(GQ #13) Adventures in Spacepunk

4. Who's Watching?

Leon walked with his head held high. Each pastel building he passed was a treat for the eyes, and he took in the sights with all the gusto of a kid set loose in a candy store.

"Look!" He pointed out a patch of dark blue in the sky. "I think I see an error message!"

"Heh. Wouldn't be Lunaria without one." The crowd almost drowned Emil out. "Hey, watch out!"

"Hm?" was the last thing Leon asked before smacking into a stop sign's pole. "Ow!" Despite the pain, he couldn't help but laugh at himself as he rubbed his face.

Emil joined in. "You might wanna keep your eyes on the ground."

"But there's so much to see."

"Don't worry, I won't let you miss out on much." With a wave of the hand, he batted away Leon's concerns.

"I at least want to take a picture of the error message." The two stopped at the crosswalk signal, so Leon took the opportunity to dig through his jacket's many pockets. Nothing came up.

Before he could check again, Emil took out his phone and snapped a picture.

"Aw, Emil, you didn't have to do that."

"I did. You don't have your phone on you, remember?"

"Oh, right!" Leon slapped his face. Unfortunately, it was the same side that hit the pole. "Thanks. Part of me is a little nervous leaving it with Ángie after–you know. But I'm sure he'll be fine."

"That's the spirit. You just gotta believe."

"Yeah! I told him a few days ago that after talking to you, it feels like everything's gonna turn out okay." Just looking at Emil made him feel more confident. "That reminds me! I was meaning to ask you–Woah."

The closer they got to the next corner, the harder it was to tell where the street ended and the sidewalk began, but the size of the crowd didn't catch Leon's attention. Their style did.

Even though they'd passed a few spacepunks on the way over, he'd never seen so many in one place. It was like a fan convention for a sci-fi show that didn't exist, except all the cosplayers were models. He found himself dazzled from every direction.

"Everyone here is dressed to the nines..."

"Sorry, didn't catch that! What did'ja wanna ask?" Emil had to yell even though he walked right next to him.

"I just said everyone's dressed so nice. Anyway, I meant to ask you," something zipped through the air, "what was that? I thought Lunaria didn't have birds."

"Looked like a delivery drone."

"They have delivery drones here?? That's so cool!"

"I'm kinda surprised too. I mean, I knew they had 'em, but last I heard, they were being phased out 'until further notice.'" Emil made air quotes. "There were a few accidents with them dropping stuff on busy streets like this. They ended up makin' them fly lower so it wouldn't be so dangerous, but that just made 'em easier to steal from."

"Aww man. I'm glad I got to see one before they're gone. So, I'm guessing this is where we're headed?" The sign above the street answered before Emil had to. "Ah, there it is! Main Street."

"I'll let the group chat know we made it." Emil waved Leon over to a nearby storefront, whipped out his phone, and began tapping and swiping until something made his eyebrows jump. "Shoot, why didn't I think of that? Roxie says we should come up with nicknames to blend in a little better. Something spacepunk-y."