later." He says goodbye back to me but I don't entirely hear it. I'm busy thinking about Drift, now. I walk away from Curmolae and into the train.

I sit down at the very back of the train. I think my fondness for these kinds of areas is cute. Drift and I always sit in the back of trains whenever we're together so we can talk about whatever we want without worrying about others judging us. The solitude can allow me to grow my internal power. I put my backpack down onto the floor and check the pocket of my blue hoodie to make sure that I have my wallet. I do. I look at my backpack. I've always figured that they're fairly unnecessary, given that we have our Panels. A teacher of mine once said that backpacks are still used so we can store 'special academic papers' in them. They're too important to only keep online, I guess. The train whistles again, and the doors close. The vehicle lurches forward, picking up speed as it starts its way to the next destination. Out through the window I see Curmolae standing on the platform, waving goodbye to me. I wave back while trying to smile. I feel a little embarrassed, knowing that he's waving to me specifically. It gives me the same feeling that I get from Drift whenever she does something for me. It makes me feel really tingly and soft. I like it.

I hope she's okay. I can't stop worrying. At least he was here to talk to me.

I gently lay back into my seat and sigh. It's a nice temperature on the train. A fuzzy coolness. I hear other people chatting and tapping on their Panels, and the faint blow of the air conditioner creates a nice background ambiance. The train doesn't bump up and down like human trains supposedly did, since these ones float a few inches off their rails using magnetic repulsion and thrusters to move. I quickly get some homework done before my own Panel goes off with two notifications. One is from my dad, asking how I am. I answer that with the classic, “ I'm okay. You?" The other message is more interesting. It's from Ilius.

Chapter Two:

“ Yo Similic, I literally got the coolest idea for Ninzurith's gift. I know that that's a big statement, considering how everything I do for people is the coolest, but still. Ready for this?" I always laugh at the words of this coyote. Before I met him, I didn't even know it was possible to consider yourself higher than a mountain. “ I definitely am! It must be something really special if you think it's cool." Although I can't relate to how he acts, I do find it fascinating that I'm friends with someone who can so easily pummel their doubts. I wish I could do that more often. The train methodically rises and lowers lightly as it charges through a valley sprinkled with white and pink flowers and covered by a brown town. We've already exited my Core, and now we're speeding through the Outer Ring. I almost feel like I want to doze off. Do they make these trains in a way to where we're supposed to sleep? “ Of course I think it's cool! It's my idea after all. But basically what it is, is a gemstone necklace." I wait for him to explain further. He doesn't.“ Whaddya mean?"“ I mean gems. As in the kinds of shiny rocks and stuff that people find in the FourEarth and then pretty them up and sell them for too expensive of a price. Those."“ So, you're making a necklace out of those for Ninzurith to wear."“ Yup! But not just any necklace. You know me, Similic. I gotta do things The Ilius Way. You remember what that entails?"“ Isn't it something to do with making things unique?"“ Yeah! That's the basic part of it. It's about making absolutely sure that anything I do and anything I create is equal to my standards. You know how my standards are."“ Very high. Right?"“ Mhm. That's an obvious factoid, but you should remember it."“ I do! So how are you gonna make the necklace?"“ Well I thought about having a professional do it. I somehow failed to make my own gems, so I went to this jewelry store to see if I could commission someone to do it." I can predict what happens next. “ But the thing was, I didn't want to go through with it. Not only were the necklaces on display not to my standards, but it also would've taken a week to get it done. A week! That's much too long! The party is on Monday." Today is Friday. “ So, I've got a better plan. Do you know where this place is?" He sends me an image of him at some kind of beach. He has his back to the sea-themed border wall of Core Sandsonite. From what I can tell, it's the part of the Core that's on the Long Beach. This Core has two different 'parts' to it. Most of it is on a huge beachside and nearby land, while the other is in the middle of the ocean. Some people complain it's too big in comparison to the rest of the Cores, but that's a political thing. As for the image, it shows Ilius in a typical seaside get-up. A blue lazy t-shirt with pink sub-starfish plastered all over it, and a pair of dark blue swim shorts. I can hardly remember the last time I saw him wearing anything. Ilius himself is a coyote of light red and bright dripping blue fur. He has the appearance of someone who just got themselves dumped with a tin of blue paint. Half of his body is red, whereas the other half, the top half of every part of his body, is covered with blue fur that ends in a series of melty looking lumps. Only his hands and feet are truly dominated by the blue. His dark purple eyes are lit with confidence and excitement. The picture is colorized even more by his shining smile. “ I think I've been to that Core," I text. “ Think it was for a scout mission of some kind, can't really remember xd. But you do look fabulous in that beach gear. Did you go swimming?"“ Yup! I was there on a scout mission, and afterwards me and the boys went into one of the swimming areas in that Sector. Ocean water is cold, man! But you know that I could handle it. One girl said that I was hot, which just proves my point even further."“ I'm sure, dude." “ Mhm. That's where I'm thinking of going to get some cool gems to be made into a necklace."

