Punch the Sky

Bunny stepped into the cockpit of the ship. It was a bit rundown, like the rest of the ship, but it was hers. A retirement present from the United Worlds Army. Only fitting that the ship itself was headed toward retirement as well. She ran her mechanical hand down the wall of the ship, tracing a seam. “You have as many of your original parts as I do,” she said.

Rikku stepped in. “Are you sure you want to keep the name?” he said, sitting down in the captain's chair.

She looked at him and narrowed her eye. He was looking elsewhere, so he didn't notice her cyclopean glare. “What's wrong with the name?” she said.

“It sounds weak, especially for a StarFist class ship like this.”

“I happen to like the name,” she said. “And it's my ship,” she added, pulling him out of the captain's chair.

He shrugged. “Your call, Captain,” he said.

She sat in the chair. “Is everything prepared for launch, Chief Officer Kazenami?”

He walked over to a console and checked the readout. “Beyond needing an oil change in 1,500 parsecs, I think we're good to go.” He looked over at her. “Can just the two of us fly this thing?”

She looked over at him. “The ship is mostly automated,” she said. “We'd have to be trying to not be able to fly this thing.”

He pulled up the pre-flight checklist and started working through it. Most of this process was automated as well, so it went by pretty quickly. At the end, a chime played. “Looks like we’re good to go, Captain,” he said.

Bunny pressed the comms button. “This is Captain Chiffon requesting clearance for takeoff for GS Lollipop.”

The comms buzzed. “Request confirmed. You are clear for takeoff. Godspeed and good luck, Captain Chiffon.”

Bunny waved a finger toward Rikku. He pressed another button, and soon, the field of stars became a blur of lines. The GS Lollipop flew through space like a fist punching the sky.

Once the autopilot had taken over, Rikku leaned back in his seat. He looked back at Bunny, still a stern expression on her face. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

She blinked, snapping out of whatever trance she was in. “Of course, CO Kazenami,” she said. “Just planning out our vacation.” She stood and walked over toward a blank viewscreen. Waving her mechanical hand over it, she activated it. A full itinerary appeared, complete with dates and times, all configured to the minute, if not more.

Rikku looked at the screen. “Pretty thorough,” he said.

Bunny looked at him. “I don't do anything lightly,” she said. She scrutinized the timeline. She moved some things around, and the blocks changed color. “There,” she said. “That should give us fifteen more minutes of waterfall viewing. There's a food stand nearby where we can catch a bite to eat and something to drink, and sit at a table far enough away from the waterfall so we don't get splashed.”

Rikku nodded. He stepped up behind her and placed a hand on her waist. She looked down at it, then up at him. “Please consult the schedule,” she said. It wasn't a request.

His eyes scanned the timeline. Romantic gestures weren't on it until the third day. He removed his hand.

Just then, the ship made a buzzing sound.

“What was that?” Bunny said. She narrowed her eye and looked toward the sound.

Rikku shrugged. “It's an old ship,” he said. “Probably just settling or something.”

She turned, her body tense. “This is a spacecraft. A precision instrument for navigating microgravity. These sorts of things do not settle,” she said. Her eye was wide, the sclera clearly visible.

The ship made a grinding sound, then a wheezing sound, then the bands of light that were stars flying past at unimaginable speeds slowed to a crawl. If it hadn't been for the inertial dampening provided by the artificial gravity aboard the GS Lollopop, they would have both been tossed to the thin carpet of the floor in the sudden stop.

Rikku ran over to the console and looked at the sea of red messages zooming across the screen like angry movie credits. Everything went dark, and then once the emergency lights came on, everything was bathed in a glow of red.

Bunny stepped over beside Rikku and looked at the console. She tapped a button, and the screen went blank. “Call a towing company,” she said.

###

Bunny sat across from Rikku at a space truck stop diner. Her hamburger sat untouched on her plate. Rikku was working on his chili fries. He looked up at her.

“Something the matter, Captain?” he said, still chewing.

Bunny drew a lone fry across her plate, tracing it through a puddle of malt vinegar. “My plans,” she said.

Rikku smiled. “You of all people should be able to handle a little upset with your plans,” he said. He nodded toward her, as if to indicate her robot arm, her robot leg, her eyepatch, and the terrible scar it barely covered.

She crossed her arms. “Am I being lectured by someone who turned into a raging alcoholic after his girlfriend died?”

