“Jesus Henry Christ,” Dane said, “I thought that fucking trip would never end.”

“Dane, shut the fuck up please,” I said rubbing my head, “I had to listen to your ass whine for FIVE FUCKING DAYS about how long the trip was taking.”

“They at least could have put us in cryo for the trip.”

“Do you know how much a trip like that would cost?”

“Oh come on, cryo doesn’t cost that much.”

“But Antimatter does!”

“Can you both just stop please?” Gin asked, “We’re finally at Oahu and you two can’t stop your bickering.”

We had arrived at Oahu international Space port. The entire class had split up at the ship yards and gone caught separate transports or elevators down to the surface. Common destinations were the Caribbean and the Florida Keys, San Diego California and other west coast areas, the Mediterranean Sea, and Las Vegas. We however picked a small island paradise that for some reason everyone seemed to ignore. Oahu and the Hawaiian Islands in general were one of the few beautiful places left on Earth. Thankfully the place still held to its old traditions and customs.

“He started it,” I said.

“Hey I had a right to complain. Those stupid bitches would not leave us alone.”

“They were still complaining over the football incident?”

“Yeah,” Spitfire said, “I hate those girls.”

“Now let’s not think about murder just yet, we still have an island to explore far below,” Dane said as we reached a waiting area to catch the orbital elevator down to the surface. The space port wasn’t particularly crowded but there were enough people. We selected a group of seats that stood before elevator gate number 5 and sat down.

“When does the elevator come?” Gin asked.

“Boarding will commence in 30 minutes,” an automated voice said.

“Well that was convenient.”

“Yes, yes it was,” Dane said pulling out a tablet and hooking up a holoprojector to it, “You wanna play Jett?”

“What’re we playing?”

“War games, tag team match,” he responded.

“Alright, let’s do scenario number 345.”

“Ooh a hard one, okay. Let’s do it.”

“What’re you guys playing?” Spitfire asked.

“Just a program Dane and I designed,” I said, “Real time strategy game. Though each time we play we stack the odds against ourselves until we can’t possibly win. We haven’t reached that point yet but we’re trying.”

“So you’re both challenging yourselves on purpose?”

“Yeah, we can devise as many strategies for any current scenario as there are stars in the sky. Though this time we’re going to have to try a little bit harder.”

The pad lit up and a grid spread out over it. A small rounded lump rose from the bottom. Various colors danced across it though mostly greens and blues. A planet. Various small dots popped up in low orbit around it as a small group materialized above it. Two screes rose up before us. Each on had a view of our squad of ships.

“Alright, so this is a standard assault game?” I asked.

“Yup.”

“Cool, so let’s see here odds are 37 to 2. I think we can handle this.”

***

While the two androids played their game they failed to notice another person also taking interest in their sport. The man in uniform watched intently as the two androids faced seemingly impossible odds and… was doing surprisingly well.

“Move ships B3-B12 twenty degrees port. And then I’ll swing around and counter here.”

“Alright, I got south.”

“The enemy’s gate is down right?” the black haired on laughed.

“Yeah.”

***

“Well that was disappointing,” Dane said.

“Tell me about it,” Jett sighed, “I thought that would be easier.”

“Oh well.” Dane tapped the pad and instantly the holographic devastation on the field disappeared as the tablet shut down.

The man stood up and walked over to Jett.

“Excuse me sir. I couldn’t help but notice the game you were playing. Can I ask you a few questions?”

Jett eyed the man but quickly recognized the naval uniform. Along with the ‘Captain Harris’ on the suit’s patch.

“Alright.” Jett stood up and followed the man away from the benches and thus out of earshot. Spitfire and the rest watched the conversation from their seats.

The man spoke some unheard words, Jett nodded accordingly. More conversation. Suddenly Jett perked up. He smiled. The man talked some more before shaking Jett’s hand and giving him a small card before tipping his hat and walking away.

Jett returned with an excited look on his face.

“Well?” Dane asked.

“That,” he gasped, “Was Captain Harris of the Naval Academy of Military Sciences on Ceres. He saw us playing and saw our strategy we were using and to make a long story short he wants to see if Dane and I would be interested in going.”

Gin smiled, “That’s great you two! So you’ll get to fly like you’ve always dreamed.”

“This is so awesome!” Dane cheered, “Dude, we’re gonna turn that school upside-down.”

“All we have to do is keep up our grades and we’ll be set!”

As the two discussed plans for the future with an excited passion, Spitfire shrunk. Slowly she began to realize how alien she was in this world.

He’s gonna go. And I won’t be able to follow.

He’s going after his dream.

She could not follow him. As much as she wanted to stay she couldn’t. They were both to tethered to their own worlds. Jett pursuing his dream of flight and most likely a ship of his own in the Navy at some point and Spitfire having to Captain the Wonderbolts and lead the team. She shouldn’t have been here. She never should have been here. She shouldn’t have met him, she shouldn’t have become friends with him, and she never should have fallen in love with him. And now at this point, saying goodbye would either forever or never. The latter could not happen.

Or could it?

“You may now begin boarding.”

***

The fall down to the surface was nice. We all sat strapped in for the gentle 10 minute decent. Soon we arrived planet side. We stepped off the elevator and into the terminal. Fortunately Gin had taken the time to rent a car and had the thing waiting for us as we exited the terminal. We got in and let the car take us to our hotel.

Dane and Gin sat in the front seat with Spitfire and me in the back. Behind us, the artificial island that contained the Orbital Elevator and the airport shrank behind us.

We drove across the large highway bridge that connected the space elevator with the Hawaiian mainland. Soon we would be arriving in Honolulu.

