| Intersection, Pt. 1 |

“Someone get that girl!”

Arufa pushed the ground further behind her with every step, weaving through confounded passersby. In her hand she clutched a stranger’s silver wallet, its sides glowing red from her unknown fingerprints. She snatched the ID card from inside before it buzzed at her and locked.

The wind blew her frizzy brown hair astray as she leaped into oncoming traffic, floating cars racing by. Turning in midair, she flicked the ID towards her victim’s feet. “Sorry, don’t need this, have a good day!”

Car horns almost blew out her eardrums as she fell through the translucent purple road and flew through X2’s Underside. Neon lights flickered on her metallic jacket as she tumbled downwards, fearless, confident.

Artificial gravity threw her every which way, bringing her to the verge of nausea. She’d done it a thousand times—it only ever got worse. When she finally skidded to a halt in a dark alleyway, she bent over, hands on her knees, and sighed.

SCREEE!! Behind her echoed the characteristic sirens of X2’s police system. You’ve GOTTA be kidding, she said to herself. She took off without a second thought, her head low as the blaring noise approached the alley. Out of options, she jumped onto the garbage can, scampered up the wall, and grabbed onto the rickety fire stairs above.

“IDENTIFY YOURSELF,” spouted the robotic voice, just outside of view. Police operative vehicles usually came as floating motorbikes with animatronic drivers—this one had four wheels, much too wide to squeeze in between the buildings. Arufa heard the false officer’s metal prongs clang against the ground as it dismounted.

The best thing she could do was keep silent. Now fully inside the caged balcony of the stairs, she flipped her silvery jacket over herself. Not a lot to do now but wait for it to leave. It walked like a toddler, stumbling forward—at least, she figured as much from the loud clatter below her. It was silent for a moment before repeating its command and standing up.

“YOU WILL BE FOUND. IT IS BEST TO SUBMIT,” it said. She heard its infrared laser start up, a heat detection system which usually found and apprehended unruly delinquents very quickly.

Arufa, however, was no unruly delinquent. Her jacket’s metal lining disguised her heat signature as the laser passed over her. Less than anxious, she was annoyed. Usually no one reports this kind of stuff. Underside’s got enough problems as is…

“HEAT SIGNATURE DETECTED. SUBMIT OR FACE CONSEQUENCE.”

That’s a tactic. It says it’s got me cornered, but it actually just lost me. Stupid bolts-for-brains.

“FIRING ON THREE.”

Wait, is that part of protocol?

“ONE.”

No, that is NOT part of protocol!

“TWO.”

Arufa uncloaked herself and shot up the stairs, suddenly in a great panic. She knew this part of Underside like she knew her own reflection. With a kick off the wall, she reached the top of the complex and ran along the edge of the roof, fast as her legs could carry her.

Taking advantage of her artificial gravity once again, she ran down the front of the building and spun onto the police motorbike, twisting the handle and shooting away. The robot had only just begun firing as she left the scene, and with no way to catch up to her now, it had to let her off the hook.

Zooming through the dark streets of the Underside, Arufa checked her cracked watch. “Agh. I was supposed to meet Skyler a minute ago,” she said aloud. She came to a quick stop when she reached the abandoned warehouse she called ‘home’. Scrap metal filled the dumps around it, glowing graffiti lined its walls. (Only some of it was her own.)

She slid open the shed doors and looked around the messy room. Sure enough, right by the beds, there was Skyler, their neon blue eyes ever-so disinterested. The freckles on their face loomed under their eyes like stars behind a cloudy sky. They raised a grey-blue eyebrow at her.

“Did you get anything?”

“Got a wallet from some kinda business guy and almost died. But hey, wanna peruse our winnings?” she said with a smirk.

“Do I ever.” They stood up, stretched, and adjusted their shirt—just a little too tight in the wrong places. All their clothes were like that. They stood in anticipation as Arufa cracked open the locked wallet. “Sad how easy those are to break.”

“Yeah. Like it could happen by accident.” She fingered through the cash. “That’s sixty… and two cents.”

Skyler’s jaw dropped. “Dude! You didn’t tell me there were coins!”

“Why would I…?”

“Well, we could’ve flipped a coin first. And if we got lucky heads, that’d be a hundred-twenty in your pocket.”

Arufa squinted at them, confused. “…No the fuck it wouldn’t.”

“You ever tried?”

“Well, no, but that doesn’t make any sense. There was always sixty in the wallet.”

Skyler shrugged and plucked one of the coins from her hand. With a flick of their thumb, they spun it in the air and caught it. “It’s like Schrödinger’s Cat. It’s everything at once until you look inside. Like this coin—it’s heads and tails right now.”

“It’s not like that. The coin’s already in one state, just like the wallet was. You just don’t know what it is. And, no, I’m not gonna guess.”

Skyler looked up at her with a pair of adorable puppy-eyes. They didn’t work on her, usually—but it suddenly didn’t seem so burdensome to throw out a guess.

“Fine. Tails.”

They uncurled their hand, and on the coin was the X2 Monument—tails. “Lucky. Or maybe you just made it tails by calling it…?”

“Okay, shut up. No theoretical bullcrap, we’ve got sixty bucks, and I’m hungry. You gonna tell me I don’t know my stomach’s empty till I rip it out and look inside?”

