Fluorescent lights and pale walls blurred together as Jun and Roxie continued the search for Aiden. Walking to the Moon Base Gym took a lot longer than Jun remembered. They weren’t in much of a hurry, though. Knowing Aiden, he’d appear at the conference as if he never went missing. Still, they wanted to put in some effort. Captain Galhardo put his faith in them, and the guy was probably stressed out enough on a day like today.

Besides, Roxie was having so much fun! She marched ahead, as peppy as ever. Every few steps, she’d try out a new Aiden-tracking technique, which is probably why it took so long to get to the gym in the first place. As a Criminal Justice major and Aiden-knower, Jun knew these techniques wouldn’t be able to track down anything, but they had fun playing along.

A vending machine caught their eye.

“Hey Rox, want a snack?”

Instead of turning around, Roxie marched in a semicircle to face Jun. “I only hunger for victory!”

Jun shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

They took out a dollar bill from their wallet and put it into the vending machine, but they didn’t let go of it. Instead, they yanked it out at the last moment.

Nothing came out.

Jun attempted the trick a few more times just to see if they did it right, but no dice. This vending machine wouldn’t fall for their trick. Maybe they should try one last time.

“Are you stealing?”

Roxie’s question broke Jun’s concentration, making them forfeit their dollar to the vending machine.

“Uhh… Kinda, yeah.” Jun admittedly felt a little ashamed to be caught doing this, especially by her. “But it was for a reason.”

Roxie leaned over Jun. “Was the reason free food?”

“No.” They stood up. “I just realized Aiden might be at one of the vending machines. He used to do this trick on them, like, all the time.”

“Ahh, so you were doing petty crimes to summon him! How clever!”

Jun laughed. “Not quite. But it narrows down our options. Even if he is at a vending machine, he won’t be there long.”

As their eyes scanned the brightly colored bags and sugary sweets, a row of tiny, bear-shaped bottles stood out from the rest. They pressed the button corresponding to it. A bear fell into the pickup slot, and they picked it up.

“It’s so cuuuute!” Roxie fawned over the bottle.

“Pure Honey courtesy of Ursa Major Farms. Edible packaging.” Jun read its label. “Cool. Dunno what I’m gonna do with a bottle of honey, though.”

“Maybe we could use it to bait Aiden.”

The older ranger laughed at the mental image of that, then put the bottle in their pocket. “I’ll keep that in mind. Come on, let’s head to the gym.”

“Onward, we go!”

Roxie continued marching forward. She abruptly stopped upon seeing a yellow cone and spread her arms out, preventing Jun from going forward.

“Ah, a wet floor.” Jun noticed. “You saved my life.”

Roxie hugged them. “It’s the least I can do for you, my friend.” She turned to the cone. “We have to approach carefully from here so that we don’t slip and shatter our skulls on this nicely-mopped floor!”

“Ye--huh??”

A flash of frizzy hair, goggles, and bad judgement careened toward Jun and Roxie.

Roxie let go of Jun and spread her arms out. “I’ll catch you!”

Just as the words left her mouth, the stranger crashed into her, sending both tumbling to the ground. Jun managed to step in right in time to cushion Roxie’s fall.

They steadied Roxie up. “Are you both okay?”

“I’m peachy-keen!” Roxie held a shaky thumbs-up.

“Sparky?” called someone carefully making her way down the hall with a toolbox. “Sparky are ya okay?”

The one who crashed into Roxie sprang up, lifting a thumb into the air. “Never been better!”

When the newcomer finally got to the three on the floor, she towered over them, and still probably would even if they were all standing up. She was strawberry blond and built like a mountain, with biceps the size of balloons. Jun thought she looked pretty cool, kind of like a lady they used to idolize as a kid.

The smaller stranger spread her arms out to the side, and her large friend put down the toolbox and lifted her up. From there, they both helped Jun and Roxie off of the ground.

“Sorry ‘bout that!” The small one adjusted her goggles back on her head. “Name’s Sierra, but my friends call me Sparky!”

“Are we friends?” asked Roxie.

“Well, you saved my bacon, so I don’t see why not!” Sparky patted her friend on the back. “This’s my buddy, Shirley!”

Shirley waved. “My friends call me Shirley. What’s your names?”

“I am known by many names, but most people call me Roxie!”

“And I’m Jun.”

“Nice to meet ya!” Shirley smiled a charming, crooked smile. “And thanks for savin’ Sparky!”

Roxie turned to Sparky. “And now for a Roxie Safety Tip. Be careful on wet floors!”

“Oh, you don’t have to tell me that!” Sparky laughed.

“She was trying to be careful.” clarified Shirley.

Running at full speed down a wet hallway did not fit Jun’s idea of careful. “Huh?”

“I figured the faster I ran, the less my feet would touch the ground, which in turn means the less chances I would have to slip and fall.”

