"So, heading to the Lockers for the weekend?"

"Yup," I didn't even have to turn around to recognize the voice of my roommate, nearly halfway out the door as she called out to me, "Try not to starve without me, Rae."

My roommate, Rae Reyes (Yeah, I know, girl was rocking the protagonist alliteration and what was I stuck with? Fucking Stahls- really makes one wonder about nurture vs nature with a last name like that) let out a barking laugh, flashing a pointy grin at me that she had to know made me nervous. Those teeth combined with the consistent night owl schedule and- I swear on my life- her actually hissing at the sun once- fuck, man, that girl had to be an honest to god vampire.

"I can boil water for ramen easy enough, don't get a big head just because you can caramelize onions, dude."

I grimaced a little, suppressing the little spark of anger that coiled in my gut at the... probably the onion comment. Yeah, had to be, I was always getting so heated in my head over the dumbest shit, "And you've nearly burned down the apartment half the time you try- c'mon, cooking is the one thing I have going for me, let me have this!"

"Literally never," She stuck her tongue out at me, and I rolled my eyes. Yeah, this was pretty typical- if it weren't for the fact that Rae was probably the most openly gay woman I've ever met, our friends might accuse us of being a thing. At least one of them had, and Rae literally spent the night trying (and succeeding) at bagging another girl at the bar just to hammer home that this was a "Girls Only" club for her.

So obviously anything between us was purely platonic. Even if I were a girl, she'd still be so hopelessly out of my league- I wasn't kidding when I said that cooking was the only thing I had going for me. Looks? Laughable, straight up pre-spider bite Peter Parker type beat, and not even the cool skater/hacker one either. Fashion? Maybe if you like oversized hoodies and jeans in the middle of July, and even with the habitation domes the heat was killer.

Couldn't even be one of the people in the dome actually working on the important stuff. I wasn't working as a terraformer, or an environmental scientist, or an ecologist making sure the Earth's ecosystem could actually sustain itself once we finished fixing what the billionaires broke. I was just a canteen worker, making sure the actually important people were fed in return for a roof over my head and an education.

At least the Lockers were free. I think I remember something about "bread and circuses" from a history class- and the Lockers were a hell of a lot more involved than a few Roman clowns.

... Huh, did those circuses actually have clowns? No, no time to go down that research rabbit hole.

"Anyways," Rae spoke up, shaking me out of my thoughts, "I was asking because I was... actually considering joining up with you. Don't exactly have any plans, combined with some mandatory vacation time from the higher ups in the hydroponics course."

She ran her hand back through her short, dark hair, huffing a little. That's one of the reasons Rae was infinitely more cool than me- she was actually working on sustainable farming for the dome, which we hoped to be able to integrate into the wider world once the domes weren't necessary anymore. She was making a difference, and I had seen what she could do with plants. She was more than just a green thumb, and it would be people like her who would be making their mark on the world when all was said and done.

Which... made her taking interest in the full-dive VR Lockers come as a surprise to me.

"For real?"

"Yeah?" She shrugged, avoiding eye contact like she was admitting to something embarrassing, "I mean hey, you seem to enjoy them so much. We've been friends since freshman year, and roommates for nearly as long- and I've already proved that your appliances have a grudge against me, so it's not like I can get into the only other hobby you have, Eric."

"You don't have to guilt yourself into this, we already hang out and stuff-"

"Guilt nothing, I'm genuinely curious," She stood, stretching her arms over her head as the black tank-top she wore rode up a little, and I averted my gaze out of politeness, "My roommate spends all of Friday night and the entirety of Saturday hooked up to a little pod every week, I wanna know what the appeal is, alright?"

Well, something told me the appeal wasn't exactly one that Rae'd get. She wasn't the type of person who avoided reality, if she met a challenge she'd just push right through it.

Me? Real life made me want to curl up most of the time. Maybe I should see a therapist about it, and it's not like the resources for that aren't there.

But there are people with much worse shit going on in their lives. People with harder jobs, bigger responsibilities. I didn't want to be taking up valuable time within the system just because the world was hard- it was hard for everyone, that's why we're in the god damn dome. The people actually doing stuff to fix things needed the help more.

So, for about 36 hours a week, I'd let myself be in a different world. That's all I needed.

"I mean I literally can't stop you," I said, shrugging as I pushed the door open further to hold it for Rae. She shot me another grin- this one much less bitey-looking- before grabbing her keys off the wall and spinning them around her finger.

"Alright, alright! Let's see this "whole new world" and all that jazz!"

I rolled my eyes, closing the apartment door behind us and twisting the lock shut. Well... maybe my weekend could be a bit more fun with a friend to party up with.

Silver linings, right?