The Red Machine

Chapter 2: Castor: The Fallen Star

Come the next morning, Adam slowly wakes up after a long night's sleep. How odd. He hasn't been able to sleep through the whole night since his teen years. Could it be that Juno's presence has lifted the burden of all his failures off his shoulders? Maybe. If only he could sleep that way all the time! He sighs. No, his body surely won't let him. His chronic insomnia stems from insatiable guilt over everything he has ever done; someday, it will kill him, but not today.

Adam pushes the covers off him, then goes to take a shower. He lets down his hair and scrubs it clean with shampoo and conditioner. All the while, he plans out his day in his head.

Today I'm going to take Juno out to the city of Ibrocester. That should be a good starting place. After all, I know it quite well. She and I will explore bit by bit. We can take my motorcycle. I bet she'd like that. I'll have to find her a helmet, of course, but I should have one laying around. I'll also have to connect the hovercraft so we can carry everything we purchase while we're there.

He pauses in his thinking.

I hope I made a good first impression on her. I've done some unforgivable things and I don't know if I can ever atone for my actions. Juno is my chance to start over with a clean slate.

Once he exits the shower, he changes into a navy sweater with jeans and brushes his teeth. He pulls his hair up, takes one last look in the mirror, and steps out of the room. He makes his way over to Juno's room, grabbing his black trenchcoat along the way. He quietly knocks on the door.

"Enter," her voice calls from within. He opens the door. Juno's room is a small space with little in the way of decoration. Her walls are dark grey with a simple overhead light. Her queen bed has white sheets with a dark blue comforter and sits against the upper right corner of the room against a window on the right wall. On the back wall to the left of her bed is her dresser with another window above it. Across the room from the dresser and next to the door is Juno's dark wood desk. She too has been given a laptop. Other than that, there is nothing else on it. In the bottom right corner of the room, between the bed and the desk, is a soft grey chair and a cushion to rest her feet on. A black rug with hexagons on it spans most of the floor. And finally, the left wall houses the door to her bathroom.

Adam looks Juno over. She wears a soft, white sweater and a flared black skirt with tights. Violet had gifted her the outfit from her own closet. Juno will have to do some shopping while they are in the city.

"You look nice today."

"Thank you. I quite enjoy human fashion. On my homeworld, we don't ordinarily wear clothes unless it is for a special event such as a wedding."

"I see. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes. Where are we going?"

"We're going to visit Ibrocester. It's the nearest city. It's about an hour's drive from here."

"Sounds fun."

"Mhm. I thought we could ride on my old motorcycle." Adam smiles.

"I'd like that."

"Great! Meet me in the garage."

"Okay."

As Adam closes the door behind him, Juno quickly braids her hair and pins it up off her neck. She puts on a leather jacket, takes one last look at her reflection, then leaves her room and heads to the garage. When she arrives, Adam holds out an old black motorcycle helmet.

"Here."

"Thank you." She places the helmet on her head.

"How does it feel?"