“ To a pool?"

“ What? Of course not! I'm talking about the 'haunted shack' that's located just outside of Sandsonite's sixth Sector! I heard from someone that they found some nice rocks over there once, so I'mma check it out."

“ Oh, that place. I don't think you can legally go there, tho. That part of the Outer Ring is off limits, remember? Murders and construction that took place there recently?"

“ Really? Odd that I didn't already know about those things. Well, it's fine. I'll just be in-and-out. What've you got Ninz for her birthday by the way?" “ I'm going to get some flowers right now." I sigh with frustration as I realize what I've done. I'm not sure if I want to spend time arguing with him right now. “ You didn't get her something already?"“ No. I'm going to, today."“ Well you have time, so I suppose that's fine. Just make sure it isn't any kind of really nice flower. You know the deal. She's my friend, and so are you, and as such you need to give her something cool but not anything that would challenge what I'm giving her, of course. Remember when she barely thought about my present, last year?"“ Yeah, I do. I still think she wasn't 'ignoring' it though. She just had a lot going on."

“ We've already talked about it, so I won't say the truth again."

“ Alright. But she'll like whatever it is, dude. You get good stuff anyway. So no worries." That is unless Ninzurith hasn't forgotten what she told me about him and doing dangerous things to make presents.“ Aw. Man, you do nice things too. You're my friend. Of course you always do nice things." My next text is interrupted by the train's whistle followed by an announcement.

“ WE HAVE ARRIVED AT CORE MARCILIN." I look out the window to see an endless expanse of broken rainbow-shaded trees. Most of the buildings are lathered with the same disjointed texture, with the only difference being the colors of each company. I text Ilius that I got to go and stand up. I look at the new text sent from Dad before shutting off my Connecto-Panel. Yup, just as I thought. He wants to know what I mean by ''I'm okay.'' I'll explain it to him as I leave the train. I hoist my backpack over my shoulders and fumble out of the vehicle along with everyone else. It's a lot harder to do this while I'm trying to type, but it's my choice. It doesn't help that I hate tight spaces filled with other people. Makes me a little anxious. I probably have Dad to thank for that. I manage to survive the crowd and step out onto the jumbled green and pink station platform.

Core Marcilin, also known as Glitch Jungle. An entire land restored and rewired thanks to the advanced technology of today. It's a style that only originates about fifty years ago, but it's certainly a spectacle. Nearly every tree is hundreds of feet high, filled to the top with a non-destructive liquid that makes them appear to us as if they're glitched out images on a screen. Not only are these trees all sorts of wacky colors, ranging from purple to red to white to blue, but they seem to be totally mismatched and spasmic, appearing as hundreds of small to large squares that are flashing between different sizes. This same effect can be seen on most of the buildings that weave their way throughout the jungle, seeming to be just as 'messed up' as the trees they surround. I often find myself touching a structure or plant here just to see if something will happen to me. Nothing ever does, since everything is still solid and has a natural form, it just seems to be that this place is an error in Life's code. I once heard that the primary founder of this Core, the person who came up with the glitch style idea, had some mental issues that most everyone else was okay with. I guess they got something unique out of it. The branches up above form a natural yet crazy kind of roof over our heads. The glitch style can even be seen on this Core's surrounding border wall, with it being almost entirely painted in vague and shattered images of scenes and ideas. The sheer amount of glitchy trees and buildings has given quite a few people some serious health issues. I had a classmate two years ago who had to move to my Core shortly after being born in this Core all because his brain couldn't handle seeing so many sporadic colors all the time. I definitely don't blame him. Being in any kind of living facility, Ring house, or living building with this kind of style to it is going to be a little nuts. I also can't blame Ninzurith for loving this place. Even though it certainly gives off a very big feeling of insanity, it's really not. The streets are fairly quiet, and almost everyone I've ever talked to here seems to be in a constant state of mediation, or something. I remember Drift told me about a week ago that a good number of people advocate for using this Core as a central place to meditate. I can't see why, to be honest, but that's my problem. Perhaps I should try meditating here, amongst all the colors. My dad keeps suggesting that I do, but I don't want to listen to him. I'd rather do something else. I make my way down the steps of the train station and get into the first dash lane of the pixelated white and pink street. There are times, when moving through a place like this, that I feel like I'm floating through a dream.

