After the Drift

Chapter Seven: Whats to Come

2023

I had walked right out of the simulator after finding out we were nearly perfectly matched...I mean connected.

Whatever.

I heard alarms blaring from behind me and some pretty loud curses from a few others along the way.

Poor disconnect... deduct a zillion points.
Poor communication between partners... deduct a zillion more.

Ugh.

I was going to be canned. My parents were going to be so disappointed. Crap.

I vaguely heard my name being yelled down the corridor, but I just kept trucking.

My mouth felt dry, my stomach was roiling.

The abrupt disconnect as well as my despairing thoughts had me spinning.

I was going to be sick.

I sprinted up the main stairway towards a women's bathroom near the third level. Pushing a few people out of my way, I slammed into an empty stall.

There goes my apple.

After dry heaving a few more times, I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. I heard a tapping on the door, fabulous.

"What?!" I yelled from my seated position against the stall wall.

"You pregnant, tubs?"

What. The. Hell. Seriously?!

"No, Luce. I ate something off... don't say shit like that in a public bathroom..." I wiped my mouth again and stood up.

I looked like trash. Oh well.

I opened the stall to my smug looking sister. I brushed past her and went to the sinks. I rinsed my mouth out with water from the faucet.

"Didn't ever think I'd see you in this state... perfect little sister isn't so perfect, huh?" I spit out the water.

"I told you, ate something off." I went to leave but felt a hand on my arm. "What, Luce?"

She smiled at me, that was unnerving. "Just trying to take care of you, little sister." She fixed my hair like she used to when we were little and had to go on tv or something.

I missed that sister.

"So I heard something that really... piqued my interest." My heart rate picked up a little.

Did she know that I had drifted with Chuck already? It couldn't have even been fifteen minutes ago.

"I heard that we're all being transferred to Hong Kong. They're closing the rest of the shatterdomes pretty soon." She leaned against the seat. "They say that the Anti-Kaiju wall that they're building will protect everyone now."

I sighed heavily. Absorbing what she was telling me. Someone came bursting into the bathroom, nearly running me over. Whoops... I had just done that.

I cleared my throat. "I guess I should go pack then. Thanks for telling me, Luce." She nodded looking deep in thought, something must be on her mind about all this as well.