Shade and Verve in: The Super Duper Important Emergency!

November 26, 2020

Below the Community Center, in Hana’s base/apartment

Hana looked in horror at the screen of the supercomputer in her base, essentially how she’d taken to looking when she needed to look “at” Athena. The AI lived in the core within Hana but connected to the powerful machine there and enjoyed having a spare resource for the tasks her and Hana usually got up to. In this case though, there was no hacking or research or anything, just a blip on the screen that Athena chose to represent her voice.

“I am afraid it is true. I am not sure how you didn’t realize this before, Hana”

The girl shook her head and frowned. “Well, like, you know, I don’t think about stuff sometimes until it’s too late. Ugh. Shit. We gotta do something about this.”

“Hana, I don’t think anything can be done” The voice said, calm and soothing but with a slight feeling of regret. Hana shook her head and stood up.

“No. There’s always a way out.”

Atlanta has just exited the locker room at school after swim practice. She waves at Red Devil and Jerry Phelps; making friends and being friendly with her teammates has gotten so much better since the Y Girls left. Coach Stawkfoto having faith in her and making her co-captain also helped a lot. As she heads toward the school exit, she starts humming Engage Directly. When her phone buzzes, she smiles seeing Hana’s name, then her eyebrows furrow in concern as she reads the message:

With much more urgency, Atlanta hurries outside. She rounds a corner, looks around to make sure no one is around to see her, and then lightnings away to the community center, emerging in Hana’s living room.

“Hana! What’s wrong?”

“Gah!” A shout is heard from the bedroom as Hana’s surprise makes her tumble. She picks herself up and hurries out, blinking a few times in confusion at seeing Atlanta so quick.

“Oh! Right, electricity thing. Right right right” she nods, then walks closer. “Uh, thanks for coming over so quick. I wasn’t really sure what I was gonna do, and like, out of all my friends you’re the only one that could help with this. It was really shocking, and just...yeah” she said, sighing, then sits on the couch and looks up to her.

“So, Athena doesn’t know what cupcakes taste like, and told me it’s impossible for her to know. Do you think there’s any way we could like, make a cupcake that an AI could eat?”

Atlanta blinks at Hana for a moment as her adrenaline drains away. “I...an AI cupcake...” She stares at Hana for another moment before laughing so hard she needs to brace herself against the couch. “Hana I thought you were under attack or something. Or, I don’t know, that you realized you were in love with Hayeli and didn’t know how to cope.” Taking a deep breath to get her laughter under control, she puts her hands on her hips. “A cupcake for an AI. I’m sure we can figure something out.”

Hana blinks back, tilting her head in confusion. “Wh-why would you think I was und-oh, wait, is that what the text sounded like? Oops. Sorry” she said, chuckling and rubbing the back of her neck. “Uh, yeah, I was freaking out cause Athena should be able to have cupcakes!” she said, then blushed. “Wh-wha, in love? I, no, no, I mean, what does love even feel like? Uh, not the point, yeah! AI cupcake! Like, you’re so good with them and like, can turn things into electricity so like, maybe it could become a signal she could consume or something?”

Athena sighed, speaking over the base’s intercom. “Atlanta, it is fine if you do not have an idea how to make a digital cupcake. I certainly appreciate Hana’s enthusiasm about this and your assistance but it is not something that seems likely to be doable”

Atlanta grins as Hana splutters about Hayeli. “Well, if you do want to talk about love, I’m more than happy to anytime.” The girls hums, thinking. “Well, Ernest can make sounds into colors so that Jasper can see what songs sound like, so I imagine we can apply the same kind of concept to cupcakes and coding, right? Don’t worry Athena, we will get you to taste a cupcake!” Atlanta points up at the speaker confidently.

“Yeah! What she said! Don’t give up so easy” Hana said, shooting up from the couch with a grin, hurrying into another room where a small kitchenette was. She opens the fridge, poking herself inside to peek around. “Okay so I got like, uh...okay I might not have cupcake ingredients here. There’s flour...uh...does butter go bad? This might be bad...I got milk! Good milk. Definitely not expired, cause I ate some with my Fruit Boops this morning. What all do you need for cupcakes?”

