The Lost Artifact Of Spode

31

It turned out that "outside" wasn't actually outside. They walked into another dome, shielded off from the outside weather conditions. It's much cooler in here then it was in the main colony they were just in. The entire structure here is made out of glass, albeit with how high the snow outside burried them, Mel didn't notice it was glass around them until he could barely make out the reflection of everyone in the glass.

After a couple hundred feet, they entered a room that made it clear why this was called outside. Snow littered the ground in a room the size of a large playground. A few trees comparable to pine trees decorated the small area. Outside on the actual planet, snow covered the sides of the glass high, but the sky was clear today.

Seeing the disappointing size and fill of the room, Mel had to asks, "Is this outside?" Surely there had to of been more to it. Right?

"Yes," Bead answers.

"Ah..." for a moment, the two stood together in silence. Mel watched the other kids run around the area, playing in the snow and with each other. Then, he glances down at Bead, who's doing just the same as him. Watching the other kids, silently.

"Don't you want to play?" Mel urges.

She took a moment before tearing her attention away from the others and onto him. "No," she finally answers.

He was far too cold to, but seeing Bead waste her play time doing nothing, Mel was willing to push past his freeze and offers her, "What if I play with you?"

His offer took her back. "Play what?"

"Ehm..." he didn't think that far ahead. The cold made it impossible for him to, too. "Do you have any ideas?"

She fell silent as she thought, her attention falling back onto the other kids who played. Mel tried being patient with her, especially since he couldn't think for himself at the moment, but the times dragged out and his focus started jumping around the room, trying to find something else to be entertained by. Is she going to answer at all?

He was growing impatient with the silence.

"No?" He prompts.

She sadly looks up at him, then away with a small hum. "No. Sorry."

"It's OK," he comforts, reaching out to pat her. Just before he touches her, he quickly pulls his hand back, having to remind himself this wasn't his kid. Even with something as small as a headpat, he can't just touch kids who aren't his. "We can't always have ideas," he finishes with a lighthearted chuckle.

His attention falls back on the playing kids again, then once more on Bead. "Is there a reason you're not playing with the others?" He asks. "There's nothing wrong with it, I'm just curious."

She hesitated to answer. When she finally did, she stared at the ground away from Mel. "I don't... know... them."

She plops herself down on the snow with a sigh. Mel bends down to join her, but doesn't sit down himself, the snow being too cold for him to bare like she can.

"I mean," she continues, "I know them! I mean... I don't...?" She trails off, struggling to find the word.

"You aren't friends?" Mel prompts, remembering their argument just moments ago.

She took a moment. "That too, but no."

He took a moment to think of what else she could mean. "Understand them?" He suggests next.

"Maybe." A moment of silence passed between them. In this, Bead starts to make a ball out of the snow between her legs. "I don't get it. I'm weird," she finally answers.