Jamie Louise: Alright! So, let’s get started. I’m Jamie Louise with Scholastic, and before we get into the interview proper, thank you for being able to make it in today. I understand that you’ve been somewhat shy about appearing for comment.

Skye Campbell: Certainly! Thank you for having me – you’re the first publication to approach from an angle of “Queer Women in STEM” rather than, as it were, “Superhero Punches Superhero.”

J: Totally understandable. Would it be fair to say you’d rather have people focus on what you’ve made rather than what you’ve done with it?

S: Not necessarily – more that as far as things that tech can be used for goes, I think that violence is one of the least inspiring options. Not that resistance is never justified, but speaking personally, I’d rather new inventors get the idea “I can make the world a better place” rather than “I can fight back against bullies.”

J: I see! Just as a question of what you’d rather be associated with.

S: Right, exactly.

J: In that case, have you been working on any new projects that you could give us a taste of?

S: I had a small number of ideas in mind for medical technology, but then in the fall, Quorium was well and completely banned – which I intend to honor. Instead, I’m focusing on volunteer work for now, as I was before.

J: Right – I know Omni had med tech in mind too, before their experimental energy wing went under. Speaking of, do you have thoughts?

S: I’m still a bit put out that their reach couldn’t have been used productively, of course. That being said, I’m very glad that the money is being redirected to support those who lost family in the Pearl Incident. The best of a bad situation, in all.

J: And that brings us back to volunteer work, because you and a bunch of others pooled your funds from that kickback to create the Horizon Project charity.

S: Strictly speaking, it’s a mutual aid group.

J: Fair enough! How does it feel to go from superhero to spokeswoman?

S: To be frank, I’m just the face of the organization – the real kudos deserve to go to Alice Meyer, our head coordinator. It’s been spectacular working alongside her in a more unhurried environment, I think.

J: I’m glad to hear that! Now, out of curiosity, do you have any advice for others starting out, as engineers or volunteers?

S: Good question. Let me think… I suppose the [most] important thing is to be gentle on yourself. Give yourself permission to start small, and try to remember that your first reaction to any kind of self-expression may well be just as much shame as excitement – whether you’re sharing a raspberry pi hack or baring your heart.

J: I see! Now, out of curiosity, do you think that manually jailbroken biosuits are a natural offspring of your work? Would you ever dip your toe into that field?

“Oh, good afternoon, Alice,” Skye says with a nod, looking up from her magazine. “How was work?”

“Good. Really good. Sajad and Constantine managed to squeeze a little more funding out of the board. Can’t get into it right now, though, I have a date night with Kit in half an hour.” Alice talks distractedly, shucking her coat and boots.

“I heard from Kit. You’re going to the winter festival together, yes?” Careful to dog-ear her page, Skye sets her magazine down onto the coffee table, atop the communal calendar. Skye notes with a smile that it’s only five weeks until they move out into an honest-to-goodness house.

“That we are. Which, by the way-” Alice pauses to lean over the couch, giving Skye a gentle kiss on the cheek. “Would it be okay to borrow your green dress? The really warm one.”

Skye grimaces. “Ordinarily, I’d say yes in a heartbeat, but tonight…”

“You got beaten to the punch!” Kit sashays out into the living room, showing off the green dress with a torn jean jacket over it. “Shoulda asked first if you wanted it that bad, sorry!”

Alice groans, throwing her head back. “Of course. Alright, I’m gonna need the bathroom for a bit, last call if either of you are gonna need it.” When Skye and Kit both shake their heads, she nods firmly. “Good stuff. Out in a bit.”

As the door slams shut, Kit looks over. “Ooh, did your thing finally get published?” They gesture to the magazine – its front cover is split down the middle, half of it showing Sky Horizon’s mask and the other half a professional photo of Skye. “It looks snazzy, at least.”

Skye nods, smiling faintly as she picks it up. “It’s fairly well-written and comes off well, considering how nervous I was during the interview. I’m feeling good about it.”

Kit gives a big thumbs-up. “If you’re showing up on headlines and you don’t hate it, that’s a win. So what’s your next conquest looking like? Gonna cure world hunger?”