The city was active. Various craft flew in and out and around the city. Tall spires rose from the city center and smaller suburbs around it. The city itself seemed to exist in perfect harmony with nature itself. Trees grew in and around the suburbs and even on the skyscrapers themselves.

Our car entered the outskirts of the city. Various hanging gardens clutched the sides of the skyscrapers all the way up the very pinnacle of the towers. All sorts of plants from flowers to even crops for food grew. A lot of the buildings even had the occasional tree growing out of it.

We arrived at the hotel. All four of us stepped out the car and grabbed our duffels from the trunk. The car accelerated for the parking garage.

Spitfire turned and looked at me, “Well this is a familiar situation.”

“Yeah tell me about it,” I laughed, “I wonder what our rooms are gonna look like.”

“What do you mean by familiar?” Gin asked.

“Well when Spitfire and me met it was in Rio and we were in Rio for a night. We ended up having to stay in a hotel in the city.”

“Ooh,” Dane teased, “So it was just you two in a hotel room all alone?”

“You wanna die?”

“Oh come on Jett. You know you enjoyed it,” Spitfire teased.

“I hate you sometimes.”

Spitfire giggled, “Nah, I only threw a bra at him, pushed him a pool, and walked around topless near him.”

“And you knew him then for how many days?” Dane asked.

“Uh, two I think?” Spitfire said, “I don’t remember exactly. And the bra thing was when we had to go shopping for clothes to wear and the pool was just us messing around and the topless thing was an accident.”

“How is something like that an accident?” Gin asked as we walked into the hotel.

“I thought he was in his room,” Spitfire said.

“I thought she was in hers,” I said.

Dane blinked, “Ya know what, let’s just go to our room before we hit the beaches. Oh and we got the presidential suite upstairs so we’ll hopefully have enough rooms for the four of us.”

“Yeah, I just hope the travel agency got everything right,” Gin said.

***

“Well at least they got the suite right,” Dane said.

“Just not the number of rooms,” I sighed.

“Guess we have to double up,” Gin said, “I swear to fucking god I hate it when these people don’t get it right! I mean come on; it’s the 25th century people. Come on Dane let’s go get set up.”

With that she grabbed him by the ear and dragged the complaining android into the room.

“Guess we’re sharing a room,” Spitfire said sheepishly.

“Why does that not surprise me?” I sighed, “Come on Spits.”

We walked across the living room area to the room to the left. Inside was a nice king sized bed with two night stands flanking it. A TV was in the corner. To the left of the bed were the large windows that gave a nice view of the coast. A beautiful blue sea awaited us.

Spitfire walked up to the bed and dumped her bag onto the bed, “There, unpacked,” she said proudly.

I sighed and began to carefully remove everything from my bag, “You are the opposite of the stereotypical woman.”

She put her hands on her hips, “Oh and how’s that?”

“Well for one you’re not a neat freak. That and you’re as casual to hang out with as a guy.”

“Gee thanks,” she rolled her eyes.

“Well I mean it in a good way,” I said, “I mean to me you’re not just some girl; to me you’re a really cool person who’s fun to be around who just happens to be a girl. You’re a cool person Spits.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet. Thanks,” She turned and looked out the window toward the water, “Guess we’re going swimming huh? How’s that gonna work with my… you know.”

“Actually,” I said, “I have just the thing for that.”

I rummaged through my bad producing a small watch like device. I walked up to the bedroom door and closed it.

“Here,” I said, “Just turn around and let me scan your wings.”

She smirked, “Looking to catch a girl topless?”

“Oh shut up. I don’t need you teasing me. Besides, this is for your benefit.”

“Alright,” she sighed, “Didn’t know you were so afraid of a little T and A.”

“It’s freaking awkward when you see one of your best friends naked.”

She pulled her shirt up over her head. Her wings were tied down beneath her sports bra she wore. She reached over and removed that. She extended her wings out.

“Aw, I’m one of your best friends?”

“Yes, now hold still while I do this.”

“Say please.”

“Come on. You’re freaking topless here and I’m trying to help you out a little so can you please just corporate?”

“Well when you put it that way…”

“Thank you.”

I held the watch out and scanned her wings. I watched as the device got an idea of what they looked like from all angles.

“You have excellent complexion,” I said as I finished the scan.

Spitfire pulled her bra back on with a blush on her face, “Thanks. So what was that for?”

“Here,” I said, “Hold out your arm.”

She did and I strapped the device to her wrist.

“Now, watch this,” I said and pressed an icon on the watch. Instantly her wings vanished and were replaced by just smooth skin and the back of her sports bra.

“What? I don’t see anything.”

“Go look in a mirror.”

She turned and stepped into the bathroom, “Still don’t see it.”

“Turn around.”

She did and gasped, “What? What is this?”

I smiled, “That watch is emitting a field that’s hiding your wings. That’s what the scan was for. You’ll actually be able to wear that bikini to the beach and not worry about being seen.”

She rushed out of the bathroom and tackled me to the bed in a hug, “Thank you so much.”

I pushed her off and rolled over before standing back up, “Now keep in mind that your wings are still there so just be careful.”

“I will. Thank you.”

“No big deal really. I just didn’t want to explain why you would be wearing a shirt to the beach.”

I walked over and opened the door. Gin and Dane were waiting in the living room.

“All that time in there and you two still haven’t changed?” Dane asked, “What the hell were you two doing? Rutting or something?”

“Oh fuck you asshole,” I said, “Unlike you I’m not a fucking man slut so how bout you shut the hell up?”

“Geez relax man. Go get changed. The beach ain’t gonna wait forever.”

“Fine. Come on Spits.”

“Don’t take too long now lover boy!” Dane called.

