Glass Planet

X A N D E R

Viva opens the door to her friend's apartment in a snap, the scanner reading every detail of her eyes. She grabs the wall as soon as we walk in, inhaling sharply. "Viva," I whisper, holding my hand out. "I'm fine," She says, her voice steady as ever. I open my mouth to say otherwise, but then my lips clamp shut. What was I really going to say?

As it turns out, Viva's friend's apartment is a pretty sweet place to be. It's a more recent model of apartments, two stories and similar to those at Glass Planet. Viva's eyes scan over the tech and the glass with a hint of resentment in her eyes. I can almost see the memories reflected in her mirror like eyes, from the wave leading up to this very moment. She shrugs off Emma's windbreaker and feels the soft fabric of the white cotton shirt underneath. I can hear her labored breath, see her back rise and fall. I say her name again, a little louder, a little gentler.

"I'm not in the mood, Holland," she mumbles.

"You know my name," I say, almost pleasantly surprised.

"I did my research," she says, and I can practically hear the smirk in her words as she walks up the stairs. I take a seat on one of the chairs by the kitchen countertop, and wait for Viva to come back down. While I find a way to avoid killing her? Would I let her go? My watch starts vibrating, and I tilt my head down to see what's happening.

And then I realize that I'm probably dead.

"Dad?" I ask, answering on the fifth ring.

"Where the hell are you, Alexander? Emmaline said you were with Aidan, but Aidan's left for Titanium City a few hours ago."

So, Emma tried to help, but she obviously didn't do her research, which, now that I think about it, is highly unusual of her. I decide to tell Dad the truth, if only a variation of it.

"I'm at Ground Zero. Recon on the damage, trying to figure out what happened. I was planning on calling you tomorrow to give you an update, but you decided to call early. You still at New- Titanium City?" The question throws him off a little bit, but not for long.

"I'm still there. Maybe you can give me an update now?"

"Um..."

My mind scrambles for an excuse. "I just got here today, so I haven't really gotten an chance to check it out yet," I say, praying that my story lines up with Emma's.

"Alright," he finally says, acquiescing. "When will you be back?"

"I don't know," I say, and it's true; I have no idea how long Viva's plan, whatever that is, is going to take. I hear Dad sigh, and then he says, "Be back soon. Emma's getting worried," before he hangs up.

I know that's a lie.

~

Viva returns a while later, finally looking like what I can only describe truly as herself in tight jeans and a cropped sweatshirt. Her dark eyes sweep over the apartment like it probably has a million times before, and once again I find myself both impressed and intimidated by her regality. She finally stands behind the opposite end of the countertop and stares at me.

"What's the endgame here?" she asks. Her shaken hostility has morphed into a cold, calculating exterior within the day she's been home. I'm mildly awed by her abrupt shift back into what I can only describe as the true personality of Viva Ross. As of now, I'm completely lost as to whether I like it or not.

"First of all," I begin, "There are a few things I need to know."

I expect her to snap at me, but she sighs through her nose before giving me a mumbled "sure."

"What happened at the lab?"

Her head snaps up, and I see a flicker of distrust mingling with the barest trace of fear in her eyes. So she is hiding something. "Why do you wanna know?" She asks, leaning forward so her forearms rest on the countertop.

"Curiosity," I say with my best smile, leaning back and crossing my legs. She opens her mouth to answer, when someone knocks loudly on the door (knocks! There's a doorbell!) yelling, "I know you're in there, Viv, open the door!" I raise my eyebrows at the name, but Viva doesn't seem to notice, because she's scrambling to open the door. A boy stands at the threshold, looking like he just stepped out of the cover of a magazine, despite his casual clothing. His copper hair glows in the light, and even from where I am, I can clearly see how green his eyes are. He wraps Viva in his arms, and I watch her melt in his embrace. An uncomfortable prickly feeling burns in my head for a second, and I swallow. Viva tilts her head up. "Logan," she says, looking right into his eyes. This Logan immediately cups her face and in the next second they're kissing. Intense kissing. After a few seconds of the agonizing discomfort, I clear my throat. They break apart immediately. "Oh," Logan says, and his Adam's apple bobs visibly.

"Um," Viva says, color appearing on her cheekbones. "This is, uh, Logan Custer, my..."

"Boyfriend?" I offer.

"Friend," Logan says, stepping forward to greet me. Viva's shoulders relax visibly, and I immediately realize that the kiss was entirely unfamiliar to both of them.

This just keeps getting more and more awkward.

"I'm Xander," I say, not bothering to move from the chair. I don't know where my abrupt hostility is coming from. "Xander Holland." Logan's eyebrows rise a little when I say Holland, but he doesn't say anything. With a soft stab of annoyance, I realize how much like Viva he is, even though he's a lot calmer and less easily angered. Perfect for each other, maybe. I have the sudden urge to pinch myself. Why am I making so many assumptions from just a couple minutes of being in the same room as a person?

"What's going on here?" Logan asks, turning to Viva, who's leaning against the gray wood walls. Her eyes flicker to me for a fraction of a second, then she looks Logan dead in the eye and says, "I can't tell you." He looks slightly annoyed for a second, but he acquiesces and mutters, "okay," in a quiet voice. I stand up.

"Viva," I say. "You really need to answer the last question." She looks apologetically at Logan then slings an arm around my shoulders, guiding me into a guest bedroom on the first room.

I collapse onto the bed, and Viva leans (again!) against the wall.

"Every time something weird happens, I get some injury and I have no idea how the hell I got it," she says, and her voice is slightly shaky. "Something really weird happened at the lab, and that's how I got the injury you had to stitch up."

"Yeah, but is that correlation, or causation?"

Viva rolls her eyes. "I don't know. Maybe both? I mean, there was no physical thing that gave me those injuries. All those times stuff like that happened, there was no knife or weapon or anything." She looks up at the ceiling.

"I burned the lab. The lightbulbs overheated or something, and, there was fire everywhere, everything was on fire-"

I stand and walk over to her, taking her shaking hands within my own. She allows me to hold then for five seconds, then pulls them away, looking at the door.

I step away from her, remembering Logan. Thank you, she mouths. I nod, then give her a pointed look.

"I broke the glass," she whispers. "I set the lab on fire. I did all of this, all of this, just with my, my will, or something."

She grabs my arm, probably one of the only times she'll voluntarily initiate contact with me. "Something's wrong with me. That's gotta be how I lived through the attack."

"Nothing's wrong with you. We're gonna figure it out," I say, looking directly at her eyes. A while ago, I found them intimidating, but now they're all I see. I swallow and try to push the feelings away. "Those people, who let the attack here... they know about me now, probably. From the broadcast. Meaning they're looking for me."

I nod. She is in danger. She sighs and covers her face. "What the hell did I get myself into?" she asks quietly.

I have no answer for her.