“Flour, baking powder, salt, butter, sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla, eggs, and milk, if we’re going with vanilla cupcakes, which is a good place to start.” Atlanta lists off, without hesitating. “And yes, butter goes bad. But the real question is how do we code taste? Or, put it into computer language or something so that Athena can understand it? Or do you have like, a digitizer ray or something that can make something from our world go into like an AI world for her? I think I saw something like that in a movie I watched with Ellen and Melody once.”

“Oh, huh, I should probably throw this away then” she said, taking the package of butter and tossing it into the trash. “See, that’s why you’re the expert here” she added, pointing and nodding at Atlanta, then looked back into the fridge to continue exploring. “Hm, well, so like, you can turn into electricity, right? That’s all code and signals and stuff are when you get down to it, little electrical thingies that tell a computer stuff. So like, maybe we can make it, then send you through the computer and you can like, leave the cupcake behind? Is that a thing that can be done? Or maybe like, try to see if there’s any Dataverse stuff left over and take the cupcake there?” Hana spouted ideas as she dug through the fridge and cupboards, finding milk, flour, salt, Pixie sticks, a couple eggs, a leftover salad, and vanilla syrup for putting in drinks. “I got most of it, like, Pixie sticks are just sugar, the syrup is vanilla flavored, and we can just get the oil out of the veggies in this! How do you oil a salad?”

You would think that with her brothers constantly committing food crimes in her kitchen, Atlanta would be desensitized to it by now, but no. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before she’s able to respond. “Despite what it might seem like on Ernest’s B-Tube channel, using the right ingredients is important. I’ll go upstairs for the stuff you don’t have. We can use the pixie sticks for decorations, though.” With that addressed, she thinks back to Hana’s first questions. “I’ve never dropped anything while lightning, and if I did, I think it would turn back into whatever it was, not stay lightning. So I think that would just result in cupcakes in your wiring. The dataverse, on the other hand, that’s a good idea! There’s still that overlap in the financial district. We could go in and see if Athena gets her own dataform! Then she could eat the cupcakes!” Atlanta looks at Hana in triumph.

Hana blinked a few times. “Oh, really? Huh. Yeah I guess grabbing stuff from upstairs works too. Cool!” she said, nodding. Hana picked up the things that were definitely not cupcake ingredients and put them back, namely the salad and syrup. Looking back to Atlanta, she grinned. “Yeah? Think so? I figured that was another good shot at it working, so, uh, yeah, that’s awesome. Stuff was real weird there, oh wait, I wonder if it’ll make me a motorcycle again...will she be different? Guess we’ll have to find out!”

“From what I can find on this Dataverse it appears to be an anomalous dimension mixed of reality and digital space. I am not sure what we will look like after venturing in, but it is possible, certainly” Athena said over the speakers.

“I glitched last time and didn’t look any different. I wonder what will happen this time,” Atlanta mused, then shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out! I’ll run up and get the right ingredients. I made some magic cupcakes with Samantha a few days ago, so there should be everything we need.”

With that, Atlanta gave a little wave and ran up the stairs to the community center proper.

“Okay! Yeah, cool!” Hana said, nodding as Atlanta hurried off. Time to get ready for cupcakes. Or, should she just wait for Atlanta to get back? She’d probably mess things up, especially after asking how to get vegetable oil out of a salad. Okay, she’d just wait. Hana leaned against the counter, crossing her arms.

“Hana, you had said that prior to joining Big Team, you typically had a brasher exterior and spent time doing rather destructive tasks, correct?” Athena’s voice said within Hana’s head.

“Uh, I, uh, wh-wha, I, I guess? I talk to people more and I don’t do crime stuff just to do crime stuff now, only if we gotta like, break into somewhere to stop some villain. Why?”

“I am happy to see that you are growing, and that you are happy now. It is unlikely the person you described would stand in a kitchen waiting for her friend to get back so they can make cupcakes for someone else. Your vitals show that you are calm and content, and it is good to see. It reminds me of how you are when spending time with Hayeli, though the context is of course different. It is...quite cute.”
At that, Hana blushed deeply and shook her head. “Wh-nuh uh, shut up!” she said, the flush staying til Atlanta returned.

With her extensive knowledge of the community center kitchen, it doesn’t take Atlanta long to get back with the correct ingredients. She comes back down with the missing ingredients clutched in her arms. “Okay! I’ve got the--are you okay, Hana? You’re all red.”

