It was the last day of high school, and I had spent the last hour doodling a spaceship. Why not? What could you learn on the last day? How to say goodbye? Besides, this thing was a masterpiece. One worth saving. I clicked the side of my blue and green pen, which rivaled my fingers in size. Vivepen. The drawing faded away on the surface, but it was really just “downloaded” into the pen.

Wander Locke, by the way. That was me.

I scanned my classroom for the hundredth time. Gray. The walls, ceiling, floor, and even our desks were more boring than studying for my explorer’s exam. Then again, studying would just show me things I already knew.

My classmates’ space suits were more exciting to look at. Each suit of metal was as colorful as a bag of candy. Unfortunately, the people themselves had their heads glued to their desks. Couldn’t blame them. We were in the middle of a lecture. On the last day. What had Instructor Manning been thinking? We should have been partying like we’d just won the war.

I peeked at the virtuaboard. Nothing stuck out. The poorly rendered shapes floating in front of it gave me a headache if I stared.

“I already know the answer, but did I miss anything?” I said to the person beside me.

“I could tell you, but what would you care anyway?” asked Laura Genki without looking up from her notebook. At least I thought that was the case. It was hard to see her brown eyes behind her red hair. “Go back to sleep or whatever you’re doing. I’m busy with notes. What the—dang it! I just wrote ‘go back to sleep’ in my notes! Would you quit distracting me?”

Laura was passionate about education. And being a jerk. I wouldn’t say it to her face because you only made that mistake once. I had the right to internally mock her, though. The girl had been my best friend since the first grade.

Plus I’d been externally mocking her red hair ever since she’d dyed it. You couldn’t just show up with your head on fire and expect people to keep quiet about it. I kind of wished I could dye my chocolate head of hair blue, but she’d be way too excited if I told her.

Taking notes on the last day was insane, but, since it was Laura, I just shrugged it off. She’d do anything to keep her grades above excellent. Even though our grades were already finalized.

“Excuse you, I was doodling,” I said. “I know how that sounds, but it’s better than wasting my time with notes. You’re not even using a NotePad tablet! That’s just an actual notebook. Paper and everything.”

“Whatever! I wouldn’t expect you to understand. You don’t care about anything that isn’t technology, cruisers, or technologically-advanced cruisers. I don’t even know why you bothered showing up.”

I made a heart with my hands. “Because I’d miss you too much if I didn’t. Don’t you know I have to see you nine hours a day, five days a week, every week? Starting so early in the morning that the Sun is barely up? Did I mention how much I loved it here? Besides, where’s the harm in suffering through one more day?”

“‘Where’s the harm’ and ‘suffering’ don’t belong in the same sentence.”

“Neither do ‘I love’ and ‘school,’ but that never stops you. I’m going back to doodling. I mean creating masterpieces. Any requests, Redhead?”

“While I may not be Ms. Genki, I have a request.” Our instructor pivoted toward us, a stern look embroidered on his face. I wish I could say that it was the first time he’d caught me. “Lesson not interesting enough? All right. Perhaps you’d like to make it more interesting.”

All eyes were fixed on me. Every single peeper in the room. Those were thirty more pairs than I needed. “What? Sir—”

“It’s Instructor Manning, Mr. Locke,” he said. “I’m neither a knight nor your superior. I’m merely your teacher. Not that I seem to be very successful at that. I need to know you’ve learned something before you leave my classroom. Let’s recap the most important lesson of all. Stand up, please.”

I gulped before doing so. The eyes followed me. I felt like I was in a horror movie. I was of average height for a seventeen-year-old, but Manning still towered over me. His smoky eyes held secrets that were too interesting for a teacher. Strands of gray broke up his black hair. Wrapping up all these features was a purple and gold space suit. The color was the only cool thing about it.

Space suits weren’t mandatory on the Moon since we had atmosphere towers to provide…atmosphere. We were just heavily encouraged to wear them. President Frost herself was very vocal about that. Unlike the fashion disasters of the twenty-first century, ours were form-fitting, were mechanical, made me feel like a superhero, and featured loads of customization options. As long as the collapsible helmet was kept intact.

