We settled down to enjoy Casey’s American style breakfast. It was pretty weird to be eating pancakes like nothing had happened, especially after such a massive shock to our sense of reality. But honestly, the normality was helping me to keep my calm – at least for now.

Muse might have been helping, too.

It looked like Hunter was going over it all with Casey, but she seemed to be taking it in without too many qualms. That was good. She’d cooked us an amazing breakfast – there was no way she was going to let something as small as the end of the world ruin that for us.

I shuffled my chair and plate closer to her, which prompted a warm, inviting smile. I really wanted to rest my head against her shoulder while we ate. Her arm came out, snaking around my waist, all while she continued to eat. She was left-handed, whereas I was not – so it kinda worked?

We didn’t say much, and I think that was just our way of giving each other the space to process everything on our own.

There was something that needed to be said, though.

“This is so good,” I uttered quietly between mouthfuls. The fluffiness of the pancakes mixed with the sweetness of maple syrup was quietly blowing my mind.

The bacon tasted different – less enjoyable than it used to – though. I’d never been able to get enough of the stuff before, but now it was just a pleasant taste amongst a plethora of others. Then again, I hadn’t had it in a while so maybe I’d just forgotten what it tasted like. Or were Muse’s changes affecting my sense of taste, too?

Casey smiled at the compliment, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “I thought you might be getting tired of all that rabbit food,” she grinned.

I giggled and sighed contentedly, just enjoying being near her.

 

We cleared the table and ventured forth to the kitchen to clean up. The mess there was extensive. 

I gave my girlfriend a sidelong glance, and she had shame enough to blush. Casey wanted to help clean up, but I ushered her away to go get ready for the day – then I set to work.

It was quicker for me to handle this alone since I knew where everything needed to go. After twenty minutes of hectic sweeping, sanitising and tidying, the place was looking better than it had before she’d started. 

Remembering what had happened yesterday, we made the decision to take some extra bottles of water and healthy snacks. Those were tossed into a rucksack, along with my phone and house keys.

Then we returned to our secluded woodland training area. It really was much easier to get there this time, now that we had a straight line path through the fields.

On the way, we discussed what we thought of the TDE’s offer some more. Given the talk I’d had with Paladin, I didn’t think we had a choice anymore. There was only one thing we could do and that was to try to fight whatever was coming alongside the rest of humanity.

Anything less and we’d never forgive ourselves.

That’s where our training came in. I had a creeping suspicion that we’d end up being very important pieces in whatever was to come, given our link to the symbiotes. This just gave a renewed sense of urgency to everything that was happening.

Once we’d found our secret training area, we found it straightforward to get back into the swing of things. I pulled out my phone, shoved in my earbuds and set my playlist going.

I’d actually taken the time to create a specially curated selection of songs specifically for  when we were training. It included a lot of my favourites, but there were some newer ones here, too. Just so long as I could get into the zone, it was all good.

Casey was working closely with Hunter on some new things. She’d discovered that if she concentrated the energy around her into a single point that she could start to form some kind of sphere of plasma from the highly excited air. This seemed to be a variant on the glowy marble I’d made last time, but with the added bonus that it could cut through wood like it was butter.

We learned all this when she used a dead log as target practice. Casey had found it lying on the ground nearby, covered in a patchwork of dark green mosses and lichens. In winter I imagine that it would be quite damp and spongy, but the Summer heat had dried it out nicely.

As soon as she launched the orb of hissing energy it punched a hole clean through the entire thing, then embedded itself a couple of meters down into the dirt on the other side. She hastily allowed it to evaporate before it continued onwards, but was left staring open-mouthed at what she’d just done.

“Did you fucking see that shit?” she mouthed at me, breaking into a laugh.

“It was so epic!” I shouted back over my music, giving her a thumbs up.

When I experimented with the same thing that Casey had, I found it a little draining at first. The focus needed to concentrate that much energy in one place was intense – although I had a feeling it would become easier.

‘I believe that you are correct, Erin,’ Muse confirmed.

One thing I wasn’t sure about was where all of this energy was coming from. Muse had always been a little vague about the sources she was able to tap into, and never responded openly when asked.

 

We took a break after an hour or so. The weather was hot today and we were both getting sweaty and tired. It hadn’t taken me long to lose the cardigan, leaving me in just a tank-top. Casey couldn’t help staring at me after that – which made me feel all fuzzy inside.

We both needed to replace our lost fluids – I insisted that she drink some of the water we’d brought with us. She was a stubborn mule whenever someone told her what to do, but she eventually relented to my nagging. With a satisfied smirk, I turned back to refining the plasma ball technique into something a little flatter and thinner.

I most definitely was not trying to see whether a plasma sword was theoretically possible – no ma’am.

Delicate work like this needed something slower paced, though heaviness was always a bonus. I’d been finding that the heavier the music, the easier it was for me to manifest the space magic into the outside world. It still needed a melody though – something that makes my body want to dance.