He leaned back. “I've made peace with that,” he said. “And you should make peace with this.” He waved a chili-soaked fry. “This is an exciting adventure.”

She softened. “I suppose you're right, CO.”

He stuffed another chili fry in his mouth. “Since we're not on the ship, do we still have to fuss around with the ranks and titles?”

She shrugged. The GS Lollipop was going to need some serious repairs. The warp drive had malfunctioned mid warp. They were lucky to be alive, and in this reality. With mid-warp malfunctions, it was a coin flip whether you dropped out of warp or became a quantum singularity. After seeing the repair estimate, she almost wished she’d become that quantum singularity.

“The tickets don't expire,” he said. “We’ll get there when we get there, and if the falls don't reflect the sunlight perfectly, that will be fine.”

She nodded. “You have a point,” she said. “Rikku,” she added. Then she started picking at her hamburger.

###

She was awakened from a deep sleep by someone knocking on her motel door. She nudged her sleep mask up over her good eye and looked at the clock. It was late, even accounting for Galactic Standard. She got up, slipped on a robe over her camisole and put on her slippers, bunny, of course. She shuffled to the door and popped it open.

Rikku stood outside the door, a huge grin on his face. “I want to show you something,” he said. He may have been drunk.

“What is it?” she said.

“Come on,” he said.

“I'm going to get dressed first,” she said. She closed the door and went over to her bag. She put on some sweatpants, a tanktop, and a hoodie, slipping her feet into sandals and swapping the sleepmask for an eyepatch. She stopped by the mirror to make sure her hair was fine and that she didn't look like she had just been woken up from a deep sleep.

“This better be good,” she said, opening the door. She stepped into the hallway.

“Oh, it's good,” said Rikku. “Come on.”

He led her down the corridor and toward a lift. They rode it a few floors until they came to another hallway. As they walked down the hallway, the noise grew louder and louder. The designers of the station had done a favor by vacuum-gapping this section from the rest of the station, so that no matter how loud it got, it wouldn't bother the people trying to get sleep (unless somebody discovered the source of the noise and then boisterously went to wake up his traveling companions).

Bunny's eye widened as they entered the main area. “It's a simulator room?” she said.

Rikku laughed. “It's an arcade. Didn't you ever play video games when you were a kid?”

She shook her head. “Other than training simulators, no. I mostly spent my time reading.”

“Well, that's about to change.” He took her hand and pulled her toward the machines, many of which had small groups of people clustered around them, watching as one of them used the controls to navigate a character through some series of trials. It reminded her, vaguely, of a casino, with all the zombified people clutching to the pull-arms of the slot machines, pulling them like lab rats pushing the treat button.

Still, it looked fun. Rikku pointed to a machine that had two seats, each with their own control panel. A large screen sat in front of it. On the side of the machine, it said “Space Hunter Extreme.” He grinned. “We'll start with something light and easy,” he said. He waved a card over the reader and gestured toward one of the seats. “Ladies first.”

She climbed into the seat and assessed the controls. Her hands felt right on the steering yoke, and she wished that she had put on shoes instead of sandals, but still, she thought she could handle this. Rikku climbed into the other seat. “Ready?” he said.

She nodded.

He pushed a button, and a countdown started. The seats had a feedback system, so when it looked like they were launching into space, the seat rumbled a bit to make it feel more real. Granted, it only met the expectation of real for somebody who had never actually piloted a mech, as with microgravity, there was a different set of sensations than just rocking and rumbling. Still, she tried not to overthink it.

They flew out into space and suddenly enemy fighters appeared. They weren't the Star Children. She was sure that if Star Children made their appearance in this game, it would be near the end. It started off with waves of space pirates and scavengers. Bunny and Rikku worked in tandem to destroy the opponents. After a few waves, they had to fight the Viral Mechs, which Bunny had only read about in history books. None of the simulators had this scenario, as after the Viral Mechs were defeated, protocols were instilled to prevent this from ever happening again. Still, it was fun.

Wave after wave after wave. Pretty soon, a small crowd had gathered around them. Bunny was glad that they were mostly in her blind spot. Civilians were always distracting. She focused on the task ahead, blasting through the Nekotomata Army. Then, after countless waves, a message flashed on the screen. “Now entering Far Space. Prepare for the Star Children.”