“Self-preservation must not be built into your systems,” I said activating the weapon in my arm.

“Alright alright, I’ll stop,” Dane laughed, “I already know you can beat my ass up.”

“Good.”

***

Andrew Daniels was a normal man. Just another volcanologist in the bunch. He walked across his lab to the seismograph near the window. He looked out the window from his mountain top lab. The caldera was visible in the late morning sun. The trees were a beautiful sight this time of year.

But beneath that beauty lay something dangerous. Lying in wait for thousands of years it had the potential to do extreme damage to humanity’s birth world. And it was his job to study it, to watch it, to track anything that happened to it. He turned behind him and stared at his instruments. Nothing had changed. At least that was good.

He sighed and walked over to the coffee table and poured himself a cup before returning to the window. He took a sip before returning the cup to the coffee table. He stared back out the window. There was so much life built in this place. It was so beautiful; so amazingly peaceful.

Suddenly the cup began to clatter. The whole room began to shake. Andrew turned. The seismograph began to register. A wave like movement went across the screen followed by an alarm. The cup continued to clatter before falling to the ground and shattering. Andrew held on to the window frame as the ground continued to shake.

Then as soon as it began it was over. Andrew still clutched the window before realizing it was over and letting go. He turned to the seismograph. He shakily strolled over and looked at the reading.

“Magnitude 3. Normal reading but the activity is increasing.”

He recorded the time and all the data he collected on the phenomena. He cleaned up the shattered glass and spilled coffee before returning to the window. He pulled up a pad and looked at a chart. It showed the entirety of the North American continent with a series of large red X’s going across it. They all repeated in a pattern. Only the next X was scheduled to appear right where Daniels was standing. He came to the same conclusion as every other scientist had before him.

“We’re overdue.”

***

Well as soon as I finished gouging Dane’s eyes out- I mean pouring acid into them- I mean stabbing them with a for- a fuck it.

Long story short Spitfire walked out with her bikini on with a pair of underarmor shorts on over it and Dane started drooling. And I poked him in the eyes. Fucking pervert.

But I did have to admit she looked stunning. And always was she modest with a bashful look on her face; as if afraid she didn’t look her best. But she still looked cute. I myself kept my shirt on with the whole arm thing.

We walked out of the hotel and got walking on the sidewalk towards the beach. Gin carried a bag with various snacks and other foodstuffs along with a few books and magazines and a cooler with some drinks inside. Dane carried a chair and umbrella while I carried another two chairs. Spitfire carried another beach chair plus the beach towel.

The ‘watch’ on Spitfire’s wrist worked extremely well. Her wings were completely gone. In fact you could never tell she ever had them to begin with. Soon we had reached the sandy shores of Oahu. The Pacific rolled and crashed onto the sand. All sorts of people were relaxing on the beach. Surfers, volleyball players, sunbathers, swimmers, the whole works. Supermodel girls and sports jock guys. As long as none of them bothered me I would be fine.

“E komo mai,” a voice said. I was sucked out of my thoughts and returned to reality. I turned; a woman was placing a floral necklace on Spitfire. Dane and Gin already had theirs on.

“Uh, what does that mean?” Dane asked.

“It means ‘welcome’,” a woman said. She was of Asian descent with a dark skin tone. She had a green T-shirt on with a peace sign emblem on it.

“Okay,” Dane said, “Uh, what’s with the flowers?”

“Well the anniversary of the end of the Last Great War is coming up this weekend. And that just happens to coincide with Mardi Gras so a lot of people felt we should celebrate both with a Hawaiian twist on it.”

“Oh cool.”

“There’s gonna be a celebration on Friday night. Everyone in the city is invited so be there or be square.”

“Is there gonna be beer?” Gin asked.

“Yes.”

“Okay I’m in.”

“Excellent. Celebrations start at 8:00 and run until sun up so plan on staying up late,” the woman finished with a cheerful smiled. She walked up to me and placed one of the flowery necklaces over my head.

Oh I can tell where this is gonna end up.

“Well that’s cool. Party tomorrow,” Spitfire said.

“Yeah,” Dane said, “Looking forward to it. Now where can we set up?”

“How ‘bout there?” Gin pointed at an empty spot of beach.

“Looks good.” We walked over and started setting up. Spitfire laid down the towel while Dane stabbed the umbrella into the ground. Gin set the bag and cooler down while the rest of us set the chairs up. Soon we were all basking in the sun or under the shade of the umbrella.

As Gin sat down a small Saturday night special fell out of her pocket. We all turned and gave her looks of ‘really?’

“What? I always keep two on me at all times.”

“Where’s the second one?” Dane asked.

“Girl’s secret.”

…

“Okay then,” I said, “So what first?”

“Don’t know about you three,” Gin said pulling some sunglasses over her eyes, “But I’m gonna catch up on some Z’s like the nice Hawaiian girl said.”

Dane stood up, “And I’m gonna go pick up some nice Hawaiian girls. See ya’ll later.”

He jumped up and set his sights on two girls in G-strings walking along the beach, “Hey girls! Wait up!”

Soon he vanished into the crowd of people.

Soon Gin was sleeping like a rock though her hand never left her gun. Geez that girl loves her guns. The one she had in her hand only had two X’s on it. Unlike her Glock Γ 30. Her favorite gun. Hell she probably had it on her somewhere. Freaking thing had 20 X’s carved into it. No telling how many other times someone tried to mug her when she had her other weapons with her.

I sighed and pulled out a small flat square about the thickness of a playing card and tapped it. A small group of numbers and variables popped up. I began to tap them and enter in values.

“Whatcha doing?” Spitfire asked.