“As everyone in this room—this school—knows by now, your dream profession is to be an explorer,” Manning said. “You claim to be drawn to adventure. Even say that it’s your purpose in life. How long have you felt that way?”

I avoided Manning’s expectant gaze. “About a year, si—Instructor Manning. It hasn’t been my dream for long.”

“Why? For what purpose do you wish to explore the cosmos?”

I wiggled my fingers as if I’d just realized I had them. “Not hard to figure out. It’s 2504, and our own galaxy is still a mystery to us. It’s embarrassing, isn’t it? We live here. Took way too long to find planets like Auruvum and Lux. Who knows what others are out there?”

Manning produced a cloth and rubbed his glasses, not even looking at me. “I see. That’s the only reason you wish to be among the stars? Then consider this last lesson to be a cautionary tale.”

He tapped a colorful panel next to the virtuaboard The holographic spheres faded away, while a new shape materialized where they floated. As it was forming, it just looked like a weird bug. Not until it got to the torso did I recognize it.

My heart skipped a beat as the towering android glared down at me: tall and wide enough to swallow me whole, glowing light blue eyes and a dark blue body, a face frozen in anger because it didn’t have muscles to move, four arms that ended in clawed hands. Those who had raised their heads to watch me fail just lowered them again. No one gasped or anything. The strained silence was somehow worse.

“An AI or Aggressive Intellectual,” Manning said as though it were simply another lesson. “Dangerous robotic aliens that have waged war against us for hundreds of years. Do explorers have a protocol for encountering them?”

I couldn’t look anywhere but its piercing eyes. I’d never met one in person, but…you didn’t have to meet someone for them to change your life. I knew it wasn’t real, but I wished someone would let my pounding heart know. The hologram faded away, its eyes the last part to vanish.

Manning stared at me as if to gauge my reaction. “Let that serve as a reminder of how real situations can become. Life is quick and merciless. If you don’t care today, you’re giving life the chance to ambush you tomorrow.” He glanced at his watch. “Which should conclude the final lesson…for the school year.”

Riiing!

Oh no. Chairs scraped the ground as it rumbled beneath me. My (now former) classmates scrambled for the door. Shoulder after shoulder bumped into mine. Thankfully my suit took the blows for me. Couldn’t do a thing for my damaged feelings though. Startling silence fell over the classroom, converting it into a graveyard. It was hard to believe I’d never see the room full again. I wasn’t as eager to leave my second bedroom, but it was nice to be one step closer to exploring. To searching.

Once the coast was clear, I motioned for Laura to follow as I headed out. It had no effect since she was still scribbling notes like a madwoman. I gestured to the door. “Could you not? We’re footsteps away from freedom. Can’t you finish your notes in my cruiser?”

“Slow down, slacker. My feet can’t even find the bottom of your cruiser.” Laura’s pen raced down her paper. I really needed to get her a vivepen. “How about you chill for two seconds so I can finish?”

“Mr. Locke.”

I was prepared to argue with Laura until the Moon exploded, but Manning’s voice distracted me. Keyboard clicks waved away the silence as he typed on his computer. He wasn’t even looking at me. I was offended, but that ancient computer offended me more.

“Manning,” I said as I raised an eyebrow.

“I apologize if you found offense earlier. It was not my intention.”

You couldn’t project an AI then say you didn’t mean to offend. You needed a permission slip just to be in the room while instructors talked about AI. Despite that, I didn’t want to cause any trouble on the last day. Especially when Manning had been instructing me for two years. “No worries. The lesson was nothing new. I know just how real life can get.” I clenched my fist as I fought back the pain that the AI had drawn out. Pain that was still hard to discuss. “I have more than one reason for wanting to explore.”

He looked up from his screen. “I understand. More than you realize. I’d just like you to exercise caution if you do find yourself in space. The AI are only growing stronger. We’ve kept up this far, but we have limits. They don’t. I’ve been wondering if perhaps…this four-hundred-year war will finally have an end. Just not one we would live to see.”

Laura’s pen stopped. Silence hung in the air as Manning’s words sunk in. He was basically warning us that we were nearing extinction. The war had gone on for so long because it was one of attrition. AI couldn’t be worn down, but humanity was too stubborn to give up. It made sense that the AI would power through that determination eventually.

