Stars [Memesfor1]

Glitch

         It was a bit hard to believe that they were really boarding the Skeld right then. The actual Skeld. A younger Socks momentarily took control over his actions and he felt a giddy smile spread across his face before he stopped it. This isn't some game. This is the real thing.

He sensed Meme behind him, and briefly wondered if the shorter astronaut was feeling the same wonderment. Probably not.

Ugh. He annoyed him so much. Socks only ever tried to be friendly, even though his definition of friendliness was to tease Meme about how he smelled and how his medical degree was fake. But he didn't have to fight back or be angry about it!

Socks had to admit it was pretty fun to annoy Meme. He was stubborn and fought back. It seemed like that was how they communicated, and even though Blaza saw it as enemies (and maybe Meme too) Socks thought they were friends. And if not, he was sure they would at least be some day.

Now's not the time to evaluate your friendships, Socks. His internal voice chastised. You've been waiting for this your whole life, and now it's time.

It was true. Socks had indeed always wanted to go to space. He was constantly teased for his "obsession," especially by Blaza.

He stepped on the large ship, realizing the three friends were the last boarding. Meme seemed to be holding back, and kept glancing at the ship nervously.

"You coming?" Socks asked.

Meme looked up, startled as if he had forgotten they were there. "Oh, yeah. Give me a moment."

Weird, Socks thought, studying his expression. A deeper, more buried voice inside him whispered maybe he's worried too.

I'm not worried, Socks convinced himself.

Soon enough, Meme too boarded the ship. The doors closed behind them, startling him. Why is he so jumpy? Socks wondered.

Not my problem. Time to meet the others.

Socks stepped forward, and the leader of the crew immediately noticed him. "Heyy, Socks!" A familiar British accent spoke.

"Hey Laff." He replied casually. They had met when the astronauts had first started training together. They got along fairly well, which was good because they would be co-leading the ship together.

"Excited?" Laff asked. A glance at Meme told him otherwise even though Socks nodded. "Well, I think it will be better when we take off. Speaking of, we're doing that now."

"Now?" Blaza interjected. "Seriously? Are we ready?"

Laff shrugged. "Ready enough." Which didn't assure Socks of his ability to lead the ship.

Seeming to not notice the other's uneasiness, Laff continued talking in his Leader Voice. "The Skeld will be taking off shortly. There are individual rooms down the hallway past Medbay. Those will be where you sleep and have all your belongings, and where you will change into your space suit."

He continued. "Maps of the ship and a list of tasks will be provided. Make sure you finish all your tasks before you arrive at Polus, but that shouldn't be a problem."

Slightly overwhelmed by the load of information, he turned to face Blaza and Meme. "I guess we should go to our rooms?" he asked.

Blaza nodded. "Might as well. Let's meet back up in the cafeteria after we're done."

-0-

The rooms were easy enough to find. Each one had the individual's name on it. They were fairly small, with one small bed, a desk which had the map and task list on it and a door which Socks assumed was a closet. He was right.

After putting on his space suit and taking the papers, he went to the cafeteria to wait for Blaza and Meme.

They're taking a while, he thought grumpily. Socks took a moment to look around, and saw a table in the middle that looked bigger than the rest. It had easily enough seats for every crew member to sit, and a red button in the center.

As Socks examined the button, he saw the words emergency meeting were next to it. Weird. Why would we ever have an "emergency" to call a meeting over?

He was so focused in the button that he didn't realize Blaza and Meme had arrived.

"Well? Are we going to do our tasks or just stare at the table all day?" Meme asked sarcastically.

"Sorry for wasting your precious time," Socks replied.

Blaza sighed. He had clearly given up on trying to get them to get along.

Wait... Blaza? There was something different about him.

On top of his head was a banana peel. "Blaza?" Socks asked, holding back a laugh. "What... is that?"

Looking proud of himself, Blaza grinned. "Oh, just a little something I used. Since I can't have my sunglasses I figured I had to... add a little something." He said as if it was absurd that neither Socks nor Meme had thought of this.

"Okay." Socks said with a small smile. "Well, I think we all have this one." He picked up his task list and showed them the words admin swipe.

After a quick glance at the map, the three headed toward admin to do their card swipe.

Socks went in first, and glanced at the card reader. This shouldn't be too hard. He pulled his ID card out of a pocket in his suit and swiped it through the reader. Accepted. Thank you. It read. Socks turned back around with satisfaction.

"Yeah, yeah." he heard Meme mutter. "That's easy." He swiped his card and immediately the machine beeped and said too fast.

Stifling a laugh, Socks looked away so a frustrated Meme couldn't see his amusement. Blaza was impatiently waiting beside the download screen. "This takes forever." He groaned.

Bad read. Too slow. Too fast. The card reader continued to beep until it started to become annoying and Socks wondered if Meme had managed to break it yet.

"Are you even trying?" Socks exploded when the noise had become unbearable. "It's really not hard!"

Meme turned around quickly. "Shut up." He said, looking embarrassed. "It's difficult, okay?"

Socks rolled his eyes. "It's really not."

"Just because you think you're so great doesn't mean you have to remind everyone else because it's extremely annoying!" Meme snapped, raising his voice.

Socks glared at him. "I'm sorry for being so much better than you. Please accept my apolo-"

"Will you two stop already?" Blaza exclaimed, fully exasperated. "I don't care if you can't be friends, at least be nice to each other! It's hard watching my two best friends fight like this!"

Meme had the decency to look guilty. "Sorry." He said quietly. Socks was surprised that he knew that word.

"Yeah, I'm-" he was cut off again, but not by Blaza this time.

Dead body reported. Please arrive at the Emergency Meeting table as quickly as possible.

Every sense in Socks's body turned to ice. This has to be a glitch... right?

-0-

1157 words