Life in Orbit

Mia read to herself in the silence of her dorm. At least, she did until a horrible noise jolted her out of her thoughts. Jun snored in the bunk bed across from her. It was an honor to share a room with the very person who gave her the right to enlist in the Interstellar Forces, but the snoring she could live without. Struggling to read with such a racket going on, she decided to move to the kitchen.

The kitchen was brightly lit, and there were many places to sit, but most importantly, no one else was in the room. Mia could read in peace and quiet, and she did exactly that.

Until Leon showed up.

“Morning, Mia!” He walked through the door with a cheery demeanor. “It’s morning, right? Hard to tell when you’re in space.”

Leon could’ve checked for himself on the microwave clock behind Mia, or the clock on the oven, or the giant clock in the airlock, or, most conveniently for him, the clock in his room, but Mia got the sinking feeling he wasn’t looking for an answer so much as a conversation.

Mia looked behind her. “5:45.”

“Thanks! Hm. Kind of early!” He bounced on his heels some. “It’s sooo weird not seeing the sun in the morning.”

“Not really.”

Leon gasped. “That’s right, you’re from Lunaria! Wait.” His excitement took a pause. “Don’t they have an artificial sky there?”

“I live outside of the dome.” Mia really didn’t want to give this relative stranger so much information about where she lived, but she had no choice. “Since there’s no atmosphere, you can see stars all the time.”

“That sounds like paradise…” Leon’s wonder was palpable. She wished she could be as excited, but starry skies had become mundane to her. “But I think I would miss the sun, though.”

“You can still see the sun, it just doesn’t change the color of the sky.”

“Oh yeah… Wait! That means I didn’t hafta get up so early.” He chuckled to himself. “I guess I could just go back to my room and look at the stars.”

Good. Mia can return to reading her book.

“But!” He sat down in the seat across from her, unaware of her internal agony. “I can see them any time. Gosh, that’s so amazing…” He marveled to himself. “I haven’t gotten to talk to you too much, though, other than yesterday when I cried in space.” He laughed. “There’s sooo many questions I wanna ask you!”

“About what…?” Mia set her book down and gave up any hope that this conversation would end soon. Couldn’t a girl read about astrogeology in peace?

“Like… Oh!” As if to answer no, Leon took notice of it. “‘A Guide to Solar System Astrogeology.’ Does that have to do with the different kinds of rocks planets have?”

“Yes.”

“Interesting!” Few people ever meant that when it came to her interests. Mia took his words with a grain of salt. “I’m more of a stars guy, myself. Back on Earth, I’d stay up just to watch them, but you get to do that all the time!”

The red-haired ranger smiled in response.

“I’m so excited to actually meet someone from Lunaria, you have no idea!” Leon’s voice rose in pitch. “My gramps always told me it wasn’t really on the moon; he’s an IF denier.”

“Oh, gosh…” Mia’s existence would prove an Interstellar Forces denier wrong, but from what she knew of them, they were the kind of people who had little trust in things like ‘facts’, ‘science’, or ‘video evidence that the IF went to the moon and established a colony that has been there for the past four decades.’ An IF denier could be put on the Moon and still think it was a government conspiracy.

“I know, I can’t believe I almost started to buy into it...” Leon mused, looking away from her in what seemed like the first time in an eternity. His gaze snapped right back to her in an instant. “But I get to actually go there! I’m so excited!!” He rested his face on one hand. “I’ll get to see the colorful skyscrapers, the artificial sky, space punks--” His head sprang up. “By the way, are you a space punk? I don’t think I got an answer to that last time.”

That was because they were in the middle of an important briefing last time. An important briefing she got in trouble during because she tried to warn him not to talk too much. Mia still felt a little sore about that.

“No. I don’t really keep up with trends.” She could’ve left it at no, but didn’t want to sound too short.

“Hm? Really? But your hair is so colorful!” A confused look crossed Leon’s face, which confused Mia.

“No, it’s… always been this red.” The freckled ranger took a lock of her own hair in her hand. Did he really think weird hair colors were all one needed to be a space punk? From weight alone, he should’ve realized that Mia didn’t fit the bill even if she cared to dress like a B-movie come to life.

“Woooah....” The slightly less stout ranger had a look on his face as if Mia’s hair had come alive and started doing magic tricks. He... did know people had naturally red hair, right?

“Um, did you have any other questions?” She had run out of things to pretend to look at.

Leon snapped out of his daze. “Oh yeah!” His smile fell. “...Shoot, I forgot.” He closed his eyes, digging a pointer finger into each side of his forehead. “What was it…?”

Mia’s hands found their way back to her book. Maybe she could sneak in a few lines while he strained to remember what he forgot.

“I know what’ll help me remember!” The bucktoothed ranger suddenly stood up. “Brain food!”

After glancing at him, Mia just as quickly went back to reading. She heard him rummaging through one of the boxes behind him for food.

“Does Lunaria have rain? Inside the dome?”

“No.” she answered. “They’re still working on that.”

“Cooool! You never have to worry about clouds blocking the sky!”