Sparky moved her curly brown hair out of the way to reveal the insignia of a Staff Major, the IF’s equivalent of having a doctorate. Judging by her green shirt, she worked in the technical science branch, or as Jun knew of it, the mad scientist branch. What they had in smarts, they often lacked in other things, like self control, ethics, or in Sparky’s case, common sense.

Her explanation managed to confuse even Roxie. “Well, please don’t do that again!”

“I won’t!” promised Sparky. Suddenly, her eyes wandered over Jun. “...Haven’t I seen you somewhere?”

Jun looked around, pretending not to know what she meant. “Me?”

“Yeah!” Shirley waved a finger at them. “I was thinkin’ the same thing! Did’ja used to work on the Gemini?”

“No, no! I don’t think we met before!” Sparky guessed correctly. “You said your name was Jun, right?” Her entire face pursed up. “...You wouldn’t happen to be Jun Kim, would you?”

“I dunno, like, am I…?” Jun scratched the side of their head, pretending to be confused before laughing and giving up the act. “Yeah, you got me.”

“Thought so!” The frizzy-haired scientist pointed a finger at Jun. “I saw through those bangs!”

Apparently everyone did. It embarrassed Jun how little the bangs hid their identity. Still, they lifted them up to show their full face.

“Whoooah! You’re right!” Shirley seemed to be shocked by this even though Jun already confessed. “Nothing gets past Major Sparky’s eyes!” She pointed a thumb at her friend. “She’s the smartest gal I know. Anyway, it’s an honor to meet’cha!”

Shirley engaged in a crushing handshake with Jun.

“Ya know, you look a lot shorter than on the TV!” She noted.

“Usually I get the opposite.”

She also shook hands with Roxie. “And it’s an honor t’meet you too!”

“But I’m not anyone special!” Roxie spouted nonsense. How could she not know how special she was to Jun?

“Well, y’saved my buddy, so you’re special to me!” Shirley understood.

“Awww, thanks!” Roxie pressed her hands to her cheeks, highlighting her adorableness.

Sparky pointed to a door beside her. “We were just gonna head to the gym, why don’t you come and hang out with us?”

“We were just headed that way ourselves.” Jun wouldn’t mind hanging out with them, either. They seem like a riot.

“We’re on a mission!” Roxie added on.

Right. As much as Jun wanted to, they couldn’t linger around. “Yeah… We’re looking for someone, so I dunno how long we’ll be able to stay.”

Shirly slumped over. “Awww.”

Sparky, on the other hand, amped up. “Well, I guess we better get going, then! Can’t waste any time!”

“Yeah!” Roxie matched her energy.

The two of them led the way, while Jun ambled behind with Shirley.

“Who are ya lookin’ for?” asked Shirley.

“One of our guys just kind of up and wandered off.” Jun scanned around the gym looking for Aiden. They hoped to find him shuffling around here somewhere, otherwise Mia and Leon would find him first, and they didn’t know how to deal with Aiden the way Jun did.

“What’s he look like?”

“Blond. Beard. Scar. Hair about as tall as you.” they elaborated.

“Darn.” Shirley snapped her fingers. “Haven’t seen him.”

Roxie suddenly stopped. “Aha!”

Jun caught up to her. “Did you find him?”

“No, Mia said she saw him in the cafeteria!” Roxie showed Jun the phone. Mia’s message was a simple ‘He’s here.’

“I wonder have they talked to him yet.” Jun imagined Mia wouldn’t be too thrilled about being in that situation.

“I’ll text her!”

Mia’s message came back fairly quick. It read ‘No. I’m keeping an eye on him. Don’t know if he’ll make a run for it, but I think he saw me.’

“Huh. I guess we should stay here just in case.” Jun took this as an excuse to have a good time. They turned to Shirley and Sparky. “Somebody else found him in the cafeteria, so we’re free to chill for now!”

“Nice!” Sparky pumped her arm.

Shirley patted her stomach. “Aw man, I wish we had stopped by there, first. I’m starving! Wonder if we’ll be able to make it there before the conference starts...”

“We don’t have to!” Sparky set her toolbox on the ground beside one of the treadmills. From it, she pulled out…

“...Is that a potato?” That was the last thing Jun expected to see.

“It’s raw.” Roxie pointed out, a little concerned. As far as Jun could see, the gym had no microwaves. “They’re packed full of antinutrients and maybe poison, especially with the skin on.”

“It won’t be raw for long!” Sparky took some tools out and opened up a panel on the side of the treadmill. Mesmerized and confused, Jun watched as she used her tools to undo some of the wires. She stuck them into the potato.

“Yeeeah! Treadmill cookin’!” Shirley cheered.

“Uhhh, Is that, like, safe?” Jun looked to Roxie, hoping she had some kind of safety tip for this.