I managed to form quite a heavily flattened spheroid by spinning the ball and allowing the angular momentum to pull it out at the middle. The thought of what this might do to a person if it made contact made me grow nauseous – I allowed it to dissolve back into the air.

“What should I do if I need to defend myself?” I asked Muse in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

Most of the applications I’d managed to work out so far had been offensive in nature, just like this one.

‘Allow me to take responsibility for this,’ Muse replied. ‘I may not be able to focus in the same way that you can, but you will find me to be an effective partner in battle. However, my first piece of advice would be: do not get caught off guard.’

Huh?

I’d had my back turned to Casey while she continued her water break. I felt a toned pair of arms wrap themselves around my waist from behind, while a cute chin settled on my shoulder.

Oooh.

My cheeks were burning as I reached up a hand to pull my earbud out, my other hand resting on top of Casey’s arms.

“Whatcha listening to?” she asked casually, rocking us both from side to side in a way that didn’t at all match the beat I had playing in my other ear.

“Why don’t you see?” I asked, offing the earbud out to her.

She had to remove one of her arms from around me to put the free headphone in, which made me regret offering for just the briefest of moments.

Our swaying shifted until it was in time with the music. I couldn’t help but relax into her protective arms, while my mind hastily melted into an Erin-shaped puddle.

---

We’d spent another hour training before heading home. Again, we went back via the town centre and Casey bought us each an ice cream to help us cool down. She’d had fun browsing through the selection in the shop freezer, acquainting herself with all the new treats that she’d never even heard of before.

“I want Sarah and Rishaan to come with us,” I said as we chatted on the way home.

Casey’s eyebrows lifted at the statement, her mouth full of chocolate ice cream. I loved that I’d caught her off guard, but brain freeze made her whimper as she tried to reply.

“Why would you want your little sister involved in all this?”

It was a question I’d asked myself already, but it was ultimately for the same reason that any of us were getting involved. Hell, as far as I was concerned the entire planet should be recruited.

“It’s her world too, y’know,” I replied.

“Well, true. But does she even have any skills or knowledge that’d help? She’s hella young to be pulling into something like all this,” she put back. “Besides, have you even asked her if she wants to?”

I shook my head.

Sarah still had no idea that all of this was happening and I was reluctant to tell her. Just knowing about the impending crisis was enough to crush a person’s spirit.

As for skills, she was a really sharp learner and an incredibly caring person. When it came to knowledge, that was a little tougher. She’d always wanted to be a psychologist – perhaps she could make use of that with the TDE?

The guilt from promising to go travelling with her this summer had been tearing at me. Ever since Casey had turned up, it had nipped our planned trip to find her neatly in the bud.

“Then maybe you should talk to her, hmm?” she asked.

That made me smile. She hadn’t told me that it was a terrible idea, she’d just had me thinking about all the different aspects of the problem then let me make up my own mind.

“You’re right. Thank you,” I said, gazing at her with an adoring smile.

“You are very welcome, babe. Now, are you gonna finish that?”

My ice lolly had started melting down my hand.

“Shit.”

 

Once Sarah came home that afternoon, we took her into the sitting room and explained the situation.

That conversation has got to have been one of the hardest I’ve ever had in my life. My biggest fear was seeing the spark for life that she’d always had fade into hopelessness. Both Casey and I approached it cautiously, worried about both telling her too much too quickly, but also the opposite.

The notion of aliens had been a big thing to put onto her when she’d found out about Muse. Now she was finding out about interstellar space robots coming to invade our planet. On top of all that, I also mentioned the Terrestrial Defense Executive and how Casey and I were going to be a part of it. It would have been understandable for someone to completely freeze up with existential terror.

Except that’s not what happened.

She’d looked incredibly upset at first, but after we mentioned the visit we’d had from Martin and Christine something changed within her. Determination began to seep into her voice and before I knew it she was right there, demanding to be alongside us.

‘I am not surprised. She is very much your sister, after all,’ Muse commented.

Did she ever question whether she’d chosen the wrong one?

‘Only sometimes,’ Muse answered playfully.

The only thing that had given her a moment of pause and reflection was when I’d asked how it would affect her relationship with Paige. She’d bitten her lip and looked at me with uncertainty. It hadn’t been enough to convince her not to come, though. She said that she would just apologise and pick things up again once this was all over.

If it was ever over.

Our parents were predictably resilient to the idea of her ending the school year early. She was old enough for the government not to become involved, at least. Even though they were quite hands off in most regards, the parental units still thought that education was important.

Once I’d told them that she’d be working with the United Nations – and that it would be great work experience to put on a CV – it didn’t sound like such a bad idea.

‘The whole ordeal is bound to be out-of-this-world, after all.’

I hate you.

 

Casey and I made sure our clothes had been washed and dried, and ready to be packed the following day. 