She gritted her teeth and piloted her mech through the waves of Star Children, having long memorized their patterns. The Star Jack, the Star Queen, the Star King. None of them posed a threat to her. She blasted through them all. Rikku swore. His mech was destroyed. He sat there, exhausted, sweat showing on his t-shirt. One of the onlookers patted him on the back and offered him a drink.

Bunny ignored it all. She was facing the Star Emperor now, almost as large as Asturoth himself. She had no real-life basis for this enemy, as there was no such thing as a Star Emperor, but she used her finely honed military skills to observe the patterns. He had five different attacks, and shortly after each attack, one of the arms was vulnerable. She navigated through each attack: bullet hells, waves of Star Children, laser beams, guided missiles, and shockwaves. Each time, she expertly handled the different attacks before focusing her attacks on the vulnerable arm. The crowd watched in rapt silence.

Each arm was defeated, and only the center remained: an ugly, uncanny face with an elaborate crown. She had saved her missiles. This was it. She hit the red button with her thumb, sending a wave of nuclear warheads at the face of the Star Emperor before he could regenerate any of his limbs.

The screen exploded in a sea of white that hurt her eye. Then, an empty field of stars. Her heart was racing, her hands sweaty. The screen said, “Congratulations. You are the top Space Hunter.” Then a screen appeared for her to enter her initials. “BCC” she entered, then pressed the okay button.

She slumped back in the seat, feeling the perspiration against her skin as she leaned back. She was taken out of her reverie when she realized that there were people applauding and cheering for her. She looked around. Rikku’s hand touched her shoulder. “I think you're the first person to beat the game,” he said.

He held out a hand and helped her out of the machine. She took a few slow, deep breaths. “It was fun,” she said. “But nothing like the real thing.” The crowd parted ways for her to pass through. “I need a drink,” she said. They arrived at the arcade's bar where she ordered herself an amaretto sour. She leaned back against the bar and looked at the crowd while she sipped her drink. Some of the people were in small groups, talking, occasionally pointing, but the rest had managed to get back to their normal routines.

Rikku looked at his game card. “You earned us a lot of tickets,” he said.

She nodded, still studying the crowd.

“I'm going to get you something,” he said.

She raised her wrist and rattled the ice in her glass. “I already have something,” she said. But Rikku had gone. She finished her drink, then ordered a shrub. When she was halfway through the sour drink, Rikku returned. He had something in a paper bag with the arcade's logo on it.

“Here you go,” he said. She took the bag. “Open it,” he said.

She opened the bag. Inside was a chibi plush bunny-girl. She looked at it, holding it in her cybernetic hand. “Thanks,” she said.

“It reminded me of you,” Rikku said.

She looked from the plush to him. “Thanks,” she said again. She finished her shrub. “I'm a little exhausted after that game. Why don't you go find yourself another one, and tell me if it's any good.”

“Sure,” he said. He scanned the arcade before wandering off towards some of the machines. Bunny looked at the bunny-girl. It looked nothing like her. She flexed her cybernetic hand, looked down at her cybernetic leg, caught a glimpse of her eyepatch and the scar it barely covered, its cruel line giving her a perpetual sneer. Maybe it once looked like her, but not anymore. She ordered another drink and some nachos.

She was getting tired. After finishing her latest order, she looked at the clock. It was late. Sure, she had no place to go until the GS Lollipop was repaired, but that didn't mean that time had no meaning. She pushed herself up off the bar and slung bunny-girl over her shoulder. She looked for Rikku. He wasn't by the flight combat machines, nor was he by the fighting games or racing games or games where you used a light gun to blast things on the screen. She wove through the crowd, sometimes people recognizing her and saying something like, “Great job.” She'd nod and smile.

She found him finally, wearing a VR helmet, strapped into a game called “LIFESIM.” She shook his shoulder. “I'm in the middle of something,” he said, brushing her off.

“I'm tired,” she said. “I'm going back to my room.”

“Okay,” he said. “I'll see you in the morning.”

She went off toward the exit, making her way back to the lift. Her keycard helped her find the right room, and in the dark interior, she didn't even bother changing back into her pajamas. She fell onto the bed, the bunny-girl flopping down beside her. Then she was out.

###

The next morning, she had a headache and was tired. Two cups of coffee and a hot shower later, she was ready to find Rikku, have breakfast, then check on the status of her ship. However, Rikku wasn't in his room. Suspecting that he had already headed to the waystation's restaurant, she headed there. He wasn't there either, but since she was hungry, she figured that she could find him better having eaten something. After a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, a croissant, hashbrowns, and watery orange juice, not to mention another cup of coffee, she was ready to find Rikku. She left word with the attendant to let him know she had already had breakfast if Rikku were to come by later.

