Bonus: The Chapter Where A Girl Gets Pranked

(Some time before Liane and Claire visit The Snowflake)

Liane crouched in the underbrush of Claire’s Demisphere. The tropical rainforest ecosystem was as hot and humid as ever. She added the finishing touches to her sketch of a beautiful passion flower, then dismissed the sketchbook provided by her Second Sight.

She stood and wiped the sweat from her brow. It was taking Claire a long time to return. She was starting to wonder if they had somehow missed each other when a rustling sound from behind caught her attention.

She turned around and started to call, “Claire—” then froze. Her voice caught in her throat.

The massive orange and black head of a jaguar emerged from the underbrush. Its golden eyes fixated on her. The big cat crept forward and let out a low growl.

Liane knew this was where she died. She dropped to the ground and curled into a ball, her eyes shut tight. She waited for her painful death.

“Hi Liane.”

Liane opened her eyes. Claire smiled and waved to her from the jaguar’s back. She hopped down from the big cat and pet it on the head. Liane slowly uncurled herself.

“What—”

“It’s a robot, of course,” Claire answered before Liane finished her question. She pulled Liane to her feet. “I’ve been adding animals to all the ecosystems to make them more accurate and lively. Haven’t you noticed?”

“I suppose it had been noisier.”

Claire squealed. “Oh look! There’s another one!”

She rushed over to a low hanging vine and quickly returned with a sloth cuddled in her arms. She passed the sloth to Liane before she could refuse.

“Isn’t it cute?” Claire asked.

Liane held the sloth nervously. It slowly turned its face up to look at her, and she thought she could admit it was cute.

“Yeah, it’s not so bad now that I know they’re robots,” Liane said.

“Oh, that one’s real.”

Liane tensed. She pushed the sloth away, holding it at arm's length.

“Take it, take it, take it!”

Claire retrieved the sloth and laughed at Liane as she panicked about the mysterious green substance left on her hands.

***

Liane’s swimsuit was yellow and blue, the same as her uniform. It was a one piece that was made just for her. Per Aurelia, she looked great in it and it suited her perfectly. She found it easy to move in and unexpectedly comfortable to wear. It also made her extremely embarrassed.

After she finished changing, she found herself unable to exit the bathroom and join Claire.

“Hurry up! I’m already changed,” Claire called.

The one thing that pushed Liane to conquer her embarrassment was to see Claire. She remembered Claire had always been so cute paddling around the pool in her swimsuit. She bet Claire still looked just as cute, and there was only one way to find out.

Liane forced herself out of the bathroom, and immediately all her hopes were dashed. Claire wasn’t dressed in a swimsuit, she was covered from head to toe with a wetsuit.

“Oh, that looks great on you,” Claire said, eyeing Liane up and down.

Liane attempted to cover herself with her hands. Her face turned beet red.

“Wh— Why don’t I get a wetsuit?” Liane cried.

“I only have one. Why didn’t you bring one?” Claire asked.

Because you didn’t tell me I need one, Liane thought to herself angrily.

“It doesn’t matter, you can dive without one.”

Claire picked up a set of scuba gear and dumped it into Liane’s arms.

“Let’s go! After we’re done in the warm ocean, we can take a dip in the cold ocean. Say yay!”

“Yay…” Liane whimpered. She wondered if it was too late to back out.

***

Liane walked into Claire’s house and called, “Hello. It’s me.” She had long ago stopped knocking and started letting herself in.

“I’ll just be a minute,” Claire called back from somewhere in the house.

Adélie and Gaston greeted Liane with their usual enthusiasm.

“Hello,” Liane said to the dogs. She pet them with only mild apprehension.

Claire set her delivery down on the table. It was larger than usual, and she wondered what it was today.

“Did you bring my delivery?” Claire called.

“Yeah, of course I did. I wouldn’t be here without it,” Liane answered.

“Could you open it for me? I need it.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Liane cut the tape from the box. Before she could open the flaps, they flung open of their own accord and a snake sprung from the box straight at Liane’s face.

She shrieked and fell backward, covering her face with her hands.

Claire rolled out from behind the couch, clutching her stomach and laughing hysterically. Liane found the toy snake on the floor beside her and threw it at Claire. She caught it and continued laughing.

Liane picked herself up from the floor, her cheeks burning, she asked, “Must you always do this?”

Claire wiped a tear from her eye. “You're just such an easy target. I can’t help it.”

“I’ll have you know I’m trying to be professional.”

“No your not. If you were being professional, you would deliver my package then leave.”

“Well, that’s true,” Liane admitted, “but do you prank the drones this much?”

“Actually yes. Somewhere around here, there is a drone trying to make a delivery to an alpaca. Just between us, I don’t have an alpaca. Haven’t you seen it floating around?”

Liane did recall seeing a yellow and blue drone floating around the sheep the other day. It seemed she wasn’t the only victim of Claire’s pranks.

Liane smiled. She snickered to herself, then started laughing. “You can’t prank drones like that,” she laughed. Claire smiled and laughed too.

If it meant she would get to keep seeing Claire’s smiling face every day, Liane decided she didn’t mind the pranks.