I looked up, “Recalculating the Drake Equation for advanced civilizations in the galaxy to account for the recent upgrade of Ansible technology in order to ascertain the correct estimate of intelligent civilizations in the galaxy.”

Spitfire blinked, “Okay, how about we do something fun?”

“This is fun.”

“I mean for both of us! Come on, let’s go swimming or something. I haven’t pushed you into any large bodies of water recently.”

“Fine, just let me finish this,” I said.

“Nah, take too long,” she said grabbing tapping the device and shutting it off before grabbing it and slipping it into her bikini top.

“Hey! Give me that back!”

“You want it you’re gonna have to take it,” she teased before standing up and running towards the water.

“I am not reaching into your shirt to get it!” I called.

“Tell you what! You catch me and you get it back!”

“Ugh, Fine!” Jesus Henry Christ, what the hell is up with this girl? I stood up and ran after her.

“Gonna have to be faster big guy!” she said as she dove into the water, disappearing into the sea.

“I am! I’m not trying to cheat here!” I jumped in after her. The cold of the water hit like a brick wall. The pacific was chilling but I soon got used to it. It could have been worse; could have been the Atlantic, and that thing was freezing. I rose to the surface and searched for Spitfire. She was floating a little ways out. I swam after her and caught up to her.

“Well looks like you caught me big guy,” she laughed.

“Yes I did. Now can I have my calculator back?”

“Nope,” she smirked, “Not until you have some fun with me.”

I sighed, “I’m not gonna win this one am I?”

“No,” she said splashing me.

I sputtered and spit some water out, “Oh you wanna play this game? Fine, we’ll play, and no using your wings either.”

I whipped my arm at her and watched a wave of water hit Spitfire’s head; her flame like hair fell over her face. I laughed.

“Oh yeah?” she said, “Well take this!” She crossed her arms as a large wave of ocean water cascaded over and smashed into my face. My hair fell down over my forehead. I blinked a few times to see Spitfire with a hand over her mouth attempting to stifle a laugh.

“No fair. I don’t have wings.”

“Well why don’t you make some? You seem good at that. Plus then you can fly with me.”

“As much as I would love to do that it wouldn’t work. My synthetic systems would reject any other organic material that’s not part of my body. The only thing that would work would be made of metal. And I am not doing that.”

“Well if you can’t make them why not just grow them?”

“Same reason I’ll never have a left arm again. My ‘cells’ if you can call them that can’t self-replicate on such a large scale. The complexities of being a machine.”

“So wait. I’m confused. What exactly are you?”

“Okay, from the beginning. I’m a brain encased in a Tritanium endoskeleton with synthetic tissue grown over. To put it simply.”

“Okay. So I won’t use my wings.”

“Thank you. Plus the more you move them the more that field has to compensate.”

“Okay okay.”

I turned to my left, “Aw shit.”

“What?” Spitfire asked following my gaze, “Aw Soarin’ fucking an apple pie.”

We seemed to forget we were in an ocean that has WAVES. And when the waves are big enough, surfers like to use them to, well, surf.

The 5 meter wave broke and crashed right on top of us. All I saw was some rocks, sand, a starfish, the fins from a few surfers, and water. Next thing I know I’m flat on my back on the beach with the water gargling over my face.

I felt an arm pulling me up. I rubbed the sand off of my face and out of my oculars. Spitfire was laughing. Alright. She had some seaweed on her head along with a fish tail sticking out of her bikini which she promptly removed.

“What’s so funny? Other than the fish in your pants,” I asked.

She turned red, “Never talk about that to anyone. And you should see yourself,” she said producing a mirror from… where the hell did she get that? Meh whatever.

I had a… a starfish on my head.

“Great,” I removed the creature and flung it back into the sea. I stood up and Spitfire cringed.

“Uh, dude!”

“What?”

“Your back!”

I turned around and looked at it. Oh, just a sea urchin. I reached over and pulled the spike ball out of my back and threw that into the ocean.

“Ow,” I turned and watched the holes seal themselves to small freckle like dots on my back.

“Doesn’t that hurt?”

“No. The car accident hurt. Not a sea urchin.”

We started walking back to our towel. Gin was still sleeping; her hand was still on her gun. We were almost there when a volley ball bounced into my head. I crouched down and picked up the yellow and blue patterned ball and searched for its owner.

“Hey over here little dude!” a voice called. I turned. A Hawaiian man, dark sandy brown hair with a dark tan complexion. He wasn’t wearing a shirt but then again who was? Oh yeah, me. But anyway. The guy looked to be about 20 and had a chiseled muscles and structure. He had a friendly grin on his face.

I tossed the ball over to him. Behind him stood the volleyball net.

“Thanks dude!”

“No problem man,” I called back.

“Hey! Do you and your girl wanna come play with Aluna and me?” He asked gesturing to a redhead behind him. She had her hair cropped medium length. It was kept close to her head and went down behind and in front of her shoulders in four different legs. She had a matching red bikini on.

Spitfire nudged me, “You game? I am.”

I whispered back, “Do you even know how to play beach volleyball?”

“Yes,” she whispered back, “We do have sports in Equestria.”

“Alright. I guess I’ll play.”

“Yes!”

“Sure we’re game,” I said.

“Cool,” the girl named Aluna said, “Get over here David.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said and taxied to the other side of the net. Spitfire and I walked onto the court-err-beach-err whatever it is. The square box thing that you play volleyball in on the beach. Aluna and David took their positions on the other side as Spitfire and I took ours.

“You want first serve?” Aluna asked.

“Nah,” I said, “You can have it.”

“Alright,” she said, “Zero serving Zero.” With that the red head spiked the ball over the net with the grace of a professional.