She checked her room, guessing he might stop there and possibly leave a note. Nothing. Then she went back to his room, knocked, waited. Nothing. She went to the front desk and asked if he had left any messages for her. Nothing.

Then a thought crossed her mind. No. It couldn't be. Still, she had to find out.

She went back up to the arcade. It was quieter now. A robot pushed a sweeper across the thin carpet of the floor. A few people, mostly kids, stared at the demo screens of some of the machines, either trying to decide which one to play, or just wishing they had enough credits for one more game before their families headed off to their next destination.

They looked up at her as she drifted past. One whispered something, possibly about how he had heard that she had beaten the Space Hunter game. She ignored them.

Sitting in LIFESIM like it was a life support bed was Rikku, headset wrapped around his head. She tapped him on the shoulder.

“I'm in the middle of a game,” he said.

“Have you been here all night?” she said.

“Bunny?” he said. He raised the visor, but just barely. “Oh,” he said. “Has it been that long? This game is good.” Something made an annoyed, persistent buzzing sound. “Gotta get back,” he said. He lowered the visor.

Bunny stood there, staring at the machine, at Rikku, at the entire arcade. The kids had their hands on the controls of one of the machines and were pretending to play along with the demo.

He comm buzzed. It was the repair shop. “Your ship is ready,” said the mechanic. “Far Station said they'd cover the bill since it was broken when they gave it to you.”

“That's the best news I've heard all day,” she said.

“Well, it's still early,” said the mechanic. “When can I expect you?”

“I just have to pack up and check out, then I'll be right over.”

“Take your time,” the mechanic said. “But not too long. StarFists take up a lot of parking space.”

“Thank you,” she said. She leaned down and spoke directly to Rikku. “The ship's ready,” she said. “I want you to wrap it up and pack up and be ready to leave in under an hour.”

He waved her away. “Sure,” he said, then went back to his game.

She lingered there for a minute, then left, walking past the kids who were pretending to pretend to shoot dinosaurs with guns.

Back in her room, she swept through the place, putting everything that was hers into her bag. She lingered on the bunny-girl doll. Against her better judgment, she grabbed that too. After one more sweep and a brief tidying up of the room, she went to the front desk and checked out. Then she made her way to the mechanic. He sat on a stool and smiled when she arrived. “Just need you to sign these,” he said, sliding a table toward her. “Then you're good to go. You're docked to Bay 14.” He handed her the keys to the GS Lollipop. “Nice doll,” he said, regarding the bunny-girl she had tucked under her arm.

She signed the tablet and took the keys. “Thank you,” she said.

“No problem,” he said. “Not every day I get to fix the ship of a pretty lady like yourself.”

She paused, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. The robot limbs. The eyepatch. The scar. The messy hair bun. The total lack of makeup. She looked at the mechanic, eyebrow raised. He shrugged.

“Thank you,” she said again. She headed off toward Bay 14 where she found her ship docked. She walked down the landing board and into the ship. She sat down in the captain's chair, tossing the bunny-girl into the tactical command chair. She slumped back, letting the stress of the past few days melt off of her like snow. After centering herself, she looked at her clock. “Rikku,” she said. “Where are you?”

It had been an hour. Fifteen minutes later she activated the ship hologram, Graham. Due to a software glitch, he was missing half his head. But he still had his mouth, so he could still talk.

“What is it, Captain?”

“Prepare for launch, Mr. Graham,” she said.

Graham leaned over the navigation console. “And the destination?”

Bunny thought about Trappist. She thought about Rikku. She thought about everything. “One moment,” she said.

“Of course,” said Graham.

She got up from the captain's chair and made her way toward the hatch that connected to Bay 14. She pulled out the tickets to Trappist IV and tossed them into the hallway. Then she returned to the bridge. “Surprise me, Mr. Graham,” she said.

“Aye aye,” said the hologram. He pushed some buttons. “Ready when you are,” he said when he was done.

“Then hit it,” she said, waving her robot finger in the air. She leaned back and watched the stars melt in the viewscreen as they headed off toward their next destination. “Mr. Graham,” she said. “Do you think I'm pretty?”

Graham turned to face her. “I don't have any eyes, Captain, so I am unable to make that determination.”

She leaned back. “At least you're honest.”