“Consider my back watched. You ready, Redhead?”

Laura had been staring off into space but blinked when I called her. “Yeah, I’m good.”

She pulled at her backpack like she was ripping it in half. The gray material stretched under the pressure, widening the pocket. I loved that thing. It took “making room” to another level. She shoved her supplies into it, stood up, and slung it onto her back.

I headed for the door once again. “See you around, Manning.”

“He’s lying, but I’ll come visit later!” Laura said.

I didn’t turn around to look, but Manning must have smiled and waved. “Have a good day, you two.”

The door slid open for us, letting in the fresh Moon air. I took in a lungful as I marched down the purple and white halls one last time. No more school lunches that were secretly alien spawn. No more mitochondria or powerhouses. No more math equations featuring people with ridiculous sums of fruit. Just freedom.

The same mood was evident in the students’ parking lot. Cruisers hummed around like they were ablaze before veering out of the lot. Occasionally, someone would roll down their window and whoop like a dog. I only got that excited over new tech, but to each their own.

I squinted through the chaos in search of my baby. I knew where I was parked, so I just had to wait for the madness to end. My Columbus was officially considered a “standard” cruiser. As its sole mechanic, I agreed. However, it was an insanely special present, so I regarded it as a national treasure.

Back when technology’s potential was being tapped, the hover engine was one of the first by-products. Those works of art powered cruisers, which were vehicles that hovered above the ground. You could drive over anything as long as it wasn’t water. Sand and stretches of lunar dust were rough too.

Actually, was whooping really that exciting? I wanted to try it. “Freedom!” I shouted, causing Laura to flinch. Right. I’d forgotten not to raise my voice around her. “Sorry. Freedom for me. You still headed off to institution, Redhead? The whack place where you pay to have a helmet pump you with knowledge?”

“Hang on, my ears are shot because of your stupid outburst.” She groaned and rattled her head. “More importantly, what did you think about Instructor Manning’s warning?”

“I thought, ‘Why does this dude wear glasses? There’s like a thousand and one ways to fix poor eyesight.’ I always think that when I look at him. Should I not?”

She sighed. “Of all the topics to joke about—”

“How much could a high school instructor know about a galactic war? He’s got its history down, but, unless he’s a super genius, he can’t say anything about its future. I’ll be fine out there. It’s not like I can turn back because of a warning anyway.”

Laura’s eyelids drooped. Was she really that worried? Why? She wasn’t the one going. I should be worried; institution was something out of a mad scientist’s dream. They hooked you up to a machine until you could recite a calculus equation in your sleep. Too bad it was the recommended path after high school. People were so determined to go that they never stopped to consider if they should.

The humming had died down, so I gave the lot another look. A clear path to my cruiser had been paved. It was blue and had no roof. Driving while it rained was more annoying than it should have been in 2504. That was where its distinctiveness ended. Six seats instead of ten and a small monitor screen. Definitely wasn’t much…besides the last birthday present my parents ever got me. Yeah, that was enough.

Laura gripped the passenger door handle. “So, we still headed to…you know?”

I pulled out my phone. “Yup. Wouldn’t miss it for the galaxy.”

I scrolled through the cloud and reached a picture of my keys in a swipe. I tapped it, causing blue light to radiate from the screen. A glowing outline of my keys formed in the middle, accompanied by a soft jingle. That glow faded, leaving my freshly solidified keys behind.

I had heard that the cloud used to be for storing apps and pictures. I wouldn’t have survived a second in the past.

The cruiser beeped as I held my key up to the door. I easily hopped inside, but Laura was having trouble.

“See?! Why’s your stupid cruiser littered with garbage?” Laura stomped down my clothes and empty snack bags. That was just the front row. “Are you part trash? Actually—”

“I am literally your only ride. Consider that before finishing that sentence.”

She rubbed her chin, lost in mock thought. “The bus isn’t that bad.” This woman was lucky that she was my only friend. I forced my key into the ignition and turned it. The engine hummed to life. Music to my ears, every time. I pushed the pedal, easing us onto New Selene's lackluster streets. The only cruisers on them belonged to the people from my school. Sometimes I felt like I could count the town’s population on the fingers of two hands.