Spitfire dove and bumped the ball up. It sailed into the air still on our side. I jumped up and spiked it back over the net. Dave dove and bumped it just before it hit the sand. It sailed over to Aluna who set it over the net. I jumped and spiked it back and watched it hit the sand midway between the two.

“Point,” I smirked.

Aluna picked up the ball and tossed it over, “Not bad little dude, not bad. But this game has only just begun.”

“Oh we know,” Spitfire said catching it. She tossed it over to me.

“Alright,” I said throwing the ball up, “One serving zero.”

My hand smacked the ball and I watched it sail over.

The game was afoot.

***

Dane walked along the beach. A blonde and a brunette were on his arms. Both were two years older than him at least but hey, the guy was a pimp.

“And that ladies, is the story of how we beat Olympus Mons Academy.”

The two girls laughed. Dane approached the area where he’d left Jett and Spitfire and Gin. A large crowd had gathered near the area. Various shouts of support could be heard. It sounded like game was going on.

“Hold on here girls. I gotta go check up on something.”

He let the girls go and ran over to the towel. Gin was wearing a sun hat on her head and there were some people taking pictures with her. Apparently it was a game to see who could take pictures of the girl without getting shot by her. Dane grinned and gave a smirk at his friend before moving through the crowd. He soon came to the center of the group and found something that made him smile.

Jett and Spitfire were covered in sweat as they were engaged in a very heated game of volleyball. Their opponents were a dark skinned guy with dark brown hair and a red headed Caucasian girl. The crowd was cheering as the ball went back and forth between the two teams.

Each hit earned a cheer as both sides of fans rooted for their team.

Dane turned to the guy standing next to him, “Hey what’s going on here?!”

“The girl with the candle hair and nightlight over there are close to defeating the beach volleyball champions. Aluna and Dave haven’t been beaten yet!”

Dane crossed his arms, “We’ll see.”

A ball came over the net. Jett did a dive and bumped the ball up before rolling to his feet. Spitfire jumped up and spiked it over the net. Dave set the ball over to Aluna who bumped it to the far edge of Jett’s side. Jett turned and dove for the sand and saved the ball, hitting it up into the air just in time for Spitfire to grab it before she hit it as hard as she could, spiking it over the net. The blue and yellow ball flew towards the net, grazing the edge leaving a smoking hot mark where it passed. The ball itself continued on and impacted the sand with the force of a small meteorite. A spray of sand went up into the air.

Jett pulled himself up as Spitfire knelt and wiped some sweat off her forehead.

“Point,” she panted as a cheer on their side went up followed by a moan on the other.

Dane smiled as Jett high fived Spitfire before the two warmly embraced.

“I think we need a bit of a break,” Aluna said.

“Agreed,” Jett and Spitfire said.

“So when do you wanna continue this?” Dave asked.

“The Luau?” Jett asked.

The two smiled, “Sounds good. So we’ll see you two there?”

“You can count on it,” Spitfire flashed a grin.

“We look forward to it,” Aluna smiled, “See you then!”

The crowd moaned and began to disperse and returned to their own devices. As they all left the area they walked by Gin who awoke with her gun in her hand before quickly pocketing it.

“What I miss?” she asked before falling back asleep.

Dane just shook his head and walked over to his two friends.

“So what’s the score?” he asked.

Spitfire wiped her head.

“75 to 75 now,” she said.

“Whao, 75-75? How long were you playing?”

“Around since you left,” Jett said, “Wait so you’ve been playing volleyball nonstop for the past two and a half hours?”

“We went hard,” Spitfire laughed, walking back to the towel and flopping down in one of the beach chairs. Jett joined her and reached into a bag and popped out a soda and handed one to Spits before drinking one himself.

“That was a good game,” He said.

“Where’s my soda?” Dane asked.

“Get it yourself. You didn’t do anything all day except pick up chicks.”

“That requires work.”

“Fuck off. Get off your lazy ass and get it yourself.”

“Ugh, fine!” Dane reached over and grabbed a drink out of the cooler, “So what’d you guys do today?”

“Well after I got Jett off the towel we went swimming. Then we ran into those two and started playing a game.”

“Speaking of which can I have that back?” Jett asked.

“What? Oh yeah right,” she blushed and reached into her top and pulled out the device, “Here you go.”

Jett grabbed it, “Oh great, it’s all warm and sweaty.”

“Whoops?”

He wiped it off on his shirt before pocketing it.

“Whew! That was a work out,” he said lying back on his chair can closing his eyes.

“Thought you didn’t get tired,” Spitfire said.

“I don’t, I just happened to turn that setting on today.”

“Oh. So, looking forward to the party tomorrow?” she asked turning to face him.

“Yeah I guess.”

“Gonna do some dancing?”

“I, er… uh… no?”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Spitfire laughed leaning in and kissing him again on the cheek.

He turned red with embarrassment, “Why do you keep doing that?!”

“Because your reaction is priceless!” Spitfire laughed.

“Well it’s embarrassing so can you stop?”

“Hmm… nope!”

“Why?”

“Because I enjoy it.”

“I don’t get you.”

“And you never will.”

Dane just rolled over in his chair and laughed, “What a clueless little shit.”

***

Well we turned in a bit later than normally and slept in late. Sleeping was still and enjoyable experience for me, even though it was unnecessary. Spitfire and I shared the bed and as awkward as that was it wasn’t that bad. Spitfire kindly stayed on her side of the bed and I stayed on mine. Though when we slept something appeared to be bothering Spits.

I tried asking her if anything was wrong but she didn’t want to talk. Which was fine. If she wasn’t comfortable sharing something with me then that was okay. I’m not the easiest guy to get along with. I told her that if she needed anything I would be there for her and gave her a hug before we went off to sleep. She had smiled. At least that was something.