A few more seconds went by of uninterrupted reading time.

Leon’s rummaging stopped. “Wait… Is the night sky in the dome simulated too?”

Mia continued reading. “I’m rarely there at night, but I think they turn off the simulation by then.”

He gasped. “That’s incredible! The weather doesn’t matter at all! You’re always guaranteed to see the night sky. Luckyyy…”

This wasn’t so bad, actually. Since Leon was preoccupied with finding breakfast, she didn’t feel pressured to give him her full undivided attention. Plus, answering questions about living on the moon colony was easy enough. After all, it was all she knew.

“So Mia, what do you like to do?”

Oh no. A personal question.

“I like… reading.” This was the safe answer Mia had come up with. Usually people didn’t press on from there, but there was a possibility of him asking--

“Cool! What kind of stuff do you read?”

“Uhh… I read… I read a lot of things.” This answer was both true and nondescript. A win for Mia!

“That’s good. I should probably read more, myself. Ooh!” Leon picked up a packet from the box. “Found some cereal!”

“Oh, that’s nice.” The freckled ranger hoped that he’d stop interrogating her now that he had some food.

He did not. “Do you have any favorite books?”

Why did he want to know so much about her? Couldn’t he just ignore her existence like 99% of other people? It would make things so much easier for everyone involved. Mia couldn’t answer his question even if she wanted to, since her mind decided this was a convenient time to forget every book she’d ever read. As the silence progressed from acceptable to awkward, only a miracle could save her now.

A box of miracles emerged through the airlock’s doors. Sort of. It struggled quite a bit. Its carrier’s trademark blond afro poked out from behind it.

“Good morning, Emil!” Leon greeted the lieutenant captain.

“M...Morning!” Emil strained.

“Lieutenant, do you need help with that?” Mia rose from her seat. Leon also started toward the him.

Before either could reach Emil, he set down the box, slumping over dramatically.

“Phew~ I may not have worked out since high school, but I’ve still got it!” He flexed one arm, winking at the other two.

Mia laughed to herself. “But didn’t you just graduate…” a concerning realization dawned on her mid-sentence, “...a few… weeks ago?”

“Yep!” His answer rang with confidence. He struggled to lift up the box again, so instead, he pushed it over to Leon with his foot. “So, what’cha guys up to?”

Leon visibly wracked his brain for a few seconds. “...Oh yeah! I was looking for a milk packet for my cereal.”

“There might be one in this box.” the blond suggested, tapping it with his foot. While Leon began to search through it, Emil turned to Mia. “What’re you up to? Reading?”

“Yes.” she answered.

“Cool! I’ll let you get back to that.” He pointed at Mia and winked, not in a flirty way, but in a way that suggested he read a book titled “How to Be A Cool Guy” and followed it to the letter. Luckily for him, he had enough confidence to brute-force it into working. The most important thing to Mia was that he seemed to realize that she wanted to be left alone with her book, unlike a certain buck-toothed ranger.

“Found it.” Leon held up a packet of milk in the air. “Thanks, Emil, you’re a life-saver!”

“Don’t mention it.” The lieutenant did a few arm stretches before turning away. “I’d love to hang around and chit-chat, but the generator room’s not gonna check itself. Until we meet again,” he left through the door he came, “ciao!”

“What a nice guy...” Leon remarked after he left.

“Yeah…” The freckled ranger had to agree. Thanks to Emil, he didn’t realize that she never answered his question. Plus, she got to read a little more! She continued to do so as the brunet ranger used the sink to hydrate his powdered milk.

Leon returned to the seat across from her with his breakfast in a bowl. He lifted a spoonful to his mouth, and--

“I remember what I meant to ask you earlier!” he blurted out.

“O-Oh?” Mia was taken aback by this sudden outburst. “What is it?

“What made you join the IF?” He took a bite of cereal. “For me, I wanted to see outer space for myself, but for someone like you who grew up out here, I wonder what would make you join.”

Money. The cold hard facts are in the cold hard cash. Her family was nearly broke, but no one needed to know that, especially not a nosy coworker.

“Did you have any dreams?” he added on. “Any places you wanted to see?”

Mia never had time to dream, but the second question was a little easier for her.

“Earth.” she answered, honestly. “I wanted to see Earth.”

“Ohhh, that’s right, you’ve never been before!”

“How did you…?” She didn’t remember telling him that information. The only people who should know are her roommates, Roxie and Jun.

“Roxie told me last week.” Leon continued, oblivious to Mia’s momentary alarm. “I can’t even imagine what that must be like. If only we could swap places!”

“Yeah… That would be nice.” agreed the freckled ranger. The thought of cloudy skies, non-recycled air, and being at the whim of the elements brought a smile to her face.

The door to the back hall opened.

“Hello and good morning to all ye who be gathered here this sunless dawn!” Roxie’s presence took up the doorway as much as it could.

“Good morning, Roxie.” Mia greeted her curly-haired friend. It had been a year since they first met on the moon base, though it didn’t seem like that long. Sometimes, Mia felt like forever wouldn’t be long enough to spend time with someone like her, but maybe she was getting too far ahead of herself. She felt the need to hide her face behind her book.

