The Sky Without Starts

Chapter 3 | First Light

"Do you think there are cat girls out there?"

"..."

"I mean, think about it. There are deer that are mutated to look like bears, there has got to be people that have cat ears"

"...penalty for talking"

"WAIT THAT'S A RULE!?"

"penalty"

"hmm..." was all the man could reply. While his face creased with frustration, he still looked overall composed. His black and white suit, complete with a red tie, remained unwrinkled and clean, despite being the cover to his black, standard-issue radiation suit. The two purple stripes that spanned down the radiation suit like suspenders were barely visible around his collar, and the black of the suit peaked out between his sleeves and white gloves. He leaned back in the transport's driver seat as the person in the passenger seat looked on over the stack of cards. The man couldn't see his face behind the radiation helmet, whose color pattern matched that of the suit, but he could tell that the person had no expression. He never did. Even when they were fighting for their lives, Avery showed no emotion.

The man picked up the two cards that Avery slid across the table, one for each penalty. He looked down at the stack of cards in his hand, now visibly twice as large as it was at the beginning of the game. The deck was dimly lit by the transport's spotlights that were slowly scanning the outside. He still had no idea what the rules of the game were, so he went with his gut feeling and placed a one of spades.

"penalty,"

a ten of clubs

"penalty"

a king of hearts

"penalty, Mao."

"WHAT!" The man wanted to say, but he held his tongue. Avery had one card and the man had... half the deck. He had already lost the game, so he reached for the first card in his deck. Fortunately, he was cut off before he could place the card.

"place the six of spades," Another man said as he walked in through the doors of the driver's room. His expression was stern, yet calm. He wore no special outerwear over his radiation suit. Instead, he wore diamond blue stripes instead of purple, the signature of an officer.

"Tyler..." Avery said, his voice was monotone, but his annoyance was clear.

"I'm not the one playing the game, so I don't have to follow the rules. Unfortunately, you do. penalty for talking."

"mmm," Avery hummed, his annoyance becoming ever more present.

"Now Leon, the six of spades," Tyler said, directing his voice at the man in the suit.

Leon's head perked up when he realized he was being addressed. He looked through his deck, and there, two cards before the end, was the six of spades. He placed it down, which caused Avery to lose his composure. He rocketed out of his seat and stormed past Tyler. Presumably glaring him down as he passed. It was impossible to tell what Avery was looking at, even if the front section of the mask was all glass. the only armored section of the helmet was the back and the sides, all being dark black with the colored stripes bordering the shaded glass.

"It's fun watching Avery get angry," Tyler said, sitting down in the now-empty passenger seat.

"Didn't know he could actually show emotion," Leon replied, amused by Avery's outburst.

"only if you poke him enough, But that's a lesson for another time."

"Are we going somewhere?"

"Indeed, back to 1280."

"back to that hellhole? Doesn't that mean that..."

"we're getting a new recruit. Get the Transport ready to go."

Following the orders of his superior officer, Leon swiveled the driver seat into a front-facing position and started going through the transport's start-up sequence

"Do you think she's cute?" Leon Asked.

"I think 'she' is a 'he'"

"Oh... Do you think he's cute?"

"Leon I will smack you if you don't start this transport."

"Relax, this thing is complicated. I need to make sure everything is functional before I start the engine."

"You can do that silently, right?"

"'Can' is a strong word."

"'CAN' you shut up?"

"Hmm... no. Who decided to make this thing nuclear-powered anyway?"

"Everything was nuclear back when this was made. It's funny when you think about it. The same thing that is keeping us alive is what nearly killed us before."

"Our fearless boss, the poet"

"Leon I swear to-" Tyler's voice was cut out by a loud humming, followed by the roar of a diesel engine. Moments later the engine came to a stop, signaling the nuclear reactor was online.

"Got it started, Sir."

Tyler let out a sigh, "Yeah, good job." He then swiveled around in his chair to face the door. "Hey Avery, are Sarah and Michel back?"

There was no reply, which either meant that Avery was still upset over the card game, or that they were not back.

"So boss, since we have time, mind informing me on those 'ways to make Avery tick'?"

"Of course. You see, There's a certain trick to-" Tyler started, but he was quickly cut off by a loud yet monotone "Here."

"Putting that lesson on hold again," Tyler finished. "take us out, Leon."

"Yes Sir" Leon replied. He flipped a few switches before shifting the transport into drive. With a rumble the transport started moving, its four tracked 'legs' gave it ample clearance, as well as enough surface area to move over any ground. Although the first light of dawn was coming over the mountain, Leon still turned on the exterior flood lights, baking the outside in bright white sheet. Tyler locked his chair in the forward position, deciding that it was better than freely swiveling around.

"The answer is yes" Tyler started again,

"Yes?"

"That's the answer to your question."

"About Avery?" Leon asked. A loud thud rang out on the door to the driver's room. They were lucky that the door locked during operation, or Avery would have had their heads.

"No, about the catgirls."

"Oh..." There was a pause "WAIT REALLY?!"

"... no"

"Boss..."

"Leon..."

"...Never mind"

"Good answer, drive."