“Wh, I, that, I, you, nuh uh!” She said, shaking her head. “I, Athena, she was, she was saying stuff about stuff”

Athena’s voice came over the speakers again. “I was saying that it is cute how Hana has grown and enjoys spending time with you and the others on the team” Hana responded with a glare at the speaker, then looked away and scratched the back of her head. “S-so, you got the stuff? Uh, cupcake time then, I guess, yeah?”

Atlanta grins up at the speaker. “Oh gotcha. I agree!” Then she looks at Hana and nods. “Yep! Cupcake time!”

Atlanta leads the way to Hana’s kitchen and sets out the ingredients on the counter. After turning on the oven, she turns to Hana. “Okay! Where are your bowls and measuring cups?”

Hana ‘hmphs’ as she moves to a cupboard and pulls out some bowls and assorted measuring cups, not necessarily all the sizes. “Uhhh, there’s like three of the same size for some reason but there’s others too, this enough?” she said, setting them on the counter next to the ingredients. “Sorry if I’m, like, uh, completely useless here. Cooking and stuff I have absolutely no idea about” she said, giving a nervous smile. “So, uh, how are things? You all good? It’s been a real long year with all the crap that’s happened”

“You’ll be fine! You can’t be worse than my brothers in the kitchen,” Atlanta shakes her head, but laughs. She measures and pours a few ingredients into the bowl. “Mix those,” she instructs, and then considers the other question as she moves onto beating the wet ingredients together. “I mean, yeah. I’m pretty good. Stuff...happens. And a lot of it has been bad, but like, I was talking with Melody while she was in the hospital, and honestly things are a lot better for me than they were last year. Mom and Grandy are back, Boon's not dying, I’ve got friends.” Atlanta shrugs. “So like, the last two weeks have been hard, and I’ve had to think about the future a lot, which is scary, but overall I’m in a much better place than I was even this spring. Even with future stuff, I feel more secure and supported than I ever have, and honestly that’s amazing. What about you? I know the day Smoke got kidnapped was...a lot.”

Hana nods and gets a determined look about her as she takes a whisk and starts to mix up the dry stuff. She stirs and looks to Atlanta, nodding. “Yeah, that’s good. Those things are all good things, even if there’s been bad stuff around them. I’m, I’m in the same boat. Like, a year ago I was kinda coming to the end of my training with Sledge and almost joining the team, but I still had no idea about my family stuff and I didn’t know any of you and still thought I just had super strength and that was that, and now I’m on the team and that’s great, I got an awesome family, I got Athena, I got all my friends, I met Hayeli, yeah, like, things are good, even if there’s been shitty stuff too. That day was definitely a lot, yeah. Athena and I are still figuring all that out, the stuff that happened when we like, merged and became one thing. But I can do this now-” she said, pausing for a moment to hold a hand out and form a ball of energy in it. “So that’s cool! But, Mel and Mel and Old Jackal and Smoke got pretty hurt, which sucks. Oh, uh, I’ve been talking a lot, sorry, I think this is mixed, what now?”

Atlanta nods enthusiastically. “That is cool! We can both shoot bolts of the energy that’s inside us now. I mean, I have to recharge and you don’t, but still! Okay before we finish the cupcakes, can I absorb that? I want to know what it feels like?” Atlanta sets down her bowl and holds out a hand questioningly.

Hana chuckled and nodded. “Sure, yeah!” she said, putting her own bowl on the counter. She stepped closer to Atlanta and put her hands together, forming a small ball of energy again. It had a purplish, bluish color to it, darker spots swirling around like oil in water. “Do I just, like, pass it to you like a basketball? Or do you wanna come up and touch it? I could do a beam too if you just want me to shoot you with it” she said, looking up to her, some concentration in her eyes as she held the energy in place.

“I’ll just touch it, if that works,” Atlanta answers. After a nod of consent from Hana, she touches the energy. The moment her fingers touch it, she activates her powers. The energy sinks into her fingertips and she can feel it surge up her arms and rattle around inside of her. It’s a new type of energy, so she can’t hold it for long, and she shivers a bit at the sensation. “Wow. This is...it’s not like any energy I’ve absorbed before. It’s almost like everything, but also nothing? Strange…”

The energy glows under Atlanta’s skin as she tries to keep hold of it. She could transfer it to her Pockets, but she still preferred to store energy in herself. Despite how much better she’d gotten at controlling them, they were still unpredictable sometimes. Atlanta holds the energy for a few more seconds before letting it back out in controlled little bursts so she didn’t hurt or hit anything.