“You’re not all that far off.” Skye gestures over to a massive bag sitting on the counter. “Tonight’s plans include driving around the city and handing out sandwiches to the unhoused. I’ll still likely be home before you two, mind.”

“Nice.” Kit leans over, trying to see the bag past the back of their chair before realizing they’re about to tip over and flailing back to an upright position. “Very nice.”

“And what of you?” Skye gestures in Kit’s direction. “How has work been treating you? I know Nigel just joined the team, is that going well?”

“Yeah!” Kit claps their hands together. “Forget ‘well’, we’ve literally never had a better QA team!” Immediately, they start gesticulating. “The instant, and I mean the instant anything breaks, boom, there’s Nigel, fixing it up lickety-split so they can go back to slacking on the sidelines.”

“That’s great news.” Skye nods warmly before her eyes snap open. “Wait, Nigel uses they/them?”

“They’re trying it out for now, but yeah.”

“Hey, good for them!” As she talks, Skye starts sorting through the other mail besides the magazine. “Let’s see here… fan mail. Hate mail. Bill. Coupons to the local pizza place. Ah, hello…” Skye lifts out a hand-signed postcard. “A Christmas card?”

“Lemme see.” Kit plucks it out of her hands, tearing it open. “Oh, god, it’s from Marco. Apparently he’s…” They laugh openly. “Get this – he actually got a deal to act as one of the monster extras in an indie toku project.”

Skye snorts gently. “Isn’t he lucky, that he has the money and time to turn over a new leaf while Pamela gets bounced around the federal justice system.” Gently, she waves in Kit’s direction. “I guess you can toss it.”

“Just toss it?” Kit raises an eyebrow. “Are you sure I can’t ban him from sending mail to this address or something?”

“It’s a polite gesture, he’s not pretending we’re on good terms or the like.” Skye folds her arms and speaks firmly. “I don’t want to be his friend, but neither do I need to be his enemy.”

“More for me,” Kit says with a shrug. “I can hold enough grudges for the both of us. Anyways, you’re gonna be the last one leaving for patrol, right? Make sure to lock up when we leave.”

Twenty minutes later, the apartment is quiet. In the middle of winter, it’s already dark out by five – the gloom is compounded by a chilly fog, ripping into the city like a pat of still-too-cold butter. With nothing left to stall her, Skye sets down the magazine for good, standing with a stretch.

Stepping over to her wardrobe, Skye flicks through a couple of casual outfits before finally arriving on her ‘work uniform’ – a blue and white tracksuit, colored to match her motorcycle helmet. Speaking of which, she pulls her helmet out from beneath the bed, careful to polish a bit of dust off the visor.

As she turns to go, she catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror – fleeting, occupied, her tracksuit not fully zipped, but altogether more herself than ever. With a smile, she steps back, watching herself breathe with an easy, comfortable posture.

Outside the window, fog slowly rolls across the skyline.

After a moment more, the spell is broken. Skye steps over to the kitchenette, checking that the sandwich bags are all packed and ready.

“Clear Skies Ahead,” she whispers to herself, and clicks her helmet on.

Spoiler

Sophibeans

Well, that's that. I feel like I got the big thank yous out of the way last time, so I guess I can give some background on how this came to be.

This story started to take shape back in February when I read Power Up! by the excellent Zoe Storm (which I recommend if you want more like this), and spent the next few days turning it over. The story stuck in my head, yet I was a bit put off that it wasn't the exact version of the story I wanted out of the concept- then it hit me out of nowhere that I could just... write the kind of story I was most interested in. By the first week of March, I had an outline down, and by July the 70k word first draft was done- leaps and bounds faster and more focused than I'd ever been on a writing project. It's been incredibly fulfilling to put the finishing touches on the project, and gratifying to see such a response from friends and strangers alike.

Moral of the story is... I don't know. Take your meds. Watch Kamen Rider Build. If a one-paragraph half-joking idea for a creative project pops into your head, then grab on and ride the wave as far as it can take you. Who knows? You might be surprised!

One last time, thank you. This is Sophibeans, signing off.

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