As I head for the second Sector, Esparcimiento, I dash past the living building. The huge structure that, for every Core, is meant to be their landmark. It looks like a gigantic glitched out tree, with thousands of windows, balconies, and room extensions protruding from its sides. A gorgeous bridge designed to look like it's made out of pixelated vines of broken insanity connects the streets and sidewalks to the front doors and outside public space of the building. Some benches, water fountains, and garbage cans line the grassy mini-park that circles around the base of the structure. I see a child squeal in delight as he retrieves his toy rocketship and sends it flying up into the air again, his parents and sister tiger watching in awe. I almost end up smiling at such a sight. Back when worries didn't affect me so harshly.

By the time I reach the Synthesis Dimension Garden, it's around seventeen-hundred. I'll probably have to get back to my house floor soon. That's okay. Drift said she's here. I step into line to get into the garden. The whole thing is fenced in, with a green sheeting concealing a small world of pure flowery glory. I play a video game on my Panel, one called Delta of the Universe, while I wait. This shouldn't take longer than a couple of minutes. I remember a time when Drift and I were in this same spot, waiting to get into the Garden, and I was helping her to defeat a difficult boss in the game. She wouldn't listen to me so I quit trying to help. Eventually, after many times of failing and cursing the game out, she said that she would listen to me, and I tried again. We beat the jester boss in no time. After about ten more minutes, I pay the entry fee and step through the short black tunnel that leads into the Garden. The aroma swings into my nose. It reminds me of cotton candy and peaches. I got that interpretation from Drift. I've gotten a lot of ideas about life from her. I step through the Garden's purple and pink grass, considering whether or not I should have taken off my hover boots as soon as I entered. Some people do that, leaving their shoes against the fence near the entrance and exit tunnels. I decide not to, since I usually don't, but that doesn't take away from the scene around me. Dozens of rows of flowers, bushes, cacti, grass, tree saplings, and other species I can't name that are imbued with an entire spectrum of colors. Metal platings up above the plant rows that help to direct sunlight and feed water to them. Shelf stations where you can get buckets of dirt to carry your chosen plants in. You can take as many display plants as you can pay for. This doesn't hurt the synthetic revival process, since eighty percent of the plants grown here, inside the large factory settled at the very back of the Garden, is shipped out to be implanted in the local fields and forests and so on outside of the Cores, and even sometimes within them. There are multiple synthetic plant and tree factories dotted throughout the UnitedCores, but this place was the first. They don't plant that many synthetics in the rest of the world, only having some at a time be put into more important spots out there. That's how it is so far, anyway.

I walk by the seas of shimmering plants, glancing at other people as they gawk and pick up some to show to someone they're with. A cougar woman presents to her elderly companion (her mother?) a pair of two blue flowers that makes the yellow feline tear up. Where is Drift? I haven't seen her yet. I stop and look around again, squinting to see if I can find a brown and black kangaroo girl. That's when I see her. She's crying.

Slumped against the fence, knees hugging her chest with her arms wrapped around them, wet face pressed into her forearms. I can hear her exhale painfully and inhale sharply. Every time she tries to stifle a moan, her body jolts. The thing that upsets me almost as much as seeing her like this? The fact that no one else in the entirety of the Garden is doing anything about this. They all just walk past, maybe giving a quick glance or a few murmurs. I can't stand it when people do nothing to try and help someone who is struggling. How do you live with that? How do you live with not doing anything? But I guess I should let it go. I have a friend to help.