“I have no idea what that means, but it’s very cool, Hana. Thanks for letting me do that! I’ve been curious for a while.”

Hana watches curiously as Atlanta draws it in, trying to control it, but letting it out. “Oh that’s so cool. Uh, it’s quantum energy? I’m not totally sure what that means, but like, it’s what gave me my powers, and there’s a like...pool or something of it in me that’s just constantly giving off energy. It’s super weird, but it gives the suit power and makes me real strong and everything. I, well, I’m gonna ask Lewis more about it when he gets back, but I’m not sure when that’ll be. Still figuring that out, and Lucian hasn’t been helpful, especially since I can’t even get in to talk to him. Ugh. Been a lot.”

Atlanta rubs her hands to release the lingering odd sensation from Hana’s energy. “Lewis...is your dad who’s lost in time? And who is Lucian?”

Hana blinks a few times. “Oh! Sorry, yeah, uh, so, right. Lewis is my, uh, my kind of dad, he and Ana adopted me when I was super young. He saved me from whatever place was doing the experiments on me, but right after that in some other experiment he disappeared, and apparently he’s been outside of time this whole...time...time stuff is super confusing. A few of us got to meet him a few weeks ago when all that weird time stuff was happening, and we almost got him out but the...things...broke or something? I’m not super sure. Uh, so we’re trying to figure out how to get him back. Then, uh, Lucian is my bio-dad. You might have heard some of the others talk about him, he also goes by Prometheus. He’s like, super evil scientist dude that tried to combine a bunch of FutureSites together. Uh, the day Smoke got kidnapped, that AI that was behind it? The voice that was like ‘oh I’m so proud of you’ was him. He’s weird, like even when he’s beat he’s glad about it cause like, it means his kid beat him? Yeah. He’s with AEGIS now but it’s been hard to get in and talk to him” she said, staring at the floor. She blinked again, then chuckled and looked up. “Heh, sorry, motormouthing again”

Atlanta nods along. “It’s fine! I’d rather you answer my question more thoroughly than not. Prometheus sounds like a creep, but I hope you can get Lewis back. I uh...I know you didn’t grow up with him or anything, but I know having a parent missing can be really rough. And like, you’ve got two great moms now, but um, if you want to talk about that anytime, I’m here? Since my Mom was missing outside of time for a while, I can relate at least a little. Grandy was, too, but like, I didn’t miss them since I didn’t know about them until after they got back. I mean, I knew I had a grandparent who wasn’t really around except for random short intervals while my mom was growing up, but I didn’t know they were like, \*missing\* missing, you know?”

“Yeah, it’s like, weird, cause I thought he was dead, then I wasn’t sure, now I know he’s there, and like, I still don’t even really know him. I want to rescue him from that place but like, yeah. I dunno. I guess it’s kinda like your Grandy, like, this person I just found out about is stuck and they’re a big person in my life but like, I didn’t even know he existed since I could remember anything. Parent stuff is weird. But, yeah, I appreciate it. Like, it sucks that we gotta deal with it at all, but it’s nice to know someone understands what it feels like. Someone aside from Athena, I guess, since she like, always knows and understands what I’m going through, being in my head and stuff. Right, yeah, um, so do we like, put these together now? I got a blender if we gotta mix it up”

“Oh we can just do it by hand. No use getting extra dishes dirty. But would you like a hug first?” Atlanta holds open her arms in an invitation.

“Got it. Oh! Uh, um, uh, yeah, I, I would” Hana said, her face getting a little red again before moving over and hugging Atlanta. “Thanks, uh, again. Being able to talk about stuff is good” She said, giving a gentle squeeze, then releasing the hug. “Okay, cupcake mixing time! How do we do that?”

“Of course! I’m always here if you need to talk. Even when I’m not on Big Team anymore, I’ll still be there.” Atlanta grins up at Hana, then turns her attention back to the cupcakes. “Okay, so we’ll dump half of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mix, and then add the second half.” Atlanta taps the bowl of wet ingredients. “Do you have a cupcake pan? I can get that ready and put in the liners while you’re mixing.”