We went to bed. Somehow her hair never lost its flame like quality as she stripped down to her undergarments and pulled on a nightshirt. I would have thought the cloth would have done something to it but it stayed up. She removed the watch before she went to sleep, her wings reappearing as the object left her wrist.

“Goodnight,” she said.

“Night Spits.”

I turned the lights off and fell asleep.

***

Jett slept calmly but Spitfire couldn’t. She just couldn’t get the android out of her head. Nothing she did helped. She tried to focus on something else, count sheep, try to stay awake in hopes that the opposite would occur but nothing worked.

There was a certain medical condition back home that could fit her problem. Love Sickness: when one fell in love with another but the feelings went unreciprocated or unnoticed. She sighed. There were only a few treatments for it and only one was currently available. Jett had to fall in love with her. But that wasn’t happening.

Spitfire rolled over and stared at the android. His chest rose and fell as he slept. There was something else though that she could do. She moved across the bed to towards him. She reached him and threw her arms around him and pulled him close, draping one of her wings over him.

Soon sleep began to find her and over take her and in minutes she was sound asleep.

***

I awoke around 11:00. I opened my eyes and sat up in the bed. Spitfire wasn’t next to me. Hmm. Guess she woke up before me for a change.

I pulled myself out of bed and got dressed. I pulled on a bathing suit and T-shirt. I placed my sunglasses on my forehead and pulled on a sunhat before exiting the room.

I walked into the living area. There was a note on the counter.

Hey Guys. Woke up early and went out to do some shopping.

-Gin.

Beneath it was another note.

Went baggin

-Dane.

Of course. Hmm, what’s next?

Jett,

Went down to the pool for a swim. See ya there!

Love Spits.

Hmm. Love? Interesting choice of words. Eh whatever. There’s a café down there. Guess I can grab some food down there.

I grabbed my phone and wallet and pocketed them and started walked out the door for the elevator. I rode it down to the lobby level and walked out towards the back of the hotel towards the pool.

The pool was itself was nice. It was a large rectangle with varying depths. Around it were various amounts of pool chairs. There were also two Jacuzzi hot tubs on the edge of the area. But all that was farther away. Before me stood a café with various outdoor tables and chairs with umbrellas over them. I sat down at one. A waiter came over and I ordered some baked apples.

I stared out at the pool. Considering the time it looked like everyone was out and about doing their own thing away from the hotel. I searched for Spitfire. I soon found her. She was in her bikini standing at the edge of the pool before diving in and swimming over to the shallow end. She was moving a bit faster than expected but then again she had wings so it was expected that she’d use this to aid her. That and it was a nice exercise for the appendages.

She reached the edge of the pool and climbed out. She ran her hands through her orange hair, flipping it back before squeezing the water out of it. I watched as it almost magically resumed its original position. She looked over and saw me. I waved at her. She walked over to one of the chairs and grabbed towel and walked over drying herself off.

“Sleep well?” She smiled warmly.

“Yeah, surprisingly,” I said as my food arrived. I grabbed a fork and stabbed the apples and took a bite. A nice wave of flavor washed through my mouth.

“What’s that?”

“Baked apples,” I responded taking another bite, “You want one?”

“Sure,” I said handing her a fork. She took it and took a bite. Her eyes widened as she chewed.

“Good?”

“Very! These are delicious.”

“I know,” I said taking another bite, “So what have you been up to today?”

“Well I woke up and everyone was gone. You were still asleep so I grabbed something to eat and came down here to swim for a bit.”

“Cool. So considering Dane and Gin abandoned us, what do you wanna do today till the Luau?”

“Hmm, I don’t know. What do you wanna do?”

“I don’t know that’s why I asked you.”

“I don’t care what we do. What do you want to do?”

“No. I asked you, what do you wanna do?”

An old man at the other table yelled, “For the love of god! Just take her shopping already! Jesus, back in my day foreplay didn’t take this long.”

I turned, “Okay, do you wanna go shopping?”

“Sure!”

“Alright, let’s just get you changed.”

“What’s wrong with this?”

“You’re in a bikini.”

“So?”

“Just a bikini.”

“Again, so?”

“For heaven’s sake put a shirt on!”

“For heaven’s sake why don’t you just shut up and enjoy the view!?” The old man yelled.

“Stay out of this old man! So shopping it is then?”

Spitfire had a funny look on her face, “…Yeah… shopping. I’ll go throw a shirt on.”

“I’ll just wait here for you,” I said.

“Okay,” she stood up and draped the towel over her back and walked back into the hotel.

I glared at the old man.

“Boy if I was you age again and I had that following me around…”

“What is with you?”

“What is with you?! I’ve never seen anyone so clueless!”

“You know, nowadays we mind MIND OUR OWN BUSINESS!”

“You’re more clueless than I thought. Very well I’ll leave you alone. Hope you don’t let tonight go to waste!”

“Whatever.”

I stood up and followed Spits. I ran into her just as she was exiting the elevator.

“Oh hey, you’re here,” she said.

“Yeah. So let’s get moving. We only got the rest of the day.”

“Cool! So what’re you getting me?”

“Well I don’t need anything so you pick.”

***

“No, not happening.”

“Aw come on! I look hot in this!”

“That will come off so easily.”

“Little Kinky don’t you think?”

“No.”

“You’re no fun,” she pouted, “And why not? This thing fits perfectly!”

She was wearing a coconut bra. Everything was authentic from the coconuts themselves to the string binding them to her body. Curse my subroutines but she was pretty appealing even for an android like me.