This was all starting to feel so real.

I’d managed to keep the tears at bay, just about, but the effort was making me feel ill. I was getting pains in my stomach which I attributed to stress, or something. When I complained about that to Casey, she’d squinted and studied me closely. I wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but after a moment or two she’d given me a reassuring smile.

---

Friday

The following day I awoke with that pain pulling at my abdomen. I managed to pull myself out of bed but was forced to ask Muse to help with my intense discomfort. She giggled at me for some reason, but helped dial it down a whole bunch. At least I could think clearly again.

I briefly wondered if something more serious was wrong with me.

‘No, your body is behaving exactly as it should, Erin,’ Muse told me. ‘In fact, we are almost finished with all of your changes.’

That left my stomach feeling all aflutter with excitement and I’d needed to sit down.

 

The rest of the morning was spent getting everything packed and ready. I’d also told Sarah to make her preparations the previous night, so she was already set to go by the time she had to leave for what would be her last day of school.

It was rare for us to wake up in time to see my parents before work, but Casey and I were both buzzing with a mix of anxiety and excitement. It had actually both amused and bemused them when they’d come home yesterday to find so many extra ingredients dotted around their kitchen. They’d found it extra hilarious that someone could go to a shop and just decide to buy everything because they were struggling to make a decision.

I don’t think that this fazed Casey, though – she’d found it equally as humorous.

I sent Rish a text just before we left for our ultimate secret woods training session. In it, I mentioned that someone might be in touch with him soon with regards to something important.

“You really love the hell out of texting. Why don’t you just use social media like literally everyone else?” Casey had asked me when she saw what I was doing.

“Oh. I don’t use social media that much. It’s… uh… never been a place that I’ve felt that safe,” I managed to reply, my cheeks burning.

I’d been pulled out of the social media craze when the bullies had used it as an extension to the bullying campaign they’d set up at school – I just never really felt like getting back into it after that all died down.

By the time they were finished I’d realised that I hated my name, my body and just about every aspect of myself. Yeah, this egg cracked hard.

“I was wondering why I couldn’t find you,” she admitted, giving me a half-smile. “Wanna make a profile now? There are hella people curious about who made my relationship status change.”

She changed her status because of me? Oh goddess.

I must have looked nervous and apprehensive about that suggestion because she’d pulled me into her arms with placating pecks on my cheeks.

“I’ll make sure no one tries to hurt you.”

“Can we do it later?” I asked, feeling that familiar yearning for her whenever she touched me.

“Of course, babe,” she whispered, her kisses deepening.

---

Two Weeks Ago

I ran my fingers down my face and let out a sigh.

Something was really wrong with me – I was working hard on figuring it all out. One side effect of all this was that my room looked like a junkyard. I’d barely left it since yesterday, except to go to the bathroom and get food. Mom and dad were worried about me, but they’d brought me meals to have alone.

Sitting on my bed, knees pulled to my chest, I felt like my life was spiralling into a wreck.

Lately, my dreams had all been strange, surreal nightmares and they were taking a heavy toll on me. Whether I was reliving my failures in the classroom or on the ice, they just kept repeating over and over.

What’s happening to me?

I’ve never been a guy to question my skills. I’d made mistakes, sure, but who hasn’t, eh?

Why was this eating at me so much? I’m supposed to be heading to university this Fall but I could barely face myself in a mirror or walk outside.

Whenever I try to think back to the day this all started, all that stands out is the game of road hockey the kids had been playing in the street outside. I knew a thing or two and quickly saw some of the beginner mistakes they were making. I shouted advice at them, trying to improve their technique, get them moving faster.

One of the kids – a girl – had really stood out to me. She’d easily been the best little player there, skating circles around the others. The others – especially the boys – were getting annoyed with her, getting more physical than they should have been in the checking. I’d had to resist telling her to kick their asses. 

She’d come over to me after they all finished. 

I remember her eyes were this crazy light brown, and she’d reached out to shake my hand. She’d wanted to thank me for all the advice.

She was just being polite, I think. I hadn’t done much that anyone else wouldn’t do in my place.

The instant that our fingers had touched, though – wow. We’d both gotten the biggest fucking static shock of our lives – it left my hand numb for hours after. She must have been building that up the entire game.

We both laughed and apologized to each other, but she’d left in a rush after. I’d felt pretty guilty about that and I wasn’t sure why.

‘Hello, Tyler,’ I heard a feminine voice say, cutting through the silence in my bedroom.

My immediate reaction was to cringe at the name – I’d hated it since forever. Ostensibly, it was because it was so American. Deep down though…

No wait – my very first reaction was to think I’d gone nuts.

I searched around, but obviously there was no one else in the room but me. I’d have known if someone had snuck in, wouldn’t I?

“Who’s there?” I called out, anyway.

‘Please, call me Nike.’