The Protogen Generation

Another Nervous Wreck

I rubbed my hand across my visor, “Just had a nightmare, that's all.” I said, “got sucked out of the EX-5.”

“Oh,” she said, “that doesn't sound very pleasant. “It really isn't, don't even know if I'll be getting back to sleep now.” I said, resting my head back onto a pillow.

Vita sat up with her hands clasped, “I can stay up if you would like. I once had a nightmare when I was little, hated the silence of being awake after it.”

“Ah, thank you Vita, but you don't have to.” I said quietly.

“Nah, it's fine.” She said, “And hey, if you have anything on your mind, feel free to say so. I haven't really had much to talk about in the last few weeks anyway.”

“Well,” I thought. What have I been thinking about? Being stuck here? How will we leave this place? Will we leave?

It was hard to think of 1 thing. There were multiple things to be mulling over. Heck, Winter and Oscar are doing all they can and it isn't affecting much…

Okay, maybe not entirely for Winter. She was giving us free housing and food… plus she was really nice. Talking with her was lots of fun.

“Are you still there?” Vita asked, chuckling.

“Wha- oh, yes. Thinking about winter, I guess.” I said, “The aliens here are cool.”

“I like her, I'd say.” replied Vita, “We’d be in quite the pickle if it wasn't for her being as kind as she is.”

I smiled, “I agree, and she loves space which is a plus.” I said.

She nodded, “I'll leave you to those thoughts. I also do have a general question to ask you.” she said, looking at me.

“Ask away,” I said, turning over to see her. “Do you really think we'll return home?” She asked, focusing on me for a response. I sighed, “I can't give you a concrete answer.” I replied, “We have enough power in the hyperspace cell to, at the very least, jump back to Aureon. But I don't know how we would actually reach the jump stage.”

“Oh..” She said, sounding somewhat disappointed. “It's all what-ifs, but we can probably get a better idea about it in the morning.” I replied, “Probably a good idea to try getting back to sleep.”

I shuffled back around on the couch until I was comfortable. Now, The thoughts of being stuck on this planet permeated my mind. My nightmare felt irrelevant now.

The lamp switched off and I could hear Vita as she curled back up on her bed.

°°°

Everyone sat quietly at the dining room table enjoying their breakfast. Well, almost everyone. Kyle was too busy fiddling with one of the holographic collars to acknowledge the waffles that Conrad had made.

Conrad scowled at him, “Will you eat that? It took me forever to figure out how to make it in the first place.” He said. Winter glanced at him, “Took you forever? I was telling you every step!” She said with a slight laugh.

Avera was beside him, “Oh it's fine, Conny.” she said, putting her hand around his arm. He winced, “Please don't call me that…”

Kyle looked up, “Hah.” He said before going right back to what he had been doing.

“Hey I thought you finished setting up those holo-collars yesterday.” Garrett commented, “Is that one not working?”

Kyle handed him the collar, “This one is yours, actually. I was having trouble finding a model to project.”