Hana blinks a bunch, turning to look as Atlanta moves back to the cupcakes, her brain focusing on the thing she said. “Wh-wha, I, uh, that, uh, you, not on Big Team? Like you’re leaving? Like you won’t be on the team? Like, you won’t be around? Like, you, uh, won’t, uh, is it something I did?” she said, kind of confusedly moving and putting half the dry stuff into the wet stuff to mix it. “A pan, uh, I, uh, I think so” she said, kneeling while mixing and opened the cupboard with her foot. “There”

“What? No, it’s nothing you did! It’s nothing anyone did! I’m leaving because...okay, so some of us are making a new League of Heroes, and I’ve been on Big Team for a while. Like, I’m one of the people who has been on the team for the longest. Like I’ve done so much with Big Team! It’s literally the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It just kinda...feels like it’s time? To move on.” Atlanta fishes the cupcake pan out of the cupboard Hana opened. “But don’t worry. I’ll still be around to give hugs and cupcakes. And I’ll still be around the community center all the time, like usual. Absolutely nothing could pull me away for good.”

“Oh, okay, yeah, okay. Good. Um, I, sorry, guess I’m not totally over all my stuff yet. Uh, cool, I mean, yeah, that makes sense. Like, gotta be done with stuff eventually and you gotta do other things, yeah. Well, uh, I hope stuff goes well after you’re done” she said, nodding and continuing to mix the cupcake stuffs together. “It’s kinda like graduating, I guess, thinking about it that way makes sense. Um, yeah, good luck, and everything” she took the rest of the dry stuff and poured it in gently, then started mixing. “Wait, so like, you’re making a new League? After how the last one ended? Who’s doing that?”

Atlanta puts cupcake liners in the cupcake pan. “Yeah. I mean, the League did some really important work in the city that we just can’t as Big Team. So like, sure they were trapped in the Dataverse for a while and all retired or went on as solo heroes, but seriously, do you think any of us could be missing for that long without at least fifteen angry teenagers storming the place? And Gwen and Melody are leading the whole process of setting it up. Like, the rest of us are helping but they’re doing a lot of it.”

“Yeah, it’s not a bad idea. Having rando heroes out and about and like, the team being the only kinda actual group around and all that, having an actual league could be good. Specially since like, some of us on the team are like, getting actually pretty powerful” she said, a thinking look on her face as she mixed. “Is it like, just gonna be certain people? You gotta like, apply or something?” she asked, and would likely overmix if not told to stop.

“That’s good on the batter. Now we put it in the pan and bake!” Atlanta instructs. “And I mean, so far it’s just been who Melody has asked about it? I guess I haven’t thought about how we’ll determine membership going forward. But if you’re interested, I’m sure you could just ask Melody about it! I think you’d be a great addition!”

Hana nods, moving with the bowl to the lined pan. She takes the spoon she’d been stirring with and starts scooping batter into the slots, trying and failing to not make too much of a mess. “Mhm, I, hm. I haven’t really thought about what I wanna do. After big team or in life or whatever. Kinda figured things would just stay as they are but like, that was dumb, stuff changes. Hm. I guess being part of a new league could be cool, I’m not gonna be able to just get some regular job and sit at a desk or whatever, not when I got these powers and stuff. But I don’t wanna seem desperate. Hmmmm, of course, I’ll just have to hang around Melody and get her to ask me! Like I’ll talk about how I need a direction and my powers are so great and helpful but I don’t know what to do with them and stuff like that. You know, be subtle” she said, nodding a bunch as she eventually got batter into each cup, filling them about three fourths of the way.

Knowing that convincing Hana to just ask Melody directly would be a waste of time and considerably less entertaining, Atlanta made a mental note to text Melody and let her know that Hana was interested in joining the new league. The next Flex Girls practice was going to be funny. “Alright, and now we bake for fifteen minutes! And make the frosting, which is one of the best parts.”

About thirty minutes later, the girls are standing in the financial district. In front of them is a glowing Datapoint: an entryway into the Dataverse. Atlanta is holding the tupperware full of cupcakes.