“Hi Roxie!” Leon waved before going back to his cereal.

“Hiii~” Roxie waved both of her hands in a cutesy circular fashion. She then pointed at Leon. “Good, you’re eating breakfast! You’ll need to increase your stamina for the coming day.”

He laughed, raising a spoon. “Don’t worry, I’m leveling up my stats.”

Ah, they were both ‘gamers.’ Mia didn’t play many videogames herself, but she saw enough gamers online to recognize how they talked. Like any other brand of nerd, some ran the risk of being completely obnoxious. Roxie wasn’t, but only time would tell if Leon could be trusted.

“Excellent!” Roxie chimed. “You haven’t forgotten our plans, right?”

Leon stopped eating. “What plans…? Ah, right! We were supposed to exercise today!”

“Ding-dong~! Correct!” she sang. “Mia, do you wanna train with us?”

“Uh, no, thank you.” As much as she loved spending time with Roxie, Mia had to decline. Maybe if it were just her alone, Mia might take her up on the offer, but Leon complicated matters.

Her energetic friend bounded toward one of the food boxes and swiped up a few packets of eggs to rehydrate and sausage to heat up in the microwave.

“Have you fueled up yet?” Roxie asked the reading ranger. “Make sure you do before we go out in space today!”

Mia dreaded the thought. Yesterday’s jet armor training session ended in such a disaster, she couldn’t think about today’s session without nerves and shame gripping her being. Still, more training would happen today whether she wanted it or not, so she might as well get ready. She reluctantly closed her book and got some oatmeal.

“I should ask about extra training.” Leon thought aloud, as if getting lost in space yesterday wasn’t enough for him. “Are you up for it, Mia?”

“Yeah…” Saying no to his excitement felt rude, no matter how much she wanted to. Besides, they’d never get better if they didn’t practice.

“Yaaay!” He cheered.

“Yaaay!” Roxie joined him.

The three ate breakfast together, though Leon finished first. Since Roxie was there, his dogged curiosity could be split between the both of them. In other words, less questions for Mia.

“Hey, do you guys ever think about why we’re here?” The bucktoothed ranger clasped his hands together.

“On the Celestion-5?” Mia asked. That was an easy answer. They were going to Neptune.

“No, no, I meant in the universe. Is there a reason we exist?”

“Oooh, an existential question!” Roxie chimed. “I love it! I feel like there’s no singular reason for all of humanity. Each person has their own reason for existence. It’s like a customized surprise for each and every one of us.”

Leon gasped. “That’s really close to what I think, too! Though I do want to believe there’s a reason all life we know of ended up on Earth. I don’t know what it is yet, but I hope someday we’re able to reach out to something else…” He gazed off into the distance with dreams in his eyes. Still, they found their way back to Mia. “What about you?? What do you think?”

“Yeah, what do you think, Mia?”

“Uhh?” The freckled ranger never really thought about this kind of thing. In her opinion, 6:30 in the morning was far too early for existential thinking. “I… don’t know. I kind of think we’re just here for no particular reason.” Self-consciousness crept up on her. Was her answer boring? Not dreamy enough?

“There’s a magic in that, too!” It was as if Roxie could read her thoughts. “Think about it. We’re just a bunch of creatures who randomly popped up one day, haunting the Earth! Isn’t that neat?”

“Yeah!” Leon agreed. “Usually, when I ask that question, people say it’s out-there or too much to think about, but I really like hearing other people’s answers. People have so many different ones. I think Mia’s is the most common, though.”

So it was boring, even to him. Thankfully, Roxie spiced it up in a way only she could do. Mia appreciated that.

“What I want to know,” the curly redhead began, “Is if there are multiple universes?”

Leon’s eyebrows shot up. “Like parallel universes?”

“Yes!” Roxie nodded vigorously. “Infinite universes with infinite possibilities!”

From there, the conversation focused on the idea of alternate realities. Mia struggled to keep up, but Leon and Roxie were so enthralled by each other’s ideas, that her confusion went unnoticed. She finished up her oatmeal and continued reading, occasionally stopping to answer a question the other two directed at her. Eventually, everyone finished their meal.

“We’re headed off to our training!” Roxie announced.

“Feel free to join us if you change your mind!” Leon offered. Wishful thinking.

They left the room, but their similarities stuck with Mia. They were both the kind of people who tried to make friends with anyone they could, the kind of person wariness prevented Mia from being.

Was such caution justified? She remembered being almost as skeptical of Roxie, thinking that the latter could never be a compatible friend with someone like her. Roxie was too sociable, too charming. She had to have only reached out to the freckled ranger out of a sense of misguided pity, or so Mia thought. In actuality, they had a lot of the same interests, and if Mia hadn’t happened to notice one day, she could’ve pushed her best friend away.

As she returned to her now-empty room--Jun must’ve woken up--she wondered if Leon could be the same, someone who genuinely wanted to befriend her. Still, like her book, there weren’t many chances to get her to open up, not right now.