I walk towards her, temporarily forgetting about what flowers I want to get Ninzurith. I stop just before Drift, unsure of what to do. Should I sit down next to her? Should I say something? I hate questioning myself when I'm not the one who needs helping. Drift suddenly looks up slightly, her purple eyes glossy with tears. She stares at me, her mouth covered so I can't know her full expression. “ What happened?" I ask. I feel slightly stupid, but I have to start somewhere. She shakes her head and buries her face further in her arms. She says something that I can't understand. The other people walk behind us, continuing along their day. It's funny how an ordinary day can so easily be interrupted. Just two or so hours ago, Drift seemed fine, didn't she? Drift mumbles something. “ I can't really hear you..." I say. She doesn't respond. Her long ears are flat against her head.“ Drift." I settle myself down next to her. The grass hugs me softly. The sun appears to be melting down through the clouds, and the Garden is busy. No one will really hear us in the midst of it all. “ Could you raise your face a little bit and tell me what Katherine did this time? Please?" A second or so later, she does. Her expression stabs my heart. “ I'm paying for my past mistakes."“ What mistakes?"“ Do you remember Katherine?"“ I think so. She's the one who isn't always nice, right? " Drift nods her head sadly.“ Yeah. We had a...discussion, after school today. It didn't...really go so well."“ Were you arguing over something again?" I feel a surge of anger swell inside me. This isn't the first time I'm hearing of this girl. I thought they were doing better! “ Sort of." Drift wipes her face and sniffles. “ She uh, finally gave in, I guess you could say." I wait for her to continue. “ What I mean is she's done with me."

“ Is it okay if I ask you to explain?"

“ Remember what happened during middle school?" I think for a minute. We met in fifth grade, so we did talk fairly often throughout middle school. There are a lot of memories to remember involving my friends. Some are nice. “ Is it something to do with Atlas?"“ Yes." The very name makes us cringe. “ It has to do with him. It has to do with when I first left Ralia and Katherine, for him." She lets out an aggravated sigh. “ When I was so ' in love' with that stupid kangaroo that I figured I wouldn't need any other friends." I remember those years. She barely even spoke online to me, which hurt. I tried to understand, but Katherine? “ The idea that Katherine really didn't like. The idea she stopped talking to me over."“Ralia would still talk to you."“ For some stupid reason."“ Because she's a good friend."“ I...Yeah, she is." Drift scans the grass blades. They sway carelessly in the wind, without any worries. “ She's too good of a friend. Like you are." I feel myself blush. No one can even see it, so what's the point?“ But what happened today, exactly?" My Connecto-Panel goes off again, but I ignore it.“ It's so stupid."“ Drift. Please tell me."“ Why? It's better if I just let her go."“ I guess, but I'd still like to know. If you're willing to say." A few seconds go by. Some snakes and hyenas look at us as they pass. “ What did Katherine say?"“ She said she didn't want to be friends anymore. Just like back then with Atlas, she said she can't stand me anymore. It's worse now." Silence.“ Why worse?" Drift turns to look at me, the emotion boiling up in her face.“ Because now it's permanent! I know it is! She's tired of me! She's tired of how introverted and quiet I am. How anxious and overly hesitant I am. How much I distance myself from other people only to try and get something from them later when it suits me. She judges every move I make and everything I spend too much time thinking about! She knows the truth, which is that how I am and how I like to act are dumb and ridiculous. She can't dare to be my good friend anymore because of how much I apparently annoy her and because of how likely it is that I'll forget about her again. I've tried reasoning with her but you know how she is. Katherine chooses her opinion and it sticks with her. She lets it out hard and it...it...it hurts me." Tears again, streaming down her face. “ It hurts, because I feel like it's true." I look at her for a couple of seconds more, waiting to see if there is anything else that she wants to say. “ She's not my friend anymore. Never again."“ Drift…" I have an urge to do something, but I'm not sure if I should since we're in public. Does it matter? Some people might judge us. Does that matter? I sigh with anxiety-ripe empathy. “ What I'm about to say and do are entirely honest."“ Ok..." I learn forward and gently hug her. Drift freezes before awkwardly hugging back. This is nothing new for us. Why should it be? A soft warmth shifts between us.“ Katherine is wrong." “ Are you sure?"

“ I don't lie. I know you, and I've seen and heard enough about her. She just has issues. You don't." I release the hug. We both wipe the stains off of our faces. “ It's like I've told you, and I think you've told me," I stand up. I offer her my hand. “ There are people out there who will find problems with who you are. It's up to you to decide if they're right or not. You already know for a fact that I don't agree with her. Not at all." She stares at me with a face that's exhausted and upset. I know the feeling. She slumps lower to the ground, resuming her watch of the grass. She picks at it lightly.

“ I guess. I don't want to have anything to do with her anymore."

“ Then don't. It would make sense to me." Silence. She glances up.

“ Oh. Sorry." She takes my hand and I help her up. We both laugh a little. “ I'm kind of distracted right now."

“ I know, and it's fine! I uh, haven't decided which flowers to get for Ninzurith's birthday yet." “ That's okay. I haven't either." Her voice is flat. I hate it.

“ I mean, we still have time before this place closes for the night. You still wanna pick out some flowers together?" One of her ears jerks upwards.“ Even though I feel like poop?"