“Alright, here goes.” Taking a deep breath, Atlanta steps forward and into the Datapoint.

There’s the familiar rushing sensation, and then Atlanta is in the Dataverse. It’s the same point she’s come in through before, so the platform she’s standing on in the cyberpunk city is familiar. What isn’t familiar is her current form. The first time she was in the Dataverse, she was some kind of lightning elemental, and the time before there was a glitch and she hadn’t transformed, but this time was different. She had pastel blue skin, a floofy tulle-like outfit with a skirt that really looked like a cupcake, and, reaching up to her hair, she had a little cherry hat on top of her head. Looking around, she could see angles and such, trajectories about the best way to throw things. It was frilly and girly. Atlanta hated it. Fortunately, the cupcake tupperware was still in her hands, mostly unchanged.

“Oh this was a terrible idea,” she groaned, poking at her skirt. “Hana, I take it back. If I’m ever trapped in the Dataverse, don’t let anyone come after me. No one is allowed to know I look like this here.”

Hana followed in just after. The sound of a roaring engine accompanied her entry, as her Dataverse form took shape. It was the same motorcycle as before, a sort of abstract face made out of the front, the body sleek but sturdy. This time the difference was a rider, a woman in slim armor, a long scarf, and a faceless helmet. While Hana’s motorcycle form was silver and blue, this woman had a sort of gold and white color scheme to her appearance. She drove the cycle in and stopped, looking down at herself and Hana.

“This is...very unexpected, Hana. You had mentioned taking such a form but seeing it occur is something else, and my own form as well” Athena said, taken aback by the difference.

Motorcycle Hana revved and laughed. “Isn’t it awesome? I can morph too! Like become a big motorcycle robot thing!” she said, turning to look at Atlanta, and laughing a bit. “Like, okay, fair, but it’s really cute! You’re like a cupcake themed magical girl!” she said, chuckling.

Athena nodded. “I am sure others on the team would find this form of yours quite cute” she said, crossing her arms.

Atlanta wrinkles her nose when Athena says it’s cute and would have crossed her arms if not for the tupperware of cupcakes she was holding. Remembering why they were there, Atlanta opens it and holds it out for Athena. The cupcakes look basically the same as before, just a little more digital. “It’s not that it’s not cute, I guess, it’s just, not me. Like, at all. How am I supposed to fight in a skirt? Anyway, time to see if this worked!”

Athena nods and takes a cupcake out of the container, tilting her head slightly. It was odd for her, to have something be this mix of physical and digital. She moved it to take a bite, the bottom of her helmet fading so her mouth was reachable. Taking a cautious one, she chewed for a few moments, then smiled. “Thank you, Atlanta. This is truly amazing. Being able to taste like this, I did not think it possible” she said, taking another bite. Hana’s engines revved.

“Yeah! We did it! Seeeeeee, I told you we could! There’s always a way out” she said, turning back and forth slightly in excitement. Athena nodded and patted the handlebars. “Yes, yes you did. Thank you as well, Hana” she said, chuckling. Putting the rest into her mouth, she chewed and swallowed, and the liner dissolved away. “Fascinating, this is going to be quite the experience to look back upon in examination. You’re an excellent baker, Atlanta.”

Atlanta shrugs, but beams at the praise. “Ah, well, you don’t have anything to compare it to, but thank you, Athena.”

Deciding to test how the pseudo-digital cupcakes turned out, Atlanta takes a bite of one herself. “Oh wow. Hey, these really do just taste like cupcakes. A little...like kinda how in the cake dimension, when you ate cake that was shaped like something, and it kinda tasted like that thing? Like a parking meter tasted like cake but also a parking meter. And this tastes like a cupcake but also like computer code. Which doesn’t make any sense, because code doesn’t have a taste? But that’s the only way I can think to describe it.” She starts to ask Hana if she wants to try, remembers that Hana doesn’t have a mouth, and stops. “Do you want any more, Athena? I don’t know if they’ll un-digitize, so you might as well while you can!”

Athena nods. “If you don’t mind, I think I will have another,” she said, reaching into the container and taking a cupcake. She takes a few bites, enjoying the flavor while looking around the strange place that was the Dataverse. “Do you have further plans for the future apart from assisting with this new league?” she said, glancing back to Atlanta.