“Tell you what, I’ll buy it for you. But you don’t wear it to the Luau.”

“Alright I guess I can live with that.”

“There. Oh crap look at the time. We’re gonna be late.”

“For a very important date,” Spitfire laughed.

“That was a horrible pun,” I smiled.

“Then why’re you smiling?”

“Let me be. Come on, let’s get going.”

***

Well we made it back in time. We all got changed though for me that didn’t require much. Gin wore sarong with a flower in her hair. Dane was as casual as me minus my hat. Spitfire looked beautiful. She wore a casual grass skirt over her bikini bottom and had a few blue lilies in her hair.

We showed up at the beach just as the sun was setting. It cast a beautiful orange hue across the horizon. We walked onto the sand. Everything was set up perfectly. There was a huge buffet table with all sorts of fruits, vegetables and other delicious foods. A traditional Kalua pig was on one table though I didn’t think Spitfire would like that. Though she would probably like the Mai Tai.

There was traditional Hawaiian dance music playing in the background as the dancers on stage danced to the music. There were a few fire twirlers around to on the sand. People were sitting at picnic tables or just mingling on the beach. A few were still in the water surfing or swimming the night away.

“Hey you guys made it!” Aluna ran up to us.

“Yup. So when do wanna rematch?” I asked with a grin.

“Whoa little man,” Dave said, “Why not just enjoy the night a little?”

“Guess we can do that. Ooh is that a papaya?” I ran over to the table and grabbed a slice, “Spits you gotta try this!”

I handed her a piece. She took it, sniffed it before taking a bite, “Whoa. Never had anything like that before.”

“Always loved tropical fruits.”

“There’s a lot more to try over there,” I pointed.

“If you’re heading for the buffet then try the pineapple. We had a good harvest this year.”

“Cool. So when do you wanna continue our game?”

“How ‘bout 10:00?”

“Sounds good, we look forward to it.”

Spitfire and I walked over to the table which was a lot larger than I expected. There was a lot more food packed onto it than I’d originally thought.

Spitfire licked her lips, “So what should we try first?”

***

Well a few thousand pieces of fruit, vegetables, and shish kabobs later we had eaten our fill for the night. The traditional Hawaiian music had ended and given way to a more modern take on things.

A Dj with a smooth tropical voice came on, “Alright everyone, it’s time to spice things up a little. So grab your dance partner and get ready to get down.”

A smooth beat began. It was mix of something electronic with a violin being the more prominent of the two sounds. Something exotic indeed.

Dane immediately ran into the fray of emerging dancers with a random brunette he’d probably found. Spitfire turned to me with a grin on her face.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“I’m not dancing.”

“Come on. Why not?”

A familiar voice spoke up, “Excuse me miss you appear to be having a problem. Allow me.”

I turned. Oh it was the old man from this morning. He walked up to me and slapped me across the face, “Get a hold of yourself! THE GIRL IS ASKING YOU TO DANCE!”

***

SLAP.

“THE GIRL IS ASKING YOU TO DANCE!”

SLAP.

“DANCE WITH HER!”

SLAP.

Jett seemed to reel back, “Okay okay! Just stop that already!”

Spitfire laughed a little, “So you wanna dance?”

“Yes! Okay? Just get him to stop!”

The man stopped, “Okay. Have fun with him.”

He turned and sauntered away.

Jett stood rubbing his face, “Jesus Christ, what the hell is it with that guy?”

Spitfire stood grinning, “Guess you’re coming with me.”

She grabbed his hand and took him into the crowd.

“Uh… what do I do?” Jett asked.

“You’re an android right?” Spitfire asked as she moved to the music, “Just watch and learn. Literally.”

“Oh, uh… okay.”

He stood for a few seconds and watched his surroundings before taking the initiative and moving to the music.

“Ha ha, there you go. Now you got it!” Spitfire laughed.

“Yeah, heh,” He laughed, “Guess I do. Never done this before.”

She eyed him up and down, “Well you’re pretty good at it.”

He smiled. Soon a lull in the music came. Dane ran up to Jett with a small chip in his hand.

“Dude, this is the perfect song. You have to do this,” he said and tapped the button on the chip. Something out of view of Spitfire appeared.

“Did you assimilate that?” he asked.

“Yes. And NO! I’m not gonna do that!” Jett said.

“Come on! You have to see that finish! It’s perfect! That and you have a partner…”

“Dude!”

“If you do it I won’t mention…” the rest of it fell out of Spitfire’s hearing.

Jett looked up, “You promise?”

“Yes. And I also promise you’ll have a blast.”

“Let me see that again.”

Dane held up the chip and Jett watched again.

“Do you realize how difficult that is? That combines the quickstep, the mambo, and the cha cha all in one.”

“Well if you lead then it will be fine.”

“Alright,” he sighed and walked up to Spitfire, “You know how to ballroom dance?”

“Yes. Why? Where’s this going?” she asked.

He sighed, “Just follow my lead.”

The music picked up again. Jett took her hand and placed one on his shoulder and took the other in his hand.

“Just follow my lead.”

Spitfire smiled, “Alright.”

They started with a quickstep. A nice reverse turn followed by reverse pivot. Jett released Spitfire for a quick American Spin. Spitfire gasped.

He picked up that from a recording?

She soon found herself in his arms again as she spun around and was back at his chest again. She stared into his eyes and smiled. A light grin was on his face. They continued with a quickstep before Jett picked it up a bit with another throw out before picking Spitfire up and lifting her into the air.

