Alternative Timeline

Jet Set

This was inspired by Almyrah's story, 'Face to Face to Face' on A03 and takes place after the events of 'The Liar'.

For extra spiciness, here's what I listened to while writing.

Beginning to tilda: Jet set OST, by Schell Games

Tilda to end: Theme of Laura, by Akira Yamaoka

~{}~

I arrive at the JFK airport and step onto the rainy tarmac.

My stomach is in knots because this will be the first time I've seen Juniper since...

I wonder if he'll remember me.

Probably not.

The airport staff guide me over to a white and green jet with Juniper's name painted on the side.

I climb up the steps.

Inside, there is a small area between the pilot's cabin and the passenger's, where the flight attendants would sit if there were any.

The door to the pilot's cabin is shut, this is an autonomous jet afterall, and a curtain hangs over the entry to the passenger's cabin with a note pinned to it.

'Agent,

Please sit here until the jet takes off,

then come in and relax.

John Juniper'

The steps are removed and the jet's door closes behind me.

A robotic voice merrily chimes, "Welcome aboard our autonomous jet. We will be taking off shortly."

I sit in one of the attendant chairs and buckle in.

They continue chattering, going through the safety measures and normal fare for flying I've heard a thousand times before.

I'm a little nervous about the storm coming in, but I'm pretty sure we'll miss it.

Pretty sure...

The floor under me shifts, and we start moving.

It only takes a minute or two, and a few pops in my ear, to get us up to altitude.

It's strange to be the only one on an aircraft.

There's a ding from the speakers and the voice comes back, "We will be arriving in Barcelona in seven hours. Feel free to move about the cabin and enjoy your flight.

What am I going to do for seven hours?

I get up and open the curtain.

I'm not all that surprised by the decor, damn near everything is on theme.

Then, I feel something rumbling underfoot.

It could just be turbulence...

I look out a window.

Oh no.

I can do a lot of things, but flying through a thunderstorm alone is not one of them.

I take a few breaths to try and steady myself.

I'm okay, I'm going to be fine.

If I can survive a sunken escape pod, and an exploding space station, I can survive this...

On second thought, being in mortal peril so often might be what's causing me to react more extremely to-

Thunder cracks and I yelp, jumping out of my skin.