“ You don't have to. I'd just like to hang out with you more." Drift shifts her backpack on her shoulders a little bit, causing me to do the same. She does a quick glance around the garden. The sky is slowly becoming more and more dominated by a shimmering orange glow. I'm so glad they removed the tarp roof last year.“ Why not? Sure." “ Alright. Cool." I begin to turn around so I can start inspecting some flowers. I stop at the sound of her voice.“ Um. Thanks, Similic." I let out a small chuckle.“ Of course! I'm only doing what makes sense to me." I think I see her crack a smirk. “ This is paying me back for when I helped you get over that little situation in chemistry, isn't it?"“ You mean when my partner decided to not sit with me anymore? I wasn't upset over that.''“ I spent nearly two hours with you on Comcord that night." Drift laughs a little. I feel a tad embarrassed, but at least she's laughing. “ Ok fine. Maybe I felt a little bad about that." I find myself smiling. ''You're being silly again.''''Is that okay?'' ''Of course. I appreciate it.'' ''And I appreciate you!''

We spend the next twenty-five minutes picking out what flowers we want to give Ninzurith. While we searched, I thought about writing her a little poem. She'd probably like that. Ninzurith seems to have a liking towards me. Nothing weird, just a closeness that she doesn't seem to have with anyone else besides one other person. I still can't figure out why. I mean, we do talk a decent amount and we get pretty deep when we talk, and we play video games together, but that's about it. We haven't met in person too often at all. It might just be her more motherly side. The side he knows all too well about. Once Drift and I have made our gift choices, consisting of a group of four purple and blue Violish flowers from me and four red and orange Nara flowers from Drift, we head over to the exit tunnel where a line is waiting to pay the exit guard. As the seemingly useless seconds drip by, Drift begins to talk about a video game she's been playing recently. At some point in her ramblings, she mentions a time when she and Katherine had played it together, which seems to bring back some sadness. “ Hey," I say to her as the line moves up. “ Don't think about her. She's not being fair and you know it." Silence. A bit of panic rises in me. “ You know, I remember how much she sucks at video games. Specifically, Paths of Infinity. " I feel like this attempt is stupid. She laughs at the thought, and begins to recite her own experiences with the subject. I notice the change in her eyes as her mood changes. It's more gorgeous than a sunset.

Five minutes later, we step out of the Synthesis Dimension Garden, clutching our newly bought flowers. “ I need to get these home soon so I can change their living quarters," Drift says while staring at her flowers' current clay vase with disgust. These makeshift containers the Garden guard gives out are very dirty and easy to break. I don't understand why they won't get better ones.“ Fair. I'll do the same. I think my parents might have something to use," I say.“ I hope so. These are just disgusting."“ Everything in our society is disgusting," A new voice says. We both look to our side, scared by the closeness of it. It's a dragon. He is mostly blue-scaled, with his whole arms, feet, torso, and tail being a dark purple. His tucked in wings are coated in a fiery orange that stretches across the whole length of them. His eyes are red with orange pupils, and his expression is angry and tired, yet also intrigued and happy. He emanates a terrible feeling. “ Well, most everything is. You two appear different." He looks between us. “ You're friends, yes? I suppose I'll find out for sure later." “ Who're you?" Drift asks.“ Clous is my name. I come from my mechanics shop in Core Oracus. I was in the garden for an errand and I just happened to see you two against the fence. I wanted to meet you." I try to remember if I saw him. I can't. “ Oh. Uh...Ok," I say. I feel beads of sweat drip down my back. Drift is slightly shaking. We're both readying ourselves internally to fight.“ You two are nice. You're sensitive, and full of thoughts. You have the potential to be the ones." The desperation in his eyes makes me wish I had my scouting armor.“ Ok, then. We actually have some stuff to do, so we're gonna go. Have a nice...day." I tug on Drift's arm as I quickly walk away. She doesn't hesitate to follow. I glance back twice, and each time he's still watching us. We keep moving until we're a good few streets away from the Garden. We stop in front of a DollarBucks coffee shop. We look around for the dragon. We don't see him. Neither of us feel safe yet. His eyes and voice swirl around in my head. “ Do you wanna get some coffee?" Drift asks.“ Why not." We quickly walk up the grey steps and enter the restaurant. Glancing back I think I see him again. It's hard to act calm when you're not.

(This is the end of the free portion. The rest is purchasable on Amazon in a physical and digital form: Amazon.com: A Warm Touch eBook : Shane, Connor : Books. I hope you enjoyed reading, and have a great day!)