***
OSS Nakama was big. Very, very big. Colin half felt like he was walking through a plasteel version of the Forest of Legends. There were towering pillars on every side, projections or consoles advertising or selling stuff at every other corner, screens and posters all over the place and Gaians. Definitely a lot of Gaians. A good many of them were in green armor, some in robes, others in flight suits or formal uniform bearing the insignia of the planet, eye and crown.
Alicia was as good as her word. She picked up a picnic basket from the first bakery they came across, a full set with a red ribbon on the handle. Slipping her arm through Colin's, she led him on a casual stroll right through the thickest crowds of Gaians without showing a hint of fear. Some of them threw catcalls or whistles their way, but nobody stopped them. Somebody even threw a Clira into the basket.
Other than that, though, this place wasn't very different from the places Colin knew. It was like a mix of a town and a ship, really. There was the Shopping Hub, which was basically a commercial district with three malls and a bazaar. There were a lot of corridors and elevators and a tram network. There were a lot of advertisements, the occasional sales robot, a few recreational areas, apartments and factories on the other side of the station. The only difference was that there was a control center, a lot of forbidden areas like the engine room and reactor core, and if there was a window, there would be the view of the planet below.
But Alicia said, "You know... it's the first time I've ever been in a place like this. It's like I'm on a ship. A really, really big ship."
"You've never been on a ship?" Colin asked, a bit surprised.
"Have {you}?" She asked right back.
"Of course, I..." Colin trailed off.
{Now that she mentions it... I've never been on a ship. I've been on shuttles and planes, but I've never been on a ship. Or have I? Why does this feel so familiar? Why do I look at the map of the space station and find it so normal? As if it were commonplace, 'just another space station'?}
Alicia probably enjoyed seeing the look on his face right then. Colin turned to her, determined not to prolong her fun at his expense, but when he saw her, the look on {her} face made him pause.
Somewhere between asking him that question and waiting for his answer, Alicia had turned pale. She looked like she had just seen a ghost.
"What is it?" he dared ask.
"I {have} been on a ship. I've been on a flying saucer." She whispered. "And... I can't remember. I can't remember any of it."
"Welcome to my world." Colin said, though he took no pleasure in it. Instead, a chill ran down the back of his spine. {It's... different for her. She doesn't remember any of her time in the Saucer... she doesn't find this place at all familiar. But I do. Why is that?}
"Well, this is pointless." Alicia said, changing the topic.
"What is?"
"All this. Walking around shopping." Alicia shook her head. "There's nothing useful we can take with us. There's nothing we can buy here that we can't buy in the Middle Plane for cheaper."
"Weapons? Armor?" Colin asked.
"They won't sell to kids." Alicia snorted. "I asked the robot. They won't even let us enter."
{I guess only places like Nakama and Adventura do that. Too bad. I was hoping I could get my armlet fixed.} "Does that mean our shopping trip is over?"
"Yeah. Let's go back." Alicia said shortly. "I've had enough of this place."
"Great. 'Cuz I've had enough of this suit." Colin told her. "I'm dripping with sweat in here."
***
The trip back down cost them 300cr each. When they asked about how to get back down, the helpful Information Projection told them in a polite voice to take the space elevator down, as long as they had access rights. The Space Elevator proved to be that big hall where they first came in. There were two Gates there, one red with a sign saying 'Arrivals', and one green with a large sign saying 'Nakama World - Middle Plane' and an arrow pointing down.
It took just an instant. Colin and Alicia stepped through the Gate of blue mists in the Higher Plane in one moment and set foot on green grass the next.
"That was... quick. Quicker than I thought." Colin marveled.
At the same time, he felt a rush of ease. Like every muscle in his body and even his brain was able to relax. As if he'd been tensed up this entire time and never realized it. He felt like he'd suddenly swam into a gentle pool of warm water and only just noticed how cold and rough were the waters he'd previously swam in.
He breathed a sigh of relief and noticed Alicia doing the same. {I didn't realize it before, but being in the Higher Plane is... intense.}
"I guess that's why the Middle Plane is the most popular." Alicia said, voicing Colin's thoughts precisely. "This is the way sleep is {supposed} to feel."
"It is." Colin agreed, but he did not say what else he thought privately.
Alicia glanced at him sharply. She noticed at once. "What are you thinking?"
"Nothing much." Colin shrugged, glancing away.
Alicia's eyes narrowed. "I see."
"What?!" Colin protested. "I didn't say anything! I didn't even think anything particularly hard!"
"You don't need to." Alicia said, softening. "I feel it too."
"What?" Colin gulped.
Alicia looked straight into his eyes. "You want to go back. You felt like you had something there. Something you don't have here."
{Yeah, but it's more than that...} Colin felt his thoughts slip before he could catch them. Alicia noticed immediately. Her eyes narrowed again. "What?"
"Nevermind." Colin said.
"Don't you dare." Alicia growled. "Don't you dare go off feeling superior because you sensed or felt something I didn't!"
"It's not that!" Colin said at once. "It's just..."
"It is! That's just it, isn't it?!" Alicia barked. "You've gone from being the one left out to being {better} than we are, isn't that it? Even Asblar...!"
Colin remembered. Asblar spoke with him, but called Alicia a 'nobody'. "That's... that is..."