They snorted. “Yeah, let’s go. Any luck and we’ll find another twenty on the way.”

||     || ||    |     || ||     ||

In the city of X2, the central pillar—the X2 Monument—crossed through both the Overside and the Underside. It was the central dipole which supported the whole city’s gravity, here in the void of space. Bright lights gave the atmosphere a faint orange tint, and with some luck, one could see a neighboring city in the X-Chain during the night.

It was here, near the Underside Monument, where Arufa and Skyler were thrust into a gruesome reality they had not known.

“Crazy you called that twenty on the ground,” Arufa said, swagger in her step. “What’d you do? Speak it into existence?”

“Durrr,” Skyler replied. They were headed to a restaurant downtown—one they usually couldn’t afford. Not fancy by any means, but finer than average. Arufa figured they should treat themselves.

The two were generally alone at this time of night. The central park rarely had any visitors now, despite the colorfully-lit monolith and the magnificent view of the stars. It’s a shame no one else gets to see it. But I’m happy they don’t, ‘cause crowds are the worst, Arufa thought.

“You hear a gang fight happened here the other night?” said Skyler.

“Really?”

“Yeah, the Skulls and Sharks. Two people died. Police shot ‘em. Kind of their own fault, really.”

“Idiots. Trying to claim government territory is crazy.”

“For real. And there’s been protests and stuff. Just steer clear during the day.”

“Gotcha.”

They continued walking for a little while, admiring the stars. Arufa noticed another flickering orange dome out there—she couldn’t decide on X1 or X3, but it was certainly one of them.

“Hey, look!” Skyler whispered. They shot a signal, and she turned her head. Two strangers, one wearing a mask and sunglasses, the other a suit—rich, famous, or both. Arufa snickered.

“You think they can spare some change?” Skyler hissed.

“Might be easier to just ask for an autograph.”

“Let’s try both. You go front, I’ll go back.”

“Heard.”

Skyler snuck off in the dark bushes as Arufa calmly approached the two, as if just walking by. The bigger woman, the one in the suit, stepped forward. “State your business.”

“Uh, I just live here. Wondering who you guys are, all shady and stuff,” she said, convincingly innocent.

The younger woman from behind stepped out, her long red hair flowing to her waist. She wore a grey trench coat reaching her knees—Arufa noticed a premier brand name embroidered on its cuff when she took her shades and mask off. “My name’s Marsia. And you?”

The bodyguard (at least, Arufa figured she was a bodyguard) stopped Marsia from extending a handshake. “You moron. They told you not to say your name.”

“She’s not a problem, is she?”

“Anyone could be a problem. This is Underside. You know the rumors.”

“Hey, it’s not terrible down here,” Arufa cut in. “I’m just headed somewhere downtown. Couple of nice restaurants, good bars.”

The guard stared her up and down. “You’re not old enough to drink.”

“I’m not, and I don’t. But you are. Are you guys are, like, new down here?"

“Locri, please, she’s nice. Let me meet someone normal for once,” Marsia wailed.

With a stern scoff and a turn of her head, she obliged. “Knock yourself out, princess.”

Marsia’s mannerisms were fit for a princess. She walked daintily, as if on clouds, and her clothing was fine as silk. Arufa couldn’t spot a single blemish on her body, which had her feeling quite messy and uncouth in comparison.

“As I was saying. Marsia Lilia. I’m from Overside, of course. So is grumpy old Locri here.”

Finally completing the handshake, time seemed to slow down. Her hand was very soft, as if lotioned. By contrast, Arufa had rust stains all over her own. “I’m Arufa. Don’t have a last name, I’m not gangster like that.”

“Nice to meet you! What has you awake at… hey, what’s going on? Have you drugged me?”

“What?”

She pulled her hand back and looked around. “Everything seems slower.”

Arufa had thought it a product of the moment, but Marsia was right. Her movements felt sluggish and choppy. She looked to Locri, the bodyguard, and found her slowly waving her arm in front of her face. What’s going on?!

She spotted Skyler behind Marsia, ready to pickpocket her. But for each step they took, the universe ticked slower and slower. Even as her heart raced faster, Arufa’s pulse still slowed. It almost began to look like a slideshow, each frame more desperate than the last.

It was a bizarre feeling. Screaming was pointless, because sound traveled at a snail’s pace. Arufa’s muscles convulsed as if running, her arms as if pushing away, but nothing happened. The world started looking strange, as if the lights were shutting off and she suddenly needed glasses to see. A blink lasted ten seconds, it felt like.

And suddenly, it all caught up. Arufa acted in fast-forward, her muscles and voice performing all the actions she’d just tried and failed. She fell on her back and sat up in an instant. Marsia stared at her, bewildered. Locri rubbed her forehead, and Skyler was now far into the bushes.

“What the hell was that just now?” she asked, to no one in particular.

Locri rushed over and helped Marsia up. “Mass hallucination. That, or you just drugged us up, which I think is far more likely. So I’ll give you and your little friend—" she snapped her head towards Skyler— "ten seconds to scurry off before I kick your asses, fair?”

Skyler, disheveled as anyone else, looked up in surprise. They glanced towards Arufa with eyes that said, ‘book it’. After a moment of contemplation, Arufa stood to her feet, patted herself off, and made eye contact with Marsia.

“Nice to meet you, too.”

And she bolted away with Skyler, back into the neon lights of the Underside.