“Oh yeah!” answered Shirley. “Sparky rewired one of the treadmills on our ship to do the same thing, and it hasn’t caught on fire or anything, yet. Don’t worry, she’s a whizz with this kinda stuff. Once she puts it back together, it’s good as new!”

Jun shrugged. “Huh, okay.”

Roxie still worried for Sparky. “Shouldn’t you at least arm yourself with gloves?”

“Oh, good call!” Sparky dug into her toolbox and pulled out some rubber gloves to put on. She also donned her goggles. “You guys almost got to see why they call me Sparky.”

Jun had a feeling they could figure it out. Only now did they notice both her and Shirley looked to be in their 30s, at least a few years older than Jun. Age didn’t always guarantee wisdom. They knew that already. Still, it served as a good reminder, especially with how much they worried about the youthfulness of the Celestion-5 crew.

Capability is what they should worry about. The others have been handling themselves well so far. No one’s died yet. Besides, Jun was no stranger to having everyone rely on them. Maybe they should just chill until they’re needed.

“It’s all ready!” Sparky stood up, having finished rigging up her potato-treadmill contraption. “A little jog on the treadmill should be enough to cook it.”

She then began jogging on the treadmill.

“Cool.” Jun decided to busy themself with other things, like exercising. They decided to try a shoulder machine nearby.

In the meantime, Roxie busied herself with a barbell, while Shirley spotted her.

“You’re so strong for someone so small!” the latter gushed. “How are you so gosh-darn tiny?”

“Genetics!” Roxie wasn’t that much shorter than average, but compared to Shirley, she looked pint-sized. “How much can you lift?”

“Me?” Shirley appeared to get flustered. “Awh, it’s not like I really keep track of it or anything.”

“She can lift me above her head!” Sparky shouted over her own footsteps.

“Wow!” Roxie craned her neck up at Shirley. “Can you lift me?”

Shirley laughed. “I don’t see why not!”

She lifted Roxie high into the air as if she weighed nothing at all.

“Weeee!” Roxie spread her arms out. “Look, Junzie, I have ascended, thanks to Shirley!”

“Yeah, that’s impressive.” Jun couldn’t help but admire Shirley’s strength. She could pick up an entire Roxie while they could barely get the shoulder machine working.

Shirley set Roxie down. “Aww, thanks. I don’t normally like showin’ off, but people seem to get a kick out of getting picked up. I can’t refuse.”

“Shirley’s a big softie!” Sparky sounded haggard, jogging so hard.

“Have you ever gotten picked up before?” Roxie asked Shirley.

The taller woman scratched her neck. “Ah, no. I’m too big for that.”

Roxie pounded her chest. “Then it is decided.”

“What’s decided?”

“My new goal.” She pointed at Shirley. “One day, I will be strong enough to pick you up. In fact, I’ll pick up all of my friends! As long as I breathe, I shall let no friend go uncarried!”

“Awww, that’s sweet! Ya don’t have to do all that, though.”

“It has already been decided.” Roxie held up her arms. “These arms will support you physically and emotionally!”

“You can’t stop her.” Jun warned. “She’ll do it.”

Shirley tilted her head. “Well, if that’s the case, the least I can do is help ya out. If ya need any help trainin’, just give me a call. I’ll be glad to!”

“Speaking of help…” Jun began. “I, uh, don’t really know how to use this shoulder thing. Last time I used one of these, it kinda fell apart.”

“Literally!” clarified Roxie.

“Oh, sure thing!” Shirley began walking over. “It’s the least I can do for a hero.”

Roxie continued lifting smaller weights while Shirley helped Jun. She looked at her phone. “Mia and Leon were victorious in the hunt! Emil just texted me to let me know.”

“Cool.” Jun responded while Shirley set up the machine for them. They checked the time. There was still a good amount of time left before the conference started, which reminded them of something Sparky said earlier. “Were you guys also headed to that Celestion conference today?”

“Yeah...!” Sparky wheezed.

“So are we!” Roxie stopped lifting weights. Then she frowned. “Oh no… I just realized I won’t be able to train with Shirley.”

“Which... ship are you guys on?” asked Sparky between breaths.

“Celestion-5.” Jun answered.

Shirley gasped. “That’s perfect! We’re with the Celestion-6! We’ll be right behind ya!””

“You will?” Jun admittedly had no idea what the other ships did. Wasn’t that something only the captains knew at this point?

“Yeah…! Our captain… never shuts up about it.” Fog clouded Sparky’s goggles. The smell of cooked potatoes came from her direction. “I think I’m done now.”

A phone rang.

“Speaking of him, that’s him now! Sorry, I gotta take this.” Shirley answered the phone.

In the meantime, Jun and Roxie watched in awe as Sparky unplugged a fully-cooked potato from the treadmill. She then reconnected the wires as they were pre-potato.