Dane smiled. This had to work. He smiled as he watched the product of his careful planning. Spitfire seemed to pick up what was going on and moved nicely to compliment his moves. Soon the music was coming to an end. Jett finished with another American Spin before bringing Spitfire close and finishing with a death drop. He kneeled to compensate but it worked out nicely. Spitfire’s back was perfectly straight as were her legs. She had a look of awe on her face as she stared into Jett’s eyes.

Jett looked up from his dance partner. The Dj stopped the music and had his jaw at his feet. A crowd had surrounded the two in an open circle. Jett and Spitfire stood up with sheepish looks on their faces. Jett scratched the back of his head.

An applause rose from the crowd. Spitfire and Jett blushed. She took his hand and did a bow before smiling at her partner.

“That was fun,” she giggled, “Never done that before.”

“Neither have I,” he smiled as he walked off the dance area. He walked up to Dane.

“Never again,” he said before walking away towards the far end of the beach.

“Oh you enjoyed it and you know it!”

“YES I DID!” he yelled.

Dane grinned. He was getting close. So close.

***

I walked away from the beach. For some reason I was… happy. I was happy. Why?

I continued walking up a hill to a rock overlooking the sea. The city lights behind me were dim and almost invisible. The torches, lasers, and spotlights from the luau down below were also missing up here. I looked out over the sea. The beautiful sea. Far above laid out before me was a brilliant blanket of stars. Each one was brilliant point of light. Reds and blues, whites and oranges, there were so many of them. Each one was its own world. Each on had the potential to hold other worlds like this one. Maybe Spitfire’s home orbited one. It was possible. It was so beautiful. There was even a small nebula visible.

I hopped up onto the rock and sat down. For some reason I was smiling. It felt… good. I was happy.

“Why? Why am I happy?”

You shared a dance with a beautiful girl. That’s why, Happy said.

Spitfire?

Yes you idiot! Acc said, you don’t think she’s beautiful?

She’s cute I’ll give her that.

We’re your thoughts dude, Happy said, you can’t lie to us.

Alright, alright. She is a beautiful girl. And before you say it, yes I enjoyed that dance. I… I enjoyed it a lot.

Well maybe it’s because yo-

I heard a noise behind me. I turned.

***

Spitfire climbed up the rock towards him. She had a bashful grin on her face. She hopped up as he turned to face her.

“Oh hey Spits,” he smiled, “Here.” He patted a spot next to him. She happily jumped up and sat next to him.

“That was fun,” she giggled, “I enjoyed that a lot. Thanks.”

“Heh, well Dane had to talk me into it. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have fun to. You’re pretty good at that.”

“Well when you’ve been to the Gala a few times you pick up a few things. That move at the end was hot.”

“Oh leave me alone. It was nothing.”

“Well I enjoyed it. It made me feel sexy.”

“Oh. Well I’m glad I could help you fulfill your fantasy.”

“Oh shut up,” she laughed and playfully punched his shoulder. A silence overcame them as they stared into the stars together. Spitfire scooted over to her friend until she was leaning against him. She let out a sigh of contentment as she stared back up at the beautiful night sky.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Jett said.

“Yes…” She turned, “Do you remember the first time we did this?”

“Clearly. We were on a flight from Earth to the Moon. I shut the gravity off and you got stuck floating in the center of the room.”

“Yeah,” she laughed, “That was funny. We’ve had some fun times together.”

“We sure have…”

She turned to face him, “Jett. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure. Why? Is something wrong?”

“No. No. Nothing’s wrong. I just want to know something. Do you really see me as a sister? Just a sister?”

“Well, yeah I guess. I mean, Cat always was my mother rather my older sister so I kinda never really had any siblings growing up. I mean I did have Dane as a brother. We were both in the same boat and Gin was dealing with the stress of starting a business while testifying against her stalker so we kinda just formed a family. I guess when I found you in the forest that day and all the days after when we got to know each other you fit into the role of a sister to me. We were living together for a few months.”

“Yeah I guess. You did walk in on me while I was in the shower,” she laughed.

“That was bound to happen eventually! And it wasn’t my fault!”

“Sure… You just happened to walk in on me when I was wet and naked. Were you looking to ruffle my feathers a bit?” she grinned slyly.

“What? Wh-I don’t-Why would you even…?”

“Oh relax Jett. I know you’re that kind of guy. Still trying to figure out just what kind of guy you are but I know you’re not that kind. Not like Soarin’. Fucking pig sometimes.”

“What’d he do?”

“He snuck into the girls’ locker room with a camera and… well the rest is history.”

“Ah. I see. So just what type of guy am I?”

“Well… I don’t know. You’re kind and gentle yet you can be violent and angry when properly provoked. When someone threatens someone you care about you hold nothing back. But you put yourself in harm’s way to save someone you’d only met a few weeks earlier. You know how to laugh and take a joke and you’re fun to be around. But… you seem so isolated sometimes… I just… I just want to tell you that…”

She gulped.

“I just want to tell you that I-”

BEEP BEEP.

Jett sighed, “What is it this time?”

BEEP BEEP.

“Yeah yeah hold your horses.”

He removed his phone from his pocket, “Dane… What?”

“Dude where the hell are you guys?!”

“Enjoying the night. Why?”

“Well get your dick out of her cause you two got a game to play tonight. Remember?”

“WHAT?! THAT’S IT! YOU’RE FUCKING DEAD!”

He hung up and jumped to his feet, “WE got a game to finish and I have an android to kill.”

Spitfire sighed, “Alright…”

She stood up after him. Jett had already taken off running down the hill towards the beach.

“YOU’RE DEAD DANE! DEAD!”

“Catch me first asshole!” the white haired android laughed.

Spitfire grinned sadly, “They’d fit right in in the Wonderbolts.”

She walked down the hill, following the commotion that raged in the luau below.