New Selene was a tiny town on a tiny not-even-a-planet floating around in a giant galaxy. I had to make up my own adventures because the town couldn’t offer any. That was an embarrassing childhood.

The only interesting thing about the Moon caught my eye: green grass sprinkled with pearly Moon dust, brown trees that jutted from the white lunar surface. The environmental elements clashed in a way that Mother Nature couldn’t possibly have intended. I didn’t know what it was supposed to look like, but this didn’t feel like it. It was like being born in a junkyard. You were adjusted, but you knew there had to be more.

“I can’t believe it’s been a year.” Laura stared out her window. “What are you thinking right now?”

“I’m thinking we should have invented white trees. Brown trees on a white surface look—”

“Wander.”

My hands went slack at the wheel. “I don’t know. I’ve just been feeling numb to it lately. Up until Manning shoved me in front of an AI. This past year was just one big blur. All I know is that I have to celebrate this. Every year, no matter what. Maybe then it won’t be such a sad day.”

Laura nodded. “Not bad. You do know it’s okay to be sad about it, right? You don’t have to shove aside every emotion that’s not happiness.”

“No one has to do anything.” I lowered my voice, making my next statement to myself. “They do it because it’s their choice to.”

A stretch of green caught my eye. It was nothing compared to the black gravestones that lined it. Some had been adorned with bouquets. Others were surrounded by people. There were so many of them.

I sandwiched my cruiser between two others in the parking lot. My hands had just been slack, but now they were glued to the wheel. My palms were sweaty, but that didn’t affect my iron grip. I hadn’t been by lately. I had been studying for my explorer’s exam. Would they understand that? Of course! I wished they could still tell me that.

Laura placed a hand over mine. “Dude, you can do this.”

I couldn’t, but it helped that she was here. Although she may have had an ulterior motive, I really couldn’t do it alone. She could have been trying to shake her own guilt over what had happened. It wasn’t her fault, but if I felt guilty, then she must have too.

I withdrew my hands. “Yeah, you’re right. Time to put on my realest fake smile.”

You couldn’t call the air “fresh” if it was near a cemetery. The heat scratching at my face didn’t help either. The end of May had brought a wave of heat. They could have adjusted the atmosphere tower to prevent it, but people needed their summer.

Now I was just trying to distract myself.

I grabbed what I needed from the back of the cruiser and went on my way. Grass crunched beneath my feet, which kicked up white dust. Despite the summer heat, a chill crept up my spine. I refused to look at the mourners as I passed by. Those teary-eyed lost people reminded me of how I’d looked. No, I’d looked way more pathetic. Had the burns on my hands even faded? Pushing aside burning rubble tended to leave a mark.

My heart skipped a beat when I spotted what—who—I was looking for. Three gravestones. Decorated with the names of people I loved.

All shared my last name.

“Hey, I’m back.” I barely recognized the strained voice that came out. I crouched and replaced the old flowers on my mom and dad’s graves with new ones. “There you go. Fresh new tokens of my appreciation. I wish I had gotten here before the old ones went bad. I hope you didn’t think…that I forgot about you guys.”

I wiped the wetness from my eyes. What good would crying do? This wasn’t a fairy tale; my tears wouldn’t bring them back. Laura’s hand found my shoulder. I shifted my position so that it’d fall off.

“All right, I know what you’re all thinking. Don’t think I forgot about the main event!”

I set down the container I had brought. Right in front of the center gravestone. I lifted off the top, revealing a chocolate cake decorated with exactly fourteen candles.

Laura crouched beside me. “It’s beautiful. Turns out you have good taste when it counts, huh?”

Hilarious. I produced a fork and knife with my phone’s cloud and cut out a single slice. I knew I’d skipped the whole deal with the candles, but I was no longer a fan of fire. I set the plate beside the gravestone of Beth Locke, resisting the urge to warn her against eating it all at once. Stomachache and all that. I smiled as I pictured that moment. One that would never happen again.

“Happy birthday, Sis.”