Atlanta shrugs. The trajectories she can see are distracting, so she tries not to look around too much. “I mean, I’ll finish high school. Maybe go to college for business or something so that I can run Sweet Nothings with Mom. But that’s so far away. Boon’s already accidentally proposed a few times, so that’ll happen after I graduate.” Atlanta grins. “But otherwise just, helping out at home, putting more effort into co-captaining swim team. You know, teenager stuff, I guess. What about you and Hana? Made any future decisions?”

Athena nods. “I see. ‘Teenager stuff.’ Interesting” she said, finishing the cupcake after speaking. Hana chuckled. “Uhhhh, like, not really? I told some people I’m thinking about college just to like, tell them something, since adults just want some kinda answer. Not really any big plans though. I’ll stick around Big Team for a bit, but this league sounds like it could be a good next thing. I dunno, I don’t really have anything that’s like jumping at me that I wanna do with myself. I’m still figuring out the whole ‘having an AI live in your body’ thing too” the motorcycle said, her voice unsure. Athena nodded. “I also find myself in such a state. I am still learning about humans and how you interact, while I have nearly all the information in the world at my fingertips, I lack context and meaning for it. I am very grateful to even have this chance, thanks to Hana, so we shall figure things out as they come. I am sure Hana will get excited about something and we will chase after it with fervor” she said, her voice teasing at the end.

Atlanta nodded. “Yeah, taking time to figure stuff out is great! It’s not like there’s any rush. Even with college and stuff. Or at least that’s what my dad’s been telling me, now that I’m getting letters from colleges. And some for like, swimming stuff, which surprised me. I hadn’t thought about swimming competitively past high school before. But yeah, there’s no rush. And a while back, Liminal told Boon that even if they make a decision, it’s not like they couldn’t change it. Like, you can make decisions and be happy with them, but then if you ever aren’t, you can change it and do something else. Or something like that. She said it a lot better.”

Unable to resist any longer, Atlanta picks up a cupcake and focuses on the trajectories she sees. She winds up, and throws it. It bounces off a sign, a building, and then hits a small imperfection on the wall of a nearby building. She grins. “I think I have perfect aim here.”

Hana watched, the motorcycle turning slightly to follow the cupcake. She laughed as it smacked off the building and hit another. “Heh, nice! That’s so cool! This place is so weird, like I never thought I would know what it’s like to be a motorcycle but now I do! And Athena got to taste cupcakes! Mission successful” she said, revving slightly as the only sort of action she could do, unable to high five or do a fist bump. Athena nodded. “Yes, thank you both for bringing me here and making these for me to try. It will be a treasured memory of mine.” If motorcycles could blush, Hana would be. “I, that, well, jeez, it’s no biggie, everybody should get to try Atlanta’s stuff. Uh, yeah, so, should we head back?”

“Aww, I’m honored I could help make this memory for you, Athena. I’m glad that people enjoy the cupcakes. I love making them. And I’m extra glad that we could figure out a way for Athena to try them!” At the question on if they should head back, Atlanta nods firmly. “Yes please. I want to not be wearing this dress.” Atlanta gestures at the floofy cupcake dress in distaste. Then she grins. “We can head back to your place to do the dishes, and you can update me about what’s going on with Hayeli.”

Hana turns, slowly after the confirmation, then halts and the wheels of the motorcycle spin a bunch. “I, that, well, uh, um, I, she, us, that, um, well, I, I mean, uh, yeah, I, uh, I guess we can talk about that and stuff, like, how we’re girlfriends officially now and everything and stuff, yeah” she said, once again doing the motorcycle equivalent of blushing as the tires spun a bit. “Um, mhm mhm, cool, let’s do it” she said, heading out through the connection point to come back into the real world. Indeed, she was blushing once back in human form.

Atlanta follows Hana out, and breathes a sigh of relief when she’s back in her regular crop top hoodie and leggings. Bumping her shoulder against Hana’s, she says, “Hey, I’m super happy for you,” and holds out her hand for the sacred Fist Bump of Friendship.

Hana glances over, smiling some and nodding. “Heh, uh, yeah, thanks. I’m pretty happy too” she said, raising her hand to return the fist bump. Upon bumping, their friendship was sealed once more, much as Hana would still say it was because of the friendship couch.