But Alicia was on the warpath. "{You're} the special one, aren't you? The one everyone went looking for an entire night! You disappear for a few hours and everyone goes crazy! Our dads put us in an entirely new Dreamworld because {you} disappeared!"
"I never..."
"And now everyone here treats you different! You get a special Comrade, special friends, go special places...! You're so {special} now, aren't you? I never got any of those things! And you! You won't even tell an ordinary person like me what you're thinking?!"
"But that's because..."
"What? Because I wouldn't understand? Because I'm not {worthy} of your superior thoughts?!"
Colin found himself speechless. "What?! What are you talking about? What's your problem?! Why are you always trying to hurt me?!"
"There's nothing special about me!" Alicia yelled now. "Even {you} can see him!"
"See who?!" Colin stared, but Alicia turned and suddenly started running. "Hey! Hey, wait!"
"Leave me alone!" Alicia ran.
"Wha-?" Colin spluttered. "Why...?"
It was then that he realized something with a chill. {I'm not the only one who felt something more in the Higher Plane. She felt something too. Something different from what I felt. And she doesn't want to tell me about it. Well, okay, I mean, fair is fair, I'm the same way, right? So why does she have to freak out like that?}
{But it tells me one thing.}
{It tells me that Alicia is no 'ordinary' person either. She's 'special' too, in her own way.}
Colin paused. {Then again, everyone's special, right? I mean... everyone has something special about them, right?}
{But... not this. Not like this. Alicia is something else. She... sees things. She's always seen the truth about me even when I hated it when she did. All this time, and only now do I begin to wonder... why does her mood keep changing so quickly, so suddenly? What else does she see?}
Colin thought about it. {Well, the best way to find out is to ask her. I could call her... or I can just kill myself somewhere... but I guess she doesn't want to be disturbed right now. She's kinda upset though... might get herself killed before she knows it, like that time she got hit by a car... I better give her some space if that happens and we respawn at her Home Base.}
Still. Something didn't feel right about letting her just run off like that. Just in case she got into trouble or something.
{And why exactly am I worried about her getting into trouble? Why do I care about her?}
The answer came to him at once.
{Because she cares about me.}
Then a voice from behind him said, "{There} you are!"
***
Colin turned to see someone in a dark purplish chipmunk helmet and a squirrel costume behind him. "Huh?"
"I've been looking for you!" she said (and it was a 'she', based on the sound of the voice).
Colin suddenly realized that he was still in the white wolf costume. "Um... whatever you think I'm involved in, I'm not! I'm not part of your performance or anything!"
"You're about to be!" she said, stepping closer.
Colin backed away. "Look, squirrel..."
"I'm not a squirrel!"
"You're wearing a squirrel costume. Or is it a chipmunk?"
"It's a mink!" she said indignantly. "It's the only suitable thing I can think of!"
"Suitable for what?"
"For approaching you!" she said at once.
"But... but I'm not usually... well... like this!" he gestured at his costume.
"Good, because neither am I!" she said, taking off her helmet.
Colin saw now why she picked a purple furred mink for a costume. Her own hair was dark purplish, long and wavy. Her eyes were purple too, and wide, and very... um... warm. Her head was tilted to one side as she smiled at him. {She kinda looks like that chipmunk mask...}
"Hi." She held out a paw. "I'm Minx."
"I'm... not a wolf. At all." Colin shook paws with her.
"You're the guy talking to Lynn, right?" she said pointedly.
{So THAT's what this is about.} "I didn't get an autograph from her, if that's what you want."
"No, no, that's not it." Minx said, in a low laugh. She put her helmet back on. "I want you to help me protect a girl."
"Lynn?" Colin guessed.
"Nope. Lynn's safe enough. There's another girl here who needs protection. See, she gets herself into all kinds of trouble..."
"No thanks!" Colin backed away immediately. "I'm in enough trouble."
"Hey! What kind of gentleman gives up the chance to be a knight in shining armor? You get to save a damsel in distress and you get paid too!"
"Not interested, thanks!" Colin turned tail and ran.
"Wait!" she said, and for the next five seconds, people around the 'Space Elevator' saw an oversized mink chasing an oversized wolf.
"Noo!" The oversized wolf wailed.
"STOP!" The mink threw herself forward and tackled the wolf and both went tumbling down.
"Oof." Colin whined.
"Look, I don't have much time! I only have a few minutes' Glance-through Pass!" Minx said. "Please! My sister's been kidnapped by the Cult!"
{The Cult?!} Colin froze. "What?!"
"She was kidnapped!" Minx said again. "I don't know what happened or how, but she was running around in the Uber Marshes and then..."
"Katrin?!" it was Colin's first thought. "Is your sister Katrin?!"
"Katrin?" Minx blinked at him. "No, my sister's name is Mandy."
{The Drama Queen?!} Colin almost fell over. {I should have guessed. I can't imagine any sister of Katrin's running around in a mink costume tackling boys.}
"I don't know where she is! She's not calling me back!" Minx said and this time Colin could her real worry in her voice. "If you could just find her and make sure she's okay, just for one night... I'll pay you! I'll give you something you can't get in the Middle Plane!"
"Such as?" Colin asked.
"How about a life cell for your Sentinel Armlet?" she asked.
{Wait. My WHAT?} Colin jumped. "What do you know about my Armlet?!"
"Well, it's obviously drained..." Minx began, and disappeared.
Colin found himself staring at thin air. "Minx? MINX!"
But there was no reply. Minx was gone.