“Just to make sure everything’s working as intended--” Sparky turned the treadmill back on. It looked to be running normally.

Despite her visible exhaustion, she started running on it again.

“Do you guys… smell anything burning?”

“Nope!” Roxie shook her head. “I only smell a freshly cooked potato.”

Jun bobbed their head in agreement, mildly surprised that the treadmill didn’t burst into flames. Sparky obviously knew what she was doing, resulting in the fruits--or potato--of her labor. She even did the courtesy of checking that her tampering wouldn’t backfire on the next person. Jun gained some respect for her.

“Good…” Sparky stopped the treadmill again and took off her gloves and goggles. “Gotta make sure the circuitry won’t short out.”

Shirley came back from her phone call, looking a little bummed out. “It’s been nice meetin’ ya, but me and Sparky’s gotta run an errand.”

“An errand? What errand?”

“It’s kind of a hush-hush deal.” She shifted her eyes from side to side, half covering her mouth. “I’ll tell ya on the way out.”

“Welp! Hopefully we’ll be seeing you at the conference.” Sparky waved.

“See ya.” Jun lifted a finger.

Roxie waved for both of them. “Bye-bye!”

“See ya later!” Shirley flashed a crooked smile. She then turned to Sparky. “Mind if I have that potato now?”

“Sure thing!” Sparky stooped down...

...and picked up the potato with her bare hands.

“Ahhhh! Hothothothot--!” She tossed it to Shirley.

“Yowza!!” In a panic, Shirley tossed it to Roxie.

“Owowowowow!” Poor Roxie nearly dropped the potato.

Jun caught it. “Notmybestdecision--!”

A literal game of hot potato ensued, with the burning lump haphazardly passing between the four of them. The fact that they all managed to keep it from touching the ground would’ve been impressive if not so painful.

In the midst of it all, Roxie took off her uniform coat.

“Quick, throw it here!” Having enough sense for all of them, she made a makeshift hammock with her jacket.

Shirley tossed it right into place. Score.

Jun ran over to a nearby fountain and pressed it with their hip. “Over here!”

The other three rushed to run their hands under the cool water as Jun did the same. They noticed red marks on their palms.

“Agh, burns!” Sparky continued waving her hands. “We need to go to the clinic.”

“But we’ll never be able to do our errand in time!” Shirley then went back to blowing on her hands.

Roxie looked around frantically before something clicked in her head.

“I’ve got it!” She ran back over to the potato bundled up in her coat. “Jun, do you still have that honey from earlier?”

Jun took out the bear-shaped container from their pocket and tossed it to Roxie. They immediately regretted it upon hearing Roxie yelp after catching it in her hands, but she caught it.

“I used to study under the clinic here.” She opened the honey bottle. “When we were learning how to treat minor burns, we went over some home remedies.” She ripped strips of the potato peel off and rushed to the water fountain to wash off the excess flesh. The potato’s, not her own.

“My potato!” Shirley reached out for it.

Roxie darted back to her coat and the bottle of honey. She smeared a thin layer of honey on a peel and held it up, chanting as if she were reciting some arcane spell.

“The potato may harm, but the potato! Can! Heal!”

Roxie did the same thing to the other potato peels. Then, she carried them two at a time to the others to place them over their burns.

“I’d still get those hands checked out by a doctor,” Roxie resumed giving medical advice as she placed the honeyed potato strips onto her own hands, “but that should hold you over until after the conference. Don’t take them off!”

“You’re a real lifesaver! Thanks for the tip!” Sparky awkwardly tried to pick up her toolbox.

“Yeah, you got it, boss!” Shirley gave something resembling a thumbs-up. “Can I have my potato now?”

The potato was apparently cool enough to handle. Roxie gave it to Shirley, who took a bite out of it.

“Mmm!” Shirley surveyed the potato. “The bits of honey from my hand give it a nice flavor. Anyway, see ya later!”

Shirley and Sparky left the gym, leaving behind only the scent of potatoes and honey. Or maybe that smell came from Jun’s own hands. The world may never know.

The world should know, however, about Roxie’s coolness. Jun decided to make that happen, starting with Roxie herself.

“That was, like, real sick, Rox.” Though their words lacked enthusiasm, they hoped it could be carried through with a fist bump. In actuality, it was a knuckle bump, since neither could close their hands. “You saved our skin. Literally.”

“Of course!” Roxie posed heroically. “But without your contributions, it would’ve all been for naught. ...So, what do we do now?”

“I guess we head up to the conference room.”

“Okay~” Roxie began walking with Jun. “I can’t wait to run into Shirley and Sparky again!”

“Me neither.”

Jun and Roxie exited the gym. They didn’t accomplish any of what they set out to do, but they made new friends in the process. Wasn’t that worth enough?